Chapter 29
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Chapter 29: Breaking the Restriction
The Stone Sword was three chi long; though simple and natural with great skill in simplicity, it was still the shape of a perfect sword.
However, the \"sword\" refined by Lou Yun couldn\’t even be called a sword anymore, being only about one chi long. If one called it a Dagger, the blade was slightly curved; in short, it was a failed piece of work.
\"Alright, let\’s stop here for today. Your spiritual energy is almost depleted now. There are still several steps ahead, like refining the beast soul and spiritual crystals, which you definitely can\’t complete. Learn from the experience and try again tomorrow!\"
Although Lou Yun was somewhat unwilling, his spiritual energy was indeed insufficient. Also, using his spiritual sense for such a long time had left him feeling weak. So, he only retrieved the Fusang Fire, set aside that monstrosity of a sword, and then turned to leave.
Returning to his room, Lou Yun unexpectedly found the light inside was on, clearly indicating someone was there. Pushing open the door, he saw his father sitting at the table, waiting for him.
\"Dad, why haven\’t you slept yet?\"
Lou Tianming knew his son went out every night to train, so he didn\’t press the matter, just smiling and saying, \"Nothing much, I was waiting for you!\"
\"Why wait for me? Is something wrong?\"
Lou Tianming affectionately patted Lou Yun\’s head and said, \"Actually, nothing\’s wrong. It\’s just that in another three months, you\’ll be leaving home for the Ancient Weapon Academy. Over the years, I\’ve been busy with family matters and haven\’t spent much time with you. Now that I have the time, you\’re busy training again. Hehe, I\’m really not a good father!\"
\"Dad, that\’s not true at all!\"
Lou Yun quickly argued, thinking that he had reached this point entirely because of his father\’s unwavering love.
\"Hehe, alright, let me tell you something. After dinner tonight, Lin Yongdu actually came to our home with his son, bringing many gifts! He said he was coming to apologize to your Second Uncle!\"
\"What!\" Lou Yun frowned tightly. \"He nearly killed Second Uncle today, and now he has the nerve to come here? Besides, how can a mere apology solve this? He teamed up with the Wang Family against our Lou Family, causing us to lose the spiritual crystal mine—doesn\’t he have to account for that?\"
Seeing his son so angry, Lou Tianming smiled gently and said, \"Don\’t get worked up yet; hear me out first.\"
\"Your Second Uncle and I met with him. From his words, we could tell his attitude was sincere, likely genuine. For the sake of the whole family, even if we hesitate, since they\’ve apologized, we have to let it go. This works out well, though—at least we don\’t have to worry as much about defending against them uniting against us.\"
\"I don\’t know what feud you have with his son, but he specifically asked for your forgiveness. I agreed, so if you see Lin Yuehua in the future, let him go. Don\’t target him anymore.\"
Though Lou Yun felt reluctant, since his father had personally agreed to it, he could only nod and say, \"Fine, but if Lin Yuehua still dares to provoke me, I won\’t hold back!\"
\"That goes without saying. We don\’t bully others, but we absolutely won\’t let anyone bully us either!\"
\"En, I understand.\"
Lou Tianming looked at Lou Yun, opening his mouth then closing it. His face showed a hesitant expression, as if he wanted to say something but found it difficult to bring up.
Lou Yun noticed this naturally and asked with puzzlement, \"Dad, why hesitate to say anything with me?\"
Lou Tianming laughed awkwardly and said, \"During the changing ceremony today, when you saved your Second Uncle, that ball of fire you threw—what was that? I didn\’t see you use it at the changing ceremony last time!\"
\"Oh! This!\" As he spoke, Lou Yun held out his palm, revealing a flickering flame. \"This is Fusang Fire, the gift Great Grandfather gave me!\"
Lou Tiansming couldn\’t help but freeze for a moment, exclaiming in surprise, \"This is a gift from Great Grandfather?\"
\"Yes! Dad, do you know what Fusang Fire is?\"
Although Lou Tianming wasn\’t a skilled weapon maker, he knew a bit about related matters. Nodding, he said, \"I know, but not too much. Fusang Fire seems to be a type of heavenly flame, right? It\’s very precious for skilled weapon makers.\"
\"Exactly, it\’s a heavenly flame, but the lowest-ranked one. When Great Grandfather gave it to me, he wasn\’t sure my body could withstand its temperature. That\’s why he gave me three days, and luckily I endured it—now I\’m its master!\"
\"Oh, oh!\"
Lou Tianming seemed lost in thought, becoming a bit absent-minded. He absentmindedly brushed off Lou Yun, saying, \"En, since Great Grandfather gave it to you, use it well. But be careful—I\’ve heard that if not controlled properly, heavenly flames can backlash against their masters!\"
Before Lou Yun could speak, Lou Tianming continued immediately, \"Alright, it\’s almost dawn now. Rest quickly; I\’ll go sleep too.\"
\"Good, I\’ll sleep then!\"
Lou Tianming reached the doorway but stopped, turned back, and looked at Lou Yun, hesitating a moment before speaking. \"One more thing, Yun\’er. Try to stay as far away as possible from your Third Uncle and his family from now on.\"
Lou Yun was startled. \"Why?\"
\"Never mind why. Just remember what I said. I\’m leaving!\"
After saying this, Lou Tianming walked out and closed the door behind him for Lou Yun.
\"Why should I avoid Third Uncle? Is it because I broke Lou Fei\’s arm, and they\’re afraid the family might seek revenge? That probably isn\’t it. No matter how bold they are, Third Uncle\’s family wouldn\’t dare lay a hand on me, right?\"
Shaking his head, Lou Yun couldn\’t be bothered to delve deeper into the reasons. He lay down on the bed, took out the amorphous sword he had forged, gazed at it for a while, and then fell into a deep sleep.
After returning to his room, Lou Tianming didn’t go straight to sleep. Instead, he paced back and forth silently, murmuring to himself, \"So the Fusang Fire was actually a gift for Yun\’er from Great Grandfather? Does that mean the prophecy \’Fire rises over the Fusang, nine families perish\’ isn’t about Yun\’er at all… but about Great Grandfather himself?\"
\"And what exactly does \’nine families perish\’ mean? Nine families? There aren\’t even that many notable great families on the Spirit Weapon Star; the few prominent ones don\’t add up to nine. What on earth is going on here?\"
After muttering to himself for some time, Lou Tianming suddenly stamped his foot decisively. \"No, tomorrow I absolutely must go ask Great Grandfather. If there\’s any danger to Yun\’er because of this… I\’d rather he take the Fusang Fire back.\"
…
Early the next morning, Lou Yun rushed out of his home, directly leaving Lingjiang City and heading towards the Tianliang Forest outside the city walls.
Chang Xiang had suggested a good way for him to earn money: hunting demon beasts and harvesting their beast souls. Not only could he sell the beast souls for cash, but fighting the beasts would also enhance his combat experience. Two birds with one stone – why wouldn’t he do it!
That’s why Lou Yun enthusiastically made his way to Tianliang Forest today.
Though he’d been there once before during the previous hunt, he was still inexperienced then and had a specific task, so he hadn’t ventured deep into the forest. This time was different; he planned to explore the forest’s interior.
However, he hadn’t gone far after entering the forest before he was forced to stop. Not far ahead, clusters of red light pulsed – all kinds of Protective Barriers laid down by magical weapons masters!
To prevent demon beasts from emerging to harm ordinary people, or to stop unsuspecting civilians from accidentally wandering into the forest and being devoured, the three leading families established these Protective Barriers across the forests they owned. The barriers sealed the area, forbidding entry or exit.
During the previous hunt, the Lou Family had temporarily removed all barriers for convenience.
No entry meant no demon beasts to kill. No kills meant no beast souls. And no beast souls meant no money!
After a moment’s hesitation, Lou Yun couldn\’t bring himself to just give up and leave. He decided to give it a try to see if he could break through the Protective Barrie.
If Lou Yun hadn’t been so blinded by the lure of money, a little careful thought would have reminded him: even if he could break such a barrier, he didn’t know how to create one. These barriers had been painstakingly calibrated to seal off all possible entry and exit paths for the demon beasts. Breaching one would be like opening a door wide, inviting the beasts to come and go as they pleased. That could bring considerable trouble to Lingjiang City. And given Lou Yun’s character, he would absolutely never allow such a thing to happen.
Unfortunately, Lou Yun currently had no mind for these concerns. Chang Xiang could think of it, but he had no energy to manage such matters either. In Chang Xiang’s heart, nothing interested him besides guiding Lou Yun’s cultivation!
Lou Yun cautiously extended his hand to touch the red barrier. A faint repelling force pushed his finger away.
\"Don’t bother testing it,\" Chang Xiang’s voice sounded in his mind. \"The only way to break Protective Barriers like these besides their creator is pure force. The energy within these nearby barriers isn\’t weak; they were clearly laid by at least a high-level magical weapons master. Your current strength isn\’t enough to break it. The only solution is to melt it with the Fusang Fire!\"
Lou Yun immediately perked up. \"The Fusang Fire can do that?\"
\"Obviously! The Fusang Fire is, after all, a celestial flame. The temperatures within a celestial flame are beyond your imagination; it can scorch nearly everything to ashes. To put it plainly, you\’re probably only able to channel less than a tenth of the Fusang Fire\’s heat right now. But that’s more than enough to melt this barrier.\"
Lou Yun didn\’t bother arguing with Chang Xiang; rushing into the forest was the priority. He flicked his wrist, summoning the Fusang Fire. Cranking its temperature to the maximum, he gently tossed the flickering flame towards one of the Protective Barriers.
Fzzt!
The barrier indeed couldn\’t withstand the Fusang Fire’s heat. It instantly dissolved into a puff of red smoke that drifted upwards, leaving a gaping hole in the forest’s defense.
Lou Yun chuckled, retrieved the Fusang Fire, and stepped through the gap into the Tianliang Forest.
At that very moment, Lou Tianzhi, who was meditating to regulate his energy, suddenly heard urgent footsteps rushing towards him. A voice called out, “Terrible news, Clan Head! One of the Protective Barriers blocking the Tianliang Forest has been forcibly breached!”
“What!” Lou Tianzhi sprang to his feet. “When did it happen?”
“Just moments ago! The corresponding barrier jade talisman shattered.”
Protective Barriers maintained a subtle energy link with the one who laid them, though the distance the creator could sense it depended on their strength. If a barrier was attacked or breached by external force, the creator would feel it. However, as magical weapons masters frequently traveled far and wide for training, they created barrier jade talismans – tokens infused with their own spiritual energy – so that others could be alerted if disruptions occurred while they were away.
If a barrier was breached, its linked jade talisman would shatter.
Lou Tianzhi swiftly issued orders. “Gather several men immediately and accompany me to investigate!”
As he hurried towards the exit, a deep frown creased his brow. The barriers around the Lou Family\’s grounds were all established by high-level magical weapons masters. For one to be broken means the individual or demon beast responsible must also possess the strength of a high-level magical weapons master. His thoughts raced. Right now, we have no clue whether someone breached the barrier to enter Tianliang Forest, or if a demon beast used the breach to escape into the city.
The first scenario is less dire. A human with high-level magical weapons master strength likely won’t be in mortal danger unless they venture into the forest’s deepest parts. But if it was a demon beast escaping… that spells real trouble. Demon beasts are notoriously vicious and brutal. If it hunts humans unchecked, countless lives could be lost.
It never crossed Lou Tianzhi’s mind that the one who breached the barrier was none other than his treasured nephew, Lou Yun.
Lou Yun, equally oblivious to the consequences, had no idea that the moment he slipped through the gap into the Tianliang Forest, a small red figure darted through the same breach moments later, escaping into the world beyond the forest!
