Chapter 38

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Chapter 38: Chaoyun Valley

After eating, the master and servant continued their journey. They had already lost two days accommodating Xia Zhilan, so they couldn’t afford further delay.

Inside the carriage, Lou Yun finally took Xiao Huo out from his robes. Worried the black-robed man might have some special tracking method to detect Xiao Huo, he had hidden him deliberately.

Poking Xiao Huo’s nose, Lou Yun laughed teasingly, "You’ve got quite the nerve! To just swallow that entire mass of celestial fire like that. It’s a real shame, though. I didn’t even learn its name before it became your meal. So, how did it taste? Pretty good?"

Xiao Huo chirped "ji ji" and nodded repeatedly, as if confirming the black celestial fire was indeed delicious.

Seeing his adorable look, Lou Yun chuckled, "Alright, enough pretending not to appreciate your luck while enjoying the benefit! Off you go now!" After saying that, he closed his eyes to cultivate.

Xiao Huo stood nearby, gazing intently at Lou Yun. His eyes rolled a few times as if considering something. Yet, after a brief moment, he simply leaped onto Lou Yun’s shoulder and fell fast asleep, snoring softly.

The remaining distance wasn’t long, and the pair whipped their horses to hurry. But by the time they reached Chaoyun Valley, they were a full day late for the registration deadline.

As a valley, Chaoyun Valley was naturally nestled among mountains on three sides, with only a single entrance serving for both entry and exit.

The entrance wasn’t large, barely three meters wide — too narrow for any reasonably sized carriage to pass through. Peering down the path from the gap revealed only a winding mountain trail; nothing within the valley itself was discernible.

This, of course, was by the design of the Ancient Weapon Academy. The academy operated under a completely closed cultivation model. Once inside, neither teachers nor students had the freedom to enter or leave as they pleased. Permission was mandatory for any departure.

Furthermore, chosen precisely for its defensive advantages — easily defensible but harder to attack — this valley location provided security for the academy’s store of techniques and weapon manuals sought after by countless magical weapons masters, deterring potential troublemakers.

When Lou Yun stepped down from the carriage and stood at the valley entrance, his potent spirit sense immediately detected numerous unseen guards hidden all around.

Visibly, a small log cabin stood right at the gap. Just then, a ruddy-nosed old man, reeking of liquor and bleary-eyed, shuffled out of the cabin and glanced vaguely at Lou Yun.

Though seemingly unremarkable, when Lou Yun discreetly channeled his spirit sense to probe the man’s depths, he was stunned to find his spirit sense plunging into absolute darkness. An instant later, his vision went completely black as well. Profound silence enveloped him, even the sound of his own breathing seeming to vanish.

Just as Lou Yun was baffled by what was happening, light returned. The surroundings snapped back into focus, the drowsy old man standing before him as before.

In that split second, cold sweat broke out across Lou Yun’s back. He understood that the inexplicable experience he just endured was unquestionably caused by the old man — a small punishment for daring to probe him with spirit sense.

That even an old man guarding the valley entrance possessed such formidable strength gave a staggering hint of the overall power residing within the Ancient Weapon Academy.

Prior to this, Lou Yun had held no particular awe for the Ancient Weapon Academy. After all, he possessed potent cultivation methods and weapon manuals; he didn’t need to come here to learn higher ones. His only reason for being here was to find someone or some remedy capable of repairing his father’s magical weapon.

Yet, after this small incident, Lou Yun gained a layer of respect for the Ancient Weapon Academy.

The old man, however, acted oblivious. Swaying unsteadily, he walked up to Lou Yun but before speaking, first let out a loud burp. The foul stench invaded Lou Yun’s nostrils unabashedly.

"What are you here for?"

Lou Yun betrayed no hint of complaint, answering respectfully, "Greetings, Senior. My name is Lou Yun. I’ve come to register."

"Lou Yun?" The old man tilted his head, pondering for a long moment before his expression cleared. "Oh, right. I recall. Somebody mentioned you before. But the registration window closed already. Leave. Come back in half a year."

With that, the old man turned and started shuffling back towards his cabin.

Lou Yun was dumbfounded. He’d struggled to get here! Being a day late, while his fault, was genuinely due to unforeseen circumstances. They couldn’t seriously expect him to wait another half year over this slight delay!

"Senior, wait!"

His back still turned to Lou Yun, the old man dismissively waved a hand, his voice thick with contempt. "Save your breath. Don’t think having someone from the Spirit Weapon Sect vouch for you entitles you to run wild. To enter the Ancient Weapon Academy, you follow its rules."

Lou Yun paused but immediately grasped the implication. This old man clearly mistook him for some spoiled young master from a powerful family, relying on connections to act lawlessly, hence the curt dismissal.

Lou Yun gave a bitter inward smile, feeling truly wronged. While the Spirit Weapon Sect had provided his guarantee, he never intended to leverage their name for advantage!

Reasoning was futile now. The old man had already reached the cabin, slammed the wooden door shut with a resounding "bam!", clearly resolved to ignore Lou Yun utterly.

Lou Yun stood silently for a time. Then, setting his jaw, he turned and walked towards the carriage. He wouldn’t enter then. Fine. He refused to believe there was no place besides the Ancient Weapon Academy capable of saving his father.

At that moment, the rapid sound of horse hooves suddenly came from the mountain road in the distance. Lou Yun had already put one foot on the carriage when an inadvertent glance made him freeze.

He saw two fine horses galloping toward the valley entrance from afar, and the two riders looked strangely familiar.

Lou Yun couldn’t help but pause slightly, and in that brief moment, the two horses had already reached the side of the carriage. Suddenly, one rider exclaimed excitedly: "Why, it’s you, Lou Yun!"

No wonder Lou Yun had found them familiar; the two people who had suddenly appeared were none other than Xia Zhilan, whom he had just saved not long ago, and the other was naturally her arrogant senior Qin Wufeng!

Lou Yun was also greatly surprised, not expecting to run into them here. He smiled faintly and said: "What a coincidence, Miss Xia. I’m here to report in."

"Ah!" Surprise and joy appeared on Xia Zhilan’s face: "You’re a student recruited for this term at the Ancient Weapon Academy!"

But looking at Lou Yun’s body already on the carriage, Xia Zhilan realized something was wrong: "Then why aren’t you going in? Are you leaving?"

Lou Yun nodded with a bitter laugh and said: "That old man said I was a day late. Registration has ended, and he wants me to come back in half a year."

Xia Zhilan froze for a moment, then reacted and quickly said: "Wait a moment."

After speaking, she dismounted, hurried directly to a small wooden hut nearby, and knocked loudly while saying: "Grandpa Feng, it’s Little Lan. Open up, please! I need to talk to you."

The wooden door swung open at the sound, and Old Man Feng stood at the entrance holding a bottle of wine, beaming at Xia Zhilan as he said: "Little Lan is back? What’s so urgent calling me? What is it?"

Xia Zhilan was clearly very close to him. Grabbing his shoulder, she said: "Grandpa Feng, when I went out on a mission with my senior this time, I encountered danger. Thanks to this Lou Yun, he saved me and looked after me day and night for two days. That’s why he missed the registration time. Please be flexible and let him in now!"

Hearing this, a sharp, cold glint suddenly flashed in Old Man Feng’s eyes. After studying Xia Zhilan intently, he then turned to look at Lou Yun, though the chill had vanished from his gaze by then. If Lou Yun hadn’t seen Old Man Feng’s prowess earlier, he would have thought it was a trick of the eye.

Old Man Feng nodded and said: "Since it’s like that, forget it this time. You can go in now. But only you can enter; not her."

Then, ignoring Lou Yun, he said to Xia Zhilan: "Little Lan, tell me, who had the guts to make a move on you? Grandpa Feng will teach them a lesson for you."

Xia Zhilan secretly waved her hand at Lou Yun, signaling he should hurry inside, then tugged at Old Man Feng and began chatting.

After a moment’s hesitation, Lou Yun smiled, climbed off the carriage again, and said to the driver: "I’m going in now. You can head back. Tell my father and Second Uncle I’m safe when you return."

As he spoke, Lou Yun pulled a small bag of gold from his chest and pressed it into the driver’s hand, saying: "You worked hard the whole way!"

The driver immediately tried to decline: "Young Master Yun, this is just my duty—no hardship at all—so please take the money back."

But Lou Yun thrust it firmly into the driver’s arms and said with a smile: "Alright, go back quickly and be careful on the road!"

The driver had no choice but to accept, turned the carriage around, and called back to Lou Yun: "Young Master Yun, take good care of yourself too, and visit the clan often when you can!"

"Alright!"

Lou Yun watched as the carriage gradually disappeared into the distance, then shouldered his pack and turned to walk back into Chaoyun Valley.

This series of actions was witnessed by Old Man Feng, Xia Zhilan, and Qin Wufeng. Qin Wufeng let out a cold snort, clearly disdainful toward Lou Yun’s behavior. However, Old Man Feng and Xia Zhilan nodded silently; someone who treated a servant with such respect made it easy to imagine Lou Yun’s usual character.

Only after Lou Yun had walked a fair distance away did Old Man Feng pat Xia Zhilan’s shoulder and murmur: "Girl, Grandpa Feng made a mistake earlier. That kid is good! Heh, you need to step up and not let him slip away!"

"Grandpa Feng, what are you talking about!"

These words instantly made Xia Zhilan blush from her neck to her ears. She stamped her foot coyly, turned, and ran to her horse. Leaping onto the saddle, she shouted loudly: "Giddyup!"

The horse reared, kicking up dust, and charged into Chaoyun Valley. Beside her, Qin Wufeng raised his whip and charged in close behind. From start to finish, he never said a word to Old Man Feng.

Watching them race into Chaoyun Valley one after the other, Old Man Feng snorted disdainfully through his nose and muttered to himself: "I’ll have to keep a close watch on this girl. Can’t let that Qin Wufeng brat take advantage of her!"