Mutated Tao

“Eat… eat… eat…”

As he watched Gao Zhijian stutter and struggle to speak, Li Huowang sighed in frustration. Then, he reached out to take the two books from the big chap’s hands. “Alright, that’s enough. You can leave.”

After the disheartened Gao Zhijian went out, Li Huowang turned his attention back to the two books.

One of them was a regular paper book, while the other was encased in a semi-transparent wax cover. The wax-covered book was the Fiery Scripture that Jiang Yingzi had given him, along with her translations.

The Fiery Scripture was a good object. Despite the excruciating pain it caused during the healing process, it would be valuable in saving lives if any of them suffered from any external injuries in future.

It would be quite a waste if he did not learn how to make use of such a good item. However, Li Huowang had become almost completely illiterate. He could not even read the written translations, let alone the strange words written in the Fiery Scripture.

Things can’t go on like this. I can’t remain illiterate my entire life. I must re-learn how to read.

Li Huowang helplessly stuffed the Fiery Scripture back into his pocket.

While it was right to think that way, it would take several years to systematically learn a language from scratch. Even if he hired someone else to help him translate, it would still take several months, and he didn’t have the luxury of time.

It was even more tiring when he had to ask Simpleton to teach him, since he was the only person who was literate in their group. However, he could stutter on two sentences for over ten minutes.

Even so, Li Huowang was unyielding; he re-opened the translated text, “Wood.. mouth… person…”

Currently, he could recognise only the most simple characters on the page.

“Haha, this is really returning all we have learnt to the teacher,” Li Huowang mocked himself. He had assumed that after Dan Yangzi’s death, the knowledge that he had lost would return to him. But from the looks of it, that was clearly not the case.

Just then, someone knocked on the wooden door. “Brother Li, are you there? I’ve found the sword manual you had wanted.”

Li Huowang perked up, and stood up to open the door. The matter about the Fiery Scripture had to be pushed back. He had waited here for so long, just for all these sword techniques.

Soon, Zhao Qin had passed the sword manual to Li Huowang.

There were four large characters written on it, but Li Huowang could not understand them.

“I noticed that Brother Li uses a three-foot long sword, and so I picked this manual that matches it. It is a sword technique from the Duan Clan, so it’s suitable for you. This sword technique was created by the genius, Duan Si. It’s different from the other techniques as it focuses on straightforward strikes rather than finesse,” explained Zhao Qin.

“Duan Clan sword technique?” Li Huowang mumbled to himself, then flipped open the manual. He saw that most of it was illustrations, with only sporadic written annotations. When he saw this, he breathed a sigh of relief.

“No worries, you can have your Leader Zhao instruct you about this. Just memorize the key points and you should be fine,” said Zhao Qin.

Li Huowang turned toward Zhao Qin. “Leader Zhao, I’ve not learnt to use a sword before this. Could you give me some pointers on how to start?”

“Oh? You’ve never used a sword? Not even the basics?” Zhao Qin was puzzled as he looked at the two swords on Li Huowang’s back. But as an experienced escort master, he was quickly able to figure it out.

He placed his hand on Li Huowang’s shoulder and gestured outside, “It’s alright. Sword techniques can be picked up by anyone. I may be no genius, but I will be able to teach Brother Li for a few days.”

As they spoke, they walked toward the martial arts training grounds where Li Huowang saw Xiaoman practicing with Puppy and the others.

At that moment, he shouted toward Xiaoman, “Xiaoman, come here!”

When he saw this, Zhao Qin nodded in approval. “Good choice, Brother Li. It’s best to have a partner to practice with. Otherwise, there won’t be anyone for you to spar against in future.”

Meanwhile, Xiaoman was rather excited as she gripped her own sword. She seemed to understand the reason behind why Li Huowang was calling her over.

In the following days, Li Huowang began his life of training to be a swordsman.

With the guidance of an experienced person like Leader Zhao who taught patiently, the two students learnt eagerly. Both Li Huowang and Chun Xiaoman progressed quite fast.

Clang!

Sparks flew into the air as both Li Huowang and Chun Xiaoman were knocked back a few steps.

Chun Xiaoman gripped her sword tightly, then stepped forward with her right foot before charging ahead.

Meanwhile, Li Huowang twisted his body to dodge her attack. When he saw her wooden sword miss its target, he quickly counter-attacked, launching a series of blows.

Li Huowang’s quick movements disrupted Chun Xiaoman’s rhythm, causing her to make mistakes. Not long after, her sword was knocked out of her hands, and her defeat was greeted by cheers all around.

Impressed, Zhao Qin approached Li Huowang, “Brother Li, you have remarkable aptitude. In just a short fifteen days, you’ve already trained to this level. You’re a martial arts genius!”

This was not just flattery. As the leader of an escort office, he had seen far too many seedlings before; however, there were few that were like Li Huowang.

“You’re too kind, I still have a long way to go,” Li Huowang replied modestly. Only he understood why his progress was so much faster than Chun Xiaoman.

Ba-Hui’s attention had not just enhanced his sense of pain, but also his other senses. These enhanced senses allowed Li Huowang to learn quite efficiently. While he did not know if they would impact him negatively in the future, they were at least beneficial for him currently.

At that moment, he passed the bamboo sword in his hand to Sun Baolu, then turned back to Zhao Qin. “Leader Zhao, it has been troublesome for you these few days. We’ve spent too much time here and cannot dawdle further. We ought to set off. I’ll visit if I’m back.”

The master may be able to help them get a foot into the door, but in the end cultivation was dependent on the individual.

Since he was already on the path of swordsmanship, there was no need for Li Huowang to continue wasting his time here. There wasn’t much that Zhao Qin could teach him, since he did not use a sword.

“Alright! Brother Li, please follow me. I want to give you something,” said Zhao Qin.

In Zhao Qin’s office, a bunch of paper and ink were arranged neatly.

He picked up the brush and started to write. Then, he blew dried the letter and placed it within an envelope.

“This is my letter of guarantee. In the escort trade, I do have some influence. Brother Li can go to any escort office and use this letter to receive escort missions,” said Zhao Qin.

Li Huowang accepted the letter and clasped his hands toward Zhao Qin. “Thank you for your guidance these past few days.”

After much consideration, Li Huowang finally felt that they could take on some escort missions.

Puppy was right; since they had to travel, they might as well make a living out of it; it would be killing two birds with one stone.

“Brother Li is too kind. This is nothing. You are my benefactor who finally allowed my wife to recognize me! I won’t ask where you’re going or what you’re doing. If you ever come back to this town, then be sure to come and visit!”

Chacha and Char's Thoughts

And this is what Bai Lingmiao's second deity looks like! Or at least how she looks like when she summons the Immortals on her body. Credits to 格子的乱七八糟 on douyin.

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