Chapter 69: Elder Han
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
"How far is Qingye City from here?"
Along the old pathway, there were a few carriages moving. Suddenly, a pale hand stretched out and opened the curtains, which revealed a pair of eyes.
The hand was so pale that it looked as if it had lost a great amount of blood. The blood vessels along the arm were also visible.
The person whose hand was pale had a strange voice. His old raspy voice had a slight hint of youthful vigour in it. He was already panting after saying a few words, which clearly suggested that he was easily short of breath.
"Elder Han please hold on, we will be there in a few hours time!"
The person who was at the helm of the carriage was Lu Zhisen, who went to the secluded valley to seek medical attention previously.
The only difference was that now he was being polite and respectful instead of his usual recklessness.
"Hurhur….that's good….after all, we have Lin Leiyue with us on this trip. Once we reached back home, you should have a big reunion with Minister Lin….."
Elder Han looked middle-aged. His lips were red and his teeth were white. He had a beautifully shaped pair of eyes. With his pale cheeks, his facial features were handsome in a feminine way. This effeminate side of him was accentuated whenever he covered his mouth when he coughed gently. Even Lu Zhisen was disgusted by this.
However, no matter how courageous he was, he wouldn't dare to do anything to Elder Han who had attained the 4 Heavenly Gates in the Spirit Returning Sect.
"Elder Han, you are being too polite!"
Lin Leiyue was riding on a red date coloured horse previously and galloped forward respectfully after hearing what Elder Han said.
In the sect, she was the junior of both Elder Yan and Elder Han. After all, to an expert in 4 Heavenly Gates, even the direct disciple of the sect head was not on the same level unless the disciple had very exceptional abilities.
"Cough….no harm…..hurhur….."
Elder Han wanted to say something but his expression changed. He then started coughing and covered his mouth with a piece of white handkerchief.
After which, he saw blood on the handkerchief.
"Elder Han….."
Lin Leiyue got anxious and said, "Have your injuries worsened?"
"Hurhur….hurhur….I won't die don't worry….."
Elder Han waved his hands and replied proudly. "Hehe….the vice head of the Five Ghosts Sect's Soul Searching Hand was indeed powerful. Unfortunately for him, I was still more superior and managed to kill him. If the vice sect head was slightly more powerful, I would probably not be able to survive. Even if I managed to survive, I would probably be a vegetarian from then onwards….."
Even though he sounded defeated, Lin Leiyue still respected him.
After all, Elder Han got hold of his position as an elder in the sect 50 years ago and definitely had a vast experience in martial arts. Even though he was older than Lady Yan, he was still able to defeat many good young martial artists. Everybody in the Qinghe County would be afraid when they heard his name.
He was in such a state because he was ambushed by the Five Ghosts Sect.
"Please don't worry, Elder Han. This doctor in the secluded valley is highly skilled and can cure many illnesses. He was also the one who cured Elder Zhao previously!"
Lu Zhisen said, "You are highly skilled and with the help of the doctor, you should be able to recover in no time!"
"Haha….thanks for your well wishes!"
Elder Han smiled but his deep expression showed that he seemed to be thinking of something else.
Lin Leiyue didn't seem to notice his expression and pondered over her thoughts silently. "Even though Elder Han had managed to defeat the vice sect head, one other person still managed to escape and this would mean serious trouble for the sect. Plus, with both Elder Yan and Elder Han being injured right now, the attacking power of the sect would be less…..Both elders had not recovered from their injuries and the doctors in the sect had no solutions to help them. This doctor in the secluded valley would be our final hope then….."
As compared to Elder Han's injuries, Lady Yan's injuries were worse when she was fighting against a few experts.
However, Song Zhong was part of her faction previously, but he was killed by Fang Yuan…..
Not to mention anything about grudges but she would mind.
Even if Fang Yuan was willing to treat her, she would probably not trust Fang Yuan fully and she would think that Fang Yuan would do something harmful to her.
After all, if a doctor wanted a person to die without being identified as the murderer, the doctor would have many ways to do it.
In fact, Shi Yutong actually had another choice which was to seek medical attention from the alchemy master who had previously helped Lin Leiyue.
However, the alchemy master was a carefree person and isolated himself from the outside world. Plus the alchemy master had other commitments and why would the alchemy master accept a request made by the Spirit Returning Sect?
Previously, the alchemy master owed Shi Yutong a favour which was why he agreed to help Lin Leiyue. Since now the favour had been returned, it would be harder to ask the alchemy master for help.
"Elder Han, this doctor has a weird attitude and he set many rules…."
The memories of him being scolded by the doctor were still vivid in his mind. Lu Zhisen touched his head and remarked.
"Don't worry, I do understand. After all, I'm the one that require his help now…."
Elder Han smiled and looked at Lin Leiyue. "Lin Leiyue, I heard you were once engaged to this doctor and you even went to Shaoyang City?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Leiyue blushed. "Yes, you are correct!"
"That is unfortunate…."
Elder Han closed his eyes and didn't know who should he feel unfortunate for, Lin Leiyue or Fang Yuan.
'This person is mysterious. The head of the sect had instructed to keep Fang Yuan for the sect's use….at least not to let him go to the enemy's side….and also to find out the secret behind his fast advancement in his skills…..'
He then returned to his previously relaxed posture and gazed out at Qingye City in hopelessness.
...…..
Back in the secluded valley.
"Hoo…..Haa….."
Fang Yuan was half naked and was regulating his breathing.
"Chirp! Chirp!"
Iron-tailed Black Eagle flew down from above. Its claws were like hooks and with its fast speed, it was indeed a powerful eagle.
"Keke!"
On the ground, a white light flashed past very quickly.
"You came just in time!"
With the attacks from air and land by the 2 spiritual beasts, a normal expert in 4 Heavenly Gates would also be confused.
However, Fang Yuan couldn't wait to take action when he saw this.
"Iron Skin Technique!"
He breathed in and could feel the energy surging. He then stepped his right leg out and the ground beside his leg split.
"Piak!"
The clothing on his leg immediately broke into pieces and it revealed his muscular legs and tightened skin. He was not injured at all.
"Hissss..."
The Flower Fox Ferret retreated and looked as if it had incurred a big loss.
"Hoo! Hoo!"
Just when it had just retreated by a few steps, a strong wind came and a giant eagle's claws came pouncing down.
"Haha….."
Fang Yuan laughed and lifted his right hand with his left hand at the bottom. This formed an eagle's claw shape and he aimed it at the sky.
"Chirp! Chirp!"
When the giant eagle's claws came, Fang Yuan's eyes glittered and grabbed with both his hands. "You better come down now!"
"Swish! Swish!"
Fang Yuan's attack was strong and swift. Both of his hands managed to grab hold of the giant eagle's claws and he lifted the claws fiercely.
"Bang!"
The Iron-tailed Black Eagle then fell to the ground forcefully.
With such strong impact, the Iron-tailed Black Eagle couldn't hold any longer even though it had tough bones. It let out a cry to admit defeat.
"Keke!"
The Flower Fox Ferret immediately raised both of its claws to admit defeat.
"Fine, I shall stop…...I was just warming up actually….."
Fang Yuan stopped and saw both the Flower Fox Ferret and the Iron-tailed Black Eagle were trembling. They were obviously injured by Fang Yuan's inner force. Fang Yuan then went forward and treat them.
'The inner force of an expert in 4 Heavenly Gates changes and is different from a normal inner force. Such inner force can defeat a low skilled martial artist easily….Of course, no matter what changes there are, elemental force is way superior compared to inner force and both types of forces are of different levels…..'
Fang Yuan gradually understood how it felt to be a [Martial Artist (9th Gate)].
Through his tough training, his skills had surpassed the two spiritual beasts and that meant a lot to him.
At least, the spiritual beasts which were previously living in the forests knew the concept of 'the weak losing out to the stronger ones'. They might become friends with humans but having a weakling to become their master was unacceptable!
The first step to tame a spiritual beast was to show one's dominance over it!
Similarly, in this case, Fang Yuan felt that the way the Iron-tailed Black Eagle looked at him was different now. The Iron-tailed Black Eagle was less proud now.
"With my current skills and the 2 spiritual beasts, dealing with the Red-eyed White King Bird shouldn't be a big problem for me now…."
Upon reaching this conclusion, Fang Yuan was slightly hesitant instead.
Even though he already had plans to take over the Green Peak, the Red-eyed White King Bird could, after all, fly. If he missed his shot and caused it to escape elsewhere, wouldn't he have to fear of it coming back in future?
"It is better for me to break through the 11th Gate first before moving on to take over the Green Peak!"
Fang Yuan wavered and looked at his stats window:
"Name: Fang Yuan
Essence: 5.9
Spirit: 5.8
Magic: 3.5
Age: 19
Cultivation: [Martial Artists (9th Gate)]
Technique: [Black Sand Palm (Grade 5)], [Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique (Grade 9)] (with the addition of Yin's inner force)
Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 3)]"
"The 4 Heavenly Gates, which was after the Death Gate, did actually help to improve my magic!"
Even though this was not the first time he saw his magic increase by a little, he felt happy still when he saw the increase.
From his conjecture, he had realised that attaining the 12 Golden Gates was similar to becoming a spiritual knight. This would allow a normal human being to become powerful.
As such, the process not only helped to condition one's body and also improve one's magic.
However, he didn't expect this feature to only appear when approaching the 4 Heavenly Gates.
"With such big magnitude, it would still be difficult to attain the standard of a spiritual knight even if one was able to break through the Heaven Gate….."
This was the reason why there were many martial artists who were of [Martial Artist (12th Gate)] but there was no one in Wu Zong.
The Heaven Gate was difficult to break through! Attaining Wu Zong was even tougher!