Within a building that is filled with dust covered weapon racks—
"…"
"Uh!"
*Klang! Siiiii! Klang! Siiiii!* accompanying the sound of muffled grunts—is the noise of metal being crushed and ripped.
*Klang! Siiiii! Klang! Siiiii!* eventually, the phantom maw tears off the weapon spirit's neck—leaving only its head remaining.
"…"
Picking up the head of the weapon spirit, and holding it in his right hand, Long Hua smiles with cruelty.
"…"
"Hmm."
As the weapon spirit stares back at him with a light of fear in their red eyes, Long Hua sinks into thought.
(This weapon spirit is clearly a special case… My mastery over the metal element, it won't reach the absolute level for a while. But if I left this thing to roam the lands, maybe it could return to me in a stronger state? If I devour it after that, won't I be able to reap more benefits? Ah, but I might not remain in this world when it does. Hmm.)
Giving the matter more thought, Long Hua eventually concludes—
(Well, it's not like devouring it after it's gotten stronger will let me reach absolute mastery of the metal element. However, its ability to strengthen itself, grants it limitless potential—if I left it be, it might be able to become a roadblock for the Ling Yuan family during their harvest season, which would buy me more time. …The main issue is, letting it roam around makes it impossible for me to use the identity of "Long Hua" any further, so I would need to discard it. Tch, whatever, not like it matters much at this point. Knowing Ah Yao, she's bound to become more wary of my plans going forward. …I suppose, the moment I decided to rope Lao Bai and the others into this, I should have already been prepared to discard my current identity? As the saying goes—there is not a single plan in existence that is capable of keeping up with abrupt changes; not having accounted for this was a mistake on my part, but it ultimately doesn't matter, so long as I possess enough strength to forcefully suppress all changes. …Going back to the question of keeping this thing around...… Hmm, I suppose it can at least use itself to distract the weapon spirits—delaying their entry into that city.)
Settling on this, Long Hua decides to spare the weapon spirit for now.
Turning to the side, while continuing to hold onto the weapon spirit, Long Hua remarks—
"Little weapon spirit, you may have caused me some minor inconveniences, but I'm willing to let you go for now."
Dropping the weapon spirit—that is only a head, and treating it like a soccer ball, Long Hua kicks it away.
*Boom!* the force of Long Hua's kick sends the head smashing through the ceiling of the building, and as it continues to fly, the weapon spirit manages to soar across Mount Changqiu, which is situated pass the city's northern gateway.
As the weapon spirit vanishes into the distant horizon, Long Hua glances to the side, and says—
"Come out."
Simultaneously, Qing Ming Yang, Lin Yu Heng, Yao Ying, and Tian Cheng enter the building.
Compared to Tian Cheng, the other three clearly appear very uncomfortable—when facing Long Hua, but who could possibly blame them?
They had witnessed the entirety of how Long Hua had devoured the weapon spirit—starting from their remaining limbs, prior to chipping away at the rest of their body, a single bite at a time using the phantom maw.
"Surnamed Qing, surnamed Lin."
Straightening their backs, the two answers—
"Here, senior!"
"Present, senior!"
"Do you two know who was the one responsible for killing the rampaging weapon spirit that was in the ruins, where we first met?"
"…"
"…"
With an answer in mind, Lin Yu Heng turns to Qing Ming Yang, and Long Hua does the same.
"…"
As Long Hua approaches one step at a time, a bead of cold sweat rolls down the side of Qing Ming Yang's head. Eventually, the latter says—
"…Senior, it was my elder brother, Qing Yu Long."
"Oh?"
Putting on a smile that doesn't reach his eyes, Long Hua says—
"Well, your brother did a real shit job at cleaning up his affairs—seeing as how that weapon spirit is still alive, and because of it, I can't use my current identity in this world now."
"That's…?"
Before Qing Ming Yang can think of an explanation, Long Hua continues to say—
"As such, I'm going to beat that brother of yours to death when I meet him."
*Thud!* immediately, Qing Ming Yang drops onto his knees, and begs—
"Senior, please reconsider!"
Just as Qing Ming Yang is about to hug onto his leg, Long Hua kicks the former away.
Falling onto the ground like an abused young lady, Qing Ming Yang shouts—
"Senior, that's my only blood related brother in this Heaven and Earth, I-!"
"Qing-xiong, wait."
Cutting Qing Ming Yang off, Lin Yu Heng takes one step forward, and says—
"Senior, this Qing Yu Long is considered quite a character in our generation. According to rumors, one of the Immortal Emperor's subordinates was thinking about taking him in as a disciple."
"Oh? So, you're saying that if we keep him around, it would make meeting that old tortoise easier?"
"Exactly. The Immortal Emperor hosts events centered around the younger generation yearly with the Immortal Kings. The most recent one had occurred a few months ago. Attempting to meet with them outside of that period would be quite difficult."
Towards these words, Long Hua asks back—
"But if you simply visit that old tortoise's front door, and say that you've found an outer realm practitioner, wouldn't they be forced to treat the situation as an emergency and meet with you?"
"Ah that's… Hmm."
Not having any words to refute this, Lin Yu Heng turns silent, and looks back at Qing Ming Yang, while saying—
"Qing-xiong, I've done my best."
"…"
Towards Lin Yu Heng's statement, Qing Ming Yang looks back at the former to try harder.
Shaking his head, Long Hua says—
"Surnamed Qing, get your ass off the ground. No one finds you sitting on the ground like an abused wife appealing on the eyes."
"…Understood."
Looking between Qing Ming Yang and Lin Yu Heng, Long Hua heaves a sigh, and says—
"Remember this, other than your parents and mentors, a practitioner shouldn't have to kneel to anyone."
Blinking their eyes, the two nods.
"In any case, since it will make meeting that old tortoise even easier, I guess we can keep that brother of yours around."
Rather quickly, Qing Ming Yang clasps his hands together, and bows, while saying—
"Many thanks to senior for reconsidering!"
"However, he's still going to receive a beating from me."
"Ah?!"
Blocking Qing Ming Yang off, Lin Yu Heng turns to the former, and shakes his head, while saying—
"Qing-xiong, being half dead is still better than being completely dead. Just do what you can to prepare some medicinal pills for your elder brother for when it happens."
"Ah that's…?"
"Also…"
With a solemn expression on his face, Lin Yu Heng continues to say—
"Receiving a beating from senior isn't necessarily a bad thing. Look at us right now. Didn't we acquire some good fortune out of that experience?"
"…"
Talked into silence, Qing Ming Yang finds it difficult to refute Lin Yu Heng's words—considering how he did receive a powerful divine art out of this entire experience.
Turning away from the two, Long Hua shifts his focus.
"…"
Recalling how Xun Yu had demonstrated the ability to manipulate spirit Qi, along with Zhou Chen and Yang Ning, Long Hua calls out to—
"Tian Cheng, clues on where the fine folks of Nine Lives are?"
"I've already located them, master. Also, will we just be flying over the mountain?"
Shaking his head, Long Hua replies—
"Taking a detour in my current state is actually beneficial, so we'll be scaling the mountain instead."
Towards the oddness of Long Hua's words, the Tai Xuan Emperor controls her vessel to tilt its head, while asking—
(*-laoban, what do you mean?)
"I need some time to adjust myself, and my plans."
(…)
Reading into these words, and recalling the issues that Long Hua might be facing right now, the Tai Xuan Emperor didn't feel like there was anything off about them.
"…"
Turning around, Long Hua throws on an attire that consists of a winter coat with a dress shirt and trouser. For the time being, he doesn't see any reason to cut his lengthened hair.
"Let's move along. I want some explanations."
Turning to Lin Yu Heng, Long Hua says—
"Unless, surnamed Lin here happens to know how weapon spirits are able to manipulate spirit Qi."
"Uh?"
Judging by Lin Yu Heng's reaction, Long Hua concludes the former to not know anything about this.
"Guess not. Oh well, things should be made clear soon enough."
"…"
Blinking her eyes amidst all this, Yao Ying sinks into thought. Although Long Hua's methods are twisted, she feels like there's a lot to be learned from them.