“I picked up a good apprentice.” It was not long after Mu Yi left, Zhu Yun woke up and knew that it was w.a.n.g Tieniu who saved him, so he thanked him again and again. Seeing the body of the sorcerer, Zhu Yun thought better of w.a.n.g Tieniu. He was clearly stronger than Zhu Yun.
Zhu Yun didn"t understand how w.a.n.g Tieniu had killed him, but the sorcerer"s wounds were definitely caused by w.a.n.g Tieniu"s sword.
Maybe he has cards in his hand, Zhu Yun thought. Everyone had his own secret. He didn"t show interest in it, especially when he woke up and found that he had been purged of the poison. It wasn"t something that ordinary people could do.
Therefore, in Zhu Yun"s eyes, w.a.n.g Tieniu, a seemingly ordinary man, became somewhat mysterious.
w.a.n.g Tieniu flushed as he told Zhu Yun that he saved him. His cultivation was still weak, but his strength reached the level of third-cla.s.s experts. Moreover, he reached the edge of the state of perfect cultivation. He didn"t know how to open it at will and wondered if it was something he could only do in the face of certain death.
Zhu Yun asked about their location and left with w.a.n.g Tieniu. Since the sorcerer was dead, he could go back to report the completion of this task. At the same time, he decided to help w.a.n.g Tieniu and give him due credit. Without w.a.n.g Tieniu, he would have died and there was no credit worth his life.
The credit for this incident wouldn"t have gotten him a promotion anyway.
w.a.n.g Tieniu was strong, but was a bit immature based on what he wore and how he treated people. Zhu Yun guessed that he came from an ordinary family. Such strength could earn him a high rank in an advanced position in the town. If he could become his deputy, he would be more relaxed in the future.
The next day, w.a.n.g Tieniu took Mu Yi"s advice. He was not proud of his victory over the sorcerer because he knew that his skills were not as good as master"s.
Mu Yi"s means of imparting his knowledge was unheard of, and he thought it was excellent. However, what puzzled him was who could have hurt him given that his master was so powerful?
He didn"t think about getting revenge for his master. He knew that he could not do that. The only thing he could do now was practice hard and make his master satisfied by becoming stronger.
By the afternoon, w.a.n.g Tieniu couldn"t wait to finish the last step of his blood tempering. He tempered all of his blood perfectly and completely stepped into the third cla.s.s. His strength improved enough that he could lift the stone mound at his home easily with one hand.
It was proof that he had changed so quickly. It had been less than half a month, but his progress should have taken several years of hard work. He supposed that this was the benefit of learning from an especially strong master who could give him medicinal concoctions to help make up his shortcomings. To his dismay, it came at the price of one thousand liang of silver.
There was no fast road to reach the second-cla.s.s. Many people in the world would only reach the second-cla.s.s realm due to their lack of talent and the difficulty of the road to becoming a second-cla.s.s expert.
On another day, Zhu Yun brought people to w.a.n.g Tieniu"s village, and w.a.n.g Tieniu became the hero in the eyes of the whole village. Zhu Yun told them that it was w.a.n.g Tieniu who killed the zombie and didn"t mention the sorcerer. It was the simplest explanation.
w.a.n.g Tieniu was at a loss of what to do about his sudden fame. He was just a fisherman and had never attended a day of school. He became a master of the third cla.s.s so quickly that he hadn"t reconciled the knowledge in his mind.
Zhu Yun brought him five hundred liang of silver and invited w.a.n.g Tieniu to the county government"s office. w.a.n.g Tieniu was summoned by the county magistrate, and the people of the village were more proud of w.a.n.g Tieniu. Even Xiao Lian"s mother began to urge her daughter to maintain close contact with w.a.n.g Tieniu.
Xiao Lian was happy and also worried. She was afraid that w.a.n.g Tieniu would not like her any longer now that he was a big shot.
Mu Yi did not get involved. Many people in the village had seen him, but he had remained low-key. After some mental manipulation, few people could recognize him. Thus, despite Mu Yi being in the village all the time, no one except w.a.n.g Tieniu, Xiao Lian and Xiao Lian"s mother knew him.
w.a.n.g Tieniu followed Zhu Yun. According to Mu Yi, he would wander the world alone sooner or later. This was just the beginning. If he dared not take this step, he might as well stay at home and return to being a fisherman.
w.a.n.g Tieniu was a little disturbed, but he left with Zhu Yun.
Zhu Yun had some contacts, and w.a.n.g Tieniu relied on him, so they had a lot of fun together. Slowly, w.a.n.g Tieniu"s tension gradually dissipated. He was a third-cla.s.s expert with great strength. It was natural to have confidence. w.a.n.g Tieniu was nervous to speak with Zhu Yun before, but now, he spoke with him as an equal.
Unconsciously, a seed of desire and hope took root in w.a.n.g Tieniu"s heart and began to sprout slowly.
In the country government office, Yang Yan seemed very happy. The zombie matter was completely solved. Zhu Yun came back to report that only with the help of a strong man, equal to Zhu Yun in strength, had he killed the sorcerer. Zhu Yun was the only third-cla.s.s expert in the county government. If he could get the support of another third-cla.s.s expert again, he would be extremely satisfied.
He asked Zhu Yun to invite w.a.n.g Tieniu after sending someone out to investigate w.a.n.g Tieniu"s background. He found that he was born in an ordinary, pure and innocent family. His solitary martial arts training moved Yang Yan even more.
“Brother w.a.n.g Tieniu, you can rest a.s.sured that the county magistrate will not embarra.s.s you since you killed the sorcerer. It"s likely that the county magistrate will give you more benefits,” Zhu Yun told the w.a.n.g Tieniu as they headed to the county government"s office.
“Benefits?” w.a.n.g Tieniu was confused and looked at Zhu Yun. After all, he had already got five hundred liang of silver. It was not comparable to the wealth of the Huang family, but it was a lot of money.
Were there other rewards?