Chapter 2: Sword Fu
12th gleefully said, “It’s done; it’s a success! This Fu is…… huh?” As long as it was Spirit Fu or better, then as soon as it had been absorbed into the Innate Fu, the possessor of the Innate Fu would be able to control the Fu whilst others would be unable to even touch it. This was why his Master wouldn’t ask to have a look at his True Ancient Fu.
After carefully studying this True Spirit Fu, 12th became incredibly excited. It appeared to be a very powerful Fu, so it made sense that Qin Han couldn’t use it. To use a True Spirit Fu or something more powerful would require very strong spirit power—it didn’t matter whether it was Fu or Zhou at this point—which is why 12th was able to operate his Innate Fu Orb so easily.
If he were to use FuZhou, as opposed to his spirit’s power, to absorb the Spirit Fu into his Innate Fu it would take at least ten years of hard work, otherwise it would be very difficult to control. This was the difference between 12th and other FuZhou Warriors.
“This is a single-target, attack-type True Spirit Fu. Hmm…… not sure what type of attacking method it is, but I feel like it should be very powerful!”
After a moment, 12th added, “d.a.m.n, it can only attack once? No, that’s not right, it can be reused! No, that’s wrong too…… it’s a weapon type attack Fu! It can effectively be drawn and sheathed freely! Amazing!”
After that, Qin Han had utter respect for 12th as he nodded. “I’ve only ever been able to use it twice, and although it’s strong, it takes a long time to summon, a little inefficient actually, and I couldn’t absorb it into my Innate Fu…… Such a shame. So it’s actually a True Spirit Fu? I guess it wasn’t meant to be.” he said with a sigh.
Luo Jie excitedly said, “Try it! See how strong it is!” He pointed at a large tree outside of the door and said, “Attack that tree! I want to see just how powerful a True Spirit Fu is!”
12th accepted and said, “Alright, let me see.”
Outside of the grand hall was a especially wide field, in which were many exceedingly large trees, and Luo Jie pointed to a ma.s.sive tree with a extremely thick trunk. 12th walked outside, where a lot of Fu Warriors and Fu Masters had gathered, and seeing the three walk out they immediately formed a protective circle around them. Luo Jie smiled and said, “Don’t fret, everyone just stand aside.”
12th exhaled his Innate Fu Orb, and copying his Master, he tapped it lightly. His Innate Fu Orb suddenly expanded into the size of a football, spinning continuously in front of his chest. Three little lights were orbiting his Innate Fu Orb, it was very pretty, like moons...o...b..ting their planet.
As he tapped with his finger, the pale gold colour of the True Spirit Fu rose up. 12th tapped it again lightly, and a streak of pale gold light shot up into the sky like a pillar of light. 12th pointed at the old tree ahead and commanded, “Go!”
An ear-piercing slice was heard.
A beam of pale gold light the size and shape of a door fell from the sky, slicing the tree diagonally at a forty-five degree angle.
Crash! Creeeaak…… Boom!
The tree was felled with a loud boom, and the cut was even and smooth—like when a knife cuts tofu.
T/N: For people who don’t know what tofu is like, it’s basically the same as if you cut jelly with a sharp knife.
12th surprised, exclaimed, “Oh? No, wait! Haha, I understand now!”
That beam of light didn’t actually disappear, it had actually followed 12th’s commands and flew up, flying in circles above the fallen tree. Following his commands, “Come down! Haha!” The beam shot straight down like a knife.
The tree was instantly sliced in half. 12th excitedly said, “Again! Horizontally!”
Boom! Boom! Boom……
The trees in the field fell one after the other; the power of the pale gold light was seriously strong. Luo Jie called, “Alright, 12th, that’s enough…… Stop it! Stop!”
12th shook his finger, and the light immediately went to the roof of a stone house not too far away.
The house was sliced in two by the sheet of light without warning. 12th jumped in fright, and called, “Back!” The light shrunk until it was a small glowing sphere again as it returned back to his Innate Fu. 12th let out a long breath and said, “What a powerful True Spirit Fu! It’s a giant sword of light, so I’ll just call it a Sword Fu from now on!”
Crash!
That stone house suddenly collapsed.
A man crawled out of the stone house and cursed, “What the f.u.c.k…… This pile of s.h.i.t for a house…… why would it just cave in like that?”
Everyone stared, and then they all laughed for a quite a while.
Only Qin Han didn’t laugh; his face was full of anguish. He could only summon one-tenth of the power when he used this Fu, and he couldn’t use it continuously. What was more infuriating was that he couldn’t even absorb it into his Innate Fu. Because of this one Fu he had wasted so many months, and only now did he realise that the obstacle he needed to overcome to become a Great FuZhou Master was that Sword Fu. He thought for a long while and suddenly said, “Master, I understand now!”
Luo Jie asked curiously, “What do you understand?
Qin Han said, “Master, have you got an Spirit Fu? Can you gift me one?”
Luo Jie exhaled his Innate Fu Book without hesitation, and upon tapping it a Fu flew out. He turned it over in his hand and said, “Here, it’s a Spirit Fu, I’ll give it to you!”
Qin Han had tears in his eyes as he said, “Thank you Master!”
12th curiously asked, “Brother, what’s wrong?
Qin Han patted his shoulders and said, “A thanks to you is in order, young brother, for you allowed me to understand something important!” He exhaled his own Innate Fu. That was a Spirit Fu he had a.s.similated and turned into his Innate Fu Book. He was already very close to advancing, but was stuck at this point for ages.
Qin Han placed the Spirit Fu into his Innate Fu, and in that moment, there were great flashes of light as beams emanated from the Innate Fu. Luo Jie exclaimed, “He advanced!” as he stepped back a couple steps and couldn’t help but cry tears of joy. This was his only disciple to have ever advanced to Great FuZhou Master. After the light in front of Qin Han faded, a glowing, crimson Innate Fu Book appeared in front of everyone.
The white hair and moustache on Qin Han’s head completely fell off, the wrinkles on his face also lessened, his entire body’s joints made cracks and popping sounds as his hunched back straightened into a good posture, and a bald middle-aged man stood in front of everyone. He was so vigorous and energetic, and he had a face filled with complete and utter glee.
Luo Jie bellowed laughter, so much so that he cried. All of his emotions, his care, and delight could be felt in that laughter. He didn’t know why, but 12th felt a little jealous. He knew very well that if it wasn’t for this advancement, then Qin Han wouldn’t have many years to live. He walked over, and holding Luo Jie, he said quietly, “Master!”
Qin Han saluted and bowed as he said, “Thank you Master! Thank you young brother!” He lifted his head as the tears in his eyes kept streaming down.
Luo Jie said, “No need to thank me, Xiao Jie, why don’t you go back to the Northern Fu Sect now!”
Qin Han nodded, “Yes, Master.”
12th smiled and said, “Congratulations!”
The man who crawled out of the stone hut was also stunned as he watched, but now he ran over. 12th couldn’t help but laugh, saying, “Grandpa Nan Shan, sorry about that…… I got a bit carried away……”
Qi Nan Shan said with a sigh, “Oh, so it was your doing? I was finally able to have a nice nap and you all woke me up.”
Qin Han called, “Brother Qi.”
Qi Nan Shan said, “Oh, well if it isn’t Xiao Han, so you advanced to Great FuZhou Master?”
Qin Han said, “If it weren’t for Master and the young brother coming to see me…… I would’ve never been able to have this opportunity. Young brother really is my lucky star, haha!”
Qi Nan Shan eyed 12th for a second, and said, “I’m not surprised of anything anymore with this little Demon Child.”
12th called, “Grandpa Nan Shan, that’s not very nice!”
Qi Nan Shan laughed heartily.
Qin Han advancing to Great FuZhou Master startled the Qin Clan’s clan leader, but the entire clan was excited. Now that they were a clan with a Great FuZhou Master, they could automatically rise and become one of the top ranking clans. A Great Master level person, no matter where they were, was always highly respected, even in the Northern Fu Sect’s incredibly large organizations the Great Masters are all very highly respected.
After hearing the news, Qin Zhuo hurried over, hugging and congratulating Qin Han.
12th watched everything a.n.a.lytically, noticing that Qin Han was a little cold and distant, unlike Qin Zhuo’s pa.s.sion. Aas for Qin Zhuo’s attempt to have him stay, it was politely rejected. Then he understood—Qin Han wasn’t very well respected in the Qin Clan. With his age, if Qin Han hadn’t advanced then he wouldn’t have lived for many more years, and from this it could be inferred that Qin Han probably received a lot of grief and anguish from the clan.
Qin Han calmly said, “After a while, I’m going to return to the Northern Fu Sect. I’ll look after the clansmen who live in the Northern Fu Sect, so don’t worry about them. If your highness, the clan leader, has no other issues, I will be resting.”
Qin Zhuo, slightly awkwardly, said, “Then have a good rest, haha, I’ll come back in the morning.” and then he left.
12th asked, “Brother, did he do you wrong?
Qin Han smiled bitterly and shook his head saying, “He’s the clan’s leader, so he needs to tend to a lot of work and problems, haha……” He didn’t want to continue on this topic, so he asked, “Young brother, your Innate Fu is very unique; why is it spherical?”
12th laughed and said, “This was a gift from an ancestor called an Innate Fu Orb. Interesting, isn’t it?”
Qin Han asked, “You mean the ancestor you met in the Mysterious Land this time round?”
12th nodded, “That guy is so strong that we still can’t guess how powerful he really is.”
Qin Han sighed, “You are so lucky; why can’t I ever encounter such wonders.”
12th smiled, “Whether it’s good or bad is still unsure. It’s true that I encountered a rare opportunity, and as such advanced to a FuZhou Warrior…… but all I have are these two Fu, without them I might not even reach the standards of a FuZhou Warrior, haha.”
Qin Han said, “You’re only nine! I’m envious just thinking about it.”
Luo Jie asked, “12th, you found an Armoursmith Fu Master?”
Smiling, 12th answered, “Yeah, he’s called Zhu Da Chang. He’s a Fu Master from the Zhu Clan’s businesses that agreed to create Soft Fu Armour for us for free, so I brought out the Fu Bear hide for him to work on.”
“Free? Why did he agree to do this for free?”
12th said deviously, “I’m just a small child that doesn’t have any money…… so…… haha, he probably thinks that I’m poor……”
Qi Nan Shan chuckled, “Haha, you little liar, how much did you mess with him?”
12th said defensively, “Why would you think I messed with him? I am a little kid, it’s more like people will mess with me, not the other way round. Master, Grandpa Nan Shan is being mean to me!”
Qi Nan Shan was speechless.
Luo Jie laughed heartily as he said, “Alright, 12th head on home, we’re probably going to stay for about ten more days and then we’ll be on our way. Qin Han needs some time to consolidate things, so once he’s completely finished with his advancement we’ll leave.”
12th nodded greeted farewell to the Elders and left.
Ever since 12th obtained the Fu Books from Wu Qing, all of his attention had been placed on them. There were over seventy sets of Fu Books that more or less covered all the knowledge about FuZhou Masters in the Southern Fu Sect, however it was a shame that there was nothing about creating Beast Fu. Most of it was on how to control Beast Fu, from which 12th gained a lot of inspiration.
During the week, Zhu Da Chang visited a few times. He now knew that the kid was in no way a mere FuZhou Warrior, but is in fact a FuZhou Master much like himself. As such he held a great deal of respect, and willingly worked to create the Fu Armour, for him.
Three days was too small a time frame, so he begged for an extension. 12th knew that they were staying for ten more days so he generously extended the time frame. On the eighth day, Zhu Da Chang sent over all of the finished Soft Fu Armour. 12th kept one set for himself and gave the rest away.
12th was content with Zhu Da Chang’s work as he put it on. This set of armour included a chestplate, leg cover, a pair of black boots, a pair of shoulder plates, a pair of wrist guards, and a cap.
Zhu Da Chang nervously asked, “12th, how is it? I used the best materials to create this set of Soft Fu Armour.”
12th smiled and said, “After finishing these sets of Soft Fu Armour, your skills must have improved a lot.”
Zhu Da Chang happily said, “Yeah, this opportunity was such a blessing, haha.”
12th contemplated a while and brought out a crystal bottle the size of a fist, he said, “I know that to create these Soft Fu Armour you must’ve spent a lot of money and materials. This is a vial of a Fu Beast’s blood that you can keep it…… Count it as a gift from me.”
Surprised, Zhu Da Chang exclaimed, “Fu Beast’s blood? This is amazing!”
12th looked carefully for a moment and said, “Oops, I got the wrong one…… Oh well, take it.”
Stunned, Zhu Da Chang asked, “What?
12th explained, “This is a vial of a Variant Fu Beast’s blood, haha, it’s the blood of a Great Earth Dragon, so although there’s less of it, it’s still quite a rare material.”
Zhu Da Chang couldn’t believe it; he grasped the crystal bottle tightly like he was holding a baby. He stuttered, “Va…… Var…… Variant…… Fu…… Fu Beast? And…… And it’s the rarest…… the rarest Dragon species’ blood? You, you’re not messing with me right……?”
12th said, “Why would I joke about this? What I gave you was blood purified by a Great FuZhou Master using 16 Fu Purification…….”
Zhu Da Chang’s expression changed again. As a businessman, he knew full well of the rarity—the vial of blood was priceless. The Earth Dragon species of Fu Beasts were rare enough already, but even more so were the Variant Earth Dragon species of Fu Beasts. That was a Fu Beast that was very difficult to hunt, so the materials from its body were all invaluable, and of them all, the blood was one of the most.
He held the crystal vial with both hands as he lifted and inspected it.
Bright red blood, without a single bit of contamination. Inside the blood were small flashes of gold light—the essence of the blood. This tiny vial of blood was probably no heavier than a quarter kilo. It might not seem like much, but it’s value was impossible to estimate. Since it would almost never appear in the markets, no matter how much money you had it still couldn’t be bought. Receiving this vial of blood was like winning the lottery tenfold.
Zhu Da Chang carefully stowed away the vial of Great Earth Dragon blood. he couldn’t understand why would 12th give this to him. He couldn’t help but ask, “12th, why did you give this vial of blood to me?”
12th pouted and said, “I brought out the wrong one! I didn’t want to ask for it back…… So here we are……”
Zhu Da Chang almost fainted, his joy was mixed with his fright as he asked, “You, you won’t ask for it back right?”
12th almost couldn’t hold back his anger to kick him, saying, “I’ve already said forget about it, but if you keep talking…… I’ll take it back!”
Zhu Da Chang was so scared that he held his mouth shut, not daring to say another word. Luo Zhan absolutely could not hold back his laughter anymore as he let it all out. 12th, upset, scratched his head and bitterly said, “Alright Uncle Luo, stop laughing……” He turned to Zhu Da Chang and said, “ I’m very happy with your work so let’s be friends. Maybe I’ll come find you again in the future.”
Zhu Da Chang let out a breath. This kid was just like a small king, a little devil, for every word and action was so beyond imagination. He said, “Of course, of course…… Zhu Da Chang is at your service at any time.”
12th looked at him strangely, thinking, “Wow his name…… A pig’s large intestine is at my service at any time? What on earth.” He said, “Alright, in the future…… how will I contact you?”
Zhu Da Chang said, “This is a Letter Fu, if you give it to anyone from the Zhu Clan businesses, you’ll be able to reach me.” After he finished he said his farewells and left with expressions of glee and happiness.
Luo Zhan asked, “12th, did you really take out the wrong one? Or was it on purpose?”
12th grinned, “Uncle Luo, intended or not, it doesn’t matter anymore.” He asked, “How’s the armour?”
Luo Zhan contentedly said, “It’s extremely good! Very satisfactory. It’s at least five times better than previously…… He really is quite a skilled Fu Master.”
12th smiled, turned, and entered the garden. He could see Huo Bao and Hong Shi training together, they were fighting knife against cudgel, as Chen Bing and Chen Hong watched from the side. 12th arrived next to the two of them, smiled, and asked, “So, who’s better?”
Chen Bing said, “Huo Bao is faster, but Hong Shi is stronger, haha, they’re about the same.”
12th asked again, “How are you compared to them two?”
Chen Bing calmly said, “Incomparable.”
12th smiled slightly, he knew what Chen Bing meant, area of training wa different, therefore he has a different forte. He said, “Everyone pack up, especially grains and dried meats, prepare more of them for we’re leaving in two days. Tomorrow night the Qin Clan’s clan leader will see us off, so there should be plenty to eat.”
Huo Bao and Hong Shi stopped at the same time, hurried over before Huo Bao asked, “What will there be to eat?”
12th couldn’t help but smile, “Huo Bao, don’t you worry, there will be plenty…… Honestly, as soon as food is mentioned, you even stop training.”
Huo Bao laughed happily, saying, “But of course, in my home town a lot of us are always hungry, haha. Being able to eat a full meal is a very important thing, for where I come from only the children could have a decent meal, the others, even my father, would often be hungry.”
12th was slightly sceptical, “Your father is the mayor, even he doesn’t get enough?”
Huo Bao shook his head, “In winter, when heavy snow covers the mountain, no family could get enough food to eat. If the snow season is too long, haha, people will just have to go hunting. 12th, you know…… in the snowy mountains, the only creatures are wild beasts, so there are a lot of people who would die. If they were lucky then maybe they could kill some of those wild beasts, but all of them were in exchange for lives. If they weren’t lucky, and the hunt was unsuccessful, then people would starve to death.”
“So, from very young, we’ve learnt that if we get to eat, then we must eat until we’re full……”
Of the four of them, only Huo Bao suffered in his childhood; the other three were all born from FuZhou users, so they didn’t suffer at all. In his past life 12th was also born in a hard family, so he understood very well, saying, “Okay, tomorrow night, just let loose and eat all you want!”
Huo Bao said, “Yes! I will definitely eat a lot.”
12th smiled, “Just don’t eat so much that you get bloated.”
Hong Shi suddenly said, “Free food is always good food!”
Chen Hong was giggling from the side non-stop, so 12th asked, “Chen Hong, what are you laughing at?” She replied, “Huo Bao and Hong Shi are both such big eaters.”
12th laughed out loud, because to be honest he always thought of himself as quite a big eater too. He’s nine now, but the amount he eats currently was about double what he ate in his past life. Huo Bao and the others though were on a whole other level, since they were all full of potential to be Fu Warriors, so they needed plenty of food for nutrition.
On the second day, in the evening, 12th took his four companions along with Luo Zhan, Xiao Feng and Yan Ge, followed Master Luo Jie, Great Fu Master Qi Nan Shan, and Brother Qin Han, and went to the Qin Clan’s guest rooms.
The building was very simple. In 12th’s mind, this world had nothing extravagant. With the exception of Fu, which was the only interesting thing, everything else in terms of food, clothes, lodging or travels were all very bland and simple.
12th gradually got used to it. Following his Master inside, Qin Zhuo welcomed them, greeted them and motioned for them to sit down. Luo Jie pulled 12th over and sat him down next to him, because he was young, n.o.body anything unusual.
There were a lot of guests, and wave after wave each table was gradually filled with more and more people.
Bowls of meat boiling in water were brought out, followed by plates of pancakes, and pans of hot soup. 12th sighed internally, it was the same three things. He shook his head, smiling bitterly as he took a bronze bowl and took out his homemade soy sauce and chili sauce. Hm mixed them in his bowl before bringing out a piece of garlic that he crushed and threw in. He pa.s.sed two more bowls of it to his Master and Qi Nan Shan, saying, “Master, Grandpa Nan Shan, eat it with this…… it’ll taste better.”
Luo Jie knew that his disciple had many strange skills; unperturbed, he nodded and asked, “You made this yourself?”
12th smiled and said, “I am so sick and tired of plain old meat boiled in water. It has no flavour and doesn’t taste good at all.”
Qi Nan Shan said, “This kid of yours is so strange. He comes from a normal household and hasn’t eaten Fu Food before, so how does he make so many strange items, like that time in the Mysterious Land. Those spare ribs too, man, I still can’t forget that meal, it was so delicious.”
The people here used chopsticks to eat Fu Food. People normally used a knife and spoon for meat and soup.
12th grabbed a piece of meat, cut it up into pieces and dipped it into his concoction, eating with his knife as though it were a fork. With the sauce, the meat became flavourful and tasted so much better.
Luo Jie and Qi Nan Shan also stabbed a piece of meat eagerly and dipped it into the sauce, swallowing in one bite. Their expressions changed. It was delicious. The two of them shared a glance, both smiling, for the flavour was masterful. The two elders didn’t say a word, instead they just buried their heads in food.
Qin Han sat next to Qi Nan Shan and looked at them curiously. 12th saw this and felt bad, so he prepared another bowl of sauce, pa.s.sed it to Qin Han, and quietly said, “Brother, eat it with this.”
At that moment, a group of people came in from outside, the leading man saw 12th immediately, so he slowed his steps with surprise clear in his eyes. He thought to himself, “Why is he here?”