The Nine Cauldrons

He could only understand the first few parts of Poetic Sword God Li Taibai’s Azure Lotus Sword Melody.

Similarly, only the first few inscriptions of the 《Thirty-six Splitting Mountain Forms》would be of greatest use to him.

“Fu Dao!” Teng Qingshan asked.

“Mister.” Fu Dao said respectfully. Before Teng Qingshan, Fu Dao was like a follower respectfully greeting his instructor.

“The 《Thirty-six Splitting Mountain Forms》has a total of thirty-six inscriptions. Do you have any information of the first five inscriptions?” With a hint of hope in his heart, Teng Qingshan inquired about the inscriptions. “It’s alright if you only have information on one inscription.”

Fu Dao smiled helplessly and shook his head as he said, “Mister, it’s not that I won’t tell you, but the thirty-six inscriptions have been lost for thousands of years. No one knows where the they are. Even if some clan obtained an inscription, they would most likely hide it. They wouldn’t announce it to the world. Take Brother Wang for example....Brother Wang, the Wang Clan is one of the few famous and great clans. Brother Wang, you probably have an inscription at home, right?”

The Patriarch of the Wang Clan laughed and hastily answered, “Brother Fu Dao, don’t make fun of me! Wang Clan has only existed for a few hundred years. How would we know where to find the stone inscriptions? Speaking of which....just over one hundred years ago, an inscription of the《Thirty-six Splitting Mountain Forms》 was sold in an auction held by the Rising Sun Trading Company.

“Auction? Teng Qingshan was astonished, “Someone was willing to part with that inscription?”

“Haha, maybe some lucky one obtained the inscription of this 《Thirty-six Splitting Mountain Forms》! Although the inscriptions left by the Godly Axe Deity are precious, they are of no use to ordinary people. It would be better for ordinary people to exchange the inscription for some money,” Wang Meng said with a smile. “During the auction, that one inscription was sold at a sky high price of three hundred-sixty thousand taels of gold!”

Teng Qingshan was slightly shocked.

A drawing cost three hundred-sixty thousand taels of gold?

The gold he carried with him now, and the other two trunks he had buried near the coast, in total weighed only three hundred-twenty thousand jin, which was the equivalent of just three hundred-twenty thousand taels of gold. He didn’t even have enough money to buy one inscription.

“However, such things can only be discovered by chance and cannot be sought. Anyone who vaguely understood them could not bear to sell the inscriptions left by the Godly Axe Deity, ‘Yu the Great,’” continued Wang Meng.

Teng Qingshan nodded.

“Big Brother Teng.” Li Jun was slightly worried. “ Where do we go now?”

Teng Qingshan turned and glanced at Li Jun. Then he said with a smile, “Let’s go to the Godly Axe Mountain first. We will decide on these matters in the future.”

Aren’t they just thirty-six inscriptions?

Now, with his own cultivation of the 《Earth Element Fist》and 《Water Element Fist》 having reached the sixth move. Teng Qingshan could distinctly sense the power of the heavens and earth within the elements of earth and water, even though he could barely use it.

“Even if I don’t have the thirty-six inscriptions, in my current state, it won’t be hard to reach the Emptiness Realm within ten years!”

Teng Qingshan‘s heart was full of confidence.

“The inscriptions of Emperor Yu’s 《Thirty-six Splitting Mountain Forms 》are just to be used as a reference point.” Teng Qingshan made up his mind. “Even if there’s no way to get the inscriptions, I will cultivate with all my heart and strive to reach the Emptiness Realm as soon as possible so that I can return to the nine prefectures!”

In Teng Qingshan’s heart, there had always been a deep concern for the nine prefectures.

His parents and little sister were there.....

The members of the Teng Clan were there....

After he had attained success, he had to go home!

Brother Fu Dao, I still have some errands to run, so I will have to leave you now.” Teng Qingshan stood up while shaking his head and smiling. “Although there’s probably no chance of seeing the thirty-six inscriptions, I....have never been to the Godly Axe Mountain. This time, I must go there and investigate thoroughly.

Wang Meng and Fu Dao promptly stood up to send off Teng Qingshan and Li Jun.

“Little Jun, let’s go.”

Teng Qingshan immediately led Little Jun to return to the second floor of the restaurant. He gathered the others and they headed towards the Godly Axe Mountain in a carriage.

In a quiet house, a thin old man with long, silvery white hair draped over his shoulder was sunbathing on a deckchair. The restaurant owner of Rising Sun Restaurant was also here.

“Sixth Elder!” The restaurant owner bowed respectfully.

The forces of Rising Sun Trading Company were unfathomable.

Within the trading company, the nine Supreme Elders were the ones who held the highest status! While the nine Supreme Elders managed the entire Trading Company together; the nine Supreme Elders were also ranked according to seniority. The First Elder held the most authority. The Second Elder was ranked below the First Elder, and the Third Elder was ranked lower than both the First and Second Elders. As for the other six Elders, they all held the same status, rank, and authority.

The First Elder of the Rising Sun Trading Company could be likened to the Patriarch of a great clan!

“Eh, what is this urgent matter?” Said the Sixth Elder indifferently.

“Sixth Elder, something big has happened in my restaurant.” The restaurant owner hastily answered.

“What big matter? Tell me all the details.” The Sixth Elder still lay on the deckchair with his eyes half closed.

In a respectful tone, the restaurant owner immediately explained the matter between Teng Qingshan and the Third Young Master of Wang Clan. “At that time, the Third Young Master shifted the responsibility of that matter to the Rising Sun Restaurant. However, at this moment, the Patriarch of Wang Clan came down from the third floor. Naturally, he had the reputation of the Wang Clan first and foremost in his mind, and tried to threaten the other party..

“But who would have thought that.....this man with the surname Teng would actually ignore him. At this most crucial moment, the Thunder Blade Martial Saint Fu Dao came down and actually called that surnamed Teng ‘Mister Teng’!”

“Eh?” The Sixth Elder opened his eyes and sat bolt upright. “What did you say?”

The restaurant owner hastily nodded as he repeated, “Fu Dao called that surnamed Teng ‘Mister Teng’! I was there at that time and I heard it very clearly. Fu Dao’s attitude towards surnamed Teng was very respectful, and he was acting like a follower greeting his instructor! Fu Dao is obsessed with martial arts, thus, I think that the only people who could earn his respect are experts that are more powerful than he is.”

The Sixth Elder narrowed his eyes and began pondering.

“Even if Fu Dao respected and revered that surnamed Teng...! It doesn’t mean that he is necessarily stronger than Fu Dao.” The Sixth Elder continued slowly, “Some people with good planning and strategic skills or some special ability are also respected and called Mister by others! This surnamed Teng might have be adept in some area or unique skill worthy of Fu Dao’s great respect.

“For example, this surnamed Teng might be a doctor of incredible skill! If he had healed Fu Dao in the past, it wouldn’t be weird for Fu Dao to treat him with a grateful and respectful attitude.”

The moment the Sixth Elder finished speaking, he immediately shook his head and added, “Of course, it is also possible that this surnamed Teng might be very strong! He might possess an unparalleled and exceptionally powerful martial force!”

“If he is really so powerful that the Thunder Blade Martial Saint Fu Dao called him Mister....then such strength is terrifying!” The Sixth Elder spoke slowly as he narrowed his eyes.

“Bang!” “Bang!”

The sound of someone knocking on the door rang out multiple times.

“Uncle, it’s me.” An elderly voice called out.

“Go open the door,” instructed the Sixth Elder . The restaurant owner hastily ran and opened the door. An old man wearing a thick leather coat and a felt hat laughed as he walked in. He cast a glance at the restaurant owner as he asked, “Yi Feng, you are here too?”

“Administrator Mu, you are back from restocking?” The restaurant owner said pleasantly.

The old man smiled man smiled and nodded, “The five thousand plus slaves have already arrived at the in the barracks outside the city. The army has all returned to rest.” This old man was Mu Wan, the administrator that had escorted the slaves alongside the army.

“Oh.” The Sixth Elder smiled as he responded. However, his brows were still knitted.

“Uncle, what happened?” Mu Wan could tell that his uncle was worried about something.

“Yi Feng, tell Mu Wan about it.” The Sixth Elder ordered.

Mu Wan curiously stared at the restaurant owner by his side, who began to explain. As Mu Wan listened, his facial expression gradually became weirder.

“You said that this person’s surname is Teng?” Mu Wan asked in shock.

“Yes.” The restaurant owner nodded hastily.

“Is his full name Teng Qingshan?” Mu Wan asked again.

“I don’t know about this. I only heard Fu Dao call him Mister Teng.” The restaurant owner shook his head as he answered.

Mu Wan hastily asked again, “Then was there a crazy and beastlike teenager beside him!?!”

“Yes! Yes! There was one!” The restaurant owner promptly nodded. He clearly remembered how when he first arrived on the second floor, he saw the terrifying teenager with a chunk of bloody flesh in his hand.

“Mu Wan, do you know him?” The Sixth ELder asked in shock.

Mu Wan hastily nodded and answered. “Uncle, I do know this person. His name is Teng Qingshan! Yesterday evening, when the army was setting up their camp, we had a small conflict with that person and his companions. Uncle.....I was with Fu Dao at that time, and when i asked he told me that he didn’t know this Teng Qingshan! However, later on, Fu Dao hurried to chase after Teng Qingshan and his companions in order to challenge him.

“I believe that Fu Dao and Teng Qingshan must have sparred that night! Not only that, but Fu Dao must have lost and wholeheartedly accepted the defeat, which is why he would call Teng Qingshan ‘Mister.’ Mu Wan was certain that his assumption was correct.

Since Mu Wan had been in contact with Teng Qingshan, it was very easy for him to deduce the truth of the whole situation.

“Tsk, tsk. I really didn’t expect this. I thought that Teng Qingshan was just a Martial Saint, but who would have thought that he would be this powerful!” Mu Wan promptly shook his head as he remarked in shock.

Whoosh!

The Sixth Elder immediately stood up with a solemn expression on his face. “Mu Wan, accompany me to meet the Second Elder. A super powerful expert has appeared, with ability surpassing Fu Dao, to the point where he was even called Mister by him. He is powerful enough to be ranked among the top five experts in Duanmu Continent! There are not yet many people who know about this. We must hurry and get this Teng Qingshan to join our side.”

“Yes.” Mu Wan hastily nodded.

The Rising Sun Trading Company had a long history, a history that was even longer than that of many great clans.

Due to some of the internal matters of the Rising Sun Trading Company, even Fu Dao had established a close relationship with the Rising Sun Trading Company. The Rising Sun Trading Company strived to get any experts to join their side. Of course, the Rising Sun Trading Company treated super powerful experts very well. They knew what these powerful experts wanted, and they didn’t bind these experts in the same way as clans did.

Clans battled for hegemony, but the Rising Sun Trading Company had business everywhere in the Duanmu Continent.

......

A four-wheeled carriage pulled by two Scarlet Wind War Hous stopped as the base of a lofty and hazy mountain located northwest of Nanshan City.

“Little Jun, you guys stay at the bottom. I alone will head up the Godly Axe Mountain,” Teng Qingshan said with a smile.

The Whole Gale Eagle and Blue Luan were flying in the sky.

Teng Qingshan immediately transformed into an illusion-like blue vapour and shot up the Godly Axe Mountain, leaving behind a visible flash. In a few moments, Teng Qingshan had entered the deeper areas of the mountain.

......