Chapter 4

Silence!

A deep breath exhaled, Li Yuan's heart leaped to his throat, filled with unease.

Is there any effect?

The ancestors mustn't know I haven't achieved 'reading a hundred classics,' right?

Give me some response!

After a few breaths, just as Li Yuan felt his sweat about to drip, a piercing sound suddenly rang in his ears.

This sound, like a ship's horn, but many times louder, made Li Yuan lose all sense of his existence the moment he heard it.

Buzz~

Buzz~

Buzz~

...

The sound continued to ring in his ears, making Li Yuan's vision go dark, yet he faintly felt something.

It was as if an incredibly massive giant was whispering, telling him something, waiting for his response, and even seemed to be angry for not getting one?!

But…

"I can't hear it! I really can't hear it…"

Li Yuan tried hard to hear the sound, but felt like a solitary boat in a storm, about to capsize at any moment.

Buzz~

After an unknown amount of time, just as Li Yuan's spirit began to scatter, the massive sound finally faded away.

He opened his eyes in a daze, only to see a violent surge of countless colors, making him want to vomit at a glance.

But in a flash, all the colors had faded, and Li Yuan looked around, finding himself seemingly sitting in a void.

No!

He suddenly looked down.

Beneath him was a vast, indescribable scroll, seemingly boundless!

This is…

"An inscription?!"

As this thought surged in his mind, Li Yuan watched in shock as the void collapsed and contracted, the boundless ancient scroll rolling up and enveloping him.

Bang!

Li Yuan heard the sound of bowls and chopsticks falling and his second brother's exclamation, then lost consciousness.

"Ugh~"

After an unknown amount of time, Li Yuan slowly regained consciousness, feeling a severe headache, and couldn't help but groan.

"Third brother, what's wrong with you?"

Li Lin sat by the bed, his face full of tension.

"No, Second brother, I'm fine…"

Li Yuan propped himself up on the bed, his eyes still unfocused, and his ears ringing severely. After a while, he finally saw his second brother,

and a woman leaning against the wooden door with her hands on her hips.

The woman, in her early twenties, though not wearing makeup, still had a certain charm, but at this moment, she was glaring at him with displeasure.

She was the bride chosen for his second brother…

"Second sister-in-law?"

Li Yuan stood up with his second brother's help, noticing his sister-in-law's displeasure and, with matters on his mind, left the alley after leaving half a pound of pork, ignoring Li Lin's attempts to keep him.

"Phew!"

Outside the alley, Li Yuan leaned against the wall with one hand and held the three silver coins his second brother had given him in the other, his expression complex.

He could faintly hear his second sister-in-law's sharp voice:

"Only you have a sense of family? You earn only six silver coins a month in the Chai Gang, and without my support, the debt collectors would have thrown you and your brother into the Bishui Lake long ago…"

"Did Second brother borrow money to send me to the forge? How much?"

Li Yuan clenched his teeth but didn't return to escalate the conflict between his brother and sister-in-law.

He closed his eyes and saw the inscription with complex patterns again, and this time, he perceived more things.

"Commander's Inscription!"

The ritual really worked!

But I didn't return, did I? I can't go back…

Surprise and bitterness surged in his heart, and Li Yuan was even a bit frightened. Was this ritual so dangerous?

Did I die in this ritual in my previous life?

"Commander's Inscription!"

After a while, Li Yuan suppressed his complex emotions and began to perceive this 'Heaven-granted inscription.'

He vaguely understood the loud noise and colors he had seen after the ritual.

This Commander's Inscription was communicating with him in different ways, and finally, in a way he could understand, it transformed into the current inscription form.

Li Yuan had some enlightenment.

But…

'I still can't understand it…'

The amateur Taoist Li Yuan felt ashamed. He had not mastered the arts, was unclear about the classics, and had no expertise in inscriptions.

Buzz~

Seemingly sensing his thoughts, Li Yuan heard another loud noise. But before he could be frightened, he was stunned by what he sensed.

[First Grant: Commander's Inscription]!

[First-Rank Commander, Li Yuan]

[Number of Soldiers to Command: 1]

…

What the…

Are the ancestors so trendy?!

Li Yuan was shocked.

Compared to the loud noise and the inscription before, what he saw now was incredibly clear and straightforward!

"First-Rank Commander? Sacrifice a thousand pounds of wrought iron, a hundred silver coins, and one gold coin to advance to Second-Rank Commander?"

Li Yuan closed his eyes, feeling the stars shift.

After a moment, he found himself in a dark, unknown space.

He stood on a small gray platform, surrounded by a misty, eerie, and dangerous environment.

Above him, the massive Commander's Inscription resembled a dim star map,

with only one star currently lit.

Looking at the inscription, many pieces of information flooded Li Yuan's mind, as if he had suddenly remembered something he had once learned but forgotten.

"War is the way of life and death!"

"Use it when needed, hide it when not, wield it to lead, and possess it to be mighty!"

"All who bear arms can be commanded!"

…

"Weapons!"

Opening his eyes, Li Yuan's fingers trembled, barely resisting the urge to snatch weapons from nearby passersby.

He looked at his palm, where the Commander's Inscription, reduced to a tiny, dizzying size, was imprinted.

He had never felt such a strong urge to wield a sword or a knife, but he could only suppress it.

"A cheap sword or knife costs at least one silver coin, and I'm poor…"

Clenching his fists, Li Yuan merged into the crowd. Although he wanted to familiarize himself with the Commander's Inscription, the sky was getting dark, so he had to return to the forge first.

Being late would cost him a day's leave, which would be a big loss.

"Such a strong reaction, the forge is indeed the best place for me!"

Walking through the streets, Li Yuan still found it hard to suppress his excitement as he approached the forge's entrance.

Taking a day off, and standing at the entrance again, his mood was vastly different.

"Is this what confidence feels like?"

Li Yuan pondered his change in attitude, feeling as if a large gap had been torn in the previously dark path, letting light in.

"I must be cautious…

Reminding himself, Li Yuan returned to the forge, his gaze occasionally drifting to the shop and the connected forging rooms.

The forge, a two-hundred-year-old establishment, must have accumulated a vast number of weapons.

Feeling the vibration of the Commander's Inscription, Li Yuan's heart was burning with excitement.

…

…

Crossing the front courtyard, the training ground in the middle courtyard was already filled with many apprentices standing in stances, including the diligent Niu Gui, who was clearly still working in the middle courtyard.

Li Yuan glanced around, with no intention of returning to the middle courtyard, and his gaze fell on the wooden-handled iron hammers piled at the edge of the training ground.

"Hammer, will it work?"

Li Yuan couldn't be sure, as the excitement from the Commander's Inscription hadn't ceased since he left.

"Master Qin!"

Li Yuan was slightly distracted, and low footsteps came from behind him.

The apprentices from the front courtyard followed Qin Xiong to the training ground, and apprentices from other courtyards also gathered one after another.

Without being told, all the apprentices stood still, not daring to make a sound.

"The White Ape Cloak Hammer has inner and outer parts, inner for the stance, outer for the hammer! Among them, there are three combinations inside and three outside, and when all six are mastered, it is complete!"

Qin Xiong moved like the wind, already standing before the group.

Li Yuan saw a blur, and Qin Xiong's large hand, like a fan, landed on Niu Gui's shoulder on the far left.

Smack!

Just one strike, and Li Yuan couldn't help but blink, feeling as if a fierce bear had risen and struck heavily.

"Ah!"

Niu Gui let out a cry of pain.

Just one strike, and Niu Gui's legs sprang apart, his hips making a 'crack' sound, making people's teeth grind.

"Unsteady feet, weak hammering… weak striking!"

Qin Xiong's large hand, like a straw, shaped Niu Gui into a form resembling a large ape with hanging arms, his face flushed and teeth bared.

"This is the White Ape Stance!"

The apprentices all watched, each mimicking the stance, while Qin Xiong moved like the wind, his large hand, like a willow branch, occasionally pointing down.

"Tighten your thighs!"

"Relax your shoulders and arms! Are you dead?!"

"Have you never seen an ape? Don't stand like a dead post, your eyes and ears must move!"

…

"Power comes from the ground, feet must be heavy, body like a flexible ape, body must be relaxed! The White Ape Stance is the foundation; if you can't even stand steadily, don't think about learning the Cloak Hammer!"

Qin Xiong moved like the wind, weaving through dozens of apprentices, moving quickly and very flexibly.

Each apprentice received a slap.

"This strength…

Li Yuan also received a slap, almost blacking out and nearly falling to the ground.

"The White Ape Cloak Hammer is the fundamental martial art passed down for two hundred years in our forge, divided into four levels: beginner, proficient, minor success, and major success!"

"To enter the inner courtyard, you must practice this martial art to the first level, beginner, by the end of the year!"

Qin Xiong's voice was loud, and even Li Yuan, standing at the edge, felt it deafening.

"Pick up the hammer, stand in the stance!"

Li Yuan's ears were still buzzing, but he heard the words 'pick up the hammer' and felt a slight shock in his heart.

Soon, an iron hammer was passed to him by an apprentice from the middle courtyard, and a gray haze appeared before his eyes.

[Eight-pound practice hammer (not ranked)]

[This is the practice hammer used by generations of apprentices in the forge to practice the White Ape Cloak Hammer, stained with the blood and tears of hundreds of apprentices…]

[Command requirements: None]

[Command effect: Proficiency in the Cloak Hammer technique!]