Enlightenment: Beginning as a Disposable Warrior-Chapter 111 - 100: Inspired Writing, the Origin of Li Feiyu! (2nd Update)

Master Zhao Ju's expression, which always seemed as though everyone owed him a few hundred taels, showed three parts helplessness, seven parts anticipation.

As the new year approached, and the Forging Workshop was soon to close its doors, he wanted to see the extent to which Su Mu had mastered the art of inscription over the past half year, so he could have a sense of how things stood.

"Give it a try?"

The Master had already spoken to this point, so Su Mu didn't hesitate, putting down the brush in his hand and walking towards the forging platform, while Zhao Ju handed him an inscription pen, and prepared inscription liquid beside him.

The inscription pen was not light when held, weighing over twenty pounds. The pen body, engraved with flowers and birds, was forged from refined iron, while the nib was made from high-quality iron essence, inscribed with sharpness and sturdiness inscriptions.

"Shield-like objects are best suited for practicing inscriptions; just choose the inscription you are most confident in and engrave it."

"Alright, I'll give it a shot."

"I only have one request for you, boy: don't hide." Zhao Ju quickly added, increasingly agreeing with the words of Chen Yuntian, the old man:

This boy is great, except he's a bit too modest.

"Let's begin."

With the demon beast blood prepared, Zhao Ju stepped back a few paces, giving Su Mu enough space to perform, and also adjusted his breathing so he would not affect Su Mu in the slightest.

Su Mu followed Zhao Ju's example, immersing his hands in a basin of clear water, repeatedly washing them before drying them. As he picked up the pen again, Su Mu's entire disposition suddenly changed, the clear water reflecting the youth's exceptionally focused face.

Zhao Ju observed everything, nodding secretly, quite satisfied. The Su Mu before him already looked somewhat like an inscription master.

"If you can engrave two inscriptions completely... even managing to engrave just one is enough, two would be overly ambitious!"

His expectation for Su Mu was to engrave one inscription. When Zhao Ju himself accomplished this, it took him three years; and nearly five years to master both inscriptions, which was considered the true entry-level.

Despite taking five years, Zhao Ju was still the fastest among the three Masters to enter the realm of inscriptions.

The youth at the forging platform dipped his pen lightly in the demon beast blood, took a gentle breath and closed his eyes; quickly reviewing in his mind the inscription skills learned over the past half year.

"Inscription, the mystical traces of heaven and earth... the mark of ancient demon beast bones and flesh..."

"Sturdiness as bone, sharpness as fascia..."

A realization suddenly emerged in his heart.

Noticing Su Mu holding the pen suspended in mid-air, Zhao Ju's eyes flashed with recollection, thinking back to when he had similarly hesitated, realizing that even someone as gifted as Su Mu was no exception.

"The Martial Master said not to rush this... have I been too hasty during the past half year?"

For a moment, Zhao Ju felt a bit hesitant in his heart.

Just then, however, as a breath was exhaled, the hesitation in Zhao Ju's heart instantly vanished, replaced by overwhelming awe.

"Whew!"

With the exhalation, Su Mu began moving the pen with force, power infused into the inscription pen's nib, causing the inscriptions to glow with a faint light, a sharpness emanating from within.

Skills acquired over half a year converged into a single stroke.

A stroke as if guided by divine inspiration!

The pen's nib was somewhat restrained, yet accomplished in one stroke.

"Buzz!"

The buzzing sound arose as Zhao Ju felt a sharpness qi emerging from the iron shield, mildly pricking his skin.

"Good boy, the sharpness inscription is complete… The first one is the sharpness inscription, truly a show of youthful vigor!"

Zhao Ju hadn't finished marveling before his pupils suddenly contracted.

Upon completing the sharpness inscription with a single stroke, Su Mu showed no signs of stopping; Zhao Ju's words echoed in his ears: My only request for you boy, is don't hide.

"Then let's try again!"

This was Su Mu's first time using demon beast blood for inscription, and the experience of inscribing with demon beast blood was entirely different from ink, akin to discovering a new world.

In transformed state, as the inscriptions took shape beneath the pen's nib, the demon beast blood seemed to come alive. A Clawed Rabbit, half-man tall, with glossy fur and a foot-long menacing claw, became vibrant beneath the nib, brandishing its claws at Su Mu.

After the sharpness inscription, the pen's nib turned.

The line transformed from sharp to heavy, like a mountain, and soon another inscription took shape.

"This is the sturdiness inscription... in just half a year, this boy has mastered two types of inscriptions." Zhao Ju swallowed hard, tidal waves of surprise crashing through his heart, "The proficiency in this inscription… has this boy really only been learning for half a year?"

Shock and joy filled Zhao Ju's heart like a torrential rain, but the storm eventually passed, leaving the aftermath in its wake.

Suddenly overwhelmed with a strong sense of defeat, Zhao Ju tasted the deep sense of frustration Chen Yuntian had once experienced.

Su Mu, meanwhile, entered into a mystical realm, with six months of accumulation bursting forth in this moment.

Little did he know that a mere six months seemed too short to Zhao Ju, barely counting as accumulation, and hardly considered normal.

Unaware, Su Mu immersed himself entirely, with pen continuously moving, another inscription followed by another.

Stepping back a few more paces, Zhao Ju silently adjusted his breathing so as not to disturb Su Mu, knowing the boy had likely entered a state of epiphany and should not be interrupted.

"Whew!" 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

As Su Mu finished with great satisfaction, a morning had slipped quietly by, and the iron shield bore fourteen inscriptions, seven of sharpness and seven of sturdiness.

The Cyan Blade Forging Room was deathly silent, and after a long while, Zhao Ju suppressed the tumultuous qi blood within, speaking gravely.

"Incredible, Chen Yuntian was right, you truly are a freak…" Chen Yuntian stared at Su Mu, unable to hide the monstrous gaze in his eyes, then uttered words similar to those from Chen Yuntian himself.

"Sturdiness and sharpness are the inscriptions I mastered fully; since you've mastered them, I've taught you nearly all I can. Tomorrow morning head to the Cold Pool to seek Lin Ruoshui for the remaining skills."

With those words, Zhao Ju took out a thin notebook from inside his robe, "This book contains some insights I've gathered on inscriptions over the years, not part of the Forging Workshop; you may take it to study, but must not share it outside."

"I will remember!"

Su Mu immediately bowed respectfully to Zhao Ju, who then, with a stern face, politely ushered him out of the forging room.

"I don't want to see you for the time being. You don't need to come back this afternoon."

After finishing speaking, Zhao Ju closed the door of the Cyan Blade Forging Room with an expressionless face.

Outside, the cold wind howled, messing up the boy's black hair. A touch of helplessness appeared on Su Mu's innocent face; indeed, he couldn't escape it.

"Soon, very soon."

Turning around, a sense of anticipation arose in the boy's heart.

Su Mu's gaze fell on the two empty independent bluestone forging rooms not far away. When he first entered the Forging Workshop, he had wished to acquire one of them.

Now, it was not far off.

Once he obtained his own forging room, he could start forging the exclusive great spear for 'Li Feiyu'. The design for the spear drawn a year ago had long been discarded by Su Mu.

His knowledge and skill in forging back then could not compare to now; after learning the entry-level forging arts, Su Mu gained a new understanding and comprehension of forging.

At this moment, the image of a new, better, and stronger great spear formed in Su Mu's mind. He wanted to forge a grade-entering great spear for the Seven Dominating Spear Forms.

"I haven't wielded a hammer in a long time; I'll take some time this afternoon."

...

After leaving the Cyan Blade Forging Room, Su Mu headed towards the communal forging room and saw Wu Qiao'er peering around the door from a distance.

After returning from Shuangbai Town yesterday, Wu Qiao'er was fixated on finding that 'savior', though both Uncle Li and the outside world claimed it was a monk from the Vajra Temple who drove away the thief.

But surely, she couldn't confuse a scholar with a bald monk?

Moreover, she must have smelled that particular scent somewhere before. Wu Qiao'er had an extraordinary sense of smell from birth and believed her nose hadn't deceived her.

While thinking, a pungent, sour smell suddenly hit her from behind. Wrinkling her nose, Wu Qiao'er turned to find it was Su Mu.

"Su Mu?" She stepped back half a step, covering her nose, "Weren't you learning from Master Zhao? What's that smell on you?"

"Blood of a demon beast used in inscriptions," Su Mu answered succinctly.

"I don't have time to talk to you. I have important matters!" Wu Qiao'er pouted, turned, and slipped into another forging room.

Su Mu glanced at Wu Qiao'er; she was carefree and optimistic. Yet, optimism had its advantages; she rebounded quickly after the abduction incident.

Upon returning to the Forging Workshop, Su Mu heard Master Zhao mention that on the day the news from Shuangbai Town reached the workshop, Uncle Wu and the three masters were anxious.

Wu Qiao'er was raised by the three masters, loved more than a granddaughter.

All four of them rushed to Shuangbai Town overnight. Wu Qiao'er's brother Wu Ning clamored to go too but was scolded by the four and had to stay reluctantly at the workshop.

On their way, they met with the Cyan Cloud Army bringing good news, finally sighing in relief. According to the indiscreet Master Chen Yuntian, Uncle Wu slapped County Captain Li angrily when he reached Shuangbai Town, though it's unclear how much of it is true.

Lost in thought, Su Mu entered the communal Forging Workshop.

Wu Qiao'er, committed to finding her savior, brushed past Su Mu unknowingly. Little did she know the person she sought was right before her eyes!

Su Mu, who was involved, walked into the forging room at a leisurely pace and began wielding the hammer.

...

Meanwhile, within the Demon Slayer Bureau.

Someone else, like Wu Qiao'er, was deep in thought. This person was Li Zhihe, the director of the Cyan Cloud Demon Slayer Bureau.

With the matter in Shuangbai Town settled, Li Qiu awaited the larger troop of the Cyan Cloud Army before ordering to eliminate the Sharp Gold Banner of the Black Mountain Rebel Army. In the Shuangniu Mountain, they discovered a sizable weapon workshop.

The workshop contained numerous contraband items the Black Mountain Army hadn't managed to move, including refined iron armor and iron crossbows!

The Sharp Gold Banner was responsible for forging illegal weapons for the Black Mountain Army in this workshop. Besides these contraband items, many craftsmen were found dead inside.

"Most of those people were craftsmen the Black Mountain Army didn't have time to take, so they killed them on the spot."

The rescuers succeeded in saving over thirty craftsmen, just a portion of them, prompting Qingyun County Captain Li Qiu to order the Cyan Cloud Army to pursue their enemies, ultimately beheading over three hundred, yet the banner master of the Sharp Gold Banner remained elusive.

However, none of this concerned Li Zhihe the most; what intrigued him was who repelled the Cyan-faced Bat King Wei Ming.

"To snatch people from Cyan-faced Bat King Wei Ming and repel him — was it Li Feiyu?"

Li Zhihe's eyes flickered, for the situation was too coincidental. In terms of timing, location, and martial arts, Li Feiyu matched up.

Time-wise, Li Feiyu accepted Zhou Qing's wanted order, and during the rebellion, Li Feiyu was near the academy area, with Baiqing Street just half a mile from it.

As for martial arts, Li Feiyu wielded two absolute arts from Vajra Temple: Tiger Subduing Fist and Vajra Body.

But since Li Feiyu had not yet refined his muscles, how could an Eighth Grade Bone Forging defeat the top-notch Seventh Grade Cyan-faced Bat King Wei Ming? It did not add up.

"Mr. Li has always been decisive and seemingly avoids trouble. Why, then, did he return to the academy after killing Zhou Qing?" Li Zhihe couldn't see Li Feiyu having any interest in poetry; otherwise, he would have stayed longer at the poetry gathering.

"Besides, news from Shuangbai Town reached soon after Mr. Li returned. By that time, the daughter of Lord Li had already been rescued. With mastery of a lightweight skill, he could have returned to the city before the Shuangbai Town messengers. "

"Among those rescued was the daughter of County Captain Li and the daughter of Wu Lie from the Forging Workshop."

"Indeed, Gongsun Hu protected Li Xuan, and the Vajra Temple has always stood by its own."

Li Zhihe's hand paused, a flash of realization in his eyes.

"This matter is related to Li Feiyu, but lacking the strength... surely a high monk from the Vajra Temple supported him in secret; the person taking action was under his guidance."

A glimmer of understanding sparked in Li Zhihe's eyes. The fog surrounding Li Feiyu began to clear, and Director Li believed he had discerned Li Feiyu's mysterious background.

"Since Li Feiyu never became a monk, merely a lay disciple, we might as well attempt to recruit him for our purposes!"

"It seems I'll need to invest more heavily in the future."