‘Heroes find themselves aided by the heavens when the time comes, but constrained when the time goes.’ This point couldn’t appear any clearer to Wang Chong at this moment.
“So the Destiny Power is also related to the Five Great Paths of Martial Arts? That means these five light bundles represent five different rewards!”
Wang Chong suddenly came to a realization.
Of the five bundles, the three highest levels, ‘Breath’, ‘Art’, and ‘State’, were gray. Clearly, they were still in a sealed state.
Only the two light bundles representing ‘Heart’ and ‘Body’ were lit.
Currently, ‘faith’ was useless to Wang Chong; only body tempering techniques were of true importance to Wang Chong. Thus, Wang Chong directed a portion of his consciousness into the second bundle of light.
Weng!
In a moment, the light shone brilliantly. An entirely different picture appeared before Wang Chong:
【Destiny Exchange: Root Bone】
【Destiny Exchange: Blood Reformation! Alters a martial artist’s talent (Sealed)】
…
“Blood Reformation? There’s actually such a thing?”
Seeing the second option, Wang Chong was astounded. Even so, his right hand moved to press on the 【Root Bone】 option without any hesitation.
【Root Bone: Panther 1-dan】
【Destiny Energy: 25 Points】
…
“This is it!”
Looking at the option, Wang Chong burst into laughter.
Even though he chose to cultivate the ‘Dragon Bone Art’, it required one to reach the pinnacle of the art before one could display the full extent of its abilities and evolve one’s bones to the same level of a dragon’s.
Before he mastered the Dragon Bone Art, his Root Bone was still at a null state, not even comparable to the weakest Panther Bone.
However, if he were to able to reach the level of a Panther Bone through the assistance of the Stone of Destiny, even if it was just the most basic 1-dan, it would be extremely useful to him. More importantly, it would reduce the time required to master the Dragon Bone Art.
To the current him, this was, without a doubt, the most useful and helpful reward he could get.
Weng!
Wang Chong tapped on the option, choosing to proceed with the exchange. In a moment, a vibrant light started to spill outward from the bundle of light. Soon, a warm energy started flowing through Wang Chong as though a tide, cleansing his body layer by layer.
Wang Chong shut his eyes and allowed the warm energy permeate his flesh, blood, and bones. Kachacha, a series of cracking sounds emanated from the depths of his bones. It was as though Wang Chong’s bones had been injected with steaming hot metallic fluid, heightening their strength. In a short period of time, his body swiftly grew stronger.
“Such an immense power. To think that it could alter a martial artist’s bones within such a short period of time!”
Wang Chong stretched his arms. He felt as though his entire body wielded unlimited strength. He could sense that his strength had grown by a significant amount.
To think that Destiny Energy could allow him to bypass the long amount of training time required for one to achieve the ‘Panther Bones’ realm. This was inconceivable to Wang Chong!
The warm energy continued to flow into him, and when the final bit of energy disappeared into his body, Wang Chong realized that his cultivation realm had increased as well, reaching the halfway mark between Origin Energy Tier 4 and Tier 5.
In terms of his bone strength, he was in no way inferior to those Origin Energy Tier 9 or Panther Bones martial artists!
He hadn’t broken through Origin Energy Tier 5 yet, but his strength wasn’t something a normal Tier 5 martial artists could match up to.
“I still have 5 Destiny Energy points remaining, but I doubt that I would be able to exchange anything with it.”
Wang Chong’s mood was good after having his fighting prowess scaled up by an entire level. Since he wasn’t able to do anything with the remaining Destiny Energy, he decided to just leave it be for the time being.
As for the other twenty Destiny Energy, he had to keep it to deal with the ‘world’s punishment’, which he still didn’t know what form it would come in.
“Un? Armor? Destiny Struggler!”
Right after he exchanged his points for the ‘Panther Bones’, a change suddenly occurred with the second light bundle. An ancient and elegant crimson-red chainmail appeared in Wang Chong’s view.
The moment Wang Chong saw it, he intuitively knew its name, ‘Destiny Struggler’!
This was the name of the armor.
“80 Destiny Energy, this isn’t something I can afford now!”
Seeing the amount of points required for him to exchange for the crimson-red armor, Wang Chong could only shake his head in disappointment. He only had 5 Destiny Energy remaining; he was still a far way off from meeting the amount required to purchase this ‘Destiny Struggler’.
Retracting his consciousness from the ‘body tempering technique’ rewards, Wang Chong turned his attention to the first light bundle beside the Destiny Stone, floating in the endless darkness.
‘Heart’ represented ‘faith’, and as the saying does, ‘a plan to attack minds is far superior to a plan to attack a fortress’. ‘Heart’ did not strengthen a person’s physique or boost a martial artist’s strength. Even so, it still formed one of the bases of the Five Great Paths of Martial Arts.
Within the Five Great Paths, Heart, Body, Breath, Art, and State, the state of Heart was the most unique. It was in a half-sealed state.
Wang Chong diverted his consciousness into the half-sealed light bundle and saw some words he did not expect to see:
【Sense of Mission!】
These three words were gray and devoid of light. Other than these words, there was nothing else.
“I get it.”
Seeing the three words, Wang Chong was silent for a moment before retreating from his consciousness.
When all of it was over, Wang Chong sat on the edge of his bed with both of his hands supporting his forehead. He was silently absorbing what had just happened.
The appearance of the Stone of Destiny was something he never expected. There were For example, where did the Destiny Stone come from? What was the purpose of its existence? How did helping him benefit it?
Furthermore, the impassive mechanical voice, as well as its method of appearance, seemed extremely bizarre to Wang Chong. It felt like it wasn’t something that should have appeared in this world, but in another time-space continuum where ‘artificial intelligence’ existed.
Wang Chong could only guess that perhaps it was due to the fact that his soul came from an entirely different space-time, the Stone of Destiny decided to take on a form which was more familiar to him to interact with him.
But regardless of the reason, there were a few points which Wang Chong was sure of:
Firstly, all actions that go against the natural flow of destiny would be hindered and restrained by the world. Thus, this matter was extremely risky, as well as beneficial, to him.
For one, he had managed to achieve Panther Bones.
Secondly, if he wanted to avoid the world’s rejection and constraint, he needed a large amount of Destiny Energy, and Destiny Energy could only be derived from changing destiny and saving the world.
However, even though the Destiny Stone hadn’t said anything about the matter, Wang Chong could imagine that the greater the change he introduced to this world, the greater the world would reject him.
In other words, he needed to obtain more Destiny Energy to survive in this world.
“If one wanted the crown, one had to bear its weight! Regardless of whether I only have a single year left in this world or not, as long as I am able to fulfill my wish and change the destiny of this world, I don’t care about the consequences!”
Wang Chong took in a deep breath, clenched his fist,
and fell silent.
Chapter 44: Secret Exposed
‘An army is valued by its speed; better early than late.’ While Wang Chong was still in his room, conflicted over the Stone of Destiny, he received a news from his cousin, Wang Zhu Yan.
On this aspect, with big uncle behind her, her intelligence network was much greater than his.
Wang Chong was spot on!
The Yao Clan’s Old Master Yao had truly put down his pride and appeared at his grandfather’s living quarter in the Four Quarters Embassy tonight!
The Yao and Wang Clan were officially in peace talks.
After Wang Chong’s reminder, when Big Uncle Wang Gen joined the conversation, he added the issue about having Cousin Wang Li’s name added in the promotion list as part of the negotiations and requested for the Yao Clan to cooperate with Wang Li’s promotion.
On this issue, Old Master Yao had no choice and accepted it on the spot. After that, they started negotiating about political matters.
It was a rare opportunity for the Yao Clan to be seeking a truce, hence, grandfather and big uncle made full use of this opportunity and added in more demands on the political aspect so as to scrape a layer of skin off the Yao Clan.
Wang Chong’s cousin, Wang Zhu Yan, was extremely surprised over the matter and her disbelief was clearly expressed in the letter.
“That old fellow sure reacted fast!”
After sending away the servant ‘Second Sister’ Wang Zhu Yan sent, Wang Chong couldn’t help but be impressed with Old Master Yao.
Wang Chong didn’t expect that Old Master Yao would pay a visit to his grandfather so soon. His sensitivity toward such issues and his decisiveness wasn’t something anyone could compare to.
Old Master Yao had never lowered his head to his grandfather through their decades of battle. Yet, for his offsprings, he made this decision with absolutely no hesitation.
This was also why the Yao Clan was fearsome!
As long as Old Master Yao was breathing, the Yao Clan was an indestructible entity. There was no one who was capable to destroying the Yao Clan!
However, this wasn’t what Wang Chong was concerned about.
Wang Chong was certain that with his performance, everyone’s impression of him had changed. Wang Chong even remembered the shock in his big aunt’s eyes when she was bidding farewell, as well as the delight his mother showed when she glanced at him.
Even his father, Wang Yan, in his letter, expressed intense joy and disbelief over the affair. Wang Yan had always held an unfavorable impression toward his son, and what Wang Chong found the most difficult was to change the impression his father had of him.
However, after the incident with King Song and Yao Guang Yi, Wang Chong believed he should have completely altered the impression his father had of him.
As for the clan…
Wang Chong glanced at the letter on the table. In the letter, Wang Zhu Yan had questioned him about the matter and her incredulity was expressed through her words. This was an indication of the clan’s current impression of him.
Even though it was insufficient for him to enter the core of the family just like that, without a doubt, he had earned everyone’s acknowledgment!
“… Currently, there’s just one more matter left!”
Wang Chong chuckled. As the saying goes, ‘joyful occasions come in pairs’. Wang Chong had received a note from Wei Hao, saying that the forging of the Wootz steel weapon should be completed within these few days.
As long as they were completed, he should be ready to rake in money.
Hua!
Pulling up his robe, Wang Chong walked out from the room. The night sky was pitch black with a bright moon hanging high in the sky. Under the moonlight, lantern after lantern was hung along the corridors in the Wang Family Residence.
Walking along the pavement, wherever Wang Chong went, he could sense countless gazes with respect and admiration toward him, which was completely different from how the guards, servants, and maids viewed him in the past.
After this series of events, not only had the Wang Clan’s destiny changed, Wang Chong’s standing in the clan had also changed.
“About time for me to start training!”
Wang Chong moved toward the corner, pushed the shelf aside, and started dancing along the constellations, thus starting his practice on the 《Dragon Bone Art》. ‘Diligence can compensate one’s flaws’, he couldn’t halt his plans, but neither could he neglect his martial arts. During the period of hard work, he could sense that his strength had improved once more.
…
The matter by the border continued to play out in the capital. Under the rumors spread intentionally by some, the news of the Yao Clan’s Old Master Yao visiting the ‘Harmonious Garden’ of the Four Quarters Embassy to visit Duke Jiu and the Yao and Wang Clan shaking their hands to make peace caused an uproar throughout the capital.
Of the many years of fights between the Yao Clan and Wang Clan, this was the first time the Wang Clan had the upper hand.
Yao Guang Yi’s failure at the border had become the turning point of their battle. Even in the alleys, it was the topic of discussion, Yao Guang Yi’s incredible foresight and flawless plans had become a subject of mockery.
Many people had said that the Wang Clan’s ‘Duke Jiu’ had invited a secret strategist, who was in no way inferior to Yao Guang Yi, to assist them. At this very moment, everyone was privately discussing who this incredible ‘secret strategist’ could be.
Putting the commotion outside aside, as the ‘secret strategist’ whom these distinguished families and nobles were talking about, Wang Chong was living a peaceful life in ‘seclusion’ as he happily carried out his wealth-amassing plan.
And this plan was almost completed.
“Haha, Wang Chong, look! The Wootz steel weapon which you spoke of has finally been crafted!”
In the cavern at the western suburbs of the capital, Wei Hao lifted a 3 chi long incomplete black sword excitedly. This was a standard Central Plains sword, a double-edged sword. With a straight sword body and a width of around two fingers, its black body gave it a tough impression.
A chi -> 0.33m
“Right, Wang Chong, why did you request to add two grooves to the both sides of the blade. I don’t remember the swords of our Central Plains having grooves?”
Wei Hao scratched his head in incomprehension as he stared at the grooves that stretched along the blade of the sword on both sides of the blade.
“It’s called a blood groove, and it’s designed for killing an opponent. After the sword is stabbed into a person’s body, his blood would spurt out through the blood groove, causing him to lose a large amount of blood within a minimal period of time!”
Wang Chong smiled.
“Ah!”
Wei Hao was taken aback, and he nearly dropped the sword from his hands:
“Blood groove? Killing an opponent? Wang Chong, this sword sure is savage!”
Wang Chong smiled silently. Weapons made of Wootz steel, including the Damascus scimitar, were weapons created to induce bloodshed. In fact, all swords were weapons of murder. This was the primary concept of their existence.
‘Wealth should not be entrusted to the upright, command over troops shouldn’t be entrusted to the benevolent’, if one didn’t have enough courage, one should stay away from weapons.
“Pass it to me!”
Wang Chong took the Wootz steel sword from Wei Hao. Feeling its weight, the Wootz steel sword was significantly heavier than ordinary swords, weighing around 20 to 30 jin.
i.e. 10~15kg
If one didn’t possess superior strength, it would be difficult to wield a 20 to 30 jin weapon for extended periods of time.
“The first Wootz steel weapon has finally been crafted!”
Wang Chong thought. With a casual swing, a dark shadow flashed in the air, and kacha, a chunk of rock from the cavern broke apart and fell on the ground.
“Woah, that’s sharp! Your
sword really isn’t normal!”
Wei Hao cowered backward in fear. The Wootz steel sword was just complete and he had yet to test it, so he didn’t know that it would be this sharp!
He was well aware of how tough the cavern walls were. The reason why the Wei Clan chose this place was because the stone walls were sufficiently firm and tough to serve as a forge.
Even though the space wasn’t large, the Wei Clan spent half a year in order to dig out this limited space. The masters of the residence had their go on the walls, and even using the sharpest blades, they could only sheath out a few debris.
Yet, with a single glide of Wang Chong’s sword, the stone was easily cut apart.
“It’s still a semi-complete product now. After it’s been inscribed on and refined, its sharpness wouldn’t amount to just this much.”
Wang Chong said calmly.
Wei Hao was shocked speechless. To be honest, he didn’t know what Wang Chong had done with the sword. Not just him, even the blacksmith masters beside him didn’t know what cold forging or that sort were.
It was truly a mystery how Wang Chong knew all of these.
“Honestly speaking, Wang Chong, the Sindhis demanded quite a huge sum. With just these few swords, do you think you’ll be able to earn that much money? I’m worried that your effort may be expended on the wrong side!”
Wei Hao said worriedly.
Other than Wei Hao, no one knew that Wang Chong owed 90000 gold taels to the Sindhi monks. This matter had been lingering on his mind and he was constantly worrying about it.
“Hehe, rest easy. When the time comes, you’ll understand.”
Wang Chong said indifferently. Taking the few Wootz steel sword in his hands, Wang Chong’s heart started beating nervously as he thought about his cousin Wang Zhu Yan.
After settling the matter of the forging of the Wootz steel weapons through the craftsmen of the Wei Clan, and it was time for his cousin, Wang Zhu Yan, to make a move.
…
“You brat, what are you trying to do by making these things?”
In the Xi Shi Pavilion at the west of the capital, a red mat was laid over the floor and the bed was crafted from golden jade. Wang Chong’s cousin, Wang Zhu Yan, was lying in a comfortable position on the bed.
The Human Emperor c1-2382 Page 43
