Chapter 062: Little Uncle
The middle-aged man in green is named Cang Wu. He is the Zhan Yu’s third senior brother, and Su Tingyun has to address him as Third Martial Uncle.
Third Uncle has reached the eighth level of Foundation Establishment. He knows how to forge weapons, and is currently the one responsible for crafting the large iron swords in the Obliteration Sword Tower. Before even performing the formal apprenticeship ceremony or meeting the others, Su Tingyun starts cooking. Due to limited resources, she finds the taste only average, but Bu Xingzhi is ecstatic, eating like a starving ghost that just got reincarnated.
Even Zhan Yu, appearing out of nowhere, joins in and devours a large bowl of rice and a few pieces of meat. While eating at the table, he even taps it with his chopsticks and says, “No need to offer tea to your Master. This meal will do.”
(In most xianxia, becoming a disciple usually involves serving the Master tea)
After eating their fill, Xiao Budian clears the dishes by himself, while Zhan Yu leads Su Tingyun to meet the others.
Rather than individually searching for each person, there are just over ten people in the Obliteration Sword Tower. At this moment, they all stand in front of Zhan Yu’s small bamboo dwelling, waiting for him to introduce them.
In the center stands an elegantly dressed woman, appearing to be around thirty. Her hair is coiled into a high bun, and a wooden stick is inserted on top. She wears no embellishments.
Zhan Yu bows to the woman, respectfully saying, “Master.” Then, he instructs Su Tingyun to kneel, “This is my master, your master as well, and also the head of our Obliteration Sword Tower, Master Lingxiao.”
Su Tingyun sincerely pays her respects to her new master, performing the customary kneeling ceremony.
Master Lingxiao, the head of the Obliteration Sword Tower, appears serene and amiable, with a smile as elegant as a chrysanthemum.
“No need for formalities. After entering the Obliteration Sword Tower, although the days may be austere, you walk the righteous path. Do you understand?” Master Lingxiao says with a smile.
“Disciple understands,” Su Tingyun replies.
With that, the introductions continue. To the left is Elder Fangyuan of the Obliteration Sword Tower, Master Lingxiao’s junior brother. He has a fair and plump appearance, truly living up to his name. On the right is a tall and thin figure, dressed in a black robe and wielding a long sword. He is also around thirty years old, with a resolute face and sharp eyes. At first glance, he gives off an impression of sternness. He is Elder Yan Shu, another junior brother of Master Lingxiao.
The other six are Zhan Yu’s martial brothers. As Zhan Yu is the sixth in seniority, Su Tingyun addresses them as senior martial uncles. Originally, the Obliteration Sword Tower had a total of eleven members. With Su Tingyun’s addition, it becomes twelve. She notices there’s still one missing and curiously asks.
“Oh, that would be Elder Yan Shu’s last disciple. He joined later than the rest of us. He’s out recruiting on the Trial Island. You should address him as Little Uncle.”
Currently, there are two at the Golden Core stage in the Obliteration Sword Island—Zhan Yu and the yet-to-be-seen Little Uncle Yan Yuqing. There are nine at the Foundation Establishment stage, which includes everyone except Xiao Budian.
Entering the Trial Island requires a cultivation level of at least Foundation Establishment stage. In other words, they are still short of nine people. The requirements for accepting disciples on the Obliteration Sword Island are quite strict. Can they really recruit nine disciples? Su Tingyun is a bit worried.
“All right, you’ve paid your respects, met everyone. Go talk to your Third Uncle about what kind of iron sword you want. Choose one yourself, and if you have preferences for the width, length, or type of sword, let him know so he can tailor it to you.”
Cang Wu instructs Su Tingyun to pick a sword. When she enters his forging room and sees the multitude of identical iron swords densely arranged, with their hilts protruding like a giant wasp nest, she feels a bit overwhelmed. She randomly selects one to get it over with.
However, as she is about to leave, Su Tingyun suddenly asks, “Can Third Uncle help me forge iron balls?”
“Sure. It’s no trouble. We don’t have much, just a bunch of scrap metal,” Cang Wu says cheerfully. Then, he inquires, “Are you planning to use them as hidden weapons? Do you want them to be marble-sized? Thunderbolt bullets?”
Su Tingyun considers Big Bai’s size, gesturing with her hands to indicate the dimensions. Cang Wu is momentarily surprised.
“Bigger than a person’s head,” he comments.
Su Tingyun chuckles and hesitates before asking, “Would it be alright, Third Uncle?”
“Sure, as I said, we have plenty of scrap metal. Since it’s iron balls you want, you can have as many as you need. I’ll send them to you tomorrow as a meeting gift from Third Uncle. Hope you don’t dislike it. Hehe.”
How could Su Tingyun dislike it? The large iron balls are exactly what she needs. When she goes to the Trial Island in a few days, she plans to visit the Wuliang Sect again and send the balls to Big Bai.
Of course, before that, she needs to figure out a way to get some spirit stones. Otherwise, she won’t even be able to afford the entrance fee for the mountain, of a low-grade spirit stone.
As Su Tingyun leaves Third Uncle’s place, she contemplates refining pills to cleanse impurities for Xiao Budian. However, she currently lacks both an alchemy furnace and medicinal herbs, so she’s somewhat in trouble.
When she brings up her problems with her Master, Su Tingyun sees his smiling face and becomes extremely confused.
“Low-grade medicinal herbs would be manageable. But for the alchemy furnace, let me ask around later,” says Zhan Yu. After saying this, he hastily leaves and returns with a small bag.
“There are ten middle-grade spirit stones inside. It should be enough to buy an alchemy furnace. This is what your sect leader and a uncles pitched in for you, so be a bit thrifty with your spending.”
Why is the Obliteration Sword Tower so poor! Just go hunt a fourth or fifth-grade spirit beast, and you’d easily have some spirit stones. Don’t tell her the cultivators of the Obliteration Sword Tower refrain from killing. Obviously, Master Zhan Yu has stripped Demonic cultivators naked before; the way he did it back there was so skillful.
After their master departs, Xiao Budian speaks up, “It’s because we need to maintain the Cleansing Sword Lake.”
Every day, at least ten high-grade spirit stones are required to sustain the spiritual energy in the Cleansing Sword Lake‘s formation.
“You haven’t seen the bottom of our Cleansing Sword Lake, have you? It’s very pretty.” Here, Xiao Budian’s face finally loses its previous disdainful expression. When talking about the Cleansing Sword Lake, he looks proud. “It’s a sect restricted area only accessible after three years of entry. Junior Sister, work hard to enter it.”
Next, Xiao Budian leads Su Tingyun to her residence. The bamboo dwelling is a bit far from the main hall but quite close to the lake, It’s quite far from the rows of bamboo dwellings over there. Next to it, there’s only a black-painted pavilion, giving off a somewhat heavy vibe.
“That attic next to yours belongs to Little Uncle.” Speaking of Little Uncle, Xiao Budian’s expression turns serious, and he places a hand near his mouth, whispering, “The person you absolutely can’t offend the most in the Obliteration Sword Tower is Little Uncle. That’s why no one wants to live next to him. Junior Sister, I’m reminding you at great risk. You better refine some pills quickly to thank me.”
Su Tingyun turns her head to glance at the dark residence. She feels that the black color is particularly abrupt in the green bamboo forest. At first glance, it seems like a wild beast crouching there, ready to pounce and bite your throat when you’re not paying attention.
A cold wind blows, making Su Tingyun shiver. But she smiles and says, “People who can enter the Obliteration Sword Tower cultivate the righteous energy of the heavens and earth. They’ll just be strict at most. I won’t offend him.”
“No, no, no,” Xiao Budian shakes his head repeatedly. “The Obliteration Sword Tower is divided into two factions. Elder Yan and Little Uncle belong to the ‘Killing to End Killing’ faction. Little Uncle works as an assassin outside, taking on assassination jobs…”
He starts with a serious expression, but as he continues, the tone shifts, “He earns the most spirit stones. The Cleansing Sword Lake is basically supported by him.”
Well, it seems Little Uncle is single-handedly supporting the Obliteration Sword Tower, working hard outside to earn spirit stones. Truly, one shouldn’t offend him!
As they talk, someone shouts, “Yuqing is back!”
As those words fall, Su Tingyun watches Xiao Budian abandoning his playful demeanor. His small face tightens, his body straightening up. The sword he was dangling around is now held properly. Then, he walks towards the lake like in a marching goose-step. Observing his demeanor, Su Tingyun checks herself if anything’s out of place. Once she feels presentable, she respectfully follows towards the lake.
From afar, she sees a sword cultivator dressed in black, an expressionless face, exuding an air of solemn killing intent. Standing there, he resembles the rugged and strange stone in front of the Obliteration Sword Tower. Ignoring his appearance, one can only sense the peaks and ridges, mysterious and awe-inspiring, causing a profound impact.
Once she manages to regain her composure, she notices that the Little Uncle is remarkably handsome, or at least, much better looking than the middle-aged men on the Trial Island.
Yan Yuqing is not alone; he is accompanied by nine people. Among them, five have crossed the Cleansing Sword Lake, while the other four stand on the opposite side of the lake.
Among the five, three are young men at the Foundation Establishment stage, and their appearances are exceptionally ordinary. In the cultivation world, they can be considered quite unattractive. Seeing these three, Su Tingyun feels a sense of camaraderie. This is what normal human faces should look like.
The other two are a boy and a girl, both young children no more than five or six years old. They are exceptionally cute, resembling carved jade. They’re actually are a pair of twins. Looking at these two children, Su Tingyun’s immediate thought is that she might have to cook more in the future. She wonders if the Obliteration Sword Tower still has money to buy spiritual rice.
The two children have a cultivation of the Qi Refinement second layer and did not cross over on floating logs. Instead, Yan Yuqing carries one in each hand. As for the other three, they traverse the floating logs effortlessly, not much slower than Yan Yuqing.
In comparison, Su Tingyun feels a tremendous amount of pressure.
“Nephew Yan Yuqing, you’re amazing. You actually managed to gather enough people. These five have joined the sect, what about the other four?” The one speaking is Elder Fangyuan. He speaks with a smiling expression, resembling a Maitreya Buddha.
“Those four are hired.” Because the number of people isn’t enough, he’s temporarily recruited four wandering cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage. Everyone had thought of doing this before, but the reason it hadn’t been done was due to a lack of spirit stones.
Upon hearing Yan Yuqing’s words, Elder Fangyuan was momentarily stunned. Subsequently, the smile on his face diminished significantly. The Obliteration Sword Tower’s daily consumption of spirit stones for the Cleansing Sword Lake was already insufficient. They had sold everything they could sell, and now, even the jade stones on the floor inside the main hall had been removed. Where could they get the spirit stones to hire four Foundation Establishment cultivators?
Just then, someone behind Yan Yuqing speaks, “Our boss came up with the spirit stones. He’s Ren Yi, I am Ren Er, and this is Ren San.”
Elder Fangyuan smiles again, “Oh, you three are brothers. He’s the eldest, you’re the second, and this one is the third?”
This, calling the first one ‘boss’ isn’t a big deal; but he doesn’t want these disciples bringing any bandit-like habits to the Obliteration Sword Tower. If they have to address him, they should call him Senior Brother.
However, the person speaking waves his hand repeatedly, “No, no, I’m the third kid.”
You’re the third, then why the heck are you called Ren Er! Yi=1, Er=2, San=3
Everyone wears a speechless expression. Su Tingyun looks at this young man who has a naïve expression, and feels like she might have grasped something.
He probably suits ‘Er’ the most among them. While the cultivation world may not have the term “Er Bi” (idiot, but could be more vulgar), they do have ‘Er leng zi’(stupid) as a swear!
Ren Yi and Ren San: “Hehe.”
Bai Su scans the entire island. One glance and he could perceive everything in the place, nothing can escape his eyes. There’s nothing noteworthy about this small island, but the only thing that catches his attention in the Obliteration Sword Tower is the seal at the bottom of the Cleansing Sword Lake.
The sword cultivation in the Obliteration Sword Tower shares similarities with the lost art of cultivating evil, and that Seal has similarities with the Sealed Heaven Border. He wonders if there is some connection.
If he can uncover the truth, being in this Realm won’t be considered a total loss.
NOTE: Chapters 43-65 are still being Retranslated (as they seem to be deleted by the previous translator/s), so please bear with the missing chapters. For those who have read those, the normal releases are now up to chapter 134+ on Patreon.
Happy Daoist 
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