84 Ironheart Weaponsmiths

Ye Mo blended with the shadows as he made his way to the fourth mountain.

When he attained his destination, he climbed all the way to the entrance of the cavern marked by Wei Leng's map.

However, just as he was about to step in, a creature left the darkness and opened its maw wide about to devour him.

Flick!

The bug was hit harshly on the head as it flew back through the strength of the strike.

It was the blood tracking fly Ye Mo took from the Liu clan.

When he released it in the underground cave, it spent its time wandering in the tunnel without any direction nor purpose.

It traveled this way for some time and covered quite some distance, luckily being close to the botomless pit when the underground passage started collapsing.

Every living beings had a survival instinct and seeing the surroundings turning into ruins and parts of the ceiling dangerously falling towards itself, the bug quickly flew ahead, moving left and right to avoid the rocks dropping down as it attained the end of the tunnel.

When it noticed the hole in the ceiling, it flew up in a straight line and escaped from the devastation below, but quickly, a column of smoke and dust rised in the pit and swallowed the blood tracking fly.

Yet, after some time, the bug emerged once again, leaving the swirling mass behind as it didn't lose any momentum, furiously moving upwards until it left the botomless pit and found itself in the cave where was previously situated the pure iridescent iron.

After having escaped from the collapse of the underground passage and ascending all the way to this place, the bug was rather worn out, in addition, it was now surrounded by complete darkness.

In this situation, the blood tracking fly which wasn't very smart from the start returned to its previous behaviour, randomly flying left and right and lightly tapping against the walls of the cave at times before going in another direction as it searched for a way out, but even more, for food.

It moved in this fashion for some time, yet, it made little progress, until at some point, it felt a prey in the distance which grew closer in its direction.

Finally, it had something to rely on and thinking only about feeding itself, the bug rushed forth quickly, using its sense to find the position of the prey as it left the cave in no time.

After spending some time in total darkness, the powerful rays of the sun affected the vision of the blood tracking fly, but it didn't care and could still distinguish the figure of a human as it attacked.

Yet, good things don't last as it was repelled in an instant, struck by a middle finger.

Even without its vision completely recovering, it instantly knew who it was facing when it was hit.

The blood tracking fly didn't even try anything while Ye Mo tied a thread around its body.

At first, it buzzed around happily when it was finally freed from this leash, but then, misfortune fell one after the other, the collapse, lost in a cave being as good as blind and now him again.

Will this devil never leave me be again?!

The bug only looked down, such feelings brooding in its heart.

Ye Mo of course never planned to abandon his blood tracking fly, after the lenght he went through to tame it.

If it died so be it, he couldn't pass the chance to explore the tomb just to take care of this bug, but he still returned and looked for the blood beast in case it survived.

"Now that i have all the iron in hand, it's time to go back. There is no purpose in staying in this jungle any longer."

Ye Mo used wind flow and departed, the blood tracking fly clinging to his clothes as they quickly rushed through the woods.

He passed by the third mountain, then attained the second one where he stopped using his movement battle skill.

Previously, there were many squads of Liu clan members in this part of the jungle tracking him so he couldn't just dash in the open without any care or he would get caught.

To avoid being noticed, he moved silently while using the bushes and trees to cover himself and being sure to be the one to catch sight of his pursuers first if they were near his position.

However, even after dozens of minutes, he still didn't perceive even a trace of them as he reached the first mountain without issue.

"Did they withdraw all their troops from the jungle already? It wasn't that long since i led blood beasts to kill their members, if that's the reason they left then they really reacted quickly." Ye Mo guessed as he kept in motion.

The Liu clan leaving the jungle was good news, he can leave safely and doesn't have to spend so much time avoiding them.

Still, Ye Mo didn't use his movement battle skill and kept moving under the cover of the woods, his pursuers leaving was just a supposition, he couldn't be sure they really returned to the sect.

If he was to suddenly lower his guard and run with wind flow battle skill in a straight line just to get caught by an ambush from hidden experts of the Liu clan, that would truly be a stupid death and even in the afterworld his enemies would keep laughing about the gift he made to them.

Staying in alert, being vigilant at all time, it was the only way for people like him that didn't count on any one, to survive.

It was better to be overly cautious and alive than careless and dead.

Soon Ye Mo reached the first mountain, then the border of the jungle, before he stepped on the parched earth and made his way towards Azure Water City.

The setting sun was dyed like blood as the clouds on the west resembled burning flames.

Under the setting sun, Ye Mo passed below the arch of the gate and returned to the city.

With the hood on his head and the blood tracking fly concealed under his cloack, he traveled on the roads among mortals and cultivators.

However, he didn't immediately go back to the Tiger Martial Institute but rather went to the Ironheart Weaponsmiths.

In Azure Water city, it was one of the three best establishment in terms of crafting and selling spiritual weapons along all kinds of tools.

Because the price to buy or create one of them is extremely high, only prestigious families and clans or wealthy merchants and cultivators usually resort to their services.

Ye Mo arrived in front of a luxurious three-story building of glimmering crimson red iron oulined by rows of gold, the appearance of the establishment made one think of a burning flame.

Above the entrance was a large sign inscribed with 'Ironheart Weaponsmiths'.

Ye Mo entered in the building and took off his hood as he arrived in a large hall with many weapons hanging on the walls as trophies and several people moving around and sightseeing.

Further in the hall were rows of counters standing side by side, each with it's own attendant to take care of the demands of all the customers swiftly.

Ye Mo approached one randomly, there was a man on the other side of the counter who immediately remarked the new client.

"Hello, dear customer, how may i help you? In the Ironheart Weaponsmiths we value quality above everything else, wether you need something to help you defeat your opponents or a spiritual tool to travel the land, we have it all. If you have any question regarding one of them, feel free to ask."

The attendant gave out his usual speech as he pointed to various weapons in the hall to entice Ye Mo.

However, those being displayed in the surroundings were only low or mid-tier level at best so he just shook his head and asked, "Is your shop able to produce peak-tier spiritual weapons?"

The attendant stood silent for an instant, momentarily stunned by the question.

What kind of question is this kid spouting?

At first he planned to lure Ye Mo into buying some good looking sword, but now it seemed this customer would just be a waste of time.

"Listen kid, you should forget about peak-tier spiritual weapons. Even in the whole Azure Water city, there's only a handful of forgemaster who can make one and although our Ironheart Weaponsmiths have two of these experts, they are very busy and would rarely leave their appartments."

Losing the polite and respectful attitude he showed at first, the waiter openly disapproved of his demand.

"Any peak-tier spiritual weapon would easily become the heirloom of powerful families, but they are extremely hard to produce and even the four clans would feel a headache over the price to have one. Those weapons hanging on the walls are already more than enough for you, but i doubt you can even afford them. How about you go back for now and bring your parents with you the next time, i will talk to them so we can find the weapon that suits you the best."

The waiter grew impatient hearing Ye Mo's question, arrogantly explaining the difficulty of obtaining peak-tier spiritual weapons, taking him for an ignorant kid that didn't know left from right.

Thinking of a peak-tier spiritual weapon?!

Hmph, naive, so very naive.

However, the latter only paid attention to the answer of his question and ignored the rest.

"I want to meet your best forgemaster, i have business to talk with him." Ye Mo said lightly, going straight to the point.

The waiter's expression turned dark and his tone became severe as he frowned saying lowly, "Dear customer, there's many people here who needs my services so if you don't plan to buy anything, leave. If you keep wasting my time, i will call the guards."

Ye Mo sighed before he raised a hand and moved his cloak to the side from the opening in the center.

The waiter immediately recognized the Tiger Martial Institute suit he was wearing and became distressed.

It might not be evident since Ye Mo spent most of his time cultivating behind closed doors, but members of institutions benefit from a high status outside and couldn't be offended easily.

Moreover, most of them have a powerful background, being members of clans and prestigious families or disciple of renowned masters, they were treated courteously in most places as long as they didn't act out of place.

Instantly, Ye Mo's position made a 90° shift in the waiter's mind as he felt regretful and despondent.

"Forgive my impudence, young lord, i didn't realize you were a member of the Tiger Martial Institute. I will talk to the forgemaster, but i can't guarantee he will accept to meet you, as i said, they are very busy and their craftsmanship is in high demand."

Ye Mo nodded without saying a word.

The waiter excused himself and left briefly, but in his heart he was swearing, "You jerk, why didn't you reveal the suit from the start, making me pass for a fool, having to apologize in front of everyone, damn you!"

Shortly after, he came back disgruntled as he said, "The master accept to see you, please follow me."

The waiter left the counter with Ye Mo in tow as they went behind the hall and took the stairs.

"Indeed, without strength there's no status and without status everyone is free to trample you." Ye Mo reflected coldly following the waiter.

If it was an average habitant of the city at his place then even if he had the gold, he wouldn't be able to buy a peak-tier spiritual weapon, being openly chased out by the attendants even before meeting any forgemaster.