Lin Xun thought for a moment and gave his evaluation, “It’s fine for health and fitness.”
Xiao Tianren’s eyes suddenly became focused, “What if they used it to fight wild beasts or powerful enemies?”
Lin Xun was silent for a moment before he replied, “Uncle Xiao, I will be frank. I feel that if these kids wish to pursue martial dao, their training has already started to veer off the correct path.”
Xiao Tianren was stunned. He seemed to recall something as his elderly face changed slightly. A long while later, he took a deep breath and said, “Lin Xun, are you certain?”
Lin Xun nodded. There was no need for him to lie.
Xiao Tianren fell silent again as his expression fluctuated indeterminately.
A clamor suddenly erupted at the village entrance, followed by the ground shaking as a cloud of dust rose in the distance.
“Uncle Lian and the others are back!” Cheers could be heard far away.
Soon after, Lin Xun saw a group ride through the village entrance. Their leader was a middle-aged man in leather clothes. His long hair hung behind his shoulders like a cape and he had a stern, dignified look. The muscles on his body bulged like boulders and were filled with explosive power.
He rode a scale horse that was as large as an elephant. His gaze was as cold and sharp as a blade and his aura was clearly not that of an ordinary person.A group of figures followed behind him. However, their mounts were the slightly lower ranked deer horse. Each individual had a spear or sword strapped to their backs, while several leather bags were piled up on some of their mounts.
Although Lin Xun did not make any noise as he watched, he was inwardly astonished by the sight.
“These are the village guards. They number nine in total and are led by Lian Rufeng, who is the leader of the village guards. His cultivation is at the fourth layer True Martial stage.” Xiao Tianren explained as he led Lin Xun forward to welcome the group. The children that had been practicing martial arts had stopped their exercises and were cheering as they excitedly sprinted towards the guards.
The other villagers had also been alerted by the disturbance and walked out to investigate. When they saw Lian Rufeng and the others, joy shimmered on their faces as they went to welcome the group.
It was quite easy to tell that Lian Rufeng was a popular figure among the villagers.
“Lian Rufeng and the guards just made a three thousand mile trip to Qingyang Tribe to exchange the village’s harvested aeth grains for salt, cloth and other day-to-day necessities.
“A trip to Qingyang Tribe and back takes at least half a month. There are numerous dangers along the way and the slightest carelessness could make it a trip of no return. It has honestly been tough on them to take on this responsibility.”
Xiao Tianren continued explaining to Lin Xun as they walked. At this point, he seemed to realize something and suddenly said in a low voice, “Do not let Lian Rufeng know about what we discussed earlier regarding the Marching Army Fist. I will explain later.”
Lin Xun nodded in understanding. He could already faintly sense that Xiao Tianren was a little on guard against Lian Rufeng.
Seelooloo!
The giant scale horse released a high-pitched hiss and stopped in front of Xiao Tianren while the villagers continued to crowd around.
Lian Rufeng dismounted with a hearty laugh, “Big Brother Xiao, we’re back.”
The tall, muscular man had a stern, dignified appearance and resembled a mountain. A fierce and bold aura pulsed from his body, giving him an intimidating air.
On closer inspection, his breathing was drawn-out and his exhalation was compact. His muscles looked extremely tough and his bones seemed to be filled with explosive, robust aeth qi. These were indeed the special characteristics of a fourth layer Orifice Unlocking expert.
The True Martial third layer, Organ Opening, represented the opening of the five key organ dwellings that were linked to the five elements and was the foundation of a cultivator’s five elements. At this stage, a cultivator would circulate aeth power through the five dwellings, connecting the inside and the outside, thus giving the cultivator the power to lift giant cauldrons and sprint like a tiger or leopard!
In the Ziyao Empire army, a cultivator at this cultivation stage could qualify to be a commander of a hundred man army.
The fourth layer, Orifice Unlocking, referred to unlocking the orifices in the cultivator’s four limbs and skeleton. This amplified the cultivator’s focus which in turn made the cultivator’s qi and blood more robust.
Upon reaching this layer, the cultivator’s qi and blood would boil like smoke rising towards the sky, allowing the cultivator to be unafraid of cold, heat and evil spirits. The cultivator became more nimble and agile, with footsteps so light that no prints would be left on the snow. Even going three days and nights without food would not affect the cultivator’s concentration and focus.
Lian Rufeng was an Orifice Unlocking layer expert. To ordinary people, he was basically an active volcano that could erupt at any moment and gave off an aggressive, intimidating pressure.
Lin Xun could not help but be surprised. He was not afraid of the other party’s pressure but felt that it was rather rare for such a cultivator to appear in the remote Feiyun Village.
“Oh? Who is this young man?” asked Lian Rufeng with a slight frown. He had noticed Lin Xun’s unfamiliar face among the crowd and was closely examining him.
Xiao Tianren smiled, “This is Lin Xun. He recently became a member of Feiyun Village.”
Upon finding out that Lin Xun was a rune apprentice, Lian Rufeng narrowed his eyes a little but did not seem very surprised.
However, when he was told that Lin Xun had solved Tie Shan’s and Liu Dabiao’s worm problems, Lian Rufeng’s expression finally changed.
He had travelled to numerous places over the years and had naturally seen several rune apprentices before. As such, he had more worldly knowledge than the villagers and knew that rune apprentices were, at most, unimportant helpers for the rune masters.
However, it was rather rare to find a rune apprentice that could draw runes capable of eliminating pest problems.
This was why Lian Rufeng’s expression had changed.
“Greetings Uncle Lian.” Smiling, Lin Xun walked forward and respectfully cupped his hands together.
“Hahaha, we’re already family. No need to be so polite. Work hard and our Feiyun Village might one day produce a real rune master. That would bring great honor to us.” Lian Rufeng laughed heartily as he patted Lin Xun’s shoulders. His loud voice sounded very friendly.
However, Lin Xun could detect a tiny sliver of scrutiny and suspicion in Lian Rufeng’s gaze. From this, Lin Xun understood that this fourth layer True Martial stage village guard leader was likely an extremely shrewd and sophisticated individual.
Lin Xun had grown up in the sunless mine prison and had seen many of its terrible prisoners. Once, when Mister Lu was drunk, he had accidentally let slip that if these prisoners were released, they would be akin to poison flowing into the seas and cause immeasurable harm. They would certainly cause a huge commotion in the Ziyao Empire.
From this, it could be judged how formidable these prisoners were. Each one was a first class evil criminal that was crafty and ruthless.
Growing up in such a dark and terrible environment had naturally influenced Lin Xun, giving him a unique insight for determining a person’s character. In fact, he had also learnt several effective observation techniques from the prisoners.
As such, Lin Xun believed that his judgement was not wrong and that Lian Rufeng was most likely a cunning person. Although Lin Xun had yet to determine if this guard leader was good or bad, he was, at the very least, not as simple as he appeared.
Sure enough, several things began to jump out at him when he observed Lian Rufeng again.
For example, although Lian Rufeng was dressed in old leather clothes, there was a faint purple wooden token hanging at his waist. If Lin Xun was not wrong, this wooden token was carved from purple cloud incense sandalwood. It was a valuable item that was worth ten imperial silver coins.
In addition, Lian Rufeng was wearing a pair of ash-colored boots. They might look normal to others, but these boots were made from the plume feathers of an ash falcon and even had a swift wind rune carved onto them. In battle, they would make a person’s body as light as a feather, akin to giving wings to a tiger.
In fact, these boots were more highly valued than the purple cloud incense sandalwood.
These were interesting finds. How did a cultivator from a poor and remote mountain village afford such fancy equipment?
Lian Rufeng was definitely no simple person!