Free Web NovelChapter 236: Chapter 224: Settling In and Tempering
It was afternoon in a courtyard at the end of an alley on West Street in the Outer City.
When three camel carts, fully laden with goods, stopped at the courtyard gate, the entire alley was in an uproar.
"Is that... grain?!"
"Heavens, and cloth! Three whole carts!"
"Did Lord Li strike it rich?!"
The crowd of onlookers squeezed together at the alley’s entrance, pointing and whispering, their eyes filled with envy and greed.
But when they saw the Chixia Business Alliance Guards in their Crimson Leather Armor jumping down from the carts, those greedy gazes immediately retracted.
No one dared to cross the Business Alliance.
Ian stood at the courtyard gate, watching as the Guards carried sack after sack of grain, bolt after bolt of cloth, and entire crates of wound medicine and tools into the courtyard.
Li Yao and a dozen or so youths helped nearby, their faces flushed red with excitement.
The white-bearded old man walked over unsteadily. He stared at the mountain of supplies, his lips trembling for a long time before he managed to squeeze out a sentence.
"L-Lord Li... is all this... is this all for us?"
"Yes." Ian nodded. "From today on, this courtyard and the few buildings beside it will be our permanent base.
The grain will be distributed per person, the cloth will be given to the women and children to make winter clothes, and the medicine will be stored for emergencies."
He looked at the men in the courtyard.
"First, repair the houses. Knock down the walls to the empty courtyard next door and enclose it all, making one large compound."
"Yes, sir!" the men responded in unison, their voices filled with irrepressible excitement.
With these supplies, they would finally not have to starve or freeze to death this winter.
Ian then looked at Li Yao and the thirteen youths.
"You, come with me."
He led the fourteen of them into the newly cleared main hall, closed the door, and pulled a cloth pouch of Standard Crystals from his robes, emptying it onto the table.
Twenty milky-white Standard Crystals rolled out, emitting a soft, gentle glow in the dim hall.
The youths all gasped in unison.
"T-Teacher..." Ah Ku stammered, "This... is this..."
"Standard Crystals," Ian said calmly. "One is worth a hundred Dust Crystals."
He picked up ten and placed them in Li Yao’s hand.
"These are for purchasing your cultivation resources for the next month."
He picked up two more and handed them to the white-bearded old man.
"Exchange these two for Dust Crystals. They will be this month’s operating funds for the base. Buy salt, oil, and other daily necessities. If there’s money left over, recruit a few skilled craftsmen."
Ian put the remaining eight back into the pouch.
"These will be saved as our emergency fund." He looked at the fourteen young faces before him.
"From this day forward, you are no longer just aimless drifters. You have a base, supplies, and cultivation resources... but you also have responsibility."
He walked to the window, pushed it open, and pointed at the busy people in the courtyard.
"Your parents are among them. They have placed their lives in your hands. If you are strong, they live. If you are weak, they die."
The main hall fell silent.
Only the heavy breathing of the youths could be heard.
"Teacher," Stone suddenly spoke, his voice hoarse but firm.
"My father was killed by a Corrupted Beast last year. My mother died of illness. My sister... starved to death."
He looked up, his eyes red-rimmed.
"The life I have now, you gave to me. You told me to protect these people, so I will protect them. Anyone who wants to touch them will have to step over my dead body first."
"Me too!" Xiaozhou gritted his teeth.
"Count me in!"
"And me!"
One by one, the thirteen youths stood up, fire burning in their eyes.
Ian looked at them and nodded slowly.
"Very good."
He turned and looked out the window at the darkening sky.
"Then starting tomorrow, we have two things to do."
"First, we build this base. Build it strong, build it safe."
"Second..."
He paused, his voice growing heavy.
"I’m taking you to the Wilderness for live combat."
"You’ll kill Corrupted Beasts, practice teamwork, and shed blood."
"One month from now, I want the thirteen of you to be able to hunt down an Awakening Middle Stage Corrupted Earth-Burrowing Beast head-on."
The youths all clenched their fists, their eyes blazing.
"Yes, sir!"
「Late at night.」
Ian sat alone on the roof, gazing toward the Inner City.
The Chixia Business Alliance’s Stone Tower stood tall in the darkness, the crimson Crystal Stone at its peak like a star that never went out.
’Core Honored Guest Elder...’
Ian muttered to himself, the corner of his mouth curving into a faint, almost imperceptible smile.
’This was the right move.’
’With the Business Alliance for backing, the base as a foundation, and this group of youths as my core team...’
’The next step is to increase my strength as quickly as possible and awaken the deeper Power of my Star Attractor bloodline.’
’And then...’
He looked deep into the Wilderness, at the darkness shrouded in gray clouds.
Out there were corrupted rifts, ancient ruins, and the deepest secrets of this world.
’No need to rush.’
Ian closed his eyes, took out a Crystal Stone, and began his Meditation with the Star-Attracting Chapter.
The Starfall Core in his chest grew slightly warm, its resonance with a certain star deep in the night sky twice as clear as the day before.
Initial Stage of Condensation (1%) → (1.1%).
It was slow, but every step was solid.
「Three days later.」
The compound at the end of the alley on West Street in the Outer City had been completely transformed.
The five dilapidated, separate courtyards had been connected into one. A two-meter-high earthen wall, built from newly cut logs and rammed earth, now enclosed the entire area.
Sharpened wooden stakes were embedded in the top of the wall, and the outward-facing side was smeared with a dark, viscous liquid that gave off a pungent odor.
It was a concoction made from the blood of Corrupted Beasts mixed with certain herbs, effective at repelling Low Tier Corrupted Beasts.
The gate had been replaced with a heavy Iron Wood door with newly forged iron hinges that made a heavy CREAK when opened or closed.
A simple wooden plaque hung above the gate, bearing three crudely written words.
Li Xing Institute
The handwriting was far from beautiful, but every stroke exuded a fierce energy, as if carved with a knife.
The courtyard had also changed drastically.
The once overgrown ground had been completely cleared and covered with a layer of fine pebbles brought from the riverbank, which made a CRUNCH CRUNCH sound when stepped on.
Five rows of newly built adobe houses were arranged along the courtyard walls. Each room had its own door and window. Though simple, they at least offered shelter from the elements.
The innermost row of houses was the warehouse, where sacks of grain and bolts of cloth were neatly stacked. There were also several large, newly made water vats filled with purified water brought from the Inner City.
The middle row was for living quarters, assigned by family, one room per household.
It was crowded, but it was a world of improvement compared to the previous arrangement of over a hundred people sleeping in one large common room.
The outermost row was the common area.
There was a large kitchen with three earthen stoves and newly forged iron woks hanging on the walls.
There was a Workshop where a few dexterous men were repairing tools and sharpening weapons, and the largest room of all was the "training hall."
It was now early morning.
Inside the training hall, fourteen figures stood bare-chested, facing each other in two rows.
Sweat rolled down their lean backs, glistening in the morning light.
Every one of them was covered in fresh scars—scratches, bite marks, and burns left by splashes of corrosive liquid.
But not a single one of them cried out in pain.
Li Yao stood at the very front, a newly forged Iron Sword in his hand.
He took a deep breath and slowly raised his sword.
"First form, Thrust!"
"Hah!"
The thirteen roared in unison, stepping forward as one. Their weapons—swords, sabers, and even two Long Spears—thrust into the empty air with perfect synchronization.
Their form wasn’t perfect, but the ferocity was already there.
Ian leaned against the doorframe, watching quietly.
For the past month, he had taken the youths out of the city to hunt during the day, and in the evening, he would return to guide their Cultivation, treat their wounds, and review their progress.
Live combat in the Wilderness was more brutal than any training.
On the first day, they encountered three corrupted rats, but Ah Shu’s calf was still bitten through, and a large patch of skin on Stone’s arm rotted away after being splashed by corrosive fluid.
On the second day, they surrounded and hunted a young Earth-Burrowing Beast. Xiaozhou was carried back spitting blood, two of his ribs broken from the impact.
The third day, the fourth day...
Every day, someone was injured, someone bled.
But every day, someone also had a breakthrough.
On the fifth day, Ah Ku finally fully connected all thirty-six Runes and officially stepped into the Awakening Initial Stage.
When he beheaded a corrupted rat with a single strike, the silver glint of his sword lit up the entire battlefield.
Besides Li Yao, he was the first of the youths to reach the Awakening Stage.
On the twelfth day, Stone withstood the charge of an Earth-Burrowing Beast, using his body to pin its claws and creating an opportunity for Li Yao to land a fatal blow.
After that battle, he had three new claw marks on his chest, so deep the bone was visible, but he also officially completed his Rune cycle.
Today marked exactly one month.
All thirteen of them had reached the Awakening Initial Stage.
The reputation of the "Li Xing Institute" quietly spread throughout the Outer City.
At first, it was just scattered rumors: the young man who brought the refugees into the city had not only broken through to the Condensation Tier himself but had also trained a group of youths capable of hunting Corrupted Beasts.
Later, the rumors became more specific.
Someone claimed to have seen with their own eyes the thirteen half-grown kids, working in perfect coordination, surround and kill an Awakening Middle Stage Earth-Burrowing Beast in the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn.
Others said the Purification Potions refined by Li Xing were twenty percent more effective than those on the market, and that even influential figures from the Inner City had sent people to purchase them.
Fame brought respect, but it also attracted prying eyes.
In just two months, they had already "cleaned up" three groups of reckless thugs at their gate, as well as two gangs claiming to be from some minor faction who tried to collect "protection fees."
In the end, Li Yao and the youths broke their legs and threw them all out.
One of them, a leader at the Awakening Initial Stage, had the tendons in his wrist severed by Li Yao’s sword. His screams echoed halfway down the street.
After that, no one dared to cause trouble at the end of the West Street alley anymore.
「Dusk.」
Ian walked at the head of the group, an Iron Sword slung at his waist. A few drops of dark red blood, not yet dry, stained its scabbard.
Behind him, the thirteen youths carried the carcasses of two corrupted hyenas. Their steps were steady, their breathing even, and the panic in their eyes from two months ago was gone, replaced by a cold, hard resolve.
Li Yao walked by Ian’s side, carrying a bulging burlap sack filled with odds and ends scavenged from the hyena’s den.
A few blood-stained Dust Crystal Fragments, and two strange, fist-sized stones covered in holes.
"Brother, this stone..." Li Yao weighed it in his hand, his brow furrowed slightly.
"The Energy fluctuations are strange. It’s not like a normal mineral."
Ian took one. It was cool to the touch, and a faint, decaying aura seeped from its holes.
His Starlight Perception spread out silently.
Inside the stone, the Energy Structure was a chaotic mess, like a spiderweb that had been violently crumpled up. But at its core was an extremely faint, dark fluctuation, like a dormant viper.
"Remnants of Abyss contamination." Ian crushed the stone, and powder sifted through his fingers.
"Those bastards from the Dark Star Association love to use these things as markers, or... as fuses."
Li Yao’s expression changed. "They’ve been active around here?"
"More than that." Ian gazed east of the gravel flats, toward the dead forest shrouded in gray mist.
"The tracks are fresh. No more than two days old."
