Chapter Ten: A Personal Visit

Regarding the matter of apprenticeship, he did not take it too seriously; after all, success would be wonderful, but failure was something he could also accept.

Time passed under the wind and sun, waiting patiently. Two of the blacksmiths had already left the forge, leaving only the youngest apprentice tidying up the place.

As the sun dipped toward the western horizon, Su Ling glanced at the forge. The kind apprentice who had advised him to leave held no resentment. Su Ling was about to descend the mountain before nightfall.

Yet, in the next moment, a chilling aura emanated from afar—an overwhelmingly domineering presence, seemingly deliberately unleashed.

With his keen instincts, Su Ling immediately sensed the source of this overwhelming energy approaching his direction.

He set down his cloth bag and stood upright, his gaze meeting the brilliant yet gentle sunset as he looked toward the towering figure ascending the mountain.

Su Ling’s heart pounded uncontrollably, instinctively resisting the approach of such a formidable presence.

At this moment, he was fully aware of the vast gap between himself and the world’s top-tier fighters.

It was not quite a chasm of mud and clouds, but the difference was significant—especially since that person had not deliberately focused on him.

The aura naturally radiating from the figure was enough to intimidate Su Ling, rendering him cautious and hesitant to make any rash moves.

“Are you alright?”

At that moment, the blacksmith apprentice, having finished tidying the forge, noticed Su Ling’s uneasy expression as he passed beneath the tree. It seemed as if Su Ling was on high alert against some terrifying presence.

Su Ling ignored the apprentice, his gaze fixed on the fearsome figure steadily approaching in the distance.

Puzzled, the apprentice followed Su Ling’s line of sight and suddenly recognized a familiar figure at the foot of the mountain.

“Master?”

The apprentice was astonished. He had never expected Master Ruan, who seldom visited the forge, to actually appear at sunset.

Unlike the humble apprentice, he felt no trace of the intimidating aura.

But for Su Ling, sweat beaded on his brow as if a massive, dormant volcano loomed over him, suffocating and blurring the line between illusion and reality.

“Hm?”

As Ruan Qiong approached the forge, he noticed the unfamiliar youth standing alert beneath the tree and raised a thick, ruddy brow.

“Kid, your instincts are sharp.”

Ruan Qiong’s robust and bold voice reached Su Ling, who instinctively took a step back. Yet, moments later, he forced himself to lower his guard.

“Greetings, Master Ruan.”

Su Ling cupped his fists in salute, his eyes scanning the burly man before him.

Ruan Qiong stood over seven feet tall, his muscular frame solid and healthy, exuding an unyielding strength.

Half of his torso was bare, revealing part of a face etched with mysterious dark gold runes of profound significance.

“Heh.”

Ruan Qiong chuckled at Su Ling’s demeanor, fully aware that his aura had been perceived.

So, employing the stratagems of a master tactician, he concealed the overwhelming aura that ordinary people could not detect.

“Kid, your talent is quite remarkable.”

Ruan Qiong praised him. To the apprentice’s disbelief, he even took the initiative to mention the matter of apprenticeship.

“Kid, are you interested in becoming my disciple?” Ruan Qiong’s tiger-like eyes locked onto Su Ling.

Hearing this, Su Ling tensed inwardly. Though he had come to seek apprenticeship, having the master compete to take him on as a student before any formal agreement seemed suspicious.

If there were no hidden motives, he simply would not believe it.

“…”

“My name is Su Ling, and I have indeed come to seek apprenticeship.”

“But what is your purpose?”

Su Ling did not mince words, directly questioning Ruan Qiong. This left the apprentice standing by, wide-eyed and stunned, unable to believe what he was hearing.

Wait, dude?

You came to be apprenticed?

Do you even understand who you’re talking to? And now you're haggling?

The atmosphere under the tree suddenly grew tense, so much so that even the evening breeze failed to stir the leaves.

The apprentice swallowed nervously, regretting not leaving with his senior brother, unwilling to get involved in such a terrifying confrontation.

“Hahaha!”

“You’ve got spirit, kid—a fierce temper I like.”

“Is that enough?”

“…”

“Greetings, Master!”

Without hesitation, Su Ling cupped his fists in salute, formally accepting Ruan Qiong as his master.

“Kid, come to the forge at the first hour tomorrow. Don’t be late,” Ruan Qiong said with a smile as he took the apprenticeship token and strode away.

Not long after Ruan Qiong departed, Su Ling stretched his stiff limbs and gently patted the apprentice beside him, who seemed petrified.

“Let’s go.”

Su Ling paid no further attention to the apprentice, who silently descended the mountain under the night sky, his emotions tangled.

The reason Su Ling had directly questioned Ruan Qiong’s motives was to understand the man’s true intentions.

Whether this would provoke displeasure from the master tactician and bring disaster…

He did not care.

After all, this was the Lìzhū Cave Heaven, where the rules were theirs to set, and Ruan Qiong, as one of the master tacticians, would hardly act against those rules.

However, after the earlier probing, Su Ling had begun to sense Ruan Qiong’s true purpose.

This master tactician was placing a bet, and the stake was none other than Su Ling himself.

By accepting Su Ling as his disciple, Ruan Qiong meant that once trained, Su Ling would bear corresponding responsibilities and work to secure unseen benefits for his master.

Why Ruan Qiong had chosen him was not surprising; after all, Su Ling’s future held infinite possibilities.

Though he had not yet read the original text in full, he understood what it meant to be a sage—a master tactician who excelled in warfare but also possessed divine insight to perceive the currents of fate in others.

Bluntly speaking, Su Ling’s current foundation was so slight that Ruan Qiong could easily grip him with one hand.

But the future was uncertain, as his talent and potential would only increase with daily training.

—

At dawn the following day, just as the first light broke the horizon, Su Ling rose early—rare for him—taking some warm water and dry food for breakfast.

The rooster crowing next door marked the start of a new day as Su Ling made his way toward the Dragon-Riding Lane forge.

Soon after arriving, he saw Master Ruan standing beneath the large tree from the previous day, hands behind his back, chest out, gazing confidently toward the distant mountain foothills.

“Master.”

“You’re here, kid.”

Su Ling cupped his fists and bowed respectfully. Ruan Qiong did not turn around but raised a hand to dismiss formalities.

Seeing this, Su Ling said no more, but his peripheral vision caught that the forge was empty—a strange sight with no apprentices at work.

“They have the day off. It’s just the two of us here,” Ruan Qiong explained.

Su Ling raised a brow. If Ruan Qiong had arranged this, it meant he intended to discuss something important.

Perhaps yesterday, with the apprentices present, Ruan Qiong had refrained from speaking in detail, but now he seemed ready to open up—just as Su Ling hoped.

“Master, why did you take me as your disciple?”

Su Ling could not bring himself to believe Ruan Qiong’s answer from the day before. According to the original text, though Ruan Qiong was bold and straightforward, he was no reckless tactician.