Chapter 148: Old Man in Gray

　　Martial Uncle w.a.n.g took Han Li with him on a leaf-shaped magic tool and flew for a couple of hours. They landed on a lush verdant mountain range, within an area crowded with flat houses. These shabby houses were built using rocks from the mountain, and there wasn’t a single person inside these houses. They seemed like they were all empty, and this puzzled Han Li!

　　“Don’t be surprised. These houses are truly empty. This place is meant for the new disciples to live in until they improved their magic power, then they will move out and look for somewhere else to live. It happens it is currently the beginning of the ten-year rotational cycle. The new disciples haven’t joined the sect yet, so the houses are temporarily empty,” Martial Uncle w.a.n.g spotted Han Li’s confusion and explained softly. This cleared Han Li’s bewilderment.

　　Martial Uncle w.a.n.g led Han Li the way as they walked among houses, making so many turns that Han Li felt dizzy. Then they finally stopped at a house that was larger than the other normal stone houses. He didn’t explained much to Han Li and started yelling loudly, “Junior Martial Brother Lin, open the door. I brought a new disciple to pick up the items!”

　　As soon as Martial Uncle w.a.n.g finished yelling, the door opened outwards automatically in a whoosh. Seeing this, Martial Uncle w.a.n.g walked in without any hesitation. Han Li paused a little, and followed him into the house.

　　Inside the house, it was more s.p.a.cious than it looked outside. This amazed Han Li, wondering what the house was tempered with.

　　But the specific situation inside the house gave Han Li a certain feeling, and it was the word “messy.”

　　All kinds of different items were piled here and there. Some were clothes, some were weapons such as knives and swords. But from the wave of spiritual power the weapons were giving off, they seemed to actually be pretty well-made magic tools.

　　Aside from these things, there were also some other daily items such as shovels and hammers. Those items were also giving off strong spiritual power, it seemed like the items had been. refined into something like a magic tool. This broadened Han Li’s horizons. What kind of special effect did these tools have?

　　At the center of the house, there was an eight-seater square table. Facing the door and sitting behind the table was an old man in gray clothes with fluffy hair. The old man ignored them as the two of them walked in the house, instead being focused on a small s.h.i.+ny knife, carving a yellow wood about the size of his palms that he held in his hands.

　　Martial Uncle w.a.n.g saw this, he frowned slightly, but his facial expression turned back to normal immediately. He didn’t walk up and interrupt the old man working, instead he pulled a chair from the corner of the room, sat across the old man, and waited quietly for the old man to finish carving the wood.

　　Han Li blinked his eyes when he saw the situation and stood behind Martial Uncle w.a.n.g without saying a word while waiting sensibly with him.

　　The old man in gray was moving his hands fast like the wind while wood chips fell from in between his finger. After merely the time it took to make a cup of tea, a life-like little monkey appeared within his palms.

　　“Junior Martial Brother Lin’s carving skills have improved a lot since the last time I saw you!” Martial Uncle w.a.n.g just then complimented while smiling.

　　“It’s nothing impressive. I had nothing to do, so I was just killing time! How come Martial Brother w.a.n.g has the time to come and visit my humble residence?” The old man in gray said carelessly, but his eyes were already looking straight at Han Li and seemed to have guessed what the two of them were doing here.

　　“It’s nothing too important, just wanted to get the equipments that all new disciples who join the valley’s sect would receive for this Martial Nephew Han,” he smiled and answered.

　　“Didn’t all the new disciples from the Immortal Ascension a.s.sembly receive their equipments? How come there’s another one? And his apt.i.tude is so poor! Did our Sect Leader Zhong’s standards really became that low, he would recruit someone so untalented into the valley!” The old man in gray said bluntly right in front of Han Li, making Han Li sound completely useless. From his tone of att.i.tude, it doesn’t seemed like he respected the Sect Leader Zhong as much either.

　　Hearing this, Han Li naturally felt extremely awkward, and Martial Uncle w.a.n.g was also smiling bitterly.

　　He knew that because of what happened back then, this Junior Martial Brother Lin had been holding a grudge against their Senior Martial Brother, the Sect Leader, ever since. But in front of this junior, Han Li, how could he possibly pick on the young!

　　So, he coughed a little and changed the topic, “Junior Martial Brother, this Martial Nephew Han was the one who brought the Writ of Immortal Ascension and joined us in the Yellow Maple Valley! It counts as an exception, so his apt.i.tude is not important. What’s important is that the sect needs to keep our promise.”

　　“The Writ of Immortal Ascension!” The old man in gray was very surprised and looked at Han Li once again.

　　“Tsk tsk! If you say so, then this fellow must have a lot of luck, and he can take a Foundation Establishment Pill?” The old man said with a loud voice and looked at him with a look that said, ‘fellow, you’re truly a lucky b*stard!’

　　“Hehe, normally that would be the case. But Martial Nephew Han and Martial Brother Ye made a deal, and he gave up this Foundation Establishment Pill automatically,” Martial Uncle w.a.n.g smiled and mentioned.

　　“Gave up the Foundation Establishment Pill?” The old man was startled at first, but for some reason his expression darkened right away, and after a moment of silent, he said something that surprised Han Li.

　　“It’s a good thing he could give it up! The most important thing about being human is knowing your limits. Knowing what to give up and what to take at this young age, this quality is a lot stronger in him than in me!” The expression of the old man in gray seemed to be incredibly lonely. The expression in his eyes, which were originally cold, became more kind.