Chapter 153: Huo Lian
Chapter 153: Huo Lian
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After giving a quick glance at the little group from his family, Zhu Rong ignored them and moved on to look at the other groups.
If this had been before, he would at least have shown the courtesy of going over to greet them as a younger member of the family, but he had lost respect for almost all of them a long time ago. Now, in his eyes, they were no different from distant acquaintances, closer to strangers than family.
He didn’t seem to care about this, but seeing his attitude, the little family group looked irritated, with some cousins that wasted no time and began complaining, some annoyed at his behavior, others thinking it was a good chance to flatter Zhu Yong or his father.
The latter also seemed a little irritated by the attitude of this young family member, someone he despised for many reasons, but he didn’t make a scene.
Even though the news of Zhu Rong’s crushing victory and his apparent level of cultivation had taken everyone in the family by surprise, he still believed it was all exaggerated.
He himself knew very well Zhu Rong’s aptitude when it came to cultivation and knew that since childhood his talent had never been good, in fact, not even average, but far below it. The fact that during the first year at the academy he had didn’t even manage to reach the first stage was just further confirmation of that.
He wasn’t sure how this boy had suddenly achieved such results, but there was little he could do about it at the moment.
He had no time to waste on something so trivial, not when there was a more important matter at hand, the expedition to the secret realm.
He had brought along some elders of the family and the most talented members so they could gain experience and perhaps encounter some lucky opportunities during the expedition.
So, he didn’t worry too much about Zhu Rong and quickly pushed the matter aside in his mind.
On the other side, Zhu Rong carefully examined the various groups, and after a quick look he could tell that most of today’s participants had reached the third stage, with some at the peak, others at the fourth, and even some at the fifth.
Of course, the number of the latter was small, but that was to be expected.
Among the groups of the four important families, some members were below the third stage but still within the second. However, in the other groups, like the Masters Pavilion , all of them were at the third stage, with some at the fourth and even one already halfway through the fifth stage.
This particular group was led by none other than the head of the Masters Pavilion herself.
She was a tall, elegant woman with long, straight black hair, wearing a simple yet elegant red dress. Although it covered much of her figure, it couldn’t completely hide her attractive curves.
Her eyes were black, her gaze calm and unreadable.
She was Huo Lian, the current master of the Masters Pavilion, and a cultivator of the Spirit Realm.
At the moment, she was conversing with the Academy Headmaster, but as she did, it was as if she sensed his gaze on her.
She shifted her eyes toward his position, studying him for a moment before smiling and walking over.
’Tch, this woman’s intuition is always terrifying,’ he thought as he watched her approach.
He knew she had recognized him, in fact, he was certain she had already investigated him.
He had expected they would meet sooner or later, so he didn’t panic.
Although she was one of the Spirit Realm cultivators who kept a low profile, almost everyone present knew her, so every one of her actions was closely watched by the others.
And why wouldn’t it be? After all, she was one of the most powerful figures in the human empire, both in terms of personal strength and influence.
She was the master of the largest gathering center of experts in various professions, bringing together specialists from all provinces and of every status.
She herself was a Grandmaster engraver and had deep knowledge in other fields as well, including forging and alchemy.
She had been his second master in the world of secondary professions, and also his last.
In fact, the reason why he possessed such a high level of knowledge and mastery in so many professions was largely thanks to her.
Back then, when he became her disciple, she pushed him to learn more and more, never letting him focus solely on forging.
To her, having one main profession was a good thing, but that didn’t mean ignoring all the others.
She had made him understand that knowledge was important, and that knowing even a little about the other professions could prove useful to one’s main path. That turned out to be true, and indeed it was one of the reasons he had managed to reach the rank of Grandmaster, and possibly even that of Saint blacksmith.
She was someone of great importance in his heart, and whether in his past life or in this one, he had no intention of ignoring her existence.
Seeing her approach, he looked at her with a smile and, bringing his hands together, gave her a formal bow as he said:
"This junior greets the Master of the Masters Pavilion" he said with a calm and controlled voice, filled with respect and even a certain hint of something else.
Huo Lian, who had already recognized this young prodigy of her Pavilion, had come closer to finally meet him personally, but she hadn’t expected him to recognize her and greet her without hesitation.
Of course, she was used to this from everyone who knew her, but this was the first time she was meeting this boy, and what mattered most was that she felt something different in the way he addressed her.
Respect? Certainly.
But there was something else too, though she couldn’t quite tell what it was. Still, she didn’t think too much about it and came closer.
"Hm, you must be Zhu Rong, right?
Master Hui had told me about you, but it seems his words don’t do you justice," she said with a welcoming and calm tone.
Although it seemed like she was just complimenting a junior of her Pavilion, she truly meant what she said.
She had been the master of the Pavilion for a very long time, longer than anyone knew, and she could tell at a glance how good someone was in their profession.
She might not have seen him work directly, but she didn’t need to. Her ability to judge someone at a glance had never failed her.
And at this moment, she could tell with just one look that this boy was far beyond the prodigy Hui Cheng had described.
The exchange of words between Zhu Rong and Huo Lian caught the attention of many, and they observed the care with which she seemed to treat this young man, beginning to speculate about who he might be.
Even the members of the Zhu family, who had been displeased just moments ago that Zhu Rong had ignored them, could not help but watch this scene with confused and surprised expressions.
It was known that, although the Zhu family had been specialized in the art of forging and in the past had even produced a Grandmaster blacksmith, at the present time they had no Grandmasters.
Instead, they only had two master blacksmiths, one at one star, Zhu Shen himself, and one at two stars, the patriarch of the family.
For a long time, they had no one who rose to the rank of Grandmaster, which was one of the main reasons for the decline of the Zhu family.
It was somewhat similar for the other families as well, but the main causes linked to the decline of all these families over the last centuries went beyond simply failing to reach the rank of Grandmaster, even though the latter certainly played a crucial role.
So, seeing that not just any master or even a Grandmaster, but the head of the Masters Pavilion herself was speaking directly and complimenting him, seemed to deliver a hard blow to the pride of these family members.
This could be seen even in the little groups of the other important families, but regarding the Zhu family, it was more pronounced.
That said, neither Zhu Rong nor Huo Lian seemed concerned with this and moved on.
Their conversation did not last long and mainly consisted of getting to know each other better, with her trying to see what other surprises this young prodigy might have in store, and him simply appreciating the conversation the entire time.
It might have seemed strange, but even this was already a lot for him.
Zhu Rong became her disciple when he was around a hundred years old. Due to various circumstances, he ended up meeting her, and to his surprise, she offered to become his master.
At that time, he did not know what she saw as special in him. In terms of cultivation, for his age he was mediocre and barely average, only reaching the fifth stage.
In terms of his froging skills, he had just reached the rank of a three star Expert Blacksmith.
In short, nothing about him stood out or even remotely justified such an unexpected offer from someone as important as her.
She only told him that none of that mattered and that she felt he was much more talented than he appeared and was destined to reach ever higher heights.
He initially took it as a joke but accepted her offer to become her disciple. According to him, she would probably have kicked him out after a while, seeing his talent, but that never happened. In fact, under her guidance, his progress was very rapid.
He remained her disciple for almost a century before taking his own path, exploring the world, and further refining his abilities.
And fate would have it that from that point on he never had the chance to meet her again, because a year after his departure, he learned that she had vanished.