"Alright, I don't have all day. Take it out already."
"Understood."
Boom!
A large plume of dust kicked up, obscuring the vision of two figures, one of which was Uncle Tian Lu and the other who was surprisingly the normally reticent second elder.
A large slab of metal laid before the two. It was black but also dull, as if its sheen was all but lost owing to the years of dirt that stained it.
Strangely enough, there was also a small amount of cold aura that constantly emanated from it. Even though it was small, it also felt heavy and pervasive.
Uncle Tian Lu's eyes widened in shock when he saw it.
"This—"
"You know of it?" The second elder asked.
Uncle Tian Lu nodded with a grave expression before he eventually asked. "Who else saw this?"
"The children brought it back with them. They presented it on the same day that they brought back your… disciple…" the second elder hesitated when he said the word disciple but didn't comment any further on it.
Obviously, he didn't have any good feelings about Long Di, but considering his relationship with Uncle Tian Lu, he didn't make a bigger deal out of it than he had to.
"Apart from the elders and the children, no one else knows about it," the second elder said.
"Oh! Well good," Uncle Tian Lu sighed in relief, and here he thought that it would draw over some greedy individuals.
"Oh," the second elder just remembered, "that brat from the Paohui family saw it as well. Is it that bad?"
"Damn!" Uncle Tian Lu cursed. "Are even the Heavens forcing me to bring us back into the world!?"
"What's the origin of this ore?" The second elder couldn't help asking.
"It's an extremely rare mineral known as Mortal Ore."
"Mortal Ore!?" The second elder sucked in a cold breath of air.
He definitely heard of this rare ore before. He'd just never seen it. There were many precious metal ores that could be used to create powerful weapons.
However, Mortal ore occupied a unique position in that instead of using it to create a weapon, because of its scarcity and properties, a small amount of it would instead be added during the forging process to increase the foundation and durability of a weapon.
By adding it to the weapon, not only the durability, but even the heaviness of the weapon would be amplified.
However, not just anyone could fashion it within the forge. Legend had it that only the legendary Hellfire Forge Clan was capable of smelting and refining it.
However, even this legendary clan withered under the corrosion of time until their existence eventually faded from most people's minds.
"It's bad enough that I have one calamity in this place in the form of that devil-wearing-human-skin disciple of mine, now I have this to deal with." Uncle Tian Lu.
"… Should we get rid of it?" The second elder hesitantly asked.
"Are you mad!?" Uncle Tian Lu nearly deafened the second elder. "If it becomes a problem, I… I'll deal with it."
The second elder's eyes widened in shock for the first time. "You!?"
"Yes, me! What, do you have a problem with that!?" Uncle Tian Lu snorted.
"So the first elder was right? You're really planning on revealing yourself."
"When I saw that he was planning to risk everything to make this a reality, coupled with the fact that Ling'er saw hope in that little devil of mine, I decided to bet everything once more to have us re-emerge in the world. This mortal ore just seems to be pushing it," Uncle Tian Lu explained.
The second elder remained sceptical when he heard this. "That disciple of yours, Shen Ling saw hope in him revitalising the sect? Are you sure he can help us?"
"You must be well aware that his level of talent goes against every conceivable notion of common sense. If anyone can enact a change, then it's him. Besides, if it fails this time around, then an ancient legacy will die with me, no big deal."
The second elder nodded but didn't say anything more.
"Go on now," Uncle Tian Lu sent away the second elder, "leave this to me"
The second elder bowed to Uncle Tian Lu before he left the old drunk by himself.
Uncle Tian Lu sent him off with his eyes until his figure was gone from view. His eyes eventually stared heavenward as a complicated expression took over.
"Sighs…"
'Little demon, you may not know this, but I am betting a legacy that has lasted through the ages on you. Show me that this old man still has eyes.'
…
"Achoo!"
"Sniffles…"
"Are you okay? You're not getting sick are you?" Tie Lang asked Long Di when he saw the latter rubbing his nose.
"A cultivator being hit with the common cold? I'd sooner believe my entire life was being documented by some lazy author with a penchant for child labour after all I've been and am going through. Anyway, Feng Yu where is this shop located?" Long Di asked their leading guide.
"We're almost there," Feng Yu advised.
On what appeared to be a major road, the group came upon a relatively large shop that was a bit empty at the moment.
The kids stepped through the entrance and started looking all around, while Feng Yu went straight to the shopkeeper who was currently dozing off at the counter.
"Shopkeeper, what's going on? Why is the shop so empty?"
"Huh!? What!? Who's there!?"
The shopkeeper shot up in fright with a string of drool hanging from his mouth to the desk he made his bed not too long ago.
When he looked all around and saw who it was, his expression turned from fright to surprise but settled on annoyance.
"What do you want?"
His tone made it clear that he didn't like Feng Yu or care much for her as a customer.
"Oi! Stop touching the items in my store. You can't afford anything over there even if you worked for ten lifetimes!" He roared when he saw Tie Lang and Jia Yan looking all over and touching some of the artefacts.
"Oh my, I guess you've never heard of the term that the customer is always right… though we haven't made any statement to be right about, I guess."
The lazy voice of Long Di rang out, compelling the shopkeeper to turn his attention to the young man.
"A human?"
The shopkeeper was surprised to see a human in his store. Though humans were present in the city, they were still rare to the point that shock was still warranted.
After all, the Demon race and the human race didn't have the best of relationships.
"Old man, do you have any Violet Dew Tulip?"
When the shopkeeper heard Long Di's question, he snorted before he turned his head in disdain. "We don't serve your kind here."
"S—Sir, we are here simply to get some medicine for our elde—"
"And you!" The shopkeeper glared at Feng Yu. "To think that you would stoop so low so as to actually hang around with a human. I knew that you were poor, but not so shameless! You can leave my store!"
This type of behaviour was not uncommon. Many places hated kinds and/or races that were not their own.
"Okay wow, just wow," Long Di said with some nonsensical hand gestures. "Okay, listen we just want to know if you have a specific medicine. We want to treat an elder of ours and if you're wondering, yes he's a Demon, you racist bigot."
"You!" The face of the shopkeeper immediately reddened in rage at Long Di's words.
"You what? You can't finish your sentence now?" Long Di wasn't giving him a chance to defend himself. "You probably only have strength for poor people and children, and if you feel good after that, then welcome to the pinnacle of your life my dear shopkeeper, because it's all downhill from here."
"I—"
"Is a very good way to think of your love life going forward," Long Di's vicious tongue cut the shopkeep down as he continued without slowing down.
Tears were even starting to form in the wells of the shopkeeper's eyes as Long Di went on. This was the second time that Long Di caused someone to cry today.
Even the disciples were starting to feel sorry for the old man, but they were not about to stop Long Di in his expressionless tirade.
"Now since you're going to fail in every single thing you're going to be and do in the foreseeable future, then do me a favour and try to surprise fate by being a good shopkeeper and…"
"Sniffles…" Long Di paused for the shopkeep to regain some modicum of control over his tears.
"Sell me and friends here some Violet Dew Tulips… please," Long Di couldn't forget his manners so he added please at the end. He wouldn't go as far as to say that he was raised right, but manners were something owed to everyone… even racists, apparently.
"T—T—That w—will… b—be ten thousand silver coins," the shopkeeper spoke between haggard breaths and what could only be described as a forcefully subdued weeping.
"Feng Yu, money please."
Long Di held his hand out as Feng Yu absent-mindedly handed him the funds from her storage ring.
The shopkeeper, between sobs, of course, handed Long Di a bundle of Violet Dew Tulips based on the amount he was paid.
Long Di didn't even look at the tulips before he took them into his own storage ring as he stared deep into the eyes of the shopkeeper.
'I heard that it is also good manners to stare into someone's eyes when having a conversation or conducting business. I believe I'm doing this right.'
When the shopkeeper saw the expressionless and mercilessness within Long Di's eyes, his own sobs got caught in his throat.
'Success. My good manners have moved him so much that he's no longer crying.'
Finished with their business, Long Di headed outside the shop with the other disciples in tow.
When he made it outside and saw the sun high in the sky, he took a deep breath as his heart full of hope reinvigorated him once more.
"To think I'm in a demon city of all things. It truly is an amazing sight."
The muted sobs of a man whose future appeared bleak in its entirety could be heard as Long Di said this.
"Ah yes, the tears of a man who is moved by a child with good manners," Long Di nodded to himself.
When this line was uttered, the muttered sobs turned into an all-out bawling!
Long Di nodded in 'understanding.' "Amazing."