Shi Dafeng went off to eat lamb hotpot, so Yan Liqiang returned to the small courtyard he rented alone.
When Yan Liqiang saw Yan Dechang, he hurried towards him and dusted the snow off from Yan Dechang's cape. "Father, why are you here?"
Yan Dechang looked at Yan Liqiang from top to bottom with a serious look before he broke into a smile. "I happened to deliver some goods to Huanglong County yesterday and thought that it has been cold these few days. Since Huanglong County is quite near to Pingxi City, I decided to come visit you and send you some clothes. I came searching with the address that was on the letter you sent last time… Three Yuan Street, into the Blue Ox Alley, the third courtyard on the left. I didn't expect to really find it, you live here right?!"
"That's right, I live here. Father, let me help you take your stuff. Let's talk inside!" Yan Liqiang took the bag Yan Dechang carried on his back then took out his key, opened the door and led Yan Dechang in.
The courtyard Yan Liqiang lived in wasn't that big, only about forty or fifty square meters. There was a grape trellis in the yard, a well, and a flower bed. There were some flowers and herbs planted among the flower bed and beneath the grape trellis was a relatively wide space, good enough for practicing martial arts. Although the yard was covered by a layer of piled up snow, one could still tell that the yard was very well kept.
Yan Dechang observed the yard when he came in and secretly nodded to himself. He was greatly relieved when he saw that Yan Liqiang had managed to take very good care of himself. "You're living here alone?"
"Yes, I live here alone and my friend lives just next door. He can normally hear me if I shout!"
"You train in this yard too?"
"I usually practice martial arts in the basement. Sometimes it's a little inconvenient in the yard if the movements are too big!" Yan Liqiang led Yan Dechang to the central room and placed his bag down, then scratched his head in embarrassment. "I usually don't cook here and there's no drinking water here too. Have a seat and wait for a while, I'll go boil a pot of water and make some tea for you!"
"No need, no need! I'm just here to look around, you don't need to serve me anything. You haven't been slacking on your spear technique cultivation, right?"
"Not at all, those things are all in the basement. Would you like to take a look there?"
"Sure, let's go see where you normally train!" Yan Dechang was about to sit down but stood up again when he heard Yan Liqiang's suggestion.
The entrance to the basement was in the central room, below the staircase leading up. Yan Liqiang led Yan Dechang to the basement downstairs through a door.
The basement was about the same size as the yard above the ground. The floor of the basement was paved with rough limestone and the room was more than five meters high. Although it was underground, the basement had windows on two ends that allowed ventilation and daylight to come in. During the day, some light from above the floor could pass through so it wasn't that dark in here, he'd only need to light a lamp at night.
In the basement, a wooden frame was placed near to a wall. A piece of rope was tied below the frame with some copper coins hanging down from it. Beside the wooden frame, there was a long spear of at least three meters, completely made out of iron.
Beside this wooden frame, there were also a few metal weights used for stamina training. The lightest metal weight was about twenty-three kilograms and the heaviest one was over two hundred kilograms.
After Yan Dechang came in and saw these things, his eyes instantly lit up. He approached the wooden frame, picked up the iron spear and weighed it in his hands. The iron spear was at least more than forty kilograms. He turned his head around and asked Yan Liqiang, "Why are you using an iron spear to train here? The body of this iron spear has no elasticity and is very heavy. Are you able to use it?"
"The importance of this iron spear is its weight. The teacher from the martial arts academy told us to use it to train basic spear techniques!" Yan Liqiang explained and took the iron spear from Yan Dechang's hands. He then crouched and struck a pose
To hold up such a heavy iron spear single-handedly by its base so steadily, one could imagine the terrifying amount of strength Yan Liqiang had in his arm.
"Not bad, not bad at all!" Yan Dechang nodded his head in satisfaction and then tried out a few metal weights. However, he realized that he only managed to lift a few smaller ones with his current strength. He attempted to lift the other two metal weights that were more than a hundred kilograms and realized that he was unable to. In the end, he could only shake his head and laugh. "I guess I'm really getting old…"
"You just healed from your injuries, you shouldn't exert too much strength!"
"Can you actually lift the heaviest metal weight?" Yan Dechang asked curiously.
Yan Liqiang put down the iron spear and walked to the heaviest metal weight which weighed two hundred kilograms. Using only one hand, he effortlessly picked up the metal weight then swung his arm, causing the metal weight to flutter by his side. He then switched the metal weight between his hands, flipping it to the front and behind his body, making it appear like a dancing butterfly. Yan Dechang could feel the air from the dancing metal weight blowing directly on the side of his face.
If it wasn't for his own eyes, Yan Dechang wouldn't dare believe Yan Liqiang's strength had already attained such a level. The metal weight was two hundred kilograms, not twenty kilograms! Even if he wasn't a Martial Warrior, Yan Dechang knew that the strength of his son was simply too astonishing. Yan Liqiang was only fourteen years old and he had no idea how he managed to train his strength. He recalled that his son didn't seem to have such ridiculous strength before.
Yan Liqiang waved it around for no less than a minute before he stopped and set the metal weight down on the floor lightly, without making any noise. He was only slightly flushed, but his breathing was still very even.
"AMAZING! AMAZING! AMAZING!" Yan Dechang chanted in excitement. "You have definitely improved a lot by coming to this martial arts academy!"
The strength and capability he had now were basically from the huge transformation the Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing Manual had brought upon him, especially his physical strength and other aspect enhancements. Although the things they taught in the martial arts academy were useful, they couldn't be considered as profound mysteries. It was nothing compared to the Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing Manual.
However, he couldn't tell Yan Dechang all that. Yan Liqiang could only smile upon hearing his father's praises and nodded his head. "Father, you are right about that. I have indeed learned a lot since I arrived at the martial arts academy. The teachers of the academy are really awesome too!"
"Seeing you like this has assured me. Let's return upstairs…." Yan Dechang breathed out a long sigh of relief.
...
Yan Dechang only stayed at Yan Liqiang's place for a total of less than an hour. He took another look around the small courtyard Yan Liqiang lived in. After inquiring about Yan Liqiang's daily life, he then left some winter clothes he brought for him along with twenty taels of silver and told him a few things about the blacksmith store before he left. He also adamantly refused Yan Liqiang's intention to see him off.
Over more than the past two months since Yan Liqiang arrived at the prefectural city, the business of their blacksmith store back at home had also gradually gotten back on track. Although Yan Blades couldn't create any heavenly weapons, they were known for their products' quality that was up to the mark and their affordable price tags. The Yan Blades brand had pretty much been established in Qinghe County, Yan Dechang only had to provide some guidance and do quality checks on the final products at the blacksmith store every day. The Yan Clan owned a land, a workshop, a store and also a blacksmith store in Liuhe Town. They had gradually earned a different reputation than before.
One thing that surprised Yan Liqiang was that the kukri knife that he had so meticulously created, shaped like a dog leg, didn't attract much attention, let alone sold, despite the good business in the blacksmith store.
After Qian Su from the Weaponsmith Quarter saw the kukri knife and learned that it was designed by Yan Liqiang, his interest was piqued so he asked for one to bring back home a while ago so he could play with it. Two days ago, he sent a message to ask the Yan Clan's blacksmith store deliver a hundred 'Yan Curved Knife'— the name which was given to the kukri knife by Yan Liqiang, to the Weaponsmiths Quarter of Huanglong County. He told him that the knife was noticed by an officer who came to the Weaponsmiths Quarter to order a long spear. That officer was proficient in knives and thought the kukri knife that Qian Su had with him had a strange but interesting appearance, so he was very interested in it. In the end, he borrowed home the kukri knife from Qian Su to play with it for a few days. Unexpectedly, that officer came back looking for Qian Su a few days later and immediately ordered a hundred 'Yan Curved Knives', saying that he was going to give all of those to others as gifts…
Yan Dechang was overjoyed at the sudden 'big business deal' which had landed in his lap and personally set out on his steed to deliver the order of those one hundred curved knives to Huanglong County. Since he missed Yan Liqiang, he came to Pingxi City along the way to see how he was doing.
...
After seeing Yan Dechang off with complex emotions, Yan Liqiang composed himself and got changed before he set off to the Military Governor's Office...