Winter Fall

These customers didn't know, but Pei Tong, as a merchant, had eyes and ears all over.

He had already heard what Lin Fan did, and how the cultivators from Qing Feng sect had thanked him.

Pei Tong was not about to let this potential Martial Arts Fighter be pissed off with him.

As the future owner of He Xian Weapons shop, he had the ambition to make it grow, opening one outlet after another throughout the kingdom.

"Sorry about the nuisance. Come, follow me," Pei Tong straightened his attire after all the tussle and led Lin Fan into the back of the shop again.

Pei Tong whispered to the workers inside, and they wheeled out something on a cart.

It was too heavy for the two workers to carry.

"I have just the weapon you need."

"A pair of hammers—it's top of the Mortal level, inching close to Spirit level, with iron made of precious Dark Steel."

"If you start cultivating, when you inject Qi into it, it will become bigger."

Lin Fan looked at the hammer.

The upper part of the hammer was Dark Steel molded into a form with eight sides.

Its handle, made of precious red sandalwood, gave off a dark purple hue.

Picking it up, he swung it around and tested it out.

The two workers couldn't believe their eyes.

The pair of hammers was around 150KG each.

Yet, the teenage boy in front of them was swinging them around as if they were a pair of chopsticks.

Pei Tong was all smiles; the information he had received could now be confirmed to be true.

"Lin Fan, I didn't know you were so... strong."

This was the first time Ho Ming saw up close what Lin Fan was able to do.

No wonder.

Now he understood why his father kept telling him to be friendly with Lin Fan.

"Great, just the weapon I need," Lin Fan thought about it—cultivators at a certain level and above seemed to be able to withstand cuts and slashes from normal weapons.

Since cutting wouldn't do, why not go with kinetic energy? He might be able to dish out deadly blows with his hammer.

In any case, he most likely wasn't meant to be a sword cultivator.

"That would be one tael of silver. Since you are spending so much, whatever your friend wants shall be free."

Lin Fan looked at Pei Tong with high regard.

In one stroke, he had let Ho Ming feel goodwill toward Lin Fan and, on the other hand, made Lin Fan feel happy to have a 'discount' from his purchase.

"Ho Ming, pick up any weapon you like."

"Thanks! Lin Fan, let's go for a treat at Quan Wei Xuan later. The money my father gave me for the weapon can be put to better use."

Ho Ming happily accepted Lin Fan's offer.

After careful consideration, he had gone with a sword, as the main branch of cultivation in Qing Feng sect was sword cultivation.

....

When Lin Fan went back home, he tried out the hammers, but all he could do was bash them around.

Without any other options, he followed the strokes in the 'Flowing Cloud Sword Style' manuscript, using his hammers in place of a sword.

Some strokes worked well, and some didn't.

Lin Fan had to improvise to accommodate a pair of hammers.

One of the strokes he liked was the 'Beheading Cloud' strike.

A swipe at the feet with his left hand and then, with a sudden twist of the body, the right hand would swipe across the enemy's neck.

Even though he didn't have the Qi to be able to perform all the strokes to their maximal power, with his level 3 physique, his stroke would cause a fair amount of damage with his kinetic force.

Time passed by quickly with him fully focused on practicing.

One day while practicing, Ho Fu came and visited him.

With his pipe in his hand, he marveled at Lin Fan and how much stronger he had grown.

Who would've thought this teenage boy was thin, frail, and on the verge of dying not too long ago?

"Village head, anything I can help with?" Lin Fan asked as he poured a cup of tea for the village head.

"It's about the Tan family..." He took a drag of his smoke pipe, puffed out the smoke, and continued, "Master Tan was one of the outcasts from the Tan family since he couldn't cultivate."

"However, he is still family to the Tan Family, and you helping Zhao Rui to finish him off made them pretty angry with you."

"I've caught wind they are up to no good when you get into Qing Feng sect."

"They have some family inside holding influential positions, ready to give you hell."

"You'd better be careful."

Lin Fan nodded and said, "Thanks, I will be careful joining Qing Feng sect."

He looked at the bits of tea leaves inside his teacup, floating and twirling around.

If only he was powerful enough, they wouldn't dare to think about finding trouble with him.

"As for the help, my son Ho Ming..."

Even before the village head could finish, Lin Fan quickly replied, "Don't worry, village head. It's all right if Ho Ming goes his own way—best to keep him safe."

Ho Fu chuckled, shook his head, and said, "No, I meant for you to help take care of him."

"Ho Ming isn't the brightest, but he is a good boy."

"As for the Tan family, don't worry too much about them."

"I have my own influences in the sect too."

Lin Fan nodded; he had even more respect for the village head now.

Even though having Ho Ming on his side would bring danger upon him, Ho Fu still chose to do so.

Satisfied with Lin Fan's answer, Ho Fu drank his cup of tea, and as he looked out of the window, white tiny spots floated down from the sky and landed on the ground.

Snow.

It was finally winter.