Night of the Broken Gliph

Chui Yim sat on a chair, swinging his legs up and down along with his head. He popped a piece of sashimi in his mouth and gasped. “The fish is so fresh!” 

“Of course!” Lam Ming answered, taking a piece of sashimi too. But unlike Chui Yim who was enjoying the food, Lam Ming looked like he was in pain. “This high-grade seamouth cost fifty silver taels!” 

“Just let me eat! I’m a wealthy man!” Chui Yim patted his chest. 

And this was the real Chui Yim. 

As a renowned metalsmith back on the Sallow Continent, money was just a number to him. He had never worried about money nor cared about it, as he was wealthy beyond imagination. But now, he was a young boy with heart deficiency. The inability to forge led him to become money’s slave. 

Now that Kiu Chi Gong had acknowledged him as his master, Kiu Chi Gong had insisted that he took seventy per cent of their earnings from forging weapons, which Chui Yim accepted. 

It was unknown how powerful a metalsmith he was, but putting aside his physical age and knowledge of gliph, it wasn’t asking too much for the Old Chan Clan leader to call him master. Seventy per cent of the earnings wasn’t even enough for tuition fees. If Kiu Chi Gong didn’t need money for the shop’s operation, he would have happily given all of the earnings to Chui Yim. 

Thus, Chui Yim was able to live worry-free from money again. 

“Brother Chui, where are you going later?” 

“Weapon Street, you?” Chui Yim said, putting another piece of sashimi in his mouth, appreciating its taste. 

“I think I’ll head home and bring the ingredients that we can’t finish home to mummy.” Lam Ming replied after a short pause. 

His reply left Chui Yim speechless. What do you take your mother as? A recycling bin? But that’s not surprising; Aunt Sit’s and Lam Ming’s cooking skills are so fantastic they could even make delicacies from trash.

“Mhmm, come back later. I have a surprise for you.” 

“Surprise?” Lam Ming blinked his small eyes.

“Hehe, surprises are meant to be kept secret.”

“Then I’ll wait and see. If I’m not pleasantly surprised, we’ll eat less tomorrow.” 

“......”

At Weapon Street, Chui Yim walked into the Kiu family’s shop like it was his home. 

“Master, you're here,” Kiu Chi Gong called out respectfully.

“Save the courtesy, just be casual.” Chui Yim waved his hands. 

“Yes, master,” Kiu Chi Gong answered respectfully. Chui Yim was at a loss for words at this respectful attitude, but after understanding that it might be due to strict teaching since he was a child, he was no longer bothered by it after remembering Kiu Clan’s glorious past. 

“Since you’re addressing me as master, I’ll make some things clear now,” Chui Yim said seriously. 

“Please speak, master!” Kiu Chi Gong shouted so loudly that it made Chui Yim dizzy. 

Chui Yim pondered for a moment before continuing. “My understanding and knowledge of forging is beyond your imagination, so be prepared to learn foreign knowledge that’s unlike anything you already know. You might even feel out of place with this world in the future.” 

“Yes, master,” Kiu Chi Gong answered despite not understanding him. He thought the mysterious teenager in front of him meant that he’d teach him incredibly profound knowledge… Only in the future would he realise what he meant. 

“Mhmm… Great. Since you already understand, show me your cultivation style.” 

“Ah?” Kiu Chi Gong stared at him blankly. “Master, aren’t we learning how to forge?” 

“How stupid can you be? We aren’t making ordinary weapons, but gliph weapons. Be it handling gliphic plants, minerals or carving gliphs, strong energliph is required in the process. When I forged a grade two gliph weapon, I realised how demanding it was on energliph. Putting aside the wind chamber, if one hopes to become a master, he needs energliph of at least one or two-chambered state. But this is the limit.

“To become a grandmaster, one needs to be at least of the two-chambered state. And divine master is impossible to achieve without the three-chambered state, as it will be impossible to carve five gliphs continuously if he isn’t a three-chambered glipher.” 

Metalsmiths had a simple grading system: the grade of the gliph weapons they were able to forge determines their rank. Just like gliphers, most metalsmiths were grade one or two. Metalsmiths who could create gliph weapons grade three and above were no longer known as such and had different names. A great master for grade three metalsmiths, grandmaster for grade four metalsmiths and divine master for grade five metalsmiths. 

As for grade six gliph weapons… It only appeared in legends, and it was said to not exist in this continent. There was only one divine master in this world, and that was the Sect Leader of the Blazing Skies Mountain, Yim Yung. 

Kiu Chi Gong was dumbstruck. “I… My greatest dream is just to become a great master…” he replied slowly. 

“Look at what you’re saying!” Chui Yim flared up after hearing him and pointed at his head. “What kind of dream is it to become just a great master! If others knew that you’re Flam… I mean Chui Yim’s disciple, where am I supposed to put my face? You should aim to become a grandmaster at the very least, or even a divine master! 

“You live and learn, and the bigger your dreams, the further you can go! How can you grow if you only look at the small pond in front of you?” Chui Yim’s spit was currently all over Kiu Chi Gong’s face, but instead of wanting to retort, he looked up to Chui Yim even more now.

How powerful must a person be to want his disciple to become a divine master? I can’t even see my master’s back with my short-sightedness! 

Kiu Chi Gong’s cultivation style circulated in his body slowly, emitting a rigid aura that filled the air. Chui Yim watched this scene with his eyes wide open. 

It’s a good style. At least I haven’t come across anything with a more powerful aura than Kiu Chi Gong’s style in the Cultivation Style Pavilion. This is a tough and rigid aura that creates the illusion of having a mountain peak or prison cell door in front of me. 

Kiu Chi Gong looked at him with a complicated look. “This is the Kiu Clan’s cultivation style that has been passed down for generations: the Firm Gate Skill. It doesn’t come with any fancy skills but allows the cultivator to strengthen his body.” 

Chui Yim frowned. He didn’t expect Kiu Chi Gong to possess such a particular style. After some hesitation, he went straight to the point. “I’m your master, and I similarly have a style passed down for generations. It’s of the fire nature, unyielding and overbearing. It definitely won’t allow the existence of another style in you. So, if you choose to pick up my style, then you’ll have to give up the style you currently have and re-cultivate from the start. And all the strength you have received from the Firm Gate Skill will be lost.” 

Chui Yim’s words stupefied Kiu Chi Gong. “Can I not?” He asked slowly. “My clan passed this down, and it also symbolises the Kiu Clan’s glorious past; I can’t give it up.” 

“Alright,” Chui Yim said. He wasn’t a non-negotiable person. “However, due to the differences in our styles, you won’t be able to pick up some skills that you’d only acquire from cultivating my style… But you could still become a divine master if you try hard enough.” 

Kiu Chi Gong stared at him with his mouth wide open. He was full of respect for Chui Yim. Before Chui Yim made the grade-two gliph weapon, he would’ve taken it as a joke. But now that he had successfully created a grade-two weapon, he believed whatever Chui Yim said. 

“Mhmm, since that’s the case, I won’t force you.” Chui Yim nodded and walked to the forging station casually. “I have something that I would like to forge. Watch carefully and take down any questions. Ask me all at once when I’m done.” 

“Madame Sit, you’re back.” A fishmonger in the market greeted the familiar customer of his. 

Madame Sit was none other than Sit Ting. “Hello, are there any fresh fish today?” She smiled thinly. 

“Of course.” The fishmonger laughed. He glanced around and secretly took out a fish as big as his forearm from the water tank. “Knowledgeable Madam Sit, I’m sure you can recognise this fish.” 

“It’s a unifish!” Sit Ting’s eyes lit up in surprise. “There’s unifish around here?” 

“Haha! I knew that madame is smart.” The fishmonger laughed.  

Unifish was a type of gliphic beast. But unlike seamouth, it could be considered as an actual gliphic beast. Its gliph-filled horn could turn water into a sharp blade to attack. Unifish was a fierce fish that served as a fantastic supplement if its head was used as g-food. 

Sit Ting counted in her heart silently. Realising it was the day of Lam Ming’s return, she smiled and nodded. “Okay, I’ll have this fish.”

Not far from the market, a man in black stood on the thatched house’s roof, watching Sit Ting quietly. His eyes never stayed on her for more than three seconds to prevent him from being discovered. As soon as Sit Ting left the market with her purchase, he vanished at the same time. 

“Mummy! I’m back!” Lam Ming’s cheerful voice rang across the house. He was a classic bright kid who wore a smile on his face without fail. Due to his timid nature, his sunny side was hidden and covered by his fear of being somewhere unfamiliar, the academy. 

“You’re back. Give mummy a second, I’m cooking,” Sit Ting replied from the kitchen. 

She looked back at the unifish. Unlike precious ingredients, a g-food ingredient’s grade wasn’t everything. Unifish might be a low-grade gliphic beast, but it was suited to be made as g-food. In fact, the fish soup that she passed onto Chui Tin was a famous dish she developed with unifish as the main ingredient, the “One and Only Fish Head”. 

Unifish might be an ordinary fish that wasn’t too difficult to catch, but it didn’t mean that it could be easily found. She had used common fish for her soup these years, and it had been a long time since she had last handled a unifish. 

The horn of a unifish must not be eaten directly. It had to be ground into powder before it could be used as a natural seasoning and cooked with the unifish’s head, which tasted heavenly. 

Sit Ting took her knife and chopped the horn off of the fish head directly.