Chapter 96: Dashed Hope

In just less than half an hour, Yan Liqiang, who had just taken a bath and changed into his new outfit, almost couldn't recognize himself when he saw his reflection in the mirror .

Yan Liqiang looked like a whole new person in the mirror . He wore a purple hat, fastened to his head with an amber feather copper hairpin and a blue long gown made of silk with matching trousers . Beneath the gown was a complete set of a vest, shirt, and undershirt . The waist of the gown was tied up by a silver belt decorated with red turquoise stones . His feet were covered with a pair of thick deerskin boots .

With this transformation, the reflection of an exceptionally graceful and handsome youth appeared before Yan Liqiang's eyes . Putting aside everything else, even if the late Wu Tao was brought before Yan Liqiang, he probably wouldn't be able to recognize that this was the very youth he saw yesterday in the marketplace .

It seemed like the saying that goes, 'a person depends on their apparel, a buddha depends on gold' [1] was true after all .

Yan Liqiang was very satisfied too when he saw his reflection in the mirror .

When Yan Liqiang emerged from the room again, the way that the fat shopkeeper stared at him was as though he had just witnessed a magic performance He was completely stupefied and hardly able to believe that the beggar from earlier and this young lord was actually the same person . He took a look at Yan Liqiang then went to open the changing room's door and was rendered speechless .

"Shopkeeper, you may burn or throw away those old clothes . I shall take my leave now!"

Yan Liqiang cupped his hands in salute towards the shopkeeper then exited the store .

"How odd . Did this young lord perform a trick…?" That shopkeeper mumbled to himself as he watched Yan Liqiang leave .

. . .

When he returned to the main street outside, Yan Liqiang found someone and asked for clear directions to Soul Mountain Sect's Hu Provincial Branch . Once he did, he immediately hurried towards his destination .

. . .

After an hour, Yan Liqiang arrived at the outside of Soul Mountain Sect's Hu Provincial Branch .

As expected of Soul Mountain Sect, which was one of the four major sects in this world . Just its Hu Provincial Branch alone occupied an area of at least four hundred mu on the extremely prestigious land of Hu Provincial City . From a distance, Soul Mountain Sect's Hu Provincial Branch looked like a palace . Beyond its high walls and red roof tiles were lush trees so tall that they seemed to touch the heavens . Tall, lofty and grand buildings and pavilions were hidden among the green shadows of those trees .

The entrance to Soul Mountain Sect's Hu Provincial Branch was like a mini version of Hu Provincial City's city gate, it faced a wide public square . At this very moment, more than a thousand youths had gathered outside the entrance . They formed a long queue which further split into multiple rows, waiting to apply for the recruitment .

Yan Liqiang had only witnessed a similar situation like this, during the registration days for the civil service examination in his previous life .

There was a registration area on the other side of the queue, with a few hundred people lining up there . The registration process was the first round of the selection process . The qualified candidates would receive a token from the registration area and proceed to the next round of the selection process . The unqualified candidates were all filtered out during the registration .

Yan Liqiang came to the registration area, he queued up at the back of the line and was ready to sign up .

The moment Yan Liqiang arrived, he had attracted a lot of attention among the crowd gathered at the registration area . Quite a few of them were silently checking Yan Liqiang out . The eyes of a few young ladies among the registering crowd, in particular, lit up at the sight of Yan Liqiang .

"Greetings, Brother . Let us introduce ourselves to each other . I am Lu Wengang . I am here today to sign myself up for the disciple recruitment of Soul Mountain Sect's Hu Provincial Branch . How do I address you, Brother?"

The person who queued up in front of Yan Liqiang was also a youth of about fifteen or sixteen years old . He seemed like a simple and honest youth, yet he was quick

"Greetings, I am Yan Liqiang!" Yan Liqiang gave him a smile .

"Brother, you're not from Hu Province, are you?"

"I'm not…"

"Oh, I'm not from Hu Province either . I'm from Xiaoshan Prefecture of Guan Province . I especially rushed here because I heard Soul Mountain Sect's Hu Provincial Branch will start recruiting the selected disciples this year…"

"Is it usually very rare for Soul Mountain Sect's Hu Provincial Branch to accept disciples?"

"Of course . The last time they did was three years ago . An opportunity like this is very hard to come by . Brother, have you passed your Horse Stance stage yet…?"

"Yes, I already passed…"

"That's good then . Did you see the few who left just now? They couldn't even get through the registration because they haven't passed the Horse Stance stage . It takes special talent for one to join Soul Mountain Sect's Hu Provincial Branch . Otherwise, the bare minimum prerequisite for registering is passing the Horse Stance stage!" Lu Wengang turned his head to speak with Yan Liqiang, then blinked . "Actually, I've only passed that stage two months ago . However, my motive in joining Soul Mountain Sect isn't to learn martial techniques from them…"

"What is your motive in joining Soul Mountain Sect if it isn't for the sake of learning martial arts from them then, Brother Lu?" Yan Liqiang asked curiously .

Lu Wengang lifted his face and spoke with admiration in his voice . "The current commanding officer in Soul Mountain Sect's Thousand Engineering Hall, Zhang Yourong, is the best engineer in the world . At the mere age of thirty, he had already managed to invent a flying wooden bird which can fly up to a few hours in the sky without landing . That was simply a marvelous achievement . If I can join the Soul Mountain Sect, perhaps I may be able to join the Thousand Engineering Hall someday and learn from the best engineer in the world . That will be so much more interesting than cultivating martial arts…"

If emperors who loved carpentry and locksmithing existed, then a youth who joined Soul Mountain Sect just because he was passionate about engineering wasn't strange at all . Yan Liqiang gave him an understanding smile . "I wish Brother Lu all the best . Hopefully, you can get into the Thousand Engineering Hall of Soul Mountain Sect in the near future…"

"Thanks . My dream is to be able to invent a wooden ox someday . If wooden oxen which don't require food can work for people in the fields and transport goods, it will be able to lessen the workload of people and allow the poor to become wealthy, thus having enough to feed themselves . Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

"It does sound quite wonderful . It's a great idea!" Yan Liqiang smiled . He didn't tell Lu Wengang that those wooden oxen of his dreams weren't too difficult to create . All he needed was only a steam engine . However, all machinery could only improve work efficiency and productivity . It was impossible for them to change the nature of socio-economic relations and social class conflicts . Even with the invention of the wooden ox, the poor would remain poor while the rich would remain rich .

Upon hearing Yan Liqiang's praises to his idea, Lu Wengang seemed as though he had met someone who clicked with him . He was suddenly in high spirits and started babbling about engineering which he was obsessed with . . .

. . .

They had been queueing for more than half an hour . Some of the people in front who passed the registration and moved to the other queue after receiving a token, some who didn't manage to pass sighed and left dejectedly .

When it was Lu Wengang's turn, he gave personal details like his clan, hometown, and address then revealed some of his knowledge in engineering . The person who handled the registration examined his fist strength then nodded . He had Lu Wengeng leave his handprint and told him to queue up at the other side after passing him a token .

"Brother Yan, I shall wait for you on the other side!" Lu Wengang waved the token in his hand cheerfully before he ran to the other side to line up .

. . .

After Lu Wengang, it was Yan Liqiang's turn next .

"Name?"

"Yan Liqiang…"

"Age?"

"Fourteen…"

"Hometown, address, your parents' name and job?"

Yan Liqiang hesitated for a moment…

Upon observing Yan Liqiang's hesitation, the man at the registration area of Soul Mountain Sect stared at Yan Liqiang . "Let me remind you, the moment you become a disciple of Soul Mountain Sect, the sect will send people to the address you provided today for verification purposes . Any false information provided is enough to expel you from Soul Mountain Sect and be severely punished as a spy . You will be beheaded immediately without exception . . . "

Yan Liqiang went silent for a moment before speaking up . "I've regarded everywhere as my home and have been roaming around without settling down since young . I have never seen my real parents either…"

"Who raised you then?"

"An old beggar . He passed away a few years ago!"

The people from Soul Mountain Sect at the registration area exchanged whispers with each other in discussion then shook their head at Yan Liqiang with an indifferent expression on their faces . "Soul Mountain Sect never accepts disciples of unknown origins . Therefore, you may leave . Next!"