After the sect master delivered his harsh warning, the Town Guardian Cultivators' prolonged alarm-ringing ceremony finally ca to an end.
"Does senior martial sister also have dealings with Fellow Daoist Cui?" Yulou's tone held a hint of seriousness.
When Ji Yuan had warned him previously, Yulou had not yet laid his cards on the table with Old Cui, so he hadn't delved deeper into the connection between Ji Yuan and the old man.
Now, even Lin Ying—who usually had absolutely nothing to do with him—was warning him that Old Cui was not simple. This was becoming rather alarming.
When all was said and done, Old Cui was rely at Qi Refining Level Three. How could he possibly stir up such a massive commotion?
Could it really be as Ancestor Xianzhou suspected, that the man nad Cui harbored a massive secret?
"Fellow Daoist Yulou, why is your interest in an old fogey stronger than your interest in young ladies?"
Senior Martial Sister Lin was in no rush at all, even finding the leisure to tease young Wang.
"Senior Martial Sister Lin, please stop mocking . I've been running this Town Guardian Cultivator position with constant trepidation. Today... sigh, tis are tough."
Wang Yulou forced a bitter smile, mocking himself.
"Sotis I think it would be better to just go ho. Although Droplet Cave Heaven is grand, it clearly feels like we are entering a tumultuous period now."
A tumultuous period—this was exactly what Lin Ying and Yulou had been discussing just monts ago. Neither of them understood how Yuan Si had managed to cross the line so completely and get executed directly.
Only after the sect master detailed the cris did the two realize that Yuan Si had actually been singled out by Hong Li to serve as a textbook warning to the rest.
"Go ho? Why don't you just go straight to the Red Lantern Illumination Sect? Your Wang Clan should be able to arrange a placent for you there, right?"
The two walked side by side, maintaining a distance of half a ter. They were essentially companions on the sa path, chatting as they walked.
"Senior martial sister, didn't you also choose not to go to the Red Lantern Illumination Sect?"
Who wouldn't want to enter the Ten Sects directly?
Lin Ying rolled her eyes and was about to say sothing when Yulou summoned a plump spirit crane from his spirit beast bag.
It was He Laosan. With agile movents, Yulou lightly stepped off the ground and vaulted onto the spirit crane's back.
As He Laosan took a few running steps, Yulou looked back and spoke.
"Senior Martial Sister Lin, Yulou shall take his leave first. Next ti you visit Riverbend Fishing Village, I will continue to entertain you with wine."
Seeing Wang Yulou depart so abruptly, Lin Ying was slightly taken aback.
Wait, young Wang, don't you want to know Cui Dingyi's secret anymore?
Wang Yulou certainly wanted to know, but his upbringing in the Wang family had taught him never to reveal his intentions easily.
If he appeared too eager, it would beco leverage in Lin Ying's hands when things actually went down.
The twists and turns were troubleso, but they had to be managed carefully.
However, half an hour later, the departed Wang Yulou stealthily slipped into the rit Hall.
Yulou called this move a 'backtrack strike'—exchanging resources at an off-peak ti to avoid making himself too conspicuous in a crowd.
Yet, the mont he stepped through the door, he discovered that Lin Ying was also there.
The two had practically followed each other's heels and bumped into one another again. Furthermore, Lin Ying seed to be chatting quite cheerfully with Wu Faxian.
He wanted to turn around to avoid this crafty enchantress and seasoned senior sister, but both Lin Ying and Wu Faxian had already noticed him.
"Junior Brother Jade Palace..."
The bright, cheerful, and naturally sociable Wu Faxian realized he had spoken too quickly when he saw Wang Yulou attempting to retreat.
Since both of them had turned to look at him, Yulou could only put on a smile and enter the rit Hall.
"You two carry on chatting, I'll take my leave first. Senior Brother Wu, I hope you will put so extra care into that matter."
Lin Ying bowed to bid Wu Faxian farewell. As she passed by Yulou, she gave him a subtle, fleeting glare.
Yulou let out a soft chuckle, offering no explanation as to why he had tried to avoid her.
A true enchantress!
A sly little fox!
"Senior Brother Wu, I want to trade for a couple of pieces of spiritual material. Do you have black steel this ti?"
During Yulou's last visit, several types of rank-eight spiritual materials had been out of stock, forcing him to return empty-handed.
Dripdrop Cave's three palaces operated a rit exchange system that was essentially an internal, closed-loop micro-economy. Because the overall scale of the sect wasn't particularly large, the efficiency of this cycle was naturally quite low.
Not to ntion, the prominent clans could use approved internal vouchers to secure highly sought-after resources in advance.
Running out of stock was a common occurrence.
The transaction between Lin Ying and Wu Faxian just now was likely an informal 'voucher placent'—no actual paperwork required, just relying on a favor between acquaintances.
For the deacons of the rit Hall, exchanging it with anyone was the sa, so they preferred to grant a smooth favor to build goodwill.
"This..." Wu Faxian pondered for a mont before speaking.
"We certainly have black steel, but I can only give you two pieces at most. Any more would likely be impossible."
Yulou frowned slightly. Refining an upper-grade artifact typically required a rank-eight spiritual material as a foundation. If he could only exchange for two pieces of rank-eight black steel, his margin for error during refining would be far too narrow.
Even with the Jade Ruyi in his possession, he couldn't rely entirely on the Ruyi Golden Radiance to force his way through. Preparing more rank-eight spiritual materials was an absolute necessity.
"What other tallic or mineral materials do you have?"
While Wu Faxian maintained a warm and genial smile on his face, he was secretly astonished inside.
Wang Yulou was only at early Qi Condensation, yet he was already preparing to attempt refining an upper-grade artifact. Barring any accidents, Dripdrop Cave would soon gain another master of the artificing path.
"Three pieces of rank-eight Water Jade, over a dozen pieces of rank-eight agate spiritual materials, and quite a few tallic and mineral spiritual materials harvested from spiritual entities..."
"Water Jade? You actually have Water Jade right now?" Wang Yulou verified, finding it sowhat hard to believe.
His surprise was entirely justified; Water Jade was exceptionally precious within the sphere of influence of the Red Lantern Illumination Sect.
To put it this way: before Mang Xiang expanded his favors, Water Jade was the most expensive rank-eight spiritual material within the Red Lantern territory.
Even after Mang Xiang expanded his favors, Water Jade remained the most expensive rank-eight spiritual material.
"Water Jade is a special local product of our Dripdrop Cave, so we naturally have it. However, each disciple of the Azurewater Palace can only exchange for one piece every ten years," Wu Faxian explained considerately.
Right, right, a purchasing limit, is it?
"Furthermore, the Water Jade provided by the sect to the Azurewater Palace disciples is under a special restriction.
Even if you exchange for it, you cannot sell it externally; it can only be traded among fellow disciples.
Even if you refine it into artifacts or spiritual pills, it still remains restricted to internal trading among fellow disciples."
Yulou paid no mind to this. If he truly refined sothing, how could the sect possibly monitor whether a transaction took place or not?
"Senior Brother Wu, I'll take two pieces!"
He looked at Old Wu expectantly, confident that the deacons of the rit Hall definitely had their ways.
Old Wu naturally understood Yulou's implication, but he gave a bitter laugh and shook his head.
"Mm... that won't do."
"It can certainly do. I will add extra spirit stones!"
"It really won't do, Yulou. Dripdrop grass, Water Jade, and the jade marrow of the green-blooded frog are the only three things in the Azurewater Palace's rit Hall that no one dares to casually tamper with.
Just the day before yesterday, I sent you a letter detailing what new items would be available for exchange, but these three are actually never ntioned in writing.
Let alone leaking information in a letter, we don't even actively introduce them unless soone specifically asks.
It's not that your elder brother has any personal issue with you, but rules are rules.
When it cos down to it, even people in our position cannot hoard everything for ourselves to the point where others get nothing. That offends too many people.
In the past, these three types of spiritual resources have triggered far too many conflicts, and even cost the lives of Foundation Establishnt elders.
Sigh, you have always been intelligent; you should understand my aning.
A single piece of Water Jade costs three hundred and seventy rit points. Yulou, since you also want black steel, buying one piece of Water Jade is about all you can manage."
Wang Yulou naturally understood. This belonged to a special category of elite allocations above regular voucher items. However, because everyone possessed a cultivation base and these elite allocations were simply too rare, they had to be restricted by such bizarre conventions.
"When were these pieces of Water Jade put into the inventory?"
Yulou's eyes shone brightly, though he already had an answer in mind.
"A quarter of an hour ago, seven pieces were logged. Fellow Daoist Lin didn't ask about it—though in previous years, she would ask every single ti she ca."
Wu Faxian smiled very cheerfully, becoming increasingly certain that forging a close relationship with Wang Yulou was the right choice.
Exactly at noon, an execution was carried out right before the palace gates, and imdiately afterward, the restricted resources were logged into the inventory.
The timing was calculated down to the second, clearly out of fear that those Azurewater Palace disciples attending the ceremony might snatch the Water Jade away while browsing the rit Hall.
Yet they also feared listing it too late, which would allow disciples arriving in the afternoon to take it.
"How many deacons are on duty today?" Yulou continued to inquire.
Wu Faxian practically wanted to applaud. This kind of insight from Wang Yulou was simply terrifying.
"Two of us are on shift, but there are also two people who escorted the spiritual items here."
"Aren't you going to notify anyone else?"
"Sigh, exchanging a bit for ourselves is enough. If we notify too many others, it will breed resentnt.
This old brother of yours just wants to live a few more peaceful years; I don't consider my life too long.
The sect master just said that the Azurewater Palace disciples must keep the alarm bells ringing in their minds, demanding that we strictly abide by the regulations."
"Here are the spirit stones, Senior Brother Wu. My thanks!"
"Now you're treating like an outsider. There's no need for a ten-to-eleven exchange rate; twelve-to-thirteen is just perfect. The relationship between the two of us is solid!"
"Hahaha! Co to Riverbend Fishing Village to eat fish another day, Yulou will always have a table prepared for Senior Brother Wu."
Pocketing three pieces of rank-eight spiritual materials, Yulou kept his head down and departed from the rit Hall.
Black steel was an excellent tallic material. Aside from being expensive, it had no flaws, making it highly suitable for both defense and defense.
By simply pairing it with a few other rank-nine spiritual items, one could refine an excellent upper-grade artifact. While it might not be absolutely superlative, its baseline performance was exceptionally high.
The fact that Ji Yuan could serve as the primary offensive force during their three-man battle against the iron crocodile dragon was partly due to the upper-grade black steel flying sword he commanded.
As for Water Jade, it required no explanation. This material was ranked alongside dripdrop grass and the jade marrow of the green-blooded frog as the most expensive rank-eight spiritual material.
Dripdrop grass was an excellent dicinal herb for spiritual pills required by water-attribute cultivators, and it was also a unique local product of Dripdrop Cave.
The jade marrow of the green-blooded frog was even more extraordinary. Whenever a water-attribute cultivator needed to accomplish sothing, it could almost always be applied, and Foundation Establishnt cultivators also favored it as an auxiliary material when refining weapons or pills.
After careful deliberation, Yulou decided to begin his refining practice with black steel. The Water Jade would be stored away for the ti being, to be refined into a handy artifact once his attainnt in the artificing path reached a higher level.
"Wang Yulou!" The enchantress suddenly leaped out from behind a nearby wall, blocking his path.
"Senior martial sister, you..." Looking at the suddenly appearing Lin Ying, Yulou was sowhat speechless.
Could you act even more ridiculous than Yu'an?
She must be putting on an act with !
Seeing that the boy still maintained that rigid expression of a little old man, Lin Ying waved her hand listlessly and transmitted her voice.
'That man nad Cui secretly operates a small, unofficial shop. He visits our Immortal Mushroom Cave to purchase all kinds of spiritual mushrooms and spiritual herbs, trading exclusively in spirit stones or blood-essence pills.
His shop sells quite a variety of items, covering almost all the spiritual resources produced around Riverbend Fishing Village. I suspect this is exactly why Ji Yuan warned you to be careful of him.'
Yulou's pupils contracted slightly. His previous suspicion was completely correct; spirit fish were highly volatile resources that could not be preserved over a long period.
The fact that Cui Dingyi could purchase them ant he possessed an independent underground trading network separate from Dripdrop Cave's internal economy.
And Ji Yuan's warning to be careful of Cui indicated that Ji Yuan himself was actually part of this underground trading network.
"Why is senior martial sister warning ?" Yulou remained highly vigilant.
Perhaps ordinary won might extend inexplicable goodwill toward a man they appreciated, but in the cultivation world, Lin Ying's actions right now had already crossed the line of casual interaction.
She was no fool, but rather a profoundly clever character who possessed sharp wits.
Therefore, she definitely had a purpose; it was just that Yulou couldn't see through it clearly yet.
"That night, I simply couldn't stand Ji Yuan; I wasn't trying to vent my anger on you. Ji Yuan has already reached Qi Refining Level Ten, yet he failed to hold back even a single iron crocodile dragon. Isn't that an absolute joke!"
Thinking back to that night, Lin Ying was still unable to suppress her frustration, entirely exasperated by Ji Yuan's outrageous behavior.
From beginning to end, aside from slashing around with his flying sword, he had literally done nothing of consequence!
Ji Yuan hadn't just given a lenient performance; he had let through an entire Beautiful Water Lake's worth of water!
"Fair enough. However, senior martial sister, doesn't that underground trade and shadow shop operated by Old Cui violate the sect rules?"
"Naturally. I have sold quite a few spiritual mushrooms to him myself. Yulou, when you move to handle him, your thods must be swift and clean.
Right now, the sect master looks as though he has swallowed so kind of obsessive potion, directly dropping harsh warnings that he intends to find trouble for us Town Guardian Cultivators. Sigh."
Enlightennt dawned upon Yulou; so that was it.
Currently, the sect master had openly declared a strict crackdown, actively searching for an unfortunate soul to accompany Yuan Si in disgrace.
Lin Ying was terrified that if Old Cui t with disaster, it would implicate her, which prompted her to provide this warning.
If the two hadn't crossed paths in front of the rit Hall, she would likely have paid a direct visit to him at Riverbend Fishing Village.
"Yulou will definitely exercise caution, senior martial sister. However, Yulou also has a piece of information he wishes to share with you."
"What else could you have? Don't try to use Old Cui as leverage against , Junior Brother Wang. This kind of matter isn't enough to cost my head; it's rely a bit troubleso at most!"
Lin Ying glanced at Wang Yulou, assuming that this deeply hidden and calculating junior brother of hers intended to use Old Cui's affair to manipulate her.
However, since she dared to lay it out openly, she wasn't truly afraid.
After all, the law does not punish the masses; when the ti ca for soone to take the fall, sacrificing Old Cui alone would be more than sufficient.
Yulou said nothing. Instead, he reached into his storage bag and produced a piece of Water Jade.
Holding it up with one hand beneath the sunlight, the white outer skin of the Water Jade rippled with a clear, liquid luster, casting shifting reflections.
Those reflections played across Lin Ying's face before she could fully register what was happening, lending an extra touch of radiance and dreamlike allure to her already elegant features.
However, the gaze Yulou directed at his senior sister held very little romantic affection; it was purely the look one gave an idiot.
After all, three breaths of ti had already passed, and this lady still hadn't processed the situation.
Yulou smirked slightly, considering that this shouldn't count as leaking information.
No matter how strict the sect regulations were, they couldn't possibly include a clause stating: 'Disciples who have exchanged for Water Jade are forbidden from lingering in front of the rit Hall to hold up the Water Jade and look at it'—that would be too preposterous.
After a long silence, Lin Ying's eyebrows twitched. Her eyes locked onto Yulou's chin, creating an illusion of a deeply affectionate gaze, before she spoke in a gentle, lting tone.
"Yulou, you are still young, and there are plenty of beautiful girls out there. Your senior martial sister is entirely devoted to the Dao and has no intention of seeking a companion.
My interactions with you have always been based on our bond as fellow disciples; I hope you don't misunderstand.
Of course, I happen to like this piece of Water Jade very much. How about this: I will offer one thousand eight hundred spirit stones to purchase it from you, what does Junior Brother Wang think?"
By the end of her sentence, Lin Ying had begun to lightly bite her cherry lips with her pearly teeth.
But in Yulou's eyes, this display was even more bizarre than trying to bite a flint lighter without a fla.
Casting her a look reserved for absolute fools, Yulou put away the Water Jade and turned to leave without looking back.
Senior Martial Sister Lin, I originally quite respected your intellect... at least as a clever person.
Looking at it now... sigh.
He Laosan cried out grumblingly as he took flight, leaving the self-absorbed Lin Ying standing completely alone, her hair disheveled in the wind kicked up by the spirit crane.
What did his expression just now an? It didn't seem particularly affectionate?
It definitely wasn't affectionate; he had already fled. Could it be because he felt too humiliated by my rejection?
Young man, you still need to temper yourself much more.
As Lin Ying turned the thought over in her mind, she even felt a hint of absurdity about the situation.
Just as she was about to depart, she spotted a cultivator wearing the robes of the Grotto Heaven Patrol Team rushing toward the rit Hall aboard a flying boat. In that split second, Lin Ying recognized him as Wang Yaohai.
Why is he in such a desperate hurry? Anything remotely rare in the rit Hall requires waiting, so snatching is useless...
Snatching?
She froze on the spot, her face transforming from pale white to bright crimson within a single second, looking exactly like a red monkey's backside.
I am an absolute idiot!
How am I ever going to face him again?
Without daring to hesitate further, Lin Ying spun around and charged straight back into the rit Hall.
——
Flying back to Riverbend Fishing Village, Yulou rode the spirit crane to complete a broad sweep of several dozen kiloters around the settlent.
Upon finding that no reckless, low-level minor demons had erged to cause trouble, he felt a slight twinge of disappointnt.
Returning to his residence, he imdiately communicated the latest information regarding Old Cui to his ancestor.
"So he functions similarly to a shared version of Gao Jian?" Wang Xianzhou asked.
"No, I am inclined to believe his capabilities far exceed those of Gao Jian.
It's simply that the stage of Riverbend Fishing Village is too small; otherwise, he would likely have stirred up an even greater storm."
"This stage isn't small at all; it possesses a volu equivalent to a small Qi Refining clan, and you are only in your twenties right now, Yulou."
"The pressure is imnse. This tiny Riverbend Fishing Village is teeming with hidden talent, and it even contains two individuals with dual spirit roots."
"Since you feel the pressure... should I make my move tonight?" The ancestor's thod of showing care was rather unique.
"Let's wait a bit longer, let's wait. It's too rushed. We should wait at least three months, and eliminate him after the Riverbend Fishing Village minor competition. The fallout will be far smaller then!"
"Very well, I will keep a close eye on him. Yulou, this man definitely harbors a secret. How can soone with a five-elent spirit root manage to break through to Qi Induction?
Droplet Cave Heaven is only semi-connected to the outside world, so any Qi Induction here must be achieved through standard, step-by-step cultivation."
"We cannot rush, Ancestor. Ti is on our side. We will strike once I have completely consolidated my control over Riverbend Fishing Village."
Control was sothing to be achieved step by step; there was no need to hurry. Wang Yulou could easily afford to wait three months.
Returning to his quiet chamber, Yulou took stock of the various materials and artifacts currently in his possession, debating whether to begin refining an upper-grade artifact imdiately.
However, the Ruyi Golden Radiance inside his mind had only accumulated to about three-quarters of its capacity, still lacking a fraction.
Extracting the spirit fish skin, Yulou began inscribing water-attribute talismans within the quiet chamber.
The water spells he currently mastered were all quite foundational, consisting rely of the Torrent Technique, the Water Ring Technique, and the Gui Water Hidden Edge Needle.
The Torrent Technique was the weakest among offensive spells.
The Water Ring Technique was a fairly useful spell that combined defense with auxiliary amplification.
As for the Gui Water Hidden Edge Needle... well, to put it plainly, its offensive power was even inferior to the Torrent Technique.
"I hope the spells attached to the remaining layers of the Source Vein Gui Water Qi will be sowhat stronger."
Yulou indulged in a brief, pleasant daydream about a future where the Source Vein Gui Water Qi suddenly beca exceptionally powerful, before bringing himself back down to earth to begin drawing the Water Ring Talismans.
Spirit fish skin served as an excellent base material for water-attribute talismans. Talismans created from it were naturally far more effective than those utilizing non-water base materials.
However, drawing talismans on spirit fish skin also presented unique difficulties.
Spirit fish were entirely different from spirit donkeys. The Wang family's spirit donkeys had originally originated from the rank-nine Wild Donkey Plain, and later from the rank-eight Dumb Donkey Plain—they were fundantally simple-minded, possessing no spiritual intelligence.
This was precisely why Ancestor Xianhe's rits were considered boundless; if the spirit donkeys bred after the plain upgraded had possessed intellect, the Wang family would have been in massive trouble.
Spirit donkeys were delicious and highly practical, but they were useless in magical combat and could not serve as spiritual pets.
At best, they could only be considered mounts, and rather underwhelming ones at that.
Therefore, keeping them dumb was for the best.
The unique challenge of spirit fish lay in the fact that every single one was completely unique, lacking any uniform category or shared characteristics.
Staring at the fire-attribute spirit fish skin in his hand, Yulou's expression turned quite peculiar.
Could this fish be considered so kind of mutated anomaly or a supre specin among spirit fish?
However, despite its status as a premium material, the wicked cultivator from the upper realm, Wang Yulou, found it highly impractical to utilize right now.
Consequently, Yulou stored it away, preserving it for the future.
The Water Ring Technique, as the na implied, gathered a ring of water to encircle the cultivator. It provided a certain degree of defense, but not very much.
Depending on the specific nature of the spiritual energy utilized, the maintained water ring would manifest different effects, and the water composing the ring could simultaneously assist in enhancing other water spells.
The threshold for executing this spell was low, but mastering it to a high degree was exceptionally difficult. Yulou could only be considered to have just crossed the threshold.
Truth be told, given his current level of proficiency with the Water Ring Technique, utilizing spirit fish skin to draw it was sowhat wasteful.
However, considering that drawing talismans allowed him to accumulate Ruyi Golden Radiance—which would eventually aid him in refining an upper-grade artifact—Yulou naturally didn't mind this minor waste.
As an artificer, Yulou had studied the art of artifact refining under Redbrow for ten full years. From the age of thirteen to twenty-three, the most passionate and vibrant period of his life had been entirely dedicated to mastering this craft.
An upper-grade artifact served as the ultimate touchstone to verify an artificer's true caliber.
Layer upon layer of restrictions; the greater the number of layers, the more exponentially difficult the refining beca.
Combining entirely different spiritual materials added yet another dinsion of difficulty.
Filled with anticipation for creating an upper-grade artifact, Yulou drew over twenty different talismans in a single session, exhausting every scrap of spirit fish skin he had accumulated.
Yet, the Ruyi Golden Radiance inside his mind was still lacking a fraction—about one-tenth short.
As his familiarity with utilizing the golden light grew more refined, Yulou had long since mastered its exact chanics.
Whether in weapon crafting, talisman making, or even alchemy, the golden light could temporarily elevate Yulou's level of attainnt. However, this elevation fluctuated based on his baseline expertise, his specific familiarity with the object being crafted, and the inherent difficulty of the item itself.
As for how to accumulate the golden light, it depended entirely on the amount of ntal focus and spiritual effort Yulou invested during the crafting process, which was tightly bound to his existing mastery of those three crafts.
Nevertheless, if it was only short by one-tenth, he could actually attempt a refining trial.
Driven by an intense itch to craft, and having depleted roughly half his spiritual energy from drawing talismans, Yulou consud an Awakening Pill before retrieving his artifact refining furnace.
Setting aside the rank-eight black steel, rank-nine mirror-silver, purple copper, bloodwood, and the tail skin of the human-faced snake, Yulou closed his eyes to conceptualize his very first upper-grade artifact.
A saber? Flashy but impractical, far inferior to a flying sword.
A flying sword? Extrely effective, but the refining difficulty was imnse.
A staff? A bit wasteful for these materials, but exceptionally stable and highly reliable in magical combat.
Should he refine a black steel ruler?
Both staves and rulers carried a very low difficulty threshold. Yulou possessed imnse confidence in refining them, but it was highly likely that no one would buy them.
Well, there were options with even lower thresholds, such as black steel beads...
But anyone who could afford an upper-grade artifact would never settle for a bead-type weapon just to make do.
An artifact, after all, was a vital treasure for protecting one's path. Cultivators with the financial capability to purchase upper-grade artifacts would naturally not compromise easily.
Suddenly, Yulou stared at the mirror-silver and black steel, freezing on the spot before letting out a relaxed laugh.
He rembered Redbrow's signature defensive artifact, the Mirror Silver Golden Thread Shield. As Redbrow's disciple, Yulou was naturally well-acquainted with the thod for refining this particular shield.
However, his laughter was rely directed at himself.
A mont ago, his mind had been entirely fixated on offensive artifacts. Even when considering bead-type weapons, he had still been worrying that no one would purchase a massive chunk of upper-grade black steel to use as a lethal strike during combat.
This line of thinking was quite revealing.
Yulou realized that even though he consciously preferred to maintain stability and avoid conflict in his daily life, deep down in his heart, he still harbored a desire to display his capabilities and triumph in magical combat.
He must remain vigilant against this impulse!
Let's refine a small shield instead.
In terms of shape and structure, a shield was highly similar to the purple copper dharma mirror he had refined previously, naturally offering excellent conditions for layering restrictions.
Furthermore, defensive artifacts were life-saving tools, aning they never lacked a market.
The only difference lay in whether he would make a massive profit, a modest profit, break even, or suffer a minor or major loss.
Having finalized his plan, Yulou first activated the residence's defensive formation array to ensure he wouldn't be interrupted.
Next, he retrieved the Red Lantern. Under the stimulation of his spiritual energy, the Red Lantern Fire erupted into a vigorous, dancing fla.
As an iconic spiritual artifact representing the Red Lantern Illumination Sect, this upper-grade spiritual artifact possessed eighty-eight layers of restrictions and two divine abilities. Yet in Yulou's hands, its primary function was simply acting as a furnace fla—which could be considered making full use of its assets.
Since he was crafting a shield, the purple copper used for enhancing an artifact's spiritual sensitivity was no longer required, and the leftover pieces of bloodwood and human-faced snake skin likewise had no place here.
Recalling the refining steps of the Mirror Silver Golden Thread Shield taught by Redbrow, Yulou brought out another piece of mirror-silver.
One piece of rank-eight black steel and two pieces of rank-nine mirror-silver constituted the entirety of Yulou's materials for today. While he possessed the required spiritual tals for the Mirror Silver Golden Thread Shield, Yulou lacked the confidence to match Redbrow's level of craftsmanship on his very first attempt.
Consequently, he directly abandoned the mirror-silver's self-repairing restriction, as well as the technique of drawing spiritual tal into threads to connect different materials and amplify the restrictions. In truth, those two elents were the very soul of the Mirror Silver Golden Thread Shield—Redbrow was indeed exceptionally skilled.
Everything had to be taken one step at a ti. Yulou possessed clear self-awareness; if this Black Steel Mirror-Silver Shield could successfully absorb twenty layers of restrictions without exploding, he would be completely satisfied.
"Are you planning to refine an upper-grade artifact?"
The ancestor had long since noticed Yulou's preparations. Standing near the doorway, he had been quietly watching Yulou arrange the spiritual materials and refining tools for quite so ti.
"Yes, the itch is too strong to resist, so I might as well give it a try today."
Yulou did not turn around. Of course, the ancestor certainly wouldn't mind.
"Excellent, I shall protect your refinent, haha."
Wang Xianzhou sat down on the threshold with a smile. Yulou found himself stuck between laughter and tears, though he said nothing more.
Ancestor Xianzhou had always been this way, completely indifferent to the opinions of outsiders, possessing a highly untramled nature.
Depositing the black steel into the refining furnace first, its spiritual essence gradually began to awaken under the stimulation of the spiritual fire.
The true power of a rank-eight spiritual material lay in the fact that its inherent quality was vastly superior to that of a rank-nine material.
To use the ti required to awaken a material's spiritual essence as an example: purple copper required barely a fraction of an hour under the spiritual fire, whereas black steel demanded a full hour and a half.
This imnse stability reflected the extraordinary nature of the material itself, which was precisely what allowed upper-grade artifacts to utterly crush most middle and lower-grade artifacts.
An hour passed quickly. Noticing the sweat building on Yulou's forehead, Wang Xianzhou spoke up.
"Do you require a spiritual pill to recover your spiritual energy?"
For an artificer like Wang Yulou who had practiced for ten years, this sort of question would not interfere with his refining operations in the slightest.
If artifact refining could be disrupted so easily, how could anyone ever manage to craft spiritual artifacts that required dozens of days, or magic treasures that took months or even years to refine?
"No need, I have Awakening Pills," Yulou replied calmly.
"Forget it, those cheap Awakening Pills of yours are better off being handed down to the low-level cultivators below.
If you keep relying on them entirely by yourself every single day, when will you ever see the end of it?
Here, open your mouth!"
It was a form of enforced affection, but specifically the ancestor-to-grandson version.
While the Awakening Pill was a decent dicine for recovering spiritual energy, its upper limit was rather poor, and Wang Xianzhou thoroughly looked down on it.
I am a grandmaster of alchemy myself, yet you constantly pop those garbage Awakening Pills right in front of my face. It makes look quite bad.
Yulou helplessly opened his mouth, and Wang Xianzhou imdiately popped a Liangyi Surge Pill inside.
'Liangyi' referred to the harmonious balancing of water and fire, which perfectly matched Yulou's specific requirents.
'Surge' ant that the spiritual energy would gush forth continuously like water from a natural spring. The difference between this and an Awakening Pill was roughly equivalent to frantically whipping a donkey versus slamming the gas pedal inside a supercar.
With the assistance of the Liangyi Surge Pill, Yulou's control over the black steel inside the refining furnace beca significantly more precise.
Just as the black steel's spiritual essence was about to reach its peak, Yulou tossed the two pieces of mirror-silver into the furnace, allowing both materials to hit their maximum spiritual responsiveness simultaneously to facilitate the next stage of blending.
Flawlessly adding the remaining auxiliary materials one by one, Yulou comnced the fusion of the mirror-silver and the black steel.
"Your proficiency is quite remarkable. How many tenths of confidence do you have?"
Seeing how thoroughly practiced Yulou was, Wang Xianzhou's originally casual attitude actually transford into genuine anticipation.
Why wouldn't the ancestor have been anticipating it from the start?
It was simple: throughout his many years traversing the cultivation world, he had never heard of anyone at early Qi Condensation successfully refining an upper-grade artifact.
Forget early Qi Condensation; even for a middle Qi Condensation cultivator who was highly skilled in the artificing path, their very first attempt at an upper-grade artifact almost always resulted in a shattered pile of scrap.
Therefore, Ancestor Xianzhou's mindset earlier had strictly been one of encouragent and support, while remaining constantly prepared.
Prepared for what?
Prepared to comfort the defeated young Yulou, and offer him tily guidance and motivation.
However, Wang Yulou intended to use absolute results to inform his ancestor that no such preparation was necessary.
"Ten tenths!" Yulou replied short and sharp, his voice ringing with absolute certainty and confidence.
Wang Xianzhou was montarily startled, but he refrained from speaking further, silently watching the process unfold.
Good lad, that's the spirit! You must maintain this drive; whether you succeed or fail is secondary, as long as this montum doesn't break, you will eventually master it!
Inside the refining furnace, the black steel began to interlock with the mirror-silver. This interlocking required ticulous precision.
On one hand, the physical volu of each piece of spiritual material was limited. If one only utilized a single piece of black steel, it would be extrely difficult to pack too many restrictions onto the resulting artifact. Consequently, multiple pieces of material were required to successfully craft an upper-grade artifact.
On the other hand, different spiritual materials possessed varying properties. Given the limited number of restrictions a material could support, one had to arrange the shape and position of each material on the artifact based on its properties, thereby maximizing the efficacy of the restrictions.
For instance, Yulou concealed the two pieces of mirror-silver directly behind the black steel. On the back of the shield, he utilized a series of small, interlocking joints as a core to bind the two materials together.
The black steel on the front of the shield would exclusively bear restrictions that enhanced defense, while the mirror-silver on the back would solely bear restrictions that enhanced control.
In theory, with three pieces of spiritual material combined, and assuming each piece could support at least a dozen restrictions, this Black Steel Mirror-Silver Shield could potentially hold over forty layers of restrictions.
Horizontal alignnt during actual practice, however, caused their spiritual essences to interfere with one another, exponentially raising the difficulty of inscribing restrictions.
On the simplified version of the copper demon-subduing pestle, Yulou could easily compress the restrictions down to a minuscule size without hindering their functionality under spiritual manipulation.
But on this Black Steel Mirror-Silver Shield composed of multiple materials, every single restriction Yulou inscribed required absolute caution.
During the inscription process, he had to arrange the positions of the restrictions based on their specific types, while simultaneously introducing subtle adjustnts to accommodate the interlocking joints of the two materials.
Naturally, Yulou lacked the confidence to master those subtle adjustnts perfectly within the fine details, so he opted to leave extra breathing room during the inscription.
Consequently, the maximum capacity for restrictions was reduced.
Yulou estimated that given his current level of attainnt, he could log twenty layers at most. Any more would force him to inscribe upon highly unstable sections, drastically increasing the likelihood of the artifact exploding.
I cannot delay any further. Ruyi Golden Radiance, burn!
Under the influence of the Ruyi Golden Radiance, Yulou's proficiency in inscribing restrictions received a temporary boost, and his grasp over the spiritual essence of the artifact prototype within the furnace reached an entirely new level.
However, it was only at this mont that Yulou realized his previous estimate of twenty layers was actually incorrect.
If his earlier understanding of the artificing path could be described as seeing a mountain rely as a mountain, then with the assistance of the Ruyi Golden Radiance, Yulou finally saw through the mountain, discovering that it wasn't a mountain at all, but rather a towering platform constructed from massive stone bricks.
Yulou's brow flowed slightly as he accelerated the consumption of the Ruyi Golden Radiance, continuously pushing his artificing attainnt to greater heights.
Now, he could once again reach the standard required for twenty layers of restrictions.
Hexagonal boundaries and control restrictions were completely finalized at seven layers.
At ten layers, the black steel shield face and the mirror-silver achieved a flawless integration.
By eighteen layers, he had now successfully inscribed eight layers of varying defensive restrictions.
Just two more layers; excessive rigidity wouldn't do, he needed to introduce so resilience.
Nineteen layers... wait, the golden light was completely exhausted.
A look of regret flashed across Yulou's eyes.
He was short by a single layer from reaching the absolute limit of this shield. What a pity.
Seeing Yulou release a long, heavy sigh, Wang Xianzhou couldn't help but feel a sudden pang of worry.
Did it fail?
Why wasn't there an explosion?
"It is complete!" Yulou said with a smile.
"Complete?" Wang Xianzhou found it practically impossible to believe.
My boy, you are currently only at early Qi Condensation, yet you can already refine an upper-grade artifact?
A shield gleaming with a reddish crimson light soared out from the refining furnace. Yulou utilized spiritual water to cool it down, and very quickly, the shield revealed its true appearance.
The dark, profound surface of the black steel shield glead with spiritual light. Surrounding the periter of the shield face was a semi-enclosing border of mirror-silver, which extended to the rear to form a clever, bracket-like support structure that securely locked the front black steel face in place.
Between the two components, Yulou had also fashioned over forty connection points, each of which simultaneously functioned as a critical node for the restrictions.
Seven layers of control restrictions and twelve layers of defensive restrictions were tightly integrated, composing this Black Steel Mirror-Silver Shield derived from the design of the Mirror Silver Golden Thread Shield.
Perhaps a Black Jade Oil Bead could manage to cram thirty-six layers of restrictions by attaching four or five additional handles, turning it into a highly bizarre upper-grade artifact, but the combined cost of five Black Jade Oil Beads still couldn't match the value of this single shield.
"Yulou..." Wang Xianzhou shook his head with a chuckle.
"A true genius erges from youth. To achieve this within ten years, from the age of thirteen to twenty-three, you truly possess an exceptional talent for the artificing path."
——
What did having talent for the artificing path matter? Without a sufficient cultivation base, Wang Yulou would be relegated to spending his entire life refining ordinary, nineteen-layered upper-grade shields.
It seed that while he had successfully refined an upper-grade shield, the minor imperfections of the final product had instilled a sense of pressure and urgency within Yulou.
During the three months following that refining session, Yulou remained completely imrsed in focused cultivation.
His sole interaction with the outside world consisted of listening to reports delivered by Zhang Xuewu, Qin Churan, and the others.
Oh, and there was also Little Fish.
This young girl had actually taken up civil engineering at such a tender age. Perhaps realizing she had hit her stride in life, and terrified that she might underperform and betray Senior Wang's trust, she ca to report to Yulou every few days.
Inside the quiet chamber, Yulou sat cross-legged upon a futon and opened his eyes.
The three incense sticks inside the burner had long since turned to ash. Under the watchful gaze of the Immortal Venerable, he had smoothly broken through to middle Qi Condensation.
Reaching middle Qi Condensation in five months was roughly seven tis faster than the typical cultivation speed of an ordinary dual-spirit-root cultivator.
In truth, this speed wasn't considered exceptionally fast.
Because the so-called 'baseline cultivation speed' only existed in theoretical models; in reality, dual-spirit-root cultivators almost always consud dicine to accelerate their progress.
If they couldn't afford expensive spiritual pills, they would still utilize cheaper spiritual powders.
Rising and exiting the quiet chamber, Yulou stepped out of his residence and walked to the edge of the Golden Platform. Looking down, he saw that the surrounding cluster of buildings had already begun to take shape.
Grand halls, residences, gardens, and martial training grounds stood like sentinels, surrounding and protecting the golden platform.
In the distance, the massive water gate was also visible.
A month prior, two minor stray demons had tead up to attack the Riverbend Fishing Port. The rapid-response chanism Yulou had established proved its effectiveness for the first ti; without a single cultivator suffering injuries, the Qi Induction cultivators had easily dispatched the two stray demons.
To properly test the efficacy of the response system, Yulou had forbidden Zhang Xuewu and Old Cui from intervening.
Because this had prevented him from bullying weak targets to farm rit points, Old Cui had voiced a few quiet complaints, though nothing significant. Facing Wang Yulou now, calling a move 'too risky' was the absolute limit of his defiance.
"Churan, how many days remain before the minor competition?"
Withdrawing his gaze, Yulou questioned Qin Churan, who stood respectfully by his side.
"Two days, Senior Wang."
Nodding slightly, Yulou turned his eyes toward the north.
Wang Rongzhou, currently at Qi Refining Level Six, was flying back aboard his battered flying boat, his expression looking rather grim.
Yulou knew this indicated that the ancestor had reaped quite a significant harvest outside.
Although the old man was advanced in years, he possessed absolutely no intention of resting quietly at ho, choosing instead to head out into the wilderness to hunt for resources every few days.
Droplet Cave Heaven was incredibly rich in various spiritual items and dicinal herbs; every ti he went out foraging, Wang Xianzhou would invariably return with so gains.
On days when his luck was poor, he would even stealthily siphon resources from the harvesting points guarded by other Dripdrop Cave cultivators.
"Prepare thoroughly," Yulou instructed Qin Churan once more before turning to re-enter his residence.
Securing the leadership position of Riverbend Fishing Village was entirely for the sake of carving out more uninterrupted ti for cultivation.
Wang Yulou had now reached a state where he completely ignored village affairs, focusing his entire mind solely on pursuing the Great Dao.
"Yulou, hahaha! I managed to uproot two spiritual tree saplings from Wood Gully, one white elm and one bitter-heart bamboo, and no one has noticed yet."
"Ancestor, we aren't lacking in these minor items. Doing this is far too dangerous; what if you are caught by the Grotto Heaven Patrol Team..."
"Alright, I know what I'm doing. The mbers of that Dripdrop Cave patrol team are all useless fools; they chased twice and couldn't even catch my shadow. Why should I fear them?"
"What if a Foundation Establishnt cultivator intervenes..."
"Then I'll just run. Besides, Yulou, you don't understand. I only take a tiny fraction each ti.
Those guarding cultivators prefer to avoid letting others know that the resources under their watch have been pilfered, so they usually choose not to report it upward, opting to balance the ledgers themselves.
Take Riverbend Fishing Village as an example: if I take ten of your spirit fish, would you inform the sect that you failed to guard them properly, resulting in a shortage of ten fish from the harvest?"
"No..." Yulou replied helplessly.
While Ancestor Xianzhou's reasoning sounded highly twisted, upon closer reflection, it actually carried a strange sort of validity.
Wang Xianzhou's philosophy was simple: whoever has spirit stones, I take from them; I absolutely refuse to bully the impoverished!
The old gentleman was already one hundred and seventy years old, and his current behavior perfectly embodied the concept of 'following one's desires without care for the rules,' leaving Wang Yulou completely powerless to stop him.
"Speaking of which, you have now reached middle Qi Condensation, but your speed is only seven tis that of normal circumstances.
Whether you wish to continue with the source-vein refinent requires a definitive choice. Tell your thoughts."
With the assistance of Resting Pills and various other auxiliary cultivation pills, Yulou could cultivate day and night at maximum efficiency.
However, because he constantly had to channel his Gui Water spiritual energy to refine his ridians, his overall cultivation speed was significantly dragged down.
If he abandoned the source-vein refinent, Yulou's cultivation speed could easily reach over ten tis that of a normal dual-spirit-root cultivator.
By eliminating the need for sleep, the ti he could dedicate to cultivation each day would expand dramatically.
Amplification pills would be consud continuously, with a new one popped the mont the effects of the previous one waned.
It sounded incredibly satisfying, but this satisfaction carried an imnse financial cost.
A seven-fold acceleration ant that—even excluding the retail market price and looking purely at the raw manufacturing cost of the pills—Yulou consud thirteen spirit stones every single day.
This figure didn't even account for the premium cost of Ancestor Xianzhou custom-crafting specific pills for him.
If the pills were valued at standard market prices and the ancestor's labor was factored in, Yulou's cultivation speed demanded an expenditure of at least forty spirit stones per day!
"I prefer to halt the source-vein refinent, Ancestor. Every ti a refinent cycle concludes, my ridians suffer damage.
Suppressing the pain requires pills, and healing the ridian injuries requires additional pills.
If we reallocate those resources toward pills that directly amplify cultivation speed, we can save a massive amount of spirit stones," Yulou stated respectfully.
Wang Xianzhou let out a mocking laugh and countered with a question.
"Are you trying to save spirit stones for ?"
Indeed, all the pills Yulou had utilized for his cultivation over these past months had been provided entirely free of charge by the ancestor.
Yulou had expressed his intention to pay for them, but that offer had nearly resulted in his very first experience of physical discipline from his elder.
Seeing that Wang Yulou remained silent, Wang Xianzhou pondered for a mont before speaking.
"If you maintain the source-vein refinent, your cultivation speed will remain locked at roughly seven tis normal. Assuming you encounter no bottlenecks, you will be around fifty-five years old by the ti you reach Qi Refining Level Ten.
If you abandon it, you have a chance to achieve a twelve-fold cultivation speed. Yulou, you could reach Qi Refining Level Ten before you even turn fifty.
Do you realize what that signifies?"
Without waiting for Yulou to answer, Wang Xianzhou began pacing back and forth excitedly, his voice filled with fervent analysis.
"Reaching Qi Refining Level Ten before fifty gives you a massive opportunity to achieve Foundation Establishnt before seventy.
Consequently, after establishing your foundation, you will possess a full three hundred years of lifespan to nd your Dao foundation!"
Possessing three hundred years to nd his Dao foundation ant that the future Wang Yulou would have a vastly higher probability of touching the threshold of the Purple Palace Realm.
It sounded incredibly beautiful, so beautiful that a tremor of excitent had crept into Wang Xianzhou's voice.
Yulou understood completely—not only did he understand his ancestor's profound expectations, but he also recognized that this projection was rely a reflection of the moon in water, a flower in a mirror.
He had no desire to shatter his ancestor's joyful fantasy, choosing instead to simply say, "Ancestor, our Wang Clan doesn't possess that many spirit stones, and Yulou is unwilling to..."
The Wang Clan of Anbei Kingdom was certainly not small, but as Yulou's cultivation level advanced, the spiritual pills he required would only beco exponentially more expensive.
Currently, maintaining a seven-fold speed cost nearly five thousand spirit stones annually, an amount Wang Yulou could seemingly earn through his own diligent efforts.
However, this cost would continuously escalate. The resource expenditure required to force one's way to Qi Refining Level Ten entirely through pills was enough to purchase two complete sets of Foundation Establishnt resources.
"We have spirit stones, do not worry, we have enough.
Before I kick the bucket, I will prepare all the necessary pills for you. You simply focus entirely on your cultivation here, ignore everything else, and just cultivate.
Yulou, I beca stuck at Qi Refining Level Ten, unable to advance further.
You must walk much farther than , to see what the distant scenery looks like on behalf of this old ancestor, to see what the Gathering Immortals Platform looks like."
By the end of his speech, Wang Xianzhou had beco visibly emotional.
He averted his gaze from Yulou, turning around to silently stare up at the Droplet Heaven Palace and the Immortal Venerable's residence floating in the sky.
He had once been a renowned Immortal Alliance Emissary, which had also been the most glorious and high-spirited era of his life.
The greatest aspiration of Wang Xianzhou's life had been to climb the ranks of the Immortal Alliance step by step, eventually entering the Gathering Immortals Platform.
Unfortunately, he would never have that chance now.
"Ancestor... are you no longer planning to purchase Longevity Pills?" Yulou's voice trembled slightly.
He felt no sense of inspiration or honor, only a profound wave of sorrow and reluctance.
Wang Xianzhou had been accumulating a fortune in spirit stones with the intention of purchasing a Longevity Pill; this was a fact known to many within the clan.
The cheapest Longevity Pill cost a staggering two hundred and fifty thousand spirit stones, extending a cultivator's lifespan by a re ten years.
Relying solely on Longevity Pills, a cultivator could extend their life by a maximum of fifty years.
Having lost the ability to extend his life through cultivation breakthroughs, Wang Xianzhou naturally had to seek out all kinds of longevity resources and pills.
"Hahaha! A grand dream, nothing more than a small green grave."
Wang Xianzhou let out a soft laugh, turning back around.
"I have pursued this dream for a very long ti, to the point where I transford myself from soone entirely ignorant of dicine into a master of alchemy.
It is ti to wake from this dream, Yulou.
Extending my life solves none of my core issues; it is rely dragging out a miserable existence.
Legends state that the universe operates under a grand law of reincarnation, allowing a person to be reborn after death.
I only pray that I am reborn as a human once more, to cultivate through another lifeti."
Next ti, this old man will absolutely never fight opponents above his level again, Ancestor Xianzhou added silently in his heart.
Seeing his ancestor in this state, Yulou felt a complex mixture of emotions swelling within him, his thoughts spinning rapidly.
He wished to conserve spirit stones, while his obsessed ancestor desired for him to reach the threshold of Foundation Establishnt as rapidly as possible.
Neither of them pressed the matter further, tacitly abandoning any discussion regarding the source-vein refinent.
While Danri's guidance was critical, if he could achieve Foundation Establishnt before seventy or even earlier...
Then whether he refined his source veins or not didn't seem quite so critical anymore.
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