"The Wang Clan of Anbei Kingdom," the masked female cultivator standing behind Yu'an softly repeated.
Her voice was quite peculiar. If Senior Martial Sister Ningyao's voice was that of a normal female cultivator, then this masked female cultivator's voice belonged to the high-pitched and flirtatious variety.
It caused Yu'an to shudder, and a loud bang echoed from inside his artifact refining furnace.
Looking at the thoroughly embarrassed Yu'an, Yulou took a deep breath.
What a blockhead!
Yulou stood up, intending to greet this Qi Refining female cultivator nad Yingxi whom his senior sister had brought along.
But only after standing up did he realize that because he had been burning charcoal just now, his current appearance was far from decent.
The peach-wood spiritual charcoal had blackened his entire face. Under the baking heat of the high-temperature spirit fire, his surging sweat had carved several winding rivers through the black soot on his face.
Compared to the unfamiliar female cultivator, who wore a pristine blue-ground spiritual robe woven with plain patterns and embroidered with silver threads, Yulou looked more like a black bear that had transford into a coal miner.
Since Zhong Ningyao was introducing business to the Wang Clan, Yulou could not care about his appearance too much.
He clumsily wiped his face, let out a dry laugh, and looked toward Senior Martial Sister Ningyao.
"Senior Sister, this senior is...?"
The female cultivator nad Yingxi also looked at Zhong Ningyao with doubt.
You said these two were from the Wang Clan of Anbei Kingdom, so why did one look foolish and the other look pitch-black? Neither seed quite normal.
"Fellow Daoist Yingxi wants to commission a custom, specialized musical path spiritual artifact that requires spiritual wood as its base material. That made think of your Wang Clan, so I brought her over," Zhong Ningyao explained, glaring with a look of hating iron for not becoming steel at Yu'an, who had only just realized what was happening and stood up after his older brother. She then introduced Yulou to the female cultivator, Yingxi.
"This is Yulou. You can discuss the details of your custom artifact directly with him."
Yu'an thought to himself, What about ? I'm standing right here too!
At this ti, Yu'an was sixteen. He stood right beside Zhong Ningyao and the masked female cultivator, Yingxi, yet no one paid him any attention.
He secretly swore to himself that he would definitely conquer his inner demons. From now on, he would never let himself be influenced by female cultivators again, and would beco an untad, carefree wanderer.
"Senior Yingxi, what kind of musical path spiritual artifact do you wish to craft? A horizontal zither, a vertical harp, a guzheng, or a pipa—our Wang Clan can make them all."
Yulou's response was clever, tailored carefully based on his observations of the female cultivator.
She wore a white silk veil that concealed her facial features, but her lake-blue spiritual robe with silver threads was woven with high-grade spiritual energy while remaining relatively restrained in style.
Moreover, her voice was so... well, unique and morable.
Therefore, after a comprehensive assessnt, Yulou judged that this senior would likely not enjoy instrunts like the suona, erhu, large drums, small drums, waist drums, cymbals, gongs, or chis.
Those did not match her elegant deanor, so he bypassed those musical path artifacts that sounded sowhat less prestigious.
At the sa ti, he deliberately omitted the flute, xun, and bells. These shared a common trait—they were all items that Hongi could refine himself.
"There is no need to call senior. Our ages are similar, so just call Fellow Daoist. What I want to make is a Seven-String Zither, preferably refined from spiritual wood. Can your Wang Clan do it?"
Yulou knew about the Seven-String Zither. This instrunt was considered the origin of all stringed instrunts, and its seven strings corresponded to the seven most fundantal musical notes.
"We can! Our Wang Clan possesses the relevant heritage and experience. However, you might need to wait a while. I must first send a letter detailing your custom requirents to the artifact refiners within our clan. After that, we will continue to communicate regarding the specific customization details, and only then can we set a delivery date. Refining a spiritual artifact like a Seven-String Zither is inherently difficult, and since you require a custom piece... Fellow Daoist Yingxi, the final customization fee and the delivery date might not be ideal. I hope you can understand."
Although he did not know where Zhong Ningyao had managed to pluck this wealthy custor from, Yulou naturally intended to fully exploit her potential comrcial value.
To put it simply, he wanted to extract as many spirit stones from her as possible.
Customizing a musical path spiritual artifact was a rare request, and the Wood Generation thod secretly passed down within the Wang Clan for wooden spiritual artifacts could not be deployed for free.
Perhaps the Wang Clan's Fire thod tal-Stone Artificing Way was not entirely perfected, but that did not an there were issues with their other lineages of artificing inheritance.
The spiritual wood Seven-String Zither that Fellow Daoist Yingxi desired happened to fall precisely within the Wang Clan's most proficient field of expertise.
What did being most proficient an?
It ant they could demand the highest price!
"As for the fee... I only require a mid-grade spiritual artifact. Would eight hundred spirit stones suffice?"
She clearly did not care much about the tifra, but she did care sowhat about the price.
Yulou quickly caught onto this key detail.
This female cultivator was not in a hurry to use it, and her requirents for the artifact were very precise.
She only required a mid-grade spiritual artifact. Pondering these words carefully, they carried a subtle, hidden, and unpretentious composure.
Why was she so composed?
After a brief consideration, Yulou spoke calmly.
"Eight hundred spirit stones, and you expect the Wang Clan to custom-build a Seven-String Zither for you? Fellow Daoist, let us part on good terms then. Senior Sister, thank you for this opportunity, but there is really nothing left for us to discuss."
With that, Yulou turned around and began scooping water to wash his face.
Smooth, composed, natural, broad-minded, and dignified.
However, Yu'an, who stood to the side, was straining imnsely to maintain a calm expression on his face.
He desperately wanted to rush over, grab his older brother's hand, and kneel down to beg him to stop putting on airs.
That was eight hundred spirit stones! Eight hundred spirit stones!
My dear brother, what are you posing for?! That is eight hundred spirit stones!
Fortunately, the masked female cultivator, Yingxi, was completely taken aback by Yulou's response and dramatic posture, so she did not notice Yu'an's bizarre facial expression.
"Then... how many spirit stones does Fellow Daoist Yulou believe would be appropriate?"
There was even a trace of solemnity in the masked female cultivator's tone.
It worked!
"Fellow Daoist Yingxi, it is still too early to discuss the final price. How about you provide a deposit of three hundred spirit stones first? We can begin by discussing the required restrictions and selecting the type of spiritual wood. You understand the characteristics of musical path spiritual artifacts; different restrictions and base materials exert a massive influence on their power. Only after confirming your exact specifications can we provide a reasonable quote. The price will definitely exceed eight hundred spirit stones. You must understand that the Wang Clan's expertise in the Wood Generation thod and wooden spiritual artifacts is worth a fair amount."
It was entirely logical, and he still did not provide a definitive final quote, only stating that it would certainly exceed eight hundred spirit stones.
Yet, after hearing Yulou speak this way, the masked female cultivator actually felt a sense of anticipation.
She believed that this sum of spirit stones would be money well spent.
"Here, this is the deposit of three hundred spirit stones. I would like..."
Even after the mysterious masked female cultivator left, Yu'an still had not entirely processed what had just occurred.
Three hundred spirit stones were just handed over as a deposit like that? Who exactly was this female cultivator?
After seeing the female cultivator off, Zhong Ningyao returned to the artifact refining furnace. She slapped Yulou heavily on the shoulder and said excitedly, "I knew you were a natural talent when it ca to running a business!"
Senior Martial Sister Ningyao's cultivation base was two layers higher than his, and her slap caused Yulou to stagger, but he quickly steadied himself and asked the question burning in his mind.
Zhong Ningyao raised her finger, pointed in the direction of the Town Guardian Cultivator's Manor, and whispered, "That man's daughter~"
Yulou was shocked at first, but then he laughed heartily.
"Hahaha! Then I didn't overcharge her just now. Even if I demand one thousand spirit stones, it will barely be a breaking-even level for us."
It was hard to say whether Yulou's words were good or bad, but hearing them made Zhong Ningyao laugh happily as well.
That wretched dog Mu Changze, sigh.
Their master did not return for the entire morning. While their senior sister managed the storefront out front, Yulou and Yu'an continued refining artifacts in the back workshop.
Their cultivation bases were not high, and their spiritual energy was quite limited, so each of them only refined two items.
Yu'an blew up one of his attempts, but Yulou successfully refined both of his, successfully embedding four layers of restrictions into each.
Just these two spiritual artifacts alone helped the golden light in his mind expand significantly, filling roughly one-twentieth of the Ruyi scepter.
Yulou estimated that if he refined this kind of low-grade spiritual artifact with four layers of restrictions, the Ruyi scepter in his mind would accumulate full golden light for every forty pieces he crafted.
For a long ti, he had not tried to see what kind of benefits he would gain after consuming all the gathered golden light.
Thus, he calculated in his heart that he needed to refine more artifacts and draw more talismans in the coming days to fill the golden light as quickly as possible.
"Brother, you actually succeeded with both pieces! Out of four attempts, we succeeded with three. We can completely establish our own independent shop now!"
Looking at the three-finger-thick low-grade spiritual artifact, the Purple Copper Spell-Breaking Pestle, in his hand, Yu'an could hardly contain his excitent.
A three-quarters success rate ant that if the two of them set out on their own, they could actually sustain a business.
"Correction: we succeeded with two and a half pieces," Yulou joked.
Yu'an's smile vanished instantly.
With his personality, he truly needed to be tempered more often.
"Alright, stay here and keep Senior Martial Sister Ningyao company. I'm going to take a look at the Hundred Treasures Pavilion and report the matter of Mu Yingxi's custom artifact to Uncle Rongsheng while I'm at it."
Being able to spend more ti with Zhong Ningyao was naturally sothing Yu'an would not refuse.
However, as he looked at the Purple Copper Spell-Breaking Pestle in his hands, he seed quite reluctant to part with it.
"Brother, how should we sell these spell-breaking pestles?"
In truth, Yulou had already discussed this matter with Hongi long ago. Yu'an asking this now was simply because he did not want to face Hongi, or rather, he wasn't prepared to face him.
Similarly, Hongi had disappeared mysteriously this morning, completely avoiding any encounter with the two disciples, which showed that Hongi had also not adjusted his mindset yet.
Among the master and disciples who knew what had occurred, only Yulou understood what he wanted, allowing him to calmly face these storms and difficulties.
"Let's just keep them for now. We are still short by two pieces anyway. We can talk about it tomorrow after we finish refining the rest."
Initially, Yulou's plan was to sell these simplified versions of the spell-breaking pestles at Forge Peak Residence, but now, he had so new ideas.
The Hundred Treasures Pavilion was nad 'Hundred Treasures' after all, so it wouldn't be strange for it to sell spiritual artifacts, right?
However, the quality of this batch of Purple Copper Spell-Breaking Pestles was truly a bit concerning... that remained a major issue.
"You are saying that Mu Changze's daughter wants to commission our Wang Clan to craft a Seven-String Zither spiritual artifact?"
Hearing the news brought by Yulou, Wang Rongsheng was sowhat stunned.
This was an opportunity, right?
But this matter... looked precisely like the esteed Town Guardian Cultivator finding yet another innovative direction in his field of bleeding the locals dry.
"Yes. I recall that two of our ancestors were renowned for their expertise in the musical path, and the Patriarch's level in the Wood Generation thod is also profound. The Seven-String Zither that Mu Yingxi wants needs to be made of spiritual wood. Our family lacks neither spiritual wood nor deep insights into wood-attributed thods. Considering these factors, this business deal cannot be missed, so I agreed to it."
Yulou's response left Wang Rongsheng highly satisfied.
Recognizing an opportunity, seizing it, and first skimming a deposit of three hundred spirit stones from her.
Yulou wasn't just talented in the art of business; he was a literal business genius!
Wang Rongsheng summoned a ssenger pigeon and manipulated a spiritual brush to write a letter on a piece of paper levitating in mid-air, while instructing Yulou, "I will contact the Patriarch imdiately. However, you must understand that quoting a price too high can turn a potential ally into an enemy. But what you said to her makes sense. I think it's best for to step forward later and bring the final price back down to eight hundred spirit stones. This way, we can still make a modest profit while building a bit of rapport with the Town Guardian Cultivator. After all, doesn't the Town Guardian Cultivator's daughter represent the Town Guardian Cultivator himself?"
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