Jiangdong Furnace Master

Chen Fan looked at the old man before him with a faintly peculiar expression. After a moment's thought, however, he took the brush the old man offered, spread the Wordless Couplet out on the ground, pondered for a moment, and set brush to paper. First line: "Though the long night is deep, it must come to an end." Second line: "Enduring the bitter cold, spring is bound to arrive." "Here, take it." Smiling, he handed the couplet back to the old man. The New Year was just around the corner anyway, so it could serve as a New Year couplet. It was missing a horizontal banner, though whether this exotic treasure had simply lacked one to begin with or the vendor had shorted him one, he couldn't tell. Only then did he scan the rest of the exotic treasures on the stall. Resting his gaze on one of them, he said casually, "This one looks rather interesting. I'll take it back and appraise it myself. What's the price?" "3,800 ghost stones," the vendor said sheepishly. In truth, 3,800 ghost stones was his exact purchase cost. It was a Green-tier exotic treasure, and normally it would never be sold at cost—he had to make a little profit, after all; who went into business just to experience life? Yet having just caused Chen Fan to open a dud, he was already rather embarrassed and didn't dare ask for more. Even though blind boxes inherently came with wins and losses, this man was the master of Fan Domain. If Chen Fan left displeased, the vendor might find it difficult to ever leave Jiangbei. "I'll take it." It was a whistle. An exotic treasure of a most peculiar shape. This time, Sick Monkey did not hand over ghost stones. Instead, he presented several tokens marked with specific numerical values. Infused with Fan Domain's unique aura, they were impossible to forge. The vendor could exchange them for ghost stones at any Fan Domain shop before leaving the city, or spend them directly at any establishment under Fan Domain's name. Only after Chen Fan and his entourage vanished into the crowd did the buzz of discussion on the street gradually swell. Content, Chen Fan poured himself a cup of scalding hot tea and took a light sip. The weather was growing colder by the day, making a cup of hot tea wonderfully soothing at this time of year. It hadn't snowed yet. The New Year was fast approaching. "Domain Lord." Every Fan Domain member who passed by paused respectfully to greet Chen Fan before continuing with their duties. "Mm." Chen Fan gave a nod. Meeting the member's eyes, he vaguely remembered that the man seemed to be from the Qiuhe Wang family. With a mild smile, he asked, "Are you getting used to life in Fan Domain lately?" The member, who had just been about to step away, clearly hadn't expected Chen Fan to strike up a conversation. He froze for an instant before hurriedly stammering with utmost respect, "Used to it, yes, used to it... I..." In truth, deep down, he wasn't quite used to it at all. He had previously been a stationmaster for the Qiuhe Wang family. His monthly pay back then had been a mere 10 ghost stones. And yet... Having joined Fan Domain for only a month, yesterday he had received a 100-ghost-stone bonus out of nowhere—equivalent to an entire year's wages under the Wang family! How could anyone get used to that? Who could possibly take that in stride? As far as he knew, every single member of Fan Domain had received that 100-ghost-stone bonus. Fan Domain had over two hundred people in all. Just the bonuses alone amounted to more than twenty thousand ghost stones—and the Pavilion Masters and Vice Pavilion Masters received even more. That was practically handing out the entire financial foundation of two Qiuhe Wang families! When had anyone in Jiangbei ever seen an organization so wealthy? If people had joined Fan Domain in the beginning purely to find a place where they wouldn't starve, now every single one of them threw themselves into their work with desperate vigor. They feared nothing else. Their only dread was being expelled from Fan Domain. Where else could one ever find such an incredible post? Even setting wages aside. Serving as a stationmaster under the Qiuhe Wang family had brought no prestige to speak of. But here in Fan Domain, it was entirely different. Even without any official title, members of major factions spoke to him with utmost courtesy. The respect was through the roof. Never mind the money or the prestige. Just consider safety alone. A stationmaster's work had never been safe—how could manning an outpost in the wilderness be safe? But now things were completely different. Fan Domain had slain a ghost king during the rainy season and marched south to wipe out the Dan Sect after it, rewriting the entire trade landscape of Jiangbei and beyond in one stroke. Staying here was countless times safer than being a stationmaster had ever been. High wages, immense prestige, and total security. He genuinely couldn't find a single reason not to be loyal to Fan Domain. Of course, he knew he didn't possess much talent; being able to join Fan Domain had largely been sheer luck, swept along when the Qiuhe Wang family was absorbed. Therefore, all he could do was remain conscientious and dedicated, striving to do the absolute best he could. "As long as you're getting used to it," Chen Fan said with a chuckle, patting the man's shoulder. "Go on, get back to work. Xiao Qiu oversees logistics. If you ever have any opinions or ideas regarding Fan Domain, feel free to bring them to Xiao Qiu." "Yes, sir!" The member nodded vigorously, his eyes brimming with excitement and nervous awe. He had never dreamed the Domain Lord would speak with him one-on-one at such close range. Now there was yet another reason to be loyal to Fan Domain: the Domain Lord was immensely powerful, yet treated his subordinates with genuine kindness. Watching the retreating back of the Fan Domain member with a smile, Chen Fan clicked his tongue in mild reflection. People in this world were actually quite resigned to their lot in life. Or rather, their acceptance of death was remarkably high. Give them a bite to eat and a bit of pay, and they would risk their lives for you. Give them slightly higher pay and a few extra perks, and they would become your diehard retainers, ready at your beck and call. Only then did he turn his attention to the exotic treasure he had procured for 3,800 ghost stones. He had strolled through the entire street. Very few decent exotic treasures were to be found. Most items under the "Miscellaneous" category lacked impressive effects; buying them truly was no different from opening blind boxes. The Green-tier treasure in his hand was the biggest catch along the whole street. [Exotic Treasure Name: Luck Whistle] [Exotic Treasure Quality: Green] [Exotic Treasure Effect: Upon blowing the whistle, luck is slightly enhanced for three breaths. One-time use.] Luck was an inherently elusive concept. It possessed no concrete numerical value. Nor did it guarantee any tangible result. For instance, if he were eating and blew the Luck Whistle, the slight boost in luck might merely ensure that during those three breaths, he wouldn't choke on his food or accidentally bite into raw ginger. Yet if he were upgrading a building... Perhaps it could trigger a "qualitative change upgrade direction." At present, there were several qualitative change upgrade directions available in the camp. One of them was for the walls. [Thorns Counter-Armor: All walls connected to this wall will gain the "Thorns Counter-Armor" effect. Before the wall reaches its maximum load-bearing limit, a fraction of the enemy's attack strength is reflected back upon the attacker (Common).] Though only Common, he was quite fond of the effect. It functioned as a passive ability requiring no extra ghost stones and imposing no usage conditions. The more effects like this, the better. He planned to connect the entire 170-kilometer defense line wall in Jiangbei to the wall in front of Cave No. 1 once it was finished, granting the entire Jiangbei defensive line this effect. "Heh heh..." At the thought, Chen Fan suddenly felt a surge of anticipation for the Jiangbei battle four years from now. The breach of the Jiangbei defense line in the past had been due to the shortcomings of its architects. From the imagery in the jade slip left by the Immortal Heavenly Master, one could see that there had been no shortage of architects guarding the line back then—twelve architects on the level of the Immortal Heavenly Master, plus an even stronger architect. And yet... They had still fallen short. This time would be different. This time, he was presiding over it. As long as nothing went drastically wrong with the plan, the Jiangbei defense line he forged would consume fewer resources while yielding far greater strength, turning Jiangbei into an impregnable bastion! Right then— Sick Monkey hurried over with his characteristic limp, bent down, and whispered in Chen Fan's ear, "Young Master, a tattered old man just showed up at the city gate. He looks like an artifact refiner. "He won't enter the city, though; he's just standing right at the gate. "He's already drawing quite a crowd." "Oh?" Chen Fan nodded thoughtfully. He truly needed a high-level artifact refiner; heaps of materials lay idle in the warehouse with no one to forge them, and that Earth Gold had been sitting there for ages without anyone capable of working it. However, it required a Level 7 artifact refiner. Anyone of a lower rank would be useless. "Did he say what rank he is?" "He hasn't said a word, but from his posture, he doesn't seem like a minor figure." "Come, follow me. Let's go see for ourselves." Fan City. Situated near Nameless Mountain. It was midday, and numerous merchant chambers were coming and going through the city gate. Fan City had only this single gate; regardless of the direction one came from, one had to take a detour to this entrance. Once inside, the Fan Domain marketplace lined both sides of the street. The crowd was not extraordinarily large. After all, Fan City did not house many ordinary mortals; it was primarily populated by merchant guilds from various factions. At that moment, however, passersby from the merchant chambers were looking with peculiar expressions at an old man standing before the gate. The old man was rather strange. In this bitter cold, he wore tattered rags and appeared to possess no protective exotic treasures, his skin frozen red. He was filthy from head to toe, his hair a tangled bird's nest. In his hand, he held a ragged banner. Upon it were inscribed two lines of somewhat messy characters, resembling doggerel verse. Surrounded by Sick Monkey and several others, Chen Fan walked out through the gate of Fan City. Gazing at the filthy old man standing there, his eyes settled on the banner, and he murmured softly: "The forge fire does not die, seeking a fine tree upon which to perch. "A single forging hammer, exchanged for a roof above." And the horizontal banner... "Selling one's life in troubled times." The gazes of the nearby merchant chambers drifted over as well. Though they did not form a tight circle, everyone visibly slowed their steps in tacit agreement, casting frequent glances in this direction. Perhaps due to the utter lack of entertainment in this world, Chen Fan had noticed that the people here truly loved watching drama. If there was gossip, they relished it; if there was none, they searched for it anyway. "Do you have a title?" Chen Fan stepped up to the ragged old man and asked. With drooping eyelids, the old man did not even lift his head. He pulled a beggar's chicken from his robes, ripped off a drumstick, and stuffed it into his mouth with grease smearing his lips. Juices coated his hands. Utterly unconcerned with his appearance, he gave a cold sneer. "This old man forgot his name long ago. "I only know the world gave me a title—something called the 'Jiangdong Furnace Master.'" The next instant— Bursts of astonished cries erupted from the crowd. "Good heavens, it's actually the Jiangdong Furnace Master! They say he was once a high-level artifact refiner from the Guanxi Plain who later took root in Jiangdong and founded his own faction. Every spirit treasure he forged was a masterpiece!" "Right? I never imagined I'd see the Jiangdong Furnace Master here!" "All these years, I've only heard of the Jiangdong Furnace Master's renown without ever laying eyes on the man himself. To think I'd run into him here!" "I hear any spirit treasure the Jiangdong Furnace Master casually crafts can fetch an exorbitant price." "Could he be joining Fan Domain? Has he abandoned his own faction? Can Fan Domain even afford him? In the past, countless major factions tried to recruit him, but he turned them all down, mocking them by saying rotten wood wasn't worth perching upon." "It seems the Jiangdong Furnace Master truly holds Fan Domain in high regard!" Voices chimed in from every corner of the crowd. Some nodded in sudden realization, having indeed heard of the Jiangdong Furnace Master. But others who hailed from Jiangnan or Jiangxi looked somewhat awkward; knowing little of Jiangdong, they had genuinely never heard of this figure. Nevertheless, by all appearances, he seemed to be someone of considerable renown. In this era, anyone who possessed their own title was no ordinary person. Such as Old Ren of Jiangbei, or the Jiangdong Furnace Master. Wherever they went, others had to treat them with respect. "Heh." The ragged old man, not caring in the least about appearances, sat down cross-legged on the spot. Without even looking up at Chen Fan, he merely lowered his head, pinched out a flea, and popped it into his mouth with an indifferent sneer. "Just a vulgar reputation in the martial world. "Hardly worth mentioning." He said nothing more. Just then, Zhou Mo emerged from the city gate leading a group of men. Striding over, he leaned in and whispered a piece of information into Chen Fan's ear. Chen Fan's expression gradually turned peculiar. Looking at the old man sitting cross-legged on the ground after hearing Zhou Mo's intelligence, he suddenly realized he had somewhat underestimated the people of this world. "So your visit this time is because you wish to join Fan Domain?" "Not necessarily." The old man shook his head, spat out a chicken bone, and lay back lazily on the ground. "I heard Fan Domain has been in the limelight lately, so I came to see what kind of figure Domain Lord Chen might be. Seeing you today, you're indeed not bad. "Artifact refiners are meant to serve factions anyway. My former faction was disbanded because I couldn't be bothered to manage it. If Domain Lord Chen can afford the price to buy my life, staying behind isn't out of the question. "However, Domain Lord Chen, you have only one chance to make an offer. "If the price isn't right, I won't listen to a second offer." "Is that so?" Chen Fan suddenly chuckled. "How about coming inside with me? I'll privately offer you a price you'll find impossible to refuse." "Fine by me." With a carp leap, the old man flipped up from the ground, wiped the grease on his hands carelessly across his clothes, and, utterly indifferent to the onlookers' expressions, followed Chen Fan into Fan City. Inside a room in Fan City. Chen Fan sat on a chair, holding a cup of hot tea as he looked at the scruffy old man standing before him. Sick Monkey and Zhou Mo flanked him on either side. After a long pause, Chen Fan smiled and spoke. "May I ask what level artifact refiner Senior is?" "Level 9." The ragged old man shamelessly scratched his crotch, sniffed his fingers, and answered offhandedly. There was not a trace of pride in his voice; on the contrary, he seemed entirely indifferent, as if being a Level 9 artifact refiner were something beneath mention. In reality, however... A Level 9 artifact refiner, whether in Jiangdong or Jiangnan, was without question among the pinnacle of masters! The greatest artifact-refining power in Jiangnan was the Stove Fire Sect, yet even the strongest artifact refiner in the Stove Fire Sect was said to be only Level 9.