Three well-equipped Shaman Hunters, wrapped in wreaths of black and red karmic debt, walked into the courtyard. The leading Shaman Hunter, who possessed a serpent's head, flicked his long tongue, tasting the surrounding scent, before asking, "The Craft God of the Great Desolation?"
His gaze swept past Hunter Thirty-One and Zhengang, only to hear a voice rise from down below: "Aye, that would be this mighty shaman."
The shaman, standing a full zhang and a half tall, looked down. Straining his peculiar eyes for a moment, he finally spotted the ugly little shaman who barely reached his waist.
Because this shaman was both emaciated and motionless, the serpent-headed Great Shaman had overlooked him.
"You're the Craft God of the Great Desolation? Skinny as you are, how long has it been since you had a full meal?" The two shamans flanking him glared with fierce malice, fixing their eyes on Wei Yuan.
Wei Yuan's expression darkened. "This shaman's title speaks through strength alone!"
Only then did Hunter Thirty-One finally recall something, blurting out, "Hunter Nine?"
Before the serpent-headed Great Shaman could speak, the shaman on the left barked, "Is 'Hunter Nine' a name for the likes of you to shout?"
Hunter Thirty-One recognized this shaman as well. Hunter Twenty-Seven and Hunter Thirty-Five had always served as Hunter Nine's deputies. The three of them specialized in hunting powerful criminals, and occasionally took show contracts to execute other Shaman Hunters.
Hunter Nine raised a hand to cut off the dispute and said to Wei Yuan, "Can you forge desolate steel?"
Wei Yuan set an arrowhead directly onto the table and said, "If I couldn't forge desolate steel, what kind of Craft God would I be?"
Hunter Twenty-Seven stepped over and picked up the arrowhead, then let out a low gasp. "Fine quality! It's worth at least a hundred—no, a hundred and twenty jin of desolate iron!"
"Let me see."
Hunter Nine took the arrowhead, waving it back and forth before his eyes, before saying, "Good stuff! But do you only have this one?"
"I've only been here a day and just finished hammering this out."
Hunter Nine eyed Wei Yuan with one eye and asked, "Do you have anything better?"
Wei Yuan felt it was not yet the right time to reveal the Great Desolate Divine Iron piece, so he shook his head. "Too little time. Couldn't manage it."
Hunter Nine pondered for a moment, glanced at the desolate steel arrowhead again, and then turned his head back. "Bring that thing over. Clear the yard."
Hunter Twenty-Seven hesitated briefly before taking out a small box and handing it over. Hunter Thirty-Five drove out all the onlookers gathered in the courtyard and carefully shut the courtyard gate.
Hunter Nine said, "We've taken on a death mission and urgently need a powerful artifact to save our lives. Take a look and see if you can use this item to craft another piece for us?"
Wei Yuan took the box. Hunter Nine transmitted an incantation to him, saying, "You must first use this Desolate Roar to seal the surroundings, or else whatever is inside might escape."
Wei Yuan listened to it only once, cleared his throat twice, and flawlessly released the specific Desolate Roar. An invisible barrier enveloped the box at once. He then opened the lid and saw a swirling vortex of black-tinged red floating inside, akin to a palm-sized tornado.
At first glance, it felt somewhat like karmic debt; at a second glance, it seemed more like some peculiar form of karmic luck. Uncertain, Wei Yuan put on an expression of shock and looked at Hunter Nine, wearing a look that asked, *How on earth did you get your hands on this?*
Hunter Nine stared at Wei Yuan and said, "We stumbled upon this on a corpse. Its nature is exceedingly rare, but it is nonetheless sacrificial power. Can it be used?"
Wei Yuan compared the vortex to his memories of sacrificial power. In the past, he had not only interacted with sacrificial power, but had personally smashed altars with his own hands. When it came to familiarity with sacrificial power, even that long serpent shaman in the shop offering replenishments could hardly compare to Wei Yuan.
Wei Yuan said, "This sacrificial power was not preserved properly at all. It has been separated from an altar for far too long! It looks like this because it has absorbed far too many impurities, not because of any special nature."
Hunter Nine's imposing aura plummeted instantly, becoming much more respectful. "A master indeed! But in this entire region, this is probably the only unowned portion of sacrificial power to be found."
Wei Yuan mused, "It can indeed be used to craft something, but with so many impurities, even I cannot say what the final quality will be."
Hunter Nine gritted his teeth and said, "I'll accept whatever the outcome may be. Please, go ahead and forge it!"
Hunter Twenty-Seven and Hunter Thirty-Five were still glaring at Wei Yuan with vicious eyes.
Wei Yuan set the box aside, walked over to Hunter Twenty-Seven, and slapped him across the belly, saying, "Don't raise your voice in my courtyard from now on!"
Hunter Twenty-Seven was taken aback. Before he could speak, a colossal force struck him like the kick of a war behemoth, sending him hurtling out of the courtyard like a cannonball and shattering an entire section of the outer wall.
Having batted Hunter Twenty-Seven away with a single slap, Wei Yuan finally said, "A mere fly dares look at me with those eyes?"
The expressions of Hunter Nine and Hunter Thirty-Five shifted drastically, while a chorus of gasps erupted outside the courtyard. Hunter Nine looked on with conflicted eyes. Even he could not have sent Hunter Twenty-Seven flying so cleanly. Could this frail, ugly shaman be even more powerful than him?
Basking in the shocked stares of the shamans felt as relaxing as soaking in a hot spring, and Wei Yuan was thoroughly satisfied. The only fly in the ointment was that Hunter Twenty-Seven was nearly a zhang tall; Wei Yuan could not reach his chest and had to settle for slapping his belly, which lacked a certain heroic dash.
Wei Yuan picked up the box and told Hunter Nine, "Think it through. If it ends up ruined, you'll have to accept it."
Remembering that death mission, Hunter Nine gritted his teeth. "I... accept!"
"Very well. Wait here."
"Huh?" Hunter Nine was somewhat dazed. "Wait here for the next few days?"
"No need for days. A short while will do."
Under the complex gazes of the shamans, Wei Yuan carried the box into the backyard. After closing the door, Wei Yuan suddenly felt a stirring in his heart—he had actually received a strand of Shaman karmic luck. Tracing its origin, it had remarkably come from Hunter Twenty-Seven.
It seemed that after being sent flying with a single slap, the fellow finally gained the reverence due to a mighty shaman.
Wei Yuan felt a twinge of thought; had he known, he would have given Hunter Thirty-Five a slap as well.
Still, with this new strand of karmic luck, he could save the sacrificial power for later. Wei Yuan took out the desolate steel arrowhead, raised the forge temperature using Desolate Roars, and spent several hundred strands of azure qi human karmic luck to enhance its quality. After nine hammer strikes, its quality had already neared Great Desolate Divine Iron.
Then Wei Yuan cast down the newly acquired Great Shaman karmic luck. As his hammer fell, heavenly notes echoed and lingered around the rafters, while a blast of fiery light shot more than ten zhang into the sky, visible across half the market.
Before Wei Yuan lay a spiral arrowhead of luminous red, within which a tiny flame drifted erratically.
A tiny flame endowed with spirituality, yet to take shape—it could only count as entry-level Great Desolate Divine Iron, but it was Great Desolate Divine Iron nonetheless.
Just then, a commotion broke out beyond the courtyard gate. Dozens of shamans surged into the courtyard, surrounding an elderly shaman. Every Shaman Hunter recognized this elder; after all, he was the only blacksmith in the entire market capable of forging desolate steel, and he had once successfully forged Great Desolate Divine Iron as well.
"Grand Smith Kaishan! What brings you here?" Hunter Nine bowed and stepped to the side.
The old man glanced at him and said, "Ah, Little Nine. I've come to deal with a troublemaking brat. None of your business, step aside."
Hunter Nine hesitated, but still retreated to the side. Not only was it a matter of status, but Grand Smith Kaishan's cultivation had reached Scenery Command Desolate Shaman, whereas Hunter Nine was merely at the peak of Power Shaman.
The young apprentice stepped forward and shouted to the surrounding onlookers, "My master challenges this four-legged spider to a wager! Whoever fails to produce equipment made of Great Desolate Divine Iron surrenders their shop to the other, then gets the hell out of the market!"
The shamans immediately fell into hushed discussions; they certainly did not want a single artisan dominating the entire market. In the past, many outstanding smiths had been driven away like this, after which equipment prices grew increasingly outrageous. Yet their discontent was useless, for Grand Smith Kaishan was not someone they could afford to offend.
The old man looked somewhat displeased. He had never intended to accept the young apprentice as his disciple. He had only allowed him to do menial chores because the boy had offered up his childhood sweetheart, a Little Pretty Shaman. And the duration of those menial chores was tentatively set in the elder's mind at ten thousand years.
Amidst the clamor, the front doors swung open. Wei Yuan stepped out, cradling a crystalline red arrowhead in his palm, and said, "What's all the racket about? You nearly made my hand slip!"
Wei Yuan gestured to Hunter Nine. "Come take a look. Does it meet your requirements?"
Seeing the flickering flame within the arrowhead, Hunter Nine was utterly thrilled. "It really is Great Desolate Divine Iron! We're saved, we're saved!"
Wei Yuan said coolly, "As long as you're satisfied. Next time you bring materials, make sure they're of better quality. What you gave me this time was so wretched it nearly ruined the craft."
Hunter Nine suddenly recalled something and gasped in shock. "You... you just forged this right now?"
Wei Yuan rolled his eyes. "Who else? Hand over the payment, take your goods, and get out! Go take on some tough jobs out there! As long as you have good materials, you'll find pleasant surprises here."
A murderous glint surfaced on Hunter Nine's face, and he gritted his teeth. "Rest assured! We'll definitely pull off a ruthless one!"
Savoring the two strands of Power Shaman karmic luck that had just settled upon him, Wei Yuan finally let a smile show on his face and nodded. He then turned his gaze toward the elder's entourage, his expression turning cold. "What are you lot here for?"
The young apprentice took a step forward and proclaimed, "Grand Smith Kaishan is my master! He wants to—"
Before he could finish, the old man kicked the apprentice to the ground, snapping, "Who is your master?!"
The kick nearly knocked the young apprentice senseless, leaving him unable to utter a single word. Having silenced the apprentice, Grand Smith Kaishan put on a genial expression and said to Wei Yuan, "I heard a fellow craftsman had arrived, so I merely came to have a look."
Wei Yuan's face sank. "This isn't a storefront; there's nothing for you to browse. If you want to buy something, state your business. If you don't have the coin, get lost!"
Humiliated, Grand Smith Kaishan's face darkened. "Young shaman, don't be too arrogant!"
Wei Yuan sneered with disdain, his voice icy. "You want me to temper my arrogance? With that Desolate Shaman cultivation of yours, where you haven't dared raise a hand for centuries? Your dharma body is so poorly tempered it's barely sturdier than paper."
Grand Smith Kaishan's face turned green and white. With no graceful way out, he could only let out a heavy huff, turn on his heel, and stalk away.
Having driven away all the shamans, Wei Yuan was finally left in peace, free to study the sacrificial power at his leisure.
Chapter 879