A Second Spirit Artifact

He Lingchuan casually took back the broken saber and replicated the exact same motion, standing two feet farther from the wooden board. With a crisp snap, the board broke cleanly in two. Before the blade even arrived, the saber qi struck first. Li Fubo could not hide his amazement. "A fine blade! Though the body is broken, its heart-eye remains intact—and it is still awake!" Maotao chimed in, "A saber heart can be awake or asleep?" "Of course it can. When a magical artifact breaks, even if the heart-eye is preserved, it usually falls into a deep slumber. This blade of Eldest Young Master He is fascinating. Yes, truly fascinating!" He Lingchuan cared only about one thing. "Can it be repaired? The saber eye must be preserved." "This saber has already reached the level of a spirit artifact, and its temperament is exceptionally tenacious. Broken yet enduring, it would truly be a pity to melt it down and reforge it." He Lingchuan was slightly startled. The broken saber was already a spirit artifact? Before leaving Blackwater City, the smiths had said no such thing. Only a month or so had passed, and the broken saber had actually upgraded? How strange. Li Fubo stroked the saber's spine, unable to put it down. "If you wish to preserve the saber eye and restore it completely, conventional methods won't do. Hmm, we could try the method of saber planting." Maotao could not help blurting out, "A saber can be planted?" He had heard of planting vegetables and planting trees, but never planting a saber. "Generally speaking, once a saber or sword snaps, it is broken for good and can only be melted down and reforged. But if it has nurtured spirituality, one must find an alternate path. After all, for metal and stone to birth true spirituality is something that can only be encountered by luck, never sought." Li Fubo stroked his beard and said, "A gecko can regrow a severed tail, and a broken blade is not necessarily incapable of rebirth. The conditions, however, are rather demanding." As long as it could be repaired, that was fine, though Songyang Mansion was likely about to demand an exorbitant price. He Lingchuan quietly exhaled. "Master Li, name your price." This broken saber gifted by Zhong Shengguang already possessed many extraordinary traits even in its damaged state; he wanted to know what would happen if it were fully restored. "This price is not for me to decide! At most, I would only take a fee for the craftsmanship." Li Fubo waved his hands repeatedly. "The method of 'saber planting' is extremely obscure, and it cannot be done without wujin." Sure enough, in the end, it still circled back to wujin. He Lingchuan let out a laugh. "Your esteemed establishment is premier even in the capital. Surely you don't lack such a material?" Manager Zhao could not help interjecting, "Eldest Young Master He, the amount of wujin remaining in the world is even smaller than meteoric iron from the heavens. Our shop holds only two pieces in storage. The entirety of Shihuan City has not seen any new wujin for nearly three years." Li Fubo picked up the thread. "Even in its place of origin, Mount Wu, wujin cannot simply be picked up off the ground. It doesn't even have an ore vein; rather, it is born when the essence of metal attains spirituality and transforms. That thing scampers all over the mountains, fleeing at the sight of humans. Catching it basically comes down to pure serendipity." "Then what is the price of this serendipity?" He Lingchuan naturally understood the principle of hoarding scarce goods for profit, though in truth he felt somewhat uneasy. The money he possessed could let him swagger through Blackwater City, but in Shihuan City, where dignitaries and colossal fortunes congregated, he feared... "Last year, Hengshui Firm next door sold a piece of wujin half the size of our collection. The price was fifteen pieces of upper-three-grade profound crystals, totaling six jin." Upon hearing the words "upper-three-grade profound crystals," both He Lingchuan and Maotao felt a jolt of shock in their hearts. When Emperor's Flowing Dew descended upon the earth, a small portion burrowed into the ground and transformed into profound crystals. Though their efficacy and properties shifted drastically, they were the finest source for practitioners to replenish true force. Their quality was divided by luster into upper, middle, and lower ranks, each consisting of three grades. Those upper three grades were already far out of reach for ordinary practitioners, even on tiptoe. He Lingchuan knew the price of profound crystals all too well. He had a single piece of middle-rank lower-grade in his bosom—just one piece. To price this stuff by the jin was absurd! Manager Zhao continued, "As you know, profound crystals of this rank are rarely priced in gold and silver. If forced to convert it, the going rate would be roughly twenty thousand taels per jin." One hundred and twenty thousand taels! The starting price to buy a piece of wujin was actually a hundred and twenty thousand taels! Maotao managed to keep his face straight with great difficulty, but his nostrils flared, and his breathing grew heavy. If one hundred and twenty thousand taels of silver were stacked together, how massive a pile would that be? He had spent years robbing travelers on Red Cliff Road, and the entire den of sand bandits collecting tolls—after deducting various expenses—had yielded a net profit over fifteen years that was, at best, a quarter of that sum. He Lingchuan stroked his chin, maintaining exceptional composure. "That's truly..." So damn expensive! Even as a "wealthy young master," his monthly allowance was only two or three hundred taels. Where on earth could he scrape together a hundred and twenty thousand taels? "...not cheap." An amount of money that could allow one to lord over a rural outpost for a lifetime could buy only a single piece of metal to fix a blade at the foot of the Son of Heaven. It seemed that if he wanted his path of cultivation to proceed smoothly, he would have to find other ways to earn serious money. Manager Zhao nodded in agreement. "Indeed, maintaining a spirit artifact is truly far from cheap. However, as fine as this blade may be, it is broken after all, which brings many inconveniences in combat. Eldest Young Master He might as well seek out another handy weapon; our shop has an abundance of choices." He Lingchuan was caught between laughter and tears, unsure whether to scold him for looking down on others or thank him for his considerate advice. He rolled his eyes. "Are you so certain this young master cannot afford wujin?" Manager Zhao had seen plenty of such posturing rich scions. He offered a polite smile and waved his hand. "This material is indeed excessively expensive. Business is business, and this lowly one merely wishes to save the young master some cost." If you have the money, take it out; why waste breath? He Lingchuan tapped his fingers twice on the table in thought, then asked the smith Li Fubo, "To repair my broken saber, how much wujin would be required?" Li Fubo lowered his head in mental calculation, taking quite a while before replying, "A piece slightly smaller than the one Hengshui Firm sold would be sufficient." That would still run upward of ninety to a hundred thousand taels. Selling Young Master He multiple times over wouldn't cover it. Yet he remained unfazed, turning to Manager Zhao. "You purchase spirit artifacts here as well, don't you?" Manager Zhao froze. "You have another spirit artifact?" Beneath divine artifacts were spirit artifacts. In this era, divine artifacts simply could not exist, making spirit artifacts the absolute pinnacle. Even if the quality were slightly inferior, major auction houses would fight tooth and nail for them. Throughout the entire past year across the royal capital of Great Yuan and Shihuan City combined, only a single new spirit artifact had appeared. Yet this little nouveau riche claimed that not only did he have one, but two? Was it complete and undamaged? Was it functional? Naturally, the well-trained Manager Zhao would not voice these thoughts aloud. His smile merely beamed like a full moon. "Might I take a look?" He Lingchuan retrieved the purple-gold pestle from his storage ring and set it onto the table with a heavy thud. "Master Li, take a look." This precious pestle was of a purple-gold hue, its surface covered in engraved runes. The crown was carved into the likeness of a strange beast with a broad nose, a gaping mouth, protruding eyes, and a bearded chin. Beneath its feet were four pulling rings, while the tail end of the pestle was tapered to a sharp awl-like point. Master Li let out a soft sound of surprise, picking it up with both hands to examine it closely. His nose nearly touched the pestle, and he could not help gasping, "Ah! Eldest Young Master He, where did you obtain this treasure?" He Lingchuan leaned back. "Tell me first whether it counts as a spirit artifact, and how much it's worth." The purple-gold pestle had gathered dust in his storage ring for several months; it could finally serve some purpose. Manager Zhao also stared fixedly at the pestle, his eyes widening larger and rounder, stammering, "Th-this can't be... Am I seeing this right?!" Both were affiliated with the artifact sects and lived so close to the royal capital; how could they not know of such a famous treasure? Casting aside all decorum, he eagerly urged Li Fubo, "Master Li, please examine it, verify it!" Then he turned to He Lingchuan. "Forgive us, Eldest Young Master, but we must appraise and verify its authenticity." "No matter. Inspect it as you please." True gold did not fear the fire. Li Fubo then produced an unknown liquid and dripped it onto the pestle. The runes across its surface immediately lifted from the body and hovered outward, rotating slowly around the pestle. Li Fubo watched without blinking, saying after a long pause, "It is indeed the Xiaoshan Demon-Subduing Incantation, without a doubt." He then hurried into the inner hall and brought out a finger-sized piece of metal, holding it near the beast's head on the pestle. The beast's head had originally remained motionless with eyes closed, but now its eyes snapped open, and it swallowed the metal whole in a single bite. "Why go through all that trouble? Wasting a piece of fine refined gold." He Lingchuan reached out with his broken saber and tapped the beast's head three times. Clang, clang, clang! "Hey, wake up. Sing a tune for us." The strange beast had already disliked him, and now grew even angrier. It let out three massive roars toward him, resounding like an ox, shaking dust loose from the rafters above. Manager Zhao and Li Fubo, however, beamed from ear to ear. "It truly is the Chaofeng beast! It truly is National Preceptor Sun's purple-gold pestle!" "So that's Chaofeng?" He Lingchuan could hardly be blamed for failing to recognize it; of the dragon's nine sons, aside from the one carrying the stone tablet, the rest all looked remarkably alike. "It is said that when this purple-gold pestle was forged, a wisp of a Chaofeng's divine soul was infused into it," Li Fubo praised in awe. "Even if we wished to forge such a treasure today, we could never find such a precious beast soul." Manager Zhao could not help asking again, "May I venture to ask, Eldest Young Master He, where did this supreme treasure come from?" The more valuable a treasure was, the more scrutinizing one had to be about its origins. Songyang Mansion was a prestigious sect among artifact smiths; they could not brazenly traffic in stolen goods. "This is our young master's spoils of war!" Maotao chimed in at just the right moment, puffing with pride. "That old thief Sun Fuping was defeated at the hands of our Lord He and Eldest Young Master He!" The three across the table were visibly shaken. Manager Zhao blurted out, "So Lord He is Qiansong Commandery's... the one from Qiansong Commandery..." The news of former National Preceptor Sun Fuping's downfall in the Panlong Desert had spread throughout the capital months ago. As one of the secondary capitals, Shihuan City naturally had not missed the word. "The former Prefect of Qiansong Commandery, and now Lord He is the Chief Administrator of Xiazhou." Manager Zhao's attitude toward He Lingchuan transformed instantly. Not only did his smile become exceedingly attentive, but his waist bent even lower. "Such a supreme treasure is beyond this lowly one's authority to decide; I must report upward for instructions. Could Eldest Young Master He please wait a brief moment?" He Lingchuan waved his hand. "Make it quick." It seemed there was hope. Manager Zhao immediately led Li Fubo toward the back. The attending boy stepped forward, replacing the cups for both distinguished guests with steaming hot tea. ... Manager Zhao and Li Fubo walked straight through the back hall, exited through a small gate at the rear of Songyang Mansion, crossed two alleys, and entered a grand residence. The residence was half the size of Songyang Mansion itself, yet unlike the clamor and bustle on the other side, this vast estate held barely ten servants, each treading with light, hushed steps. The winter plum blossoms were in full bloom, and the snow along the paths had been swept spotless. From leafless branches hung golden dishes filled with millet and pine nuts for winter birds and squirrels to feed upon. Passing by a glass greenhouse, Manager Zhao could see from afar an array of exotic flowers and rare herbs vying in beauty, entirely unbothered by the seasonal chill.