“No,” Gao Muya muttered, “Even if I spoke about artificing items, you still wouldn’t understand. The arm is divided into three sections. The upper arm, forearm, and hand. You need three apex spirit-plants… The Heavenmend Stone will be the Ketu-Rahu Sword’s core. Using other low-grade materials would only dishonor it. This Throne still has some items here…”

He pondered for a brief moment. “Fifty years ago, I forged a supreme-grade magik treasure for Beijing’s Cao Clan. They once gave me a branch of Seven-Jeweled Enlightenment Flower. I seem to still have three petals…”

He paused and gently coughed, “But, if you buy materials from me here, this discount… will naturally rise a bit. I’m not boasting, but there aren’t many of these items in the entire cultivation world… W-W-What’s that?!”

Without warning, he jumped and dashed over, forcefully capturing Xu Yangyi’s hand. However he was careful and gentle as he took the three green leaves little by little from Xu Yangyi’s hand as his lips quivered.

These were the last three remaining tree leaves of the Godblood Tree given by Daomaster Yue from the day of the auction!

There just happened to be three pieces!

“What is this…” Gao Muya’s voice was shaking like a thread. “I’ve never seen this… but I can feel… that i-it surpasses all the spirit plants I’ve ever seen… It’s simply… simply not like any organism from Earth…”

“Senior.” Xu Yangyi smiled. “Junior doesn’t know what this item is either. But whether it’s enough…”

“It’s enough! It’s absolutely enough!!!” Gao Muya flatly interrupted him, his eyes locked fixedly on the three leaves. In his eyes, Xu Yangyi’s figure was essentially absent. “Young friend… if there are leftovers…”

“The remainder will naturally be a reward.”

Gao Muya took a deep sigh of relief. To him, having once touched so many precious objects, this opportunity… was too rare! Any true artificer would be unable to resist such enticement! It was practically akin to an addict’s fatal attraction towards drugs!

Just for this, Xu Yangyi had taken out these items.

Satisfying… Gao Muya felt somewhat sapped of strength as he leaned on a chair. Too satisfying… The Heavenmend Stone was enough to cross and please his addiction. Now, there were still these three nameless leaves. He was already impatient to ‘take action’ against Xu Yangyi.

His prep work still hadn’t been completed. Gao Muya had never felt so bothered and vexed because of prep work. If more heavenly treasures converged, like these high-grade heavenly treasures, it would be enough to rile him up so much that he wouldn’t be able to sleep soundly through the night. Right now, he only had the desire to immediately act! Who would still be willing to do prep work!

From his chair, he braced the upper half of his body and laughed amicably, “Based on these three leaves… I can decide… to give you a 60% discount.”

“But.” His smile vanished, and he looked at Xu Yangyi with full attention. “Any magik treasure or magik artifact requires a core. A similar item you must find. Your master-ancestor is Daomaster Ancientpine. While you may not have it, his reserves certainly will!”

“Please speak plainly, Senior.” Xu Yangyi cupped his hands and asked.

“Sword,” Gao Muya mumbled and said. “The full might of the Ketu-Rahu Sword is all in the sword. This sword has to be able to bear the qi flow of the Heavenmend Stone and these three leaves… It’s because of such tremendous qi flow that it can explode with its true power. A sword like this is almost non-existent below Core Formation. Even those past couple swords… should’ve been obtained from Danxia Temple. Young fellow… this harvest… would even turn the eyes of Dao Masters red… You… You!”

Gao Muya’s voice came to a halt, a terrible mess. He glared hard at Xu Yangyi, his lips opening and closing. His gaze on Xu Yangyi’s face had shifted over to the other’s hand.

There, a damaged sword point was held.

Silence. After several minutes passed, Gao Muya looked at Xu Yangyi, the crook of his mouth twitching as he said, “I once watched an anime when I had time off. Its name was ‘Doraemon’... Young fellow, you really are…”

[1]

“Senior, what do you think about this sword point?” Xu Yangyi coughed dryly and pulled back to the main topic. Nonetheless, before his voice even died, the sword point disappeared from his hand with a swoosh!

Gao Muya’s prior feeling of dejection was swept cleanly away. He was a magnificent grand artificer, yet his treasury had actually been defeated by a Qi Condensation cultivator! This simply rendered him incredulous! He wished he could slap Xu Yangyi and kick him out, and yet… he was begrudging to do so.

The treasures in Xu Yangyi’s gave him a rush of excitement. He dared to guarantee that it wasn’t just him though! Even Core Formation ancestors would value these treasures at a glance! In the same vein, this sword was the same!

Gao Muya summoned his full attention and studied the sword tip. He felt a kind of sensation that made his heart run cold. It wasn’t power… This sword point’s power was already more or less exhausted, but it could cause serious harm to late Foundation Establishment cultivators. Nonetheless, what caused his heart to turn cold wasn’t this.

What is it… 

He furrowed his brows and contemplated for a brief moment. All of a sudden, his eyes shone!

Holy!

Yes…

 He took a deep breath incredulously. Holy might… even a sword point caused his hair to stand on edge.

“Young fellow…” he muttered to himself and said, “where did you get this sword point from?”

Xu Yangyi didn’t respond and instead asked, “Senior, is there something wrong with this sword point?”

Gao Muya didn’t speak and gazed at Xu Yangyi with fixed eyes. After ages, he nodded. “Remember, you can’t allow anyone else to see this sword point… Although I don’t know what this is, its surface might doesn’t allow my qi to pass through it.”

Xu Yangyi nodded, yet a faint smile gently curved at the crook of his mouth.

If he hadn’t guessed incorrectly, this sword point was a counterfeit of the Xuan-Yuan Sword! Furthermore… this action was him testing the waters, tossing a stone ahead to see the path beyond!

If his left arm was strange, then why couldn’t he use poison to fight poison? He would use this even stranger object to suppress it! 

The true complete form of the Animus Armament was hanging over his chest. The counterfeit wasn’t comparable to it by any measure or pace. The armament’s murderous aura and valor… to put things in perspective, he felt great terror as he looked at the counterfeit, but… if there was a showdown between this sword point and the Animus Armament’s true form, he wouldn’t even have the thought of resistance!

This was a difference of nature!

The Animus Armament’s true form… was even above the Xuan-Yuan Sword counterfeit! Back then in Danxia Temple, that scene which seemed to split heaven and earth apart, of Yin and Yang granting life to the Four Divisions and the Four Divisions giving birth to the Eight Trigrams, already proved its might.

A sword of absolute bravery! A sword of Killing Dao!

“This item also really complements the Heavenmend Stone and the Godblood Tree Leaves well. It’s even above the others.”

“Young fellow…” At this time, Gao Muya’s incredibly complex voice rang out. “I see the look on your face… What are you thinking… Do you still… truly have this item?”

Xu Yangyi regained his wits and cupped his fist in respect. “Junior is only thinking, that’s all.”

“Is that right?” Having gone through two shocks, Gao Muya was obviously unconvinced. To him, a good core was also incredibly important. Furthermore, the Ketu-Rahu Sword would likely be the most classical piece of legacy workmanship that he’d ever forged!

“That’s right.” Xu Yangyi looked into Gao Muya’s eyes. A few seconds later, Gao Muya pulled his gaze back.

“Forget about it… You have it… You certainly have it!!! You absolutely do! You robot cat… forget it, never mind… Putting the sword in is only the final step. Since you don’t want me to know, I won’t force it… but…” He said with a kind of extremely bewitching voice, “If… you give that sword to me, I… can do this for you free of charge.”

[2]

Xu Yangyi laughed, “I really don’t have it.”

“Hehehe…” Gao Muya laughed dryly, sending a few rather ill glances at Xu Yangyi as he glared. Holding his cup of tea, he pointed at the door. “Scram! The work cost is 300,000 middle-grade spirit stones, this is still a 60% discount! When the funds get here, I’ll start the job!”

“Thank you, Senior.” Xu Yangyi laughed and bowed. Just as he was about to leave, Gao Muya’s voice suddenly rang out again.

“Slow down.”

“Is there something else, Senior?”

Gao Muya seemed to want to say something but hesitated. He paused for a long time and then sighed faintly, “Do you know why I’ve been so busy recently?”

“Junior doesn’t.” Xu Yangyi was somewhat confused. What connection was there between him and a grand artificer’s business?

Silence once more. After no less than three minutes passed, Gao Muya gently placed his tea cup down and a clattering noise rang out. He said dimly, “Recently… two clans have been requesting me to restore a few things.”

“Have you ever heard of the Spirit Accumulation Cannon?” He fished out his pipe and lit it unhurriedly, as if he was narrating someone else’s story. “Its power… is equal to a half-step Foundation Establishment cultivator’s full-powered strike. There was a lineage… that placed an order for 300 of these cannons.”

With a deep drag, smoky threads of cherry-flavored tobacco pervaded the room. Amidst the winding smoke, he crossed one of his legs over the other and said slowly, “Then have you heard about Spirit Chart Armors and Evil Resistor Blades?”

Xu Yangyi shook his head, but his face was already heavy like water. He guessed a few things.

“This item… Its price isn’t cheap. They have no other function. They can only increase a cultivator’s defensive, offensive, and supplementary divine abilities by 5%.” He glanced at Xu Yangyi. “Can you guess the amount?” Not waiting for Xu Yangyi to answer, he followed up, “You can’t…”

“472.” He gently rapped a table. “In addition, a Flamedragon Master-Cannon that can raze everything to the ground in a 2.5 kilometer radius, and 70 Divinewind Crossbows… and this is just me here. According to what my other talisman and pill-elixir friends are saying, they’re getting orders for defensive, offensive, and invisibility formations and so on… Just in these two or three days, they’ve sold a thousand scrolls. Their reserves have been emptied out. They’re even trying to catch up with production now.”

He studied Xu Yangyi’s eyes. “How many grand masters have received contracts for millions of spirit stones in these two or three days? Do you know what this is?”

Xu Yangyi nodded, his expression grave.

Gao Muya leaned in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. “This is war…”

“A true war of cultivators… and its not just one clan participating. All the participants are first-rate clans or above… Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to settle so much capital… There’s no way that the scope of conflict will be small. They wouldn’t prepare so fully if it weren’t… hehe, Flamedragon Master-Cannon… Spirit Accumulation Cannon… Is this their plan to level a province to the ground?”

It appeared that Gao Muya was chatting to himself, but Xu Yangyi already had a fall understanding of what the other was saying!

War! War was on the verge of arrival! A war of cultivators to contest who had the authority of speech in Longsu Province! A war where he would be truly facing off against cultivation clans! It was on the eve being totally pulled open!

When the time came, his opponents would no longer be mere geniuses but rather the clans behind these geniuses… and the vassal clans under their control!

And he… only had several people! An extra formation! Added on with the incomplete Ketu-Rahu Sword!

However, one suspicion had always existed in his mind from beginning to end. Back then, Daomaster Ancientpine had mentioned these things to him without going into much detail. And that was… the meaning of a heavenly paradise? What was the true secret behind the qi reparation?

Jadesun hadn’t said anything and neither had Daomaster Ancientpine, yet both of these words were enough to trigger such a large-scale cultivator war. In that case… they absolutely weren’t simple!

1. Doraemon is a famous anime character and also the name of this program that this character is in. This reference is more so point to the fact that Doraemon has all kinds of gadgets for different situations.

2. “Robot Cat”. Another Doraemon reference. Doraemon is a robot cat.

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