Chapter 873: Silver Spear

In the shop’s quiet room, a burly man absentmindedly sipped his tea, his eyes straying again and again toward the back hall. He felt vexed. As his fingers rubbed the jade cup, fine powder sifted down from between them, and a whole layer of the cup had been ground off.

The shop’s attendant stared wide-eyed, angry yet not daring to speak. After all, this was a high-level cultivator at the Foundation Building Realm.

The man drained his tea in one gulp and began pacing, each step stirring a gust of wind.

The attendant could not help saying, "Senior, please be patient. My shopkeeper’s artifact refinement is among the very best in this market. He certainly will not disappoint you."

"What do you know?" The burly man glared, his huge eyes fierce. "I spent two full years at sea hunting this Silver-Tailed Beast and finally obtained a fist-sized Throat Stone to upgrade my silver spear artifact. If the refinement ruins it, I would not only lose the Throat Stone, but the spiritual essence of my silver spear would suffer greatly. How did I let myself get talked into coming to some refiner I have never met? I should have known better...

sigh

."

Scolded, the attendant hunched his neck and dared not argue, then hurried back to the front.

Only the burly man remained, pacing back and forth. With no word from the rear hall and not daring to barge in, his anxiety grew worse.

His agitation was understandable. That silver spear was his only top-grade artifact. If it was ruined, his strength would plummet.

Just when his nerves were strung to the breaking point, the door finally pushed open. A plain-featured middle-aged man entered with a smile.

He carried a silver spear on his palms. Prismatic light rippled over it at a glance, its quality beyond question. The spearhead was large and razor-sharp, as if glazed with a thin enamel, flashing with cold light.

The burly man strode up to Qin Sang, his face tight with urgency. "Daoist Ming Yue, how did it turn out?"

His gaze locked onto the spear and could not move away. The spear felt both familiar and slightly different, yet he was certain it was his own artifact.

"Daoist, why not see for yourself..." The shopkeeper smiled and tossed the spear to him, then walked to the table, sat down, and took a sip of tea.

This was Qin Sang under disguise. He had adopted a false identity to refine artifacts in the market, using commissions to probe the path of artifact refinement. The local cultivators naturally could not hand him astras to forge, but since he was only beginning to comprehend those internal barriers, even top-grade artifacts served the purpose.

He accepted few jobs and chose them carefully, yet every client left satisfied, and his reputation grew. This burly man had in fact profited greatly.

Qin Sang had made a new breakthrough the day before, and his refinement skill had improved sharply. The silver spear he refined for the man now rivaled artifacts he had once forged with the aid of the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells.

The burly man gave the spear a light flourish. At once, a blue wave shot from the spearhead. The quiet room seemed to turn into an underwater realm as ripples spread in all directions.

Pop\! Pop\!

The jade cups on the table shattered one after another.

Qin Sang tapped a finger, white light flashing along the four walls, and said with a cold snort, "Daoist, will you not rein it in? Do you plan to bring down my humble shop?"

The man started as if waking from a dream, hurriedly stowed his power, then stepped forward and cupped his fists. "I got carried away, overcome with delight. Please forgive my lapse, Daoist..."

A short while later, the two faced each other again in the tidied room. Now without a trace of doubt, the burly man spoke with unreserved admiration.

Qin Sang shook his head. "I was exceptionally fortunate today, and your artifact’s foundation was solid. Only then could we achieve such a leap. This is not something that can be repeated at will."

He did not wish his name to grow too large and draw trouble. Even so, the gain from refining this silver spear was obvious. Treating Qin Sang as a master refiner, the burly man eagerly sought friendship and held nothing back in conversation.

Qin Sang learned the man came from a sect called Dianjun Mountain. With a moment’s thought, he recalled that Dianjun Mountain was a small sect on Landou Island with one peculiarity: Its gate shared the same range as Landou Sect.

The range was called Landou Mountain, vast and expansive. The richest areas with the best spirit veins had long been claimed by Landou Sect. Small sects like Dianjun Mountain could only plant their gates in the remote stretches.

"I have heard that the sects near Landou Sect are all tied to it in countless ways. If one renders great service, one might even be allowed a glimpse of Landou Sect’s handed-down arts. Your spear art showed a remarkably refined water-attribute spiritual power. Landou Sect has a well-known

Water Breathing Art

. Have you had the chance to study it?" Qin Sang asked with feigned curiosity.

The burly man offered a wry smile and shook his head. "You give me too much credit. I am from a small sect. How could Landou Sect spare me a glance? Only vassal sects under Landou Sect might have such a chance. Had I truly studied the

Water Breathing Art

, I would not be stuck at my current level."

"Are Landou Sect’s handed-down arts really so formidable?" Qin Sang pressed on.

"Of course. The heritage of a great sect is beyond our imagining."

Though blunt by nature, the man spoke of Landou Sect with sincere respect. "Its three most famous arts, the

Water Breathing Art

, the

Wood Reclining Scripture

, and the

Yin-Yang Tiandou Secret Technique

, are all top-tier arts. Even the slightly lesser transmissions are top grade arts we could hardly reach in a lifetime..."

Qin Sang listened quietly as the man listed Landou Sect’s handed-down arts.

Over these days, he had sounded out many Foundation Building cultivators and learned a great deal about Landou Sect. What shocked him was that none of its arts had anything to do with the power of star essence.

This man knew Landou Sect better than the others Qin Sang had met, yet again there was no such art.

How odd.

Qin Sang thought.

Landou Sect had once produced a Core Formation cultivator named Qiyunzi who cultivated precisely this kind of art, yet no one seemed to know the method, and many had never even heard of Qiyunzi.

He recalled Elder Zhushan’s words.

When Elder Zhushan had met Qiyunzi, he had only just started on the path of immortality, and now Elder Zhushan was over four hundred years old.

A figure from four centuries ago could easily pass from memory if mishap struck, especially in a sect where Core Formation cultivators were not rare.

Yet in a famous sect like Landou Sect, an inherited art could not be hidden, even if the contents of the art remained secret.

Could it be that Qiyunzi obtained the art outside the sect?

The thought rose unbidden.

That would be troublesome. He might have chosen the wrong target.

If Qiyunzi had fallen outside the sect, perhaps even in the Demonic Sea, then his secrets would have scattered like rain and wind. Trying to trace star essence infusion through Qiyunzi might prove difficult. His best hope might still lie with the Scorpion Venom Grass.

Qin Sang pondered while the burly man continued to talk. At last the man sighed, "If you want to learn a true art, you have to join Landou Sect. Otherwise, even if you are granted a glimpse of a handed-down art, Landou Sect will never show the most essential core of the method."