Chapter 400: Astral Thunder Hammer

“You have a good eye, my friend!”

Behind the crystal cupboard, a salesperson of the Blue Star Association grinned and reached to grab the exquisitely beautiful silver hammer.

The salesperson was called Chang He. About fifty years of age, he was in the late stage of the Netherpassage Realm.

He had once been part of Blue Star Association’s primary fighting force, but was severely injured fifteen years ago when he was fighting. It became difficult for him to further progress on the martial way, and as a result, he could only lower himself to selling spirit artifacts for Sea Moon Trade Group.

“This is the Astral Thunder Hammer, a Profound Grade Six spirit artifact. It is worth one thousand and two hundred Earth Grade spirit stones. The Astral Thunder Hammer is suitable for martial practitioners that cultivate lightning spirit arts. When one channels the violent spirit power of lightning into the Astral Thunder Hammer, it will release an unstoppable lightning when swung!”

Chang He took the small, beautiful silver hammer out and handed it to Qin Lie with a smile. He gently warned, “Careful now, the hammer is somewhat heavy.”

Qin Lie took the hammer and a look flashed across his face. He breathed calmly. “It really is kind of heavy.”

His was currently between the Manifestation Realm and the Netherpassage Realm. With each passing day, he came closer to the Netherpassage Realm.

Qin Lie’s body had been refined and was extremely sturdy. Even using the power of blood and channeling the Blood Spirit Art, his own strength was shocking.

Yet he still felt slightly burdened when he held this hammer that was only half as long as his arm.

The Astral Thunder Hammer was completely silver in color, made from an alloy of rare metals. The surface of the hammer was engraved with many patterns reminiscent of lightning, resembling beautiful bursts of light under the bright reflection of the lights above.

“As a Profound Grade Six spirit artifact, this should be about eight hundred Earth Grade spirit stones. Why does this hammer cost twelve hundred?” Song Tingyu’s beautiful eyes moved as she said with a smile, “You aren’t intentionally raising the price because we are unfamiliar with this place and don’t understand the market, are you?”

“Of course not.” Chang He grimaced. “This Astral Thunder Hammer is a bit special. It really is worth twelve hundred Earth Grade spirit stones. Our Sea Moon Trade Group would never try to swindle people. Miss, you do not have to worry.”

“It would be strange if I believed you!” Song Tingyu scowled.

Qin Lie did not say anything. He was carefully playing with the silver hammer, using one arm to slowly swing it and feel the material of the hammer.

“Whoosh whoosh whoosh!”

When he swung the silver hammer without adding any spirit power, it created a soft gust of wind.

Qin Lie’s eyes lit up.

𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

As an artificer, he realized that, after taking a moment to get a feel for it, the forging method of this Astral Thunder Hammer was extremely fine. The degree to which the materials inside had fused was considerably high, and the ores were much rarer and more expensive than he had imagined.

He tried slipping a wisp of mind consciousness inside of it.

Oddly enough, his mind consciousness did not encounter any resistance and immediately entered the silver hammer.

“There are no restrictions covering the spirit diagram? Was it not sealed?”

Qin Lie paused with a frown. He closed his eyes and let his mind wander inside the spirit diagram.

Within the silver hammer, five different spirit diagrams were combined into a large compound spirit diagram. Among the five spirit diagrams were three basic ones—Spirit Gathering, Spirit Storage, and Strengthening.

The three basic spirit diagrams were much simpler than the ancient spirit diagrams inside of the Soul Suppressing Orb within Qin Lie’s mind. The structure of the diagram wasn’t very organized, and a part of it was damaged.

The two remaining primary diagrams were clearly more complex, and were at about the same level as the spirit diagrams of the spirit pattern pillars that he studied.

The two primary diagrams were close to each other. At a glance, it resembled circles of lightning wrapped around a ball of thunder. The lightning on the outside formed a spirit diagram, and the thunder ball made from fine spirit lines was another spirit diagram.

“Zzt zzt!” His fingertip released a spark of lightning, and it entered the silver hammer.

The power of thunder and lightning entered through the outer spirit diagram. When it passed through the Spirit Storage diagram, the power of this thunder and lightning decreased by about half since this basic spirit diagram was damaged.

The weakened power of thunder and lightning separated when it entered the two primary spirit diagrams.

The lightning started to spin rapidly when it entered the lightning-shaped spirit diagram. It seemed to quickly be refined and become even purer and more powerful.

The thunder power went deep into the inner thunder ball spirit diagram and quickly formed a speck of thunder.

Furious waves of astral thunder came from that speck that was the size of a grain of rice. As the lightning in the outer layer quickly spun, the vibrations from the speck grew more intense.

This spirit diagram was compressing the power of thunder to form astral thunder that resembled an astral light. The outer layer of lightning would augment the astral thunder and help it form faster.

“How exquisite!” Qin Lie sighed.

“Take it easy, little brother,” Chang He shouted with a smile.

As Qin Lie channeled thunder and lightning into the Astral Thunder Hammer, the lightning patterns on the surface of the silver hammer grew bright.

Intense thunderous vibrations came from inside the silver hammer, as if it would explode at any moment.

This was the Spirit Artifact District. If the thunder inside the Astral Thunder Hammer were to explode, it would probably cause unnecessary trouble, so Chang He had to give a reminder.

“We can change locations if you want to test the true power of the spirit artifact. You won’t be able to unleash its full power here,” Chang He explained with a smile. “Please understand.”

So Qin Lie opened his eyes.

The lightning patterns on the surface of the Astral Lightning Hammer immediately disappeared. The violent vibrations coming from inside of the hammer also came to an abrupt stop.

Qin Lie gently placed the silver hammer on the crystal cupboard and thought for a moment. He looked at Chang He with a faint smile and said, “The basic spirit diagrams inside of it have been damaged.”

“Damaged?” Anger shone in Song Tingyu’s eyes as she frowned and snorted. “What is wrong with your Sea Moon Trade Group? You even sell spirit artifacts with damaged spirit diagrams?”

“If the spirit diagrams inside of it weren’t damaged, this Astral Lightning Hammer would not be worth just twelve hundred Earth Grade spirit stones!” Chang He’s expression did not change as he explained with a smile, “You saw for yourself how this little brother just used the power of thunder and lightning to activate the spirit diagrams within. Even though the spirit diagrams inside the spirit artifact are damaged, it does not significantly impair its usage. One can still use a portion of the spirit artifact’s power. To martial practitioners skilled in thunder and lightning power, this portion of power alone is worth twelve hundred Earth Grade spirit stones.”

“What grade was the hammer before the spirit diagrams were damaged?” Qin Lie asked.

“I’m not sure of the details,” Chang He said as he shook his head. “I only know that, after a professional appraisal by our Sea Moon Trade Group, the harmonization rate, fusion rate, and toughness of the hammer greatly exceeds that of a Profound Grade spirit artifact. However, this was judged to be a Profound Grade spirit artifact because the inner spirit diagrams were damaged, which in turn harmed the restrictions hiding in the spirit diagrams and prevented the artifact from being used to its maximum potential.”

“Twelve hundred is too expensive. Sell it for a thousand,” Qin Lie haggled.

“I apologize, but I really cannot go below twelve hundred.” Chang He held onto the price. He saw that Qin Lie was skilled in thunder and lightning spirit arts and expressed a strong interest in the Astral Lightning Hammer, so he did not plan on lowering the price. “According to the professional appraisal of our Sea Moon Trade Group, if this Astral Lightning Hammer were not damaged, it would be an Earth Grade five spirit artifact at the least! The composition of the hammer, the way it was made, and the inscription of its spirit diagrams are all of superior quality. The trade group will not accept anything less than twelve hundred Earth Grade spirit stones.”

“One thousand! I can only give you one thousand!” Qin Lie frowned.

“I really cannot go below one thousand and two hundred.” Chang He refused to go any lower.

At this moment, a group of seven young martial practitioners dressed in green robes walked through an open door and into the vast hall. They wore the insignia of Heavenly Sword Mountain.

When these seven came in, the originally loud and busy hall suddenly went quiet.

“Heavenly Sword Mountain!”

Many people exclaimed softly. Gazes moved from the spirit artifacts inside the crystal display cases and turned to look at the seven.

The people coming in and out of Sea Moon Trade Group were mostly martial practitioners from the seven continents within five thousand kilometers of this place. The continents that they lived on and the factions that they belonged to, were all subordinate to Heavenly Sword Mountain.

For example, Profound Heaven Alliance, Eight Extreme Temple, and Joyful Union Sect were all subordinate factions of Heavenly Sword Mountain.

As a result, they felt that they were inferior to the martial practitioners of Heavenly Sword Mountain. This was similar to how the people of Dark Asura Hall and Seven Fiends Valley would become cautious and afraid when they saw the martial practitioners of Profound Heaven Alliance.

Even if they were equal in rank, martial practitioners would show the required respect and caution when they saw martial practitioners of the faction they were subordinate to due to the difference in status.

All of the martial practitioners in the hall, including those from Blue Star Association, could not afford to anger the seven martial practitioners of Heavenly Sword Mountain.

Since everyone felt that they were lesser in status, they carefully concealed their spirit power. They did not even dare to make loud noises in order to avoid causing the seven people displeasure.

The seven young Heavenly Sword Mountain martial practitioners were all in the Netherpassage Realm, were extremely arrogant, and looked at everyone else with disdain.

When they came in, they found that the noisy hall had suddenly become quiet and everyone had turned to carefully look at them with respect.

This made the seven martial practitioners feel proud. They were very satisfied, and they enjoyed the effect they had caused.

All the factions and martial practitioners on Sea Moon Island were their subordinates in their eyes. It was only right that they had reverent and cautious attitudes. As martial practitioners of Heavenly Sword Mountain, it was matter of fact that they were above other people.

“One thousand Earth Grade spirit stones! Hey, what are you daydreaming about?”

A dissatisfied shout abruptly rang throughout the quiet hall.

This voice was at a normal volume, but it was extremely noticeable when everyone was silent.

Chang He grimaced. He looked at Qin Lie and made a face at him, indicating that he should be silent.

Song Tingyu pulled on Qin Lie’s robe and glared at him, also trying to get him to stop attracting attention.

Since he was fixated on getting a better price and obtaining the Astral Lightning Hammer, Qin Lie had not noticed the arrival of the seven Heavenly Sword Mountain martial practitioners.

In his mind, he did not think that the martial practitioners of Heavenly Sword Mountain were above everyone else. He did not think that he needed to look up at them, close his mouth, and be silent because they appeared.

“Get out!”

The handsome face of a thin youth who stood among the seven was ice cold. He pointed a finger at Qin Lie who was in the crowd.

The six other people looked at Qin Lie arrogantly, each with a gaze colder than the last.

Their gazes resembled glacial swords.

……