The sun was warm and the breeze was gentle. It was a beautiful, sunny day.
Inside the house, Zhao Zuo slowly read the copy of Artifact Refining Introduction in his hands. While reselling Magical Artifacts could earn him a large amount of Spirit Stones, mastering the Artifact Refining Technique could conceal his secret. That way, he could explain away his purchases of second-hand Magical Artifacts by claiming he was studying the Spirit Pattern engraving techniques of his predecessors.
'I can use experience points to upgrade and repair Magical Artifacts, then sell them as if I refined them myself. That way, I won't arouse anyone's suspicion.'
In the Cultivation Realm, anyone who managed to stand out from their peers had their share of opportunities and secrets. It was only when these secrets were exposed that they would attract the greed of others.
Keeping his own opportunities from being exposed was the top priority.
The author of this Artifact Refining Introduction must have been a senior Artifact Refining Master. He possessed a near-perfect understanding of basic techniques, and he laid out the profound skill of Artifact Refining with a gentle progression from simple to complex.
Each technique came with detailed standards. For dozens of common materials, the text not only used rich language to describe the appearance and color of the ores, but also meticulously detailed the techniques for refining them.
The changes in color and form that each ore underwent at high temperatures were described in vivid detail.
It was written in a way that wasn't dry, and one couldn't help but become gradually engrossed.
Zhao Zuo was immersed in the contents of Artifact Refining Introduction, constantly absorbing its knowledge. He was like a sponge, quickly mastering concepts the body's previous owner had been unable to understand. His progress was even faster than he had imagined.
This was because the previous owner had recited the text countless times, engraving its contents deep into his memory. All it took was a spark of what one might call talent for this dormant knowledge to ignite.
The Hundred Skills of Cultivation each had different focuses and followed different paths of development.
But they all had one thing in common: anything that could be called an "art" required talent. With sufficient talent, what were once obstacles... were no longer so obscure and difficult to understand.
Likewise, only those with exceptional talent could reach the pinnacle.
KNOCK, KNOCK.
The wooden door was knocked from the outside. Zhao Zuo was startled, quickly hiding the Artifact Refining Introduction back under his bedding. He began circulating the Mana in his Dantian, ready to infuse it into a Magical Artifact at a moment's notice.
"Taoist Friend Zhao, it's me."
Zhao Zuo immediately recognized the person outside as Shen Yunjiao. Her gentle tone and slightly husky voice were comforting and relaxing, like a soothing balm on a parched soul.
"Coming, coming!" Zhao Zuo hurriedly stood up and opened the door.
The first thing he saw was the same crimson Taoist Robe. However, the scent of blood was gone, replaced by a faint, elegant floral fragrance. Her eyebrows were like willow leaves, her eyes like stars. The corners of her eyes tilted up slightly, giving her an air of elegance and mystery. Her nose was straight and well-proportioned, her thin lips were slightly parted, and her features were as delicate as a sculpture, making her seem radiant.
"Taoist Friend Zhao, here are the Spirit Stones for the Golden Wound Medicine from yesterday."
Shen Yunjiao didn't waste any words. She simply brushed her right hand over the pouch at her waist and took out three Spirit Stones.
"That's too much. I can't accept it." Zhao Zuo's heart was pounding, but he still shook his head in refusal.
It was as if Zhao Zuo had developed social anxiety; he felt completely ill at ease. In the end, it was simply a lack of security. This feeling of unease was magnified to its peak by the fact that the person before him could decide whether he lived or died.
"What? Are you afraid of me? Afraid I'm going to eat you up?"
Shen Yunjiao smiled sweetly, her words flowing out gently. Her deep eyes and the playful curve of her lips combined to create a look of unparalleled beauty.
"No, no," Zhao Zuo stammered, waving his hands. He was so nervous he didn't know what to say.
"Oh? Taoist Friend Zhao, it's been a while. How did you become so shy?" Shen Yunjiao teased. She may have meant nothing by it, but her words immediately caused Zhao Zuo to calm down and adopt a 'composed' facade.
"Hahaha." Zhao Zuo laughed to hide his internal awkwardness.
"Three Spirit Stones is too many." Since he was hoping they could become friends, Zhao Zuo had no intention of taking advantage of her, so he quickly refused again.
"I said I would buy it at a high price, so three Spirit Stones isn't too many..." Shen Yunjiao explained with a smile.
"In that case, I'll accept them." In the end, Zhao Zuo... took the three warm Spirit Stones. They chatted for a few more moments before Shen Yunjiao made an excuse and left.
Watching her voluptuous figure retreat, Zhao Zuo sighed internally. 'What a pity.' He had chosen to accept the Spirit Stones because he'd sensed a certain distance beneath her enthusiastic exterior. Clearly, his gift of medicine hadn't been enough to open the door to friendship; they were still just nodding acquaintances.
'Apparently, the social skills from my past life don't apply in this world. Every Cultivator is fundamentally a potential competitor, and they could backstab you at any moment for personal gain.'
'Making friends in this world requires a greater investment, and one must be much more patient when choosing them.'
Zhao Zuo began to reflect on other oversights, and after a moment of thought, he did indeed realize something was off.
He recalled what he had just seen... Shen Yunjiao's complexion had been rosy, with almost no signs of weakness. Even someone as dense as Zhao Zuo could figure it out now: her public plea for medicine last night had been a ploy. She was fishing. If anyone had tried to take advantage of her supposed injuries, they would have undoubtedly been met with a thunderous counterattack.
'I basically had a brush with death.'
'How could a Combat Cultivator who spends her years fighting in the Yunlan Mountain Range not have a large supply of wound medicine on hand?'
'I was too naive, too foolish.'
'It's true what they say: the more beautiful the woman, the more deceitful she is.'
Zhao Zuo closed the door and examined the Spirit Stones in his hand...
These few Spirit Stones were the price of his former innocence. Still, Zhao Zuo hadn't come out on the losing end. A 300 percent return on investment overnight was an excellent profit.
Besides, he could now be certain that Shen Yunjiao did have a moral baseline. Even though her offer to buy wound medicine at a high price was just bait, she had still delivered the Spirit Stones as promised.
"Maybe we really can become friends after all," Zhao Zuo remarked with a sigh.
After stashing the Spirit Stones in a safe place, Zhao Zuo went back to reading Artifact Refining Introduction.
Artifact Refining was roughly divided into four major steps: preparing the raw materials, melting them down, shaping them with a mold, and the most important step of all: implanting Spirit Patterns.
As for later tasks like polishing and cleaning, even an apprentice could complete them.
Of course, this was only the method for creating Magical Artifacts. As for Magical Treasures and Spiritual Artifacts, the Artifact Refining Introduction summed up their creation in two words: "completely different."
Magical Artifacts could be mass-produced using molds, but every Magical Treasure was one-of-a-kind.
The Spirit Pattern inside a Lower Grade Magical Artifact was called the "Controlling Objects Spirit Pattern," and it was the core of the artifact.
Once it absorbed enough Mana, it could move and attack according to the Cultivator's will. However, because the Divine Thought of a Cultivator in the Qi Cultivation Realm was so weak, they could only maneuver it freely within a one-meter radius. Any farther than that, and they had to run over to retrieve it themselves.
Combat during the Qi Cultivation Stage was basically a cycle: a surprise attack with a Magical Artifact. If that missed, it would be followed by a bombardment of Talismans and a move into close quarters... then retrieving the Magical Artifact and launching another surprise attack. The process would then repeat.
Now, Zhao Zuo planned to try drawing a Controlling Objects Spirit Pattern.
.....
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