"Haha! Nephew Ling, Coiling Mist Mountain Peak has become quite the sight."
The hoarse voice broke through the still air like a claw scratching stone. "The aura around this mountain isn't bad. Give it a year or so, it would be even astonishing ."
Inside the main hall of Fragrance Peak, the warm silence shattered.
Two women sat talking with each other. Both were astonishing beauties in their own right ; Wu Liang, calm and observant, and Ling Yanyu, elegant and composed, though a glint of stubbornness flickered in her otherwise calm gaze.
The mild voice disrupted the sarene atmosphere, Wu Liang, poised with a cup in hand, didn't flinch. Ling Yanyu, on the other hand, went still...just for a breath. Her fingers, resting elegantly on the table, curled slightly.
An middle aged man appeared at the entrance, guided by one of Ling Yanyu's subordinates. His posture was straight, his robe was impeccable,his presence was overbearing. One didn't need to be a genius to feel the tension he brought with him.
The room atmosphere became unusually tense in silence.
Wu Liang merely sipped her tea, watching him like a painter studying a half-finished canvas. From the tone, the attitude, the forced pleasantries: *it was clear he hadn't come with goodwill.*
Ling yanyu stood up. Her voice was steady, but the corners of her eyes tightened.
"Third Uncle Zhou. What made you come here?" Ling Yanyu asked, unable to hide her surprise.
Their family ties had long since frayed; more formality than affection. They never came without a reason. Never without strings, they rarely communicated. His sudden visit couldn't possibly be a simple courtesy call.
"I heard our young lady is hosting friends… even gifting part of the mountain to them. Is that the cause of this newfound radiance?"
The pleasantries were as hollow as his concern.
Yanyu didn't return the smile.
"Uncle Zhou isn't here for the mountain, is he?"
Her voice sharpened like a blade unsheathed. "Let's not waste time."
A low chuckle escaped him. But his eyes flickered.
"Hah! Straight to the point, then. Good."
The smile dropped.
"The family head has summoned you. Your marriage has been arranged. You're to return at once. It's time you made a contribution to our clan's future."
Silence.
Ling Yanyu froze.
Ling Yanyu's breath caught; not from surprise, but the sudden, sharp reopening of an old wound.
She had always known they would come for her eventually. But now, this quickly. She didn't thought they would use such a despicable method to deal with her.
Her heart clenched.
"…Why now?" Her voice came low, trembling not with fear, but with the pressure of bitterness left in her for long. "Why now, after all this time?"
A hundred emotions warred beneath her calm expression—betrayal, fury, disbelief. Then she inhaled sharply and raised her chin.
"Don't push your decisions onto me." Her voice turned cold, crystalline. "I'm not one of your pawns. I don't owe the clan anything."
Her gaze turned to ice.
"If my parents hadn't died mysteriously, would you have dared?"
She still clearly remember the day when she heard the news of her parents death. They went to participate in a clan meeting held by major clans but at the returning trip they were ambushed and died mysteriously, if not for the traces left at the spot, nobody would have known what happened with them. And what's more puzzled her was that her clan didn't even investigate this matter and her first uncle took the helm of the clan overnight.
Her face drained of color, the sharp glint in her eyes giving way to a storm of disbelief and buried hurt.
She stepped past him without waiting for a reply, her sleeves fluttering like a final insult.
"Look around if you want. But once you're done...leave. You're not welcome here."
Wu Liang rose silently, following without a word.
Behind them, Zhou's voice trailed after, low and unbothered.
"Hah… I've delivered the message. Whether you obey or not-we'll see."
___
*How annoying. Them coming here, sticking their noses into everything…*
Ling Yanyu's teeth pressed together as she walked alongside Wu Liang. They'd never once cared about this place before, not until now.
A short, humorless laugh escaped her, brittle as old glass.
"After my father…" she paused, " The previous clan head died, out of all thirty thousand kilometers of clan territory, they hand me these barren hills. Like tossing away a burden in there eyes. My uncles always had problem with my father becoming the clan head."
She paused, eyes narrowing slightly as if sifting through a memory she had turned over countless times.
"I tried to find clues about that incident but it's futile "
Her eyes carried a deep sheathed regret and sadness as she uttered those words in a low but enough to carry the tone.
"I thought if I broke contact with them they would left me alone but it was my wishful thinking" Her jaw tightened.
Her next breath was sharper, carrying a weight she couldn't quite disguise.
"Now they not only want to take this territory back… but also wants to get rid of me through marriage."
Wu Liang said nothing. She simply walked beside her, steps unhurried, the stillness of her presence offering neither judgment nor comfort. Her eyes, half-lidded, gave away nothing.
Ling Yanyu exhaled slowly, the steel in her voice easing into something quieter. "Forget it… I'll find a way to handle it."
For a moment, only the wind threaded between them. Then Yanyu's gaze shifted toward Wu Liang, a faint curiosity softening the edges of her expression.
"I haven't seen you in a while," she said. "What did you want to talk about?"
Wu Liang didn't respond immediately.
The wind stirred the hem of her midnight-grey robe as she walked beside Ling Yanyu.
Finally, she spoke; her voice soft, almost distant.
"There are always hands that only reach out once they think the fruit is ripe."
She glanced sideways at Ling Yanyu, her golden eyes calm but firm.
"But you're not something they planted.
So why let them harvest you?"
There was no anger in her tone, no heat-just quiet defiance, wrapped in elegance.
Then, as if shifting topics entirely, she added,
"I came because..." She didn't finish.
A sharp, angry bellow tore through the air, cutting her words in half.
"Snot-nosed brat! Can't even appreciate kindness!"
Another voice piled on, dripping with disdain. "Thinks he's someone great! Is my Ling family so useless that we can't even train a mere Earth-grade refiner?"
"Shameless boasting," came followed by second, the tone was like gravel dragged across steel. "Calling himself a Mystic-grade artifact refiner."
A cold snort followed. Its contempt hanging in the air long after the sound faded.
Wu Liang's brow twitched upward. She turned her head slightly, eyes narrowing toward the direction of the refining cave. "Huh. That's coming from the refinery, isn't it?"
Ling Yanyu let out a dry chuckle, the corners of her lips tilting, though her gaze was sharp. "So that's why he came today." She hesitated a heartbeat, then added, "They asked me before; they wanted to talk to the refiner...but I never gave them a reply."
"I think Third Uncle Zhou went to speak with the artifact refiner you brought in," ling yanyu said, her tone was steady, but her gaze carried a flicker of understanding.
"They're trying to poach him." Wu Liang concluded.
"According to my family, Ling Yanyu said with a faint, guarded smile, "he can at least make Earth-grade artifacts."
It wasn't easy for a small family like theirs to produce a Refiner of real skills who could refine earth rank artifacts. Earth rank artifacts are already top-tier treasures among sects and great clans, Yet here was one; wandering right up to their gates. Of course the clan would try to pounce.
Then she turned slightly.
Ling Yanyu's gaze slid toward Wu Liang. "How did you even find him? You didn't know anyone here… so how could you bring someone in so quickly?"
Wu Liang gave a loose shrug, her fingers flicking the air as though batting away the question.
"I have no idea actually. I didn't invite him, ah'ye said he was an ill-reputed refiner from cloud veil city, and we needed a refiner for several tasks. As neither me nor ah'ye that accomplished at this. So he get him to come here. After I check out his abilities: it was good. So I also agreed, That's it! "
Her lips curved into a faint smile. "If your people want to recruit him, suit yourselves. I won't mind."
"Well, it seems the talk didn't go well," Ling Yanyu said, the corners of her mouth relaxing into a wry smile.
Wu Liang hummed in agreement.
"It seems he's rather demanding," Ling Yanyu went on. "Uncle Zhou shout saying that he claimed to be a Mystic-grade refiner. First time in years I've come across one."
"He claims to be a Starlight grade, I don't know if he really is though, but he is a genuine earth grade, I confirmed myself"
Wu Liang assured her with this sentence.
"Forget it it's good that they failed I'm not going get involved in it ,since they kept pushing me..." Ling yanyu said with a bitter tone.
She added, "I'm going I have to make some preparations. You can find me later if you need anything."
She said to wu Liang.
---
The stone room smelled faintly of metal and oil — cleaner than the cluttered shop back in Cloud Veil City. Rows of racks stood in neat lines along the walls, each holding carefully sorted materials. In the center, refining tools sat ready, their polished surfaces gleaming in the lamplight.
A low string of curses leaked from the side room carved into the stone wall. Ye Tian stepped inside and found Wu Chen slouched on a stool, brow furrowed, jaw tight.
"What are you doing there?" Ye Tian asked, leaning against the doorframe.
Wu Chen shot him a flat look. "Don't bother. Just irritated that they don't believe I can refine mystic-grade artifacts."
His tone was sharp, edged with wounded pride. He added,
"That old man thinks I'm a scammer. If he won't give me a chance, how am I supposed to prove whether it's real or not? And he also yapping about there clan and what-not"
"Bull-shit , he even wanted to tie me up to there clan" , Wu chen cursed and went on "How can I, destined saint grade machanical artifact refiner be bound to them." He scoffed.
Ye Tian could almost see the words gnawing with Wu Chen's pride. He shifted the topic.
"Looks like you're doing well, though. There's a line for artifact refining every day. Shame most of the customers are from around here instead of outside."
Wu Chen's expression shifted, lips curling. "Of course. It's me you're talking about." Then his smugness softened into thought. "Well… I was proud before, but making ordinary artifacts isn't so bad. And with the money and scraps I get, I can experiment with my mechanical artifacts. I was blinded by my pride."
After a small silence, he said "Don't get me wrong, I'm just saying it's good now, I don't have to think about materials for refining and I also make some money but that doesn't mean I was wrong before, even if you hadn't commissioned me and bought with you, I would have stayed same …refining those non-mechanical artifacts or wandering around sometime for having no money."
Hahaha! Still as proud as ever, but I don't dislike this kind of behaviour.
"Here take these artifacts I wade it" wu chen took out the artifacts and laid them infront of ye tian.
"These are..?" He was taken aback by the sudden surprise.
It takes too much time to refine a artifact and here he laid out more than one. Anyone will be surprised.
"I didn't waste a single ingredients you provided and used those to make them" he replied almost instantly as if he was waiting for this moment. He added "These are the results… 3 spirit grade artifacts take a look"
Ye tian took the artifact from his hand to examine. It was cub.
It's indeed spirit grade.
He looked at wu chen and nodded.
"It's made of 5th order demon beast bone and other leftovers. I tried my best to raise its grade . This artifact would be suitable for barbarian featured males. "
After that he explained all the artifacts traits and other related things while showing them one by one.
"You take them as you are saying I ripped off you. I'm being generous…remember "
Originally he bought wu chen with him in a whim. He wasn't expecting anything from him, that matter different that this small whim was very costly. He genuinely liked the items wu chen refined but it's just that. He wasn't going to interfere with wu chen's decisions. The reason he came right after that elder left …Truthfully it's was just curiosity about result of the meeting.
"Great! I'll take it, well I'm going, see you later. Oh…and remember our deal"
With saying that ye tian left the room. The room again fell silent leaving only the smell of various metals and furnace.
---