It was January, and the snow-covered trees were in Winter Storage, their root systems silently accumulating energy; in two or three months, they would bloom with splendid flowers in spring.
Born in spring, grown in summer, harvested in autumn, and stored in winter—perhaps this was their Dao of Cultivation. Each annual ring was an upgrade for them.
Qian Duoduo walked along the mountain path of Mengyuan Mountain, experiencing everything in the mountain with his Spiritual Awareness. With each step, the Yongfu Henggui Gong connected him to everything in the mountain.
With each step, he became more convinced that all things have spirits, and his heart was the heart of all things. Treat all things kindly, and good will naturally follow.
Leaving the Sect gate, across Lingwu Avenue, he could see Wanjinge Square brightly lit. There were quite a few people there.
The Sect's Heroic Talent Battle kept Artifact Refining at a fever pitch.
Qian Duoduo walked a large circle, curving towards Wanjinge Square. There were at least several thousand people on the square, but most of them were concentrated around the first three golden pillars, with fewer people at the back. Especially from the sixth golden pillar onwards, only a few Wood Houses were lit, and there were no queues outside.
Qian Duoduo pretended to pass by, and as he walked past a Wood House, he gently pushed the door open and entered.
“Phew.” He shook his head, feeling as if taking an exam was like being a thief. After calming his mind, he sat down cross-legged.
A virtual space appeared, and the assessment began. The assessment for defensive artifacts was simple and brutal: you would use the virtual space to create one defensive artifact after another. There were armors, heart mirrors, knee pads, boots, helmets, and other protective gear for Cultivators; armors, masks, paw coverings, and other items for Spirit Beasts; saddles, earplugs, eye masks, and other items for Spirit Birds; and blade chariots, bed crossbows, rolling logs, wolf-tooth clubs, and other items for castles.
After a defensive artifact was created, the virtual space would automatically attack it. The more attacks it withstood, the higher the score. If it was destroyed in one hit, no points were awarded.
In the virtual space, booming sounds came one after another. Beams of attack waves struck the defensive artifacts Qian Duoduo created, and also struck Qian Duoduo's heart.
That feeling was like countless monsters surrounding you, with only your last fragile line of defense remaining.
Qian Duoduo's movements became faster and faster, throwing one defensive artifact after another out of the cauldron and placing them in front of him, to increase and thicken his sense of security.
Although Qian Duoduo knew in his heart that these were all fake and virtual, he wanted to experience them wholeheartedly, and he had to treat them as real.
Time passed, and with a “buzz,” the scene in front of Qian Duoduo's eyes changed back to the Wood House.
In the Jade Slip, there was an additional scroll for utility artifacts.
Qian Duoduo quickly browsed through it and found that the utility artifact scroll was more fun than the weaponry scroll and defensive artifact scroll. It was full of everyday items, such as bowls and chopsticks for eating, bottles and buckets for holding water, books for reading, pens for writing, beds and tents for sleeping, clothes and hats for wearing, bracelets and hairpins for adornment…
He had never imagined that these things could be made into Magic Treasures.
Putting away the Jade Slip, Qian Duoduo couldn't help but hum a song, the tune of which he had borrowed from Yu Yixiang.
Pushing open the door, he found two Blue-Robed Disciples outside, one on the left and one on the right, blocking his way.
Qian Duoduo lowered his head, hiding his face in his cotton hat, and tried to walk between them.
The two Blue-Robed Disciples reached out and stopped Qian Duoduo. One of them grinned widely, “Junior Brother, I lost a Golden Sword here. I wonder if Junior Brother saw it?”
Qian Duoduo shook his head.
“My Golden Sword is a high-grade artisan artifact, worth a lot. If you don't mind, come with us to Wanjin Pavilion. There's a square recording inside. Whether Junior Brother is innocent or not will be clear at a glance.”
The Blue-Robed Disciple was relentless.
Qian Duoduo sighed and took out a high-grade artisan artifact Golden Sword from his Golden Toad, “I remember now. I really did pick one up just now. Take a look at this, is it yours?”
The Blue-Robed Disciple smiled kindly. He took the Golden Sword, examined it in his hand, swung it a few times, then frowned and scrutinized it under the light of the square.
Qian Duoduo became impatient, “Can I go now?”
The other Blue-Robed Disciple clapped Qian Duoduo's shoulder, “That won't do.”
“This Golden Sword isn't mine, it's not as good as mine. Mine is thinner and sharper than this one,” said the Blue-Robed Disciple holding the sword, but he didn't return the Golden Sword to Qian Duoduo.
“Is it this one then?” Qian Duoduo took out another Golden Sword. It was also a high-grade artisan artifact, but the blade was slightly thinner than the previous one.
The Blue-Robed Disciple holding the sword took the thin sword, looked at it left and right, but still shook his head, “It's not this one.”
By this point, even a fool would understand that these two Blue-Robed Disciples were simply looking for trouble. “What kind of sword did you lose? Tell me its characteristics.”
The Blue-Robed Disciple holding the sword said with a smile, “A Golden Sword, it's just a Golden Sword.”
Qian Duoduo's face turned cold—these two were deliberately stalling for time.
“You didn't lose a sword. I'm not playing with you anymore.” Releasing his Condensing Qi Stage Level Eight aura, Qian Duoduo shook them off, casually stepped on a Flying Sword, and was about to fly towards Mengyuan Mountain.
The Blue-Robed Disciple who wasn't holding a sword suddenly pounced, grabbing Qian Duoduo's feet from behind, and shouted, “You can't leave!”
The Disciple holding the sword threw Qian Duoduo's two swords to the ground and also pounced, grabbing Qian Duoduo's legs from the front.
“Don't shout, don't shout,” Qian Duoduo growled in a low voice, just about to get angry, when a red light sped towards them.
“Senior Sister, we've caught him, it's him!” the Blue-Robed Disciple holding Qian Duoduo's feet shouted.
“Hmph!” Cao Yueying came proudly in front of Qian Duoduo with her hands behind her back, glanced at him, then said to the two Blue-Robed Disciples, “Well done, you've worked hard. You may go, and you are not allowed to speak of today's events to anyone.”
“Yes, Senior Sister!” The Blue-Robed Disciples nodded repeatedly, and one of them picked up the two Golden Swords.
“Give me the recording Jade Slip. These two swords are yours, one for each of you. If anyone talks about today's events, I'll use these swords to cut out your tongues.”
Cao Yueying took a Jade Slip from the Blue-Robed Disciple's hand and waved her hand at the two Blue-Robed Disciples, telling them to leave quickly.
As soon as the two left, Qian Duoduo knew Cao Yueying had recognized him earlier: “You give away my things. Don't you feel bad about being generous with others' possessions?”
Qian Duoduo didn't know whether the two Blue-Robed Disciples had recognized him.
Cao Yueying smiled lightly, “A Great Master of Artifact Refining as amazing as you, still keeping two artisan artifacts? I'm helping you clear your inventory, shouldn't you thank me?”
“Are you that curious, you absolutely want to know who Golden Toad is?” Qian Duoduo pulled his cotton hat over most of his face and walked towards the darker part of the square. Cao Yueying had many fans, and if Qian Duoduo stood in the light with her, they would surely be seen.
“You thank me first, then I'll tell you why,” Cao Yueying followed Qian Duoduo, her voice unhurried.
“Thank you, Senior Sister Cao. I sincerely thank you for helping me clear out the inventory of two swords.”
“That thank you sounds quite resentful—I'll just tell you directly. In the next ultimate battle, because it's still about Artifact Refining, I'm most worried about a Artifact Refining master appearing from Lu Xi. After thinking it over, I'm most afraid that this mysterious Golden Toad is one of Lu Xi's Xiong Jun. That would be the biggest threat to our Lu Dong. I thought he had already occupied the top positions of the first five golden pillars, and it's highly likely he would come to occupy this sixth one. So I sent our Lu Dong Disciples to guard here, and sure enough…”