County Lord Luxiu pursed her lips in a smile, but her eyes flickered with a bit of doubt.
Han Li was unflustered by his remark and replied with a smile, “Bloodvein Silver is a truly rare material. I’m not confident in successfully refining it either, so it would be better for you to find someone more qualified.”
When the group heard this, they were at a loss of what to say.
Eventually, a handsome man from the group recovered his wits and disdainfully snorted, “They said there was a formidable tool refinement master here. Why won’t he come out and refine the materials for the county lord?”
“Martial Senior Wei is occupied with refining an important treasure and has already spent several days in sealed seclusion. I’m afraid that he will not be coming out.” One of the three Tool Refinement Hall disciples answered.
“It will only take a moment to refine the materials,” County Lord Luxiu said in a soft voice, ”Won’t you Senior Martial Brothers assist me in asking Grandmaster Wei to come out? Even inside my estate, I’ve long heard of his grand name. I wish to see him with my own eyes.” Her noble beauty seemed to melt the hearts of the several Tool Refinement Hall disciples.
Han Li unconsciously frowned when he heard this. The woman appeared to be polite but a trace of cunning could clearly be seen from her eyes. He coldly laughed in his mind when he saw this but he remained silent.
The three men had lost their calm when they heard the woman’s soft voice and were enticed into agreeing.
Han Li inwardly sighed when he heard this. If he remembered correctly, Elder Wei clearly stated to them that unless the matter was important, he and his two assistants were not to be disturbed in their secluded room. And given that the matter was material refinement, whoever would go to mention this to Elder Wei was sure to suffer.
As expected, the disciple that went into the earthfire hall ran out with a pale complexion a short moment later.
When he returned, he forced a smile and said, “County Lord, Martial Senior Wei truly cannot attend to you. It would be better for Junior Martial Brother Han to give it a try.”
“Since the Royal Serenity Monastery’s tool refinement hall is so famous, why can’t you three refine the materials for the County Lord?” This time, a different young woman from the group asked this with a smile. Her looks were above average and she had a small beauty mark at the side of her mouth.
The three disciples exchanged an embarrassed glance and the tallest one then helplessly explained, “I won’t conceal this from Young Miss Mingzhu. If it were ordinary materials, we would be able to refine them. But for materials as special as Bloodvein Silver, only Junior Martial Brother Han was taught the refinement process by Martial Senior Wei. Our main knowledge is only to refine common magic tools.”
County Lord Luxiu’s bright eyes blinked and she gave Han Li an understanding smile. “That will be a bit troublesome. We were brought here by Lady Yuzhu and can’t stay for long. If I miss this opportunity, who knows when I’ll be able to next find a tool refinement master capable of refining Bloodvein Silver. It seems I will have to trouble this Senior Martial Brother for assistance.”
“Alright, so long as the County Lord is willing to take the risk, I will try my best.” Han Li calmly said.
She answered with a slight smile.“That is no matter. Please strive your hardest to refine it. If it fails, it won’t be too bad. It’ll just be a missed opportunity. I’ll find some again later.”
Han Li nodded upon hearing this, but after glancing at the group of people in front him, he frowned and said, “When I refine materials, I can’t have a large number of people observing me or I will be distracted.”
The county lord casually replied, “That’s fine. When the time comes, only I will be with you. The others will wait outside or perhaps they’ll have these three Senior Martial Brothers give them a tour of the area.”
Although her followers appeared unwilling, they raised no words of objections.
Han Li then wasted no further words and led the way towards the earthfire hall. The girl then signaled her group to remain in place with her eyes.
Chapter 928: The Great Jin’s Royal Clan
The earthfire hall was the most important structure of the Tool Refinement Hall. Although it only spanned a little over three hundred meters wide, it was three stories tall.
The top floor was the storage area for materials. The second floor was where one could directly use earthfire to refine materials and refine low-grade spirit stools. And the bottom floor was a hundred meters pit into the ground where high-grade magic tools were refined with the assistance of earthfire essence.
Han Li often used a secluded room on the second floor to refine materials and brought County Lord Luxiu there to refine her Bloodvein Silver. It was slightly cluttered so he set off on tidying it up when they arrived.
“This is where Senior Martial Brother Han refine materials?” County Lord Luxiu curiously looked around the room and particularly focused her attention at the large cauldron and the eight gourd magic tools that were scattered around it. It appeared this was the first time she saw a tool refinement site.
“What? Has the County Lord never seen magic tools refined before?” Han Li asked with a slight frown.
She reached out to touch the handle of the cauldron and said, “Ever since I was young, I’ve followed Aunt Yu in cultivation and haven’t had the time to learn about tool refinement. I usually remain in the estate to cultivate.”
Han Li glanced at the ashes in the cauldron and casually asked, “You cultivated in your estate? Could it be the Yu Estate is located above a spirit vein?”
The woman yelped in surprise and then curled her lips in a smile, “Could it be that Senior Martial Brother didn’t know who I was? You truly don’t know the royal clan that I claim my status as a County Lord?”
Han Li’s heart stirred and he chuckled, saying, “I am quite ignorant and am unsure of your identity.”
“You’re ignorant? Hehe, that’s great. There is no need for me to act as my position of County Lord. To tell the truth, I only have distant relation to the Great Jin’s royal family, but I’ve never seen the face of the emperor of the Great Jin. I’ve always remained in cultivation with my master and have never visited the royal mansion.” A trace of happiness flashed across the young woman’s face and her attitude quickly changed from the graceful poise of a noblewoman to a strangely spirited young woman.
“You’re royalty?” Han Li’s expression changed in surprise.
The young woman sat down in the lone chair in the room and tilted her head. Then with a smile, she asked, “What? Are you surprised? My title of County Lord is genuine, but it is only something that the emperor bestowed upon me. Were it not for the fact that my aunt said that I mustn’t shame the face of the imperial family before I arrived, I wouldn’t have dressed up in this fashion and wouldn’t have that group of people bothering me. Their empty talk all day around is truly boring and tiresome. Currently, I am only able to relax around Senior Martial Brother Han. You won’t be so tactless and start uttering nonsense, right?”
Han Li let out a cough and said, “In that case, I’ll continue to talk as I am now, but it seems your esteemed ancestor is an unordinary person.”
“Have you heard of the four great vagrant cultivators in the Great Jin? My grandfather is one of them.” Luxiu raised her head when she said this as if in pride.
When Han Li heard this, his expression vastly changed and he astonishedly said, “The four great vagrant cultivators? Despite my ignorance, even I’ve heard of their fame. So it turned out the County Lord is even more of an important person. I’ve been truly disrespectful. That identity is no lesser than your title as County Lord. Your future prospects are boundless.”
He had heard of the four great vagrant cultivators from Cao Mengrong. They were at late and mid-Nascent Soul stage and each of them had abilities that far exceeded common Nascent Soul cultivators.
“Yes, that’s righ
t! Everyone knows of my ancestor’s name. I believe that’s the way others should think of me!” Luxiu bluntly accepted Han Li’s praise.
Han Li stroked his nose and felt a bit of a headache. He paid no further attention to the woman and then struck the large cauldron with several spell seals. The cauldron began to roil and glow with light.
The young woman didn’t conceal her curiosity and glanced at the shining pitch black stone with bright eyes, paying particular attention to Han Li’s actions.
Once the cauldron was fully activated, he turned to Luxiu and said, “Take out the material!”
“Here!” The young woman blinked and said with a smile, “I’ll just tell you now that there is no need to speak politely in front of others. If Senior Martial Brother truly fails and ruins this difficultly acquired material, you will have to compensate me.” Afterwards, she took out a fist-sized rock and handed it over to Han Li.
The rock was sparkling silver, but it was mixed with countless threads of crimson. He looked at the stone in his hand and inwardly rolled his eyes at the young woman’s giggling words.
Let alone a Qi Condensation disciple, even a Foundation Establishment cultivator would be troubled to acquire a piece of this rare material. If he were a true Qi Condensation cultivator, it would be strange if he were able to compensate her.
Han Li refocused his attention on the cauldron and tossed the rock into it. Then, after he placed several supplementary materials inside of it, he sat down cross-legged onto the floor.
He proceeded to slap a talisman on his body and a layer of blue light appeared on his body. Following an incantation, the eight gourd magic tools on the ground began to brightly shine with light and release eight streams of scarlet flame onto the lower half of the cauldron.
The temperature in the room began to suddenly rise.
...
As Han Li was occupied with refining the Bloodvein Silver, an old Daoist nun and a middle-aged woman were having a discussion in a secluded building at the top of the mountain.
With a grave expression, the Daoist nun said, “We don’t have much more time. Our royal family has spent over four hundred years preparing for this already. Eight generations of monarchs had spent a painstaking effort to keep this plan hidden. If this fails, not only will we not acquire those two treasures but the entire royal family will suffer calamity. Our Ye Clan may have amassed strength in secret, but if we were to truly clash with the Buddhists and other factions, we would collapse at the first strike. As for those rotten Confucians, they may say they loyally support the throne, but if we attract their attention, I fear they will be the first to act against our royal family. I have always felt our Ye Clan have been playing with fire.”
The beautiful woman sighed and said, “Aunt, we all knew this, but this is a great opportunity for our clan to free ourselves from the other powers. And don’t forget how our Seventh Great Uncle and the others had died; when they saw our royal family increase slightly in power, the many great factions immediately joined hands in dispatching several Nascent Soul cultivators to deal with them. Afterwards, they found a reason in passing as justification for the killings. If we don’t break away from this horrible situation, our royal Ye Clan will only be the top noble clan only in name, when in truth we are only an expendable resource that the great factions have agreed upon. So long as the legends are true and we truly acquire these two treasures, our painful efforts over the years will pay off and we’ll force those superpowers to recognize us through power alone. They won’t dare to attack us then.”
A cold glint flickered from the Daoist nun’s eyes and she snorted, then speaking with a fearful tone, “Although legends in the cultivation world proclaimed the inconceivable might of Divine Spirit Treasures, I have difficulty believing that two of these treasures will be able to completely turn the world around and put us on equal footing as these superpowers. I fear we’ll overreach ourselves and attract calamity by stirring the superpowers into wiping us out. If I remember correctly, those superpowers should have treasures of a similar level. Although I don’t know how many they have, a single one will have the capability of eliminating our Ye Clan.”
The beautiful woman frowned and solemnly replied, “Deity Transformation cultivators are rivalless in this world. Even with the Divine Spirit Treasures, our three great ancestors would barely be able to defend against such monsters. However, there is no need for you to be too worried about this. Our Ye Clan had secretly investigated this matter over a hundred years ago. After much analysis, assuming the lifespan of those monsters are a thousand years greater than a Nascent Soul cultivator, there have only been a few cultivators capable of reaching Deity Transformation stage in the last two thousand years. A small portion of them may have succeeded and most of them should’ve ascended to the spirit realm, leaving only two or three in the mortal realm at most. Furthermore, these people must be paying an enormous cost to remain in the mortal realm. Not only are their movements restricted and cannot easily take action, but their cultivation should be forcefully suppressed to the late-Nascent Soul stage as well. Furthermore, those monsters most likely won’t have any interest in taking action over the rise of a faction.”
The Daoist nun’s expression turned particularly more gloomy when she heard this. “How can you know of this? Don’t tell me this is information that you’ve acquired from conjecture and a few questions. Over the years, countless cultivators attempted to find out about the secret information of cultivators remaining in the mortal realm after achieving Deity Transformation, but all of them failed. How can you clearly understand this knowledge after only a hundred years? Is your confidence an attempt to trick me? Or is there something that you aren’t mentioning?”
Seeing that her aunt was angry, the woman hurriedly explained, “We have no intention of fooling you. Although this information isn’t something that our Ye Clan had researched, it is something that we acquired from an elder we recently recruited. His information was a complete match for clues that we collected, so it is fair to say that our Ye Clan had managed to properly investigate the matter.”
Chapter 929: Blackwind Plume
“Elder? When has the Ye Clan acquired another elder? Is he a vagrant cultivator or someone from a small sect? Won’t there be a problem?” The Daoist nun quickly asked several questions in her alarm.
“Don’t worry, Aunt. This person isn’t a cultivator from the Great Jin but a vagrant cultivator from the Soaring Sky Plains. Their abilities are quite impressive, and we’ve already investigated this person’s background and have found nothing wrong. They had offended the Soaring Sky Temple and had to flee. Our Clan had yet to reveal this matter to them.”
“Oh, that’s quite good. Although I disapprove of your follow-up plans, the elders have already set the plan into motion. Those two Divine Spirit Treasures must be acquired. We can only worry about what will happen afterwards and play it by ear, but you'll have to be careful from now on. Those superpowers have spies everywhere and our large movements are bound to attract their attention. We mustn't leak any information.” The Daoist nun warned.
The beautiful woman bitterly smiled and helplessly said, “We fear we’ve already aroused the suspicion of a few perceptive individuals. Over the past few days, the superpowers have dispatched many additional cultivators to bolster their ranks at the capital city.”
The Daoist nun’s expression sank and she asked, “Were there any Nascent Soul cultivators among them?”
“No, but the cultivators they sent were all at Core formation stage. There are the same number of Nascent Soul cultivators watching over the capital city.”
“That will be fine,” the old Daoist nun slowly said, “It seems they are only somewhat suspicious and they haven’t truly sensed anything. Ever since the Three Royals Monastery released information that it wished to refine an important treasure, it attracted much attention that would’ve otherwise put pressure on your side.”
After some thought, the other woman said, “You
r orders were the correct choice. But it stands to mention that although the treasure being refined by the Three Royals Monastery is only bait if it is successfully refined, it will be a great increase of our power. If it is possible, we should strive our hardest to create it.”
“I am well aware,” the Daoist nun said, “The Mountain Crushing Seal is a treasure capable of splitting the earth. Even an imitation of it will be an outstanding weapon. If we manage to successfully refine it, it will be the equivalent of having another late-Nascent Soul cultivator in our ranks. We must do our utmost to make sure that succeeds. On the other hand, I heard that your second uncle said that he wanted to recruit a few powerful vagrant cultivators. How is that going?”
“He has set himself on recruiting vagrant cultivators for quite a while. Two of the four great vagrant cultivators have already entered the service of the royal family. As for the other two, they were too difficult to find, so they will be impossible to recruit. However, Luminous West Mountain’s ghost monarch and the Myriad Demon Valley’s Deputy Valley Lord Xiong are also willing to stand with us to escape the superpower’s control. They should lend us a hand when the time comes. There are also small sects that have displayed goodwill to us as well...”
Afterwards, the old Daoist nun and the beautiful woman continued their detailed discussions as time slowly passed by.
...
Inside the earthfire hall, County Lord Luxiu was staring wide-eyed at an egg-sized piece of silver that was wrapped in interweaving silver and crimson light. She wore an expression of delight.
The woman fiddled with the material in her hand and spoke to Han Li with a smile, “Senior Martial Brother Han, I didn’t expect you’d be able to truly refine the Bloodvein Silver and at such high purity. Elder Wei must be quite accomplished to have a disciple as skilled as yourself. I ran across to the tool refinement rooms of many market cities, but none of their tool refinement masters were confident in their ability to refine this material properly.”
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 503