Idk if ‘artifact refiner’ is the best translation for people who make tools/weapons/objects out of trans.m.u.ting rocks in a cauldron/furnace with magic powers, but I am open to better suggestions.
Anyways, in this chapter, our dear MC once again (briefly) laments over the reality that our adorable villain is, in fact, not a girl.
Chapter 22:
LingiXia took in aideeplbreath, and with the focused concentration of cramminglfor the NCEE,istarted to speedily flipjthroughlthe pages, reading ten lines at a timejin search forlkeywords. f.u.c.k! This bookldidn’tlhavela table of contents!j
Ling Xia surveyedlhis surroundings,jthen without any reservation, openediairandom door and started to search around. VoidiJade Herb had ‘jade’ in its namelandldepended onjthe gemito grow, so for starters,ja jade artifact was absolutely!necessary.
The masked man was silent for a beat, coughed once, and said, “Mmhn, you can find what you’re looking for in my storage area, but remember, you’re not allowed to touch the first door on the right.”
“Understood,” Ling Xia chuckled. Hmm, who knows, maybe that room was hiding the masked man’s diary, or a portrait of the person’s he’s secretly in love with, or some other illicit secret… In the midst of his busy rummaging, he let his mind wander and wildly fantasized a bit.
Very quickly, he found an appropriately sized suet jade bottle. He carefully tilted it and slid the seed inside before going outside to seek some suitable soil. Void Jade Herb was extremely fragile and picky, requiring only the most exquisite sandy soil that’s rich in spiritual energy. Inside this s.p.a.ce, there was a river with moist and fertile sand dunes full of spiritual energy beside it. Ling Xia feared that the sand was still too coa.r.s.e, thus he spent a long time grounding it on top of a slab of stone, and only then did he cautiously pour the soil inside the bottle.
The water quality inside this s.p.a.ce was also quite good and abundant in spiritual energy, and Ling Xia calculated how much it would take to fully wet the soil without ruining the seed. He had originally liked flowers and plants, so right now, he used 120% of his love in taking care of, watering, and swiftly completing this task.
Except, Void Jade Herbs growing in the wild needed 10 years to germinate, another 10 years to flower, and matured only after a century. In that case, how could he make this seed sprout in just a few short hours?
He wiped the bottle’s surface clean of soil and carefully cupped it to his chest. High-level users with wood elemental abilities could rely on pouring their own wood elementals into plants to shorten the time they needed to grow, but presently, he didn’t even know how to properly utilize the pitifully limited power elementals inside his body… …
A pet.i.te, snowlwhite figure suddenly appearedjin frontloflLing Xia. Needless to say, itlwas Ah‘Li,jand after walkinglaround him inlajcircle,iit bit onto his pants and tugged. Ling Xia thought that it wanted to playiwith him like before, carefully protectedjthe jade bottleiin alhurry, and reprimanded, “Ah‘Li don’t!mess around.!I’ll play with you later.”l
Ah‘Li squinted its eyes in discontent, gnashed and pulled even harder, and Ling Xia came to a belated realization. Was this Ah‘Li’s way of trying to bring him somewhere?
The masked man laughed, “Youidouble-dipping, unfaithful little thing!”
Hisltone!sounded!like he!was!tacitlyipermitting!Ah‘Li’sactionsjthough,lso LinglXia rea.s.suringlyjwalkedforward,jallowinghimselfito be led alongluntil!theyistopped injfront ofiaiparticularlroom.
This room did notj.a.ppear to beivery large from the outside, butionce LingiXia openedthedoor,lhe discovered that the interior wasjabundantlyis.p.a.cious. Oniboth sidesiofjthe room were aboutiseven or eight tables, all filledwith various kindsjofjodd and strange household utensils made ofldifferent materials placed at even intervals. In the centeriwas a furnace asitall as a grown man, seemingly forithejpurpose of refiningipills.
Ling Xia recalled the cup used during the first exam that detected what elementals his body contained. It was able to magnify the power elementals a person had by a hundredfold, so perhaps there was a similar tool here? If it’s like that, wouldn’t he be able to make use of the wood elementals inside his body for stimulating the seed to grow?
Ah‘Li!watched himbustleaboutwhile curlediupiin a corner,lcuteiascan!be.l
Afterjpositioningleverythingiinlitsplace, LingiXialtookla deeplbreath, placedjhis handontop ofithe bottle like during the exam,!andlimaginedithat thejpeculiar heatiwithin hislbody was slowlyibeingipourediinside. Only afterlajlong time,idid heopenihis eyes.j
He looked down, filled with antic.i.p.ation and hope, but was instantly disappointed… The soil inside the bottle was still as smooth and level as before, without even a slightest bit of change.
Rightiat thisitime, the maskedlmanlappeared!insidelthe room!and whileyawning, thoughtfully lookediat thejarrangementjon!top theitable andlproclaimed,j“Time’s up,lyou didn’tlmakejit.”
Ling Xia nodded somewhat dejectedly and agreed, “No, the seed didn’t sprout.”
The masked man observedihis!disheartened manner with a faceifulllof smiles, touched his chin, and mused, “Sojthe words you saidibefore about not!giving up, looks like thatlwasjall to deceiveime.iAllthat!happened wasithatjit didn’t grow, so is itjnecessary to be this dismayed?Back wheniIicultivated a VoidiJade Herb, it took an entirejyear beforejIlgot it to germinate. You’re just!a kid who fiddled around for 6 hours, and you expectedit toisprout? If it did, wouldn’t that be akiller joke?”
“… …” Ling Xia had no words. After what seemed like forever, he glowered at the other and asked, “Then, was Senior doing all this just to make fun of me?”
Thejmasked man giggled,lleaned back,iandja seatlmanifestedlto catch him just in time as hejconfirmed, “Naturally.”
“… …Haha, Senior is really funny.”
“However,” theimasked man continued, crossingjone!leg over the otherjand swinging itjtwice,j“when I enteredlthis sect alllthose years ago,lI was alow-level disciple who wasscreened as lackingiin power elementals too. Spent3 years lingeringon a smallhillsideland sweeping floors,ibut now, aren’t Iialsojbeing referred to asj‘Senior’ bylyou?lI feel like you have just a tinylsmidgen of apt.i.tude inirefining artifacts and growing plants, and if earnestly tutored andcultivated, in alfew dozenmore years, perhaps you can achieve aiminor accomplishment orltwo.”j
“…j…Much thanksjfor Senior’sjglamorousipraise,”lLing Xia gritted out,lunable!to refrain!from grindingihisiteethiasihis!tone tookiajturnifor!the worse.iHow infuriating!!Heihatedlbeingjplayed likedlthis the most!iAslexpected, it’s muchlmore enjoyable to playiotherlpeople instead.i
Ah‘Li,!clearly a long-timelvictim tojthis kindjofisuffering, rubbedup against!Ling Xia’ss.h.i.+niinisympathy.j
When Ling Xia left, he held that “The Complete Fundamentals in Refining Magical Artifacts” book in his arms. The masked man had ordered him to finish reading it in 3 days, and in addition, use the provided energy stones to refine the easiest magical artifact.
LingjXia criedtears in his heart.lSure enough,ithe life of a!mob character wasito walk the path of support.jWhat the protagonist received from here was guidance!on bodylcultivation,lswordicultivation, andjenergylcultivation you!know!
Furthermore, as the masked man handed “The Complete Fundamentals in Refining Magical Artifacts” to Ling Xia, he even proudly added, “This book contains the best knowledge I collected from far and wide, and I personally wrote it all down using my many years of insight in artifact refinement. Whether in the heavens or on earth, there is only this one copy, so you must read it thoroughly! Haha, seeing how out of so many books, this was the only one you chose, it’s clear that you two were destined by fate.”
No wonder that handwriting was so ugly! Ling Xia felt that this book’s credibility needed to be lowered by 50% at the very least. He had spent 6 hours staying in the masked man’s s.p.a.ce, but when he came out, the sky had only just turned dark. He waited until he stealthily slipped back to his residence and pushed open the door before sighing in relief at last… No matter what, it could be said that he successfully completed his first objective.
“Where didyou go?”l
Ling Xia had placed the book in his hands on the table, and right as he was striking the flint to light the lantern, that familiar voice suddenly sounded from behind. Startled, his hand shook, resulting in him nearly burning himself.
With some surprise, he turned around and asked, “Ah‘Jue, how come you’re here?”
Yu ZhiJue was currently leaning against the head of the bed, and hearing this, slanted him a glare and angrily growled, “You haven’t told me just where exactly you went yet?”
After dropping these words, he walked over and cast a glance at the book on the table. Ling Xia promptly smiled and answered, “I went to the library here to borrow a book, something related to refining magical artifacts.”
Yu ZhiJueiimpatiently countered, “Even so, was thereja need to!come back thisilate? I waited here forlyou for ages!” As soon as theseiwords left his mouth, he felt ajbit chagrined, and even his cheekslheated up a notch. Luckilyfor him, that wasn’t visiblelin thisldim lighting.
Throwingialbaglonlthe!table,lheltheniexplained,l“Wejreceived our monthlylpay, and XiaoHultoldmejtojbringlthis toyou.“i
Ahh, how the children have grown… Ling Xia was emotional to the point of tears, the very picture of a father who received a present from his kid for the very first time, and excitedly opened the bag. It’s just, when he saw the contents, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Around ten energy coins clanked against each other inside, a mix of both level-2 and level-1 types.
Aye, Song XiaoHu was indeeda straightforward child… …He should probably save these for the boy to usein the future for finding a wife.
Ling Xia’s mood wasn’t lacking in thras.h.i.+ng waves of admiration, envy, and hate as he thought about the protagonist’s future harem.
He!carefullyjputlthelbaglaway, andjwithia!bit!mischief,!teased, “Ah‘Jueldidn‘t think oflgiving mejanything?”j
His young, smiling face was pure and open, and in the lantern’s light, radiated the kindness and gentleness of a saint. Along with a pair of dark pupils that twinkled with the candle’s embers, he was an exceptionally moving sight.
Yu ZhiJue turned his head away, a little fl.u.s.tered, and mumbled with a huff, “As if I need you to give me anything. You don’t have that much money anyways.”