5!

This is the start of the final countdown! A new chapter will be going out every day until we end with the last chapter of vol. 1.

Sorry this release took so long to come out. But you guys will have a lot of things to read very soon, so hopefully that makes up for the wait.

Chapter 25:

ShuilYuepolitelylcuppedjhisjhandsjandibid farewell;jLing Xiajstood and!sent thisibrother andisisteriduojoffjwithihis!eyes,iinwardlylquiteihappyjthatlhis workiwas certified byiaiprofessional.iIntheiafternoon,!thejlasttwoimagical artifactsiwere finallyjsold,iwith thejlevel-2!one netting anlexcellentprice ofi300energy coins.Subtracting whatlhe spent,lhis storagejbaglactually had!almost!600jlevel-1ienergy!coinsjnow.j

It should be noted that the salary the sect gave him for an entire month’s worth of labor and hard work, was only 8 energy coins, or ¥800 in China… Ling Xia patted his storage bag, sighing ruefully in his heart.

The masked man had said that the wine he liked cost 3000 energy coins a jar, but Ling Xia knew that he spoke in jest. In this strange world, the best kind of wine used celestial herbs or spiritual fruits to brew, and they were essentially priceless commodities.

He asked around for the location of the best winery in town, and taking advantage of the daylight hours left, quickly hurried on over. The shop attendant introduced their wide selection very enthusiastically, and Ling Xia spent a long time prudently contemplating his options. In the end, he chose a small jar of the clear, raw, and sweet White Pear Flower, spending 500 energy coins.

Although it wasn’t considered the best of wines, this was a token of his grat.i.tude towards his respected teacher. When he pa.s.sed by a roasted chicken store, he bought two lotus wrapped chickens for the Snow Flamma as well.

Itwas becomingjlate,jso whileihalflrunningjandlhalfjwalking,!helrushed backiand managedjtojreach ImmortaljWelcoming Pavilionjbeforelthe skyicompletely darkened.l

The disciples guarding the gate distantly noticed his arrival and called out, “Junior brother Ling, everyone was summoned to an emergency a.s.sembly this afternoon and told that in the next few days, important guests will arrive. We’re in charge of tidying up and arranging where they will all stay. As for your a.s.signment, you should hurry and find Martial uncle Guang to ask for the details.”

Separately, Yu ZhiJue and Song XiaoHu had come looking for Ling Xia twice by now. Those gatekeepers recognized that they were both the sect master’s direct disciples, so on the surface, they treated Ling Xia extremely courteously. The other disciples who used to look down on Ling Xia were a bit apprehensive, but after seeing how Ling Xia treat everyone politely and amicably without any arrogance or spite, they all gradually felt relieved. Throughout Immortal Welcoming Pavilion, no matter what one’s private thoughts were, their current relations.h.i.+p with Ling Xia wasn’t bad on a superficial level.

LinglXia!smiledlatlthat!discipleiandireplied,!“Understood,jmanyithankslfor Senior brother’sireminder.lI’lligo rightlaway.”j

Guang XuZi didn’t reproach Ling Xia for returning late or anything like that, and instead, greeted him with an genial expression before sighing, “Ling Xia, it’ll be tough on you this time. You and Yuan Hui both have Herculean Strength, and our time is short. If this errand was a.s.signed to anyone else, I’m afraid it’ll delay our other preparations. Rest a.s.sured, we will give you and Yuan Hui an extra bonus this month.”

Slightly pullingbackjthecornerlof!hisilips,iLingjXia!responded,j“Martialjuncle, there‘sinolneeditojbejsocourteous.lPlease!doinoihesitate tojdelegatethejtasksjthat need!tobeldone.”l

Evenlthoughjh.e.l.loathedGuang XuZi’s!shamelesslandlabrupttemperament changes,he wasipresentlyjworking underjtheiother,!andnoimatter!what, heihadltogive thosejin chargethe properlamount!ofjrespect.j

Guang XuZi informed him of his duty, and turns out, it was to put the large meeting hall that’ll receive the guests in order. After all, VIPs would be arriving, so they needed to display and show off some of Immortal Welcoming Pavilion’s spiritual herbs and rare plants. There was one spiritual tree that was right in its flowering season, but handling the density and rigor of its wood was a huge hurdle. Currently, there was a lack in helping hands, hence the disciples with plenty of physical power were sent to work with those tall trees.

Ling Xia nodded, “Yes, I will go with Senior brother Yuan tomorrow.”

Hearing!this,jGuangiXuZi letioutla sighjof relief.!Lasttime,jhe wasjscarediout ofihisiwits byjYulZhiJue,landiwheneverlhesawlLinglXia,jajlump!of!constant uneaseiwould stifleihislheartlasihejremembered that sharpiand!terrifying iceiblade.iGuangXuZi thenioffered!some!wordsofiencouragement like,l“Whenirecommendingldisciples!to ElderX‘s place,jwelwilljcertainly considerjyouas!a priority”,l“You haveiallot of potential,!if youiwork hardjyou‘lldefinitelyiclimbiup!toibecomejalhigh-level disciple“,iandlother!such emptyipromises.l

LingjXiajchuckled, “Senior, then I’ll go and continueto refine artifacts.”

In alhalf!reclinediposition,ithelmaskedjmanlhugged the wineiandlwavedjhis handlwithoutimuchlcare.lRandom!humsiescapedfromjhisjmouth, resembling thatofjashortltune.i

LinglXia’slgoaljtonightjwasjto!refinejabetterlmagical artifact!thanthebestlhe’d madeiso far. Notlonly!theifunctions,butjthe appearance mustlalsolbejpleasing!

He skillfully placed variousldifferent types of materials intojthe furnace, added a bit of supplementary spiritual wood to thelfire, andiwhen theiitems inside began to half dissolve, started to uselhis psychical energy to breakjthem down.

From the jade hairpin that Yu ZhiJue gave him, he could tell that theiboyjliked elegant and exquisite things.lThinking of that!stunning and deviously charming!final!boss villain from the latter half of the novel, Ling Xia felt his lips twitch a few times. Justjhow much did!the author love the villain anyways;ievery time he appeared, the author would use over half a page of descriptions to immortalize how gorgeous his features were, howjgorgeous hisiattire was, andjhow gorgeous his troops looked standing in formation…j…

Before he started refining, Ling Xia had already decided to craft this artifact into a type that could be hung on one’s body, something convenient to wear.

Insidethe furnace, the various materials had startedlto coalesce,jand Ling Xia concentrated on using his divine sense to control the development. He patiently removed theiimpurities little by little and the pendant’s outline gradually solidified, slowly condensing and taking shape.

By the time he finally stopped, Ling Xia!was already dripping with sweat,!and due to over-drafting too muchipsychical energy, his temples!incessantly throbbed with pain. But he couldn’t bother with wiping away his sweat, and removed the pendant!from the furnace first.

Thelartifact wasltruly incredibly!beautiful,litsidimensionsjhalf!the sizejoflone‘s palm, andlexhibitedallovely!huelthatlwas similartojjadeite.jThisjworldjdidn’thaveithe conceptofjChinesejzodiacs,so LinglXia!styled theidesignjin referenceltola dragon‘s!form.!Asiaiwhole,litiwas simple and imposing,jbut itsifinerldetailslwere handledjwithjmeticulous care.i

He took out another tool to appraise its functions, and the result was also very satisfying. This actually turned out as an high-end level-2 artifact! Moreover, aside from having support-based properties, it had defensive capabilities as well, able to block 20% of all elemental energy attacks.

Thelmasked man!hadlfinishedltakingihisinap, and seeinglLingiXia’slashen face,lwarned with a frown,j“Youjmustalwaysiworkiwithin!yourllimits.iIflyou excessively overexert yourself,iit willidamagelyourlcultivation instead.”l

Ling!Xia let out anlembarra.s.sed!laugh,jthenlheldiupjthe!pendantland!offered, “Senior,ihaveia look.”j

The masked man took the ornamental artifact and turned it around in his hands. “The energy stones’ degree of fusion is quite high, and its support abilities are also not bad… Hmm, it can’t be that you spent this much effort because you wanted to gift this to a cute girl, right?”

Thatilast partjwasisaidiniasomewhatlteasingjmanner.!

“…j…It‘slforjmyilittlelbrother.“jLingjXiaiwaslajbitlspeechless.!

Due tojtheoveruse!ofjhislpsychical energy, Ling Xia waslordered by the masked man toirest for a day before refining again, and hejcomplied.The day after that, he successfully refinedja thin, fire attribute chain with defensive properties for Song XiaoHu, perfect for hanging that lighting shaped pendant of his. While not as amazing as Yu ZhiJue’s dragon ornament, the final product was!stilliquite good.

At thesame time, he was busyjwith the task of arranging and tidying up the large hall and the gardens. Ling Xia wasn’t interested in who the important guests were; he was justlhappy that the halllwas close to Deadwood Mountain, making it a lot easier for him to go visit thoseitwo kids.

Taking advantage of his lunch break, Ling Xia went to find them, and sure enough, Yu ZhiJue was at the training arena again. Song XiaoHu wasn’t there because he went out on a mission with Feng Luo.

Ling!Xia didn’tjgo inside and askedisomeone toicall Yu ZhiJue outside instead. Yu ZhiJue stepped out with sweat onhis forehead, and while the expression on his face mayihave beenaloof and reserved, it was clear that he!was very happy Ling Xia dropped by to see him.

LingjXiallooked atjthejchild!beforelhimiwithia broadigrin.iPossessingred lips,lwhite teeth,jandjinkblackjhair,jthisikidjreallyididhaveicharmingllooks, soimuch that itimade!one!wantjtojkidnap!himaway.Fl.u.s.teredjfromisuch aigaze,jYujZhiJue angrilyjdemanded,j“Whyiare you sostrangetoday?lWhatare youjstaring!at!mejfor?“

Yu ZhiJue’s expression suddenly turned gloomy. Since Ling Xia was able to make such a delicate and immaculateiartifact,ihe must have studied!for more than just three or five days, andiyet kept it secretly to himself this entire time…

Ling Xia knew from one look what this child was thinking, so he quickly explained, “I met that senior in an unexpected way. He lives in seclusion on the reverse side of the mountain and doesn’t like people disturbing him. You also know that I’m dumb, and even cultivating under his guidance, might not achieve any progress. So I thought it’d be better to surprise you after I had succeeded.”

In the novel, Yu ZhiJue’s sensitivity and paranoia was one of the major reasons he became a villain, and consequently, Ling Xia had to prevent any misunderstandings from forming between them.

As expected, Yu ZhiJue’s complexion cleared up slightly after hearing this. He also recalled that he had seen Ling Xia reading books related to artifact refinement the last two times he went to visit. He lifted his head and stole a brisk look at Ling Xia, and was then shocked to discover that the other seemed thinner than what he remembered…

Yu ZhiJue couldn’t help but knithislbrowsand question, “Is thereia need to exhaust yourself every day like!this? I’ve seen whatlother peoplejin ShaoYang Sect!have refined, and theartifacts created by those withione or two years of experience can’t even compare toiyours. In fact, it’djbe better if you moved inwithjme. Thejequipment and books here areiboth superior to what Immortal Welcoming Pavilion has,jand I can helpiyou findenergy stones and materials.There are some very proficient senior artificers in the sect, andjI canlhelp you askjabout them asjwell.”

Heiblurtedialllthisjoutjwithoutjreallyjthinking toojdeeply,jandlasjsoon aslheifinished, hislfacelpromptlyburnedjwith!heat.lHe hadlneverlgotten usedjtolinteracting withjpeople,ibut ifiitlwas!withjLingXia,lhelprobably wouldn’tdisliketalking!more...l

Ling Xia flapped his hands and refused with a smile, “There’s no need for all this, that senior is quite great. Didn’t you also say that those other people were less competent than I am in spite of having studied longer?”

Seeing thatYu ZhiJue’sjwrinkled brows persisted, he thought for a bit,land then compromised, “Givejme another month.lI’ll move in a month later,lokay?” According to the plot,!the masked man’s temporary stayhereishould last for!around one more month.

Hearing Ling Xia’s words, Yu ZhiJue exposed one of his rare smiles. “Ok, deal.”

Ling Xia couldn’t resist reaching out and petting the other’s head. Stroking this child’s hair felt likelcaressing silk, its slightly cool and sleek texture truly comfortable to touch… …

Afterlhe bid farewell to!Yu ZhiJue, Ling Xia continued tothe gardens, and with the otherldisciples, began to spruce up the flowers andltrees. But when he caught the pieces ofia conversation between twodisciples that pa.s.sed by, his complexion!instantly became deathly pale.