Chapter 49

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Chapter 49: Town of Zhenhai

“Young one, would you like to become my disciple? You have the talent of a master craftsman in artifact crafting,” the elder said kindly, looking at Xu Fan.

Here we go again. Why does every big shot want to take on a disciple? Am I really that appealing?

Hearing that his master wanted to take Xu Fan as a disciple, Sha Diao immediately began to make faces at Xu Fan and transmitted a message, “Junior Brother Xu, quickly agree! My master is a master craftsman, and even the sect leader respects him.”

“From now on, we’ll be fellow brothers in the sect.”

At this moment, Xu Fan bowed to the elder.

“I dare not hide anything from you, senior. I am interested in both alchemy and artifact crafting. I worry that being your disciple may not be suitable,” Xu Fan said.

In the cultivation world, alchemists and artifact crafters often looked down on each other, but once they encountered cultivators adept in both, they would unite, unless one became a double master in both fields.

“You’re quite honest, young one. Now let me ask you, which do you prefer, alchemy or artifact crafting?” the elder asked with a smile, understanding youthful arrogance.

“I prefer artifact crafting,” Xu Fan answered frankly.

“Would you like to become my registered disciple? I can grant you access to the inner sect Tian Lian Peak.”

“If you ever decide to specialize in artifact crafting, you can join my teachings.”

Xu Fan remained silent, quietly drawing a very complex rune formation in the air. As someone with peerless talents, he held onto his pride.

Seeing the rune formation being drawn by Xu Fan, the elder’s eyes glimmered with interest.

“I understand your meaning. You may leave now.”

“In your free time, feel free to come back and chat with this old man,” the elder said, handing Xu Fan a token that allowed entry into the inner sect.

“Thank you, senior.”

Xu Fan returned to the deck, feeling the sea breeze and watching the massive deep-sea beast corpses being dragged ashore from time to time.

“Truly, once the cannon is fired, it’s incredibly profitable.”

“No wonder the sect gathered all its strength back then; they were willing to live on nothing just to get the Floating Sky Ship.”

“Just hunting these giant beasts is worth it.”

At that moment, the entire Floating Sky Ship fleet slowed down. All the warships retreated to the sides of the Floating Sky Ship, forming a cone shape, and the protective shields on the ships were fully activated.

“Encountered a wave of sea beasts ahead, no Great Ascension Stage beasts detected, battle level: B.”

With the fleet’s transmitted message, the Floating Sky Ship accelerated to its maximum speed, charging fiercely toward the nearby surging tide of sea beasts alongside nine other warships.

“Wow, is this how you use the Floating Sky Ship?” Xu Fan exclaimed in surprise.

Before Xu Fan could marvel again, the fleet collided hard with the wave of sea beasts.

As the Floating Sky Ship shook violently, the surrounding waters turned red, with shattered beast bodies scattered across the sea.

Like a cavalry clash, the entire Floating Sky Ship fleet turned around, and all the giant cannons on the warships illuminated.

After a barrage of relentless fire, the sea surface gradually returned to calm.

At this time, Nascent Soul Stage cultivators began operating the massive web artifact to collect the corpses from the sea surface, and the entire fleet came to a halt. From the Floating Sky Ship, several squads of Golden Flame Birds soared in all directions.

“Are we looking for treasure after defeating the monsters?” Xu Fan wondered aloud.

At that moment, Ye Xiaoyao approached Xu Fan, carrying a sword box.

“Where beasts gather, it’s definitely a treasure location, and there are usually high-energy spirit ores.”

“If we’re lucky, we might even stumble upon some ruins,” Ye Xiaoyao explained to Xu Fan with a grin.

“Ruins? Are there really ruins here?” Xu Fan asked, puzzled.

“Yes, some great beings ascend to the Endless Sea to face their final tribulation.”

“Ah, I see. Brother Ye, don’t you have any tasks to handle?”

“Oh, our team is stationed on the Floating Sky Ship, so we don’t need to venture out. Once we locate spirit ore, we’ll head straight for it.”

Just then, the Floating Sky Ship began to move slowly in a specific direction.

Half an hour later, the ship came to a halt on the sea. A Core Formation stage cultivator emerged from the top of the ship and tossed out a massive artifact, which landed on the water’s surface.

As the artifact expanded, a Giant City materialized on the sea, seemingly suspended in the void, unaffected by the waves.

“Is this a city artifact?” Xu Fan remarked, staring at the city walls that stretched at least 20 kilometers.

“This is a cave-type artifact. Looks like we’ll be staying here for at least a month.”

With that, Ye Xiaoyao grabbed Xu Fan and flew toward the city.

“Little Fan, your ship token can unlock the doors to the ordinary courtyards in the Town of Zhenhai. You’ll be staying here for the next month or so.”

“If you get bored in the city, you can go treasure hunting or team up to hunt beasts. If that doesn’t interest you, you can take on some alchemy tasks.”

“Just make sure not to wander more than a thousand miles outside the Town of Zhenhai.”

After dropping Xu Fan off in the city, Ye Xiaoyao left to attend to other duties.

Standing on the main street of the Town of Zhenhai, Xu Fan noticed how many people from the Floating Sky Ship had arrived. A steady stream of cultivators was flying into the town.

“Well, no point overthinking it. I should find a place to stay first.”

Following Ye Xiaoyao’s advice, Xu Fan picked an ordinary courtyard and settled in.

A day later, news spread that a massive spirit stone vein had been discovered beneath the waters near the Floating Sky Ship. The vein was said to contain countless high-quality spirit stones, and estimates suggested it could bring hundreds of billions of spirit stones to the Que Tian Gate.

The entire town buzzed with excitement. Such spirit stone veins were rare, even in the Endless Sea.

“This middle thousand world truly lives up to its reputation. Resources are so abundant that spirit stones are counted in the billions.”

As Xu Fan wandered the streets, hoping to stumble upon something interesting, he ran into Sha Yan and her brother.

“Junior Brother Xu, how about opening an artifact crafting shop with me? Just repairing artifacts for the cultivators heading out to fight could earn us tens of thousands of spirit stones this month,” Sha Diao said enthusiastically, tugging at Xu Fan’s sleeve.

Both he and Xu Fan were first-tier artifact masters, and together they might craft some high-quality artifacts.

“If artifact crafting isn’t your thing, you can join me in alchemy. You’ll get to see many spiritual herbs from the depths of the sea,” Sha Yan chimed in, extending her own invitation.

Just as Xu Fan was about to agree, a cough interrupted him.

“Sha Yan, come over here. Don’t hang around with artifact crafters.”

Xu Fan turned to see Sha Diao’s father, Sha Jing Tian, the alchemist who had once considered taking Xu Fan as a disciple.

Sha Yan gave Xu Fan an apologetic glance before obediently returning to her father’s side. Meanwhile, Sha Diao turned his head away, sulking like a child.

“Alright, Brother Sha, they’re gone now,” Xu Fan said.

Only then did Sha Diao turn back.

“Junior Brother Xu, what do you say? We’ve got nothing better to do anyway.”

Sha Diao’s words swayed Xu Fan, and soon the Town of Zhenhai welcomed a new establishment: Sha Diao’s Artifact Crafting Shop.