Chapter 61
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Chapter 61: Spirit Heart Ore
After Ye Xiaoyao left, Xu Fan couldn’t help but think about Wang Yulun, who had exposed his identity, and felt a bit annoyed. Since revealing his status as an artifact master, he had already crafted six second-tier precious artifact flying swords for Ye Xiaoyao, three of which were practically given away for free. And still, it wasn’t enough.
Xu Fan thought to himself that Ye Xiaoyao was really insatiable when it came to flying swords.
“Ah, even a peaceful life has its ups and downs. Wouldn’t it be better to just live quietly?”
“And Yuexian, next time, don’t transform into such an ugly stone. It’s too distracting,” Xu Fan said casually. As Xu Yuexian’s light shadow concealment technique became more refined, he found it increasingly challenging to detect her.
A figure appeared beside Xu Fan, holding a little notebook.
It read: "249th time being discovered. Reason: The transformed object was too ugly."
Xu Fan watched Xu Yuexian jotting down notes and couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride. Her rapid progress wasn’t without reason.
“Master, did you really notice me just because the stone I transformed into was too ugly?” Xu Yuexian asked as she handed Xu Fan a cup of freshly brewed tea.
“Not just that. There are other reasons. You’ll understand when I can’t detect you anymore.”
“For now, keep practicing.”
Xu Fan took a satisfying sip of tea and asked, “Did you find anything interesting during this mission?”
Ever since Xu Yuexian joined the Treasure Pavilion, she always brought back some unique and fascinating items from her missions, adding a bit of excitement to Xu Fan’s otherwise calm life.
A piece of lightning-struck willow wood appeared in front of Xu Fan.
“I found this yesterday. I almost lost all my artifacts trying to get it.”
Xu Fan ignored Xu Yuexian’s comment and picked up the lightning-struck willow wood, examining it closely.
“Perfect, absolutely perfect!” Xu Fan exclaimed excitedly. Deep within the wood, he had discovered the purest and most harmonious lightning runes, perfectly aligned with the Dao.
A faint but dazzling thread of lightning was absorbed into Xu Fan’s body, and the lightning runes within it were integrated into his spiritual space.
After fully comprehending the lightning runes, Xu Fan crushed the lightning-struck willow wood and condensed the green light within it.
He took out several spiritual herbs, extracted their essences, and merged them with the green light, forming spirit pills. He stored them in a jade bottle and tossed it to Xu Yuexian.
“These spirit pills contain the purest life force, and I’ve stabilized their structure. If you’re ever in danger, taking one will fully restore you.”
“Thank you, Master,” Xu Yuexian said with a smile. She already had plenty of life-saving treasures, but it never hurt to have more.
“I benefited too. I’ll count this as your first merit,” Xu Fan said with a grin. The lightning runes he had obtained were his greatest recent discovery.
With these lightning runes, he could create many intriguing artifacts.
“By the way, what’s your brother been up to lately?” Xu Fan asked. It had been a while since that little rascal had come home.
“He’s been following Uncle Wang on missions. Uncle Wang is his team leader now,” Xu Yuexian replied.
“I see,” Xu Fan said.
Wang Yulun was now an inner sect disciple of Que Tian Gate and had successfully reached second-grade Foundation Establishment six months ago. Xu Fan couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed that Wang Yulun hadn’t pushed himself harder. Back then, Xu Fan had put in a lot of effort, but it still fell short, mainly due to Wang Yulun’s weak foundation.
“When you see your brother, remind him not to focus solely on cultivation. Sometimes, progressing too quickly isn’t a good thing. Just look at your Uncle Wang—he worked so hard, but he only reached second-grade Foundation Establishment. If he wants to ascend to the Upper World, he’ll need to put in a lot more effort,” Xu Fan said, shaking his head.
Xu Fan’s goal was to guide his two disciples toward becoming immortals. The techniques they practiced and the treasures they used were all of the highest quality.
It wasn’t easy to nurture a disciple. They couldn’t just focus on surviving in this realm; they had to continue thriving in the vast Thousand Worlds beyond.
“I understand, Master,” Xu Yuexian said, nodding. Deep down, she felt incredibly lucky that she and her brother had found such an exceptional master.
“You go ahead and take care of your things. I’ll be crafting some items here,” Xu Fan said as he stood up and walked to the artifact crafting room. The newly obtained lightning runes made him eager to practice.
“Then Master, I’ll make you dinner,” Xu Yuexian replied.
“I’m not hungry. If you want to cook, make something for yourself,” Xu Fan casually said.
Arriving at the artifact crafting room, Xu Fan took out several refined dark iron pieces, directly unlocking the seal of the spirit fire furnace to begin crafting the artifact.
“First, I’ll craft a spear.”
Under the influence of the spirit fire, the dark iron softened. Xu Fan used shaping techniques to break it down into three spears and three iron wires several meters long.
As the spirit fire extinguished, Xu Fan used both hands to inscribe the runes.
“Dark Magnetic Rune, Electric Rune, Lightning Runes, Armor-Breaking, Reinforcement, Sound Silencing…”
As Xu Fan inscribed, the three artifacts slowly took shape.
A dark iron wire wrapped around the spear from the tip to the tail. According to Xu Fan’s idea, this spear would likely only be usable once, given its hardness.
"I’ll let Xu Gang and Yuexian go out later to test the power of the artifacts," Xu Fan said, looking at the completed spear.
“And for the name, let’s call it Electromagnetic No. 1.”
That evening, Xu Gang stepped onto the little hill right as dinner time arrived.
“Master, I’m back!” Xu Gang shouted as he entered, with a somewhat awkward Wang Yulun following behind him.
“Just come back quietly; no need to shout,” Xu Fan said, glancing at Wang Yulun behind Xu Gang. That kid still had the nerve to come.
“Big Brother Xu, I’m here,” Wang Yulun said, his expression a bit unnatural. Ever since he had accidentally revealed Xu Fan’s identity as an artifact master to Ye Xiaoyao, he had felt too intimidated to approach Xu Fan.
“Oh! Isn’t this the Foundation Establishment Stage senior? What brings you to my humble home?” Xu Fan asked, his tone calm and relaxed, noticing that this kid had become bolder.
“Please, please, Big Brother Xu, don’t say that. I’m scared.”
Wang Yulun quickly presented a prepared gift.
“Big Brother Xu, this is an unknown spirit ore I found in a beast’s lair, so I specially brought it for you to admire.” Wang Yulun handed over a basketball-sized piece of black spirit ore, trying to be very flattering.
This was the way Xu Gang suggested he apologize, saying that his master liked rare and unusual items. If he couldn’t find one, buying valuable spirit ore would work as well.
Xu Fan, who was about to get angry, saw the black spirit ore before him and slowly calmed down, beginning to closely examine and evaluate it.
Half an hour later, Xu Fan finally looked up, letting out a breath as he suppressed his excitement and said to Wang Yulun, “Not bad, you’ve done well. The incident of exposing my identity is over.”
Upon hearing this, Wang Yulun instantly smiled with joy. He truly didn’t want to offend the mighty Xu Fan and felt he should serve him well.
After all, there would be many future requests he needed to make of Xu Fan.
“Yuexian, your Uncle Wang is here. Prepare a couple more dishes, and also bring out the spirit wine I’ve treasured for many years,” Xu Fan instructed the kitchen.
“Got it!” Xu Yuexian’s bright voice responded.
“Master, I’ll go help sister cook,” Xu Gang said as he ran to the kitchen.
Wang Yulun watched Xu Fan’s uncontrollable smile and curiously asked, “Big Brother Xu, what kind of spirit ore is this that makes you so happy?”
“This is a very rare spirit ore. It’s of little use to ordinary artifact masters, but it holds tremendous value for me.”
“This spirit ore is called Spirit Heart Ore. It is extremely rare in the cultivation world. Its only function is to preserve consciousness for an extended period. Most importantly, it can merge with all artifacts.”
“If this Spirit Heart Ore is merged into a puppet, then…”
“Never mind; it’s useless to explain all this to you. Just know that this thing is beneficial to me.”
Seeing Wang Yulun’s bewildered expression, Xu Fan quickly lost the desire to explain further.
“Later, I’ll give you a list. You buy what’s on it, and I’ll craft you a set of Spiritual Energy Armor at the precious artifact level.”
“Really? Thank you, Big Brother Xu!” Wang Yulun exclaimed excitedly. Ever since he advanced to the Foundation Establishment Stage, the effectiveness of his Spiritual Energy Armor had significantly declined; it could only enhance his strength by half.
He had initially planned to ask Xu Fan for a set of precious artifact-level Spiritual Energy Armor, which Xu Fan had promised before, but he hadn’t expected to offend him right then.
“I know your little thoughts well enough. Don’t worry; I’m not one to go back on my word,” Xu Fan said with a smile, thinking to himself unless you offend me.
