Chapter 61
The light of dawn carefully brushed through the endless green forest signaling the start of a new day for every creature that lived within. As the sun rose up to the sky, it gives warmth to every living being in this land.
In a tiny part of this huge and endless forest, there exists farmland the size of around 9 sq. hectares. The field is full of life with varied crops growing healthily around it. The thing that made this farm unique from the rest is that the people working in this field are people with a unique contraption on their back, or riding an unknown metal like behemoth which can carefully traverse the land.
Around this place is also a clear indication that it is protected by some array formation which seems to hide the presence of the place. There is also a defensive array formation behind it which makes it hard for any beast to intrude the area.
From the outside, one can only see a small barren hill, with bleak chaotic Qi. And from above one can see trees covering this hill, making it almost invisible to its surroundings.
"Elder Kou, is the master back yet?" a young woman sudden ask an old man who is writing something inside a house in the middle of the field.
"No, not yet. Why do you ask, young lady?" the old man named elder Kou asked with a smile.
He already knows the purpose of this young woman, it is not a secret in this small community that almost all the girls had a crush on their lord. So they would always ask to see him for no matter what reason it may be. And the lord would always say yes to them which clearly show the magnanimity of the young cultivator.
"It has been 3 days that they went out. Would they be okay?" the young woman said with worry clearly shown in her face.
"Haha, this young one should not worry too much. You know how strong our master is, don't be confuse of his kindness to weakness." The wise old man said to the young woman.
"Master Shin Jiao went to town with vice Master Qian Li, and the rest of the Shadow Squad is training in the forest. So it would take them a little bit of time. While they are away, we should focus on our duties to improve our small community." Elder Kou said as he continues on his writing.
The beautiful young woman just pouted a little, turns around and walked away from the place a little frustrated. She now wished that she had volunteered to be one of the Shadow Squad. At that time she was just scared as she could not fathom what her lord was thinking of, turning mortal women into fighters. But when she saw what they can do when they were testing out some new suit that their lord is calling exoskeleton, she was dumbfounded. She can't believe that those simple and weak women can suddenly move and fight like those cultivators. With this result, she became excited and truly admired the tall and handsome young man who made this miracle come true.
"I swear once master came back, I will immediately volunteer to enter the Shadow Squad." The young woman said to herself with determination as she clenched her fist tight.
This mindset is not only limited to her or the young women in this small community but on everyone.
…
Meanwhile, Shin Jiao and Qian Li have already entered the town of Dis disguised as a merchant. Dragging a cart full of beast carcasses and beast cores, the two of them immediately entered the town and went to find a merchant house to dispose of the supposed harvest they had in the forest.
When people would look at the two, they would almost always turn their gaze at Qian Li. Although she is just a mortal servant yet her temperament and beauty are out of this world. Luckily Shin Jiao decided to changed Qian Li's silver hair color and turn it black, or else it would really cause a huge commotion in this town.
At first, when Shin Jaio saw her after she took off her hood, he was actually mesmerized by her silver hair coupled with her beautiful fairy-like face. Although at that time she was still emaciated and thin yet the curves of her body are evident.
"Master, do we need to stay in this town for a while?" Qian Li asked feeling a bit uncomfortable with the stare she is receiving from the passer-by, plus she is already missing the clean water and hot bath they have in the underground base and her clean and comfortable room.
"Yes, I need to know how this town works and how can we integrate ourselves into it." Shin Jiao replied in a low tone.
Qian Li just nods her head as she follows Shin Jiao.
While they were walking they suddenly noticed that many people are gathering in the middle of the town. In front of a platform, one can see rows of young people who look like in their 20's wearing different colored robes and behind every group are flags with the name of their clans on it.
"Who do you think will win this year's crafting competition?"
"I don't care, as long as they are able to create a high-grade spiritual artifact I wouldn't mind spending more spirit stone in it."
"You're right, but I heard that they found something strange in the swamps."
"What? What did they found?"
"I heard it was eyewear or something, but no one knows how to make it work."
"Yeah, I also heard that it's broken."
People are talking to each other as Shin Jiao passed by and was able to listen to their conversation. Qian Li upon hearing this didn't put it in her mind as she already knows that her master is the best craftsman in this land. So she didn't show any interest in this and just followed Shin Jiao silently.
"I guess they found my goggles in that swamp… hmm… do I have to get it back? I don't think they can decipher it that easily. If they forcefully open the main processing box, it would render everything useless as it would only accept my spiritual sense signature." Shin Jiao thought to himself as he listens to those people talking.
Then, from within the group of old bearded men standing on the stage, a green robe old man stepped forward. As he walks towards the center of the stage his robe flutters like an immortal being able to control the elements.
With a majestic aura, the old man infused his voice with his spiritual Qi and spoke.
"Ladies and gentleman! In behalf of the council of elders of the town of Dis, I Sikong Ye, welcome you all to our yearly crafting competition." The old man named Sikong Ye said.
"This year's crafting competition would be different as all of you know that the empire of Xi is now looking for skilled craftsmen. So those of you who will show an impressive performance this year's competition will be sent to the empire for further training. Perform well and good luck!" after saying that Sikong Ye moved back to the group of elders standing behind him.
Then suddenly a young woman wearing a tight red cultivator's robe walks up to the stage and began to announce the rules and criteria of the contest.
Shin Jiao listened carefully at the announcement and was shocked and amazed at the same time by what he heard.
He learned that every artifact either attacking, defensive, support or auxiliary has three grades in them; low, mid, and high. Then it is also divided into five different categories of strength.
The first is the mortal level, which is just a lump of iron turned into an artifact and is commonly used by mortals or low-level cultivators. Although high-grade mortal level artifacts are strong, and can even be used by gold core realm cultivators, just the fact that mortal level artifact can't channel Qi makes its value lower than low-level spirit artifact.
The second is the spirit level, a type of artifact which can hold at least 1 type of elemental Qi. This is the starting stage of a true artifact for cultivators as these artifacts are even sometimes used by some nascent realm cultivators. The basic flying swords given to sect disciples belong to this level.
The third is the soul level, a type of artifact that can only be used when refined by a cultivator; these artifacts would be mentally connected to a cultivator and can be controlled without expending a large amount of spiritual Qi. This is already considered as a legendary artifact for lower realm cultivators and is the main artifact for nascent realm cultivators.
The fourth one is the Dao level, an artifact which carries traces of laws in it. These kinds of artifacts are truly rare as it could not be crafted easily unless the crafter is already in the Deity realm. If a cultivator holds these artifacts while their cultivation level is lower than the nascent realm, they would be reduced to ashes by the Dao law inside that artifact.
The fifth and the last is the divine level, this artifact comes from the body or blood of the deities. It is considered as the most powerful artifact in the land, and those it deems unworthy of its presence are destroyed before anyone could approach it.
"So these are the types of artifacts, why is it that Gubu didn't explain these things in his jade slip?" Shin Jiao thought as he considered some things in his mind.
But no matter how he thinks about it, Shin Jiao is unable to understand what's Gubu's purpose for not including this information. Although he felt a bit confused but still looking at the artifact grading and levels he can say that most of his artifacts are mid to high grade, and every single one of them is a spirit level artifact.
Upon realizing this Shin Jiao suddenly had a determined glint in his eyes, his goal in crafting would be to reach the soul level so that he can make stronger artifacts.
As Shin Jiao was in deep thought a beautiful figure flashed by him walking at a fast pace towards the outer gate of the town on the opposite side of the forest.
Then that figure stopped in front of a carriage and looked at the young woman peeking through its window.
"Senior sister Qin Lou, are you sure that you wanted to stay here? I would really love for the two of us to return back to the city of Er." Susu Ling said as she looks at Qin Lou outside the carriage.
"Your family is already missing you so you need to go back. As for me and Lemy, we will be staying here with elder Ao in the alchemy school branch in this town. I will wait for him here because I know that he is still out there." Qin Lou said as her gaze turns towards the vast and endless forest.
"Sigh… I know, if not for my father I would have stayed here too. We'll when you see him you three must come back to the city okay? Promise?" Susu Ling said as reluctance can be seen in her expression.
Qin Lou just nods her head, as she is a woman with little words and would only express herself when she is with Susu Ling.
She watched as the rows of carriages marched forth towards the direction of the City of Er. Qin Lou just stood there unmoving as her gaze followed one of her true friends leave. She didn't move in that place until the carriage disappears into the horizon.
Meanwhile, Shin Jiao and Qian Li watched the tournament proceedings. Shin Jiao is really interested in the level of crafting technique that the cultivators will show in this town. The first part of the competition is like a battle royale, everyone would craft an artifact and the judges will only choose those that can pass the requirements, which is a mid-grade mortal level.
Shin Jiao noticed that in this first part of the competition alone, he can already deduce that almost all the craftsmanship of these cultivators are subpar from being good. And it seems that everyone here is really just novice artificer. So he just shook his head and turn around wanting to return to the inn they are staying.
"Master, I think they are just beginner craftsman. The way they refine and craft artifact is really taxing. Even elder Wan Bing is better than any of them." Qian Li suddenly said as she followed behind Shin Jiao.
Qian Li was there when Shin Jiao taught some of the women on how to craft. Using a machine powered by a beast core, Shin Jiao was able to simulate his basic way of crafting. And because of this, the women were able to produce low-quality guns. But the guns they produced are enough to kill a level 2 beast, and if overcharged it would even kill a level 3 beast but will break after just 1 shot.
But unexpectedly someone from the crowd heard her and that cultivator's ear perked up. He then followed secretly the duo towards the inn. Shin Jiao at first didn't notice the man, but later on, as they walked, his instinct kicks in and found the man following them.
When he checked the aura of the man following them, he dismissed the worry in his mind as the man is just a lowly cultivator. As long as the man would not do anything to them or would suddenly act suspicious, Shin Jiao would not cause some trouble. He didn't know why this person is following them but he didn't care about the reason, as long as he didn't cause trouble Shin Jiao would not take any action. But if the man becomes a threat, then he would treat the man as an initiation rite for Qian Li's first blood.
After following Shin Jiao and Qian Li, the man suddenly went towards a dark corner, then he suddenly took out a long-range communication crystal and waited for the other side to pick up. Then after some time, he heard a voice on the other side.
"Master, I think I found two suspicious people. The girl looks really familiar, I recognized her because of her voice. Though the color of her hair is wrong however with that face and voice I'm sure it's her." The man said quickly then he paused as he waited for a reply.
Then not long after that, the communication crystal in his hand quivered as he suddenly received a message. After understanding what he should do, disdain suddenly appears on his face.
"Don't worry young master, I'll do as you command."