A single mung bean-sized Fire Soul Crystal was worth three mid-grade spirit stones. Staring at the feeble flame in the furnace, Jian Xiaolou couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache.
The path of forging was not just about comprehension, arrays, techniques, and materials—another critical factor was the fire source.
The lowest-tier fire, mundane flames used for cooking, was rarely employed by cultivators unless they were destitute—though those in such dire straits were unlikely to become artifact forgers anyway. A step above mundane flames was earth fire, naturally occurring magma harnessed from the earth's veins, widely used in the public furnaces of sects like the Outer Sect's Refining Pavilion.
Fire Soul Crystals ranked even higher. The size of a mung bean, they could burn continuously for seven days and nights. Yue Ze's cave residence used them, and as a result, Jian Xiaolou had grown disdainful of ordinary earth fire.
Beyond this was core fire, a manifestation of fire-type cultivators' dantian energy. The purer the fire spirit vein, the more potent the core fire. Among the current elite eight- and nine-star artifact forgers, every single one had a pure fire spirit root.
Of course, wealth could also bridge the gap. It was said that the Lihuo Essence, produced in the Demon Kingdom's Sea of Flames, rivaled the core fire of Nascent Soul fire cultivators in rarity and value.
Then there were the legendary heavenly fires—so rare they couldn't be bought even with riches. Examples included Divine Woods of Sighs, Vermilion Bird Blood, and Phoenix Blood, all mythical fire sources.
Jian Xiaolou's thoughts turned to the Red Lotus Buddha Treasure within her body.
"The karmic flames of the Eighth Cold Hell are said to incinerate all sins. Could they be used for forging?"
She glanced at Little Blackbird.
"..."
Little Blackbird busily pecked at his fruit.
"Most forging fires are blazing flames, and karmic fire isn't that type. It probably can't be used for forging, right?"
"..."
The bird continued pecking, its tail feathers twitching.
"What a pity," Jian Xiaolou sighed, somewhat regretful.
Her mind wandered for some time, but the furnace had yet to warm up. She sat cross-legged before it, bored. Her thoughts drifted from Zhan Tianxiang's Earth Soul to the mystery of the nameless man refining her Soft Wisp, and eventually, to the inheritance left by White Dragon.
Calling it an inheritance was self-aggrandizing.
From her storage bag, she retrieved two jade boxes, opening them one by one. Tossing aside the letter White Dragon had written to "Night Wanderer," she toyed with a six-sided bone fragment, no larger than half her palm. It was thin and translucent, nearly transparent when held up to the candlelight.
No matter how she probed, it was merely a lifeless object devoid of spiritual energy. She idly played with it until Little Blackbird, having finished his meal, perched on her shoulder. His beady eyes fixed on the bone fragment. After a moment's hesitation, he let out a loud squawk, flapped his wings, and swatted the fragment straight into the furnace.
"What's wrong with you?!"
Jian Xiaolou scrambled to grab it, only to burn her fingers on the furnace's scorching edge. She hastily cast a retrieval spell, but it was too late. Sweeping her divine sense into the furnace revealed no trace of the fragment—it must have been reduced to ash by the Fire Soul Crystal.
Little Blackbird landed back on her shoulder, staring intently at the furnace.
"So I forgot to feed you—big deal! You eat spirit fruits worth a spirit stone for three pieces, better than anything I eat. Even if you went a month without food, you wouldn't starve! What's your problem?" Jian Xiaolou, though feeling guilty, couldn't resist complaining. Heartbroken over the lost fragment, she lamented, "I hadn't figured out its secrets yet. If it truly held an inheritance, I'd cry myself to death."
Little Blackbird continued staring at the furnace, though his gaze seemed to waver.
"Ugh, and I wasted a Fire Soul Crystal!" Jian Xiaolou felt a headache coming on. Raising this ungrateful bird was a constant ordeal. She prepared to extinguish the flame and clean the furnace, but just as she began, an unfamiliar, peculiar voice suddenly resounded in the room.
"Oh, my esteemed Cave Lord, could you at least make an appearance at Ao Qing's birthday banquet? We can leave as soon as you've shown your face."
"Who's speaking?!"
Jian Xiaolou's heart jumped as she instantly activated her protective spiritual aura, her expression sharp as she scanned the room.
"Cave Lord, I beg you, just this once, okay?"
"Cave Lord, are you listening? Even you can't be this lazy…"
"Who are you, skulking in the shadows? Show yourself if you dare!" Jian Xiaolou's nerves were on edge. With the sound-isolating barrier active in her room, how was the voice getting through?
"Cave Lord! Cave Lord! Cave Lord!!"
Just as she felt her sanity slipping, another deeper, groggier voice cut through.
"What are you blathering about?"
The tone was low and hoarse, as if the speaker had just woken up.
"Ao Qing sent an invitation…" the first voice repeated, though clearly exasperated.
"Ao Qing? Who's that? No, never mind. I'm not interested."
"Cave Lord, we've fallen from being Ocean Masters to River Masters, Lake Masters, Pond Masters, and now Island Masters. We've finally hit rock bottom as Cave Lords. Isn't that enough?!"
"Then there's nothing more to fear." A yawn followed. "Hmm..."
"Ahhh..." The first voice sounded utterly defeated.
The room fell silent once more. Jian Xiaolou stared at Little Blackbird in astonishment. She whispered, "Did you hear that?"
Little Blackbird blinked his beady eyes, nodded his head, and let out a soft "caw."
"Are we haunted?" She extended her divine sense cautiously, probing for traces of the voices. Finding nothing, she reluctantly extinguished the Fire Soul Crystal. As she cleaned the furnace, her gaze fell on the six-star bone fragment nestled in the corner.
It hadn't burned to ashes—instead, it now gleamed with a crystalline transparency, surrounded by faint starlike specks.
She retrieved it, cradling the fragment between her fingers as she scrutinized it. It still held no spiritual energy but was undeniably transformed.
"Little Blackbird, do you know where this bone fragment comes from?" Jian Xiaolou held it before the bird, her expression stern. "You clearly know something—why else would you throw it into the furnace? Were those voices coming from this fragment?"
Little Blackbird widened his innocent eyes, his beak moving but unable to speak.
"So noisy."
A deep voice suddenly emerged again.
This time, Jian Xiaolou was sure it came from the fragment. The starlike specks vibrated gently as the voice spoke. "Who dares intrude upon me?"