Chapter 115: Chapter 114: Sword Refinement Choice

"By the way, was the Ancestor truly just an ordinary Inner Sect Disciple of the Fish Dragon Sect?"

Bai Zichen voiced the question that had been weighing on his mind.

"Are there any secrets passed down through the Clan that explain the mystery?"

"No... It’s not just you and I; even the past few Clan Leaders have had the same suspicion."

Bai Xianzhong gave a bitter smile. His knowledge of the Ancestor wasn’t much greater than that of any other clan member.

"Before I took over as Clan Leader, the previous leader mentioned in a casual chat that the Ancestor’s origins are mysterious."

"The so-called story of stumbling upon a predecessor’s Cave Mansion and finding a Foundation Establishment Pill might not even be true."

"Then, are there any words passed down about the Fish Dragon Sect?"

Bai Zichen asked urgently.

Having browsed through the numerous miscellaneous records in the Transmission Hall, he was well aware that only a power with Nascent Soul-level combat strength was qualified to call itself a Sect.

"No, only that the Ancestor was ostracized in the Fish Dragon Sect and traveled west... which means that sect is east of Black Mountain."

"What was the Ancestor’s name?"

Bai Zichen then recalled that the first line on the ancestral tablet enshrined in the depths of the clan hall bore no specific name.

Just the words, "Founder of the Ink Bamboo Bai Family."

"Bai. Mucheng."

Bai Xianzhong explained that it was a rule passed down through generations not to write the Ancestor’s name on the tablet.

Bai Mucheng.

Bai Zichen committed the name to memory. ’This ancestor of mine is certainly mysterious enough.’

"One more thing. The Clan will probably receive the notice in a few days... The Sect has already issued the Pioneer Decree."

"It’s finally here..."

Bai Xianzhong showed little fear on his face; he had clearly been mentally prepared for a long time.

"Ever since Ancestor Yangg’s words, the Bai Family has been preparing for this. Are there any specific instructions from the Upper Sect?"

"Noble Cultivation Families must send twenty people, and Cultivation Families must send ten, each led by a Foundation Establishment Cultivator... This is only the first wave. As the war intensifies, more will be drafted."

Bai Zichen relayed the contents of the Elders’ meeting truthfully. It would be spread throughout Black Mountain in a few days anyway.

"The target is Feiyue Lake. After three months of drilling to familiarize themselves with battle arrays, they will set out."

"Good. For the past few years, I have deliberately strengthened the combat skills of the clan’s younger generation and issued clan missions to purchase Demon Beast corpses. I only hope that fewer of our Bai Family children will die in the pioneering war."

Bai Zichen fell silent. In a war of conquest as vast as this, who could claim to be absolutely safe?

After a long moment, he said, "If I have the chance, I’ll look after our Bai Clan members."

After emerging from the Water Curtain Cave, Bai Zichen spoke only with his uncle, Bai Jiu’an, for a long time.

His two childhood playmates were no longer in the Clan, and his blood ties with the other members were distant. They had little contact and no deep emotional bond to speak of.

"Uncle, you should wear this Magical Artifact... It’s not of much use to me anymore, but if you’re drafted into the pioneering war, it could be helpful."

Bai Zichen took off the Top-Grade Magical Artifact, the Illusory Moon Spirit Pendant, from his chest and handed it to Bai Jiu’an.

"This Magical Artifact can create illusions, which are easily seen through by other Cultivators. But Demon Beasts have limited spiritual wisdom; even a Tier One Peak Demon Beast would be deceived. It will be perfect for use deep within Black Mountain."

"Since it’s a gift from you, Brother Chenn, of course I’ll accept it."

A faint smile touched Bai Jiu’an’s lips as he proudly accepted the Illusory Moon Spirit Pendant.

His nephew had become a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, fulfilling a lifelong dream on his behalf. He was overcome with a pride he couldn’t put into words.

Bai Zichen and his uncle talked for the entire afternoon before he finally took his leave.

As he sat on the Colorful Cloud Robe and Hanxiu Peak shrank behind him, Bai Zichen let out a long sigh.

From their conversation, he could tell that his uncle had given up on the idea of Foundation Establishment and had no intention of trying again.

Two years ago, the Bai Family’s Grand Elder, at the age of sixty-five, had attempted to break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage using a portion of Pure Yang Gang Sha.

After fifty days in seclusion, he had stumbled out, aged to a withered old man, his vital essence drained by the backlash of his failed Foundation Establishment.

He only had time to leave two sentences of last words before his life span was exhausted and he passed away on the spot.

With such an example before him, Bai Jiu’an had lost the courage to risk it all.

Perhaps it was that after Bai Zichen’s successful Foundation Establishment fulfilled his greatest obsession, he no longer had that indomitable drive.

’I already have the Sacred Sound Bamboo, and I even have two legacies for refining Tier Two Flying Swords... I was just worrying about how to get a Tier Two Flying Sword, and now the problem is mostly solved.’

Bai Zichen pulled his thoughts back to happier matters. The gains from this trip back to the Clan were substantial.

The five-foot-long stalk of Sacred Sound Bamboo alone was probably worth five thousand Spirit Stones.

Not to mention the refining legacies for the Sound Bamboo Sword and Celestial Xin Sword—rare items that couldn’t be bought with Spirit Stones.

Now, he had to consider how to refine this Sacred Sound Bamboo into a Sound Bamboo Sword.

’I can’t possibly take up Artifact Refining myself, can I...? How long would it take before I’m skilled enough to refine the Sound Bamboo Sword?’

After reaching Foundation Establishment, Bai Zichen had considered picking up one or two of the Hundred Skills of Cultivation, just like most cultivators of his stage.

But in the end, he had given up due to a lack of time.

Several of the Cultivation Techniques he practiced were extremely time-consuming.

For example, he could already start cultivating the second layer of the Five Crystal Glaze Body, but he hadn’t yet truly settled down to visualize the Glazed Fire Jade.

And then there was the True Enlightenment Sword Technique; he hadn’t even finished learning the beginning of that Vast Sword Manual.

Even with the Divine Casting Technique, re-visualizing the Heaven and Earth Furnace Map after becoming a Foundation Establishment Cultivator would surely yield different insights.

The strength of his own Divine Sense still had room for improvement.

Every single one of these tasks would require years of effort.

If he were to divert his attention to the Hundred Skills of Cultivation, Bai Zichen was genuinely worried it would delay his cultivation progress.

Halfway through his flight, the Colorful Cloud Robe turned and flew toward the Market.

When it came to refining the Sound Bamboo Sword, he thought it over. Hiring another Artifact Refiner wasn’t secure enough; it would be tantamount to giving away the Sword Refinement technique for free.

In that case, he might as well just benefit the Sect’s Artifact Refining Hall.

"Greetings, Junior Martial Uncle Bai. May your pursuit of the Great Dao be evergreen."

When Lang Zhongping saw Bai Zichen again, their statuses were completely reversed.

Even though he had held high expectations for Bai Zichen’s future, he had never imagined that in just a few short years, he would have to address him as Junior Martial Uncle.

"Is Senior Brother Jin in the pavilion?"

Bai Zichen had long heard that during the operation to exterminate the Fire Phoenix Mo Family, the Market had been secretly sabotaged by cultivators from the Ghost Spirit Sect.

They had even summoned a difficult Demon like the Six Desires Yin Demon. In the end, several people had joined forces and held out until Liang Yu arrived to slay the creature.

Looking around today, he saw that several shops in the Market had indeed been newly renovated, likely having been damaged in the chaos.

"Elder Jin has returned to the Sect... The pioneering war requires a large amount of resources to be prepared, and the Market has been assigned tasks. Elder Jin went back to the Sect to discuss the specific numbers with Elder Gu."

Lang Zhongping followed cautiously, constantly reminding himself that the man before him was a Foundation Establishment Elder. He had to forget their past interactions and adjust his attitude.

"Elder Longx is overseeing Langhuan Pavilion. Does Junior Martial Uncle Bai need me to announce you?"

"Never mind. I just came to the Market to buy a few bottles of Elixirs... Are there any Tier Two Heart Purifying Fire Removing Elixirs for sale?"

The Fire Dragon Returning Essence Scripture that Bai Zichen cultivated had a major drawback: as he progressed, Fire Poison would inevitably accumulate in his body.

He constantly needed Tier Two Heart Purifying Fire Removing Elixirs to prevent the Fire Poison from building up too much. By the time he reached Core Formation, he would need Tier Three Elixirs with a similar effect.

The Sect’s Alchemy Hall had a large supply of corresponding Tier Two Elixirs, and he could exchange for as many as he wanted.

However, exchanging for Elixirs at the Alchemy Hall required a deduction of Sect Contribution points.

Bai Zichen was currently deep in debt, and it was uncertain when he would be able to repay the Sect Contribution he had borrowed from Peng Chong.

Since he was out today, he decided to come to the Market and spend Spirit Stones instead.

Comparatively, the difficulty of earning Spirit Stones was far less than that of acquiring Sect Contribution points.

It was better to spend his precious Sect Contribution points where they mattered most.

"Yes, yes we do. Although the dosage for this type of auxiliary Elixir isn’t large for each cultivator, it has a wide range of applications."

Lang Zhongping quickly led the way, taking him to the second floor of the shop.

"The Vermilion Fruit Purifying Heart Pill. Among Elixirs of this type and tier, its effects should be the best... It uses Vermilion Fruit as the main ingredient, supplemented by Bitter Lotus Seed Heart, Lamp Grass, and so on."

The Vermilion Fruit Purifying Heart Pill was listed in the shop at a price of three hundred Spirit Stones each.

This time, Lang Zhongping didn’t need to think of a way to give a discount; Sect Elders inherently received a 20% discount.

According to the description of the Elixir’s potency, one Vermilion Fruit Purifying Heart Pill could likely refine three months’ worth of Fire Poison generated by the Fire Dragon Returning Essence Scripture.

Bai Zichen counted the remaining Spirit Stones in his storage pouch, emptied his pockets, and bought seven pills in one go.

He had spent all the Spirit Stones on him, but he still felt he hadn’t bought enough.

As news of the pioneering war spread, the prices of all related resources would skyrocket.

The Vermilion Fruit Purifying Heart Pill itself wouldn’t see a huge price hike, but the Vermilion Fruit needed to refine it was also the main ingredient for several types of Tier Two Healing Elixirs.

After a while, the price of Vermilion Fruit would definitely be significantly affected.

Once the war started, what Alchemist would waste precious Vermilion Fruit on refining Heart Purifying Fire Removing Spirit Pills?

Seven Vermilion Fruit Purifying Heart Pills, upon careful calculation, would last for just under two years.

If the pioneering war weren’t imminent, it was common for a Foundation Establishment Cultivator’s seclusion to last two or three years.

"Steward Lang, do you know of any other Artifact Refining Masters within Black Mountain, outside of the Sect?"

Bai Zichen asked subconsciously. Even though he had decided not to easily hand over the sword refinement legacy to an outside Artifact Refiner, it didn’t hurt to find out which one had the best skills.

"If Junior Martial Uncle Bai wishes to have a Spiritual Artifact refined, it’s still best to go to the Artifact Refining Hall... As for other Artifact Refiners in Black Mountain, I would first recommend the Qingxi Huang Family. Their refining method is different from the traditional way; there is no smoke or fire. It’s the Water Refining Technique."

Unlike traditional Artifact Refining, which uses Earth Fire, the Water Refining Technique relies on the power of a Spiritual Spring to carry out the refining process.

Moreover, the refining speed is extremely slow.

If refining a Spiritual Artifact with the traditional method took fifty days, the Water Refining Technique would probably take half a year.

The advantage is that the success rate is relatively higher, and even in failure, the Artifact Refining Materials are not completely lost; most can be recovered.

As one of the Top Five Families of Black Mountain, the Qingxi Huang Family has a Qingxi Spirit Spring in their clan territory.

They operate in a very low-key manner, and their current Patriarch is a Tier Two Top Grade Refiner.

"Next on the list would be the Liu Family, who recently moved to Black Mountain. They have several Tier Two Refiners in their clan. It’s said they can even work together to sublimate a Treasure at the final stage of refining."

Lang Zhongping said a great deal, only to return to his original point.

"But the number one Artifact Refining Master in Black Mountain is, of course, our Deputy Hall Master. In recent years, he has already touched the threshold of a Tier Three Refiner."

The Deputy Hall Master of the Artifact Refining Hall, Dai Hui, a Tier Two Peak Refiner.