Chapter 332: Chapter 196: Sword Heart Clarity

Yang Jing put the Celestial Waterfall Sword away in his Dantian, a little disappointed.

He had tried it and, just as he’d expected, the cost was the same: sharing a Talent consumed the Celestial Waterfall’s power. Only, a Magical Treasure didn’t have Magical Power, per se; it consumed Essence Qi.

Unlike Cultivators and Demons, a Magical Treasure had practically no concept of a lifespan as long as it had a sufficient supply of Spiritual Qi.

Some Tier Four or Tier Five Magical Treasures might have been passed down within a Sect for tens of thousands of years, their Artifact Spirits still showing no signs of aging.

Correspondingly, the advancement of a Magical Treasure was also incredibly slow. A Magical Treasure left unrefined could exist for ten thousand years without its Tier ever changing. Even with a master meticulously refining it, an upgrade could take anywhere from two or three hundred to a thousand years.

[Sword Heart Clarity: 3%]

Yang Jing had only consumed a tiny bit of the Celestial Waterfall’s Essence Qi, but her aura was already starting to fluctuate. If he continued the assimilation, she would probably fall back to Tier Two.

This forced Yang Jing to retract the sword into his Dantian to nurture it with his Magical Power.

If the Celestial Waterfall Sword hadn’t been his Lifebound Magical Artifact, with its Affinity permanently fixed at the maximum value of 100, its Affinity would have plummeted.

Yang Jing did a quick calculation. Including the time needed to recover its Essence Qi, fully sharing the Talent for Sword Heart Clarity would take at least twelve years. And that was assuming the Celestial Waterfall Sword’s own progress came to a complete halt.

’I know I can’t rush things, but this is just too much time.’

Suppressing his frustration, Yang Jing left the Quiet Chamber, only to find Yang Hufu, the ancestor of the Shangshui Yang Family, still waiting outside the Spirit Plant Garden.

"Master Yang, this Spirit Plant Garden belongs to the Shangshui Yang Family. There was no need to wait outside. You do me too much honor."

Yang Jing walked over and invited Yang Hufu inside.

"My Sword Artifact damaged the buildings in the garden during its tribulation. My deepest apologies."

Yang Hufu’s eyebrows shot up.

"A few bricks and tiles are a trivial matter. It’s you I’m concerned about, Yang Jing. You were far too reckless! Advancing a Spiritual Artifact to a Magical Treasure is a major event, yet you just casually borrowed a Spirit Vein and got started. If something had gone wrong, wouldn’t you have regretted it for the rest of your life? You only had to ask, and I would have lent you my own Cave Mansion."

Yang Jing repeatedly said he wouldn’t dare presume.

"Yang Jing, you must have consumed a great deal of Magical Power refining your Flying Sword. I’ll lend you this Medicinal Garden. Stay as long as you like."

Yang Hufu said warmly.

"I still have duties to attend to at the Governor’s Mansion, so I can’t stay away for long."

Yang Jing politely declined. The Celestial Waterfall Sword’s advancement to a Tier Three Magical Treasure had been unexpected, and he never thought it would cause such a commotion. It was best to return to the Northern Army Governor’s Mansion at this point.

Yang Hufu didn’t insist he stay. He knew that with one of his own juniors, Yang Jingxu, serving as Yang Jing’s assistant, the Shangshui Yang Family already held a significant advantage over the other Golden Core Clans and the Seven Kingdoms Royal Family.

Yang Jing took his disciples and, along with the Demon Suppression Army soldiers who had come to maintain order, rode a Flying Boat back to the Northern Army Governor’s Mansion.

On the way, he felt as if he had forgotten something. It wasn’t until a series of messages from Wei Ying buzzed on his Communication Mirror that he remembered he hadn’t returned the Seven Illusions of Celestial Demon Array.

"I’ll return it in a month. I’m in the spotlight right now, so it’s not a good time to make a transaction."

Yang Jing sent back a reply.

"Fine."

Wei Ying replied almost instantly. At that speed, he must have been holding the Communication Mirror in his hand.

Yang Jing didn’t find it strange. The Seven Illusions of Celestial Demon Array was a Tier Three Array, after all, its value even greater than that of an ordinary Magical Treasure. He just hadn’t expected Wei Ying to be so reasonable, agreeing immediately without any haggling.

Once he returned to his residence within the Northern Army Governor’s Mansion, Yang Jing immediately relaxed. For the next month, he barely left the house. Aside from handling a few trivial matters, he dedicated all his energy to refining the Celestial Waterfall Sword and restoring its depleted Essence Qi.

One day, Iron Head was instructing Yellow Foot in the cultivation of the Jade Water Skill and the Inner Scenery Divine Transformation Demon Suppression Scripture.

The Inner Scenery Divine Transformation Scripture was a Cultivation Technique from the Dharma Image Sect. It was possible to forgo its Qi Cultivation Technique and practice only the Dharma Manifestation Skill. That way, if a more suitable technique was found for Yellow Foot later, it wouldn’t have to go through the trouble of switching. The Jade Water Skill, on the other hand, was simply a tool for Yang Jing to share Yellow Foot’s Talent.

Yang Jing had tried to "power-level" Yellow Foot using all the Cultivation Techniques he possessed and discovered that it was surprisingly talented in the Inner Scenery Divine Transformation Demon Suppression Scripture, far more so than its senior brothers and sisters.

The other techniques weren’t very suitable for Yellow Foot’s cultivation, so for now, he could only let it make do with these two.

After learning what had happened to the West Sea Great Saint, Yang Jing had made up his mind not to let Yellow Foot practice the Feathered Whale Technique. After all, if it incurred the wrath of the Nine Heavens World, even he, its master, would be implicated.

With the help of the Beast Taming System, he didn’t have to worry that Yellow Foot, unlike other Demon Beasts, would find it extremely difficult to begin and progress in a Cultivation Technique not passed down by its own kind.

"Master, these are the new formal requests."

Yinjiao walked in, holding a stack of requests made from various precious Spiritual Materials. He addressed Yang Jing, who was sitting cross-legged on a Meditation Cushion, manipulating the Five Elements True Slaughter to temper the Celestial Waterfall Sword.

After numerous attempts, Yang Jing had discovered that the Five Elements True Slaughter, condensed using his Qi Condensation Talent, was the most effective for refining his Flying Sword.

After all, his Magical Power was already exceptionally pure. When condensed into True Evil with his Qi Condensation Talent, it already had the feel of being fifty or sixty percent as potent as Golden Core Magical Power.

’In the past, my disciples were the ones slaving away for me,’ he thought. ’I never expected to trip up over the Celestial Waterfall Sword and end up slaving away for it instead.’

But if he didn’t replenish the Celestial Waterfall Sword’s missing Essence Qi soon, it would become a liability when facing other Magical Treasures of the same Tier in the future.

Yang Jing completed the final step of the tempering process, then directed the Celestial Waterfall Sword high into the sky to gather the Celestial Spirits Star Force. Unfortunately, the Celestial Spirits Star Force could only temper the sword’s body, making the Flying Sword tougher, but it couldn’t replenish the Sword Spirit’s missing Essence Qi.

After finishing all this, Yang Jing took the stack of requests from Yinjiao’s hand. He gave them a quick glance and saw they were all from various Immortally Cultivation Clans.

Some Foundation Establishment Clans, desperate to obtain a Magical Treasure to anchor their clan’s destiny, had even offered ridiculously high prices.

Yang Jing could only let out a slow breath. The Celestial Waterfall Sword’s successful tribulation had unofficially earned him the title of the number one Artifact Refiner in the Northern Domain. Even the other Artifact Refiners in the Northern Domain tacitly accepted this. After all, they had spent their entire lives refining Magical Artifacts, yet none had ever created a Magical Treasure capable of triggering a Spiritual Treasure Tribulation.

Only Yang Jing himself knew that while his Artifact Refining skills were high, they were nowhere near the level the rumors claimed.

He had even spread the word that his success in refining the Celestial Waterfall Sword was a fortunate coincidence that would be difficult to replicate, but the stream of people requesting his services was still endless.

Yang Jing had no choice but to establish a rule: those requesting his services had to write down the desired Spiritual Artifact or Magical Treasure, along with the required Spiritual Materials, on their formal request. After accepting the requests, he would select a few to work on. He would guarantee the creation of a Spiritual Artifact, but not a Magical Treasure.

Only after establishing this rule did Yang Jing finally get a moment of peace, free from the harassment of lobbyists from the various Immortally Cultivation Clans.

Perhaps because the item he had advanced into a Magical Treasure was a Flying Sword, nearly a third of the requests were for him to refine Spiritual Artifacts and Magical Treasures that were also Flying Swords. This, in turn, allowed Yang Jing to master many different Refining Techniques for them.

"Yinjiao, if there’s a Flying Sword you want, just pick one from these requests. When the time comes, I’ll just skim off some extra materials and refine one for you."

Yang Jing tossed the requests into a wooden box designated for storing them and turned to Yinjiao.

"Thank you, Master."

Yinjiao’s original Canglang Sword was only a Tier One Flying Sword, which was no longer suitable for his current level. What’s more, the body and blade had been damaged when he’d shed his scales.

He planned to ask his Junior Brother Ji Feng to repair the Canglang Sword, after which he would put it away as a keepsake.

After all, it was a Sword Artifact his master had gifted him.

After checking on Chi Yu’s and Yellow Foot’s progress with their techniques, Yang Jing used the Inconstant Illusionary Form Technique to alter his appearance and aura, then slipped out of the Northern Army Governor’s Mansion.

In a teahouse not far from the Seven Kingdoms Bank Headquarters, Yang Jing met Wei Ying.

Wei Ying had already been waiting in the teahouse for a long time. The moment he saw Yang Jing enter, he waved his sleeve, dismissing the Maid who was playing the pipa in the private room.

"Fellow Daoist Yang, it’s been a while. You seem to be doing better than ever."

He respectfully poured Yang Jing a cup of tea.

Naturally, Yang Jing wasn’t arrogant enough to drink tea served by a Demon Cultivator. He set the cup aside, retrieved a Storage Bag from his sleeve, and pushed it across the table toward Wei Ying.

"The Seven Illusions of Celestial Demon Array is inside."

Wei Ying accepted the Storage Bag and inspected it carefully. Only after confirming that there was nothing wrong with the Seven Illusions of Celestial Demon Array did he let out a slow sigh of relief.

’Yang Jing truly is a man of his word.’

"If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going."

Even though both he and Wei Ying had disguised their appearances, Yang Jing still operated on the principle of safety first and had decided to leave as soon as he returned the Seven Illusions of Celestial Demon Array.

"Wait! Fellow Daoist Yang, please don’t be so hasty."

Wei Ying hurriedly stopped Yang Jing as he was about to turn and leave.

"I would like to ask you, Fellow Daoist Yang, to refine a Spiritual Artifact for me."

"What kind of Spiritual Artifact?"

Yang Jing’s curiosity was piqued. He had obtained a piece of top-grade Spiritual Gold suitable for refining Demon Sect Treasures from Canyuan True Monarch and had been thinking of using this opportunity to re-refine his Demon-Catching Tripod.

However, Yang Jing knew nothing about refining Demon Sect Treasures, so even if he wanted to re-refine it, he wouldn’t know where to begin.

He never expected Wei Ying to bring up the matter himself, giving him the perfect bargaining chip to trade for the Demon-Catching Tripod’s Refining Technique.

"The Demon-Catching Tripod!"

Wei Ying stated the name of the artifact he wanted without a moment’s hesitation. After witnessing how Yang Jing had used a single Demon-Catching Tripod to render numerous Demon Cultivators powerless, he realized the tripod held an indescribable advantage against other Demon Cultivators.

Many Demon Cultivators’ ultimate trump cards were the various Celestial Demons bound by their Banishment techniques, and the Demon-Catching Tripod was the mortal enemy of these beings.

’Talk about a godsend.’ He never imagined that the very item Wei Ying wanted him to refine was the Demon-Catching Tripod.

"And the payment? I’m not going to refine an artifact for you for free."