Chapter 29: Riding a Shared Bike to a Bar—Save Where You Can, Spend Where You Must

Bailingxuan was never meant to be connected with the current Xiang Yuan.

As for whether the two will ever intersect in the future, Yulou was highly skeptical.

This kid Xiang Yuan has a bit of hyper-masculinity in him—perhaps tied to his Gold-Earth spiritual root?

Hard to say.

Walking into the Baibao Fang’s forging chamber, Yulou was stunned by its interior.

A counter made of ninth-rank spiritual wood?

The Huang family is ruthless.

The forging chamber’s attendant noticed Wang Xianmao, this extraordinary Foundation Establishment elder, and hurried forward to greet him.

“Elder, are you here to commission a magic artifact for your family’s young prodigy?”

During the Qingxi Fair, our Baibao Fang forging chamber is offering a thirty-percent discount on crafting fees.

We have four master artisans, each skilled in Fire Refining, Earth Infusion, and Metal Melting.

We can craft artifacts from Gold Stone, Wood Vines, Silk Fabric, Spiritual Bone, and other types of spiritual materials.

If you commission two artifacts of the same type, both design fees get a forty-percent discount!”

This is the power of the Purple Mansion Immortal Clan!

Even just this one forging chamber within Baibao Fang hosts multiple master artisans, capable of crafting all types of artifacts.

Compared to the techniques mastered by these artisans, Hong Mei’s Fire Method Gold Stone Refining lineage seemed like child’s play.

Keep in mind, the Huang family has several more such Baibao Fangs, constantly moving across other regions of the Wunan Basin.

This isn’t just Baibao Fang—it’s practically a nuclear-powered money printer.

“No need. I’m here to rent your spiritual fire chamber.”

Wang Xianmao waved his hand and replied calmly.

He himself was proficient in Wood Generation and Metal Melting, and highly skilled in crafting artifacts from Wood Vines and Spiritual Bone.

The attendant, startled by Wang Xianmao’s request, quickly replied.

“Please wait a moment—I’ll notify the shopkeeper. He has authority over spiritual fire rentals.”

Meanwhile, Yulou noticed the artifact display wall inside the forging chamber, densely packed with dozens of artifacts made from different materials, ranks, and designs.

Most importantly, every single one was at least mid-grade!

Among them was a beautiful flying sword, forged from ninth-rank Cold Black Iron, with a spiritual bone hilt, its entire body shimmering with flowing light—certainly at least high-grade quality.

“Like flying swords?”

Wang Xianmao smiled and asked.

“Yulou has never seen a high-grade flying sword before. My master said he hasn’t forged one in half a year.”

“Hahaha, flying swords are very useful, but even slightly better ones are extremely expensive—most cultivators can’t afford them.

The one you’re looking at uses seventh-rank spiritual bone, paired with ninth-rank Cold Black Iron—it was actually over-engineered.”

Wang Xianmao commented.

Just then, the shopkeeper stepped out and overheard his remark, asking with considerable surprise:

“Oh? Friend, can you forge flying swords?”

The clan chief paused, then replied.

“A little. Just a little.”

The shopkeeper thought for a moment, noting Wang Xianmao’s pale complexion and assumed he was formidable, then asked:

“Would you be interested in forging us a spiritual jade sword with a Water Jade base? We’ll repay you handsomely, and renting the spiritual fire won’t be a problem.”

Wang Xianmao waved his hand, politely declining.

“No, I’m in a hurry.”

“Pity, pity. Then we’ll rent you the spiritual fire chamber at eighty percent of market price—sixteen spirit stones per day. How does that sound?”

“What kinds of spiritual fire do you have?”

Wang Xianmao naturally wouldn’t refuse a discount, but price wasn’t the main point—the key was whether the spiritual fire’s type and nature suited his control.

He had no Fire spiritual root; though he’d refined artifacts for his young kin and female Immortal Alliance cultivators, they were all mid-grade, not difficult.

But finding a suitable spiritual fire would make his refining much easier.

“Two special beast spiritual fires: Jin She Sect’s Golden Snake Spiritual Fire—best suited for Metal, easiest to control.

Moonlight Sect’s Cold Toad Yin Fire—poor for Fire-type materials, but works for all others; slightly harder to control, not recommended without experience.

Three regular spiritual fires: Huang Clan’s Salt Altar Fire—ignited by burning salt, balanced and easiest to control, though the salt’s cost is extra.

Red Lamp Illuminating Red Candle Fire—ignited by red candles... Ha, of course, I needn’t elaborate on this one.

Daitiantai Mountain’s Ling Shan Fire—ignited by burning spiritual cedar...”

Wang Xianmao listened patiently until the shopkeeper finished listing them, then made his decision.

“Enough. I’ll take the Red Lamp Illuminating Red Candle Fire—for half a day.”

“Half a day?”

The shopkeeper was stunned—how could a Foundation Establishment cultivator be this frugal?

“What, don’t you rent for half days?”

Wang Xianmao didn’t think he was being stingy.

It’s like riding a shared bike to a bar—save where you can, spend where you must.

The shopkeeper looked troubled.

Daily rent is twenty spirit stones—I gave you twenty percent off, and now you’re cutting it to half a day.

That means you’re using our spiritual fire for just eight spirit stones!

What’s the difference between that and free-riding?

“Rent! Elder, this way!”

Running a business meant never turning away customers—the shopkeeper gritted his teeth and led Wang Xianmao and the others into the spiritual fire chamber.

“Elder, how many red candles do you need?”

Red Lamp Illuminating Red Candle Fire requires red candles as a catalyst; consumption rate varies with intensity.

These are all added-value services.

The shopkeeper had agreed to eight spirit stones for half a day precisely because he expected a Foundation Establishment cultivator like Wang Xianmao to burn through spiritual fire rapidly.

Lower rent, higher consumable fees—he’d make a small profit!

The same applied to the other four spiritual fires—even the two beast fires required “feeding”—and those beast rations weren’t cheap.

Too bad the shopkeeper was only late Qi Refining—how many years had he even lived?

“No need. I brought my own!” Wang Xianmao said, pulling a large bundle of Red Lamp’s special red candles from his storage pouch.

Don’t forget—the clan chief had once served as an outer gate administrator within Red Lamp!

“Elder...”

The shopkeeper stared in shock, muttering.

“Elder, if you need anything, just call me!”

He left with a bitter expression.

If you bring everything yourself, why not just bring your own spiritual fire chamber and forging furnace?

Strange—I didn’t even earn a single spirit stone in commission!

The shopkeeper left. The clan chief sat before the forging furnace and pulled out the black jade oil bead Hong Mei had given Yulou.

“Clan Chief, Rong Yuan said he could refine this bead for me using Earth Infusion later—no need for you to do it yourself, right?”

Yulou wasn’t worried the clan chief would blow it up—he just figured he didn’t need the artifact yet, so why burden the clan chief?

“True, the black jade oil bead is best refined by Rong Yuan—but when he returns is uncertain, and you won’t wait ten years.”

Yulou was about to say he could wait, when the clan chief spoke again.

“I’ll use Wood Generation to wrap this bead in a spiritual wood shell and add six more sealing layers—bring it straight to seventeen layers, the pinnacle of mid-grade artifacts!”

Wonderful, wonderful—the clan chief is great, no need to say more!

“What about me, Clan Chief? Can my Golden Horn Mud Turtle Shell be wrapped and refined into a high-grade artifact?”

Hearing this, Xiang Yuan’s eyes lit up.

The clan chief excelled at crafting Spiritual Bone artifacts—his Golden Horn Mud Turtle Shell had both Gold and Bone properties.

Yulou’s black jade oil bead gained a spiritual wood shell and jumped from eleven to seventeen sealing layers—an increase of six layers!

Could his Golden Horn Mud Turtle Shell now leap straight to high-grade?

“Unnecessary. The shell’s base is too poor—I can only push it to seventeen layers; higher would be a loss.

Besides, layer count isn’t everything—if it works well, that’s enough, right?”

Wang Xianmao wasn’t a fool.

You, Xiang Yulan, are only at Qi Refining level two—why do you need a high-grade artifact?

And you’re impulsive—if you get a high-grade artifact, what if someone targets you later?

“Hmph...”

Xiang Yuan muttered in reply.

“Hahaha, don’t be upset. When you’ve mastered Qi Refining, you can forge your own high-grade artifacts.”

Wang Xianmao skillfully ignited the red candle; the red candle’s spiritual fire rose.

He tossed the black jade oil bead into the forging furnace, his eyes locked tight, using his Foundation Establishment spiritual sense to control the flame and begin refining.

Watch closely: the Wood Generation Art is the most complete and profound of the cultivation methods mastered by the Wang clan.

Unfortunately, none of you possess a Wood Spirit Root; otherwise, you could learn the Wood Generation Art in the future.

Although in my view, the Wood Generation Art has no merits whatsoever.

But its one and only advantage is that it easily achieves maximum refinement efficiency.