Chapter 17: Azure Light Shows Its Might, a Supreme Artifact First Appears

As soon as he returned to the cave, Wang Ping formed the sword seal.

The Azure Light Sword he had placed on the rubble rang with a clear chime, then flew up into midair with a swish.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

The Azure Light Sword flew back and forth in the air, leaving trails of azure light at its extreme speed.

At the same time, Wang Ping continually scanned his surroundings; seeing that everything was as before, he finally relaxed.

After taking one more look at the place, Wang Ping turned and left.

This cave was halfway up the mountain, so at the entrance Wang Ping directly employed the Wind Control Technique and flew off into the distance.

"The Azure Moon Sect's Azure Light Sword Technique! Run!"

"Damn! How could there be a disciple of the Azure Moon Sect here?!"

"With merely mid-stage Qi Refining cultivation, his combat power is this formidable—could he be a genius-ranked disciple of the Azure Moon Sect?!"

In Zhao State, on an unnamed wilderness, five black-robed cultivators showed looks of terror, panicking and scattering in flight.

Behind them, a young man in a blue robe, his face full of killing intent, waved his sword finger.

Swish!

A blade of azure light instantly pierced the air, stabbing toward the nearest black-robed person.

That black-robed person instantly showed shock, hurriedly circulating his spiritual power to release a layer of earth-yellow light curtain around himself.

This was precisely the mid-stage earth-system protective technique—Earth Light Curtain.

Moreover, he pulled a talisman from his hand, ignited it with spiritual power, and in the next instant a green dagger appeared in midair, then shot toward the azure light at a speed not inferior to it.

In the distance, the blue-robed youth remained expressionless, allowing the black-clad person to employ his methods while still controlling the sword light to stab toward the green dagger.

At the moment of their collision, a sword light suddenly split from the azure light, piercing the earth light curtain with thunderous speed and stabbing into the black-robed person's neck before he could believe it.

Another sword light collided with the green dagger, and both the azure light and the green dagger simultaneously turned into specks of light that dissipated in the air.

The two were actually evenly matched.

The fallen black-robed person watched the scene, his mind filled with only one thought: Splitting Light Sword Shadow! How could this be?

Afterward, he lay there forever, filled with doubt.

That youth was none other than Wang Ping; along the way he had already encountered three waves of bandit cultivators trying to rob his possessions.

In the first battle, he had expected a tough fight, but who would have thought that the low-level Azure Light Sword Technique, infused with his pure spiritual power, would leave every bandit cultivator he met without a single match?

The sharp sword light pierces all defenses; to date, the number of bandit cultivators dead by his hand is no less than ten.

From encountering the first wave of bandit cultivators to now, this is still the first time he has seen anything that could rival his sword light.

You should know that just now, the mid-level earth-system technique Earth Light Curtain was also pierced by a single sword strike of his.

Recalling that scene, a flicker of doubt crossed Wang Ping's eyes: "Just now, was that a talisman treasure?"

He had never seen such a treasure before; it was also the dissipation of the azure light that brought him back to his senses, so he did not pursue the remaining black-robed persons.

First, he couldn't catch up; second, who knew whether the opponent still possessed a treasure like that black-robed person's?

Besides being able to employ the Azure Light Sword Technique, all he had was the soft armor given to him by Chiyanzi, which is a first‑order low‑grade magical item.

Apart from that, he had nothing that could preserve his life.

Although the Azure Light Sword Technique's claim of "one sword breaks ten thousand laws" is certainly inspiring, he is still far from reaching that level.

Wang Ping secretly admonished himself: "You are still a novice just stepping into the cultivation world; never be complacent!"

Carrying that self‑admonition, Wang Ping approached the black‑robed person and felt out a storage bag from his body.

Without inspecting it, he slipped it into his lap; he now had eleven storage bags in his lap, of varying quality.

Wang Ping didn't bother much with these, after all they were unexpected windfalls.

With a thought, the Azure Light Sword swished back into his hand.

The chilling blade bore not a trace of blood.

Sheathing the sword, Wang Ping picked a direction and once again broke into a frantic run.

Wang Ping did not extravagantly use a Speed Talisman, for that is meant for escaping danger.

The place he is now heading to is the famed Phantom Moon City in Zhao State.

This city has two late‑stage Foundation Establishment cultivators and one great‑perfection Foundation Establishment cultivator holding the fort.

In Zhao State, it is also a fairly renowned city.

Wang Ping's purpose in going to this city is naturally his grand plan for artifact refinement.

Within a radius of three hundred li, only Phantom Moon City offers rented artifact‑refining cave dwellings.

As he drew nearer to Phantom Moon City, cultivators appeared around him, likewise sprinting frantically on foot.

During the Qi Refining stage, aside from great‑perfection cultivators, the remaining Qi Refining practitioners basically rely on frantic running to make their way.

Each cultivator, upon seeing another, had no intention of greeting; everyone just kept their heads down and hurried along.

Wang Ping was the same; moreover, because he deliberately kept a cold expression and still bore the killing aura from having slain ten cultivators, most cultivators he encountered kept their distance.

Soon, a massive stone‑stacked city wall appeared on the horizon.

Wang Ping exhaled a breath; he had finally arrived.

It is said that Phantom Moon City was built upon a second‑order spirit vein, so the entry fee is quite high.

When he ran to the city wall, outside there was already a long queue.

When it was his turn, the gate guard deliberately said: "Entering the city, one must not cause trouble; if caught, lightly one will be expelled from the city and barred from reentry for ten years, severely one will be slain on the spot."

Wang Ping coldly nodded, but inside he was speechless: "Am I really the type who stirs up trouble?"

Passing through the lengthy city gate tunnel, a clamor suddenly reached his ears.

Various hawking voices rose and fell.

Candied hawthorns, eh! Candied hawthorns made from first-grade spirit fruit, sweet and sour, delicious, eh!

Selling buns, eh! Big buns made from first-grade demon beast meat, fresh and delicious! Take a bite, the fragrance fills your teeth, oh!

Chilled refreshing plum soup is ready, eh! Take a sip, it makes your cheeks salivate, oh!

The constant cries of vendors made Wang Ping mistakenly think he had arrived at a mortal's snack stall.

Seeing all that delicious food, Wang Ping's index finger twitched; he felt as if he hadn't eaten anything in three or four years.

Normally he filled his stomach with grain-avoiding pills.

If it weren't for entering this city this time, he would have almost forgotten that tasty food still existed in the world.

Wang Ping directly found a restaurant, entered a private room, and asked the proprietor to serve the famous dishes here.

He also ordered a portion of spirit liquor and began to feast heartily here.

Having eaten and drunk his fill, Wang Ping leaned lazily against the chair back and let out a satisfied burp.

This appearance had nothing of a cultivator about it, but for Wang Ping, this was precisely the most leisurely moment.

His path of cultivation was not only for longevity, but also to take in the scenery along the way.

Unfortunately, his cultivation was too low; up to now, he has almost always been in secluded cultivation.

Such a relaxed meal has not happened for over six years.

Just as he was about to settle the bill, he suddenly heard discussions about the Azure Moon Sect outside the private room; he promptly suppressed his urge to leave and listened carefully.

Have you heard that Red Flame Peak is about to openly recruit disciples?

But isn't it Senior Chiyanzi, who crafted the imitation spirit treasure Six Yang Essence Fire Cover, who is going to recruit disciples?

Not bad!

You say, can Senior Chiyanzi actually recruit disciples?

What do you mean? That's Senior Chiyanzi, who crafted the imitation spirit treasure! Anyone who can learn even a bit of his artifact refining skill from him would benefit for a lifetime!

Wang Ping in the private room heard that Chiyanzi was recruiting disciples, and involuntarily showed a strange expression; seeing that Senior Chiyanzi was recruiting disciples, he also felt incredulous.

Ah! You don't know, my brother's friend's brother-in-law's younger brother's brother is cultivating in the Azure Moon Sect; he said Chiyanzi is tyrannical, working under him means basically no rest all day, and worse, he often gets scolded by him!

My brother also said that before Chiyanzi successfully crafted the Six Yang Essence Fire Cover, in the Azure Moon Sect he couldn't find any disciple willing to be his artifact refining apprentice!

Hiss! Really? If that's the case, I really don't want to go; I cultivate for enjoyment, not to suffer that damn annoyance!

Exactly! Exactly! Although he is a Foundation Establishment great cultivator, he can't yell at us!

Pfft! Something as worthless as rotting mud still dreams of being accepted as a disciple by Senior Chiyanzi—truly a toad wanting to eat swan meat!

As the cultivators were loudly discussing, a sneering sound came from the upstairs private room.

That laughter was so obvious that the hall fell silent instantly, immediately followed by various angry shouts.

Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!

Amid the cultivators' shouting, a sound of footsteps descending the stairs came from upstairs.

Soon, the cultivators downstairs all fell silent.

From Wang Ping's angle, he could faintly see a young man in white robes holding a folding fan, swaying as he walked down the stairs; behind him followed two beautiful maidservants, one holding a long sword, the other embracing a long saber.

Wang Ping suddenly understood; no wonder the cultivators below all fell silent—this master-servant trio were at the late stage of Qi Refining, and what truly frightened them was that the two maidservants' swords and sabers were all upper-grade magic artifacts.

As for the white-robed young master leading them, the waving of his folding fan emitted a domineering fluctuation of spiritual power.

It turned out to be an extremely rare extreme-grade magic artifact in the cultivation world.

Luxurious, extravagant, willful—this revealed not only their strength, but also the terrifying background behind them.

In the cultivation world, rogue cultivators are the most adept at gauging the situation and reading expressions; upon seeing the master-servant trio, they all shrank back like mice seeing a cat.

For fear that the young master would settle scores with them.

In fact, the white-robed young master directly ignored them and walked straight out of the restaurant.

After he left, the cultivators glanced at each other and, without prior agreement, all departed.

Wang Ping's gaze grew solemn; from that master-servant trio just now, he felt a strong sense of danger.

This meant that all three of them possessed the strength to kill him.

Most importantly, they looked young, which caused Wang Ping's previously relaxed mindset to tighten instantly; he prepared to immediately begin crafting his own magic artifact.

Regarding the stone chunks brought back from the spirit realm, he was full of confidence.

After paying five spirit stones, Wang Ping asked where the city's largest trading venue was, then eagerly left the restaurant.