Chapter 97: Master Sun

The Four Symbols Sect's Artifact Refining Hall nominally belongs to the General Affairs Hall, but it is actually located in the belly of another mountain far from the General Affairs Hall's main hall.

This mountain is named "Cangyan" and is located next to Vermilion Bird Mountain. It is said that there are several earth-lung fire rivers in the mountain, which are best for artifact refining, which is why the Artifact Refining Hall was built here.

In a bluestone hall in the belly of the mountain, five Four Symbols Sect disciples were looking at each other in dismay. Among them, two were wearing inner sect disciple attire, and three were wearing outer sect disciple attire—four men and one woman.

But all of them, including Wang Yu, couldn't help but secretly look at the only woman among the five, who was also the other inner sect female disciple.

Because this woman looked too "domineering".

Not inferior to Wang Yu's tall stature, she was wearing light golden half-body armor, with a red short stick slung diagonally behind her back, a head of short hair, thick, ink-like sword eyebrows, a square face, and eyes like ice!

If it weren't for her protruding front and back, anyone who saw her would think she was a domineering man.

This woman was the last to arrive. Wang Yu had already exchanged names with the other three outer sect disciples, but only this woman, after entering, stood aside and ignored everyone.

This made the other three outer sect disciples, who originally wanted to go over to pay their respects, stand awkwardly on the spot.

Wang Yu naturally had no intention of going over to ask for trouble, but looking at the expressions of the other outer sect disciples, it seemed they didn't know this inner sect "Senior Sister" either.

Fortunately, the five people didn't wait long before a thin black-robed old man arrived silently in the hall.

"Greetings, Master Sun."

One of the three outer sect disciples, a pale-faced youth, seemed to recognize Master Sun. As soon as he saw the black-robed old man, he immediately stepped forward respectfully to pay his respects.

Wang Yu, the short-haired woman, and others saw this and naturally followed suit, cupping their hands in salute.

Although this Master Sun didn't look young, the mana fluctuation on his body wasn't as strong as imagined; he seemed to be only a late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator.

"Although five of you came this time, I only need three helpers. Two of you can go back." The black-robed old man just glanced at the five people and said something that left several of them stunned.

"This girl and you can stay... Hmm, you come with me too." The black-robed old man directly pointed at the short-haired woman and Wang Yu, and finally, after hesitating, also said something to the pale-faced youth who greeted him first, then walked back the way he came on his own.

"Thank you, Master Sun."

The pale-faced outer sect disciple was overjoyed and responded, then followed him happily.

Wang Yu and the short-haired woman saw this and naturally followed.

In the hall, only the other two outer sect disciples with unhappy expressions remained.

Wang Yu and the others followed the black-robed old man out of the hall. After passing through a long passage, a huge space that had been hollowed out of nearly half the mountain belly appeared in front.

The huge space was surrounded by steep mountain walls, on which rows of neat stone caves were built, and people flew out from time to time.

The black-robed old man flicked his sleeve, and a white flying boat appeared. After beckoning to the three people behind him, he got on first.

A moment later, the flying boat carried the four people and flew downward, finally stopping at a stone cave in the bottom row.

The black-robed old man took the four people and walked in.

In the stone cave, on both sides of long passages were stone rooms.

In each stone room, there were two or three burly people busy with something.

Some were holding hammers and "clattering" away at something, some were fanning fire furnaces, pouring pots of metal juice into various molds, and others were grinding some strange-looking things into powder with stone mills...

"These people are mortal blacksmiths and can only do some heavy manual labor. You are different; you are all cultivators who cultivate fire-attribute techniques, so I need your assistance to complete the refining of a fire-attribute magic artifact ordered by someone." The black-robed old man said faintly while leading the three to a stone room tightly sealed by an iron door at the very back.

The surface of the iron door was inscribed with some light blue spirit patterns. Walking closer, there was even some icy chill.

When the black-robed old man pulled the iron door open, a scorching breath surged out from within.

Wang Yu and the others walked in and saw a crimson giant cauldron with three legs and three ears standing inside.

The giant cauldron was crimson all over, a full zhang high, with its three legs half-sunk into the ground, and its three ears were in the form of dragon heads, slowly spraying strands of flame.

Amidst the lingering flames, a white small sword half a foot long was floating quietly above the giant cauldron.

"I have refined this kind of Fire Dragon Sword magic artifact many times before, but the previous ones were only ordinary magic artifacts with six spirit patterns. But after many attempts, I decided to change the spirit patterns to seven, making the Fire Dragon Sword a ranked magic artifact.

Because it is the first attempt, for the sake of safety, I applied to the General Affairs Hall for you three as helpers." The black-robed old man said while leading the three to the giant cauldron.

Wang Yu only felt the giant cauldron emitting waves of heat, making him somewhat dry-mouthed in a short while, so he couldn't help but operate the Fire Spirit Technique, letting a faint red light appear on his body surface, before returning to normal.

Not only Wang Yu, but the short-haired woman and the pale-faced male disciple also had spiritual light flickering on their body surfaces, clearly also operating their cultivation techniques.

The black-robed old man turned a blind eye to this and instead continued to explain to the people:

"You since you are willing to take this task, it means you should have some foundation in artifact refining. You should know that whether the refining of a magic artifact can succeed, thirty percent is in the early stage of the magic artifact embryo, and seventy percent is in the later stage of the magic artifact spirit patterns.

What you need to do is very simple: when I inscribe the spirit patterns, maintain the stability of the earth fire power of this Three Dragon Cauldron, and don't let the earth fire change suddenly, causing me to make mistakes in the spirit patterns.

Inscribing spirit patterns is a slow and meticulous job. I can only use one hour a day to do this, and I have to rest and nourish my spirit at other times, so the whole process will take at least half a month and at most two months.

Afterward, the old man will pay one hundred spirit stones to each person and will explain some questions about artifact refining during this process as extra remuneration.

Alright, you can ask questions now if you have any. If there are no questions, then familiarize yourselves with controlling the Three Dragon Cauldron today, and we will start inscribing spirit patterns tomorrow."

"Master Sun, can we return to our own residences during this period?" The short-haired woman asked, her voice unexpectedly crisp.

"No, in order to prevent not being able to find anyone halfway, you must live here. There are a few empty bedrooms next door, and you can live there. During this period, I will provide Bigu Pills for free."

The black-robed old man refused flatly.

The short-haired woman's thick eyebrows flickered slightly, but she didn't say any more opposing words.

"Master Sun, I see that some artifact refining rooms here are empty. Can we use the artifact refining tools and materials inside?" Wang Yu also asked politely.

"If you are interested, except for the few artifact refining rooms I have sealed, other artifact refining rooms can be used. The tools inside are free, but the consumed materials must be calculated and compensated with spirit stones afterward." Master Sun scanned Wang Yu's face and replied faintly.

"Fine, then I have no questions either." Wang Yu nodded and also stopped talking.

"Master, I have no questions and can start at any time." The pale-faced youth saw this and hurriedly flattered the black-robed old man.

"Very good, you go out to choose your residences first, and then come here to familiarize yourselves with this Three Dragon Cauldron. Tomorrow at noon, when the Yang energy is strongest, we will all come to this earth fire room together.

Now, the old man will go to make the final preparations." The black-robed old man was not polite, left a few words, and left on his own.

In the blink of an eye, only Wang Yu and the other two remained in the earth fire room.

At this moment, the short-haired woman glanced sideways at Wang Yu and the pale-faced youth, and without waiting for any reaction from the two, she walked to the giant cauldron alone, pressed a palm on the thick cauldron leg, and closed her eyes, seemingly comprehending something.

Seeing this situation, Wang Yu smiled slightly and left the stone room.

The pale-faced youth saw everything, scratched his head, suddenly shouted "Senior Brother Wang", and chased after Wang Yu, also leaving the stone room. ===== CHAPTER 98 =====