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墨書 Inktalez
In the days that followed, Guo Manman did not use her power to pursue further actions. A disciple of the Five Spiritual Roots was kicked to the Artifact Workshop, and everyone knew their future was bleak.
Xu Feng could not see Guo Manman, yet he felt as if he were being watched by a pair of malicious eyes. To escape this gaze, he could only devote himself to intense cultivation. As long as his strength was sufficient, he would seek out those eyes, dig them out, and feed them to the dogs.
Tian Yuan, having benefited from Xu Feng, felt too embarrassed to make things difficult for him and provided him with conveniences at every turn. Although Xu Feng nominally followed Tian Yuan's arrangements, in reality, he enjoyed a relaxed freedom. He worked only in the mornings and spent the rest of his time on cultivation.
To prepare for the inspections at the Artifact Workshop, Xu Feng diligently studied the Stone Record three times until he could recite it fluently. He could tell whether a stone contained Sun Wukong just by touching it.
The disciples of the Artifact Workshop were like "technical workers" in a modern office. Aside from practicing basic health maintenance techniques, they spent all their time in the underground Refining Room crafting various magical artifacts. Occasionally, disciples from the storage room would come to take away finished artifacts and leave behind new orders for items that needed refining.
With each passing day and combined with He Tanshu's Refining Tool Ten Articles, Xu Feng became well-versed in the various magical artifacts produced by the Artifact Workshop. He could even predict what kind of artifact would emerge whenever ore was brought in from the Mine.
The Refining Tool Ten Articles covered the fundamental techniques of refining tools and focused solely on artifact crafting; it was a required introductory course for anyone specializing in Refining Tools. Although Xu Feng had no intention of pursuing a path in Refining Tools, he ceased collecting methods related to Refining Tools after completing the ten articles.
To break through his realm as quickly as possible, Xu Feng resolutely chose to major in Fire Technique. The first technique he practiced was Fire Element One Star's Fire Technique. He had already mastered the fourth form of Fire Twelve Forms, and his Fire Elemental Power had reached the peak of Refining Qi Second Layer.
Following the principle of mutual generation among the five elements, Xu Feng practiced Wood Element Technique whenever he cultivated. Once his Wood Element Spiritual Power was sufficient, he would then begin practicing Fire Technique. The Qi Refining Third Layer was not easily achieved; after seven attempts, Xu Feng remained stuck at the bottleneck of Refining Qi Second Layer, but a breakthrough was imminent.
Time flew by, and three months passed in an instant; Xu Feng had now practiced Fire Technique up to its fifth form.
After finishing Spring Shujing and transitioning back to Fire Technique, a powerful surge of Fire Elemental Power formed in his Dantian and surged toward his limbs.
Qi Refining Third Layer! After three months of hard work, he finally broke through to Qi Refining Third Layer. This was the longest period Xu Feng had spent on self-cultivation so far. He understood that as his realm increased, it would take even longer and present more challenges.
Xu Feng transitioned from being a mortal to a Modern Clerk and went from being an initial expert to reaching Qi Refining Third Layer in less than half a year. While this might not be considered extraordinary among Modern Clerks, it certainly placed him among the elite.
Having broken through to Qi Refining Third Layer, Xu Feng temporarily halted his practice of Fire Technique and began studying cultivation methods from the other four elements. With Fire Technique as a foundation for his third layer cultivation, practicing the other four elements became much easier. Following the order of mutual generation, he practiced Earth, Metal, Water, and Wood techniques sequentially. Aside from Jinxi's Golden Yuan Slash showing slight improvement, he broke through all three remaining elements to Refining Qi Second Layer within a week.
With his breakthrough into Qi Refining Third Layer, Xu Feng's strength surged again. Now if he encountered He Tanshu again, Xu Feng could confront him without using Archery Skills. If he did employ Archery Skills, unless faced with a practitioner at Refining Qi Level Ten or higher, it would be difficult for anyone to suppress Xu Feng's ranged attacks.
After Xu Feng's third breakthrough, Tian Yuan delivered an Identity Jade Tablet from Artifact Workshop to him. Finally, Xu Feng gained his official identity: a doorkeeper at Artifact Workshop.
Although he did not receive formal recognition from Liuyun Hall, Xu Feng still managed to comprehend all ten final swords of Azure Dragon Thirteen Swords over several days. This significantly improved his swordsmanship and led him to make habitual modifications; Azure Dragon Thirteen Swords became even more unpredictable and formidable.
By the fourth month at Artifact Workshop, Xu Feng's "security" duties finally came to an end. Lan Sha Shixiong conveyed news from an unknown source: Xu Feng was assigned to Mine as a disciple responsible for ore inspection.
Xu Feng, a disciple of the Artifact Workshop, had not even seen the owner Long Ye before being demoted to the mortal realm as an ore-testing disciple. On the surface, he was still a disciple of the New Moon Sect, but in reality, he had lost his qualification for advancement and his cultivation was no different from that of a loose cultivator.
After leaving, Xu Feng received his "salary" from the Artifact Workshop for four months: forty Low-Grade Spirit Stones. This meant a monthly salary of ten spirit stones. The ore-testing disciples at the Mine fared even worse, receiving only five Low-Grade Spirit Stones each month.
Xu Feng had rolled up He Tanshu's possessions, amassing over ten thousand in assets, so he naturally did not care about these few dozen Low-Grade Spirit Stones. However, Tian Yuan was the most upset, crying as if he had lost a treasure trove.
"Junior Brother Xu, come back to visit us often when you have time..." Tian Yuan said reluctantly.
Xu Feng did not dare to linger too long; a light breeze swept by, sending chills down his spine.
Xu Feng left the Artifact Workshop riding in a cart that delivered ore. The one delivering the ore was a disciple named Jiang Bei, who was at the fifth level of Refining Qi. During his four months at the Artifact Workshop, Xu Feng would see Jiang Bei every month and chat with him when they had time; they had become acquaintances.
"Junior Brother Xu, I didn't expect you would end up going to the Mine with us," Jiang Bei sighed, as if Xu Feng's fate had already been sealed.
"You guys?" Xu Feng asked.
"Yes, us," Jiang Bei replied with a self-deprecating smile. "I went directly from Flying Star Hall to the Mine; officially, I am a Miner Disciple."
"I am going to be an ore-testing disciple," Xu Feng said.
Jiang Bei looked at Xu Feng and said lightly, "I called you because our ore-testing disciple left yesterday."
"Where did he go?"
"The place he went is somewhere we all wish to avoid, but sooner or later we will have to go..."
The two sat in the dirty cart, each lost in their own thoughts. The driver was a mortal man; there were three mortals and three carts pulled by six horses.
The Mine Xu Feng was heading to was called Heiya Mountain, located thirty miles from New Moon Sect.
Heiya Mountain is rich in black iron ore, which is dark and hard with excellent quality—ideal for mortals to make tools. After New Moon Sect took control, they only selected ore suitable for Refining Tool from the mined materials; most of the ore was still given to mortals.
The cart traveled for a short while before arriving at Heiya Mountain.
There were a total of eleven disciples from New Moon Sect stationed at the Mine: one ore-testing disciple, two from Cold Moon Hall, four from Flying Star Hall, and four from Liuyun Hall.
Several simple houses were built on the mountain for the stationed disciples to live in. Jiang Bei arranged a place for Xu Feng, and then several stationed disciples gathered together.
"Thank you for your hard work, everyone. I am a new mining disciple, and my name is Xu Feng," Xu Feng introduced himself.
Jiang Bei and the other eight junior disciples friendly introduced themselves as well, but the two Senior Disciples from Cold Moon Hall did not respond. One of them coldly said, "Don't wander around if there's nothing going on. This isn't the Sect, and if something happens, no one will come to save you."
"Thank you for the advice," Xu Feng replied. In his heart, he cursed: Don't act tough; acting tough will bring disaster!
From Jiang Bei, he learned that these two Senior Disciples were named Cao Lei and Lei Pi. Among the eleven members of the Mine, only these two sent by the Sect were supervisors. They were not here to oversee mining but to carry out some shady orders.
On the surface, all eleven were here to guard the mine, but among them, nine were "junior disciples" who had been marginalized. For many years, Heiya Mountain had maintained this personnel structure, but while the mines remained similar year after year, the people changed. The one who had been here the longest was the silent and honest Jiang Bei.
Xu Feng chatted a lot with Jiang Bei along the way. By the end of their conversation, Jiang Bei began to tear up, while Xu Feng started to pay attention.
Keeping an eye out for oneself allows one to better keep an "eye" on others.
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