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墨書 Inktalez
Heiya Mountain is quite remote, located eight hundred miles from the nearest city, with a few scattered villages nearby. The closest village to Heiya Mountain is called Liu Family Village.
There are over a hundred villagers mining at Heiya Mountain, living and working there. The mined ore is transported to Liu Family Village, where it is refined into iron ingots before being sold in the larger city. To handle the vast amount of ore, blacksmiths from several thousand miles around have gathered in Liu Family Village.
That morning, a middle-aged guest arrived at Lu's Armory in Liu Family Village. Boss Lu is a shrewd and robust middle-aged man, exuding an impressive aura that suggests he is not an ordinary person. He hurriedly approached and said, “If the official needs anything, please feel free to ask.”
“I am not an official,” replied the visitor, who was actually Xu Feng after taking a Disguise Pill. “I need some arrows.” Xu Feng pulled out a Golden Arrow and handed it over.
Boss Lu examined it for a moment and said, “I can make it, but I can only forge this type of arrow shape.” Clearly, Boss Lu had noticed the special feature of this arrow: the Arrow Symbol.
The arrow's appearance was not much different from an ordinary arrow; the only distinction was that two symbols were engraved on the shaft. The difference between a magical tool and a mundane tool lies in the incorporation of symbols into the former.
“That’s fine,” Xu Feng indicated that Boss Lu could proceed with the production.
Boss Lu called over an assistant and pressed the Golden Arrow into a long box filled with a soft, clay-like substance to create its imprint. Soon, the mold for the Golden Arrow was ready.
The blacksmiths in Liu Family Village were busy, with most of their manpower dedicated to smelting ore from Heiya Mountain. This time, Boss Lu only brought one assistant and personally handled many of the intricate tasks.
Half an hour later, the first arrow was completed. Boss Lu skillfully sharpened the arrowhead and presented it to Xu Feng, saying, “Please take a look, Master.”
The size of the arrow was identical to that of the Golden Arrow, entirely black with iron feathers replacing traditional fletching. It felt slightly heavier than the Golden Arrow, and its hardness was somewhat lacking, indicating differences in material quality and forging techniques.
“Just like this,” said Xu Feng. A mortal blacksmith cannot compare to an immortal refiner. “Make me a thousand arrows as quickly as possible; I will wait here.”
Xu Feng handed over a silver note worth a thousand taels. He had brought gold and silver from Beast Reject City, which he hadn’t used much; he still had tens of thousands of taels on him.
Boss Lu whispered a few words to his assistant, who then left and soon returned with five burly men who looked like blacksmiths. After exchanging greetings with them, Boss Lu and his team got to work energetically.
The production of these arrows was relatively simple; the entire arrow was made as one piece without needing separate fletching. By creating several simple molds and pouring molten iron into them, they could produce arrows quickly. With three people operating molds and four sharpening tips, all one thousand arrows were completed in under three hours.
Xu Feng stored the arrows in a two-cubic storage bag he had purchased earlier; this bag would serve as his dedicated quiver from now on.
Before leaving, Xu Feng took out another silver note worth a thousand taels and handed it to Boss Lu while casually observing those present. A chill ran through Boss Lu’s heart as he immediately understood and quickly assured him, “Rest assured, Master; Lu's Armory has been focused solely on refining ore today and has not engaged in any other business.”
Xu Feng nodded slightly and turned to leave.
Having been at Mine for three months, Xu Feng was quite familiar with everyone except Cao Lei and Lei Pi. The work of verifying the mines was simple; it involved selecting high-quality ores that met the Sect's standards, which could also be referred to as selecting disciples for mining.
Although there were many black mountain ores, very few met the Sect's requirements. Xu Feng found a leading mortal at the mine, informed him of the standards, and asked him to lead a team for selection. Xu Feng would occasionally check the selected ores, making his days relaxed and enjoyable.
Cao Lei and Lei Pi felt some dissatisfaction but did not show it. After all, Xu Feng had not been sent on any missions for the Sect, and the quality of ores selected was significantly higher than before.
Xu Feng was well aware that these two overseers had ulterior motives. He took some time to visit Liu Family Village to replenish his depleted arrows.
Previously, when he bought Sad Arrows, he did not expect to use them up so quickly. He shot off twenty or thirty arrows in one go, and every single one landed in the ground, making them impossible to retrieve. There was no time to search for them either. From the original fifty arrows, fewer than twenty remained. At this rate of consumption, even twenty arrows would not be enough for a battle; if he encountered skilled opponents, he would find himself in a situation with no arrows left.
Upon returning to his housing area, Xu Feng began inscribing runes on his arrows.
The art of runes originated from formations, and Refiner had integrated formations into Refining Tools. The book "Ten Articles on Refining Tools" contains instructions on basic rune crafting. These beginner-level runes are not difficult to make; however, their power is limited. Generally, any Refining Qi Stage cultivator willing to spend time can learn a bit about them. Additionally, having spent four months in the Artifact Workshop and seen many magical tools, Xu Feng had gained more insight into rune carving.
Xu Feng inscribed two runes on each Sad Arrow: one at the arrowhead was an attack rune that increased its lethality, while the one at the tail was a flight rune that enhanced its speed. The strokes of both runes were neat and filled with spiritual energy. Xu Feng inscribed similar runes in the same locations on his other arrows, though his technique was not as refined as that of the original Refiner of the Sad Arrows.
It took him ten days to finish inscribing runes on a thousand arrows. As he continued working, Xu Feng's rune-crafting skills improved significantly; by the last hundred arrows, he could achieve effects similar to those of the Sad Arrows.
After completing these thousand arrows, Xu Feng felt much lighter at heart. With this stockpile, unless faced with large-scale warfare, he would have enough arrows for several years. By then, as his strength increased, these arrows would naturally become obsolete.
In the following time, Xu Feng devoted himself fully to cultivation, continuously improving his abilities. A month later, his Golden Element Power finally broke through its bottleneck and entered Qi Refining Third Layer. Golden Yuan Slash replaced Fire Technique as Xu Feng's primary killing move.
This was also the day when ores were delivered monthly from the mine. Xu Feng returned to Artifact Workshop with three carts full of ore. Upon entering, he naturally caught up with Tian Yuan. This money-loving character struggled for a long time to come up with a reason to ask for money but ultimately ended up receiving a hundred spirit stones from Xu Feng voluntarily, nearly bringing Tian Yuan to tears with gratitude.
As he was leaving, Xu Feng finally received a return on his investment of one hundred spirit stones when Tian Yuan sneakily revealed: "Several sects are gathering personnel; something might be happening soon. According to past practices, your Mine will definitely have personnel drawn away."
"The Sect has already stopped guiding us Mine disciples in our training; now they want to send us out?" Xu Feng feigned ignorance.
Tian Yuan sensed that something might be lost and said sadly: "Xu Shidi (Junior Brother Xu), I won't hide it from you; this time you might be in grave danger. If you get the chance," Tian Yuan glanced around before continuing, "you should run away. Someone from Outer Sect seems to be targeting you."
"Mm," Xu Feng replied thoughtfully as plans began forming in his mind.
Back at the Mine, it was already dusk, and the setting sun resembled blood.
Today, Cao Lei and Lei Pi suddenly became amiable, preparing food early. A group of ten waited for Xu Feng to return for dinner.
"Junior Brother Xu, you’ve worked hard this time. Come, sit here; let me toast you," Cao Lei pulled Xu Feng to the table and sat him down, while Lei Pi wore a smile on his face.
These two schemers were acting out of character, making Xu Feng feel a bit uneasy. "You two seniors are being too polite; I should be toasting you instead." Xu Feng raised his glass but cursed inwardly. These two undercover agents must have received some news and were preparing to take action.
Jiang Bei and the other eight had pale faces and cold expressions, clearly aware that something was about to happen.
After the meal, the last glimmer of light disappeared at the horizon, and the chill of spring night crept up the roof.
Cao Lei and Lei Pi returned to their rooms. Xu Feng exchanged glances with Jiang Bei, and the two walked to a secluded spot in the Mine to whisper a few words.
The night finally turned completely dark.
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