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墨書 Inktalez
"Thank you, Brother." Zhao Yang felt a surge of emotion, secretly pleased that this naive person was so easy to deceive. He glanced furtively at the mysterious liquid above the Ice Fire Pool and asked, "Brother Ba Liang, what is that? I can sense such strong power emanating from it!"
Song Baliang felt warmth in his heart at Zhao Yang's friendly address. He had never had many friends growing up; his master forbade others from interacting with him. Every day, he was only allowed to practice martial arts and recite scriptures, and the rest of the time he was subjected to harsh training, which his master called practice.
"This is an incredibly precious Fire Sea Ice Spring. It may look like a liquid, but it is actually a type of metal. It is the supreme refining material in the cultivation world. If a Refiner adds Fire Sea Ice Spring to the materials for crafting a magical artifact, it can elevate the artifact by an entire tier, even Dao Artifacts can benefit from it. My Zen Staff is made from pure gold, Xuan Stone, and Wood Radiance; it can only be considered a high-quality magical artifact. For the past couple of days, I've been hesitating whether to use the Fire Sea Ice Spring on my Zen Staff—it's such a waste!"
"Are you a Refiner, Brother?" Zhao Yang asked in surprise.
Song Baliang nodded and said, "I suppose so. When I have free time, I help my masters craft various magical artifacts. Many of the Senior Brothers' artifacts at Xuanfo Temple were made by me."
"Is there a difference between magical artifacts and treasures?" Zhao Yang had always felt too shy to ask this common question.
"Magical artifacts are primarily offensive weapons, like Flying Swords, Nebula Chains, and Thunderfire Whips. Treasures are more about support items, like Divine Boots, Protective Armor, and Divine Sense Barrier Disks. Most people don't understand this distinction, so they usually mix up the terms," Song Baliang explained patiently.
Zhao Yang nodded and then asked, "I wonder how you charge others for crafting treasures for the Sect?"
"Charge?" Song Baliang looked puzzled; it seemed he had never heard that term before. "What does charging mean?"
"Uh!" Zhao Yang broke into a cold sweat; it turned out this big fool of a brother was helping others craft treasures for free and didn't even know about charging!
"Charging means you do work for others and ask for some compensation!"
Upon hearing this, Song Baliang's expression turned serious as he said, "Zhao Yang Junior Brother, that's where you're mistaken."
"Huh?"
"My master once said that giving is a joy. Helping my Senior Brothers refine their tools is something I can easily do; it's a small effort on my part. After all, aside from practicing and reciting scriptures, I have nothing else to occupy my time. When I immerse myself in the path of refining while helping others, I not only feel a sense of fulfillment but also gradually improve my Refining Qi level. Why not do it?"
Zhao Yang was sweating profusely. So this Senior Brother had nothing better to do and was just idly passing the time! Was he truly innocent at heart, or just a bit foolish? If he wasn't a fool, then his pure-hearted nature was indeed rare in this world.
"What a pity, such excellent refining materials!" Song Baliang muttered. "If only I could use them to enhance my Zen Staff, that would be such a waste. If I took them back to the Sect, they would surely be confiscated by my master or other masters. If I could refine these precious materials with some high-quality Dao Treasure Grade materials, my refining skills would definitely reach new heights!"
A true scholar, unabashedly a scholar!
Zhao Yang looked at him with admiration. He didn't have any materials to use for crafting treasures; all he had were finished products. But at this moment, he felt he could be honest with this Senior Brother who had seemingly found something for free, unless his acting skills were even better than his own.
"Senior Brother, I actually have a few treasures you might want to see," Zhao Yang said as he took out the Ice Soul Seal and Earth Fire Seal from his belongings, along with the Stone Hammer given to him by Sun Wukong. He thought about taking out the Black Box as well but remembered that the immense vitality contained within it was beyond even his Power Rules to forcibly open. It seemed unnecessary to take it out.
Upon seeing what Zhao Yang produced, Song Baliang gasped in awe and widened his eyes. "Junior Brother, these are Dao Treasures!" He exclaimed as he carefully examined the Earth Fire Seal and Ice Soul Seal as if they were his own treasures. The powerful aura of ice and fire did not affect him at all. Zhao Yang noticed that Song Baliang's hands were strong and radiant, shining like jade.
"These two Dao Treasures are ordinary grade items of ice and fire attributes, roughly crafted but with great potential for improvement. In the past era of refining tools, Dao Treasures were classified into low-grade, mid-grade, high-grade, and supreme-grade categories. Nowadays, however, the art of crafting tools has declined significantly; there are hardly any Master Artifact Refiners left in the cultivation world who can refine Dao Treasures. Thus, the classification has simplified to ordinary Dao Treasures and high-grade Dao Treasures. As for supreme-grade Dao Treasures, there hasn't been a master capable of crafting one since ancient times! If your two rough Dao Treasures were refined using this Fire Sea Ice Spring, they would surely reach high-grade status!" Song Baliang's eyes sparkled with enthusiasm and an insatiable thirst for knowledge.
Zhao Yang initially wanted to persuade Song Baliang to help him refine the Earth Fire Seal and Ice Soul Seal but was taken aback by Song Baliang's eagerness as he turned to him and asked if he would be willing to let him refine the two Dao Treasures.
"Well..." Zhao Yang hesitated slightly but showed a hint of reluctance on his face. "These are my family heirlooms; you won't ruin them with your refining skills, will you? My mother would scold me if she found out."
"Don't worry about that! My refining skills may not be perfect, but I've never ruined anything I've refined before—except for that one time when my master beat me up so badly that I broke my left hand and ended up turning his Dao Artifact into a mere tool!" Song Baliang patted his chest confidently.
"Wow! Your master sounds ruthless," Zhao Yang couldn't help but think inwardly as he muttered quietly.
“Ha ha, Zhao Yang, how does your master usually hit you?” Song Baliang had never known how others were treated by their masters, and curiosity sparked within him.
“Well…” Zhao Yang felt like he was going crazy. How poor must Song Baliang's interactions with others be? Had he really never had a playmate growing up, nor communicated with anyone else? After all, the Azure Palace Saint Child who had gone through similar experiences had already been tricked by him. He could easily imagine that a few simple lies could lead to Song Baliang being fooled as well.
“If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine. After all, being beaten isn’t exactly something to be proud of, even though my master always says that hitting me is for my own good.”
“Not just unglamorous; this is imprisonment and abuse!” Zhao Yang thought to himself, but said aloud, “The worst time was when my master pulled my head off.”
“Gah?” This time it was Song Baliang who was surprised. “How could your master be so ruthless! He actually pulled your head off? Is that true?”
“Oh come on!” Zhao Yang felt an impulse to bang his head against the wall. Seeing Song Baliang's serious and shocked expression made him realize that if he said it was true, Song Baliang might actually believe him!
“It’s a joke; I was just kidding. Brother, take another look at this hammer and see if there’s any room for improvement. My master said there’s something hidden inside the hammer that can’t be opened until reaching a certain level, but I have no idea what it is.” Zhao Yang changed the subject.
Upon hearing this, Song Baliang glanced at the Stone Hammer on the ground and said, “It’s just an ordinary Stone Hammer; what could it possibly hide?” As he spoke, he bent down to lift the Stone Hammer, and soon a look of surprise appeared on his face.
“What’s wrong, brother?” Zhao Yang asked in confusion.
“How heavy is this Stone Hammer? Why can’t I lift it?” Song Baliang's face turned red as he struggled without making any progress with the Stone Hammer.
“Over ten thousand pounds,” Zhao Yang replied casually, effortlessly picking up the Stone Hammer and playing with it in his hands.
Although Song Baliang was astonished by the weight of the Stone Hammer, he knew that such weight wasn’t a problem for him.
"It’s impossible that it weighs over ten thousand pounds. With all my strength, lifting over ten thousand pounds is no problem at all. I could at least drag something weighing thirty thousand pounds a short distance, yet I can’t budge your Stone Hammer even a little. There’s something strange about this!"
Zhao Yang was equally puzzled. "You couldn’t lift something weighing thirty thousand pounds?" He was confused. Could it be because he possessed the Power Rules of weight manipulation? But he hadn’t used that technique, so how could Song Baliang not lift the Stone Hammer? Zhao Yang had seen Song Baliang's physical strength; under eighteen thousand pounds of force, the Zen Staff had bent without harming him. Given Song Baliang's physical prowess, he should be immensely strong and certainly able to lift the Stone Hammer.
It seemed that Master Sun Wukong had truly put thought into protecting himself by creating a treasure that only he could lift. Zhao Yang couldn’t help but reminisce about the wonderful childhood he had spent with Sun Wukong.
"Brother, how long do you think it will take to refine the equipment?" Zhao Yang changed the subject and asked Song Baliang.
After considering for a moment, Song Baliang replied, "Under these conditions, it will take about seventy-seven days of Nine Heavens forging time."
"That long?"
Song Baliang nodded. "I plan to completely remake these two Dao Treasures. The Dao Yun within them will also undergo some changes. Moreover, I have a bold idea: to merge these two Dao Treasures into one, creating a Dao Artifact that possesses both ice and fire attributes. The attack power of ice and fire is already astonishing; if they can be fused together, the resulting Dao Artifact’s power will be unparalleled, and its grade will likely increase significantly."
"Is that feasible? What are the odds?" Zhao Yang expressed some doubts. Dao Treasures were rare and difficult to forge; merging two Dao Treasures into a Dao Artifact and upgrading it from an ordinary grade to a higher grade surely carried a considerable risk of failure.
"I have a fifty percent chance," Song Baliang stated after careful consideration. "Either they will merge into one and transform into a new Dao Artifact with greatly enhanced power and grade, or both will fail completely and turn into mere magical tools."
Zhao Yang hesitated for a moment in his heart. If it were anyone else, they would definitely avoid merging the two treasures because Dao Artifacts were precious; regardless of their grade, they were still Dao Artifacts. When pitted against each other, unless one encountered a Supreme Dao Artifact, it was generally hard to determine which was stronger.
However, for Zhao Yang, things were different. Although he recognized the benefits of having a Dao Artifact, he didn’t lack means for self-preservation or offensive capabilities. Having a Dao Artifact felt like riding in an off-road vehicle while others were on bicycles; for him, the grade was merely about choosing which brand of off-road vehicle to drive. With a Dao Artifact in hand, he could act more recklessly—if someone displeased him, he could simply hit the gas and run them over without bothering to get out of the car.
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