Days went by, and the weather gradually warmed up. On the small hillside, new yellow-green grass shoots began to poke out of the ground.
At the foot of the mountain, in the eastern region of the Market District, stood the Hundred Objects Pavilion.
“90? Isn’t a Water-Repelling Pearl ninety-five White Jade?” Chen Mu looked at the short and plump shopkeeper, Lei Hong, with a displeased expression. “You wouldn’t be trying to drive down the price because you see I’m new and think you can take advantage of me, right?”
Lei Hong quickly waved his hands: “You’ve misunderstood, dear customer, misunderstood.”
“Previously, it was indeed ninety-five White Jade, but lately, too many people have been coming to sell Water-Repelling Pearls.”
“Just this month alone, I’ve purchased forty-three Water-Repelling Pearls.”
“This magic artifact is urgently needed by the Administrative Affairs Institute. If I buy too many, I fear it will bring trouble upon myself, so I have no choice but to reduce the price.” Lei Hong displayed a helpless expression.
Forty-three?
How many Red-Eyed Ghost Pattern Pearls have I sold to the Hundred Objects Pavilion again?
Thirty-nine?
Hisss!
Is this damn mess really my own doing?
A sense of unease welled up inside Chen Mu.
“Who would have thought that the Lower Courtyard was filled with hidden dragons and crouching tigers, with so many people capable of refining Water-Repelling Pearls.” Lei Hong remarked with a sense of wonder: “The Qi Cultivators of the Upper Court certainly don’t have such a high success rate in artifact creation.”
Hearing this, an awkward smile played on Chen Mu’s lips.
Indeed, the success rate of refining Water-Repelling Pearls was not that high, but it was different when he was refining Red-Eyed Ghost Pattern Pearls.
With his Perfection in the Ghost Channeling Technique, he could easily connect with the Red-Eyed Ghost Pattern. With the tremendous Yin Spirit Divine Power brought about by his Heavenly Demon Body, as long as he wished, he could easily refine eight or nine Red-Eyed Ghost Pattern Pearls a day, and casually selling them could net seven or eight hundred White Jade.
That was pure White Jade, which he couldn’t resist.
Yet he hadn’t anticipated that selling too many would cause market price fluctuations.
“Thank goodness I changed my appearance every time I made a sale and fully employed the Breath Ending Divine Ability; otherwise, I would have definitely attracted probing and tracking.”
“Now, I also have amassed over sixteen thousand White Jade. Even if I fall into the Netherworld again, I’ll not lack White Jade Coins to spend.”
“It’s time to stop.” Chen Mu made up his mind, “From now on, not a single Red-Eyed Ghost Pattern Pearl can be sold!”
“Dear customer, are you still selling this pearl in your hand?” Lei Hong suddenly spoke up.
“Sell! Why wouldn’t I sell? Since I’ve come all this way, how could I not sell!”
Chen Mu immediately handed over the five Red-Eyed Ghost Pattern Pearls in his hand, took the four hundred and fifty White Jade, and returned to the wooden building at the base of the mountain feeling utterly delighted.
…
Several days later.
In the silent cultivation room on the second floor of the wooden building to the west side,
Chen Mu held a walnut-sized round pearl and examined it closely.
The pearl was completely white and smooth, with a faint layer of fresh red lines covering its surface. As it rotated, those lines seemed alive, slowly moving across its surface.
“It’s truly a High Grade Water Avoidance Pearl.” Chen Mu smiled contently.
Over the past month, besides refining Red-Eyed Ghost Pattern Pearls, he had devoted considerable effort to the artifact creation technique of Water-Repelling Pearls, reaping satisfying results as his experience skyrocketed daily.
At that moment, a vast insight suddenly emerged in his mind, and Chen Mu felt his understanding of Water-Repelling Pearls deepening.
He suddenly had the feeling that as long as he was willing to refine, he could certainly produce a High Grade Water Avoidance Pearl.
As the thought arose, he immediately set to work.
Various materials flew into the Primordial Furnace, propelled by the Wind Fire Pivot Charm. The mana was manipulated as smoothly as flowing water, the three different materials quickly combined and converged, rapidly constructing a specific structure.
It was as though a program had been pre-set, and without much effort on his part, the Magical Artifact Embryo began to take shape automatically.
An hour later, with a loud ‘bang,’ the lid of the Primordial Furnace flew open, and a round, glowing pearl emerged.
“The speed has tripled compared to before!” Chen Mu was pleasantly surprised.
The next moment, mana surged into the glowing pearl in his hand. The Water Avoidance Talisman within the Jade Seed flashed, and the mana that poured into the Magical Artifact Embryo instantly began to transform.
The whole mass of mana trembled and twisted in unison. In just over a dozen breaths, bright red lines appeared out of nowhere and quickly spread across the pearl.
Water Avoidance Talisman successfully imbued!
“Is that it? Was it really that simple?!”
Despite anticipating success, Chen Mu still found the smoothness of the process unbelievable. He promptly called up Gray Wall and looked at one of its sections.
Artifact Refining Technique (Water-Repelling Pearl): Perfection.
“Indeed, the artifact refining technique at perfection truly is unique!”
Previously, he could also craft high-grade Water Avoidance Pearls, but just shaping the magical artifact embryo would take a whole day’s effort, and there was still a possibility of failure.
Now, it took only an hour, and the success rate was one hundred percent.
What had changed even more was the talisman infusion, which no longer required the step-by-step construction and encoding of individual talismans. It was as if he was copying and pasting directly, forming a whole all at once, and it only took him a little more than a dozen breaths to complete.
“Scour the entire Goose Sheep Mountain, and I fear no one can match my level,” Chen Mu said with a self-satisfied smile.
…
Three days later.
At the foot of the mountain in the market district, Hundred Objects Pavilion.
“A high-grade Water Avoidance Pearl, three hundred and fifty White Jade Coins,” Lei Hong said eagerly, looking at Chen Mu, “Brother Li, I didn’t expect your craftsmanship to be so remarkable. Just look at this high-grade Water Avoidance Pearl, how clear it is!”
Chen Mu waved his hand with an air of nonchalance, “Practice makes perfect; idleness leads to failure. It’s nothing more than spending a bit more time than others. It’s not worth mentioning.”
“Admirable!” Lei Hong immediately gave a sincere fist-and-palm salute.
“Does Boss Lei know why our Goose Sheep Path requires so many Water Avoidance Pearls? Is it to open up a brand-new Lower Courtyard?” Chen Mu feigned curiosity to probe.
“Bullshit! There’s no new Lower Courtyard.”
“Not only is there no new Lower Courtyard being opened, but I’ve also heard that another Lower Courtyard is about to be disbanded. I don’t know what those Elders in the Upper Court are up to; they should think of some solutions instead of just secluding themselves in cultivation,” Lei Hong complained with a huff, “It’s gotten to the point where prices change daily, and doing business is becoming impossible.”
Another Lower Courtyard disbanded? Was it due to the Strange Demons causing destruction, or was it similar to Yun Chong Lower Courtyard, with someone enticing Ghosts to create chaos?
Chen Mu narrowed his eyes.
This Yunzhou was becoming more chaotic by the day.
“As for where the Water Avoidance Pearls are going, it’s no longer a secret nowadays. Most of them have been fed to the Twenty-Four Solar Terms Turtles by the Administrative Affairs Institute,” Lei Hong sighed.
Feeding magic artifacts to turtles? What kind of tactic was that?
Chen Mu was greatly puzzled.
“The Twenty-Four Solar Terms Turtle is an exotic beast discovered by Elder Lin of the Administrative Affairs Institute,” Lei Hong explained, “That turtle possesses peculiar powers; whatever it eats, its shell will generate the same properties.”
“A few years ago, they raised a group of turtles capable of using Thunder Law, allowing disciples to gather thunder without having to travel across mountains and rivers chasing storm clouds.”
“The price of Thunder Gathering Charms plummeted, causing me to lose a good chunk of White Jade Coins,” Lei Hong grumbled with a scowl.
“Now, I’m afraid they want to raise a group of turtles that can cast Water Avoidance Spells, and the price of Water Avoidance Pearls is likely to plummet.”
He looked earnestly at Chen Mu and advised, “Brother Li, you must seize the opportunity. While the prices are high, you should refine as many as you can and save up some White Jade Coins. That’s the sensible thing to do.”
“Thank you for the reminder, Manager Lei,” Chen Mu’s mind was racing, but his face feigned gratitude.
Cultivating Water Avoidance Turtles to replace Water Avoidance Pearls?
No, no, no, it probably had to do with cultivating materials for building ferries!
Having been at Goose Sheep Mountain for almost two months, he finally found some information related to ferry construction.
…
In the evening, in an eastern compartment of a wooden building.
Dozens of fish slices thin as cicada wings floated in the air, with the Fire Cloud Gourd positioned at the edge of the table, spewing a pale blue flame at the fish slices.
The thin slices immediately sizzled, emitting a tantalizing aroma.
Chen Mu ate the grilled fish slices while pondering the news he heard today.
“Feeding the Twenty-Four Solar Terms Turtles with Water Avoidance Pearls is to make those turtles resistant to water. Then, using their shells to build deepwater submarines would be much more efficient.”
Chen Mu thought of the Bai Gui Ship of Thousand Mechanisms Sect, a vessel capable of navigating thousands of meters underwater, built with the bones of the Giant Demon Bai Gui.
“From now on, I can’t sell Water Avoidance Pearls to the market district; I must go to the Hundred Refinement Hall.”
“Only then might I gradually get involved with ferry construction by utilizing the Water Avoidance Pearl artifact refining technique.”
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