Chapter 0192: Abundant Harvest Blacksmith’s Shop
Three days passed by quickly, but Ning Cheng was not anxious for even half a moment, it was as if he simply had nothing else left to do. So staying here with Elder Sister Shu, he once again began practicing Alchemy, by now he could easily refine a Level 3 Pill without the need of any Pill Arts. It could even be said that he was now worthy of the reputation of a Tier 3 True Pill Master.
“Yi! you are already a Tier 4 True Pill Master?” Lan Shu’s melodious voice sounded out, when Lan Shu discovered Ning Cheng outside. At this moment she had changed into a light blue robe, and even her husky voice from before had disappeared.
When Lan Shu saw Ning Cheng casually refine a Level 3 True Pill, that to of a very high quality, she of course immediately thought that Ning Cheng was a Tier 4 True Pill Master.
“Elder Sister Shu, you are good now.” Ning Cheng put away the Pill Furnace, and spoke up with joy.
Lan Shu unexpectedly revealed a small smile, “En, thank you for the Amethyst Heaven Coloured Glaze Essence, if there was no Amethyst Heaven Coloured Glaze Essence, then I would still be sitting on that chair.”
Seeing Lan Shu smile, Ning Cheng immediately became sluggish, he had never imagined that Lan Shu’s smile was so beautiful. This kind of beauty, even if it was compared to that purple robed woman, it was far from being equal.
“Ning Cheng……” Lan Shu called out in a slightly amused tone.
Ning Cheng instantly came to understand that he was not polite at that moment, and spoke up in an embarrassed manner, “I’m sorry, Elder Sister Shu, I have been disrespectful.”
But Lan Shu was not angry, and still spoke in a soft voice, “This is not something related to you, it is because you think that I am too beautiful, because of which you are like this.”
Ning Cheng was very much perplexed as to why Lan Shu was speaking like this, but he still gave an ‘En’ sound and said, “Yes, it is because I have never seen Elder Sister Shu smile before. It’s just that this kind of beauty is something that can make people intoxicated.”
Lan Shu sighed and spoke, “To me, these things are now irrelevant. When I had first met Yuchen, I was just a very ordinary person. However, even then Yuchen did not abandon me……. You do not have to speak of such thing. Right, where is your fiancée now?”
Ning Cheng had also been fondly remembering Luofei during this time, now that Lan Shu asked about her, he also quickly replied, “My fiancée is called Ji Luofei, before I went to the Angry Axe Valley, she was in the Hua Continent’s God Wind Academy waiting for me. But when I got back to the God Wind Academy, the God Wind Academy had long since been destroyed, but she was rescued by a friend of mine. At the moment I do not know where she is. Once I come back from the Law’s Way, I will be going back to the Hua Continent and wait for her.”
Lan Shu gestured Ning Cheng to sit down, as she also sat down and spoke, “The Cultivation Method that I cultivate in has a great effect on one’s face, and is the best Cultivation Method for a female cultivator. When you find Luofei, you can then bring her to me, and I will pass it on to her. At present, we’re going to the Blacksmith’s Shop. Of course, before we go, we will have to disguise ourselves.”
……
After coming out of the Dragon and Phoenix Academy with Lan Shu, Ning Cheng couldn’t dare to believe it. As by relying on Lan Shu’s Appearance Changing Technique, he had transformed into a 30 plus year old thin uncle. Even when he used his own Spiritual Consciousness to investigate, he found it very difficult to find out the authenticity of his transformation.
Also when he took a look at Lan Shu, how could it even be compared to even half of her peerless beauty from before? But her eyes still retained the familiar colour, other than that Lan Shu had already transformed into a middle aged woman, with her face dusty and tired, making any person who looked at her to tell with a glance that she was the lowest in the Cultivation World.
Seeing Ning Cheng look around, Lan Shu spoke, “My Appearance Changing Technique, compared to those Cover Up Arts and Concealments Spells, is not at all inferior. Even some of the Advanced Levelled Cultivators may not necessarily see through you. If you want to learn it, I can teach it to you.”
“I want to learn it.” Ning Cheng spoke out without hesitation, this thing was simply too useful for him.
Lan Shu simply took out a Jade Piece and handed it to Ning Cheng and spoke, “You can take a look at this Jade Piece, once we come back from crafting the weapon, you can stay with me for a few days to learn it.”
……
The Dragon and Phoenix Academy was inside the Dragon and Phoenix City, as such Ning Cheng had not known about the exact location of the Dragon and Phoenix City. But now that he was following Lan Shu to the Dragon and Phoenix City, he was immediately secretly surprised about the liveliness in the Dragon and Phoenix City.
Or maybe it was because the people from the Dragon and Phoenix Academy’s Grand Plaza that had come for the Law’s Way, but there was actually a large number of people, moreover there were all kinds of auctions and promotional advertisements one could see.
Ning Cheng along with Lan Shu turned around 7 or 8 bends, and soon left the noisy and bustling streets, and arrived in a small alley. This let Ning Cheng to reminisce about the white-haired old woman’s house, the white-haired old woman was living in such a remote place, was it possible that these experts all liked to live in such a secluded corner?
Sure enough, Ning Cheng had just entered the small alley, when he heard the tinkling sounds of a blacksmith. Moreover, these sounds were also heavy and dense, it was clear that the business was very good.
Making their way to the door from which the tinkling sounds were coming from, Ning Cheng finally saw a small sign that said, “Abundant Harvest Blacksmith’s Shop.”
Entering the blacksmith’s shop, Ning Cheng saw that there were already a few people inside, three men and a woman sitting on the side on a wrought iron bench. While two bald headed boys were beating an ingot hard, while another was forcefully pulling on the bellows. Ning Cheng determined that he was definitely not mistaken in what he saw, these two youths although were forging a weapon, but it was not of a spiritual nature.
As for the three men and the woman, they looked almost similar to Lan Shu in appearance, although their cultivation was not high, but they projected a tough appearance, they should be the more formidable adventurers. As they sat there, he guessed that they were waiting for the weapon that was being forged.
The blacksmith’s shop was not small, but because of the continuous fireworks it was smoked black. Inside the entire shop, other than the sounds from the two bald headed youths, there were no other sound.
As Lan Shu and Ning Cheng entered the smithy, it did not arouse any strangeness, the four guest also looked at the two people, while the two youths paid more attention to the weapon that they were forging.
“I am looking for Great Master Nong to forge an axe, moreover it has to be personally forged by the Great Master himself.” Lan Shu spoke in a thick voice.
The blacksmith youth then spared a moment to take a look at Ning Cheng and Lan Shu, and then once again began hammering the embryonic form of the weapon in his hands as he casually spoke, “If you want Boss to forge an Axe, he will not accept gold coins he only accepts Spirit Stones, moreover the price would be ten times the original price, which would be decided later.”
“I know the rules.” Lan Shu still spoke with a coarse voice.
“Go in.” The youth blacksmith spoke two words, and once again continued forging the weapon’s embryonic form.
Lan Shu along with Ning Cheng walked to the corner of the room, and then through a small door in another corner. The door was very inconspicuous, if not for Lan Shu leading him, then without specifically searching for it with his Spiritual Consciousness, Ning Cheng was not sure that he would have been able to find this small door.
Entering through the small door, Ning Cheng saw a similarly bald headed man, only he had a beard on his face. This man was calcining some common materials on a flame, Ning Cheng realized that he could not recognize what the material was. But what he was certain was that the flame he was using not a powerful flame, but rather a very ordinary flame.
Ning Cheng did not use his Spiritual Consciousness to examine this man, he could feel that this man’s cultivation was not worse than Elder Sister Shu’s, probably even slightly better than her. At the same time Ning Cheng was wondering that if Lan Shu had not come along, and he alone brought the True Cosmic Devil Metal to be refined into a magic weapon, wouldn’t it be snatched away by this guy? Would he even be able to preserve his small life?
“There is no business today.” The bald man didn’t even look at Lan Shu before refusing immediately.
Lan Shu signalled Ning Cheng to take out the wooden plaque, and then threw the wooden plaque in front of the bald man and spoke, “Great Master Nong, just this one time.”
“Yi!!” The bald man seeing the wooden plaque, finally looked up and took a closer look at the two people, Ning Cheng and Lan Shu, after a moment he put away the wooden plaque and spoke, “What do you want me to craft?”
“An axe.” Lan Shu spoke as she hinted Ning Cheng.
Ning Cheng then immediately took out the chunk of True Cosmic Devil Metal from his ring and placed it on the ground.
“True Cosmic Devil Metal?” The man’s countenance finally changed, but he then shook his head and spoke, “My crafting skills are limited, the True Cosmic Devil Metal cannot be refined into an advanced grade magic weapon. If you have to give me this True Cosmic Devil Metal to craft, then it would only lead to spoilage.”
“To what extent can you work with it?” Lan Shu asked with a sinking voice.
The bald headed man pondered the question for a few moments before finally speaking, “If you are lucky, then I can refine this chunk of True Cosmic Devil Metal in a Medium Grade True Artefact, but then this True Cosmic Devil Metal would not be upgraded in the future, for me it would be equivalent to failure, as such it would be better if I did not try.”
Ning Cheng and Lan Shu were very clear in their hearts, if this True Cosmic Devil Metal can only be refined into a Medium Grade True Artefact, then saying that it was crafted badly would not be an exaggeration.
The bald man paused, and then specifically looked at Ning Cheng and Lan Shu and spoke up, “But I can also craft this True Cosmic Devil Metal into an embryonic form of a High Level Spiritual Artefact. The embryonic form would have an ugly appearance, but it would actually not destroy the True Cosmic Metal, once you meet a genuine high level crafting master, you can then let him continue to craft this True Cosmic Devil Metal. Once this True Cosmic Devil Metal is crafted into a Best Quality True Artefact, or even something beyond the Best Quality True Artefact, it could then be upgraded infinitely without any restriction in the future.”
[TL Note: Weapon Ranking: Mercenary -> Ordinary -> Spiritual -> True…… Each class further divided into: Low, Medium, High and Best Quality Artefacts/Weapons]
“Then as long as I can have the embryonic form, it’s ok with me.” Ning Cheng saw that Lan Shu had looked at him, and quickly spoke up. For him at the moment, an Artefact of the rank of True Grade was simply too high, as such he would simply not be able to use it. For him at the moment, a High Level Spiritual Artefact was more than enough, moreover later when he found a more powerful Crafting Master, he would then be able to upgrade this True Cosmic Devil Metal, wasn’t this much better.
The bald man also nodded and spoke up, “Crafting a High Level Spiritual Artefact will also come with a weakness, that is the Devilish Nature in the True Cosmic Devil Metal would also be much stronger, if your mind and heart is not strong enough, you would be directly consumed by the True Cosmic Devil Metal.”
Ning Cheng spoke in a calm voice, “Master Nong can by all means go ahead and craft using this True Cosmic Devil Metal, as for its Devilish Nature, that’s my problem.”
Ning Cheng had realised that Nong Zhen and Lan Shu did not know each other, moreover the reason Lan Shu was able to make the opposite party begin was because of the wooden plaque.
But Ning Cheng was also lamenting in his heart that this True Cosmic Devil Metal can only be crafted to at most the level of Middle Grade True Artefact by him, moreover only if their luck was good, it was obvious that this Nong Zhen was not a High Tier Crafting Master. If he was actually a High Tier Crafting Master, he would have already been dragged away by the Crafting Divisions of the several popular Academies to work as their Crafting Teacher.
Ning Cheng originally had intended to use his remaining materials, like the Exotic Wild Extreme Essence, the True Burning Star Sand, etc. to let this Master Nong to craft them into several small axes, but at this moment he took the initiative to give up on it and not ask about it.
Nong Zhen immediately started to refine the True Cosmic Devil Metal, and also did not request Ning Cheng and Lan Shu to leave. However, he did not use the original flame that he was using before, rather after throwing out several Array Flags, he immediately brought out a blue flame.
When this blue flame came out, Ning Cheng felt his Star River become energetic, he quickly moved to suppress the energetic Star River.