novelraw Chapter 466 - 268: Two Major Leaks
Chapter 466 - 268: Two Major Leaks
Grandmaster Li in Artifact Refining was already quite eye-catching, so revealing the identity of ’Master Ye’ was not advisable anymore. Li Mu didn’t want this identity to become widely known, so he definitely wouldn’t use it to join other organizations.
After two hours, Li Mu completed the trade with Xu Xiangyi, and under her warm farewell, he left Heaven Returning Tower.
The next day, after a brief rest at the tavern, Li Mu changed his identity and went to Celestial Secret Pavilion to gather intelligence while also purchasing some high-tier spiritual materials. These were for supplementing the drawing of spirit talismans, refining puppets, and manufacturing spiritual ships.
Having not been to Desolate Ancient City for a long time, Li Mu didn’t rush back to Yin Yang Valley. Instead, he wandered leisurely at the marketplace in Desolate Ancient City, hoping to find a hidden gem with the help of his innate divine power - Recognition of Ten Thousand Spirits.
All day long, wandering through the marketplace of Desolate Ancient City, Li Mu caught a whiff of something unusual,
With the arrival of cultivators from the Central Continent Spirit Realm, Desolate Ancient City became much more lively. Whether in quality or quantity, the spiritual objects sold in the marketplace had all risen by a level.
Very soon, Li Mu stopped at a stall that was selling ancient artifacts.
The stall owner was an old Taoist in a yellow robe. In front of the stall were displayed cauldrons, jars, wooden fish, and other ancient artifacts emitting faint spiritual power, clearly unearthed relics of ancient times.
"Hey, young man, see anything you like?" The yellow-robed old Taoist eagerly greeted as customers were rare.
At this moment, Li Mu had suppressed his aura, only revealing a cultivation level at the late-stage Foundation Establishment. Meanwhile, the old Taoist’s cultivation was at the early stage of Golden Core, yet he called Li Mu "young man" with a humble attitude.
"How much for these ancient artifacts?" Li Mu asked with a smile.
"Indeed they are ancient artifacts. You can take a closer look. They originally had quality materials. With proper care, restoring their glory wouldn’t be an issue." The yellow-robed old Taoist introduced them enthusiastically.
"Just tell me the price directly! No need to beat around the bush!" Li Mu glanced at the old Taoist, urging him.
"One thousand middle-grade Spirit Stones per piece. If you take them all, I’ll give you a 20% discount!" The yellow-robed old Taoist glared at Li Mu as he quoted the price.
"Alright! I’ll take them all!" Li Mu nodded happily, tossed a bag of Spirit Stones to the old Taoist, and with a wave of his hand, packed up all the ancient artifacts on the stall, including the beast hide stall cloth.
The yellow-robed old Taoist was stunned as he stared at Li Mu, finally realizing that this ’young man’ in front of him was an expert in disguise. He quickly checked the Spirit Stone Bag and found nearly a thousand top-grade Spirit Stones, more than enough to buy everything on his stall.
"Too much! Too much!" The yellow-robed old Taoist exclaimed excitedly, looking at Li Mu.
"Consider it a tip!" Li Mu waved with a smile, turned, and left.
The yellow-robed old Taoist rubbed his eyes, feeling something was wrong with his vision. He kept his eyes on the departing figure, but as the words fell, he lost sight of him amidst the crowded bustling area.
"What an expert!" the yellow-robed old Taoist sighed in amazement, suddenly realizing something, he regretfully slapped his thigh: "Darn it! Might those ancient artifacts conceal precious spiritual objects?"
Elsewhere, Li Mu’s figure emerged from a secluded alley. He chose to leave Desolate Ancient City immediately, commanding the Tier Five Spirit Ship - Celestial Sword Ship, gifted by Lin Baoqing, to fly back to Yin Yang Valley.
[Beast Hiding Hide]
[Grade: Tier Six Hide]
[Attributes: Spirit Concealing Demon Essence, Ten Thousand Years of Hidden Joy, Spirit Concealment, Primordial Spirit Not Attached, Water and Fire Separation, Hidden Domain Self-Formed]
[Status: Hidden Spirit, Mortal Transformation Without Displaying Spiritual Power.]
[The shedding produced during the promotion of Tier Seven Hidden Buddha True Spirit, naturally carries a hidden spirit domain, impervious to blades and fire, contains faint spiritual power, and is perfect for refining invisibility, concealing breath spiritual artifacts, and spirit treasures.]
[Age Star Fruit Core (Damaged)]
[Grade: Tier Seven Spirit Seed]
[Attributes: Power of the Age Star, Age of Substance and Star of Emptiness, Age Power Gathering Realm, Ten Thousand Years of Spirit Bearing]
[Status: Age Power Gathering, Loss of Star Power, Loss of Vitality]
[The fruit core of a spiritual fruit borne by Tier Seven Age Star Wood, a Heaven and Earth Spirit Root that grows only during the end times of a star. This wood, still gathering age power and star power, requires ten thousand years to bear an Age Star Fruit. This core is the nucleus of the Age Star Fruit, where the vitality of the kernel has dissipated, yet it gathers a vast amount of the power of time, serving as a top-grade refining material for Time Treasures.]
Li Mu took out the two spiritual objects he had acquired unexpectedly. Under the recognition of Ten Thousand Spirits through his innate divine power, he obtained their specific attributes.
Looking at the two spiritual objects, Li Mu couldn’t conceal the joyful glow on his face. This was a serendipitous jackpot, too effortless and unexpected.
Firstly, the beast hide used as a stall cloth turned out to be a hidden treasure; secondly, a thumb-sized fruit core was hidden inside the wooden fish ancient artifact.
If it weren’t for the innate divine power - Recognition of Ten Thousand Spirits, revealing the attributes of these two spiritual objects, Li Mu wouldn’t have imagined their extraordinary origins from just two seemingly ordinary items.
This Tier Six Beast Hide is perfectly suited to refine an invisibility spiritual artifact.
Li Mu recalled that back when he had yet to reach Foundation Establishment, he defeated an assassin from Tingyu Tower and had obtained a decent Invisibility Spirit Tent among the spoils. If he were to use the shedding of this Beast Hiding Hide to refine a similar invisibility spiritual treasure, even Divinity Transformation and Void Refining cultivators wouldn’t detect it!
As for the Tier Seven Age Star Fruit Core, although it was incomplete, it contained a vast amount of the power of time, and a glint of unique thoughts crossed Li Mu’s eyes as he considered another refining direction.
The Tier Five Celestial Sword Ship, like a flying sword, sped swiftly, arriving at Yin Yang Valley in no time.
Li Mu stored the two high-tier spiritual materials away, driving the Celestial Sword Ship directly into Yin Yang Valley, flying straight to the core of Linggu, breaching the Grand Array.
"Who goes there! Show yourself!"
A Nine-tailed Celestial Fox suddenly appeared above Linggu, its scarlet eyes staring fiercely at the Celestial Sword Ship, readiness at its maximum.
"It’s me! Huan Ling, have you refined this quickly! Quite well used!"
Li Mu flew out of the Celestial Sword Ship, smiling cheerfully at the somewhat bluffing Nine-tailed Celestial Fox, teasing with a grin.
"Lord Li, you’ve returned! You startled me!"
Seeing Li Mu, with a "poof," the large figure of the Nine-tailed Celestial Fox transformed into a white mist, from which Xue’Er’s figure emerged, looking at Li Mu with delight.
"Mhm, nothing happened in the valley, right!" Li Mu inquired with a smile, casually storing the Celestial Sword Ship away.
"No! My third uncle hasn’t come yet, but I’ve already refined the Illusory Moon Bell, how was it, Lord Li, didn’t I just perform pretty well!" Xue’Er boasted with pride, showcasing the Illusory Moon Bell in her hand to Li Mu.
The Illusory Moon Bell then transformed into a Little Fire Fox, flying onto Xue’Er’s fragrant shoulder.
"Very well done, the Celestial Fox form is there, though it lacks intimidation to scare high-tier cultivators," Li Mu chuckled, pointing out the flaw.
"I am aware of this shortcoming." Xue’Er nodded slightly disappointed, then responded assuredly, "Having never seen a Nine-tailed Celestial Fox myself, if I could, I’m sure I could transform it perfectly."
"Mhm! Cultivate diligently, one day, you might break through your bloodline limit and advance to Nine-tails! Your mother says you have the potential," Li Mu encouraged with a nod and smile.
"You’re just coaxing me back to cultivation, Lord Li, are you planning to refine some artifacts!" Xue’Er frowned slightly, her glossy round eyes turning as she eyed Li Mu.
"Haha, you clever little fox, I’ll first inspect the Spirit Plants. I need to focus on crafting artifacts for some time, should your third uncle or any guest visit, remember to treat them properly, don’t act rashly!" Li Mu laughed heartily, instructing Xue’Er.
This trip to Desolate Ancient City had been fruitful for Li Mu, who had also accepted ten commissions from Divinity Transformation Venerables to craft Tier Six Spiritual Treasures, with a vast amount of high-tier refining spiritual materials stored in the Nine Treasures Spirit Pearl.
Next, Li Mu planned to dedicate himself to artifact refining for a while to increase his success rate for crafting Tier Six Spiritual Treasures, in preparation to start making the long-desired Divination Spiritual Treasure.
"Understood! I will guard Linggu well on your behalf!" Xue’Er sincerely nodded, solemnly promising to Li Mu.
Li Mu smiled and nodded, flying toward the Spirit Field to care for the Purple Sun Reishi and Yin Soul Fruit. He then entered the Painting Realm Treasure Mansion to inspect the Five Elements Spirit Plants, planting each high-tier spirit seed he had acquired this time, arranging the corresponding array formations, and transforming the Spirit Field to suit the growth environments for numerous high-tier spirit plants.
Compared to artifact refining, alchemy, and other Hundred Cultivation Arts, planting and tending to spirit plants is an extremely tedious task.
However, planting spirit plants and obtaining plant spirit attributes is key to future cultivation improvement. Li Mu knew his priorities well, dedicating the majority of his efforts to it.