Who Are You?

The next morning, Baek Cheong met up with Jin Wi in front of the guest quarters. Jin Wi, dressed in lighter, more casual attire than usual, beamed at her. "Miss Baek, we're heading to the Artifact Refining Peak today, aren't we?"

"Yes. I'd like to stop by the Artifact Refining Peak first, then head over to the opening ceremony of the Martial Contest."

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"Oh, if it's the Artifact Refining Peak, that's a peak with quite a lot to see even within our sect."

Jin Wi immediately laid out a cloud at his feet. Baek Cheong grabbed her hem and stepped onto it. She had grown quite accustomed to riding the Cloud-Riding Technique. The cloud rose into the air and sped off toward the east. It took some time to travel, as the distance was significant. From far away, black smoke was already darkening the sky above the peak. The scenery was distinctly different from the other peaks. Unlike Jinmun Peak, which shimmered with formations from the entrance, or Jebu Peak, which wafted the scent of ink from every pavilion, the Artifact Refining Peak was hit all at once by the smell of black smoke from furnaces, the metallic tang of iron, and the scent of ash. A constant, unrecognizable clanging of metal echoed from all over the peak.

"...The peak is a bit on the rough side, isn't it?"

"Well, to craft magical artifacts, one must melt iron in a furnace. This is the natural state of the Artifact Refining Peak."

As Baek Cheong spoke, Jin Wi replied with a goofy, doting smile. Once they stepped inside the peak, they found small stalls lined up along the roads where pavilions stood in rows. On the stalls lay a chaotic assortment of items: a short flying sword, a well-carved hairpin, translucent plain clothing, bundles of inscribed talismans, and something shaped like a bell with a black lacquer finish. All sorts of mysterious artifacts were strewn about.

The artifact refiners, whose robes were covered in soot, kept fiddling with their wares, and whenever they spotted passing cultivators, they would gesture wildly and shout their sales pitches.

"Daoist friend, take a look! This is a flying sword I crafted with my own two hands!"

"Daoist friend, this spirit pouch is one that never leaks a single drop of spirit qi!"

"This jade seal is a divine object that blocks evil spirits, why not take a look..."

The passing cultivators waved them off as if they were used to the sales pitches and kept walking. There were even scenes of artifact refiners grabbing the hems of the cultivators' robes, clinging to them with desperate voices.

Baek Cheong looked over the stalls and let out a small sigh. 'It's so grimy.' The scenery of the Artifact Refining Peak was far too different from what ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she had imagined. At other peaks, the sect's alchemists, talisman masters, and formation masters would show off their skills with dignity, but the artifact refiners here looked no different from the small-time mountain hermits in the market. Furthermore, their robes were blackened, and their hands were covered in soot, making them far from neat.

"Senior Jin Wi, are the artifact refiners always like this?"

"Ah, since they work while hugging the furnaces, it's common for them to be covered in soot."

Jin Wi answered with a small smile, then added, as if he had noticed Baek Cheong's unimpressed gaze, "Still, the Artifact Refining Peak is a place that receives quite a few visits from cultivators during every New Spring Exchange Meeting."

"Why?"

"As you can see, the artifacts crafted by the refiners are spread out all over the stalls, and sometimes there are rare artifacts mixed in that you rarely see at other peaks. That's why not only our sect's disciples but also external guests flock here."

Jin Wi continued, looking proud and excited. "There are items that only come out during the New Spring Exchange Meeting, and sometimes there are even secret artifacts of unknown origin mixed in, so there are quite a few external guests who visit early every time, hoping to catch a stroke of good fortune."

"Good fortune?"

"Yes. I've heard that if you're lucky, you can snag an artifact that suits you perfectly."

Baek Cheong looked around cautiously as she listened. Indeed, the number of cultivators wandering between the stalls was significantly higher than at the other peaks. She saw quite a few Biun Sect disciples, and she often spotted cultivators who looked like external guests, like herself, standing at every stall examining the items. However, as there were many people, there were also empty spots here and there on the stalls. As the academic fair of the New Spring Exchange Meeting entered its third day, it seemed the rare items had already been sold off.

"If you look over here, there's a place frequented by a close friend of a close friend of mine..."

Jin Wi led Baek Cheong between the stalls. While examining the stalls, there was almost no stall where Baek Cheong's gaze lingered for long. The short flying sword that looked like it had just been made in a furnace was uneven, the spirit pouch that supposedly gathered spirit qi was a common-as-dirt 1st-grade pouch, and the mysterious artifacts she occasionally saw were just suspicious and unsettling. She even picked up a small seal engraved with strange patterns, only to find spirit qi leaking out from the inside little by little.

The artifact refiners of the peak seemed to be dumping out all the artifacts they had made in preparation for the New Spring Exchange Meeting. But even if the exteriors looked plausible, the skill with which they had woven the spirit qi inside was not very refined. If they had been good artifacts in the first place, they likely wouldn't have remained on the stalls or would have been sold through other channels.

Baek Cheong, who had moved from stall to stall, let out another small sigh. 'Nothing here whets my appetite.' Among the artifacts spread out on the stalls, there was hardly anything that caught her eye. She already possessed the White Pearl Artifact she had received from her family, and the rare Five Elements Banner she had obtained from the Wuming Pavilion auction was already in her storage pouch. There was no reason to bother looking at artifacts of this mediocre level, even if they were sitting on the stalls. It wasn't as if she was curious about the craft of the artifact refiners, either.

She had heard that artifact refiners melted iron in furnaces, hammered it by hand while infusing it with spirit qi, and added spirit stones to condense the qi to create magical artifacts, and that those who reached the pinnacle could even create life-bound dharma treasures that synchronized with their souls. It was said to be a craft twice as arduous as alchemy. Alchemy was already exhausting enough; she didn't have the slightest desire to step into a life where she had to spend her days dealing with two furnaces at once.

'Besides, we already have a 3rd-grade artifact refiner working for the clan.'

Baek Cheong shrugged her shoulders slightly after looking around the stalls.

"Senior Jin Wi, shall we just head to the opening ceremony of the Martial Contest?"

"You want to go that early?"

Jin Wi tilted his head with a puzzled expression.

"The opening ceremony of the Martial Contest will be starting soon anyway, so I thought it might be nice to ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠go early and grab a good seat."

"...If that is what you wish."

Jin Wi nodded with a faint smile on his lips. Since she didn't seem to find much interest in the Artifact Refining Peak, which was the last stop on the academic fair schedule, there seemed to be no reason to stay.

Just as the two were moving to step out from between the stalls:

"Oh my, is that...?"

A strange voice came from behind them. Baek Cheong stopped and turned her gaze toward where the voice had come from. A young girl who appeared to be an external guest was standing on one side of the stall. She was a cultivator who looked to be around the same age, but her attire was flashy from head to toe, from her robes to her accessories. She wore a subtle dark brown robe embroidered with earth-toned patterns, had golden jade bracelets dangling from her wrists, and an amber hairpin intricately carved and pinned into her hair. It was an outfit that made her look like a scion of a family with much higher standing than a mere sect member. Two maidservants of a similar age stood behind her with their hands folded, following her.

The girl recognized Baek Cheong and lifted her chin arrogantly as she continued to speak.

"Are you Daoist friend Baek Cheong?"

There was a sharp edge to her voice. Baek Cheong tilted her head for a moment and then scanned the girl from head to toe.