Basic Artifact Crafting Technique
The records left behind by the disciple of the Azure Palace were quite intriguing. In ancient times, Spirit Severing experts and above had gone to stop a heavenly calamity, only to all vanish without a trace? At my current level, I couldn't even imagine what kind of heavenly calamity that might be. Someday, when my cultivation advanced further, I'd have to visit the Jinjin Continent. The author of the Yin-Yang Art, the Yin-Yang Taoist, had also headed there upon reaching the Transformation realm, so at the very least, I'd need to hit late-stage Nascent Soul before it was worth the trip.
After fully translating the ancient text from the Azure Palace, I browsed for other promising ancient books. I already had the Yin-Yang Art for cultivation techniques, so I was hoping for something new like formations or artifact crafting. As I deciphered the titles, I finally found one that caught my eye.
Basic Artifact Crafting Technique? Perfect timing—I had no one to teach me artifact crafting, but mastering the basics would at least let me handle repairs. I carefully translated the Basic Artifact Crafting Technique, penned by an ancient artifact crafter. A sloppy translation could lead to disasters when crafting or repairing artifacts later on.
The book covered methods for crafting artifacts, repairing them, points of caution, and more. I'd expected it to be tough since it was written by an ancient crafter, but as a beginner's guide, the content was straightforward and simple. The real challenge would be practice. Repairing my damaged Silver Snake Armor from the fight with that spirit beast seemed like a good starting point. Jumping straight into crafting and wasting materials on a failure would be too costly.
I'd half-hoped the book might include ways to craft formation artifacts, but unfortunately, it didn't. Even in ancient times, formation artifacts must not have been easy to make. After finishing the translation and committing every detail to memory, I slotted the book back into place.
I skimmed the titles and openings of the other ancient texts, searching for anything useful, but they were all about music, poetry, etiquette, calligraphy—nothing relevant to a cultivator. Still, my translation mission for the ancient texts wouldn't end until the Library Pavilion Lord finished her puppets, so I kept at it. The more I translated, the deeper my understanding of the ancient language grew, and I gained broad knowledge of that era. It wasn't a bad deal.
Three months after I started, Yeop Inyeong visited with a satisfied smile. She must have completed her puppets.
"The puppets are finished successfully. You've fulfilled your mission. Good work up to now."
"You seem pleased, Master. The humanoid puppets must pack quite a punch."
Her eyes sparkled as she replied, "Tremendously so."
"Congratulations. Thanks to this mission, I've learned a ton about the ancient language and era. If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave."
"You've worked hard."
I offered a respectful cupped-fist salute, and she returned the gesture with a wave. Leaving the Library Pavilion, I flew to the Mission Hall on a flying artifact to report my mission complete to Senior Brother Park Eung.
Upon arriving, a burly giant I didn't recognize was shaking Senior Brother Park by the collar, his face radiating murderous intent.
"Does that make any sense? Not a single disciple took a mission involving spirit beasts or spirit beast clans?"
Did I hear that right? Why were spirit handcuffs and spirit beasts suddenly coming up? No way...
Senior Brother Park answered with a pained expression. "That's correct. There really were no such missions."
"Impossible! My divination showed the killer who murdered my disciple led straight to the Unkak Sect. Out with the truth!"
Jo Daemun's master from the spirit beast clan! He'd actually tracked us here. But he couldn't know I was the culprit. Still, where the hell was the Mission Hall Lord in this mess? Just standing by?
"Hey, you there—why'd you stop? You look suspicious. Get over here."
I couldn't defy a Nascent Soul expert from the spirit beast clan. Tense, I approached cautiously.
"Junior Yuseong greets Senior."
Suddenly, the giant lunged, wrapping both hands around my throat and squeezing.
"Was it you? Are you the one who killed my disciple?"
Even at Iron Skin Art stage 7, his grip was monstrous—my neck felt like it would shatter. I grabbed his hands, trying to pry them off, but it was futile.
"Gah! I... I'm not... the killer."
"Not you? Then who the hell killed my disciple?!"
"I... don't... know."
As blackness crept in, the pressure vanished. What happened? Did Senior Brother Park save me?
"What's the meaning of this disturbance in the Unkak Sect?"
Yeop Inyeong glared coldly at the giant.
"Elder Yeop, I traced the killer who murdered my disciple to the Unkak Sect. I thought maybe some reckless disciple took a mission and did it..."
The giant seemed wary of her. Yeop Inyeong turned to Park Eung. "Any disciples sent near spirit beast territory in the last year?"
Park Eung bowed politely. "None, ma'am. I've checked multiple times."
Yeop Inyeong stared silently at the giant.
"Argh! No way! The killer definitely came here!"
As he reached for Park Eung again, Yeop Inyeong summoned dozens of puppets from her storage ring, surrounding him.
"Elder, the spirit beast clan's prestige is impressive, but this is Unkak Sect territory. I understand your grief over your disciple, but you can't assume our disciples are guilty just because the trail led here."
Monkey puppets, tiger puppets, wolf puppets—all sorts of beast-shaped ones looked ready to pounce. The raging giant eyed the horde and forced down his anger.
"Elder Yeop, fine. Put away these creepy puppets."
With a gesture, she stored them away.
"No more commotion. Head back to your clan. Your disciple was probably done in by bandits."
"I'll catch the bastard and torture his soul for a hundred years!"
The giant spat his threat and vanished in a flash.
"Thank you, Pavilion Lord."
"Pavilion Lord, you saved my life."
Senior Brother Park and I bowed in gratitude.
"I came to see the Mission Hall Lord and stepped in, that's all. If a Nascent Soul spirit beast clan expert bullies our juniors without evidence, of course I'd intervene. Especially here in Unkak Sect—it's only natural."
She brushed off the Nascent Soul expert and headed inside to meet the Mission Hall Lord.
"Senior Brother Park, that was close."
He sighed. "Tell me about it. A Nascent Soul from the spirit beast clan shows up demanding the killer... Who the hell took out that spirit beast clan cultivator and spirit animal?"
Sorry. I had to for my own survival. If that guy had let me go nicely, none of this would've happened.
I cleared my throat. "Ahem, anyway, I completed the Library Pavilion Lord's mission."
"Good work. What was the reward?"
"That's... a secret."
He twitched an eyebrow. "Between us?"
"Kidding. I learned and translated the ancient language."
"Oh! Knowing ancient tongue could come in handy later. Nice reward."
Speechless, I bid him farewell.
"I'll head out then."
"Take care."
Back in my cave, I lay on the stone bed to rest. That Nascent Soul—was he trained in body refinement? Without Iron Skin Art, my neck would've snapped. Good thing I hadn't asked Senior Brother Baek Gong to craft something from the spirit handcuff carapace. If that guy's master came sniffing around shops too...
How to handle the carapace? Practice artifact crafting to make it into one myself, or sneak it to Dancheol Fortress market? As I pondered, Moyong Wol arrived.
"Yuseong, long time no see?"
"Whoa, Wol, you hit Qi Refining 9th stage?"
"Yeah, thanks to Master's pills and the Yin-Yang Art."
"Damn, I reached 8th and thought I was catching up..."
She placed a hand on her hip and grinned. "Gotta be this strong to be your senior."
"Yes, yes, Senior Moyong. I'll catch up soon."
"What mission this time?"
"Translating ancient texts for the Library Pavilion Lord."
Her eyes lit up at "ancient texts."
"So you can translate ancient language now?"
"Yup."
She poked my side with a cute pout. "Teach me?"
"..."
I looked away silently, and she laughed. "Fine. How many low-grade spirit stones?"
Quick on the uptake. Fifty's too much... "Forty."
"Thirty, and I'll teach you how to detonate a flying artifact."
Like what Kang Seolhui did against her master. It wrecked her artifacts but the blast was insane. I still had ten White Sand Flying Swords left—worth learning for emergencies.
"Deal."
I taught her ancient translation methods, got thirty low-grade spirit stones, and learned artifact detonation. We studied hard—books and bodies alike—finishing with the Yin-Yang Art.