Chapter 426: Chapter 147: Fifth Heaven of the Spirit Awakening Realm, Great Success in the Twelve True Forms Fist; The Arrival of the Blood Curse Hunt...

It was as if she could already see an invisible rift spreading between the Medicine King Valley and the Demon Suppression Bureau.

’No, this can’t go on...’

Baili Bing clenched her jaw.

’There’s no talking sense into my senior brother. The only hope now is to return to the Medicine King Valley at once and have a personal audience with the Valley Master, Baili Nutao!’

’I have to make the stakes clear and plead with the Valley Master to prioritize the greater good and personally order the retraction of Ye Chang’an’s utterly foolish decision!’

She hesitated no longer. Striding to the nearby stable, she led out her mount and vaulted deftly onto its back.

"Hiyah!"

With a flick of the reins, Baili Bing galloped toward the North City Gate, a single thought consuming her mind: ’I must get back to the Medicine King Valley as quickly as possible!’

...

「An incense stick’s time later.」

Just as Baili Bing’s figure vanished beyond the North City Gate.

Deep within a dark and secluded alley in Qing Province City.

A middle-aged man in inconspicuous black robes seemed to sense something. He drew a black, circular disk covered in complex Runes from within his robes.

A faint light shimmered on the disk’s surface, clearly showing a red dot and a green dot.

At that moment, the light representing the "red dot" had already moved to the edge of Qing Province City and was rapidly distancing itself.

The man in black cracked a sinister, strange smile. His dry voice, like the low hoot of a night owl, rasped, "Finally... I’ve waited for you to leave the city..."

He put away the disk, and with a flicker of movement, melted into the bustling street crowd like a phantom, heading unhurriedly toward the North City Gate.

Sunlight streamed into the alley, yet it failed to dispel the intangible killing intent that lingered in the air in his wake.

A hunt for Baili Bing had quietly begun.

...

「South City, Qing Province. The Celestial Workshop.」

A massive plaque forged from Profound Iron glinted with a cold, hard luster in the sunlight.

Unlike the ornate architecture of the Medicine King Pavilion, the inside of the Celestial Workshop was filled with the solemn atmosphere of intermingling metal and fire.

This was the largest weapons trading and forging Workshop Marketplace under the control of the Artifact Refining Grand Sect, the Artifact Origin Sect. Most who came here were Martial Cultivators with formidable auras, all carrying weapons.

As Chu Fan, Zhao Tianxing, Fatty, and Jiang Yuanfan stepped inside, an attendant immediately came to greet them respectfully. "Welcome, gentlemen. Are you looking to purchase a Magical Treasure Secret Artifact, or to sell materials or a finished product?"

"I have some materials I’d like your workshop to use to forge a blade," Chu Fan said, getting straight to the point.

"Of course. Please follow me to the forging area, gentlemen."

The attendant dared not dally, leading them through a grand hall where all manner of gleaming weapons were on display. They arrived at a more spacious area in the back where the temperature was markedly higher.

The CLANG CLANG CLANG of hammering iron and the CRACKLE of roaring furnaces filled the air.

An Artifact Refiner in the robes of the Artifact Origin Sect, a man in his thirties, received them.

The Artifact Refiner sized up Chu Fan’s group. Seeing their youth and plain clothes, he tilted his head up slightly, a hint of arrogance on his face. "You’re all quite lucky to have run into me on duty today. I’m an Inner Sect Disciple of the Artifact Origin Sect, and I specialize in forging blades."

"Even people from the various sects and Noble Families of Qing Province have to book an appointment months in advance if they want my services."

Chu Fan and the others fell silent upon hearing this.

They hadn’t even stated their request, and the man was already singing his own praises.

With such an attitude, if this weren’t the Celestial Workshop, they would have suspected they’d run into a common charlatan from the martial world.

Chu Fan found it amusing but kept a straight face, playing along. "Oh? And just how superb are your skills?"

The question seemed to open the floodgates for the Artifact Refiner.

His expression immediately became animated. "The blades I forge are the cream of the crop for their grade! Their sharpness is increased by at least thirty percent, and their toughness is beyond what any ordinary craftsman can achieve!"

"Even my success rate for inscribing Runes far exceeds that of my peers..."

He went on and on, boasting endlessly.

If he hadn’t boasted, it might have been fine. But his bragging only made Chu Fan more suspicious.

Even Fatty couldn’t help but sneak a disdainful curl of his lip from behind Chu Fan.

’Is he really from the Artifact Origin Sect?’

’Could he be some charlatan from the martial world who snuck into the Celestial Workshop?’

Chu Fan’s expression remained neutral as he slowly unsheathed his customary Thunder Blade and handed it over. "Please take a look, sir. What do you think of this blade?"

The Artifact Refiner took it, gave it a cursory glance, and flicked the blade with his finger.

The blade let out a clear ring. The refiner scoffed, "Just a Lower-Grade Magical Artifact. The material is common, the forging technique is mediocre... It’s barely serviceable."

Magical Treasure Secret Artifacts were graded into several tiers: ordinary weapons, Magical Artifacts, Spirit Soldiers, Profound Weapons, and Ancient Treasures, among others.

Chu Fan currently possessed the Middle-Grade Spirit Soldier, the Demon-locking Chain; the High-Grade Profound Weapon, the Five Elements Cauldron; and the High-Grade Ancient Treasure, the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.

The latter two were far too significant, and he could barely even activate them at his current level, so he would never show them to others lightly.

While the Thunder Blade was only a Lower-Grade Magical Artifact, it was the weapon he used most often.

Chu Fan didn’t get angry at the man’s dismissal of his blade.

To prove his point, the Artifact Refiner took a Long Saber—also a Lower-Grade Magical Artifact—from a nearby weapon rack and announced proudly, "Look! Both are Lower-Grade Magical Artifacts, but mine surpasses yours in luster, toughness, and its internal Spiritual Mechanism! *This* is a work of quality!"

"I don’t believe you." Chu Fan shook his head.

Zhao Tianxing, Fatty, and the others also looked skeptical.

The Artifact Refiner sneered. "You can’t tell just by looking at them side-by-side?"

Chu Fan shook his head again. "I can’t."

"That’s right!" Zhao Tianxing and the others chimed in.

The Artifact Refiner grew agitated. "The difference is so obvious! How can you not see it?"

Chu Fan frowned. "What difference? If you insist there’s one, my Thunder Blade glows with lightning, while yours looks no different from an ordinary weapon..."

"An ordinary weapon?!" Hearing them question his expertise, the Artifact Refiner felt his reputation was on the line. A rush of anger shot straight to his head.

He was already short-tempered by nature, and Chu Fan’s calm, questioning gaze was the last straw. He could no longer hold himself back.