Although he had cultivated for half an Hour, the morning was still young.

The morning mist, having condensed into frost upon the treetops, had not yet scattered, and a chill still bit at the air.

Xu Yunfan tightened the Profound Iron Belt at his waist, fastened his Profound Steel Bracelets, and slung the Thunderfire Qilin Hammer onto his back. Just as he was about to head down, his footsteps suddenly stopped. He whipped his head up to look at a figure on a nearby ridge.

Thirty paces away stood Su Zhenhe. His moon white arrow sleeves were damp with dew, and the eight-sided sword in the sharkskin scabbard at his waist glinted with a cyan light.

What drew even more attention was the woman by his side. She wore a lotus-colored half-sleeve top over a plain gauze shirt and skirt. A waistband with a flowing cloud pattern accentuated her figure, making her as slender and graceful as a new bamboo shoot after a rain. Her features carried the gentle charm of a misty Jiangnan landscape. Her raven-black hair, free of any pearl or jade hairpins, was loosely coiled with a simple bamboo pin, revealing a neck as smooth and flawless as fine jade. She looked nothing like the muscular, sinewy women typically found in the Mortal World.

Here, because of the principles of Blood Energy Martial Arts, one could gauge the abundance of a person’s Blood Qi from their physique alone. For an ordinary woman to make a name for herself in martial arts, she either had to be rich enough to use Secret Medicine to keep her muscles compact or become a she-hulk even more formidable than a burly man.

After taking the Secret Medicine, one’s figure would become toned, but their strength would ultimately be compromised, a price many were unwilling to pay.

Yan Yuwei was a prime example. When she flexed her muscles, she looked even more impressive than he did.

The moment the mountain wind lifted her Moonwhite Jiao Xiao Skirt, Xu Yunfan saw the mechanisms hidden beneath the seemingly light fabric. The entwined lotus pattern embroidered on her cuffs with gold thread was actually made of hundred-refined steel threads, and the faint outline of a weapon was visible within the layered folds of her skirt.

’Child’s play.’

As a disciple of Celestial Craft Cave who had also studied the martial arts and lore of the four halls, and had achieved success in the Celestial Craft Forging Technique, he had naturally developed a discerning eye.

"Brother Su, is your Flowing Firefly Thirteen Fans off being maintained with Cold Spring Iron? Why are you carrying a sword today?"

Xu Yunfan’s gaze swept over the longsword at the other man’s waist.

During their spar three days ago, that Fine Steel Folding Fan had been clearly engraved with the Profound Daoist Sect’s unique coiling dragon pattern. Now, it had been replaced by a sword with a guard inlaid with the Beidou Seven Luminaries.

He still clearly remembered the Guan Shan Taoist giving Su Zhenhe permission to use a sword that day.

’Don’t tell me he came all the way here today just to get even.’

’And this woman beside him... is she here for backup?’

Just as Xu Yunfan was mulling this over, his gaze turning wary, Su Zhenhe chuckled.

"Brother Xu, you have a keen eye."

Su Zhenhe’s thumb brushed against the sword guard. Half an inch of the snow-white blade shot out from the scabbard, and a touch of frost instantly condensed around it out of thin air.

The spine of the blade was covered in a dense, frost-flower forging pattern. It was the Profound Daoist Sect’s Treasure Artifact: Jade Pot Ice.

"Your hammer shook Cyan Yue Mountain three days ago, Brother Xu. That actually made my master go a little easier on me, and I can finally use a sword."

Seeing Xu Yunfan silently reach out to grip the long handle of his Thunderfire Qilin Hammer, a battle-eager glint appeared in Su Zhenhe’s eyes. But he ultimately shook his head and smiled. "Brother Xu, you misunderstand. I didn’t come here to pick a fight."

He stepped to the side and made the introduction. "This is Yhu Jingshan, a True Disciple from the Profound Daoist Sect’s Wonderful Light Peak."

’A True Disciple from Wonderful Light Peak,’ he thought. ’That means she’s at least at the peak of the Outer Three Harmonies Realm. Any higher than that and she’d be a master of the Flesh Refining Realm.’

’With a physique like Yhu Jingshan’s, she must be in the Flesh Refining Realm.’

Yhu Jingshan took half a step forward, her expression a warm and gentle smile.

"Little Brother Xu, the words you spoke the other day were truly profound. When Junior Brother Su told me about them, I spent many days pondering their meaning. The more I thought, the more sense they made. So, I specifically asked Junior Brother Su to bring me here to get acquainted. Please forgive the intrusion."

’I get it,’ he thought. ’She’s here to discuss verses. The literary type.’

Xu Yunfan replied, "Oh, I didn’t write that line. It was said by a famous sage from my hometown. I was just quoting him. My apologies if I’ve caused you both to waste your efforts."

"I wonder, could Brother Xu perhaps make an introduction?"

Yhu Jingshan’s eyes sparkled, and she eagerly took a few steps forward.

Xu Yunfan glanced at the slightly embarrassed Su Zhenhe before turning back to answer, "That sage has been resting in peace for many years. It’s best we don’t disturb him."

Upon hearing this, the light in Yhu Jingshan’s eyes dimmed. Her expression, which seemed to say she wished she could follow the sage to the grave, made Xu Yunfan mentally slap a label on her.

’An artsy girl.’

’A veteran, hopelessly artsy girl, at that.’

After a pause, Xu Yunfan offered a cupped-fist salute. "You two, I have important business to attend to. If you wish to visit Celestial Craft City, you may accompany me."

Su Zhenhe and Yhu Jingshan agreed at once and without hesitation, much to Xu Yunfan’s exasperation.

He still needed to practice the Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique with his master, Zhan Yan, at noon. Now that his cultivation of the Outer Three Harmonies was gradually approaching Minor Achievement and he could unite the three forces, he was ready to begin preliminary practice.

With these two tagging along, he wouldn’t be able to practice properly.

The Profound Daoist Sect might be a top-tier major sect, arrogant enough to look down on and ignore most other sects, but Celestial Craft Cave was different. Leaving aside Celestial Craft Cave’s sublime skill in forging weapons, there was the past friendship between its Sect Leader, Hong Baichuan, and the Guan Shan Taoist. Furthermore, the demonstrated power of the Celestial Craft Fortress—impenetrable to anyone less than a Nine Realms Qi Cultivation Supreme Grandmaster—naturally earned them a higher degree of respect.

But they were acquaintances, after all, so Xu Yunfan could only be patient.

Along the way, Yhu Jingshan asked curiously, "Little Brother Xu, your name is quite interesting. Why are you called Yunfan?"

"A time will come to ride the wind and cleave the waves; I’ll hoist my cloud-like sail and cross the boundless sea. It’s from that verse."

Xu Yunfan answered casually, his mind preoccupied with how he was going to get away to practice his martial arts later.

"Excellent poetry! Excellent!"

Yhu Jingshan’s eyes lit up, and she praised him without hesitation. "Just two lines, yet they are powerful enough to awaken the deaf and are so thought-provoking! The spirit to create miracles out of adversity, that unrestrained freedom... what magnificent vision!"

Su Zhenhe, at her side, looked even more stirred. His hands kept patting his clothes, searching for something, only to give up when he realized he hadn’t brought his folding fan this time.

"Brother Xu, what literary talent! That verse is so inspiring. I haven’t encountered its like in a very long time."

Xu Yunfan said resignedly, "I didn’t write that either. How could I have, if that’s where my name came from?"

"...That’s true. I wonder, could Brother Xu make an introduction?"

"That one is also resting in peace."

"A pity, what a pity!"

As Su Zhenhe expressed his regret, Yhu Jingshan at his side quickly pressed on, "I wonder if Young Master Xu knows any other poems? Please recite them for us, so that we may also experience the grace of the past sages."

"..."

Below Celestial Craft City, the rumbling tremor of the earth veins sent the entire Cold Crow Forest taking to the sky in a panic.

The sight that greeted their eyes was one of bustling activity, as disciples of Celestial Craft Cave and the citizens of Celestial Craft City worked fervently to bury the base of the Mechanical City underground.

On the city walls cast from Profound Steel, thirty-six Mountain Guardian Beast Heads spewed clouds of sulfurous fog. A ten-zhang-long Profound Iron Chain hung from the mouth of each beast, its end shackled to the half-buried Mechanical Core Area, which rested in a great chasm being carved out by hundreds of disciples from the Melt Gold Hall.

For days, the disciples of the Melt Gold Hall had been working without rest, drilling into the earth. They were preparing to use Thunderfire Powder to make the ground beneath Celestial Craft City collapse and sink by one zhang.

This was a massive undertaking. Celestial Craft Cave had hired a huge number of laborers from all the surrounding villages and even from the nearest major metropolis, Shudu City.

The makeshift shelters that had been erected stretched for nearly two li.