Sha Yan's Older Brother [First Update]

Sha Yan's Older Brother

The entire ship was filled with Big Shots. There was no way he could hide his actions from everyone else.

"Greetings, Senior," Xu Fan said respectfully. When meeting a Big Shot, greet them first.

A sturdy old man was sizing Xu Fan up from head to toe.

"Not bad, not bad. Your spiritual power is abundant, your soul resilient—you're a Good Seed for Artifact Refining."

"Youngster, you're a disciple traveling with the ship, right? Which peak are you from?" the old man asked.

"This junior has not joined any peak yet. For now, I count as an independent cultivator," Xu Fan answered honestly. There were quite a few people like Xu Fan in the Heavenly Gate Outer Sect. Most were unwanted, while the rest had dabbled in every peak.

"Interested in joining Artifact Refining Peak?" The old man's eyes lit up. He could not let such a fine seed slip away.

At this, Xu Fan solemnly bowed to the old man.

"This junior is currently a First-Rank Pill Refiner. I have merely done some research into Runes."

Upon hearing Xu Fan's words, the old man instantly lost interest.

"Why refine pills? Artifact Refining is a man's romance."

As he spoke, the old man walked off into the distance, as though he had completely lost interest in Xu Fan.

Watching the back of that old man, who was at least at the Nascent Soul Stage, Xu Fan let out a sigh of relief. If he really joined Artifact Refining Peak, he certainly would not have as much freedom as he did now. At the very least, he would have to refine pills in secret. If he failed to break through to Foundation Establishment for decades, he might even be mocked for it.

Xu Fan did not dwell on it. Instead, he continued using his specially refined eyeglass Magic Artifact to study the Runes on the inner walls of the Floating Sky Vessel.

Over three days, with Xu Fan burning the midnight oil, he visited every place on the vessel that he was allowed to enter.

"Ah, excluding the power room, this Floating Sky Vessel involves over five thousand Runes in total."

"Looks like I have no idea how long I'll have to wait before I can refine something like this." Xu Fan sighed as he ate.

Over the past few years, Xu Fan had never stopped collecting Runes. He had now mastered over six hundred types, but he had discovered that as time passed, gathering Runes he had not yet learned was becoming slower and slower.

Just then, Xu Fan sensed two people walking toward him.

When Xu Fan turned his head, he saw Senior Sister Sha Yan, whom he had not seen for a long time. She wore a white Thousand Butterfly Dress, and her perfect figure immediately set Xu Fan's heart racing.

But then he saw a somewhat tall young man beside her, and Xu Fan was instantly a little disappointed.

"Junior Brother Xu, I didn't expect it really was you!" Sha Yan said in surprise.

"Greetings, Senior Sister Sha," Xu Fan obediently said.

"Hello, Junior Brother Xu. Don't you like Artifact Refining? Come, let me introduce you."

Sha Yan patted the tall young man beside her on the shoulder. "This is my brother. He's currently a First-Rank Artifact Refiner at Artifact Refining Peak."

"This is my Junior Brother. He's extremely gifted in both Pill Refining and Artifact Refining."

Sha Yan then introduced Xu Fan to her brother.

"Greetings, Senior Brother Sha. My name is Xu Fan." Xu Fan saluted him, secretly letting out a sigh of relief. Good, he's not her boyfriend.

"Hello, Junior Brother Xu. My name is Sha Diao." Sha Diao responded with a smile as well.

After Sha Diao spoke, he discovered that this Junior Brother Xu he had just met wore a very strange expression, and his shoulders were trembling violently.

Struggling to hold it in, Xu Fan quickly left the Canteen and returned to his room just as he was about to burst out laughing.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!"

"There really is someone named Sha Diao! Ahahaha!"

Xu Fan had not encountered anything this amusing in a long time. It took him several minutes of laughing before he finally recovered.

"That felt a little rude."

"Forget it. I'll explain it the next time we meet."

By then, Xu Fan had already come up with an excellent excuse.

Just then, Xu Fan felt the entire Floating Sky Vessel shudder, followed by a voice.

"Entering the Endless Sea. The entire vessel is entering combat readiness."

When Xu Fan stepped onto the deck, he caught the scent of the sea.

In the distance stretched an endless expanse of azure waters, like a starless universe—dark blue and unfathomably deep.

Beside the Floating Sky Vessel, Xu Fan also saw the Nine Guardian Warships escorting it. Each one was about one-fifth the size of the Floating Sky Vessel and bristled with Spiritual Power Cannons of every caliber.

"Cannon warships—now this is a man's romance." Xu Fan gazed at the escort ships in admiration. He wondered just how powerful that Main Cannon with a barrel three meters in diameter was.

"So Junior Brother Xu shares my view. This is what a man ought to control and refine."

At some point, Sha Diao had appeared beside Xu Fan and was looking at him with approval.

"Senior Brother Sha, I was truly sorry about earlier. Inspiration suddenly struck while you were speaking, and I had to record it, so..." Xu Fan offered the excellent excuse he had come up with.

"I understand, I understand. If inspiration strikes and you fail to seize it, it can leave you full of regret."

Sha Diao patted Xu Fan on the shoulder. They seemed to share a feeling of mutual appreciation—both men who had abandoned pill refining for Artifact Refining.

With nothing else to do, Xu Fan began chatting with Sha Diao. For some reason, every time Xu Fan looked at Sha Diao's face, he felt inexplicably happy.

"By the way, Junior Brother Xu, could you share the inspiration you had earlier?"

"Perhaps if we discuss it, your concept will become even more complete," Sha Diao said expectantly.

"It's actually nothing much." As Xu Fan spoke, he used his finger as a pen and drew a complete Rune Array in the air.

What Xu Fan lacked least was inspiration and wild ideas. This was a Wireless Communication Rune Array.

"Resonance Rune, Sound Transmission Rune, Light-Shadow Rune, Sealing Rune..."

Sha Diao stroked his chin and began considering the function of this Rune Array.

"Junior Brother Xu, if I'm not mistaken, you want to create a Magic Artifact that allows people to communicate from afar."

"It's just that, due to its limitations, the two Magic Artifacts can only communicate when they are within a little over a hundred kilometers of each other. If it uses the Outer Sect's grand array, though, it could cover the entire Outer Sect."

"They're all common Runes, and ordinary Spiritual Iron would be enough to carry them. The cost is a major highlight."

As Xu Fan listened to Sha Diao's assessment, a gleam flashed through his eyes. This Senior Brother Sha really knew his stuff.

At that moment, Sha Diao was somewhat disappointed. Junior Brother Xu's reaction earlier had been so dramatic, yet this was the inspiration? Aside from the cost and the arrangement of the Runes, everything else was quite ordinary.

"Senior Brother Sha, I'm not finished yet." Xu Fan spoke as he added the function of a Micro Base Station around the outer perimeter of the Rune Array.

"This is..."

Looking at the outer ring of Runes Xu Fan had added, Sha Diao grew serious. He realized he could not quite understand the arrangement of those outer Runes.

Xu Fan paid no attention to Senior Brother Sha. Instead, he walked to the bow and began admiring the Endless Sea.

He had long yearned for this place: endless resources, all kinds of rare treasures seldom seen in the outside world, and more importantly, flesh and blood materials from Demon Beasts Above Integration Stage.

Such things were difficult to find in the outside world.

End of this chapter