"Time was up, and I brought the money. Everyone at Treasure Seeking Pavilion, was the magic artifact I ordered finished?" Chou Wenxiu leaned against the door and spoke brazenly.
Song Changqian's eyes nearly spat fire. She truly wanted to butcher this black ghost right now.
"Young people, do not be impatient. If we said ten days, then ten days it shall be. Treasure Seeking Pavilion naturally keeps its word." Song Luyuan sat on a tall stool behind the counter, leisurely sipping tea as he responded calmly.
An old hand was simply different. Even while caught in an absolute headwind, he remained as steady as an old dog.
"Hmph, putting on airs." From the bottom of his heart, Chou Wenxiu did not believe Treasure Seeking Pavilion could finish within ten days. He had come today specifically to trample on Treasure Seeking Pavilion's face.
"Heh, the Song Clan truly was a tiger fallen to the plains, bullied by dogs. Back when Patriarch Song Yungui was still around, who in Ling Province did not submit obediently?
"Just over a decade ago, the Song Clan had more than ten Foundation Establishment Cultivators in one family, unmatched throughout Ling Province. What Earth Fire Sect, what Chou Clan—who would have dared jump around like this?" An elderly cultivator among the onlookers said with a sigh.
A tall cultivator beside him sneered upon hearing this. "By your logic, Earth Fire Sect once had a Purple Mansion Patriarch too. They merely declined afterward.
"The Song Clan was becoming more and more hopeless. Even its proudest Artifact Forging Technique had been surpassed by Earth Fire Sect. If you ask me, Ling Province would belong to Earth Fire Sect in the future."
"They have not even competed yet. How do you know Treasure Seeking Pavilion lost? Are you a shill hired by Earth Fire Sect?" cultivators nearby immediately questioned.
Both the Song Clan and Earth Fire Sect focused on artifact forging. Over the years, they had fought bitterly for market share, but the Song Clan had never lost.
Thus, the vast majority of those present still had confidence in the Song Clan. The tall cultivator's words naturally made them suspicious and doubtful.
The tall cultivator smiled mysteriously and lowered his voice. "You were not there that day, so it is normal that you did not know. When Chou Wenxiu proposed this challenge, the faces of those Song Clan people turned white with fright.
"If they could do it, would they have worn such expressions? Besides, the one who accepted the challenge was a young person who might not even be twenty. At such an age, whether his Artifact Forging Technique had even reached the threshold was uncertain. If they could win, I would pry up the floor bricks and eat them today."
Seeing how certain he sounded, the people who had originally trusted the Song Clan gradually began to waver. If an artifact forging master had accepted the challenge, they would not have had the slightest doubt.
Yet the one who accepted was a young person. Artifact forging was not child's play. At this age, it was rare to see anyone forge even a First-Tier High-Grade magic artifact, let alone inscribe three arrays with different properties. How was this possible?
Listening to the murmurs in the crowd, Chou Wenxiu's grin nearly split all the way to his ears. Just as he had expected, no one believed Song Changsheng could do it.
Song Luyuan remained as steady as Mount Tai, but Song Changqian could not help complaining in a low voice, "It is all that fellow's fault. Was he not putting the Lineage over a fire to roast?"
"Who caused all this?" Song Luyuan glanced at him and said indifferently.
"Of course it was..." Song Changqian had been about to say Song Changsheng, but when she saw her father's expression, she immediately swallowed the words back down.
Just as public opinion had tipped completely to one side, Song Changsheng finally completed his masterpiece after working overtime. Just as he had said, three properties were no great difficulty for him.
But his purpose this time was not merely to prove that the Song Clan could do it. He also intended to slap Earth Fire Sect and its allies across the face.
So this time, he would not merely win. He would win beautifully, and he would make Earth Fire Sect lose all prestige.
"Shopkeeper Song, Treasure Seeking Pavilion's rule is triple compensation for an uncompleted order. We have already waited two hours. I think you should simply compensate me with fifteen hundred Spirit Stones, so that so many fellow cultivators need not waste their time beneath this blazing sun."
Chou Wenxiu looked at Song Luyuan with utmost sincerity, as though he were considering matters for his sake.
"Yeah, can you even do it?"
"What a waste of time. I think everyone should just disperse."
People in the crowd immediately began stirring things up, and the pressure on Song Luyuan sharply increased.
At that moment, Song Changsheng walked down from the second floor and said, "I was wondering why I could vaguely hear a vicious dog yapping in the Artifact Forging Room. So it was Fellow Daoist Chou coming to call. Could you not wait any longer?"
Chou Wenxiu's face immediately darkened. Was this not calling him a dog?
He stared at Song Changsheng and demanded, "Sharp-tongued brat, where is the magic artifact I ordered?"
Song Changsheng acted as though he had not heard him. He walked up to Song Luyuan, cupped his hands, and said, "Your nephew greets you, clan uncle. Clan uncle was absent when I arrived that day, so your nephew took it upon himself to make the decision. I hope clan uncle will not blame me."
"Hahaha, no matter, no matter. You are the artifact forging master sent by the Lineage, so you may make the decisions." Seeing Song Changsheng step forward, Song Luyuan's heart, which had been bobbing up and down, immediately settled. He said with a hearty laugh.
Seeing the two exchange pleasantries as though no one else existed, Chou Wenxiu's lungs nearly exploded with rage. He roared, "Boy, stop acting! If you cannot produce the magic artifact, you must compensate me threefold!"
Only then did Song Changsheng slowly look at him. "Fellow Daoist Chou, why the rush? Mere three properties are hardly worth mentioning to Treasure Seeking Pavilion. I finished forging it long ago."
"However, before the handover, I would like to ask Fellow Daoist Chou a question. How many days did that artifact-refining master from Earth Fire Sect take to forge that magic artifact?"
Chou Wenxiu did not believe Song Changsheng had forged it at all, and immediately boasted, "About ten days or so."
"Hahaha, good. Since so many fellow cultivators are present today, then I shall ask everyone to inspect it and see how this Treasure Pearl of mine fares."
Song Changsheng immediately took a dark blue Treasure Pearl from his arms. With a slight activation, the three arrays inscribed within the Treasure Pearl immediately appeared.
Chou Wenxiu's expression changed drastically in an instant, and waves of commotion broke out among the crowd.
"Water Origin Array, Ice Spike Array, Return to Origin Array. This magic artifact indeed possesses defense, attack, and recovery, all three properties at once. This young man of the Song Clan is extraordinary."
An Array Master in the crowd recognized the three arrays and explained their corresponding abilities, immediately stirring up a tremendous uproar.
"He truly forged it in ten days?"
"The Song Clan's foundations truly run deep. A young person actually possessed such ability."
After the Treasure Pearl was unveiled, the tide of public opinion once again shifted completely to one side. This time, however, it had shifted toward the Song Clan.
"Fellow Daoist Chou, pay the remaining balance. Three hundred Spirit Stones." Song Changsheng held the Treasure Pearl before Chou Wenxiu's eyes and said calmly.
"You... You definitely did not forge this! Ten days? That is impossible!" Chou Wenxiu glared at Song Changsheng and roared.
"Why is it impossible? Did Fellow Daoist Chou not say Earth Fire Sect also took ten days?" Song Changsheng said teasingly.
"Then that definitely was not forged by you either. Who knows whether it was the work of some second-tier master from your Song Clan?" Chou Wenxiu immediately realized he had misspoken, but he still stiffened his neck and argued.
Song Changsheng suddenly laughed. Looking at the people outside the door, he said, "Everyone, this Fellow Daoist Chou speaks most strangely. When he brought the Treasure Pearl, we never questioned him. Yet now he has turned around and questioned us. Truly... tsk, tsk, tsk."
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