"How long did it take to craft a high-grade spirit artifact?" Zhang Tie asked.
"The time required depended on how thoroughly the materials for the spirit artifact had been refined and how complex its structure was. Usually, though, it took between one and three months," the young man replied patiently, his expression calm.
"Bring me your best-quality shovel," Zhang Tie said.
"Certainly, please wait a moment." The young man was slightly startled, a trace of surprise flashing through his eyes, but he quickly agreed. He then lowered his head over a book and began searching through it carefully.
About the time it took to drink a cup of tea later, the young man finally stopped searching. He hurried to a display cabinet, took out a storage bag, then returned to the counter and said apologetically, "Sorry to have kept you waiting, Senior Brother. These items are rarely sold individually. They are usually produced in batches and sold together, so it took me a little longer to find one. This is a Profound Iron shovel. Long ago, it was used to excavate a Profound Iron Mine. Because it contains some precious Profound Iron Essence, it is extremely hard." As he explained in detail, he took a pitch-black shovel from the storage bag and gently placed it on the counter.
"How much is this shovel?" Zhang Tie asked, picking it up and weighing it in his hand. A chill immediately spread through his palm.
The handle was roughly five feet long and as thick as a child's arm. The shovelhead was around a foot long, with a sharp pointed tip, and the whole shovel weighed about a hundred pounds. Zhang Tie nodded inwardly. It was indeed a fine shovel.
"Although this shovel is only a high-grade magical artifact, it was forged from