I Want to Craft Magical Artifacts

Jiang Ning was already on his way to Qiaozhou City.

Qiaozhou City was the largest Chinese herbal medicine trading market in the Central Region, more than two hundred kilometers from Yuzhou City.

It was around two in the Early Morning. Jiang Ning used the Aura Concealment Art to hide himself, then sent a strand of Spiritual Energy into his shoes to keep them from wearing out.

Other than that, he used no more Spiritual Energy, relying solely on the strength of his body as he ran along the dam.

After gaining entry into the Nine Heavens Divine Lightning Body Tempering Art, his physical abilities had already surpassed the limits of ordinary humans. Jiang Ning could now cover thirty meters in a second, reaching a speed of 108 kilometers per hour—three times faster than an Olympic sprint champion.

At that speed, ordinary sedans could only eat his dust. He could reach Qiaozhou City in two hours.

If he added Swift Steps, Jiang Ning could even raise his speed to forty meters per second.

But his current speed was enough. After all, he was only a minor cultivator at Qi Refining Layer 1, with very little Spiritual Energy to spare.

As he raced beneath the moonlight, he encountered people driving through the night. Yet with the Aura Concealment Art in effect, none of them noticed Jiang Ning. They only felt a fierce gust of wind sweep past their windows.

At four thirty in the morning, the moon sank, and a faint glow appeared in the east. The sun was about to rise.

Jiang Ning stepped into Qiaozhou territory.

He found a secluded alley and used his Spiritual Sense to scan the surroundings. After confirming that no one was watching, he smoothed his hair, dispelled the spell, and revealed himself.

After running more than two hundred kilometers in one go, Jiang Ning had not sweated at all. Body cultivators truly were extraordinary.

He strolled slowly along the streets. In his previous life, one of his roommates had been from Qiaozhou, and Jiang Ning had been invited here several times. He had always had a good impression of the city.

Qiaozhou's GDP was roughly on par with Yuzhou's, and their urban development was not all that different. There were not many skyscrapers, but the streets were already undergoing major redevelopment, with old houses awaiting demolition visible everywhere.

In the future, this would create a huge number of people who got rich from demolition compensation. His former roommate had often complained to him that people living in Qiaozhou's old houses would have one home demolished, receive three in compensation, then sell them off and never have to worry about food or drink for the rest of their lives. Unlike him, they did not have to work themselves to the bone paying off a mortgage.

Morning exercisers passed by from time to time. Seeing them panting heavily with sweat beading on their foreheads, Jiang Ning could not help feeling nostalgic.

As he walked, the sun gradually rose over the horizon. Jiang Ning arrived at a mutton restaurant, an old establishment where he had eaten in his previous life.

The place was not large and was run by a husband and wife. Though it was still early, quite a few customers were already scattered throughout the restaurant.

Jiang Ning ordered a bowl of Mutton Soup, added ten yuan worth of mutton, and ate with great extravagance. He also ordered three servings of guokui.

The Boss moved quickly and soon brought everything over. Jiang Ning took a taste. The flavor was fresh and delicious, without any gaminess.

He knew why. His former roommate had told him that Qiaozhou's Mutton Soup was made with local Little Goat meat. The goats were naturally hardy, with less gaminess and a fresher flavor.

He took a bite of the steaming guokui. It was really just a kind of Steamed Bun, crisp on the outside and fragrant within, and it had a unique taste when paired with Mutton Soup.

By the time he finished eating, more and more people had filled the restaurant, showing just how good its business was.

His roommate had told him that this family could earn three hundred thousand yuan a year and had even bought a house in the capital, which showed just how profitable the business was.

But when his roommate said that, he had not sounded very bitter. After all, people who ran restaurants like this often rose before dawn and worked until late at night. They suffered far more than office workers. It was hard-earned money.

After finishing breakfast, Jiang Ning slung his backpack over his shoulders and headed for the herbal medicine trading market.

Standing at the entrance to a street, Jiang Ning looked ahead and saw a huge brown archway bearing several large characters:

"Qiaozhou Chinese Herbal Medicine Trading Center."

A rich medicinal fragrance reached his nose. Jiang Ning smiled. He had been back for half a month now, and he had finally found this place.

After entering the herbal medicine market, Jiang Ning began purchasing herbs.

Most of the herbs here had been dried. Thanks to advanced processing methods, their medicinal effects had been preserved quite well.

The Qiaozhou herbal medicine trading center brought together herb dealers from all over the country. Enormous quantities of medicinal materials passed through here every day, and one could buy nearly every kind of herb here.

The market mainly dealt in bulk wholesale, but small-scale buyers like Jiang Ning were welcome as well.

The storefronts along both sides of the street stood open, with every kind of herb neatly arranged in dazzling rows. Standing among them, Jiang Ning felt his mood brighten.

Though they were only low-grade herbs, Jiang Ning was merely a Qi Refining Layer 1 cultivator. These herbs would be enough to support him until he reached the great completion of the Qi Refining Stage.

Even in the cultivation world, the herbs low-level cultivators used at the beginning were nothing more than ordinary plants.

The prices in the market pleased Jiang Ning greatly. Many medicinal materials were sold by the pound, with one pound costing only a dozen or a few dozen yuan. They were unbelievably cheap.

In this technologically advanced age, industrialized and standardized cultivation had made productivity terrifyingly high.

Jiang Ning recalled the most effective Pills for the Qi Refining Stage: the Qi Gathering Pill and the Spirit Accumulation Pill.

The dozen or so types of herbs in their pill formulas surfaced in his mind. Following the list of herbs he needed, Jiang Ning began sweeping through the nearby shops. To his surprise, he had gathered ninety percent of them at the very first store.

Jiang Ning could only marvel at the sheer variety available. In the cultivation world, if an ordinary low-level cultivator wanted to buy herbs, they would not know how much effort it would take. They might even have to visit several market towns, and could be ambushed or hunted down along the way.

Because Jiang Ning had purchased such a large quantity of herbs, the shop owner specifically asked whether he wanted express freight service. They could also be mailed by courier, but freight was more cost-effective for large shipments.

Jiang Ning nodded. He still had to return to Yuzhou City today, and the herbs were indeed too numerous to carry. From each batch of herbs he bought, he selected a few portions and packed them into his bag, while the rest would be sent by express freight.

Then, at the shop owner's enthusiastic recommendation, he visited two more stores in search of herbs. He gathered every herb needed for both Pills, spending only ten thousand yuan in total to obtain enough for two months' worth of Pills.

It had gone so smoothly that Jiang Ning could hardly believe it. Was it really this easy? Before coming, he had thought it would take quite a bit of work.

After purchasing the herbs, Jiang Ning had originally planned to look around nearby. Just then, his phone rang.

When Jiang Ning answered, it turned out to be the worker assigned to install his broadband, asking whether he would be home that afternoon.

After agreeing, he thought it over. Since he had already gathered the herbs needed for Pills during the Qi Refining Stage, he could come back and explore the area properly another day.

Jiang Ning did not delay any longer. With a small amount of herbs in his backpack, he headed toward an alley. He went deeper and deeper into increasingly secluded areas until there were no more cameras or prying eyes within his Spiritual Sense. Then he used the Aura Concealment Art to hide himself and set off for Yuzhou City.

As he traveled, Jiang Ning missed Magic Artifacts more and more. Even if he could not have a Magic Artifact, a flying Magical Artifact would do. Then he would not have to run around miserably on his own two legs.

No matter how fast he was, it was still less comfortable than riding a Magical Artifact. That would make him seem more like an immortal, unlike his current plain and unadorned state.

The problem of herbs had been solved, but Magical Artifacts posed a challenge for Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning was not sure whether the materials needed to make Magical Artifacts existed in this world. Perhaps some of them did, but he could no longer remember clearly.

Thanks to advanced chemical technology, this world possessed all kinds of steel and alloys that did not exist in the cultivation world.

He simply did not know whether they could be used to forge Magical Artifacts. After all, Magical Artifacts were generally made from all kinds of spiritual materials so that Spiritual Energy could flow through them smoothly.

Watching the cars pass by around him, Jiang Ning's resolve to forge Magical Artifacts grew even firmer.