Slaying the Snow Woman

Jing Qian had long since learned the detailed locations of the Twenty-Four Main Stores and the business areas each store monopolized from A Bao.

He strolled leisurely to the entrance of the Gongye Main Store and walked in with a relaxed air.

This Gongye Main Store primarily dealt in metal smelting, controlling over eighty percent of the metal material trade throughout the entire Hun Zhou.

Behind it were two Dragon Elephant cultivators who served as mid-level managers in the Civil Affairs Office and the Craftsmen Directorate respectively.

Therefore, the Gongye Clan was a much larger store than the Jing Clan.

After Jing Qian entered, he casually beckoned a serving boy and asked,

"I wish to borrow your store's Ninth Grade forging furnace for a while. May I know the cost, and if it's possible to make it convenient?"

The boy bowed respectfully and replied,

"Guest, our store only has two Ninth Grade forging furnaces. You must purchase metal treasures from our store to be eligible to borrow one."

"To borrow it for one day, the cost is three Yuan Gold Ingots!"

Jing Qian gritted his teeth upon hearing the price.

This price was truly exorbitant!

Since arriving at the Sea Market, he had gained a thorough understanding of the purchasing power of this world's currency.

One copper Knife Coin was enough for a commoner family's living expenses for two to three months; the currency value was quite stable.

However, a Ninth Grade White Fang level material could only sell for about ten Yuan Gold Ingots.

Refined Ninth Grade weapons and magical artifacts, due to the additional labor involved, were priced at twenty Yuan Gold Ingots or more.

Yet, merely borrowing the Gongye Clan's Ninth Grade forging furnace would cost three gold ingots, which was completely beyond his expectation.

Even borrowing the furnace fire for ten days wouldn't be enough to refine a Ninth Grade magical artifact. This made the cost of borrowing the furnace to refine magical artifacts far exceed the selling price of the artifact itself, clearly squeezing the survival space of rogue cultivators.

But he had a reason why he absolutely had to borrow the furnace, so he could only ask,

"Do you purchase Ninth Grade weapons here?"

The boy quickly replied,

"Naturally, we do. Please follow me, guest."

Jing Qian was then led into a secret room, which was the place for appraising items.

From within the Void Realm, he took out all the Ninth Grade weapons except for the copper hammer and threw them onto the ground.

He then thoroughly haggled with the person from the Gongye Clan.

Ultimately, for the price of four Ninth Grade weapons and three pieces of Ninth Grade Sea Demon materials, he exchanged them at the Gongye Main Store for ten pieces of Ninth Grade White Fang level Sea Fang Iron, as well as free use of the Ninth Grade forging furnace for three days.

After the transaction was completed, it wasn't long before he was led into another secret room, standing before a copper furnace taller than a person.

He lined up the ten pieces of Ninth Grade Sea Fang Iron in a row before him.

Then, with a surge of his magical power, he activated the Ninth Grade melting furnace, took out his copper hammer magical artifact, and began to refine the ten pieces of Sea Fang Iron one by one.

He focused on controlling the output of his magical power. Under his control, the Ninth Grade melting furnace's flames burned fiercely, casting a fiery red glow within the furnace chamber.

The bronze hammer in his hand struck the workbench beside him, emitting a dull, powerful sound that intertwined with the melting sound of the Sea Fang Iron in the furnace, forming a unique song of artifact refining.

Jing Qian had obtained extensive knowledge of forging artifacts and treasures from his memories. After being organized by Worldly Understanding, it gave him a considerably mature foundation in smelting.

Processing this Sea Fang Iron was simply not a problem.

In just half a day, all ten pieces of Sea Fang Iron were forged into the shape of a sword embryo.

The sword embryo had a uniform color, was smooth all over, and was not sharpened.

And within each sword embryo, he had used his magic power to engrave a complex sword-shaped talisman.

These sword embryos were essential raw materials for smelting the Sword Tooth destiny trait.

Under the guidance of the Worldly Understanding power, he had completely mastered the refining method for this destiny trait.

He easily crafted it!

Jing Qian waited for the sword embryo to cool slowly, his thoughts gradually drifting.

The reason he chose the Sword Tooth destiny trait, besides his inherent fondness and extreme obsession with swordsmanship, was also significantly due to the fact that he could greatly compensate for the shortcomings of Sword Tooth by utilizing the power of the Sumeru destiny trait.

Essentially, the Sea Fang Iron he was currently using was actually a product from Sea Demons.

This was the tooth of a ranked sea beast, forming a unique alloy after calcination.

If the Alligator Dragon Tooth in Jing Qian's hand were refined in a furnace, it could also turn into Ninth Grade Sea Fang Iron.

For him, Sea Demon teeth were easy to find, but a cheap and easy-to-use furnace was not.

He was already considering applying to transfer from the Maritime Affairs Office to the Craftsmen Directorate.

After waiting a while longer, the metal sword embryo cooled down a bit. He picked one up and brought it towards his mouth.

He saw himself channeling his Destiny Essence magic power into his teeth, activating the Sword Tooth secret technique, and biting down forcefully.

This Ninth Grade metal sword embryo was actually swallowed by him in two or three bites!

Then, a strange magic power flowed up from his teeth, directly into his sea of consciousness. A small sword-shaped destiny trait, resembling a tiger's tooth, suddenly appeared.

The Sword Tooth destiny trait was instantly achieved!

For a moment, he felt as if there was a small sword inside his body.

This sword integrated into his magic power, circulating throughout his body with the flow of magic power.

A cold and sharp sword intent also emerged, like a chilling ice shard cutting through his meridians and magic veins.

Comfortable!

Jing Qian felt as if the chaotic memories of practicing swordsmanship in his mind were fluttering down like snowflakes.

And these memories were jumping to resonate with that small sword.

With Sword Tooth refined, Jing Qian's divine sense shifted, and he descended into the Destiny Stele Space.

Outside the safe zone, there were still only the Alligator Dragon and the Snow Woman as food sources.

Before today, these two divine souls were far stronger than Jing Qian; he couldn't even break through their defenses.

But now, he was no longer unarmed.

A small tiger tooth sword carved from white jade twirled between his fingers.

He could clearly feel that this small sword contained an extremely sharp sword intent!

Compared to being empty-handed, his combat power had suddenly increased significantly!

Jing Qian immediately flickered, entering the dimensional space, and stealthily approached the Snow Woman.

The Snow Woman's divine soul was covered by a Dharma Idol, its defense as strong as when she was alive.

Since Jing Qian had moved her into this Destiny Stele Space, he had tried attacking the Snow Woman's divine soul.

But without a weapon in hand, his attack power plummeted, and he couldn't break through her defense at all.

All of this changed completely after the Sword Tooth Destiny Trait appeared.

He walked through the void, circled behind the Snow Woman, and entered the real world directly from the dimension.

Like a shadow, he pressed against the back of the Snow Woman's neck, and his right hand lightly tapped out.