What If... I Made a Few Hoes and Shovels?

Golden Pearl Vast Iron???

What was that??

Jing Pu took the chunk of iron, which was nearly half an arm's length in size, raised an eyebrow slightly, and looked at Di Chen.

"What is this? Is it very impressive?"

Di Chen had originally wanted to say that it was impressive—extremely impressive. Having cultivated for nearly a thousand years, this Golden Pearl Vast Iron was one of his most valuable possessions.

He had originally planned to use it to forge a longsword for himself if he was fortunate enough to advance from the peak of the Nascent Soul realm to the Spirit Emergence realm.

But on second thought, Di Chen realized that while this item was remarkable to him, it was probably nothing much in the senior's eyes.

Immediately, Di Chen said somewhat awkwardly,

"It's just so-so... But no matter what, please accept it, Senior. Otherwise, I truly won't be able to put my mind at ease."

Jing Pu curled his lips. If you really couldn't put your mind at ease, giving me a couple taels of silver would still be better than giving me this piece of scrap iron, wouldn't it?!

Who gave someone iron as a gift?

Of course, Jing Pu did not reveal any of that on his face. He quickly pulled Di Chen to his feet and said,

"Fine, I'll accept it. Go back and think about what kind of painting you want. Tell me once you've decided."

Di Chen stared blankly at Jing Pu and blinked. He could... actually choose for himself??

At that thought, Di Chen immediately said excitedly,

"I'll go back tonight and think it over carefully. I'll come tell you first thing tomorrow morning."

Jing Pu paused, then waved a hand. "That won't be necessary. I have some matters to deal with these next few days, so take your time. No need to rush."

Di Chen nodded blankly. Though he had no idea what Jing Pu needed to do, he did not dare ask.

Then Jing Pu looked at Di Chen curiously. "By the way, I'm planning to renovate this courtyard. I want to grow some vegetables and the like. Do you think that'll work? Do I need to report it to anyone?"

Though Jing Pu was living in this house, it did not belong to him. He had seen many flowers and plants in both the front and back courtyards, all of which he had never seen before. He was worried they might be spirit herbs or immortal roots, and that it would be inappropriate for him to pull them out rashly.

After thinking for a moment, Di Chen said without the slightest hesitation,

"Of course. Plant whatever you want, Senior. I have the final say in matters like this, so feel free to do as you please."

Only after hearing that did Jing Pu nod repeatedly and smile.

"Then many thanks, Elder Di. It's late. Shall I see Elder Di off?"

Di Chen repeatedly waved his hands, telling Jing Pu not to trouble himself. After bowing to Jing Pu once more, he finally headed out on his own.

Jing Pu could not help sighing. Elder Di really was a good person, and he seemed to be someone who loved paintings immensely.

Just as Jing Pu picked up the Golden Pearl Vast Iron Di Chen had given him and prepared to inspect it, Di Chen let out a scream from outside.

When Jing Pu came back to his senses and hurried outside, he saw Di Chen standing there with his mouth wide open, pointing at Jing Pu's Dragon Horse with a look of terror.

Regarding that Dragon Horse, Jing Pu gave Di Chen a detailed explanation. Put simply, Jing Pu had ridden it out for a stroll, and the jade horse had somehow become like this—it had evolved.

The astonished expression on Di Chen's face, and the way he looked at Jing Pu, practically seemed to say... Senior, next time you go out, could you ride me instead?

Jing Pu was somewhat speechless. This... really had nothing to do with him.

But the more Jing Pu explained, the less Di Chen seemed to believe him.

In the end, Jing Pu stopped explaining and discussed with Di Chen about keeping the Dragon Horse here with him.

After all, Jing Pu did not know how to fly on a sword. Having a flying horse would be very convenient.

Di Chen immediately nodded and said that was fine. He said Jing Pu could simply keep it here, and from now on, it would belong to Jing Pu alone.

Only then did Di Chen leave Jing Pu's courtyard. Perhaps he had kowtowed too many times, or perhaps the Dragon Horse had frightened him so badly, but Di Chen walked with a limp, swaying and staggering as though drunk.

After seeing Di Chen off, Jing Pu frowned as he looked at the Golden Pearl Vast Iron in his hand. The quality of this thing seemed rather good...

After thinking for a moment, Jing Pu raised his eyebrows. What if... he made a few hoes and shovels or something?

Only after returning did Jing Pu remember that he had not bought tools such as hoes and shovels.

He was planning to plant things in his courtyard tomorrow. To till such a large area of ground, he could not possibly dig it up with his bare hands.

Although there were things like greatswords in his Space Bag, Jing Pu had crafted those items with great care. Though they were useless as fart in this cultivation world, they were still the fruit of his labor. Besides, using swords to dig up soil would be ridiculous.

He did as soon as he thought of it. Jing Pu's Artisan's Heart had already reached the pinnacle of perfection; making a few hoes and shovels would not even take half an hour.

In an alchemy room inside the house, Jing Pu took out his furnace. This furnace was called the Eight Trigrams Furnace, the same name as the furnace of Supreme Lord Lao in Earth's mythological novels. It had been gifted by the system.

Though it was an Eight Trigrams Furnace, Jing Pu did not know whether it contained the so-called Six Ding Divine Fire, one of the four great divine flames.

Of course, Jing Pu felt that it definitely did not. The system could not possibly give him Supreme Lord Lao's actual Eight Trigrams Furnace.

Still, there really were flames inside the furnace, and they were quite hot.

After all, it was produced by the system and gifted to him after his Artisan's Heart had reached the pinnacle of perfection, so it could not be too bad.

Jing Pu immediately began refining.

In the early morning, the Divine Sword Sect lay hidden amid swirling clouds and mist. With the Myriad Sect Grand Ceremony drawing near, everyone had many matters to attend to besides cultivation each day, and crowds of people came and went in a bustling stream.

At that moment, Lie Chun was walking nervously toward Jing Pu's courtyard.

Lie Chun was the Divine Sword Sect's chief disciple and also the sect master's final disciple. At such a young age, he had already reached the peak of Core Formation and was the disciple most likely in the Divine Sword Sect to become a Golden Core expert within a hundred years.

However, Lie Chun had been somewhat distracted these past two days. The reason was that Ling An'an, his junior sister who had reached the peak of Core Formation seven or eight years later than he had, had suddenly entered seclusion yesterday to advance into the Golden Core realm.

Furthermore, Lie Chun had also seen the heavenly phenomenon that had appeared at the Divine Sword Sect the day before yesterday. He would never forget that strange sight of the sun and moon exchanging places for the rest of his life.

Lie Chun had more or less heard about the cause of all this. He had heard that a senior had arrived at the Divine Sword Sect.

As for just how formidable this senior was, Lie Chun did not know. He had asked Elder Ling Tiannan and Elder Di Chen, but the answers of those two elders had been surprisingly identical: neither knew, and both told Lie Chun not to pry.

It would be strange if they truly did not know. Lie Chun had heard that after Ling Tiannan left that senior's courtyard yesterday afternoon, his laughter had been so loud that nearly the entire Divine Sword Sect could hear it.

And then there was Elder Di Chen. After letting out a huge strange cry in the senior's courtyard in the middle of the night yesterday, he had emerged clutching his waist, limping, swaying, and staggering.

Yet everyone who saw Elder Di said that his face had been overflowing with a blissful smile at the time.

If nothing had happened, Lie Chun would never believe it!

Ling An'an had already gone to make her breakthrough. When she emerged from seclusion two or three months later, she would be a Golden Core expert. In the competition at this Myriad Realms Grand Ceremony, she would likely surge into the top ten.

Ling An'an's sudden breakthrough surely had something to do with that senior.

Thus, after thinking about it all night yesterday, Lie Chun had worked up the courage to seek an audience with that senior. As the legitimate prince of Lie King City, he naturally could not bear to fall behind in such matters. Besides, he had heard that the senior had a very good temperament. Even if the senior refused to offer him guidance, his life presumably would not be in danger.

Just as Lie Chun took a deep breath while walking along the Divine Sword Sect's bluestone path, a delighted voice suddenly came from beside him.

"Lie Chun, I was just about to look for you!"

Lie Chun froze. The next moment, he frowned and looked toward the source of the voice.

Upon seeing the person in the distance, Lie Chun was startled, then immediately dropped to one knee and said respectfully,

"Greetings, Prince Ling Jing..."