The Clown Artifact Refiner

"Utter nonsense. A mere minor cultivator dares dream of refining artifacts?"

Chen Yuliang clasped his hands behind his back, his voice icy.

"Yes, yes. I'll make him stop right away."

Chen Tong bowed and scraped as he saw Chen Yuliang off on his sword.

Bang!

A sudden crash came from the back hall.

Chen Tong hurried in to investigate.

A thick cloud of black smoke filled the room, and a cauldron lay shattered across the floor.

A young man sat on the ground, his hair standing straight up, black smoke pouring off him.

"Brother, I've used up all the materials. Could you give me some more?" Chen Huan's whole face was black as soot, but he grinned brightly, showing off his pearly white front teeth.

"...Tomorrow!" Chen Tong's mouth twitched.

Chen Huan was his younger brother. He'd been obsessed with artifact refining since childhood. As it happened, Chen Tong managed waste recovery at Refining Lake, so he'd brought his brother there to refine artifacts, with all that waste material right at hand.

Who could've guessed Chen Huan's talent for artifact refining was so mediocre? He either blew up the materials or blew up the furnace.

Even Chen Tong, the waste-materials manager, was starting to find it hard to bear.

Fortunately...

Chen Tong left the back hall, his eyes flickering.

He'd already prepared a fallback. He'd let everyone know that an island guardian named Shen Yue was learning artifact refining on the lake, and that he could use the waste materials as he pleased. That way, he'd have an excuse ready for the dwindling supply.

Chen Tong summoned his spirit sword and shot toward the little lakeside courtyard like a streak of light.

His cousin had already come to warn him. He definitely couldn't keep doing this.

The little lakeside courtyard.

Shen Yue piloted a small boat back with a full load of waste materials and was about to carry them into the courtyard.

Chen Tong arrived on his sword, his robes fluttering in the breeze.

"How's your artifact refining going?"

"Thanks to your care, Manager, I've made great progress." Shen Yue cupped his hands.

Great progress?

Chen Tong scoffed inwardly.

A lowly island guardian really thought he could refine artifacts?

"It's good that you've made progress." Chen Tong's tone was gentle on the surface. "But demand for waste materials has surged lately. Put your refining on hold for now and focus on recovering more waste materials. You can earn some spirit stones that way."

With that, he flew off on his sword.

Shen Yue gave it a moment's thought and understood what Chen Tong meant.

Still, it wouldn't affect much. The timing was about right anyway.

Just then, a green gourd broke through the waves on the other side of the lake and drifted over.

Zhou Chongwen beamed, full of energy. "General Shen, busy as ever? Are you about to finish refining a spirit artifact?"

"Artifact refining is hard," Shen Yue sighed.

"Nothing under heaven is difficult for those who set their minds to it!" Zhou Chongwen said solemnly.

"Manager Chen just took away my right to use the waste materials," Shen Yue said.

At that, Zhou Chongwen instinctively reached for the materials in his storage pouch.

But at the last moment, he stopped.

To keep Shen Yue focused on artifact refining instead of learning formations—and so he wouldn't affect his son's Dao Heart—Zhou Chongwen had poured a great deal of materials and spirit stones into him over time.

But those days were over.

His son, Zhou Feng, was about to apply to become a full-fledged formation master!

So he no longer needed to keep throwing materials at Shen Yue.

Zhou Chongwen changed his usual encouraging tone and said earnestly, "General Shen, why not take advantage of your youth and try your hand at some other craft?"

"My son, Zhou Feng, is about to become a full-fledged formation master. Why not go talk things over with him?"

Then he lifted his chin proudly, climbed onto the green gourd, and drifted away.

He sure knew how to show off.

Shen Yue smiled calmly, went inside, and shut the door. Then he took out the Green Fire Cauldron.

He formed a hand seal with his right hand, controlled the flames with his left, and began refining.

Three days later.

"Rise!"

Shen Yue lifted both hands, and two spirit artifacts flew out of the cauldron.

One was shaped like a crescent moon, its whole body silvery white. The other resembled a round mirror, its polished surface gleaming as faint currents of water rippled across it.

Shen Yue's hands blurred, and the two spirit artifacts flew into the array, merging with the thirteen that were already there.

The Golden Wave Water Dragon Spirit Array's Kan and Li positions were now complete.

"The power of an array formed from fifteen spirit artifacts... is even a cut above the Withered Grass Treasure Robe!"

Shen Yue was very satisfied.

"Time to go show my face."

Chusheng Market, stall area.

Zhou Chongwen was in high spirits as he set up his stall to sell talismans. They were spread across the table in a riot of colors, a lovely sight to behold.

He was in an especially good mood today because his son, Zhou Feng, was taking the formation master exam at that very moment.

Once he passed, he'd be a first-tier formation master.

From then on, a broad and splendid road would lie before him.

And Zhou Chongwen, the father of a formation master, would never have to sell talismans at a stall again.

"Brother Zhou."

A voice interrupted his daydream.

Zhou Chongwen looked up. "General Shen. My son, Zhou Feng, the formation master, said you didn't go to the Mystic Array Pavilion..."

"Want a spirit artifact?" Shen Yue took one out.

"What?" Zhou Chongwen froze.

"I refined it myself." Shen Yue set down the spirit artifact and left.

Zhou Chongwen looked down at the Green Spirit Ruler, still trying to understand where this spirit artifact had come from, when his voice transmission talisman suddenly lit up.

"My son became a formation master?!"

Half an hour later.

Clear-Turbid Island.

Changqin Wuming held a black sack and collected waste qi, muttering to himself:

"Once I've collected this batch of waste qi, I should have enough to buy two spirit boats. One for me, one for my beloved minister Shen. That'll make Emperor Wen green with envy!"

"Your Highness, want a spirit boat?"

A spirit boat suddenly burst through the lake's surface and stopped in front of him.

He looked up. A man stood aboard the spirit boat, smiling.

"A spirit boat? Where'd you get that?" Changqin Wuming exclaimed.

Shen Yue waved a hand. The spirit boat beneath his feet shrank in an instant, while another spirit boat and a green gourd flew out, lined up in a row.

"I refined them myself," he said. "Your Highness, take your pick."

"You refined them?" Changqin Wuming wanted to laugh, but when he saw the three spirit artifacts, he couldn't.

Three spirit boats! If they weren't refined, had Shen Yue stolen them?

"You're serious?" Changqin Wuming realized something was wrong, his eyes widening like copper bells.

Shen Yue nodded.

"You really did it?" Changqin Wuming asked again.

"Mm. I've only just gotten started, and can refine a few low-tier spirit artifacts." Shen Yue smiled. "Your Highness, see if they work well."

"Wonderful, wonderful..."

Changqin Wuming's heart surged like a storm-tossed sea, and his hand was already reaching for the spirit gourd.

At that moment, Li Sheng and the others came over at the sound, their faces full of disbelief.

"Brother Shen, you really became an artifact refiner?"

Shen Yue didn't explain. He swept his sleeve, and five spirit artifacts flew out.

"Thanks for looking after me all this time."

These five were things he'd casually refined from the waste materials.

Li Sheng and the others were stunned.

Five spirit artifacts with a wave of his hand—who else could do that but an artifact refiner?

Li Sheng reacted quickly and hurriedly cupped his hands. "Congratulations, Master Shen!"

At the same time, he secretly activated his voice transmission talisman.

He knew perfectly well that whether Shen Yue was truly an artifact refiner remained to be seen, but that didn't stop him from being polite on the surface.

Cuiwei Island.

Bang!

An explosion blasted a huge hole through the back hall's roof.

"Brother, I'm out of materials." Chen Huan grinned, showing off his front teeth.

Chen Tong stood in the doorway, his fists clenched until his knuckles cracked.

If Chen Huan weren't his own younger brother, he'd make him taste the power of a thirty-year-old's punch.

"Got it."

Chen Tong went to the front hall and rubbed his temples. Then he took out a voice transmission talisman and gave it a casual glance.

"Shen Yue became an artifact refiner."

Those few words were delivered lightly, yet they made him leap straight out of his chair.

"Impossible!"

His own younger brother hadn't made it, so how could an island guardian from Refining Lake possibly succeed?!

But soon, more messages came in, one after another. They all said the same thing.

Had Shen Yue really made it?

Chen Tong's face darkened.

If Shen Yue had become an artifact refiner, wouldn't that make his younger brother look like a clown?

"Absolutely not!"

A vicious smile curled Chen Tong's lips.

"Whether he's an artifact refiner is for me to decide!"

He flashed away on his sword, cutting through the air toward Refining Lake.