Island Master Shen

The atmosphere in the main hall was delicate.

Shen Yue understood.

That so-called Artifact Island wasn't meant for him. It was for those two.

And he seemed to have been made into their stepping stone.

Still, this Artifact Island sounded pretty good.

At the head of the hall.

Chen Yuanya wore a composed smile.

His plan with Chen Yuliang was to assign Flame Heart Island to Shen Yue, then make a show of how much he valued him.

That way, Chen Quan and Gao Qin would be competing against this newcomer named Shen Yue, rather than against each other.

The only thing that might be inappropriate was that they'd be letting Chen Qiaoqian down.

But they could make it up to her afterward. For this man to compete alongside the artifact refiners trained by the Chen Clan was an honor.

Chen Yuanya turned toward Xu Guanhai, who had remained silent at the side, and asked politely, "Master Xu, what do you think...?"

Xu Guanhai took a leisurely sip of tea and replied blandly, "Brother Chen, the decision is yours."

He'd seen through this charade as soon as he arrived. It was nothing more than the Chen Clan's little scheme to maintain balance, so he couldn't be bothered to ask questions.

However,

Xu Guanhai glanced at Shen Yue.

For someone so young, if he really had taught himself artifact refining, he did have some talent.

Unfortunately, his luck was poor. He'd been made into a stepping stone.

Without good fortune, one couldn't get far on the path of cultivation.

"Since that's settled, we'll proceed according to the rules."

Half an hour later.

Three cauldrons stood in the open space outside the hall.

"Each of you has three sets of artifact-refining materials. We'll judge you by your methods and the quality of your finished artifacts. Whoever wins will take Flame Heart Island."

Chen Yuliang stood in front of the three cauldrons and announced in a clear voice.

"Begin refining!"

Chen Quan swept his right hand, and three sets of materials appeared on the stone platform before him.

Hiss!

A spiritual flame sprang from the cauldron, rapidly softening and refining the ore in the scorching heat.

Gao Qin was no less impressive. She controlled her spiritual flame to warm the materials steadily, neither rushing nor dawdling.

The two each displayed their skills. Both practiced the Chen Clan's orthodox artifact-refining technique, the Fire Refining True Explanation.

Shen Yue looked at the three sets of materials laid out on the platform and sighed inwardly.

They weren't particularly high-grade, but their quality was genuinely good—far better than the waste materials from Refining Lake or the ones Zhou Chongwen had given him.

From his seat, Chen Yuanya held his teacup and let his gaze move between the three, nodding now and then.

"Chen Quan has mastered the Blazing Flame Quenching Method. His spiritual power flows from his fingertips with impeccable precision."

"Gao Qin's Split-Mind Material Control is impressive too. She can focus on two things at once, refining materials with different attributes simultaneously without their spiritual powers interfering."

"Your nephew Shen is doing very well too. He chose his materials quickly and controls the temperature skillfully. Judging by his technique, he must have done it thousands of times."

Chen Yuliang, listening beside him, twitched at the corner of his mouth.

Shen Yue hadn't even lit his fire yet. Father, could you exaggerate any more?

Still, it seemed to be working.

Chen Quan and Gao Qin took Chen Yuanya's words to heart and became even more focused, treating Shen Yue as a formidable rival.

Time passed.

The flames surged in the cauldrons. The three completed the refining and shaping of their materials and moved on to the step of finishing their first spiritual artifacts.

Chen Quan and Gao Qin formed hand seals simultaneously, spiritual power surging from their palms as invisible threads burrowed into the artifact blanks.

Within each blank, spiritual power coursed through it like blood flowing through every limb and organ.

This was spirit infusion, the final step in artifact refining, unlike the inscription of runes practiced in Ancient Wei.

Shen Yue watched and quietly memorized the process.

At the same time, his divine sense was like a blade as he inscribed array patterns into the artifact blank.

"Chen Quan and Gao Qin are both infusing spirit with great stability," Chen Yuanya praised without reservation. "Their spiritual circuits are complete. Once finished, the artifacts will be at least top-grade among first-tier low-grade artifacts."

Then he casually glanced at Shen Yue.

"Inscribing array patterns to refine an artifact?" Chen Yuanya's brows lifted slightly.

The island guardian Qiaoqian had brought in really did have some skill.

He smiled and glanced at Xu Guanhai.

Xu Guanhai's expression shifted slightly.

When he'd first learned artifact refining, he'd taken the same approach: inscribing array patterns.

Back then, he'd been full of confidence, thinking he'd created a new path in artifact refining that no one had ever trodden.

But only after he became an artifact refiner did he discover that countless refiners had tried this method long before him, yet no one had ever taken it far.

One could just about use it to finish first-tier spiritual artifacts. But by the second tier, the materials grew more complex and their spiritual nature far denser. Array patterns alone couldn't bear the strain.

Spirit infusion, on the other hand, was the efficient, orthodox method of artifact refining, perfected over generations by artifact refiners.

This young man had some talent to have found that path.

Unfortunately, he wouldn't get far.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Chen Quan and Gao Qin finished infusing their artifacts at the same time.

Two spiritual artifacts flew from the cauldrons, radiating a scorching glow.

Chen Quan had made a Flame Awl. Its body was crimson, and spiritual light flowed across its surface.

Gao Qin had made a pair of Cold-Flame Twin Blades, one red and one blue, ice and fire entwined.

Spiritual light erupted from Shen Yue's cauldron as well. A Red Light Shuttle flew out, its surface covered in intricate patterns.

Chen Quan glanced at the shuttle and froze for a moment.

How could this man know how to refine artifacts by inscribing array patterns? And why would his backwater methods catch Third Uncle's eye?

Gao Qin glanced over too, puzzled.

Could he be some relative of Third Uncle's, with mediocre refining skills, trying to get in through the back door?

That would explain why Third Uncle had assigned Flame Heart Island to him.

But she hated people with no ability who still tried to take shortcuts!

Half a day later.

The three finished refining the other two sets of materials.

"All three are top-grade. Not bad."

Chen Yuanya began by inspecting Chen Quan's artifacts, then moved on to Gao Qin's.

"These two are top-grade. The third is full of spiritual power and has impressive might... It could be considered a treasure-grade artifact."

Chen Quan's expression darkened, but he accepted the result.

He really had fallen short of Gao Qin on the third artifact.

"Thank you, Uncle Chen." Gao Qin lifted her fair chin, pride showing on her face.

The winner had been decided. Flame Heart Island would be hers.

She, Gao Qin, had protected the marketplace's interests and upheld its fairness. She was a hero.

Chen Yuanya smiled, then looked at Shen Yue's three spiritual artifacts. "This shuttle is top-grade. These other two are good as well, but..."

"They're not quite there," Xu Guanhai said, glancing at the artifacts.

It was no small feat for a minor cultivator from Refining Lake to refine artifacts of this quality, but alas, fortune had not been on his side.

Chen Yuanya knew he'd played the scene long enough, so he deliberately sighed and said, "You've all done very well, but there must be a distinction between high and low in the art of artifact refining."

"Gao Qin has the edge in this competition. Flame Heart Island will go to..."

Whoosh!

Before he could finish, a burst of spiritual light flared.

The three spiritual artifacts each took their place in the air, their lights connecting to form a small triangular array.

"This is..." Chen Yuanya stared.

Xu Guanhai's pupils contracted. His calm, indifferent expression turned to shock. "The spiritual artifacts have formed an array?"

With a gesture, he drew the three artifacts out of their positions. They spun through the air and flew into his palm.

The three artifacts were covered in array patterns, spiritual power flowing through them. They weren't a single entity, yet together they formed a complete spiritual circuit.

In half a day, using three sets of ordinary materials, he had crafted three spiritual artifacts that worked together as an array.

From beginning to end, this young man hadn't been refining three separate artifacts. He'd been making a complete set of artifacts that formed an array!

At such a young age, he'd reached the first tier in both artifact refining and array formation, and could even combine the two and use them with ease.

The longer Xu Guanhai looked, the brighter his eyes grew.

"Brother Chen, this set of spiritual artifacts is remarkable."

"I think we should reconsider who has the edge."

He hadn't wanted to interfere in today's affair, but as an artifact refiner from outside the clan himself, he had to speak up for this young man and say what was fair.

"The Three Talents Flame Array!" Gao Qin and Chen Quan exclaimed, recognizing the array formed by the artifacts.

Was this the real reason Third Uncle valued Shen Yue—the fusion of artifact refining and array formation?

They looked at Chen Yuanya with admiration, ashamed in their hearts.

As an elder and a powerful Foundation Establishment cultivator, how could Third Uncle help someone sneak in through the back door? They'd judged him by their own petty standards.

Chen Yuanya was stunned at first, then his heart sank.

Oh no. This kid really could do it!

Would all his careful planning today end up benefiting an outsider?

What was he supposed to do now?

There was no way he could actually give Flame Heart Island to someone who collected waste materials at Refining Lake, was there?

Impossible!

He would never allow an outsider to claim an entire island for himself.