The Young Artifact Refiner

The Young Artifact Refiner

Luo Mu didn't make the boy wait long. After a little while, he gave him an answer.

"I do have some of those materials on hand," Luo Mu said solemnly.

"Just as I thought!" The boy was overjoyed.

"But how am I supposed to trust what you say? If I hand over the materials and you successfully refine an artifact I'm satisfied with, then we both win—you improve your artifact-refining skills, and I get the artifact I want. But if you fail, the materials I risked my life to obtain will be wasted, while the information you give me won't be worth the price. Wouldn't I be getting the short end of the stick?"

Luo Mu cared deeply about the materials from the Plum Blossom Snake. After all, they came from a peak first-level demon beast and were extraordinarily precious to him. He had to use them with care. If he wasted them through a careless mistake, he would be heartbroken.

"Fellow Daoist, please rest assured. Though I don't know what you want the Ink Crow Grass for, I can tell you value it greatly. I guarantee the information I have about the Ink Crow Grass will be well worth it!" The boy spoke with utter certainty, then gave Luo Mu a look that said he already had him in the bag.

"I'll ask you again: why should I believe you?" Luo Mu remained unmoved, his tone still stern.

"It seems you still don't trust me. How about this? Give me the materials you have, and I'll refine them. Whether I succeed or not, I'll take you to where the Ink Crow Grass grows. If anything I've said is false, you can kill me whenever you like!" To earn Luo Mu's trust, the boy was willing to stake his life. That showed just how obsessed he was with artifact refining.

The boy had already gone this far. If Luo Mu still refused, it would be unreasonable. Even so, he thought it over carefully, and only when he decided the arrangement was workable did he nod beneath the boy's eager gaze.

"Fine, I agree. I hope everything you've said is true," Luo Mu said calmly.

Yet beneath his even tone lay a faint warning. If he found out the boy had deceived him, Luo Mu would show no mercy. The boy was clever too; he couldn't have missed the warning in Luo Mu's words. But he didn't seem to mind at all. He only smiled, looking entirely confident.

"So when will you hand the materials over to me?" The boy rubbed his hands together, impatient.

"Don't rush. I still need to buy a few things. I'll come find you when I'm done."

"I see. That works too! I'll wait right here for you, then. Don't keep me waiting!" The boy looked a little disappointed, but his expression quickly returned to normal as he replied.

"See you then." With that, Luo Mu turned and left. He planned to put the Spirit Stones he had on hand to good use that night. He couldn't do without poisonous herbs, and he also needed to gear himself up.

After that, Luo Mu traded a first-tier, low-grade spirit herb and ten Spirit Stones to a cultivator for a Storage Bag. A silver "Fa" character was embroidered on it, making it obvious that it came from the Wanfa Sect. The Storage Bag he already had was of unknown origin, and Luo Mu didn't dare wear it openly at his waist in case it caused unnecessary trouble.

Now that he had a new Storage Bag that truly belonged to him, Luo Mu was delighted. He hung it at his waist on the spot.

Then Luo Mu wandered around until his eyes were swimming. He wanted to buy many of the artifacts and poisonous herbs, but their prices stopped him cold. He couldn't help sighing inwardly. Without Spirit Stones, it really was hard to take a single step. He wanted to buy things but didn't dare, and the frustration was only too easy to imagine.

It wasn't that Luo Mu couldn't afford them. With more than two hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones, he could still buy quite a few things. But Luo Mu had one habit: he always kept something in reserve. He didn't have that many Spirit Stones, and he planned to save them for emergencies.

It was all well and good to spend them for the fun of it, but if he needed them urgently later and had none left, he'd be in a real bind. Luo Mu didn't want that happening to him.

By the end of the night, Luo Mu had been so reluctant to spend that, aside from the ten Low-grade Spirit Stones he'd paid for the Storage Bag, he hadn't been willing to part with even a single one. He was the very picture of a penny-pincher.

He had already achieved his goal on this trip. He'd gotten his hands on thirteen peak first-level Ink Crow Grass plants, and the boy had sworn he had information about even more of them. That was the real reason Luo Mu didn't want to spend any more Spirit Stones.

Now that he'd gotten what he came for, wasting Spirit Stones would be completely out of character for him. Even if the boy had exaggerated and Luo Mu returned disappointed, he could still use the Spirit Stones he had to buy a batch of poisonous herbs afterward.

As for artifacts, he was about to give the boy materials to refine one. If the boy succeeded, Luo Mu would be glad to save a good number of Spirit Stones. If he failed, he could always buy one then.

With that in mind, Luo Mu returned to the boy's stall with empty pockets. The boy had indeed stayed, and was still calling out that he would refine artifacts for cultivators for free.

But judging by the boy's expression, Luo Mu guessed it wasn't going very well.

At that thought, Luo Mu figured that the materials he'd nearly died to obtain might really go to waste. He shook his head. To be honest, he didn't have much faith in the boy. But he'd already given his word, and Luo Mu wouldn't break a promise.

If he didn't want to do something, he shouldn't agree to it. But once he had agreed, he had to follow through. Otherwise, his conscience would trouble him—and that was a great taboo in cultivation, commonly known as a heart demon.

Unwilling to leave himself with a heart demon that might affect his future cultivation, Luo Mu could only steel himself and head toward the boy. His reluctance was written all over his face.

When the boy saw Luo Mu approaching, color finally returned to his storm-clouded face. He greeted Luo Mu with a beaming smile. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought they were close friends.

"You're finally here, fellow Daoist. I've been waiting ages for you," the boy joked, smiling from ear to ear as soon as Luo Mu reached him.

"Heh... Are you planning to refine the artifacts here?" Luo Mu managed a weak smile before asking curiously. He really wasn't in the mood to smile.

"Of course. See that tent behind me? That's my temporary refining space." The boy nodded, pointed to a small tent beside the stall, and explained.

Luo Mu followed his finger. Sure enough, a little tent stood puffed up, just big enough for two or three people.

"All right, let's go inside and talk." Luo Mu agreed without hesitation and entered the tent first. The boy packed the things on his stall into his Storage Bag and followed him in...

As soon as the two entered the tent, they came back out moments later. Luo Mu's expression was calm and unreadable, while the boy's face lit up with joy, his smile blooming wide.

It turned out that after entering the tent, Luo Mu had taken out the claws, hides, and other materials from several low-tier first-level demon beasts he'd hunted along the way and handed them to the boy.

When the boy saw the materials, deep confusion appeared on his face. He could hardly believe his eyes. These were the precious materials Luo Mu had been so concerned about? The boy had thought Luo Mu would bring out materials from mid-tier or high-tier first-level demon beasts. He hadn't expected them to be only low-tier, and disappointment showed on his face at once.

But that disappointment lasted only a moment before vanishing without a trace, replaced by overwhelming joy. Luo Mu had taken the hide of the peak first-level demon beast, the Plum Blossom Snake, from his Storage Bag and laid it before the boy.

The Plum Blossom Snake's hide was extraordinarily tough, making it excellent material for refining leather armor or inner armor. The boy might not have a high cultivation level, but he had a good eye. He recognized it at once as the hide of a peak first-level Plum Blossom Snake. How could an artifact refiner not be delighted at the sight of such a thick stack of it?

The boy even declared that he would use the hide to refine an excellent piece of inner armor for Luo Mu. But the night market was too noisy, and the clamor would interfere with his work as an artifact refiner. So the boy suggested finding somewhere quiet where he could focus on refining. Luo Mu, of course, had no objection, and led him to an inn.

Luo Mu didn't let the boy choose the place. He picked it himself, in case the boy had bad intentions. When you were away from home, you often had to be on your guard.

Ever since Xiao Ling'er betrayed him, Luo Mu had been unwilling to trust anyone lightly. In his eyes, he could only truly rely on himself.

The departure of Luo Mu and the boy did nothing to dampen the night market's lively atmosphere, nor did it attract anyone's attention. The cultivators kept buying and selling as before; the two were merely passersby in the night market that evening.

A night passed. When sunlight spilled across the land, Luo Mu and the boy walked out of the inn.

When they had entered the inn, Luo Mu's face had been calm, giving nothing away. A night later, his expression was still composed, but his eyes now held undisguised delight.

Luo Mu hadn't thought much of the boy's skills when they began refining artifacts the previous night. After the boy ruined all the materials from several low-tier first-level demon beasts, Luo Mu became even more convinced of his initial impression.

When the boy used the Plum Blossom Snake hide to refine inner armor for Luo Mu, he failed several times in a row. Luo Mu's eyelid twitched wildly, and his heart bled. He wanted nothing more than to lunge forward, grab the boy by the throat, and squeeze the life out of him!

Fortunately, the Plum Blossom Snake hide was large. After several failures, the boy finally succeeded with the last piece. A finely crafted piece of inner armor lay before Luo Mu! Better still, it was a mid-tier magical artifact. That finally helped Luo Mu regain his composure, though he'd been on the verge of flying into a rage.

The boy had wasted quite a bit of material, but this inner armor was an excellent defensive treasure, and it was valuable too. Luo Mu couldn't help seeing the boy in a new light.

After weighing it over repeatedly, Luo Mu finally decided to take a chance on the boy. He solemnly handed him the Plum Blossom Snake's two enormous, one-foot-long Poison Fangs.

The boy felt a little nervous as well when he took the Poison Fangs, afraid he'd ruin them during the refining. So he worked with extreme care, not daring to make the slightest mistake. To the great surprise of both Luo Mu and the boy, this attempt went exceptionally well, without a single mishap.

Two small, delicately curved daggers, each a foot long, gleamed with a faint white light. At a glance, it was clear they were no ordinary weapons. They had been refined from the two Poison Fangs and, like the inner armor, were mid-tier magical artifacts.