Ripple-Patterned Precious Sword

"Now that you have money, have you decided what to buy?" Su Yu stretched lazily.

"A sword." Shen Qingzhou's answer was simple.

He had comprehended Tidal Sword Intent and carried the Abyss-Hiding Sword Qi Seed within him, yet he did not even have a proper magic sword in hand.

"Oh? Buying a sword?"

Su Yu's eyes darted, and that worldly, calculating smile appeared on her face again. "There are plenty of sword stalls in Blackwind Market, but not many good swords. Most are just pretty decorations, unsuitable for people like us."

She sized Shen Qingzhou up, then suddenly said, "Wouldn't it be boring to just go buy one?"

Shen Qingzhou said nothing, waiting for what came next.

"Look, you're at the second level of Qi Refining now, your spiritual energy is pure, and you're an unfamiliar face."

Su Yu pointed at him with her chin. "In the eyes of those robbery cultivators, you're a little fat lamb fresh out of the pen. Tell me, if we let you, this little fat lamb, swagger around the market with a big bag of freshly exchanged spirit stones in your hand, what do you think will happen?"

Shen Qingzhou's brows twitched.

Fishing.

Su Yu said, "Yellowstone True Person was only the beginning. There are plenty of people beyond the mountain who don't care about reason. You need to learn how to deal with them. Rather than waiting for trouble to come knocking, we might as well take the initiative, fish the trouble out, and deal with it all in one go."

Shen Qingzhou thought, As expected, this senior sister isn't a good person. Isn't this entrapment?

"I'll help you change your outfit and conceal the sect's aura. Then you can wander around on your own. As for me, I'll find somewhere to drink tea and watch the show. Once the fish bites, I'll naturally appear."

Su Yu pulled a dull gray cloak from her sleeve and tossed it to Shen Qingzhou. "Don't die. I'm still counting on you to draw talismans and make money for me in the future."

After saying that, she did not wait for Shen Qingzhou to respond. Her body swayed, and she slipped into the alley beside them, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

Holding the cloak, Shen Qingzhou stood where he was, somewhat stunned.

This really fit the style of the Kan Water Lineage. The master did not care about anything, and the senior sister acted according to her mood.

"Fine. Since I'm here, I might as well settle in..."

He draped the cloak over himself. Its broad hood concealed most of his face, covering his original green robe as well.

He did not hurry to look for sword shops. Instead, he remembered what Su Yu had said before: speak less, watch more, listen more.

Just as he was about to turn into a side street, he suddenly heard a burst of complaints. The voice sounded somewhat familiar.

"I told you that beast's weakness was its belly! Yet you insisted on using water-element spells on its hooves! What happened? It slipped, sure, but I nearly slipped straight into its mouth with it!"

Shen Qingzhou stopped and looked toward the source of the voice.

"It's actually him."

Before a materials stall not far away, two young people were speaking with the stall owner.

One of them was Fang Wuji from Cinnabar Glow Peak. The other was a cool and aloof woman whom he also recognized—Liu Yinghan of Blackwater Peak.

Flame-Patterned Boar materials lay spread across the stall before them: tusks, hide, and a heart.

"Shut up. Only if the materials are intact and free of unnecessary damage can they fetch a high price." Liu Yinghan could no longer maintain her icy demeanor and snapped back in irritation.

"High price, my ass!"

Fang Wuji's voice grew louder, drawing the attention of many people nearby. He complained bitterly, "To preserve this lousy hide, I nearly got run through by that thing!"

"You were too impatient." Liu Yinghan merely snorted coldly and replied with three words.

"You!" Fang Wuji's face reddened with anger, but he could not find any words to refute her.

After listening from afar for a few moments, Shen Qingzhou understood the general situation. So these two had teamed up to hunt a demonic beast.

What a strange pairing...

An alchemy cultivator and a water cultivator sounded mismatched, but upon closer thought, they complemented each other rather well!

Liu Yinghan's Cold Pool Sword Intent could control the enemy, while Fang Wuji understood alchemical principles and could process demonic beast materials.

Still, these two were far too green.

"Fellow Daoists, your Flame-Patterned Boar materials are indeed quite good. The quality is excellent."

The stall owner was a monkey-thin man. Rubbing his hands together, he said with a grin, "It's just that quite a few of these things have appeared south of Azure Mountain recently, so the price... heh heh."

"The ones in the south are all old, weak, sick, and crippled. How could their materials compare to ours?"

Fang Wuji immediately retorted, "We hunted this one at Blackwind Pass. The two of us went through great effort to bring it down!"

Several Rogue Cultivators wandering nearby slowed their steps.

"Yes, yes, that's true." The stall owner nodded repeatedly. "How about this? I'll give you twenty low-grade spirit stones for the whole set of materials."

"Twenty? Are you trying to dismiss beggars?"

Fang Wuji jumped up. "This heart alone would fetch more than that from those body cultivators! We asked around! We won't sell for less than fifty! After selling these materials, we still need to buy Qi-Refining Powder. We don't have time to haggle with you!"

Qi-Refining Powder.

The ears of those Rogue Cultivators twitched. They exchanged glances.

Two newly initiated sect disciples, carrying materials they had just obtained and planning to exchange them for pills.

Weren't they simply two walking money bags?

Liu Yinghan seemed to sense something. She tugged Fang Wuji's sleeve and said quietly, "Stop talking."

Only then did Fang Wuji realize that he had said too much. He closed his mouth resentfully.

Shen Qingzhou shook his head and turned away.

Two living treasures.

He could not be bothered to warn them, much less meddle in their affairs. In a place like this, stupidity came at a price.

He continued through the market, his goal clear: find a suitable sword.

He looked down on most of the magic swords displayed at the stalls.

Either they carried too much metal energy and did not suit his Tidal Sword Intent, or they had been mixed with all kinds of random materials and were utterly useless.

He needed a sword that could bear both metal and water qi, while also being sufficiently refined.

After making a round of the market, he was preparing to look at the larger shops when he stopped at the entrance of a secluded alley.

At the end of the alley was a small stall run by a mother and daughter.

The mother appeared to be around thirty. She wore a plain violet cloth dress and had a plump, gentle appearance. She was lowering her head and wiping an axe with a soft cloth.

The daughter was only thirteen or fourteen, with twin-bun hair and delicate features that strongly resembled her mother's. Yet her little face was taut as she warily watched passersby.

Only three or four magic artifacts were displayed at their stall: an axe, a shield, and two swords of different lengths, all exuding a cold, hard metallic air.

Shen Qingzhou's gaze fell on the shorter sword.

It was over two feet long, with a narrow, elongated blade that looked pitch-black. Only beneath the lantern light could he make out the dense layer of fine water ripples on its blade.

The moment he approached, the young girl rose alertly and blocked the front of the stall. "What does the customer wish to buy?"

"Ya'er, don't be rude to the customer."

The gentle female cultivator put down the axe and pulled her daughter back before looking up at Shen Qingzhou. With an apologetic smile, she said, "Please forgive her, Fellow Daoist. You... wish to look at this sword?"

Shen Qingzhou nodded. The forging method used for this sword was rather interesting.

After hesitating for a moment, the female cultivator still handed him the water-rippled short sword.

Shen Qingzhou took it. The sword felt somewhat heavy in his hand, and an icy chill traveled up from his palm.

He lightly flicked the blade with a finger.

"Hum..."

A crisp sword cry rang out. It was not loud, but it lingered for a long time.

A good sword.

Shen Qingzhou praised it inwardly.

Just as the saying went: a clear dragon's cry, weighty yet not dull.

He tried channeling a thread of Abyss-Hiding Sword Qi into it. The sword qi merged into the blade smoothly, the water ripples on its surface lit up, and the chill emanating from it grew even stronger.

This sword matched his cultivation method perfectly. Calling it wings upon a tiger would not be an exaggeration.

"This Ripple-Pattern Sword was forged from Northern Iron Essence mixed with three hundred catties of deep-sea cold iron. I personally hammered it for eighty-one days and refined it into its current form. The water-path runes on its blade are most suitable for Fellow Daoists who cultivate water-element techniques. In battle, it can truly be like wings upon a tiger."

The female cultivator introduced it softly, confidence in her own work evident in her tone.

"Name your price."

Shen Qingzhou was quite satisfied, though he did not show it.

This sword was worth buying, but he needed to see whether her asking price was reasonable.

"Um..."

The female cultivator looked at his young face, then at the sky, calculating rapidly in her heart.

Better sell it as soon as possible... Fine, so be it.

Her cave dwelling lease expired tomorrow, and she was still short on spirit stones for payment. If she could not gather enough, her forging furnace would be forcibly reclaimed... and life would become even more difficult.

Gritting her teeth, she named a relatively low price, wanting only to sell it quickly.

"How about fifty... low-grade spirit stones?"

The moment she named the price, even Ya'er beside her froze for a moment, feeling that her mother had asked far too little.

Shen Qingzhou understood the moment he heard it.

Fifty low-grade spirit stones for such a fine sword was like picking up a bargain.

It seemed they urgently needed money and could not even be bothered to negotiate.

He thought for a moment.

"I'll take it." Shen Qingzhou took spirit stones from his storage pouch, counted out fifty directly, and placed them on the stall.

"Fellow Daoist, this..." The female cultivator was stunned. She had not expected him to forgo bargaining entirely.

Shen Qingzhou pushed the spirit stones toward her and smiled faintly.

"Good things should not be sold cheaply."

He was not putting on airs of generosity. He simply wished to form a good connection, which would make things easier if he needed magic artifacts repaired in the future.

Artifact refiners held no lower status than alchemists or Talisman Masters.

The female cultivator looked at the spirit stones, then bowed to him. "Thank you, Fellow Daoist. My name is Ruan Yu. If you ever need magic artifacts forged in the future, you may come find me at the Ruan Clan Artifact Forge at the southern entrance of Blackwind Market. I will certainly give you the fairest price."

Shen Qingzhou put away the Ripple-Pattern Sword, nodded, said nothing more, and turned into the flow of people.

Behind him, Ya'er watched his retreating figure. The wariness in her eyes lessened somewhat, replaced by a touch of curiosity.

Regardless of what the two of them thought, Shen Qingzhou had acquired a weapon that suited him, so the main purpose of this outing had been achieved.

He gripped the sword hilt, sensing the resonance between the blade and the sword qi within his body, and felt far more at ease.

"What a bargain."

Next, it was time to see when the fish Su Yu had mentioned would bite.