"Which bastard is pounding on my door? Can't you see I'm closed for the day? Come back tomorrow!" After a long while, a crude, irritable male voice came from the courtyard.
"Flower Boss, it's me! Open up!" Sun Hai raised his voice and knocked harder.
With a clatter, the courtyard gate was roughly pulled open, revealing a middle-aged man in gray robes. His face and body were both very fat, but his eyes were tiny, and two drooping tufts of mustache adorned his upper lip, making him look like an enormous rat.
"Oh, it's you, brat. Who have you brought this time? Let me make this clear: if he can't afford the Immortal Jade, take him away now. Don't interfere with my sleep." Flower Boss glared angrily at Sun Hai, then glanced at Shen Luo behind him and spoke without the slightest courtesy.
"Rest assured, Flower Boss. As long as you can forge a Magical Artifact that satisfies me, the price is negotiable." Shen Luo was not offended. He smiled and cupped his hands, though inwardly he was somewhat surprised.
A hazy layer of white light suffused the man's body, actually blocking both his Divine Sense and his probing gaze, leaving him unable to discern the man's cultivation level.
At these words, a hint of surprise appeared on Flower Boss's face. Without a word, he waved the two men into the courtyard.
Inside the courtyard stood a rather crude shed filled with materials. None had been properly sorted, and they lay strewn all over the ground. Beside the shed was a black stone building that appeared to be a forge, with waves of red light and heat pouring through its half-open stone door.
"Flower Boss, this is Senior Shen, who has come from the Eastern Land of Great Tang. Having