Like the Yue Kingdom, the Yuanwu Kingdom was a medium-sized nation in the surrounding region. Its cultivation world, however, was divided between orthodox and demonic factions of equal strength, locked in a stalemate.
The Heavenly Star Sect was one of the pillars of the Yuanwu Kingdom's orthodox faction. Its strength matched any of the Yue Kingdom's five sects other than the Covering Moon Sect and Spirit Beast Mountain.
Moreover, the Heavenly Star Sect was renowned for its array formations throughout the cultivation worlds of several neighboring kingdoms. Every year, considerable numbers of the array flag and array disk magic tools it produced entered circulation, finding favor with other sects and unaffiliated cultivators alike.
After Xiao Yu and Qi Yunxiao finished Artifact Refining, Xiao Yu took his leave and traveled for three days to reach the Heavenly Star Sect's market.
The Heavenly Star Sect's market was arranged in a radiating circle around a massive pavilion twenty to thirty zhang tall. The surrounding buildings stood only a tenth of its height.
An enormous signboard hung on the central pavilion, bearing three huge silver characters spelling out "Star Dust Pavilion," clearly visible from one or two li away.
After arriving at the market, Xiao Yu first wandered around for a while to get a general sense of the place.
Then he walked straight into a building that offered Artifact Refining. The sign hanging outside this shop made some bold claims: it would accept cultivators' materials at any time and refine all manner of magic tools to their owners' specifications, even compensating them with spirit stones if the refining failed.
As soon as he entered, a burly man approached and asked politely, "Would you like to purchase a magic tool, honored customer, or commission one?"
"I'm only here to find someone," Xiao Yu said,