"Senior Brother, have you been well on the road?"
"Everything has been well!"
In the reception hall, Fang Heng and Lin Yichen sat facing each other.
Fang Heng instructed a maid to serve Lin Yichen tea, fulfilling his duties as host.
After taking a sip of spiritual tea, Lin Yichen spoke slowly.
"Junior Brother, Temple Master Martial Uncle and Master have agreed to the trade you proposed."
Lin Yichen's words did not surprise Fang Heng.
Though movement-type wondrous artifacts were precious, they were still wondrous artifacts in the end.
Five for one—Evergreen Temple would definitely profit from this.
"This is the exchange list that Temple Master Martial Uncle and Master discussed."
Fang Heng accepted the list and glanced over it. Five wondrous artifacts were listed on it.
In the Art of War manual transaction,
from the Crown Prince to the Eighth Prince, apart from the Second Prince who had seized the initiative first,
the other seven had all purchased Art of War manuals from Fang Heng.
Fang Heng had made a fortune, obtaining a full eighteen wondrous artifacts.
Aside from the Broken Rainbow Sword and Green Silkworm Jade Armor, which he had refined himself,
Fire Barbarian had received the Profound Fire Claw and Blazing Emperor Pearl, two fire-element wondrous artifacts.
The remaining fourteen wondrous artifacts had been placed in the prince's estate treasury by Fang Heng.
They could be used for trade or bestowed upon his subordinates.
After reading the list, Fang Heng ordered his servants to bring the Sky-Rending Cone, Mortal World Token, Exquisite Jade, Sea-Suppressing Seal, and Dragon Scale Sword from the prince's estate treasury.
Five for one—the deal was complete.
Whether it was Evergreen Temple or Fang Heng, both felt that they had come out ahead.
After obtaining the Heavenly Gang Sword Orb, Fang Heng could head to the City of Life and Death and complete his trade with Rabbit Face.
Fang Heng had coveted the Emperor Yuling Chessboard and chess pieces in Rabbit Face's possession for quite some time.
"Senior Brother, when do you plan to return to the mountain?"
"I'll leave after dining at the prince's estate!"
Fang Heng offered politely. Lin Yichen hesitated for a moment, then shook his head.
"My apologies, Junior Brother. Today is the seventh day since my friend's passing. I was planning to pay my respects."
As he spoke, Lin Yichen told Fang Heng about the memorial.
"Shang Lengyun and I were childhood friends. When we were young, we climbed Evergreen Mountain together and became disciples of Evergreen Temple."
"Master accepted me into his school, while Lengyun received an evaluation of merely average spiritual roots."
"Lengyun could not accept it. Unwilling to serve as a menial disciple at Evergreen Temple, he left Evergreen Mountain and became a Rogue Cultivator."
"Later, by a stroke of fortune, he obtained the inheritance of a formation master and entered the Formation Court."
The Formation Court was a department subordinate to the Ministry of Works.
The God Slaying Grand Array above Jade Capital was maintained by the Formation Court.
Lin Yichen took another sip of spiritual tea and continued.
"Some time ago, I asked Lengyun to design restrictions for my Purple Dawn Sword..."
Hearing this, Fang Heng raised his brows and blurted out,
"Senior Brother, are you planning to forge a powerful treasure?"
"That's right!"
Lin Yichen nodded, showing no intention of concealing it.
The greatest difference between powerful treasures and wondrous artifacts was that powerful treasures possessed spirits.
The spirituality of a powerful treasure was like that of a child. To refine one, one needed the recognition of its Artifact Spirit.
If one forcefully refined it without gaining the Artifact Spirit's recognition,
at best, its spirituality would be damaged and the powerful treasure's might would greatly decline.
At worst, the Artifact Spirit would be unyielding, choosing to shatter jade and stone together, perishing alongside the powerful treasure.
Precisely because refining powerful treasures involved no small amount of trouble,
a senior member of the Daoist School had opened up another path.
They refined the wondrous artifacts in their possession into powerful treasures.
Since wondrous artifacts had already been refined, even after advancing into powerful treasures, their Artifact Spirits would not object.
This bypassed the hurdle of needing an Artifact Spirit's recognition.
Lin Yichen wanted to place restrictions within the Purple Dawn Sword, raise its quality, and elevate it into a powerful treasure.
"A few days ago, I received word from Lengyun that the restrictions were seven or eight parts complete, nearing completion."
"At the time, I was happy for an entire night."
"Who would have thought that only a few days later, I would receive news of Lengyun's death?"
Grief, loss, and helplessness appeared on Lin Yichen's face.
After hearing the story between his senior brother and his close friend, Fang Heng nodded slightly and said calmly,
"Senior Brother, I'll accompany you."
"Shang Lengyun was, after all, a court official. As a Prince of a Commandery, I should represent the court and pay a visit to his widow."
"Hm?" Lin Yichen was first stunned, then delight flashed across his face.
"Thank you, Junior Brother."
He was a man beyond the secular world. When it came to caring for Shang Lengyun's widow, he could not compare to his junior brother, a prince.
Fang Heng also had his own little motive for attending the memorial.
A method for forging powerful treasures!
It made him covetous.
Although it had been specially designed for his senior brother's Purple Dawn Sword,
it might not be a perfect fit if used on his Broken Rainbow Sword.
But... the stone from another mountain could polish one's own jade.
This forging blueprint still held great reference value.
The two boarded a carriage and headed for Shang Manor.
The carriage slowly traveled through the streets of Jade Capital.
Its wheels rolled over the bluestone slabs, producing dull rumbles.
In less than a quarter of an hour, they arrived at Shang Manor.
Outside Shang Manor, everything was draped in white mourning cloth.
White funeral banners hung from the mottled red-lacquered gates.
Even the lanterns beneath the eaves had been replaced with white ones.
In the mourning hall, a delicate young woman wept like pear blossoms in rain, so pitiful that any who saw her would feel sympathy.
A toddler of two or three seemed not to understand the meaning of everything before him.
He merely saw his mother crying so bitterly and could not help becoming sad as well.
Besides Shang Lengyun's widow, there were over a dozen distant relatives of the Shang family keeping watch in the mourning hall.
From time to time, covetous gazes fell upon the young woman's full, rounded hips and slender waist.
They wanted to look pretty in mourning clothes.
Lengyun's wife was truly beautiful.
No wonder he had died so young. He must have been drained dry.
A white-haired old man walked to Madam Shang's side and said in a low voice,
"Lengyun's wife, have you considered letting Qingque acknowledge my second son as his godfather?"
Madam Shang wore mourning garments. Her eyes narrowed slightly on her pretty face, still wet with tears like pear blossoms in rain.
"Second Granduncle, having Qingque acknowledge a godfather is a major matter. Please allow me, your niece-in-law, to consider it carefully."
"Lengyun has only just passed. There is no need to rush. After a few days..."
Before Madam Shang could finish, Second Granduncle, whose hair was already white, darkened his face and shouted sharply.
"How can there be no rush?"
"Qingque is still young and does not recognize people. If he acknowledges a godfather now, their bond will be better in the future."
"If we wait until Qingque is older before he acknowledges a godfather, their relationship will not be as close as it would be from childhood."
"Second Granduncle is right. A godfather must be acknowledged in childhood for the bond to be close."
Hearing the Shang family's distant relatives urge her on, Madam Shang clenched her delicate fists until her knuckles turned white.
She bit her red lips tightly, enduring it and forcing herself not to cry.
This scene of coercing her into accepting a godfather was witnessed by Fang Heng and Lin Yichen, who had come to pay their respects.
Fang Heng's expression darkened somewhat.
What godfather?
They were clearly trying to devour an orphaned family's inheritance!
They were relying on the fact that the mother and son were alone and had no cultivation to protect themselves, intending to seize the Shang family's estate.
"The Prince of Dongdai Commandery has arrived!"
With that announcement, the coercive voices in the mourning hall instantly ceased.
It was as though someone had pressed a stop button, vanishing with startling abruptness.
When Madam Shang saw Fang Heng and Lin Yichen, a flicker of hopeful agitation immediately rose in her weary eyes.
She did not know the Prince of Dongdai Commandery, but Lin Yichen, her husband's friend, visited every year.
"This common woman pays respects to Your Highness."
"This commoner pays respects to Your Highness."
Everyone fell to their knees together to welcome Fang Heng.
Their shouts echoed through the entire mourning hall.
"Madam Shang, rise."
"Thank you, Your Highness."
Fang Heng only permitted Madam Shang to rise. He did not allow the others to do so.
The group of distant Shang relatives led by Second Granduncle exchanged looks, deep unease rising in their hearts.
Fang Heng ignored the reactions of those distant Shang relatives and comforted Madam Shang.
"Madam Shang, Lord Shang served diligently and rendered merit to the nation. The court will not forget him."
"Today, I have come on the court's behalf to pay my respects."
"If you encounter any trouble, you may come to the prince's estate and seek me out."
As he spoke the words "any trouble," Fang Heng's peripheral vision swept toward the distant Shang relatives.
That single glance frightened the distant Shang relatives until their livers and gallbladders nearly burst.
Hearing Fang Heng's words, Madam Shang immediately began weeping uncontrollably, her tear-filled eyes blurred.
"Thank you for Your Highness's grace."
"Qingque, hurry and kowtow to His Highness."
"I understand, Mother."
Two- or three-year-old Qingque did not understand the meaning of Fang Heng's words.
He simply followed his mother's instruction and kowtowed to Fang Heng three times.
Afterward, Fang Heng and Lin Yichen walked before the spirit tablet.
With solemn expressions, they lit three sticks of incense and inserted them into the censer.
While paying their respects, Fang Heng's Heretical Poison Pill gave a faint tremble.
Fang Heng froze for a moment.
This disturbance was the Heretical Poison Pill's instinctive craving upon encountering poison.
As for the source of the poison, it could only be...
Shang Lengyun's corpse inside the coffin.
Fang Heng harbored some suspicion but did not say it aloud.
After completing the memorial rites, Fang Heng and Lin Yichen went to Shang Manor's study and waited closely.
"Junior Brother, thank you for today."
"It was nothing, merely a small effort."
Fang Heng spoke calmly, yet he could not help sighing inwardly.
As an imperial prince, a single sentence from him could potentially change the fate of an entire family.
That was the influence his status as a prince gave him.
Lin Yichen said no more, but he remembered today's favor in his heart.
If Fang Heng had not come today and Lin Yichen had been left to deal with those trying to devour the orphaned family's inheritance,
perhaps he would have cut all those scum down with a single sword.
After waiting for a while, Madam Shang came to the study. Presumably, she had dealt with the distant relatives who wanted to devour the orphaned family's inheritance.
"This common woman thanks Your Highness for the grace of your intervention. In the days to come, I would serve as an ox or horse to repay Your Highness's kindness."
Madam Shang performed a graceful salute, her heart filled with gratitude.
Lin Yichen's lips moved a few times, as though he wanted to say something.
Madam Shang was also exceptionally perceptive. Knowing Lin Yichen's purpose, she immediately said,
"Immortal Master Lin, before Lengyun passed, he left behind a wooden box and said it was for you."
"Now, I shall return it to its rightful owner."
As she spoke, Madam Shang took a wooden box from the bookshelf and handed it to Lin Yichen.
Lin Yichen accepted the wooden box, his fingers trembling slightly.
He opened it. Inside lay an ancient scroll, densely covered in formation diagrams and runes.
It was precisely the restriction blueprint he had designed for the Purple Dawn Sword.
"Leng Yun..."
Lin Yichen murmured softly, a complicated look flashing through his eyes.
Leng Shangyun had already completed the method for elevating the Purple Dawn Sword into a precious treasure.
This truly lay beyond Lin Yichen's expectations.
Afterward, Lin Yichen copied the refining method and handed a copy to Fang Heng.
"Junior Brother, accept this refining method."
Fang Heng did not stand on ceremony, accepting Lin Yichen's kindness with a smile.
This scroll was an opportunity to refine a precious treasure.
Before you continue