Dispelling Sorrow

When Kang Dabao stepped into Yuan Jin's courtyard, the Second Dong were standing guard at the entrance of the tool room, their brows furrowed in worry.

Yuan Ruyi seemed to have been influenced by his two mothers, and even though Little Wu Meng was doing his best to play with him in the courtyard, there was not much joy on his innocent little face.

As soon as Sect Leader Kang Da entered the courtyard, Dong Ningxin, who was usually quite outspoken, burst into tears. "Uncle, please go and see him! For so many days, no one has been allowed into his equipment room. We only know that he came out once when you returned to the sect. Lately, he hasn't even been eating, relying entirely on the Grain Avoidance Pill that Pei Household sent to keep him going. How can he practice equipment like this?"

Dong Wanxi was always rather quiet, but she only shed tears in her eyes. This is the kind of thing that comes from the saying that everyone cherishes their own husband.

Upon suddenly witnessing his junior brother's good fortune with two women, Kang Dabao suddenly felt less sorry for his second junior brother Yuan Jin.

"Nothing's wrong, nothing's wrong. Why are you crying like that? Anyone who didn't know better would think something had happened to Yuan Jin," Sect Leader Kang Da said gently, and went straight into the equipment room.

In his entire life, except for the times when Yuan Jin was in bed with his beloved wife and when he was in seclusion to break through his cultivation, Sect Leader Kang Da Kang Dabao see him at all other times.

Yuan Jin was standing in the array in the equipment room, with a spirit-replenishing pill in his mouth and a Spirit Stone in his hand, staring intently at a mid-grade shield that was about to take shape.

His whole body was blackened by the smoke from the ground fire because he hadn't been outside for a long time, but he still looked energetic.

Suddenly, a raging flame burst forth, illuminating the entire equipment room. Yuan Jin was greatly alarmed and quickly formed a hand seal, using a colorless spiritual power to suppress the flame.

After this, much of the shield that was supposed to take shape melted away.

Seeing this, Yuan Jin breathed a sigh of relief. With a flick of his finger, he poured the six or seven spiritual materials on the iron table into the earth fire, which quickly turned into various colored liquids and were added to the shield.

"Sandblasting." Yuan Jin pointed to Ye Pingshui standing beside him. Although the latter's cultivation was not high, he was already familiar with the basic Method Formula related to weapon crafting. He exhaled a flame from his mouth, which was contained in his finger. With a flick of his finger, a large amount of black sand was sprayed out from the gourd magic Law Artifact at his waist, completely covering the shield.

"Whoosh!" A surge of earth fire erupted, scorching the nascent shield covered in black sand for a moment. As the flames subsided, Yuan Jin flicked his finger, sending a gust of wind that struck the shield, shattering the charred shell into ashes and revealing a gleaming silver square shield-like magical Law Artifact.

"Alright, that's all for today." Yuan Jin nodded with some satisfaction. Crafting weapons is not like alchemy; even low-grade Law Artifact rarely take a day to complete.

Compared to Alchemist, weapon makers not only earn less, but also work much harder.

The First-Tier Middle-Grade shield forged by Yuan Jin alone is just the first step; in addition, there are many other things to do, such as adding restrictions and engraving arrays.

Yuan Jin saw Kang Dabao enter early in the morning, but he waited until the shield was mostly finished before extinguishing the ground fire.

He then asked Ye Pingshui to bring over some chilled wine and two ice bowls, and invited Sect Leader Kang Da to sit down at the small table next to the fire. "Senior brother is finally back! I've missed you so much!"

Without further ado, he poured out the chilled wine, filled his own ice bowl first, and slurped it down. Feeling his temper had subsided somewhat, he then filled Kang Dabao as well. "Qi Household Old Shop's Ice Dew Wine, the eldest daughter-in-law's signature craft. Not only is it delicious, but it also relieves fatigue. It's doing very well in Chongming Market. It's a pity we won't be able to drink it anymore."

Yuan Jin filled his bowl halfway with ice and handed it to Ye Pingshui, who was also drenched in sweat.

The latter accepted the drink with a grin and drank it heartily, immediately feeling that his spiritual power had increased by another point. Seeing that his master and senior uncle still had things to say, and feeling it inappropriate for a junior to remain present, he made an excuse to leave.

"That kid is honest and straightforward. He may be a bit slow, but as long as he's willing to put in the hard work, he can master my skills," Yuan Jin sighed softly, watching Ye Pingshui's departing figure.

Yuan Jin always felt a sense of gratitude towards the younger generation, Ye Pinglin, but unfortunately, the former was not blessed with good fortune, so he could only extend that gratitude to Ye Pinglin's two younger siblings.

"Have you been chanting the Calming the Mind Incantation more often lately?" Kang Dabao took a small sip; it was refreshing and quite good.

"Junior Brother, your daily weapon crafting is also a form of cultivation, and its effects are no less than those of the Calming the Mind Incantation. Perhaps it won't be long before you, Junior Brother, can also break through to the Late Qi Refinement, just like Senior Brother." Yuan Jin drank another full bowl and carefully put away the remaining Ice Dew Wine.

He then took out several more jars of spirit wine, saying, "Senior brother isn't a practitioner of this art, so just a taste is fine. Junior brother will need this wine to cool down in the future."

Upon hearing this, Sect Leader Kang Da chuckled and scolded Yuan Jin, then pushed the remaining Ice Dew Wine in the bowl towards him, before asking, "Junior Brother Zhou mentioned last time that he wanted his niece Xinran to become your disciple. Has that been settled?"

"It's probably settled. Junior Brother Zhou went to see Little Sanzi before, after all, he is the most promising Foundation Establishment among us. But Little Sanzi declined, saying that his niece Xinran was not good at swordsmanship. So Junior Brother Zhou thought of having his daughter become my disciple instead."

But then again, what can I teach her? This niece might not even be able to imitate the style of the * White Ape Scripture *. Could she possibly learn my blacksmithing skills too? Come to think of it, I really think it would be most suitable for her to become my senior apprentice. You are the most skilled in commerce and can teach her quite a lot."

Yuan Jin didn't mind at all, happily accepted Kang Dabao's leftover wine and drank it, saying quietly.

"What's there to teach in these mundane matters?" Kang Dabao had no intention of taking on any more disciples now. He turned to advise them, revealing the true purpose of his trip. "Everything requires a balance of tension and relaxation. The sect is not yet in a critical situation. You all don't need to work so hard."

"What you say is true, Senior Brother. Even back then, when things were so tough, you led me and Jiang Qing to a better life. Now we're thriving, there's no reason for things to get worse. The reason we brothers are so anxious is that the destruction of Chongming Market is just a symptom; the real reason is that Senior Brother hasn't returned from Tanggu County for so long. Now that you're back, we can all finally take a break."

Yuan Jin took another big gulp and said cheerfully.

Hearing this, Sect Leader Kang Da felt a warmth in his heart and simply comforted him, saying, "With your uncle's protection, there is no danger. There's nothing to worry about."

Yuan Jin nodded in agreement, stopped drinking, and used a cleansing talisman to remove the unpleasant smell from his body. After changing into ordinary clothes, he laughed heartily and said, "Junior Brother, you should also try your luck in seclusion this time. I was greatly inspired by Uncle Black Shoes's lecture last time, and I'm about 60% confident that I can break through to the Late Qi Refinement."

The two left hand in hand. Upon seeing Yuan Jin, the Second Dong burst into tears, making the Sect Leader Kang Da, who was still holding Yuan Jin's hand, feel extremely uncomfortable. He had no choice but to flee with Little Wu Meng and Yuan Ping'an.

"Little Wu Meng, how have you been lately?" Kang Dabao set up his spirit boat, but this time he wasn't using Ying Bi's boat, as it consumed too many Spirit Stones.

"The boy has made great progress in martial arts under Uncle Jin's Jin Household, and he's almost at the Blood Refining Realm!" Little Wu Meng laughed as he spoke of this. Yuan Ruyi, standing beside him, jumped up and clapped enthusiastically, her eyes filled with admiration as she looked at Little Wu Meng.

"That's good. How are your relatives doing too?"

"Everyone is doing well, free from disasters of fire and water, and free from oppressive policies and taxes. Everyone is grateful for the kindness of the sect leader. Not only the relatives of the immortals are grateful, but even the peddlers and laborers in Chongming City, and the illiterate common people, are all grateful for the sect leader's kindness," Little Wu Meng said solemnly.

"Hmm, he's grown up and is different now, he knows how to flatter. Haha, but the sect leader likes to hear these words. I've done a good job as sect leader, so I deserve to be flattered." Kang Dabao laughed and patted the two ram's horn knots on Little Wu Meng's head.

"It's time to pull myself together!" The mountain breeze brushed his face, Kang Dabao opened his mouth and took a sip. He felt the mountain breeze enter his body and wash away all the worries and despondency in his heart.

"Uncle Black Shoes is right. If I Foundation Establishment earlier, many difficulties would not have been difficult at all." A surge of heroic spirit suddenly ignited in the heart of Sect Leader Kang Da.

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