Chapter 347 - Silvercloud Hall and the Art of Artificing

"Brother Xuan Hao has misunderstood. I am not an artificer. Not yet, at least," Lu Tianzi admitted. "The reason why I am looking for information on the art of artificing is because I am considering if I should pursue the path of an artificer."

"You are considering if you should become an artificer?" Young Master Xuan Hao felt the corner of his lips twitch.

Did he think that becoming an artificer was something so simple?

When Lu Tianzi saw the look on Young Master Xuan Hao's face, he immediately guessed what was going through the latter's mind.

"Don't worry, I just want to have a look at it. If it is too much to handle, I will not insist on trying either," Lu Tianzi smiled.

"Since Brother Tianzi understands, then I can rest assured," Young Master Xuan Hao let out a sigh of relief. "For information on the art of artificing, the Silvercloud Hall is the place to go. Since we have time, why don't I bring you there right now?"

"Then I will be relying on Brother Xuan Hao!" Lu Tianzi clasped his fists towards Young Master Xuan Hao in gratitude.

The group went to get a refund on the deposit for their bidding cards before leaving.

As for the discounted prices at the Sacred Lotus Treasury store, Young Master Xuan Hao told them that it was a sales promotion that the Sacred Lotus Treasury held on a regular basis, so they could always come back again next time.

Under Young Master Xuan Hao's lead, the group arrived before a grand tower not far away from the Sacred Lotus Treasury Headquarters.

The walls of the tower were a pure white. Except for the first level, there was not a single window all the way to the top.

This was none other than the Silvercloud Hall.

At the front lobby, an elderly man sat behind a small reception desk, with multiple doors behind him.

"What do you seek?" the elderly man asked without even looking up at them.

"I am looking for information on the art of artificing," Lu Tianzi answered without hesitation.

���Please proceed to the second room from your right," the elderly man replied.

"Thank you, Senior," Lu Tianzi clasped his fists towards the elderly man.

"Then we will be waiting here," Young Master Xuan Hao said.

The acquiring of information was a private matter, so it was only polite for them to wait outside. If Lu Tianzi wished to share whatever information he obtained from here, he could simply do it later.

"Mm, I will be right back," Lu Tianzi nodded. "Let's go, Qianxue."

Nanlan Qianxue smiled before following Lu Tianzi into the assigned room.

The only items in the room were a small table, a jade slip placed on the table, as well as a crystal shard that floated directly above it.

This crystal shard was the size of a person's arm. As if reacting to the duo's entrance, it suddenly started to glow with a dim white light.

The next moment, a mechanical voice came from the crystal. "May I know what information do our guests seek?"

Lu Tianzi exchanged curious glances with Nanlan Qianxue before turning back to the glowing crystal. "I am seeking information regarding the art of artificing, preferably if it starts from the very fundamentals. On top of that, I also wish to obtain information on the four ancient sects and the Radiant Raven Sect."

Since he was already here, he might as well take the chance to learn more about the main influences in the central regions of the continent.

"The information you seek can be split into six parts – the art of artificing and the five different influences, each of which can be further divided into five levels. The first level costs one mid ranked beast core, the second costs ten mid ranked beast cores, the third costs one hundred mid ranked beast core, the fourth costs one high ranked beast core, and the fifth level costs ten high ranked beast cores."

Lu Tianzi frowned.

The prices were far too expensive!

If he wished to learn about all six parts, he could only afford the second level at most, and that would still wipe out more than half of his mid ranked beast cores.

As for the third level of information, he could not even afford it for a single part.

Should he really do this?

He let out a helpless sigh before steeling his resolve. "I would like to have the second level information for all six parts."

As Young Master Xuan Hao had said to him before, he really needed to brush up on his general knowledge if he wished to travel around without getting into trouble.

Wealth could always be earned back, but knowing vital information could turn out to be a life saver at times.

This was especially the case since he was almost clueless about the situation in the central regions of the continent.

As for the information on the art of artificing, Lu Tianzi treated it as a form of investment.

Having witnessed with his own eyes just how much prestige Grandmaster Artificers wielded, Lu Tianzi could not help but feel tempted to try out the occupation.

After all, with the help of the Limitless Mirror Eye, Lu Tianzi would be able to see through the flow of energy in most items.

This should at least provide him with a relative advantage when dealing with treasures and the like.

"Understood, please place the required amount on the table," the mechanical voice sounded out from the crystal once more.

As instructed, Lu Tianzi filled a spatial ring with sixty mid ranked beast cores and placed it on the table.

At that moment, a beam of white light suddenly shot out from the centre of the crystal and onto the spatial ring.

After a few seconds, the beam of light vanished, and Lu Tianzi was surprised to see that the spatial ring on the table had disappeared along with it.

"Amount confirmed, please wait."

The light from the crystal dimmed for a single moment before growing in intensity once again.

Another beam of white light shot out from the centre of the crystal and onto the jade slip below. This time, it lasted for about a minute before the beam of light finally vanished.

"Transaction complete. The information you purchased is within the jade slip. May you have a good day ahead."

With that, even the dim white light coming from the crystal disappeared, as though it had completely run out of energy.

"That was convenient," Nanlan Qianxue remarked, fascinated by how fast it took.

"It really is," Lu Tianzi agreed before stepping forward to pick up the jade slip.

After sinking his perception within, a surge of information quickly flowed into his mind.

Previously, Lu Tianzi had heard from Young Master Xuan Hao that the central regions of the continent is largely divided into territories controlled by the four ancient sects, namely the Timeless Flame Sect, the Divine Storm Sect, the Sky Sabre Mountain, as well as the White Tiger Immortal Sect.

As for the Radiant Raven Sect, little is known about them other than the fact that they operate in the shadows and their unscrupulous means to achieve their aims.

The information in the jade slip confirmed this matter, only that it went further to list the rankings of the ancient sects.

Among the four ancient sects, the White Tiger Immortal Sect reigned supreme.

It was the undisputed leader of the four ancient sects in terms of both influence and strength, and was considered the hegemon of the continent.

In fact, even the other three ancient sects combined might not be able to compare favourably against it.

As for the other three ancient sects, their overall strengths were much closer.

But while the three ancient sects had not clashed directly, people had a good guess of their strengths after looking at intelligence gathered over the years.

The Sky Sabre Mountain was believed to be the strongest of the three, but they generally kept to themselves and their members hardly exited their territories, making them also the most mysterious of the ancient sects.

Next in line was the Divine Storm Sect, and the Timeless Flame Sect was ranked last.

As for the strength of the Radiant Raven Sect, it was considered to be a tier below the Timeless Flame Sect.

There were more information in the jade slip, including the four ancient sects' locations, territories, famous members, and commonly used techniques, allowing Lu Tianzi to gain a much better understanding of these powerful influences.

Unfortunately, information on the Radiant Raven Sect could not match up to that of the four ancient sects, but it was still more than what Lu Tianzi had originally expected.

After all, the Radiant Raven Sect was supposed to be an underground organisation, so it was only natural for others to know less about it.

Lu Tianzi memorised all these information by heart, not daring to take any of it lightly.

Who knew when all that extra knowledge would come in handy?

Next came the art of artificing.

Artificers were similar to smiths, but there was still a difference between the two occupations.

In general, all artificers were smiths, but not all smiths were artificers.

Smiths were responsible for processing the raw materials and forging them into usable equipment.

On the other hand, artificers not only had to be able to forge the equipment, but they also had to go one step further, processing the forged equipment and turning it into the best possible product.

This extra step varied according to what was needed for the equipment in question, and could include steps like soaking the product in a specially concocted liquid, or refining the product with pure yang energy from the sun through a special energy gathering formation.

Depending on what was done for the equipment after the forging process, the quality of the equipment could change drastically.

However, there were no two identical equipment in the world.

The raw materials used, shapes, or sizes of the equipment was one thing.

Even for two seemingly identical swords produced by the exact same smith, there would still be minute differences that could have perhaps resulted from just a slightly different amount of strength used during the forging process.

Therefore, different equipment usually had to be processed with different methods.

As for which steps to choose for which equipment, this would depend solely on the artificers' judgement, which further depended on talent, knowledge, and experience.

Not just anyone would be able to do it well.

If done poorly, the quality of the equipment could even fall from its original state, rendering it a complete waste of resouces.

The art of artificing was a delicate field which could result in disastrous results if done poorly.

This was why established artificers wielded such high prestige in Sacred Cliff City, a city which prided itself on the production of equipment and accessories.

In the jade slip, Lu Tianzi found a huge amount of information on the art of artificing, spanning from the basic fundamentals all the way to unique techniques.

Even with Lu Tianzi's mental strength as an Origin Core realm martial artists, it was simply impossible to finish digesting it in a short amount of time.

Therefore, he quickly put away the jade slip and left the room with Nanlan Qianxue.

After meeting up with Young Master Xuan Hao at the front lobby, the group returned to Fortune Queen Inn where they split up once again.

Knowing that Lu Tianzi needed some time alone to study the art of artificing, Nanlan Qianxue chose not to bother him.

Instead, she spent most of her time cultivating, occasionally going along with Young Master Xuan Hao and Ruan Ling, as well as the little Bo'er who now followed Young Master Xuan Hao wherever he went.

Just like that, Lu Tianzi spent the following week immersing himself in the world of artificing.

However, he soon came to realise a big problem.

Theoretical knowledge was good and all. But without practice, there was simply no way to confirm if his current understandings of the topic were actually correct.

For the drawing of inscriptions or the setting up of formations, he could try them out as long anywhere as long as he had enough resources to purchase the relevant materials.

But artificing was different – it started with the forging process, which required an actual furnace.

Lu Tianzi naturally did not have access to a furnace.

And because of that, there was no way for him to check if he was on the right path.

Lu Tianzi let out a helpless sigh.

There was no point in continuing his research on the art of artificing if he could not even check if his current understandings were correct.

It seemed like he would have to trouble Young Master Xuan Hao once again.

Even though Young Master Xuan Hao did not seem to approve of his pursuit of the art of artificing, Lu Tianzi did not know his way around the city, so asking Young Master Xuan Hao was still the easiest and fastest way out.

With that in mind, Lu Tianzi left his room for the first time in a few days, heading out to find Young Master Xuan Hao.