Chapter 77 - Forged Engraving Pen

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Yan Tianhen faced Lin Xuanzhi and was about to speak, but he faltered and fell silent instead.

Meanwhile, Lin Xuanzhi whipped his horse to urge it forward and left Duan Yuyang in the dust. He completely ignored Duan Yuyang’s shouts of protest as he brought Yan Tianhen into a quiet mountain forest.

Yan Tianhen’s heart had almost reached his throat.

“Dage, today I….”

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“Listen to me first.” Lin Xuanzhi interrupted Yan Tianhen, then said, “Today, I was at fault for shouting at you.

Yan Tianhen pouted and hung his head, then said, “I was the one who made Dage mad.”

Lin Xuanzhi paused, then said, “I had neglected you far too much in the past, which is why I didn’t understand what you were truly thinking. That won’t happen ever again.”

Yan Tianhen blinked.

Lin Xuanzhi continued, “Ah Hen, no matter how many pledges or promises I make right now, you probably won’t believe them so I won’t say anything of the like. I just need to prove my commitment to you with my actions. But, I hope Ah Hen won’t say stuff like ‘living for a short few decades’ or that you’ll ‘eventually leave Dage one day’ anymore.”

Yan Tianhen’s eyes had reddened considerably as he said, “I don’t want to either, but that’s beyond my control.”

Lin Xuanzhi hugged Yan Tianhen, kissed him on the forehead and sighed, “But when you say stuff like that, I will feel very upset.”

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Very, very upset. As if his most cherished treasure was about to leave him.

Yan Tianhen was stunned for a moment, then sniffed and said, “Actually, I feel very upset when I say those kinds of words too.”

Yan Tianhen lowered his head and whispered, “Dage, I’m sorry. I won’t do that again in the future.”

A faint smile appeared on Lin Xuanzhi’s face, then he said, “Okay, then this matter is considered resolved and Ah Hen won’t bear a grudge against Dage.”

“I won’t, I have never kept Dage’s bad points in mind.” Yan Tianhen said, “Actually, ever since I fought with Dage, all I could think about on the road was how well Dage treats me.”

“You….” Lin Xuanzhi sighed again.

Thus, the two had reconciled.

After he picked up a bird that was as ugly as him, Yan Tianhen had one more playmate on the road that he could hold in his hand. He was instantly much happier and ended up losing track of time.

After they travelled for about five days, Lin Xuanzhi and gang finally arrived at Profound City’s huge gate.

Profound City was the East Continent’s capital city, and was also where Profound Sky Sect is located. Thus, just its city gate alone was taller and more grand than the one in Qing city which gave the city a very imposing atmosphere.

The number of cultivators on the streets had evidently increased; there hadn’t been even a single mortal in sight as they made their way into the city from the city gate.

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This was the first time Yan Tianhen came to Profound city. His eyes widened considerably as he kept looking around at the various medicinal pill, spiritual plant and magic tool shops that surrounded them. His curiosity was off the charts.

Duan Yuyang sighed and said, “This is the only city in the East Continent that doesn’t have any mortals. If you casually pull someone out from the streets, that person would probably be the descendant of some influential cultivator family. You can probably even grab a handful of em’ off the streets.”

Lin Xuanzhi nodded and said, “But, the place with the most cultivator second generations1 is the Middle Continent.”

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Duan Yuyang revealed a longing look, then said, “Middle Continent is the true heart of the Five Continent’s mainlands. Influential families and sects are aplenty there, if I ever get the chance to go to Middle Continent and see Sky Peak Sect with my own eyes, I won’t have any more regrets in life.”

Lin Xuanzhi smiled, but didn’t make any comment.

In his past life, Duan Yuyang did have some ties with Sky Peak Sect, yet these ties were not strong enough for him to successfully enter Sky Peak Sect. But in this life, he didn’t know what fate might have in store for Duan Yuyang.

Duan Yuyang went to Gentlemen’s Approach inn to reserve a room first. This young master who had never let himself suffer in the past had actually camped in the wild the whole way here, and no one knew how much dirt he had had to eat. At this moment, he just wanted to soak himself in clean water and wash himself thoroughly from head to toe.

Meanwhile, Ah Bai and Hu Po were ordered by Lin Xuanzhi to follow Duan Yuyang to the inn’s room to wait for them. They were spirit beasts after all, Lin Xuanzhi was worried that Ah Bai and Hu Po would be discovered by the people in Profound city and get abducted while they’re not looking.

As for the bald bird, it fell asleep after it had its fill of playing around. Right now, he was still lying on Yan Tianhen’s chest as it continued to sleep peacefully. No matter how much Yan Tianhen changed its sleeping posture, it didn’t exhibit any signs of waking up. From the looks of it, this bird was probably going to stay asleep for a long time.

But Lin Xuanzhi knew that this ancient phoenix that they had unexpectedly picked up was probably absorbing the earth-level pill that it had consumed. Before a sufficient amount of time passes, it probably wouldn’t wake up.

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We really are lucky, Lin Xuanzhi couldn’t help but sigh in his heart.

On a wide street, Lin Xuanzhi was holding the reins to their horse while Yan Tianhen sat in front of him.

Yan Tianhen looked to his left and right for awhile, then furrowed his brows and said, “Dage, I realised that a lot of people here are looking at you ei.”

“Let them look, it’s not like I’ll lose a piece of meat if they do.” Lin Xuanzhi lightly said.

Lin Xuanzhi has long since been accustomed to these kinds of gazes.

When he was still the Profound Sky Sect’s Yu Huarong, these people would scramble over one another to sell his portraits, and could even raise the price of one such portrait to a sky-high price. It was common for people to express their love for him on the streets everyday.

However, after Lin Xuanzhi turned into a good-for-nothing, their gazes of adoration turned into scorn. Profound Sky Sect had sent him away in an open air carriage, and when his carriage was pulled along by horses towards Profound city’s gate, those who used to adore him had all avoided him like the plague and wished that Lin Xuanzhi could stay as far away from them as possible.

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You can say that most of the cultivators within Profound city were Profound Sky Sect disciples, and amongst the Profound Sky Sect cultivators, there was barely anyone who didn’t know what Lin Xuanzhi looked like.

As such, when Lin Xuanzhi walked on the streets, he naturally attracted countless gazes as people engaged in a lively discourse.

“That’s Profound Sky Sect’s Broken Sword peak’s Lin Xuanzhi right? I’m not seeing things right?”

“That appearance and temperament…who else could it be?”

“He’s just trash now. We haven’t seen him in two years, how is it that he still dares to come here to search for some sense of purpose?”

“Who’s the one sitting on the horse? His face looks really horrendous, just one look at it and I feel like puking!”

“Hahaha, maybe he’s Lin Xuanzhi’s lover? They’re pretty well suited for each other.”

Lin Xuanzhi heard their exchange but didn’t mind it much. He no longer bothered with words that came out from the mouths of inconsequential people like them.

Yan Tianhen glared at them and scared them off with a face that looked like it had been torn apart then glued back together. Then, he satisfactorily turned back to say to Lin Xuanzhi, “Dage, which magic tool recycling shop are we going to?”

Lin Xuanzhi said, “We’re going to the biggest magic tool shop in Profound city.”

“Are you talking about Hidden Tools Pavillion?” Yan Tianhen’s eyes gleamed brightly.

“Of course it’s Hidden Tools Pavillion.” Lin Xuanzhi nodded, then said, “I have some friendly relations with the boss of Hidden Tools Pavillion. It would probably save us some time if we went to his shop.”

Yan Tianhen squinted his eyes and nodded forcefully, then said, “I’ve heard that there are countless rare treasures in Hidden Tools Pavillion. Just randomly picking out a tool from the shelf would net you a one-of-a-kind treasure!”

“Saying that there are countless treasures there is right, but the items inside aren’t as exaggerated as the rumours say they are.” Lin Xuanzhi smiled, then said, “Hidden Tools Pavillion has a total of ten floors. The fifth floor and below contain ordinary wares, ingredients and forged stones. From the sixth floor onwards, the higher you go, the more complicated its arrays and the rarer its treasures will be.”

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

Yan Tianhen blinked his eyes, then said with a face full of longing, “I wonder how much we can sell our wine bottle for!”

Lin Xuanzhi smiled as he said, “No matter what, it’ll never be worth as much as you.”

Yan Tianhen was stunned, then he sighed, “We’re finished. Looks like it really isn’t valuable then.”

Lin Xuanzhi, “…….”

What he wanted to say was that his family’s Ah Hen was a priceless treasure that couldn’t be exchanged for even a thousand gold. But his family’s Ah Hen doesn’t seem to have much confidence in himself…and even thinks of himself as inferior!

Lin Xuanzhi does want to correct this idea of his, but he knew that this wasn’t something he could accomplish within a day. Thus, he planned to secretly correct it bit by bit everyday. Eventually, there’ll be one day when Ah Hen can be filled with confidence.

Even though Hidden Tools Pavillion is supposed to only have ten floors, it had the added effect of the high-level array within it, so if you looked up from below you wouldn’t be able to see the top of the pavillion — it was as if this pavilion had infinite floors.

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Lin Xuanzhi brought Yan Tianhen inside. When they entered, they saw a dazzling array of beautiful exhibits that were arranged neatly around the room. They had the full assortment of equipments, offensive tools, defensive tools and auxiliary tools — it was a truly dazzling sight. There were so many tools that your eyes wouldn’t be able to take the whole sight in with just one glance.

There were quite a few Profound Sky Sect disciples here who were selecting the equipments and ingredients they needed, while waiters shuttled about the hall with smiles on their faces.

Also, for the sake of improving their sales performance, these waiters could launch into a very exaggerated and elaborated account of the benefits their ingredients and equipment would bring its users, which made people feel like they would lose out if they didn’t buy them.

After Yan Tianhen finished listening to a waiter recommend a sword to some cultivator, he couldn’t help but rub his chin and said to Lin Xuanzhi, “Dage, these people look so jubilant and are so eloquent that I’m almost convinced to buy something.”

Lin Xuanzhi smiled as he said, “That’s right. Hidden Tools Pavillion is an equipment shop that can be found throughout the Five Continents. Any random waiter here would be of the highest quality; they can ensure that these buyers would enter and leave the shop in a good mood.”

Yan Tianhen looked at the equipment that surrounded him and even felt some reluctance to blink.

Lin Xuanzhi asked, “What does Ah Hen want to buy?”

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Yan Tianhen saw a black forged engraving pen. That pen was placed inside a transparent crystal box; it appeared completely dark jade in colour which gave it a mysterious air, and looked both clean and tasteful. It looked very compatible with Lin Xuanzhi.

Yan Tianhen thus pointed at the forged engraving pen and said, “Dage, this pen looks pretty good, it should be very comfortable for you to use.”

Every craftsman would need a forged engraving pen; this kind of pen was used to engrave patterns and change the finer details on their equipment. If the craftsman had adequate soul force, they could infuse their soul force into those patterns through their forged engraving pens.

Also, equipment with soul force added to it are not only more beautiful, but its effectiveness would also be taken up a notch. Some of them could even jump straight to a higher grade.

But the cost of most forged engraving pens start from at least 10 000 gold and were extremely expensive. Lin Xuanzhi couldn’t afford it last time, so he had always crafted his equipment without one. You wouldn’t be able to find any patterns on his wares at all.

Of course, Lin Xuanzhi can’t go without a forged engraving pen forever, he needed to get one sooner or later.

“Quick!! Get your hands on that forged engraving pen!” Soul Bead had apparently awoken and was crying out within Lin Xuanzhi’s consciousness.

Lin Xuanzhi slightly raised his eyebrows, then said, “I can’t afford this.”

“Even if you can’t afford it you need to think of some way to steal it!” Soul Bead suggested without a single bit of moral integrity, then urgently said, “You rascal who can’t recognize value, do you know that that forged engraving pen’s material is the only one-of-its-kind in the world. It’s something that you can only find through pure luck!”

“O?” Lin Xuanzhi’s interest was piqued, then asked, “I can’t tell what it’s made out of though.”

Soul Bead said, “It’s the concentrated essence left behind by a divine firminia simplex2 after being burnt for a whole ten thousand years by an extraterrestrial fire. Which bastard actually dared to turned this kind of rare treasure into a magic tool! What a waste, it truly is such a waste of heaven’s gift!”

Soul Bead wrung its nonexistent hands and sighed, his tone and manner of speaking could be said to be filled with bitter resentment.

On the other hand, Soul Bead’s words had already caused a huge stir in Lin Xuanzhi’s heart. His gaze locked onto that pitch-black and lustrous forged engraving pen that had faint, dark red lines crawling all over it. Evidently, he had changed his mind.

He finally remembered why this pen looked so familiar to him. In his past life, he had seen this forged engraving pen in the hands of the genius craftsman who would soon shake up the entire Five Continent’s mainlands!