Chapter 283 - 265: Artifact Refining Master

Chapter 283: Chapter 265: Artifact Refining Master

"These are just some crude skills. I am unworthy of the title Artifact Refining Master."

Chu Mu waved his hand dismissively. Despite his words, a hint of the confidence and pride born from his skill was visible on his face.

"Haha, you’re quite humble, Fellow Daoist."

Xie Nan let out a hearty laugh. In the space of just a few sentences, the distance between the two strangers seemed to vanish.

"However, according to the Alliance’s regulations, an Artifact Refiner like yourself, Fellow Daoist, is entitled to some extra benefits for signing an Employment Contract with us."

"You hadn’t revealed your skills before, Fellow Daoist, so the disciples in the Alliance were remiss."

As he spoke, Xie Nan handed over a Token.

"With this Token, in addition to the Employment Contract Order, you can reside free of charge, indefinitely, in any housing of Grade A or lower in any marketplace under our Alliance’s jurisdiction."

"As you are an Artifact Refiner, you will only be responsible for fifty percent of the material costs incurred when refining artifacts for the Alliance."

"Additionally, you will receive a certain discount when you exchange for treasures in the Contribution Treasure Vault."

Chu Mu’s gaze flickered, a hint of hesitation in his eyes.

Seeing this, Xie Nan smiled and explained, "Rest assured, Fellow Daoist. This is just some preferential treatment from our Alliance for someone with Extraordinary skills like yourself. There are no other binding conditions."

"In that case, it would be rude of me to refuse."

Chu Mu nodded and put the Token away.

Then, Xie Nan was surprisingly straightforward, stating his purpose in a way Chu Mu hadn’t anticipated.

"According to the regulations of the Alliance and my Clan, for a Loose Cultivator like you, Fellow Daoist—one with outstanding skills and extraordinary talent—I, as a Foreign Affairs Elder, have a responsibility to try and win you over."

"Just treat it as a routine matter, Fellow Daoist. Please don’t take offense!"

As he spoke, Xie Nan handed over two contracts.

"Take a look, Fellow Daoist. If you’re not interested, that’s fine. It’s just a routine matter anyway."

For a powerful expert at the Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment to be so polite, Chu Mu was naturally willing to grant him the courtesy of at least looking at the contracts.

Chu Mu picked them up and looked them over. There were two contracts: one Guest Minister Contract and one Joining Alliance Contract.

The Guest Minister Contract was for a second-rank Honored Guest Elder. In other words, if he signed this contract, he could directly bypass the third rank and become a second-rank Honored Guest Elder of the Righteous Alliance!

The Joining Alliance Contract was even simpler.

If he joined the Righteous Alliance, he would directly bypass the Outer Alliance of the Righteous Alliance and enjoy the treatment of an Inner Alliance disciple.

Both contracts offered extremely generous benefits.

They were far more generous than what he had heard about.

"I’m accustomed to a life of freedom and can’t bear being constrained."

After just a cursory glance, Chu Mu put the two contracts down. His voice was calm but extremely firm.

"Hahaha, no problem, no problem. It’s just a routine matter, no harm done."

As if he had expected it, Xie Nan showed no change in expression. His smile remained as pleasant as a spring breeze.

After some more small talk, Chu Mu didn’t linger. Escorted by Xie Nan, he left the Contribution Hall and headed straight for the inn.

At the inn, he still had a piece of business to attend to.

He was rather looking forward to this first proper business deal of his career as an Artifact Refiner.

As soon as he returned to the inn, an attendant who had clearly been waiting for him immediately came up to greet him.

"Senior, a Senior by the name of Zhu is looking for you. He has been waiting for some time in cubicle A1 on the second floor."

"Alright."

Chu Mu nodded and, under the guidance of the inn attendant, stepped into a cubicle on the second floor.

Inside the cubicle, Zhu Zhang was already seated. Upon seeing Chu Mu appear, he exchanged some pleasantries before immediately getting to the point.

"Fellow Daoist, take a look at this Frost Stone. Can it be paired with my piece of Centennial Cold Iron?"

"This Frost Stone..."

Chu Mu took it, observed it for a moment, and nodded. "Yes, it can. But the specific refining process and how the Spiritual Materials are combined will depend on your requirements, Fellow Daoist."

"I’ve already prepared them. Please take a look, Fellow Daoist."

As soon as Chu Mu finished speaking, Zhu Zhang, as if long prepared, immediately handed over a Jade Scroll.

Chu Mu glanced at the slightly impatient Zhu Zhang. His eyes flickered, but he said nothing more and took the Jade Scroll to examine it.

’This is undoubtedly the first time in my career as an Artifact Refiner, accepting an order from someone else, and for a custom-made Upper Grade Spiritual Artifact at that.’

Zhu Zhang clearly had similar experience, or perhaps had been guided by an Artifact Refiner before. Inside the Jade Scroll, the various requirements for this Upper Grade Spiritual Artifact Shield were described with extreme clarity.

A dozen or so requirements, including his own Cultivation Technique Attribute, all clearly indicated what kind of Upper Grade Spiritual Artifact Shield he wanted.

After about a quarter of an hour, Chu Mu finally put down the Jade Scroll. With a wave of his sleeve, a blank sheet of paper appeared before him. He picked up a brush, dipped it in ink, and began to write.

The brush tip moved. Amidst flowing and elegant strokes, powerful characters appeared one by one, ultimately combining to form the names of the corresponding Spiritual Materials.

"This is the Artifact Refining Formula. Take a look."

Chu Mu raised his hand and waved. The sheet of paper floated in front of Zhu Zhang.

Then, with a slight movement of his sleeve, a simple Divine Sense projection device he had refined earlier landed on the table.

Following the movement of his Divine Sense, a lifelike projection of a Shield—light blue in body with a white, frost-like border—appeared before the two of them.

"If we follow this formula, this is what the final Shield will look like."

"The specific Defense strength and the type of Array Prohibition will have to be decided by you..." he explained as he went on.

Chu Mu was taking this first business deal quite seriously.

’Cooperating with Xie Hui was an experiment. And this current situation can be considered a deeper exploration of that experiment.’

’After all, I’m different now. Before, in the Qi Cultivation Realm, almost anything I needed could be bought on the market. Now, in the Foundation Establishment Realm, things are undoubtedly completely different.’

’I need a new source of wealth. Of course, this wealth doesn’t just refer to Spirit Stones, but more importantly, to resources—resources that can’t be bought on the market. And my current Artifact Refining Skill, much like my former Alchemy Skill, will now bear this heavy responsibility.’

’However, now that I’ve reached the Foundation Establishment Realm, it seems that remaining anonymous won’t work if I want to achieve my goals. At least, it absolutely won’t work if I want to proceed according to my plan. Everything before—revealing my Cultivation, my Artifact Refining Skill, my Puppetry Skill—was all in preparation for this.’

’The identity of an Artifact Refining Master is enough to save me a lot of trouble and can also bring me great benefits.’

’Just like with Zhu Zhang before me. The overt cost of customizing an Upper Grade Spiritual Artifact Shield is not small, and the covert cost... is even greater!’

’Moreover, after this transaction is over, as long as there is no absolute conflict of interest, Zhu Zhang will obviously work to maintain a good relationship with me, an Artifact Refining Master.’

’Connections, circles... These were things I hadn’t cared about in the past. But now that I’ve just entered Foundation Establishment, I truly need to devote some energy to them. The Foundation Establishment Realm is, after all, different from the vast population of the Qi Cultivation Realm. From what I’ve seen and heard so far, it’s a world of small circles. It’s foreseeable that the higher one’s Cultivation, the smaller these circles become, and the higher the threshold to enter!’

"If you’re alright with it, then it’s standard practice: fifty percent extra for the main material, and two sets of all other auxiliary materials."

"As for the refining fee, since this is our first transaction, Fellow Daoist, I’ll give you a discount. We’ll use the Contract Contact Order. One thousand Contribution Points."

Chu Mu’s voice was calm as he looked at Zhu Zhang.

’Although this is my first time accepting a job like this,’ he thought, ’judging by the tasks listed on the Contract Contact Order, this price is very fair, even cheap. After all, one thousand Contribution Points is only equivalent to four or five thousand Spirit Stones according to the current exchange rate. Of course, when it comes to trading Contribution Points for Spirit Stones, there’s usually a price but no supply.’

"Alright, I’ll go prepare the materials first. I’ll contact you then, Fellow Daoist."

Zhu Zhang couldn’t hide his delight and directly transferred one thousand Contribution Points to Chu Mu’s Contract Contact Order.

After speaking, Zhu Zhang picked up the Artifact Refining Formula and left in a hurry.

Chu Mu glanced at the extra thousand Contribution Points on his Contract Contact Order, then at the projection still hovering over the table, and fell into thought.

’Being an Artifact Refiner is indeed very profitable. Even with an extremely conservative price, I earned one thousand Contribution Points. And this is just the official fee... there’s probably still significant room for this fee to grow. Unofficially, with this Shield formula, there’s basically no chance of failure for me. The extra Spiritual Materials will inevitably become mine. And these Spiritual Materials, capable of refining an Upper Grade Spiritual Artifact, are obviously not cheap. But what I have to consider is how to maximize this profit while avoiding any potential trouble.’

"Artifact Refining Master..."

After a long moment, Chu Mu took a deep breath, stretched, and slowly buried his thoughts deep within his mind.

He walked out of the inn’s cubicle, and as he left the area covered by the isolation Restriction, the clamor of the inn washed over him.

With a slight flick of his sleeve, the Token he had just received from the Contribution Hall floated in his palm.

After gazing at it for a moment, he looked out the window at the street below.

Today’s Water Heaven Workshop, as one of the few marketplaces the Righteous Alliance had in Luofu County, had already become an important hub for supplying the logistics of the Jingmen front line.

Almost every day, untold amounts of supplies were transported to Water Heaven Workshop from various channels, and then from Water Heaven Workshop to support the Jingmen front line.

Every day, many Cultivators also arrived at Water Heaven Workshop to rest and recuperate from the front lines, stopping for a while in the marketplace.

At the same time, due to the Righteous Alliance’s previous defeat, Water Heaven Workshop was, strictly speaking, also within striking distance of the Longevity Sect’s army.

However, wars in the Cultivation Immortal Realm were clearly different from the wars of the mortal world.

Just like the long-running Battle of Jingmen, both sides had a tacit understanding to fight it out on the Jingmen battlefield. Although both sides would issue missions to raid marketplaces and mines behind enemy lines, their main forces didn’t resort to stratagems like secretly moving troops for a surprise attack.

All they had were open and honorable, head-on confrontations.

After all, the true core of the war lay with the legendary, supreme beings on both sides.

The fact that the war had continued to this day meant that these supreme beings had not yet determined a winner. And since no winner had been decided, they must have reached a tacit consensus.

King against king, general against general. They arrayed their forces and clashed head-on.

A stratagem like secretly moving a large army was of little significance unless it could directly harm the enemy’s supreme legendary beings.

Unless the tacit understanding was broken, the scales of war tipped completely, and the situation became irreversible—as happened with the Vast Sea Chen Family’s betrayal—the Battle of Jingmen would clearly continue for a very, very long time.

And during this period, Water Heaven Workshop would be dangerous, but probably not in *great* danger.

’I’ll settle down here for now...’

This rough assessment forming in his mind, Chu Mu let out a long breath. With a flip of his hand, he stored the Token in his Storage Ring as he stepped forward and walked out of the inn...