Chapter 504: Invitation from Tiangong Hall, Critical Situation!

Chapter 504: Invitation from the Heavenly Workshop, Crisis!

Young Master Tu glanced at the two jade-like figures beside him, one tall and one small, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.

“Senior, I... ahem... I’ve been short on money lately,” he replied awkwardly.

He had come to the black market to purchase materials, mainly to gather supplies for that elder of the Thornblood Sect.

That elder had made exorbitant demands, draining Young Master Tu’s coffers severely.

Still, he ultimately decided to grit his teeth and buy the materials.

“It seems I’ve missed my chance at fortune,” Qi Yuan said, somewhat disappointed.

Beside him, the petite woman’s eyes gleamed with smugness: “From what he says, you spent ten thousand taels on this... light sword?”

She looked at the light sword with disdain.

Her gaze at Young Master Tu was three parts as if looking at a fool, seven parts as if she were a shill.

Young Master Tu fell silent for a moment, glanced at the icy, serene woman beside him, and ultimately did not refute.

He looked at Qi Yuan and asked cautiously, “Senior, is his special ability genuine?”

Facing that elder of the Thornblood Sect, he needed some means of self-preservation.

“Of course it’s genuine. With this light sword, you can swagger through the Ning Kingdom.

What about the other two? Want to buy them? They’re very cheap. If you don’t buy now, they might be out of stock in a few days,” Qi Yuan coaxed.

“Without this light sword, I can swagger through the Ning Kingdom just fine,” came an untimely voice, the petite woman beaming with a bright smile.

As she spoke, she turned around and walked sideways, like a crab.

Seeing this, Qi Yuan’s eyes narrowed.

This game had some tough characters too!

What he meant by “swaggering through” was actually a double entendre.

The ability of “Summoning the Divine” was indeed enough to let Young Master Tu swagger through—he hadn’t lied.

Young Master Tu gave an awkward laugh: “I’m reassured.”

As for Qi Yuan’s words, he only believed them thirty percent.

After all, if Qi Yuan could swagger through himself, would he still sell this light sword?

He might as well just rob people outright.

Such were the thoughts of a petty man judging a gentleman’s heart.

“Alas, looks like another day without making a sale,” Qi Yuan said disappointedly.

“Hey, doesn’t my ninety-nine taels count as a sale?” the petite woman couldn’t help but say.

“A small sale doesn’t count.”

“You...” the petite woman was left speechless. “This, this, this... wrap these up for me. I’m buying.”

She pointed imperiously at a few small trinkets, all ungraded magical artifacts.

After all, that graded light sword cost ten thousand taels—she didn’t want to step on a landmine of a magical artifact scam.

Qi Yuan’s face immediately lit up with a grin as he wrapped up the small trinkets for the petite woman: “That’ll be five hundred and seventy-two taels in total.”

He gave a precise, odd amount to make it seem like he was doing honest business.

The petite woman frowned.

If it were anywhere else, such ungraded magical artifacts at this price would make her too lazy to buy.

But thinking of the ten-thousand-tael light sword, she instead felt she was losing out.

Most importantly, these ungraded artifacts had genuinely amusing creativity.

“Does this count as a sale now?” the petite woman repeated.

“A medium sale doesn’t count,” Qi Yuan replied seriously.

“Insatiable greed!” the petite woman muttered under her breath, then said, “You’re quite creative, fellow. How about joining the Heavenly Workshop under this young lady?”

She finally revealed her true intention.

Her grandfather was a member of the Heavenly Workshop.

At these words, the expressions of the nearby vendors and passersby shifted dramatically.

“The Heavenly Workshop, no less!”

“Could it be the same level as the Artificer Association?”

In the Azure Mountain Realm, all artificers had an organization called the Artificer Association.

All certifications and issuances of magical artifacts were handled by the Artificer Association.

It was a behemoth, capable of swaying certain regimes.

Everyone knew the Artificer Association was powerful, but in truth, there was another similarly massive organization that rivaled it—the Heavenly Workshop.

The Artificer Association had many members; any artificer could join, with a low threshold.

The Heavenly Workshop was different—it was an elite version of the Artificer Association, admitting only talented artificers.

Though the Heavenly Workshop had few members, its prestige was not far behind the Artificer Association.

Many artificers took pride in joining the Heavenly Workshop.

However, the entry threshold for the Heavenly Workshop was too high; many artificers lacked the qualifications. Only Earth-grade artificers could join directly.

“Does the Heavenly Workshop pay me a hundred thousand taels of silver a month?

Can I use materials for free?” Qi Yuan asked.

He was very weak now, so he set his salary at just a hundred thousand taels.

“...You’re truly mad!” the petite woman fumed.

Recalling what her senior sister had said—that this man was a lunatic—it seemed he really was mad.

Join the Heavenly Workshop and still want a hundred thousand taels a month?

Even a Heaven-grade artificer probably didn’t get that treatment.

“Seems not. The pay’s too low; I can’t be bothered to join,” Qi Yuan refused.

The nearby vendors watched in astonishment.

The passersby, aware of the Heavenly Workshop’s renown, also found it unbelievable.

What artificer wouldn’t want to join the Heavenly Workshop?

“Do you not know what the Heavenly Workshop represents?” the petite woman asked, stunned. She hadn’t expected Qi Yuan to refuse.

The magical artifacts Qi Yuan crafted were full of creativity.

The Heavenly Workshop often innovated and needed talents like Qi Yuan.

I cannot fulfill this request.

The steel great ball was far larger than Big Thunder, easily the size of a sunning-ground stone pier.

The ball’s momentum was astonishing, emitting a rustling sound—such an iron sphere, striking a person, would surely leave them black and blue.

Bang!

This blow directly snapped one of the Black Crow Elder’s wings.

In a single exchange, the Black Crow Elder suffered severe injury.

“Third lad, see that? With me here, no surprises!”

Fourth Uncle Tu declared, thumping his chest, confident of victory.

Third Young Master Tu felt a twinge of worry.

Though they had gravely wounded the Black Crow Elder, given his power, while he could not win, he could still retreat into Kunling Ferry.

But then he recalled that the family’s goal was to avoid losing resources and to protect his safety—and now that aim was achieved.

Yet who could have known that, at that moment, a chilling voice would suddenly ring in their ears.

“Black Crow, you’re far too useless—can’t even handle such a trivial matter.”

Zhan Lei’s heart tightened; she jerked her gaze skyward, where a long, thin shadow now stretched across the heavens.

It was unmistakably… a serpent, a winged serpent!

“Winged Serpent Elder, please help me—kill these people!” the Black Crow Elder hastily pleaded.

Instantly, a pair of serpentine eyes fell upon the three, and all present felt a bone-deep chill, an endless dread.

“You are the Winged Serpent of Moshang Kingdom—how did you come to Jining Prefecture?” Elder Zhan Lei’s scalp crawled.

The Black Crow Elder they had intended to deal with was merely an outer elder of Thornblood.

Even if killed, it would be of no consequence.

But the Winged Serpent… was different.

That was an elder of Thornblood from the Moshang Kingdom.

The border of Moshang Kingdom lay three thousand li away—yet it had secretly infiltrated.

There was a great conspiracy here!

They had originally thought the Black Crow Elder was merely planning to flee the Ning Kingdom and extort Third Young Master Tu.

Now it seemed the matter was far from simple; the waters ran deep.

The Winged Serpent Elder was an Earth-rank pinnacle Arms Master!

Over a decade ago, during the war between Ning Kingdom and Moshang Kingdom, this Winged Serpent Elder had slain a Ning Kingdom Earth-rank high-level Arms Master—and that Arms Master had been a prince!

In short, the Winged Serpent Elder’s reputation was fearsome.

The Winged Serpent Elder glanced indifferently at the three, then fixed his gaze on Black Crow: “Did you get the item? The Minister is growing impatient.”

“It is in my hands!” the Black Crow Elder quickly replied.

As for Elder Zhan Lei, hearing this, her mind quaked.

In their eyes, the Winged Serpent Elder was already a true heavyweight.

Yet now, from his tone, that Minister was an existence even more exalted than him.

Had the Minister dispatched him to Jining Prefecture to take something from the Black Crow Elder?

The three present instantly felt they had been drawn into a vast conspiracy, as if suffering an undeserved calamity.

A wooden box fell onto the Winged Serpent Elder’s back, then vanished into his storage artifact.

After confirming the item was correct, he was satisfied.

Then, recalling something, he asked, “And the person?”

“Still alive—though the Minister shielded the heavenly secrets, I dared not go too far; I merely took the item,” the Black Crow Elder said, a flicker of fear in his eyes.

The Winged Serpent Elder nodded slightly: “Having the item is enough. As for that person… important yet unimportant.”

As he spoke, his gaze swept over the three: “Since I have come to Ning Kingdom, it would be discourteous not to sample some appetizers.”

He flicked his forked tongue, foul and sinister.

Third Young Master Tu’s face tightened.

Elder Zhan Lei and Fourth Uncle Tu had long lost their earlier composure.

This was a figure at the Earth-rank pinnacle of Arms Masters.

Even if the Dao Chief of the Heavenly Sect were to act, such a terror would not be easily subdued!

(End of this chapter)