“Junior Brother, do you have a magic tool with you now?” Yuanlin Daochang asked. “If not, why not select one from the warehouse?”
Yuanlin Daochang pointed to a place in the booklet. “This green jade plaque, though its main material is just an ordinary piece of green jade, has been nurtured by a senior for over a hundred years, so its power is extraordinary and not inferior to some magic tools refined from spiritual materials.”
When it came to magic tools, they were not necessarily all refined from spiritual materials. Ordinary materials would do, or rather, in fact, the bodies of most low-grade magic tools were just ordinary materials, not spiritual ones.
For example, the various auxiliary magic tools in the hands of ordinary cultivators, where would they find spiritual jade mines or spiritual wood trees?
They could only find a piece of mortal material of fairly good quality and nurture it with their own spiritual energy over years to turn it into a magic tool.
Take Lu Zheng’s Baiyun folding fan as another example: that jade was top-quality mutton-fat white jade, just barely entering the realm of spiritual material, but its spiritual energy was extremely weak. It was only through the ghost’s constant tempering with yin energy that it became a magic tool with attached spiritual power to enhance true qi.
However, the power of such magic tools was limited, and they required constant nurturing, which was time-consuming and laborious, with a visible upper limit. So, they were mostly used by ordinary cultivators for slight assistance.
Of course, spiritual materials were hard to find. If ordinary magic tools were passed down through generations, with continuous nurturing by successive cultivators over hundreds or thousands of years, they could achieve something. After all, deliberate tempering by human effort was surely more efficient than natural quenching by heaven and earth.
Back to the topic, Yuanlin Daochang introduced this magic tool to Lu Zheng first because it was indeed not weak, and second because the value of finished magic tools was not low. With Lu Zheng’s nearly one thousand copper coins, he could not exchange for anything too powerful.
Lu Zheng shook his head and pointed to the section in the booklet about materials suitable for sword refining. “I wonder, how much do these spiritual materials cost?”
Yuanlin Daochang blinked, looking at Lu Zheng with a puzzled expression. “Junior Brother wants to refine a sword?”
Lu Zheng nodded. “I obtained a sword scripture by chance, but I have no flying sword, so I want some sword-refining materials to make one myself.”
“Sword scripture? Does it include sword-refining methods?” Yuanlin Daochang asked professionally.
Lu Zheng shook his head, then roughly explained before saying, “I have the complete text of the Feiyu Chengxia Yujian Jing, and I plan to return it to Feiyu Mountain, where I should be able to obtain sword-refining methods.”
Yuanlin Daochang nodded, then frowned slightly. “That is not impossible, but after all, you are a disciple of our Baiyun Temple. When facing enemies in battle, must you rely on sword arts to win?”
Lu Zheng smiled shyly, reached out and patted his gourd, then took out the Baiyun folding fan and the peachwood sword. “Junior Brother has two magic tools here, which should suffice for now.”
Yuanlin Daochang, “…”
The Baiyun folding fan was not of high quality, but it was made from spiritual material. Shen Ying had added incense fire energy to it, and Lu Zheng had nurtured it for a while, so its power was now decent.
As for the peachwood sword, it was made from a peach branch of a thousand-year-old peach tree and faintly carried thunder essence, so it was no ordinary item.
However…
After the initial surprise, Yuanlin Daochang still shook his head, somewhat dissatisfied. “This folding fan and peachwood sword are not purely from our temple’s magic tools.”
Lu Zheng chuckled. “No rush, no rush. Let me take a look.”
Yuanlin Daochang nodded. “It is not urgent. Junior Brother has only been cultivating for a few years and already has such cultivation. There is plenty of time ahead.”
Seeing that Lu Zheng was particularly interested in sword-refining materials, Yuanlin Daochang said no more. Lu Zheng was young but had reached his current realm, so naturally he was not the type to follow others’ words blindly.
The three strolled through the warehouse, viewing the actual collections on one side while checking the descriptions in the booklet on the other.
“This is Hai Xin Jing Jin, taken from the iron ore core of a deep-sea spirit-gathering place. The essence gold energy is incomparably sharp and naturally emanates, making it most suitable for sword refining.” Mingyi Daochang introduced.
“How much?”
“One tael can be exchanged for ten thousand white cloud copper coins.”
Lu Zheng, “…”
“This is Tian Qing Bao Yu, the spirit-gathering jade from the green jade mine, most suitable for refining Daoist treasures.”
Before Lu Zheng could speak, Mingyi Daochang stated the price. “Five thousand copper coins per tael.”
Lu Zheng looked at the large and small Tian Qing Bao Yu pieces piled in a clay jar, emanating spiritual energy. The smallest one was at least half a jin.
And these two items, though among the top in their respective attribute types of treasures, were not the most precious.
However, Lu Zheng could not afford these, but in the gourd at his waist, he had over a dozen bottles of spiritual pills, enough to buy some ordinary-quality sword-refining materials.
In the end, Lu Zheng selected three pieces of good materials suitable for fusion sword refining, plus one piece of spiritual white jade.
Then…
Under Yuanlin Daochang’s surprised gaze, Lu Zheng returned to the Baiyun Mountain rear hall, exchanged for over four thousand white cloud copper coins from Mingguang Daochang, went back to Baiyun Cave Heaven, took the materials he had selected, and nearly spent all his copper coins.
The three pieces of sword-refining materials totalled seven taels combined. For the Liu Yun Bai Yu, he took a piece about two inches square, also three taels.
Compared to finished magic tools, Lu Zheng still preferred to refine his own.
…
In the following days, much like the previous year, Lu Zheng either accompanied Mingzhang Daochang to meet the elders or visited peers with Yuanjing to exchange pointers and discuss.
One day, Mingzhang Daochang specifically took Lu Zheng to the back mountain to meet his master, Lu Zheng’s grandmaster Yue Yi Zhenren, and several other reclusive experts there.
Some had cultivation similar to Lu Zheng’s, while others’ cultivation he could not fathom at all. And this did not even include those rarely appearing or missing temple ancestors.
Lu Zheng gained a slight understanding of Baiyun Temple’s strength.
Due to aptitude reasons, the number of truly long-lived people might not be many, but once lifespan could be extended, the accumulated foundation over generations was truly immeasurable.
…
Back to the front mountain, continuing the previous schedule. For the sect elders to whom he had privately sent wine two years ago, Lu Zheng naturally did not miss any. Regardless of whether they showed appreciation, he gave ten jars of aged wine each.
Of course, compared to before when he was just an obscure ordinary disciple, now he could be considered a pillar of Baiyun Temple. So, in their exchanges, there was less of the elders’ fondness for juniors and more of the closeness and familiarity among fellow disciples.
Though the elders would no longer offer higher-value greeting gifts for this bit of wine, their private guidance gave Lu Zheng more experience in qi cultivation, combat, and facing enemies.
As for exchanges with peers, besides sending some wine, when facing most fellow disciples with insufficient cultivation, Lu Zheng was generous with pointers. Plus, he knew how to speak well, so each sparring session allowed the other to gain insights and progress comfortably.
…
In just a few days, Lu Zheng became familiar with everyone again and the most popular Yuan-generation lay disciple outside the Baiyun Temple.
Yuanjing: (?.?)
…
Speaking of which, life in Baiyun Temple was truly uneventful: just drinking, playing chess, sparring, and discussing the Dao. There were no bizarre events from Jizhou Prefecture’s commoners seeking help, nor demons, ghosts, or monsters coming to provoke.
It was only near the New Year that wealthy households from the prefecture came to burn incense and pray, seeking talismans, magic tools, or statues to take home for worship, to attract blessings and ward off evil.
With nothing to do, Lu Zheng followed an uncle master down the mountain to perform a hundred-day blessing ceremony for a count’s grandson in Jizhou Prefecture.
