Song Changsheng found the woman's stare inexplicably unsettling. Though he considered himself decently handsome, he didn't think he was the kind of man who made others unable to look away.
Seeing that she hadn't responded to his question, he raised his voice slightly and asked again,
"May I ask if you have any requirements regarding the time frame or style?"
The woman finally withdrew her gaze and replied indifferently,
"I'll return in half a year to pick it up."
With that, she turned and floated away. Song Changsheng quickly chased after her, but once out on the wide street, she had already vanished without a trace.
"What a strange woman…" he muttered.
He'd made magic weapons for many people before, and they were usually full of specific demands. This one, however, had none leaving everything up to him.
What's more, while others typically paid a deposit first and settled the rest upon delivery, she had paid in full upfront. Her generosity was almost unbelievable.
Shaking his head, he returned to the general store. Once back, he picked up the spatial pouch and began inspecting the materials inside.
The first item he took out was a piece of jade pale green and white, over a foot long and two inches thick. It was cold and heavy to the touch, with flowing wave-like patterns across its surface beautiful and elegant.
This was the primary material the "do-as-you-please senior" had provided: Aquaglow Jade, a top-tier Tier-2 material. It was more than suitable for crafting a low-tier Tier-2 artifact even a high-tier one wouldn't be a stretch.
The supplementary materials were also of the highest quality, all at least upper-tier Tier-2.
"If I fail, all the work I've done so far would be for nothing… Good thing I've got six months," Song Changsheng muttered with a wry smile.
He quickly instructed Song Xiantu to suspend all new commissions for the time being. For the next half-year, he would devote himself entirely to crafting this weapon.
With the materials in hand, he entered the forge.
After a brief period of mental preparation, he brought out the best cauldron the store had to offer a high-grade forging vessel.
Channeling the earth fire beneath the forge, he began to heat the cauldron until it glowed red-hot. One by one, he added the supplementary materials in a specific order, refining them into spiritual liquid. The process was slow and meticulous.
While the materials melted, he took out the Aquaglow Jade and condensed his spiritual consciousness into a blade-like form. Like a carving knife, he began to shape the jade.
Tiny flakes chipped off the surface, drifting down like winter snow, some landing on his shoulders, others on the cold stone floor.
Soon, the long block of jade began to take the rough shape of a flute.
After a short rest to recover his drained spiritual power, he resumed his work, now moving on to the delicate task of hollowing it out.
This part was exponentially more difficult. He had to be extremely cautious his goal was nothing less than perfection.
"That 'casual senior' offered such a generous reward I must repay her trust. This artifact will be the finest I've ever made," he swore silently.
Days flew by.
The jade had now been shaped into the body of a flute. That marked the end of the first phase.
At that moment, the spiritual liquid inside the cauldron had also finished refining. He carefully placed the jade flute into the liquid, intensifying the flames...
.......
Deep within the Ten-Thousand Mountains – Unknown Territory
In the heart of a vast and wild forest, flashes of sword light crisscrossed the sky, accompanied by thunderous roars of fury.
RUMBLE!
The ground trembled as trees collapsed in every direction, followed by more angry roars from a beast in pain.
In the center of the battle, a tall, slender figure stood atop an ancient tree's crown, sword in hand. His white robes fluttered like snow, long black hair danced in the wind. His presence was as graceful as it was formidable like an immortal out of legend.
But something was odd most swordsmen wielded their swords in the right hand. He used his left. His right sleeve flapped empty in the wind.
He was a one-armed swordsman.
In front of him loomed a massive beast.
It had the build of a leopard but was covered in thick scales that shimmered ominously in the sunlight. Coarse black hair framed its face, and a single horn jutted from its brow bizarre and terrifying.
This was a Zheng Beast, a mid-tier Tier-2 monster said to possess a trace of an ancient Zheng bloodline. Typically, it ruled over entire regions uncontested.
But today, it was facing the greatest threat of its life. Its scales were tattered and bloodied, covered in deep sword wounds.
Its once-glorious tail its pride was severed, gushing blood.
Still poised to strike, it stared coldly at the lone figure atop the tree. This intruder would not leave its territory alive.
ROAR!
The Zheng Beast let out a thunderous roar. The powerful soundwave shattered the surrounding foliage into powder, splintered tree trunks into fragments, and reduced nearby rocks to dust. Even the earth itself trembled.
Yet the ancient tree beneath the one-armed swordsman's feet stood completely unaffected. He stared coldly at the beast as if watching a monkey trying its best to perform.
Clang!
Just as the Zheng Beast's attack came to an end, the sword in the swordsman's hand finally moved. It let out a sharp, high-pitched cry as a dazzling, several-meter-long blade of white sword energy shot forth.
This strike had been gathering power for a long time. The Zheng Beast, even with all its might, couldn't block it. It could only watch helplessly as the sword energy severed its meter-long horn.
"Awooo!"
The horn was its vital point. Now that it had been cut off, the Zheng Beast howled in pain and collapsed to the ground, its eyes filled with fear. Never before had it faced such a terrifying opponent.
The white-robed swordsman descended lightly to the ground, sword in hand, his expression calm as he looked at the beast. He finally spoke for the first time during their battle:
"Remember this name Xu Yunhe is the one who killed you."
With that, he raised his sword and drove it directly into the beast's skull. The fierce sword aura shredded its spiritual sea in an instant.
The light faded from the beast's eyes. It was dead.
Xu Yunhe quickly harvested materials from the corpse, sliced off a large piece of meat, then turned and drifted away with his sword in hand.
Silently, he counted in his mind: "That's the sixth."
Indeed, this was the sixth Tier-2 beast he had slain since entering the Ten-Thousand Mountains. The previous five had all been lower-tier; this one was mid-tier but certainly not the last.
Most human cultivators regarded the Ten-Thousand Mountains as a deathtrap, but to Xu Yunhe, it was the perfect training ground.
Three years ago, after advancing to the Foundation Establishment stage and comprehending sword intent, he had left Lingzhou to hone his skills in the frontier province of Bianzhou.
Eventually, he chose this uncivilized region the Ten-Thousand Mountains. Here, there weren't just Tier-2 beasts; there were even Tier-3 demon lords comparable to Purple Mansion cultivators.
There was a saying passed around Bianzhou:
"Ten-Thousand Mountains means ten thousand spirit peaks each home to a Tier-2 beast."
An exaggeration, no doubt, but not far from the truth. Tier-2 beasts were common in these mountains.
Just as Xu Yunhe was preparing to hunt his next target, a long, piercing howl split the sky instantly putting him on alert.
"…It found me again."
His expression turned grim. He knew this roar all too well.
Back when he first entered the mountains, he had killed a Green-Eyed Goldscale Beast unaware that it had powerful backing.
That beast had been a descendant an especially close one of a Tier-3 demon. Ever since then, he'd been hunted relentlessly.
Thanks to his exceptional concealment techniques, he had escaped time and again by the skin of his teeth. But he knew that if this continued, one day he would run out of luck.
"I'd better head to Luoxia City for now. I heard the Grand City Lord's birthday is coming up it'll be lively."
After a brief thought, Xu Yunhe decided to retreat for now.
The saying "a swordsman would rather break than bend" wasn't wrong but charging into a fight you knew you couldn't win wasn't bravery, it was stupidity.
He had no powerful elders to protect him, no great destiny or luck to rely on. If he died here, no one would even recover his body.
He had to live first.
With that, Xu Yunhe turned into a streak of sword light and flew toward Luoxia City…
...
The five-month deadline had passed swiftly. Now, with less than a month remaining until delivery, Song Changsheng's artifact was finally nearing completion.
All the auxiliary materials had been fully fused into the jade flute. The formation arrays were engraved. Technically, it could be removed from the cauldron now but Song Changsheng was still dissatisfied.
Though the weapon had reached the very peak of lower-tier Tier-2, almost breaking into mid-tier, it still didn't feel perfect to him.
After some thought, he took out a small jade vial and cautiously poured a bit of ash-gray powder into the cauldron. Instantly, the jade flute inside ascended to a new level still lower-tier Tier-2, but just a hair away from advancing.
With just a bit of nurturing from its future owner, it would likely breakthrough.
"All this effort was worth it," Song Changsheng murmured, holding the finished flute with satisfaction.
"This is the finest piece I've ever made. I probably won't be able to surpass it for quite some time."
Though the flute's grade wasn't high, the materials used were top-tier. He had poured half a year of work into it, and even then, it hadn't quite reached perfection.
That's why he added finely ground Xuanming Crystal Essence, giving it that final push toward flawlessness.
Even his artifact, the Soul-Slaying Gourd, couldn't compare except that it held a wisp of Primordial Qi.
Without that, it wouldn't even be close.
He didn't take the liberty of naming the flute. Instead, he carefully sealed it inside a jade box and set it aside, waiting for that mysterious "whatever-you-call-me" senior to return and claim it.
To his surprise, the appointed half-year deadline came and went, yet the mysterious woman never returned to collect her item. This unsettled Song Changsheng once again.
"As long as she doesn't come to claim it, the order technically isn't complete... and I can't touch the payment either."
Though he was extremely satisfied with the artifact he had forged, that didn't necessarily mean the client would feel the same.
"The auction is only ten days away… this is going to be a problem." Song Changsheng felt a bit troubled. Though he had taken on quite a few orders over the past months, the total earnings only added up to about ten thousand spirit stones.
Including his savings, he had around thirteen thousand lower-grade spirit stones. For an average cultivator, that would be a considerable fortune. But when it came to competing at the auction… it was still a little short.
A complete skeleton of a Tier-2 White Tiger would certainly attract a lot of attention. According to his estimates, he would need at least twenty thousand spirit stones to have a chance.
"If she doesn't come to collect it before the auction… I'll just borrow the payment. I can always make it up to her later." That was the conclusion Song Changsheng came to.
With just a few days left, he had no plans to take on more orders and instead immersed himself fully in cultivation…
Then, two days before the auction, that mysterious "whatever-you-call-me" senior finally returned to the shop, and Song Changsheng let out a genuine sigh of relief the matter was finally resolved.
The senior didn't explain why she was late, and Song Changsheng was tactful enough not to ask. The woman was most likely a Purple Mansion cultivator far beyond someone like him to question.
He respectfully presented the jade box with both hands. "Senior, I have completed the task to the best of my abilities."
The woman reached out and took the jade box, but she didn't open it. Instead, she said something that left Song Changsheng completely puzzled:
"Indeed, there is a resemblance. But this one has surpassed the original."
Before he could make sense of who she was referring to, the woman vanished right before his eyes, leaving him utterly shocked.
Can a person just disappear into thin air?
Of course not. That was a technique spoken of in legends something only immortals could do.
She hadn't truly vanished it was just that her speed was so fast that he couldn't even perceive it. In other words, if she had wanted to kill him, he wouldn't have even had time to react.
The last time he had felt this powerless was when he heard a single note of the Grand City Lord's zither. The same overwhelming helplessness.
"A zither… now a flute… and such terrifying strength…" A jolt ran through Song Changsheng's heart.
Could she be… the Grand City Lord?
But the next moment, he shook his head.
The Grand City Lord was male. That woman was not.
And although this mysterious senior was immensely powerful and capable of taking his life in an instant she still fell short compared to the Grand City Lord.
They couldn't be the same person.
But then who was she? Why had she sought him out to craft a flute? What did she mean by those cryptic words?
He suddenly had the feeling that Luoxia City was full of secrets more and more of them but he had no way of unraveling any of them. That lack of control over his fate made him deeply uncomfortable.
Once again, he thought of the mysterious force that seemed to be manipulating everything from the shadows. This time, he not only saw his grandfather's silhouette behind it… but also that of this mysterious senior.
And there were still shadows he couldn't yet make out clearly.
"What do you people want from me…?" Song Changsheng murmured, bewildered and uncertain. For the first time, he had a strong impulse to return to the clan immediately.
He wanted to question that old man of his what exactly was being hidden from him?
But… in the end, he didn't go.
"I'll uncover it myself. I will!" He clenched his fists, eyes filled with unwavering determination.
In the blink of an eye, the day of the auction arrived.
Early that morning, Song Changsheng brought along his trusty sidekick, Song Qingluo, and made their way to the auction house.
As he had expected, the day was one of immense fanfare. Nearly half of Luoxia City had gathered around the auction venue. Even though most people had no chance of getting inside, that didn't stop the crowds from flocking in.
They came simply to catch a glimpse of the spectacle…
-support me in Patreon for more chapter, 160+ chapters in there
patreon.com/LordoftheReader