In the days that followed, Ji An quickly processed his harvested talisman grass into talisman paper and drew them into finished talismans.
Based on market demand, he made fewer Geng Metal Talismans and more Water Curtain Talismans.
At present, his success rate for Water Curtain Talismans was nearly seventy percent, while for Geng Metal Talismans, it was about fifty-five percent, already surpassing many veteran talisman makers.
But he had also hit a bottleneck: the success rate for Water Curtain Talismans was difficult to raise further, though there was still room for improvement with the Geng Metal Talismans.
Once he had replanted Jadegrain Rice and talisman grass, Ji An was finally freed from busyness and began devoting more time to practicing spells.
First, he cast Wind Riding on himself, then practiced Geng Metal Finger. When the spell wore off, he would cast it again and repeat the process.
During this period, Wei Songnian came by once, collected his talismans, and set a date with him to visit the artifact smith on Red Copper Mountain.
To save spirit stones, Ji An cut down on the number of Sanyuan Pills he consumed each month, reducing it to five.
Even the spirit-seeking rat's feed was halved.
The golden-furred little rat threw a tantrum for several days, frequently glaring at the Firecloud Ginseng in the courtyard and even taking out its frustrations on the wooden carving.
Before long, the agreed-upon day arrived.
When Ji An flew to Red Copper Mountain on his talisman bird, Wei Songnian was already waiting at the foot of the mountain.
"Brother Wei, have you been waiting long?"
"Haha, I just arrived myself. Junior Brother, Senior Brother Cui is very busy, so let's head straight to the Artifact Hall to find him."
"Just as I hoped. Lead the way, Brother."
The two walked together and soon found the artifact smith in a side hall of the Artifact Hall.
"This," Cui Yuan said, presenting an artifact, "is a mid-grade artifact, the Stone Turtle Shield. Its main material is the shell of an earth-type demon beast, the Claw-Mouthed Turtle. I refined it with Wind-Polished Copper and a single Earth-Mother Mystic Pearl, layering in sixteen arrays of restrictions.
Finally, I nurtured its spirituality with dozens of strands of earth-element essence. I dare say, even among mid-grade artifacts, this is a true masterpiece.
When you channel spiritual power into it, a layer of earthen light condenses over the shell, allowing the shield to withstand more attacks and reducing the chance of damage to the artifact itself.
Moreover, the shield can be split into twelve plates. They can circle your body or line up in formations to absorb massive blows. Its uses are endless."
As he spoke, Cui Yuan demonstrated. The tortoise shell, wrapped in earthy-yellow spiritual light, broke apart into twelve pieces that spun quickly around him.
With a flicker, the pieces reassembled seamlessly into an oval shield.
"I kept the shell's natural curve; it helps to deflect force."
He withdrew the artifact and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"If it has a flaw, it's that wielding it requires a very strong spiritual sense and mastery of Object Manipulation.
Even at my current Qi Refining ninth layer, commanding all twelve plates strains me.
If you buy it, Junior Brother, you'll likely only be able to use it as a single shield; you won't unlock its full potential.
Here, try it for yourself."
Once the shield split, the drain on the spiritual sense multiplied. In just a short while, even Cui Yuan was struggling to keep control.
Ji An couldn't help but feel goodwill toward the craftsman. What kind of seller openly admits his item's shortcomings? Most only magnify the strengths and gloss over the flaws.
Taking the artifact, Ji An poured his power into it. A half-finger-thick glow of earthy-yellow light rose over the shell, hovering in front of him.
With a shift of his hand seals, the tortoise shell split into twelve plates. The sudden transformation threw him off; each plate trembled violently, on the verge of collapse.
Ji An divided his spiritual sense into twelve threads, attaching them to each plate. At once, the trembling ceased.
The corners of his mouth curled into a confident smile. Seems I'd better keep honing my Sharp Gold Art!
After all, the technique of splitting his spiritual sense was something he had worked out while practicing Sharp Gold Art.
The plates began to revolve, slowly at first, then faster and faster, circling steadily around him.
Cui Yuan and Wei Songnian exchanged a glance, both of their eyes flashing with surprise.
To handle the artifact this easily… could this Junior Brother truly be born with an extraordinary spiritual sense?
Excellent. The artifact will sell for sure.
Cui Yuan thought to himself that this artifact had originally been a custom order. The client had been stuck at the peak of Qi Refining for many years.
But by the time the artifact was finished, that cultivator had successfully formed his Foundation.
For a Foundation Establishment cultivator to use only a mid-grade artifact would look rather shabby, so the elder had asked him to resell it.
Wei Songnian lowered his gaze, quietly recalculating in his heart:
I'll have to reassess Junior Brother Ji's potential. He clearly has a natural gift for water and earth spells, and his divine sense is innately strong. Forming his Foundation should be much easier in the future. Hm… when the time comes, I should back him with some spirit stones to help him exchange for a Foundation Pill!
Forming Foundation required passing three trials:
First, the body had to be free of hidden injuries.
Second, one's spiritual power had to be refined enough to condense from vapor to liquid.
Third, the divine sense had to be strong enough to finely control that power.
Failing any one of these would lower the chances of success.
After experimenting for a while, Ji An willed the turtle-shell plates into three neat rows before him, then drew them together into a full shield that landed in his hand.
"Senior Brother, how many spirit stones? I'll take it!"
Ji An was thoroughly satisfied with this artifact.
"This artifact was fated for you, Junior Brother. Let's call it a friendly price, ninety-five spirit stones."
Wei Songnian interjected:
"Senior Brother, the artifact is excellent, but it's also demanding. Unless one is at the peak of Qi Refining, few could use it properly.
Ordinary mid-grade defensive artifacts usually sell for sixty to seventy spirit stones; that's already more than enough for most."
"I've dealt with Brother Wei many times," Cui Yuan said, "and Junior Brother should know whether my prices are fair. Just the materials for this piece were a hefty investment, not to mention the sixteen layers of restrictive arrays I inscribed the peak of my craft."
The two haggled for a while and finally agreed on ninety-two spirit stones. Ji An paid readily.
But in less than half a month, the spirit stones he had worked so hard to accumulate were reduced to only seven or eight left in his pouch.
Cui Yuan handed him a jade slip with a proud smile.
"You're not just buying an artifact, Junior Brother, you're also buying knowledge.
Because unlike ordinary shield artifacts, this one requires specialized control techniques, an advanced application of both divine sense and object manipulation."
Ji An pressed the jade slip to his forehead. After a moment, he said:
"Many thanks, Senior Brother. This insight will be very useful to me.
By the way, I also want to purchase an offensive artifact, something like a hammer or a Mountain-River Seal. I don't need it to be agile, only sturdy and heavy. A low-grade piece will do."
This was for dealing with large beasts. For nimble, smaller ones, his Gengjin Finger was enough.
"You're different from most cultivators," Cui Yuan replied with a warmer smile. "Hammer-type artifacts are favored by body cultivators, while the Mountain-River Seal is used even less.
But I'd recommend the Mountain-River Seal. It has a simple structure, making it easier to layer arrays on. It can even double as a defensive artifact."
His smile grew more genuine. He had worried that if this turtle shield sat unsold too long, his senior might be displeased. Now not only had it sold, he'd landed another commission. Who would turn away more spirit stones?
"Then I'll take the Mountain-River Seal."
Ji An drew out his remaining spirit stones, set down seven as a deposit, and said with a grin:
"The Stone Turtle Shield already pushed me far over budget. Would it work if I leave these seven spirit stones as a down payment?"
"No problem. A low-grade Mountain-River Seal doesn't require expensive materials. I'll start forging it right away. When do you want to pick it up?"
Cui Yuan swept the spirit stones into his sleeve. After all, a Mountain-River Seal was just a plain square block of iron, barely any technical challenge at all.
"Three months from now."
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