Chapter 8 — Change [Third Update]

With today's tasks done, the utterly exhausted Zuo Yan still insisted on meditating when he returned to his small courtyard. Yesterday's ordeal had made him understand one reality deeply: in the eyes of those powerful cultivators, low-level cultivators were as worthless as grass.

Whether or not it was because his body urgently needed replenishment, this time he remained in meditation nearly twice as long as usual.

His body was like a hungry, thirsty beast, desperately drawing in the spiritual power from the air around him. The small vein of spirit stone beneath his cushion now played a vital role, supplying spiritual power without cease. The spiritual power Zuo Yan drew in was not, as usual, merely stored in his meridians; it seeped into every part of his body.

It had to be said, Zuo Yan's talent was quite outstanding. The [Tenfold Righteous Mind Art] was no high-grade method, but he had grasped the four-character key of "balanced, harmonious, upright, and centered," and his results in cultivating it were rather good.

For six full cycles, Zuo Yan set a record for the most cycles he had ever run in one sitting.

When he withdrew from meditation, he was astonished to find that the wounds all over his body had healed, near enough, seven or eight parts.

He checked his cultivation: it had risen, but not absurdly so, still steady at the eighth level of the Qi-Refining stage. Somehow he was not disappointed—rather, he felt relieved. Anything abnormal is a demon; there had been far too many abnormal things these past two days, sorely testing his mental fortitude.

Thinking of yesterday, his heart stirred, and he casually formed the seal of the [Geng-Metal Art].

And so he turned demonic.

The geng-metal qi-halo circled his finger merrily, like a swirl of gold sand caught up by the wind, dazzling to the eye. The pale golden halo of before had now become a pure golden yellow, gleaming with the metallic luster peculiar to gold; the flashing golden light bewitched the eye.

Countless scraps of information flooded his mind—information he had never imagined, never come into contact with—and as the geng-metal halo turned each time around his finger, it gradually took shape, more and more complete, in his mind.

The [Geng-Metal Art] was indeed a kind of attack art.

If before Zuo Yan had only guessed, today he was utterly certain.

The characteristics of the [Geng-Metal Art] were fully revealed at the second level. Only through the jade slip did he confirm that he had actually broken through to the second level of the [Geng-Metal Art].

Overnight, the [Little Cloud-Rain Art] had broken through to the fourth level and the [Geng-Metal Art] to the second—a speed that made even the bold-hearted him somewhat frightened, as though it all felt unreal.

The rise in strength had a somewhat illusory quality, yet the pleasure it brought was utterly real. Still, he did not want to go through that again—even though yesterday he had left those three words with such stubborn bravado.

Safety first!

With body and mind recovering well, his life quickly returned to its proper course. That utterly detestable pink paper crane did not appear again, to Zuo Yan's great relief.

Scattered on the tabletop were various odds and ends: deep-red flame-iron ore, a block of bronze ingot, a pine-wood shaft about seven chi long...

These were the complete set of materials he had bought from Fei Yun for making the [Spirit-Quelling Hoe].

Artifact-forging was a required discipline for every cultivator; nearly everyone knew a little of it, and it was also the most popular course among outer-sect disciples. For outer-sect disciples, a cultivator skilled in artifact-forging could easily find steady work.

But as for inner-sect disciples—especially in the Qingming Sect—those proficient in artifact-forging were often only a handful.

Sword cultivators were accustomed to conquering the world with the sword, to using the sword to obtain what they wanted and needed.

In this sect, only Martial Uncle Xin Yan's lineage was proficient in artifact-forging, and Senior Brother Xu Yi was Martial Uncle Xin Yan's prized disciple. Yet neither Xin Yan among the martial uncles nor Xu Yi among the second-generation disciples held any high status.

None of this had anything to do with Zuo Yan.

At this moment he was somewhat excited: the first artifact-forging of his life was about to begin.