Creating a paradise in an ant nest

Chapter 30 The Intricacies of Customizing Spiritual Artifacts

"Senior Brother Hong, I asked you about customizing spiritual artifacts last time."

You suggested that I prepare the materials first, and then find a junior brother who is a handyman at the third level of Qi Refining to forge them.

The senior student just said the materials aren't sold individually. Where can I buy them?

Liu He explained the difficulties he was facing.

"You're buying materials from the warehouse? Haha, they certainly don't sell them in bulk."

Hong Jianxiong chuckled a few times, then suddenly lowered his voice: "You said you'd customize an iron box the size of a fist, how much material would that take? You could just find any handyman disciple in charge of forging and buy it privately."

Buy it privately?

Liu He didn't understand at first.

"Ahem, it's normal for menial disciples to lose some spirit iron during forging, as they always need to earn some extra money."

This is common knowledge in Wanqifeng.

Spirit iron is the most basic material for forging spirit weapons, especially low-level spirit weapons, which are consumed in large quantities.

With so much spirit iron, some loss is to be expected.

The person in charge of forging magical artifacts takes a cut, and these small amounts add up to a considerable sum of income.

Spirit iron is worthless; a three-pound spirit iron ingot is only worth ten spirit stones. Ordinary spirit weapons only weigh a few pounds in total, and if you deduct a tiny bit of spirit iron, the spirit iron you accumulate in a month is only worth one or two spirit stones.

This is why everyone tacitly understands but no one pursues the matter.

Of course, the premise is that you don't go too far.

"Senior Brother Hong, could you sell me some spirit iron? I only need a small amount, one pound will suffice."

Liu He thought it best not to bother two different people with the same task.

Another important reason is that Hong Jianxiong is friendly and easy to talk to, and he doesn't want to be ridiculed by the other senior brothers of Wanqi Peak anymore.

"Um?"

Hong Jianxiong glared at him: "What do you take me for? I'm a blacksmith who almost forged a top-grade spiritual weapon. Would I hold back worthless spirit iron?"

After he finished speaking, he looked around guiltily.

Seeing that no one was around, he lowered his voice and said, "I live at No. 8, Row 16, North of Wangyue Peak. I'll come tonight."

"Thank you, Hong..."

Shh~ Don't make a sound.

The two agreed to talk again that evening, and then said goodbye.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Wangyue Peak.

It was late at night.

Liu He arrived at Hong Jianxiong's residence and gently knocked on the gate.

The door opened silently, revealing a crack just wide enough for one person to pass through.

"Come in."

Hong Jianxiong's voice rang in Liu He's ears.

Liu He walked through the door, and the door behind him quietly closed again.

Under the moonlight, Liu He looked at the spacious courtyard and exquisite houses, marveling that the outer disciples' living quarters were far superior to those on Qixia Peak.

"Here you go, one pound of spirit iron."

Hong Jianxiong had already prepared a pound of spirit iron.

The piece of spirit iron was about the size of an egg, irregularly oval in shape, with an uneven surface and a bluish-black luster.

"Three catties of spirit iron ingots cost ten spirit stones. That's for bulk purchases. I'll charge you four spirit stones per catty of spirit iron; that's a fair price."

"Thank you, Senior Brother Xie Hong, this price is too fair."

The materials for forging the magical weapon only cost four spirit stones, which was much less than Liu He had expected.

"By the way, if you want to forge a spiritual weapon, spirit iron is just a basic material. Even for a low-grade first-tier spiritual weapon, you'll need to add some other raw materials."

"You don't have any special needs, nor do you require engravings. Just use some inexpensive moon silver charcoal or something similar; the amount used will be small and won't cost much spirit stones."

"Adding engraving patterns? Could Senior Brother Hong please explain?"

Liu He had only a rough understanding of spiritual weapons from the Cultivation Techniques Pavilion, and knew nothing about the deeper level of weapon forging.

"Most low-level spiritual artifacts do not have artifact patterns; they only have the characteristics of the material itself, such as being able to better absorb spiritual energy, as well as being sharp and sturdy."

The presence of artifact markings is a distinguishing feature of slightly higher-grade spiritual artifacts.

"The effect of weapon patterns is great. If a spirit sword is forged from the same materials, it will be a mid-grade first-tier spirit sword if it has weapon patterns, and a high-grade first-tier spirit sword if it has weapon patterns."

If it has extremely powerful artifact patterns, it can even reach the level of a top-grade first-tier spiritual weapon.

"Doesn't our Myriad Weapons Peak have an Engraving Hall? It specializes in engraving inscriptions on spiritual artifacts..."

This is Hong Jianxiong's area of ​​expertise, and he explained it in detail.

Liu He understood the function of the artifact patterns: "Senior Brother Hong, engraving artifact patterns must be very expensive, I don't have that many spirit stones."

"Of course, engraving is the most profitable part of weapon crafting."

We forges put in the effort and pay for the materials, and then there's a group of people competing to drive down the price, just to earn a meager living.

Engravers invest almost no capital; they rely entirely on their skills and earn a lot.

Hong Jianxiong truly admires engravers.

Unfortunately, engravers place too much emphasis on talent; not just any cultivator can become an engraver.

"I'm not asking you to forge mid-grade or even high-grade spiritual weapons right now."

Some magical artifacts cannot be engraved with patterns once they are forged, while other magical artifact materials can.

What I mean is, you can forge a spirit weapon that can be engraved first, and then hire an engraver later when you have spirit stones, which will upgrade the grade of your spirit weapon.

Many cultivators who commission custom-made spiritual artifacts do this.

"Materials that can be engraved are a bit more expensive, but not by much."

Another way to buy materials for magical artifacts is to buy second-hand or broken magical artifacts and melt them down into materials.

This method has many limitations; you can look into it too.

This is another proposal from Hung Kin-hsiung.

"Senior Brother Hong, if I want to commission a spirit weapon, can I ask you for help, or can you introduce me to a reliable handyman senior brother?"

Liu He secretly thought there were too many tricks to customizing magical artifacts, and he was afraid of encountering someone who would trick him.

We need to find a reliable and trustworthy person for this matter.

"You can contact me. But my prices are a bit higher than those of a third-level Qi Refining cultivator."

It's easier for Hong Jianxiong to earn these spirit stones. The same type of artifact would take several days to forge at the third level of Qi Refining, but he could complete it in two or three days.

"With Senior Brother Hong's abilities, it's only right that it's expensive; it's well worth the price."

Liu He believed in Hong Jianxiong's character.

He was genuinely afraid that other cultivators would try to deceive him by passing off inferior goods as superior ones or by other means.

After chatting for a few more minutes, Liu He took his leave.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The next day.

Zongmenfang City.

Liu He walked into a small shop.

The Wanqi Pavilion and Lingdan Pavilion in the market are all operated by the sect itself.

This shop was opened by an inner disciple of the sect.

Welcome!

Huang Cuiying was slightly disappointed to see that the visitor was just a menial disciple at the first level of Qi Refining, but she remained outwardly enthusiastic.

Every cultivator in the sect could be her future guest.

"Hello, senior sister, I'd like to take a look at some secondhand magical artifacts."

This is a shop that specializes in buying and selling second-hand magical artifacts.

They both acquire and sell.

This is the only shop in the entire market that sells second-hand magical artifacts.

Liu He came to take a look after taking Hong Jianxiong's advice.

He heard from Hong Jianxiong that it would be more cost-effective to buy suitable second-hand spiritual artifacts and melt them down into spiritual artifact materials.

"Junior brother, what kind of spiritual weapon do you want to buy?"

Huang Cuiying led him to the shop's display case, which was filled with all sorts of magical artifacts.

They have everything from low-grade first-tier to high-grade first-tier spiritual weapons.

"I want something cheap, the cheaper the better, as long as it can be melted down into materials."

Liu He didn't care about the shape of the object, since he wasn't buying it to use anyway.

As long as it can be melted into a material, that's fine?

Huang Cuiying wondered to herself which friend from Wanqi Peak had introduced this guest; he must want to order a magical artifact.

"These are all damaged magical artifacts, and they're very cheap. The cheapest ones are only one spirit stone, and the most expensive ones are less than one hundred spirit stones."

She led Liu He to an inconspicuous display case at the very back of the shop.