Chapter 101: Half an Artifact Refiner – Teaching Secretly, Learning Sneakily…

Lian Mu found Xu Xianxing on Feihai Street. He was arguing with someone in front of a spiritual mine shop. Green Bean was lying next to him, and upon seeing her, it immediately crawled over.

She still wasn’t used to Green Bean’s appearance. It was already ugly, and after growing bigger, it looked even worse. At first glance, it was a bit of an eyesore.

Lian Mu quietly turned her head, trying to make it stay in place, and patted Xu Xianxing.

Xu Xianxing turned around. “You’re back already?”

Lian Mu said, “What’s all the noise? Your face is all red from arguing.”

The person who had been arguing with him shut his mouth immediately when he saw her and quickly slipped away.

Xu Xianxing touched his face, which was indeed a bit warm. “It’s nothing. It’s just the first time I’ve met someone who questioned whether the things on me are real or not. I couldn’t handle it.”

Lian Mu said, “Earlier, your senior had the confidence to send you to meet people from the Azure Profound Sect. I’m sure they trusted your eloquence. How come you couldn’t even argue with a passerby?”

He usually talked a lot, and once he started, he wouldn’t stop.

“The Azure Profound Sect thing… actually, my senior had already taught me how to handle it in advance,” Xu Xianxing blinked. “Let’s not talk about that. Let’s get down to business.”

There were still many people at the spiritual mine shop today. A crowd had gathered in front of the Inner Hall, seemingly waiting for the doors to open.

Lian Mu handed the stone exchange token she had received to the shop guard. The guard took a quick glance at it and said, “You came from the Beast Arena? Head this way.”

His expression was full of disdain, and he didn’t even bother to move his feet.

People from the Beast Arena were usually poor, and they had only recently had a stroke of good luck, which gave them the chance to enter the Inner Hall.

Lian Mu and Xu Xianxing entered the Inner Hall, where a row of displays was set up, showcasing various original stones of different shapes.

The Inner Hall was divided into four sections, and they were in the Fourth Hall. There were also other beast masters who had come from the Beast Arena. News spread fast in Feihai Pavilion, and General Dou’s promotion to the first battle was known to everyone within half a day.

As soon as Lian Mu entered, she was surrounded by dozens of gazes.

“This is… General Dou’s beast master?” A smiling attendant from the Inner Hall walked up. “I’m Seven-Two. Do you remember me?”

Lian Mu felt that the man in front of her looked familiar, but she couldn’t recall where she had seen him. She directly asked, “How do you exchange the original stones?”

Seven-Two showed no sign of embarrassment at being forgotten. Instead, he smiled even brighter and introduced himself. “You met me when you first came to Feihai Pavilion, don’t you remember? But fortunately, we’re fated to meet again.”

“I could tell General Dou was no ordinary spirit pet. I didn’t expect you to get a stone exchange token so soon. Truly, someone like you can’t be underestimated.”

He spoke all the flattering words, with an obvious hint of ingratiation. It must have been something Bai Su had instructed him to do.

Seven-Two noticed Xu Xianxing standing next to her, dressed in fine silks and brocades, wearing the best-quality fox fur, and exuding an aura of wealth. He immediately added, “This young master has extraordinary bearing. He must be a great person. Are you friends? If you need anything, just let me know.”

Perhaps because he was being overly attentive, more and more people started to glance over. No one had ever received a smile from Seven-Two before. Regular visitors knew that he was one of the pavilion master’s subordinates, who had signed a contract with the shop owner to come handle matters here.

Seven-Two had a powerful backer. The spiritual mine shop saw many customers every day, including some very wealthy families, but his reaction had always been lukewarm.

Although General Dou’s name was widely known, he was still a bit below Gong Yu in stature. Seven-Two, who didn’t even spare a glance for Gong Yu, was actually so attentive to a newcomer?!

The gazes of the crowd changed again and again, and no one could figure out why.

Despite the curious stares, Seven-Two kept smiling and pointed at a row of displays on the counter. “There are too many original stones here to display them all. You two can pick from these. If you find something you like, just take it. Each exchange token can only be used for one.”

Lian Mu raised an eyebrow. “What can you tell from this?”

She didn’t understand the trade, but Xu Xianxing had already started to pick. He glanced over quickly, then shook his head. “These are all second-rate goods.”

Lian Mu thought to herself, as expected. Merchants were always cautious. Even though it was free, they wouldn’t let others take advantage.

But she was curious about how Xu Xianxing was able to tell. “How can you tell if the stone is good or bad just by looking at a display?”

Xu Xianxing leaned in and whispered a few words to her. Lian Mu nodded. “…I see.”

Seven-Two didn’t hear what they were saying, but he could tell. “This young master is quite knowledgeable. Truly, an eye for detail. But I was just casually pointing. There are many good stones in the Four Halls. You two can browse freely.”

Lian Mu glanced around. The walls were lined with displays of original stones. Inside and outside, some had already been taken, leaving only empty spaces.

The outer displays were placed conspicuously, but hardly anyone picked them. Any smart person knew that the best items wouldn’t be placed in the most obvious spots.

Xu Xianxing directly ignored those rows, not even glancing at them, and started looking from the inside.

Lian Mu, however, wasn’t in a hurry and carefully checked one stone at a time.

When she reached the second row of displays, she thought for a moment and then reached out to touch one of the original stone displays. Her finger passed through it.

She didn’t know how to pick, so she asked Xu Xianxing for help, not intending to do it herself.

Opportunities like these shouldn’t be wasted, but Lian Mu also wanted to learn how to differentiate between good stones. So, taking advantage of the open passage, she made her way to the First Hall.

The First Hall was in the center, and when Lian Mu came here last time, she saw many stones being cut live. As expected, there were people cutting stones in the First Hall at all times.

On the stone-cutting stage, two silver-faced men had just brought up a large original stone. The buyer was a thin man, who was betting on stones with the spiritual mine shop. There was a new betting method where the buyers could cut the stone and place their bets. If they guessed the contents correctly, they could take the stone for free; if they were wrong, they had to pay double the stone’s price.

This kind of gambling wasn’t something Lian Mu could afford, so she just came to watch.

After the original stone was brought out, Lian Mu applied the method Xu Xianxing had taught her, evaluating the shell and the cracks. Spiritual mines were different from ordinary ores; they contained spiritual energy from heaven and earth, which could be sensed when they leaked out from the cracks.

There were two types of spiritual energy in the original stones: one from the stone core and one from the stone shell. There was no real difference between the two, but the energy from different parts could confuse people, making it hard to tell if the stone had valuable material inside.

If the spiritual energy came from the stone core, it meant the original stone still had some value. But if it came from the stone shell, it was basically useless.

The people here don’t use spiritual power for stone betting, or rather, they don’t have the ability to use spiritual power. They can only rely on their experience to judge the quality of the stones.

Lian Mu tried to capture the spiritual energy leaking from the original stone. It was very intense, no wonder it had been bought for such a high price.

The onlookers were also lively, discussing among themselves:

“That shiny shell, it must be rich and noble!”

“The skin is good too, just looking at it is pleasing.”

The thin man who had bought the original stone looked nervous, his fingers trembling uncontrollably.

“Three, two, one…”

The silver-faced man used spiritual power to control the cutting blade, and with a single cut, the inside of the stone was revealed.

“Ninth-grade yellow jade agate, water single vein, no secondary veins.” The silver-faced man said expressionlessly.

The thin man immediately looked like he was about to cry, unable to control his emotions. “Damn it, this is a huge loss!”

The crowd sighed in unison, and soon, the next person stepped up. After several rounds, there were both good and bad stones, but overall, the losses far outweighed the gains. Out of ten, at least eight ended up losing money.

“…”

Lian Mu blended in, observing for a long time, before finally noticing some small details. When the next original stone was brought up, she began to make her own estimation.

“Eighth-grade wood pseudo-Metal, wind secondary vein.”

Lian Mu’s finger moved slightly, and she felt more confident in her guess: indeed, it was primarily wood with a wind secondary vein.

She was right.

With one successful experience, Lian Mu couldn’t wait to see the next original stone. After more than a dozen rounds, she stood up.

The method Xu Xianxing had taught her worked really well, almost every time she could identify the seven elements within the original stone.

Just as she was thinking of checking out the other halls, she had just taken a step when a hand suddenly patted her.

“You came here?” She turned around and saw it was Xu Xianxing. “I’ve been looking for you for ages. That Seven-Two is so annoying, he keeps sticking to me, talking more than I do.”

Lian Mu saw he was holding an original stone about the size of a head and asked, “Did you find it?”

She instinctively observed it and blurted out, “Doesn’t it have a Metal-wood secondary vein?”

The original stone in his arms had a fire vein, with wind and wood as secondary veins, somewhat mismatched for her spiritual roots.

Xu Xianxing looked surprised. “You’ve learned to identify veins now?”

“Mm, I’ve seen a few stones earlier, and I have a bit of experience now.”

Xu Xianxing said, “…Why do you learn so fast? I’ve only taught you for less than an hour.”

“Maybe because I’m also a bit of an Artifact Refiner,” Lian Mu said.

Spiritual mines are part of the materials for refining artifacts, and those who can be Artifact Refiners generally have some talent in this area.

“You’re already beyond the threshold of an Artifact Refiner since you can refine artifacts on your own,” Xu Xianxing said. “You can’t call yourself just ‘half’ an Artifact Refiner.”

He continued, “Most of the spiritual mines here are pretty average. That Seven-Two saying there’s good stuff hidden is not true. I’ve looked; there’s really nothing.”

Lian Mu completely trusted his ability. After all, it was a family tradition, and if he said there was nothing, then there was nothing. “People in this business are rarely honest. I’ve heard that same sales pitch hundreds of times.”

She didn’t mind though, since she hadn’t spent a dime; it was just fine if she got something.

Xu Xianxing said, “This original stone is fairly decent among the four halls. If you strip away the wind secondary vein, the remaining part is useful, and it’s a good choice for your sword.”

Stripping veins—Lian Mu had heard about it when she first came in but hadn’t had the chance to try it out. She might learn it later.

Lian Mu changed the subject. “Then teach me first, how to tell if the stone contains refined jade?”

Xu Xianxing paused, then suddenly leaned in mysteriously. “I’ll teach you secretly, but don’t let anyone know.”

“Okay, I’ll learn sneakily,” Lian Mu said, leaning in as well.

The two exchanged a glance and immediately grabbed two empty spots to sit down next to each other, starting to point at the original stones on the stage.