The Legend of Fangren

Chapter 160 "Buying the Box and Returning the Pearl"

"Now I'll begin the forging."

With all the materials finally gathered, Lao Gang was eager to finish the tasks for this group of Longhe Sect disciples so he could be free from this burden as soon as possible.

There are three steps to refining a mystical artifact: first, determine the shape of the artifact; second, carve the energy path; and third, enshrine the mystical image.

The first step is the easiest, but the metal Fang Shi gave was truly extraordinary. It was beyond the scope of Lao Gang's level as a weapon refiner, but it was also a rare high-level material used in a low-level context. It was a transitional material for cultivators, and the same was true for them as weapon refiners.

These metals are not much different from low-grade metals in terms of properties, and at the same time have the basic strength of high-grade metals. Such opportunities to practice are rare and hard to come by, and Lao Gang's eagerness also reflects a desire to seize the opportunity.

The other senior and junior sisters had already reached the third stage of the Profound Aspect realm, so they stopped staying in the weapon-refining room to watch Lao Gang forge iron. Only Fang Shi and Luo He remained—well, along with their junior aunt. The three of them huddled together, watching the profound weapon slowly take shape and begin to appear.

"This gun doesn't look very easy to handle. Why is even the shaft made of metal? If these weapons clash, won't your hands hurt?" Qu Mei asked, tilting her head.

Old Gang said unhurriedly, "Cultivators of other zodiac signs would naturally experience hand pain when wielding such a long spear, but only metal-type cultivators are not afraid of this. A metal-type cultivator like Miss Luo has strong bones and muscles like steel frames, so how could an ordinary wooden pole withstand her wielding? Moreover, metal overcomes wood. If the spear were made primarily of wood, it would probably shatter into pieces once the metal energy is injected. Although the metal spear body is normally hard, after being infused with metal energy, it also becomes flexible and resilient, making it controllable by the cultivator."

"So my mystic weapon is so weak? It can't even withstand the metal energy." Qu Mei took out her mystic weapon, which was the three-pointed double-edged spear that had been drawn in the picture a few days ago.

A slender, straight green stem, with vine patterns winding around it, a crown-like three-pronged head, and two blades hidden on the two sides.

The entire gun is two meters long. Qu Mei sits with the gun propped up, as if she were holding up a tall flag.

Fang Shi's attention was immediately drawn to it. The style of the weapon suited his taste perfectly, and now that he saw it up close, he couldn't help but want to reach out and touch it.

"What are you doing? Why are you touching this? It's mine."

Qu Mei hugged the precious weapon, immediately revealing that she actually liked the gun very much, without showing any disgust.

Fang Shi: "Stingy."

Qu Mei: "Omitted~"

At this moment, Lao Gang said again: "The five elements are mutually generating and mutually restraining. Although wood is restrained by metal, it also has its own advantages. Metal objects are not easy to repair when damaged, but wood objects are not. A wooden artifact nourished by Xuan Qi has the ability to repair itself, just like a living forest."

"That's true." Qu Mei was just being sarcastic and complaining; she had actually put a lot of effort into her magical artifact these past few days.

Let's talk about the most basic ability of this wood-type mystic weapon: it can grow bigger, like a tree. She has been practicing this for the past few days.

"Nephew Fang, look, my spear can change length!"

In the heat of battle, the slightest difference in length can determine life or death. If one can master this ability, it can be a deadly weapon.

"Got it————" Fang Shi looked speechlessly at the gun barrels that were moving closer and further away in front of him, thinking to himself, "You still think it's fun? Aren't you afraid of poking someone? It's so dangerous."

Soon, a morning passed, and Lao Gang emerged from the weapon-refining room, covered in sweat, holding a silver-white spear in his hand.

Luo He couldn't wait to reach out and grab it, but Lao Gang took it away: "This is just the most basic embryo. The energy channels haven't been carved yet, and the other elemental materials haven't been embedded. It's still early. Let's come back tomorrow."

"Sigh—" The three little ones had no choice but to slink away.

"Hezi, this is for you."

Once outside, Fang Shi took out several experience bottles and gave them to Luo He.

"What is this?" Luo He looked at the glowing bottle, which was very beautiful. After a moment of sensing, he discovered that the profound energy inside was actually quite abundant.

"How is it? It's good stuff, isn't it?" Fang Shi shook the experience bottle, and the experience inside flowed out like liquid. More importantly, this experience was bound by the bottle and was no longer attracted by Fang Shi's physique.

The Xuanqi in the Xuanqi Balloon is perfectly balanced, containing all five elements, and can be absorbed by cultivators of any zodiac sign to restore their Xuanqi.

Although the metal energy of the Luo River is consumed the slowest among the five elements, it is like a metal tool; once damaged, it is also the slowest to recover. Now that we are about to embark on a long journey, how can we do without supplies to sustain our energy? These can be lifesavers in critical moments.

"I have more than a dozen bottles here. Please put them all in the necklace, just in case."

"Mmm, mmm." Luo He obediently accepted the gifts from her childhood friend.

Qu Mei shuffled closer, saying, "This bottle is so pretty, I want one too."

"Hey." Fang Shi was generous this time and gave me an experience potion directly.

"???" Qu Mei held the huge bucket, completely bewildered.

When you give gifts, can you please not make the style so different? Junior Sister Luo always gets pretty crystal bottles, so why is mine an ugly metal bucket?

Seeing that she was about to puff up her cheeks and sulk again, Fang Shi explained, "Don't underestimate this bucket. One bucket is equivalent to three bottles. Look how good my nephew is to you. He always gives you the best things."

"Um, I don't care, I want the pretty kind too. I don't care what's inside, I just want the bottle."

"————" Fang Shi was speechless. "Don't you understand what it means to buy the box and return the pearl? You really don't know what you're talking about."

Fang Shi had no choice but to take back the bucket and instead gave her an ordinary glass bottle. Then he saw her take the bottle and run away happily.

"Hezi, look at how useless this guy is. He can't become like that in the future."

"Maybe Senior Sister Qu is just being pathetic in front of you?"

"What?!"

"Ah, it's nothing." Luo He looked away, a hint of something in her eyes.

"Okay, don't overthink it. We've made a deal, it'll be for a maximum of three years."

"Um."

Afterwards, Luo He stayed in the weapon-refining room and witnessed the birth of his own Xuan weapon, while Fang Shi went to the Li Huo Platform, but not to buy things, but to sell things.

Qu Mei's appearance just now reminded him of something: his ability to synthesize items using formulas was also incredibly powerful.

Leaving aside the square wooden bricks and stone bricks, let's just talk about this glass bottle. It is smooth and flawless, transparent and natural, and the workmanship is excellent. These objects themselves have extremely high craftsmanship value. In the Xuan Realm without modern technology and industrialization, such things are definitely good commodities, and exquisite things that only the rich can afford.

If that's the case, why not put it out for sale?

However, Fang Shi did not expect that the glass bottle was more valuable than he had imagined.

Just as he casually set up a stall and was sitting there bored, the sunlight overhead was suddenly blocked by something, and it became dark.

He looked up and saw two dark shadows obscuring the sun, forming a solar eclipse.

Oh, it's my older sister again. What brings you here this time?