When the cold wind blew, the cultivators looked extremely fearful. They were drenched in sweat as though they had just been scooped out of an immensely hot furnace. All of a sudden, the underground palace was dead silent.
Luo Qiwen’s red outfit looked like blood. With an enchanting look, she flapped her sleeves and scanned everyone present.
Afterward, she shifted her gaze to Qu Zhengde and spoke gently, “Master Qu, congratulations for obtaining a Blood Condensation Ore. I truly admire your insight.” Her lips parted as if she had something else to say, but she finished by smiling faintly.
Qu Zhengde immediately waved his hand and shook his head as he sighed. “Pavilion Master Luo, you’re overpraising me. I’m only lucky this time, so you shouldn’t take it seriously.”
Yu Xiuming held a peculiar stone and brushed his fingers across the white veined patterns on it. He chuckled and remarked, “Master Qu being overly humble is being arrogant. I noticed that you were very confident and sure earlier when you picked the stone.”
Qu Zhengde’s throat moved as he was about to respond.
At that time, Yue Anzhi’s eyes became unclear again. He finally stopped spinning the graver, and he did it steadily without shaking at all. At last, the Blood Condensation Ore was revealed.
The Blood Condensation Ore was not big as it was only the size of a walnut. Its red light was so dazzling that one would shudder at the sight of it, and it gave off a mesmerizing, fragrant, and sweet scent of a treasure. The spiritual power fluctuation was incredibly vast, to the extent that even the purest spirit ore’s power was less than a hundredth of that. They were like the bright moon and gravel, where the Blood Condensation Ore was the former while the spirit ore was the latter. They were separated by the sky, and they could not be mentioned on equal terms with each other at all.
Yue Anzhi exhaled murky air again and sighed. “Throughout my stone-cutting career, the Blood Condensation Ore can be considered the top 10 ores.” The elder’s black robe fluttered and rustled without being blown by the wind. He looked like he had seen the vicissitudes of life, and he could not suppress his proudness. It was evident that he was very proud of himself for having found a Blood Condensation Ore from stone-cutting.
As soon as he finished, he turned his wrist. A delicate brocade box appeared out of thin air.
Yue Anzhi bent his wrinkled fingers and flicked, then a white light appeared on his fingertip and spread instantly, causing the brocade box to be opened. Accompanied by a small-scale finger wind, the Blood Condensation Ore was kept inside. Consequently, the faint red light in the underground palace disappeared.
Later, Yue Anzhi lifted his right hand and pressed hard at the void.
A strange skull flew out from his sleeve. As a faint light flickered, a pattern that looked exactly the same as the skull was carved at the bottom right corner of the brocade box. The pattern was completely black, by which a single look at it could make one sense its chillness.
Upon seeing this, Ou Yangming pondered while he stared at the skull pattern.
Yu Xiuming took a glance and saw what the young fellow was doing, hence he quickly explained with a smile, “Master Ou, the skull’s a unique ‘trademark’ of the Beyond Heaven Pavilion. It’ll be imprinted on the brocade box for every bizarre stone that’s opened in the pavilion.”
Ou Yangming nodded and wondered for some time. He did not ask anything else.
Yue Anzhi’s aura was declining, and his Qi and blood were slightly weak.
He paced toward Qu Zhengde and handed the brocade box to him. “Congratulations, Master Qu!”
Qu Zhengde beamed and replied to the elder sincerely, “It was all thanks to your auspicious words.”
Yu Xiuming then walked toward Qu Zhengde with a smile. He handed the snow-white stone in his hand to the elder and said in a deep voice, “Thanks for the trouble, elder…”
The wrinkles on Yue Zhian’s forehead were squeezed together. He accepted the stone and laughed cheerfully. “It’s no trouble.”
When he weighed the queer stone with his right hand, his eyes lit up, and he sighed. “The stone weighs 301 grams. Its veined patterns are messy, and its borders are slightly curled with a faint snow-white light. Master Yu, you have a sharp eye as usual—always amazing everyone with a single brilliant feat. I’m far from you.”
Yu Xiuming cupped his hands and laughed. “Elder Yue, you’re overpraising me. Besides, I might not get anything out of it.”
Yue Anzhi spun the graver in his hand. He held it tightly and concentrated while his eyes flickered, then the thin and long graver danced like a faint light. The elder was neither fast nor slow as he worked with a special rhythm.
He did not move up and down, and he also carried out the process on a modest scale.
Nonetheless, every move he made was stunning as though he was not cutting a stone but carving a masterpiece.
After half an hour, a white light was emitted from the stone. Unlike that of the Blood Condensation Ore, this light was as moderate as smoke or colored glass. The light was clear and transparent, and it seemed like it could cast one’s distracting thoughts away, such that one’s messy thoughts could be melted. Similar to the sounds of a cicada, it could calm one’s mind so that one’s thoughts would be as clear as spring water.
Luo Qiwen’s pupils shrunk inward. She tucked her hair behind her ears while a look of surprise and joy could be seen on her radiant and fair face. “This is an Interspatial Spirit Ore that can help one enter a boundary. It’s effective for anyone below the Venerable One boundary, and the lower one’s cultivation base, the more effective it’ll be.”
She paused on purpose and looked fervently at the ore.
The lady then bowed at Yu Xiuming with cupped hands and asked, “Master Yu, please forgive me for being so bold, but do you intend to sell the Interspatial Spirit Ore? I assure you that the Beyond Heaven Pavilion will make a satisfying offer to you.” She looked at the man in high spirits.
Yu Xiuming shrugged and responded, ” Pavilion Master Luo, you’re kidding.”
Luo Qiwen looked regretful. She had expected this answer before she asked, but she still had a little hope. Even so, the pavilion master could not help but feel disappointed after she heard Yu Xiuming’s answer. It was not that she had not seen much of the world, but Interspatial Spirit Ores were too hard to come by.
An Interspatial Spirit Ore could calm one’s mind and help one comprehend oneself. If one had the power of understanding, one could even fathom the integration of Heaven and man, as well as the thoroughly meticulous state.
There was an ancient saying—one could adjust one’s clothes by using bronze as a mirror; one could know the ups and downs of history by using history as a mirror; one could learn one’s gains and losses by using others as one’s mirror. In the case where the higher the level of an Interspatial Spirit Ore, one could perceive rights, wrongs, causes, effects, as well as one’s shortcomings, by using oneself as a mirror.
The cultivators in the underground palace were envious, and they wanted very badly to replace the ore.
A bald man praised while a red light flashed in his eyes, “Rumor has it that Master Yu’s ridiculously sharp-eyed. I heard that he found a Rain Flower Ore half a year ago, but I was dubious about it. Now, it looks like it was true.”
“Hmph, how could a Rain Flower Ore’s value be compared with that of an Interspatial Spirit Ore?” Another man pulled down the brim of his hat and scoffed.
“Exactly—an Interspatial Spirit Ore’s as valuable as a Blood Condensation Ore.”
All sorts of praises filled the air. It was worth noting that Yu Xiuming was well-known on Mount Wuzhi, thus the cultivators dared not harbor ill intentions against him.
Yue Anzhi slowed down after 15 minutes. The veined patterns on his graver dimmed as well.
When he exhaled the murky air in his chest and exited the composed state that he was in, he looked rather agitated.
The Interspatial Spirit Ore was sitting on his palm, but it was only the size of his thumb. It was as clear as reflected sunlight on snow, and it looked like the purest fine white tallow jade.
Yue Anzhi lifted his wrist and pushed outward, causing the Interspatial Spirit Stone to land steadily inside a brocade box. Once he was done, he wiped away the tiny beads of sweat on his forehead.
Yu Xiuming was thoughtful enough to step forward and cup his hands at the elder. “Elder Yue, thanks for the hard work!”
Yue Anzhi handed the brocade box to him and waved his hand. “I’m willing to be exhausted if I’m able to cut out peculiar stones with Unique Attributes every day.”
Following that, he looked at Ou Yangming and twitched his mouth with an odd look on his face.
He asked probingly, “Master Ou, would you… Like to have your stone cut?”
Ou Yangming nodded and replied to him with a smile, “Thanks for the trouble, Master Yue.” He was feeling impassioned because he only sensed a penetrating chillness when he scanned the stone with his Heavenly Phoenix Fire just now. As for what exactly it was, he had no idea.
Yu Xiuming and Qu Zhengde shook their heads at the same time and smiled bitterly. As for Luo Qiwen, she had a playful look on her face.
In a way, none of the cultivators in the underground palace were optimistic about Ou Yangming.
Yue Anzhi shook his head without saying another word. As he flapped his sleeve, the rare stone flew into the air due to his spiritual power.
A light slowly gathered in Yue Anzhi’s eyes, whereas a solid momentum spread into the air. He sat upright, all while guarding his heart with a smooth Qi momentum. Without warning, the elder’s eyes flickered. A red arc spread from his graver’s handle, and it let out a clear ring as if it had just come to life.
Yue Anzhi was exceptionally steady, by which he could control every pore on his body in detail with close attention. He reached a meticulous and skillful state, where his muscles, bones, meridians, and organs achieved a subtle balance. With that, the elder peeled the stone layer by layer as though he was dismembering a fox.
“Puff, puff.” Cold air was released from the packed tiny holes on the peculiar stone.
All of the cultivators stared at the stone, which was constantly shrinking in Yue Anzhi’s hands.
Que Zhengde tapped Yu Xiuming’s shoulder gently and sighed.
It was evident that the 2 masters with profound levels of attainment in smithing art were very pessimistic.
After half an hour, Yue Anzhi raised his wrist. His graver deflected outside along with his movement, where stone bits were seen falling from it.
A faint green light was released out of the blue.
Accompanied by the green light, a chill intent spread. It was so intense that snowflakes were drifting in the underground palace, making the place look white and boundless as if there was a severe winter. It would be fine if that was all, but a cold wind formed out of thin air, and it spun non-stop and stirred up a flurry.
“Quickly look up!” Someone exclaimed.
The cultivators felt their bodies turn cold as a piercing chillness raged inside their bodies.
When the people looked up, they saw white ice cones with dissimilar shapes on the green stones at the top of the underground palace. They looked like they were hanging from an old roof while chillness spread in all directions. Everyone was shocked by the untypical scene.
Luo Qiwen breathed rapidly and asked in shock, “Is this the Cold Water Ore—one of the Five Elements Ores?”
“The Cold Water Ore?” Yu Xiuming was confused.
Qu Zhengde nodded with a grave look on his face and explained to everyone, “Rumor has it that there was an outstanding senior called Mu Luoxue a century ago. She advanced into a Venerable One at a shocking speed, and she was skilled in smithing. When she incorporated a Cold Water Ore into a longsword, she managed to freeze things up to tens of kilometers. She named the sword the Cold Water Sword.”
When his voice echoed, everyone else in the palace seemed to be struck by sudden claps of thunder.
‘Freeze things up to tens of kilometers…’ This was the only part that lingered in their minds.
The sentence became the only thing that rang in their heads.
After some time, Yue Anzhi stopped moving his graver, and his arms kept shaking.
He approached Ou Yangming and sighed. “Master Ou, thank you. I’ve been wanting to cut open a Five Elements Ore my whole life, but I didn’t expect that dream of mine to be fulfilled here. I can now die feeling content!”
Ou Yangming uttered softly, “Elder Yue, you’re exaggerating it.”
As everyone’s face changed, they stared at Ou Yangming with complicated looks.
Qu Zhengde and Yu Xiuming smiled bitterly and commented at the same time, “Master Ou, I’m in admiration of your sharp eye and accurate decision.”
Ou Yangming shook his head and sighed. “I was only lucky…”
Qu Zhengde’s expression changed as he suggested softly, “Master Ou, during the Big Smithing Competition, how about we smith using the peculiar stones that we found today? This is my first time seeing a Cold Water Ore, and I’m thrilled, so please don’t be offended.”
Ou Yangming’s eyes gleamed. “Master Qu, your suggestion’s just to my liking.”
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