After a fierce battle, Jiang Yuan finally slew the Spirit Monkey King and retrieved the treasure that Zheng Tong had lost. Stretching his aching body, he summoned his mount, the Frost Wolf, and rode it toward the Qingyun Sect.
Before long, Jiang Yuan returned to the bamboo pavilion halfway up Qingyun Mountain and saw Zheng Tong, who had been waiting there all along.
"Master Zheng, where's Wu Mincai?"
Seeing that Wu Mincai was absent, Jiang Yuan quickly asked.
"Old Wu left earlier since you hadn't returned for a while. How did it go, fellow cultivator? Did you recover my treasure?"
Compared to Wu Mincai, Zheng Tong was clearly more concerned about his treasure, so he pressed for an answer.
"Damn it! If I ever catch that guy again..." Jiang Yuan cursed inwardly, then nodded at Zheng Tong. He took a small box from his pack and handed it to Zheng Tong.
"It's this! It's this! Thank you, fellow cultivator! Thank you so much!"
Zheng Tong's face lit up with excitement as he looked at the familiar brocade box in his hands, repeatedly bowing to Jiang Yuan in gratitude, who quickly steadied him.
"Your treasure was snatched by a Spirit Monkey King that had cultivated to the Sanxian realm in Tongtian Valley. I went through a lot of trouble to kill it and get your treasure back. Master Zheng, about that..." Jiang Yuan hinted subtly, hoping for a reward after all his hard work.
"Haha! Don't worry, fellow cultivator, I won't disappoint you. I plan to add another treasure on top of what I promised before!"
Overjoyed at recovering his lost treasure, Zheng Tong immediately patted his chest and assured Jiang Yuan. He first took out a porcelain bottle containing 50 Taiji Golden Pills, then produced a blood-red jade bottle and said, "Inside is a drop of Heavenly Dragon Demon Blood, gifted to me by the Qinghua Emperor, founder of the Qingyun Sect. I now pass it on to you!"
"Ding! Congratulations on completing the adventure quest. Rewards: Taiji Golden Pill x50, Heavenly Dragon Demon Blood x1!"
As Zheng Tong finished speaking, a prompt sounded in Jiang Yuan's ear.
"Then I thank you, Master Zheng!"
Jiang Yuan accepted the quest rewards, cheerfully bid farewell to Zheng Tong, stepped onto his flying sword, and headed toward the Changsheng Hall Immortal Sect.
"Ding! Consumed Taiji Golden Pill x150, gained 387 million cultivation points!"
On the way back, Jiang Yuan consumed the 150 Taiji Golden Pills he'd obtained from the Spirit Monkey King and Zheng Tong, boosting his cultivation by a full 30%!
Checking his cultivation pool, he saw he still needed 60% more to reach the required amount for level 121. In other words, earning another 300 Taiji Golden Pills would let him level up!
About twenty minutes later, Jiang Yuan returned to the functional area of the Changsheng Hall Immortal Sect, mounted his ride, and headed straight for the Artisan NPC's location.
"Fellow cultivator, how may I assist you?"
The Artisan NPC flashed a professional smile at Jiang Yuan.
"I'd like to perform artifact energy infusion."
Jiang Yuan unequipped his artifact, the "Soul-Severing Ruler," from his gear slot and held it up to the Artisan.
"Understood. Each artifact energy infusion costs 10 silver coins. Please hand me the artifact and the infusion material."
The Artisan extended a hand to Jiang Yuan.
Jiang Yuan promptly handed over the artifact, the jade bottle containing the Heavenly Dragon Demon Blood, and 10 silver coins.
The Artisan took the "Soul-Severing Ruler" in one hand, uncorked the bottle with the other, and tilted it slightly. A drop of Heavenly Dragon Demon Blood fell onto the ruler's surface.
"Hiss!"
As the demon blood touched the ruler, a thick white mist billowed from the "Soul-Severing Ruler" in the Artisan's hand. He discarded the empty bottle, pressed his free hand onto Jiang Yuan's artifact, and a flash of white light later, returned the "Soul-Severing Ruler" to Jiang Yuan. "Fellow cultivator, the artifact energy infusion is complete!"
"That fast?"
Skeptical that the Artisan had finished in mere seconds, Jiang Yuan took the artifact, equipped it, and checked its stats. A grin spread across his face!
[Artifact: Soul-Severing Ruler] Artifact Owner: Jiang Yuan Required Level: 105 Required Realm: Ascension Quality: Immortal Grade Current Artifact Level: 3 Max Artifact Energy: 300 Current Artifact Growth: 125 Attack: 26-55 HP: +135 MP: +120 Fire Resistance: +10 Ice Resistance: +10 Light Resistance: +10 Dark Resistance: +10 [Artifact Skill: Soul-Severing Strike Lv.1] Adds 115% of base attack power; 20% chance to trigger "Soul-Severing Strike" effect on attack, instantly killing the enemy. [Artifact Class Skills] Summon Beast Follow +1 Nine Spirits Summon Cangyuan Wolf +1
A single drop of Heavenly Dragon Demon Blood had boosted Jiang Yuan's "Soul-Severing Ruler" by two levels, not only enhancing its base stats but also adding class skill bonuses!
However, Jiang Yuan wasn't thrilled with the two new class skills. [Summon Beast Follow] was rather useless—aside from pulling distant summons closer, it had little practical value. The other skill, [Nine Spirits Summon Cangyuan Wolf], wasn't much use to him either, as he hadn't used the Cangyuan Wolf in ages.
"Master Artisan, how can I change the artifact's class skills?"
Jiang Yuan asked the Artisan, hoping to swap them for something like [Sacred Beast Xuanwu] or [Sacred Beast Zhuque] +1—that would be ideal!
"Fellow cultivator, if you wish to change the artifact's innate class skills, you can purchase a [Taiyi Secret Rune Stone] to perform artifact enchantment. Each enchantment costs 10 silver coins!"
The Artisan promptly answered Jiang Yuan's question in detail.
"Where can I buy a [Taiyi Secret Rune Stone]?"
Jiang Yuan asked further.
"[Taiyi Secret Rune Stones] can be obtained from the Celestial Trade Hall."
With that, Jiang Yuan opened the main menu and found the Celestial Trade Hall. It was somewhat like the auction house in the mortal realm, but after the Celestial Realm expansion tied in-game currency to real money, the developers had created this feature to make buying and selling easier for players.
Jiang Yuan opened the Celestial Trade Hall, navigated to the artifact category, and found the enchantment material section. The first item listed was the [Taiyi Secret Rune Stone].
"Damn, one Celestial Crystal each? That's expensive!"
Jiang Yuan couldn't help but exclaim at the price tag next to the [Taiyi Secret Rune Stone]. After checking the exchange rate for Celestial Crystals in the currency section, he gasped sharply!