Chapter 142: Didn’t Hear Clearly
The Task Hall.
By the time Fang Yun arrived, it was the morning of the third day of the second month.
He hadn’t found any Lower-Grade Profound Crystal at the Disciple Marketplace, nor could he buy Artifact Refining materials from the Artifact Pavilion. His only option was to spend some extra Contribution Points to post a task and collect the Lower-Grade Profound Crystal he needed.
Even by posting a task at the Task Hall, it would be difficult to collect Lower-Grade Profound Crystal.
This was because most of the people who accepted tasks from the Task Hall were disciples. A material like Lower-Grade Profound Crystal was something most likely to be found in the possession of an Elder.
He would have to be lucky enough to run into an Elder who came to the Task Hall and happened to have some Lower-Grade Profound Crystal on hand.
Only then could he quickly gather the main Spiritual Material for refining a Spiritual Artifact.
"Disciple Fang Yun, here to post a task."
"Speak." The Steward had already taken out a Fountain Pen and begun to write.
"To collect the material: Lower-Grade Profound Crystal."
Upon hearing this, the Steward didn’t immediately write it down. Instead, he looked up at Fang Yun and offered a reminder.
"For a material like this, a task posting could remain unfulfilled for a long time. Fang Yun, do you still wish to proceed?"
"Proceed." Fang Yun nodded without hesitation.
"Very well."
The Steward began to record the details. Following procedure, he then asked Fang Yun about the time limit for collecting the material.
’Looking at him, he probably won’t set a time limit. He’ll be lucky just to get his hands on any Lower-Grade Profound Crystal at all.’
He could guess Fang Yun’s answer, but he still had to ask.
After recording all of this, the Steward offered a suggestion.
"For one jin of Profound Crystal, it would be better to offer thirty-two Contribution Points."
"Steward, please set the price at thirty-three Contribution Points per jin."
"Alright. And how many jin do you need to collect in total?"
"Fifteen jin."
Fang Yun handed over his Identity Token. When the Steward returned it after finishing the registration, 495 Sect Contribution Points had been deducted.
He now had only 383 Sect Contribution Points remaining.
The majority of these Sect Contribution Points had, of course, been earned by completing Alchemy tasks.
As for collecting the Lower-Grade Profound Crystal...
Fang Yun hoped to see some results within two months.
He could accept it if it took longer. After all, he was only at the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining. According to his cultivation plan, it would take him until nearly the end of the year to reach the peak of the Eighth Layer.
Therefore, his goal was to break through to the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining before the start of next year.
He was currently only nineteen and wouldn’t turn twenty until the fourth day of the fifth month.
For a Cultivator with Five Spirit Roots, his cultivation speed was undoubtedly astonishingly fast.
But this speed was built upon the consumption of a massive amount of resources. To date, he had already consumed over a thousand Upper-Grade pills.
...
「Mid-second month.」
At the Artifact Casting Peak, in the rental area for Artifact Refining Rooms.
Fang Yun arrived.
Today was his Artifact Refining day. Before attempting to refine a Spiritual Artifact, he wanted to refine some more difficult Upper-Grade Magical Artifacts to accumulate experience. This would help the process of refining the Spiritual Artifact go more smoothly.
"Fang Yun, you’re finally here." Seeing Fang Yun, Steward Cai immediately waved him over.
"Steward Cai, what is it?"
Steward Cai’s sudden reaction upon seeing him made him a little curious.
Based on his understanding of Steward Cai, such a reaction likely meant good news.
"I heard you’ve been collecting Lower-Grade Profound Crystal recently."
"That’s right." Fang Yun nodded, then immediately asked, "Steward Cai, could it be that you have some Lower-Grade Profound Crystal?"
’Judging by Steward Cai’s reaction, this is the best news I could imagine.’
’If so, that would be wonderful.’
His task to collect Lower-Grade Profound Crystal at the Task Hall had been posted for half a month with no activity whatsoever.
"I don’t have any Lower-Grade Profound Crystal," Steward Cai answered in the negative.
If he had any, he really would have sold it to Fang Yun.
Fang Yun possessed exceptional talent for Artifact Refining. He was already starting to gather materials to refine a Spiritual Artifact and become a true Artifact Refiner.
If it were within his power, Steward Cai would have done anything to lend Fang Yun a hand and help him become a true Artifact Refiner sooner. Unfortunately, it was difficult for a mere steward like himself to obtain such materials.
But that was alright. He had a piece of news that would be even more helpful to Fang Yun.
"While I don’t have any Lower-Grade Profound Crystal, you could try asking Elder Xiong." With that, Steward Cai carried out the task Xiong Xingfeng had given him.
"Try asking Elder Xiong?"
Fang Yun gave Steward Cai a strange look. The expression on the steward’s face was rather unusual.
"Come here."
Steward Cai gestured to Fang Yun.
Seeing this, Fang Yun leaned in to listen.
Steward Cai leaned forward and whispered in his ear.
"At the beginning of the month, Elder Xiong came looking for me. He instructed me to do what I just did—tell you to try asking him for the Lower-Grade Profound Crystal... He also told me not to tell you that this was his idea."
Steward Cai told Fang Yun everything Xiong Xingfeng had instructed him to do.
"Do you understand?"
"Steward Cai, what did you just say? I didn’t quite hear you." As he spoke, Fang Yun even cleaned out his ear.
"If you didn’t hear, then forget it. I only say things once." Steward Cai nodded with a smile.
’Based on my understanding of Fang Yun, now that I’ve explained the situation, he definitely won’t let Elder Xiong know I told him.’
Back when Elder Xiong had given him these instructions,
Steward Cai had been utterly speechless. ’If he’s interested in Fang Yun, why can’t he just say so directly?’
His guess from over half a year ago had been correct: Xiong Xingfeng was indeed interested in Fang Yun. If he had just been direct back then, all this fuss would have been unnecessary.
Now, because of the Elder’s peculiar ways, Cai found himself completely won over to Fang Yun’s side.
"This is the Token for the number one high-level Artifact Refining Room."
Now that he had made the matter clear, he knew—based on his understanding of Fang Yun—that he would likely proceed with his Artifact Refining and only seek out Elder Xiong after he was finished.
"Thank you."
After taking the Token, Fang Yun headed for the number one high-level Artifact Refining Room.
He entered the Artifact Refining Room.
The door closed. Before starting his Artifact Refining, Fang Yun thought about what Steward Cai had said.
’I saw Elder Xiong at the beginning of the month. That must have been when he found out I was collecting Lower-Grade Profound Crystal to prepare for refining a Lower-Grade Spiritual Artifact.’
Elder Xiong’s series of actions, along with Steward Cai’s explanation, all pointed to one thing.
’It seems Elder Xiong is interested in taking me as his disciple.’
’But when it comes to an Elder like him, I have to be the one to take the initiative.’
’What kind of personality is that...?’
At that moment, Fang Yun’s impression of Elder Xiong deepened considerably.
’If I ever become an Elder in the future and meet an interesting disciple I want to take on, I’ll definitely express my intentions directly.’
’Most Elders would probably think the same way as me, right?’
’Or at least give a very obvious hint.’
’Like, talk to me about my talent and then hint that he’s looking for a disciple.’
’But I’ve never even had a full conversation with this Elder Xiong...’
Fang Yun opened the light screen and looked at the sect interface.
This was what he found most puzzling of all.