My Artifacts Can Upgrade Infinitely

It wasn’t until noon the next day that Shen Yunjiao responded to Zhao Zuo’s message.

"No need. Upper-Grade Magical Artifacts are precious. You should use it yourself."

Zhao Zuo shook his head slightly. The answer was expected. ’But... I can’t exactly tell Shen Yunjiao I’m not short on Upper-Grade Magical Artifacts, can I?’

Morning dew glistened in the early light. Vines drooped naturally from ancient trees, and the air was exceptionally fresh.

Zhao Zuo darted through the mountains, covering nearly ten meters with each light step. Occasionally, a young Daoist would fly past on a sword overhead, and several Immortal Cranes with wingspans exceeding eight meters danced among the clouds.

Before long, he arrived at the Inner Sect’s Ministry of Affairs Hall. Zhao Zuo first turned in fifteen Lower-Grade Magical Artifacts before heading to an adjacent side hall.

This was the Mission Hall. The place was managed by a Second Tier Array.

The hall was vast and built from massive blocks of black stone. It housed more than a dozen black stone platforms. The sides of these platforms were covered in etched marks, but their tops were perfectly smooth. Over a dozen Spirit Fire Lamps hung from the walls, providing illumination.

The Inner Sect manual explained how to use the Mission Hall.

Zhao Zuo walked up to an unoccupied stone platform and placed his Identity Token on the bottom left corner.

A projection of white light sketched out ephemeral text on the black stone platform. Though somewhat blurry, the words were still legible.

Shenxiao, Core Heart, Earth Fire, Punishment.

Zhao Zuo tapped the section for Shenxiao Hall, and numerous missions immediately unfolded before him.

The missions included clearing out Demon Beasts in the surrounding mountains, venturing deep into the Yunlan Mountain Range to gather herbs, capturing rare Spirit Beasts in the mountains, and... investigating the appearance of Demon Cultivators around Moyun Workshop.

Zhao Zuo opened the investigation mission and, just as he expected, found the information he was looking for.

"The Demon Cultivator force that infiltrated Moyun Workshop has been identified as disciples from the Blood Stream Sect of the Great Wu Country."

"Number of individuals unknown. Strength: Varies from Middle Period to Late Period Qi Cultivation."

"There may be True Disciples at the Qi Cultivation Perfection level."

"Mission Objective: Investigate the objective of the Blood Stream Sect disciples’ infiltration."

"Limited to: Moyun Sect Inner Sect Disciples. Requirement: Late Period Qi Cultivation."

The Cultivation Realm has a conventional, unspoken rule: in times of peace, High-Tier cultivators must not attack and kill Low-Tier cultivators, or the True Disciples and Saint Children of other sects...

Otherwise, rival powers might retaliate with assassinations, ultimately leading to a sect’s lineage being cut off.

This time, the Moyun Sect also did not send out any Foundation Establishment Powerhouses to participate in the battle. The meaning behind this was very clear: to use the disciples of the Blood Stream Sect as a whetstone to train the disciples of the Shenxiao and Punishment Halls, and to weed out the chaff.

Powerhouses are forged in blood. Therefore, the Contribution Points for investigating Demon Path cultivators were very high. The corpse of a Demon Path cultivator at Middle Period Qi Cultivation was worth one hundred Contribution Points, Late Period was worth five hundred, and Qi Cultivation Perfection was worth one thousand!

Such rewards were enough to entice many Inner Sect disciples to join this hunt.

Zhao Zuo recalled what he knew about the Cultivation Realm in the Great Wu Country. Most Demon Path cultivators had weak family ties, so there were very few Foundation Establishment families. In their place was a system of branch sects.

The three great Demon Sects were at the apex, each with several subordinate factions led by Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivators.

The Blood Stream Sect was a subordinate sect of the Blood Sea Sect—one of the three great Demon Path sects in the Great Wu Country. Its Sect Leader and Supreme Elder were Foundation Establishment-level cultivators, while its True Disciples were at the Qi Cultivation Perfection realm. The data showed that the Blood Stream Sect only had two True Disciples, one male and one female.

The Sect Leader of the Blood Stream Sect was in the Middle Period of Foundation Establishment, while the Supreme Elder was in the Late Period.

Zhao Zuo’s heart settled a little. There was no comparison between the Blood Stream Sect and the Moyun Sect. ’As long as I stay in the Inner Sect disciple area and don’t go out, I won’t have to worry about my safety.’

After briefly reading the missions about the infiltrating Demon Path disciples, he exited the Shenxiao Hall’s mission section. ’After all, I’m just an Artifact Refiner who’s no good at fighting. Killing and being killed has nothing to do with me...’

Before long, Zhao Zuo started reading the missions from the Earth Fire Hall. ’If I can earn Contribution Points safely, why should I go out and fight?’

"Magical Artifact Repair." "Custom Magical Artifacts." "Acquisition of Artifact Refining Materials."

Zhao Zuo realized the artifact repair missions were a perfect match for his Golden Finger. ’For longsword or saber-type magical artifacts, I only need an afternoon to grind out the experience needed for an upgrade. Plus, most of the artifacts that need fixing are Upper-Grade.’

’The reward for a single repair is almost two hundred Contribution Points. But if a repair fails, you have to pay thirty percent of the artifact’s original price as compensation. For anyone else, it’s high-risk, high-reward... but for me, there’s no risk at all.’

Although Zhao Zuo was tempted, he didn’t dare accept a mission. ’After all, my public image is just an Inner Sect Disciple who can refine Lower-Grade Magical Artifacts. If I suddenly show I can repair Upper-Grade ones, it would definitely attract unnecessary trouble.’

’Because a skill like that is simply not something I should have.’

As for custom Magical Artifacts, the requests ranged from Lower Grade to Upper Grade. However, most of the custom orders were for special Supporting Magical Artifacts, which Zhao Zuo simply didn’t have the ability to create.

He discovered that the Controlling Objects Spirit Pattern had become a dime a dozen; there were no requests on the mission board for custom Lower-Grade Magical Artifacts that used it.

The more popular requests were for Spirit Patterns with support effects, like Calm Heart, Gathering Spirit, and Protective Veins. The rewards were mostly around fifty Contribution Points, and the mission posters would provide three sets of Artifact Refining materials.

Additionally, the relatively rare Enemy Tracking Spirit Pattern was also quite popular. Most requests were for refining ropes and nets with the Enemy Tracking effect, which were incredibly effective for capturing people or hunting Demon Beasts.

Although he had obtained the schematic for the Enemy Tracking Spirit Pattern, he hadn’t spent time practicing it. Now, he could only stare powerlessly at the rows of Contribution Points on the mission board.

Zhao Zuo sighed softly. ’I have to find time to master the Enemy Tracking Spirit Pattern!’

Finally, Zhao Zuo didn’t bother checking the missions for acquiring Artifact Refining materials. He was short on them himself, so he certainly wasn’t going to sell any.

He then spent some time browsing the missions posted by the Punishment Hall. Most of them involved reporting disciples who violated sect rules in exchange for a Contribution Point reward. The targets even included Outer Sect and Inner Sect Stewards.

Zhao Zuo glanced at the name of the mission poster at the very bottom. To his surprise, it was the new head of the Punishment Hall, Chen Xiaorong.

In that instant, a strong sense of astonishment surged through Zhao Zuo. He thought he understood Chen Xiaorong’s style, but seeing her name as the poster for row after row of these reporting missions, he still couldn’t contain his shock.

Chen Xiaorong wasn’t some naive saint, but she truly practiced what she preached.

She would not be swayed from her goals by any resistance, even if it meant standing in opposition to countless others.

Without a change in expression, Zhao Zuo closed the mission interface and turned to leave the Mission Hall.

From selling magical artifacts a few days ago, Zhao Zuo had purposely set aside over six hundred Spirit Stones. He planned to seek out Elder Wang of the Inner Sect to learn the techniques for refining Middle-Grade Magical Artifacts.

....

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