Chapter 282 – The Weaponsmithing Contest, Masters Showing Their Flair - Part 1
Yin-wind Cliff, Peeping‑Eye Gorge, it was near the frontline, where Silkfloss Province met Hidden River Province.
Few living souls ever went there, and fewer returned, yet two figures made the climb. Their footholds were nothing more than a slanted strip of earth. However, a path untrodden was still a path.
Swaying shadows of evergreen locust trees concealed the leading man. Behind him came a weather‑worn, sharp‑eyed escort—Jing Ruyi, a fifth rank elder of the Jing Clan.
The Jing Clan were known for courting fortune and dodging danger. Because Master Gong had ties with their faction, Jing Ruyi drew the escort duty to Yin‑Wind Cliff—and the job of supplying him with source blood.
Fending off enemies? That chore had gone to the recently slain Elder Hua of the Gu faction, which only deepened the Gu Clan’s contempt for the cautious Jing Clan.
Even so, this trip was no cushy post. A fifth rank could skirt a fledgling ghost domain but never fight its core. Yet today Jing Ruyi had to do exactly that and guard Master Gong.
“Master Gong, think twice,” he whispered, already wavering. “As long as the mountain stands, we’ll always have firewood.”
Master Gong halted, tightened the bundle of forging gear and the furnace chained to his back, and said, “Then leave me a vial of source blood and go home, Elder Jing.”
“I can’t walk away while you stay!” Jing Ruyi protested. “You’re forging my spirit artifact, remember? But...must we really do it here?”
All of Master Gong’s reasons shrank to a single word. “Yes.”
“Fine, fine,” Jing Ruyi sighed. “I’ll tag along. We’re just poking around a proto‑ghost domain, right? Honestly, I’ve never been in one of these areas of extreme Yin. Why are we here again?”
“According to my smithing lineage’s manual that explains Earth Appraisal,” Master Gong explained, “a ghost is born when Yin energy coalesces. Once formed, it’s untouchable until that Yin energy is exhausted.”