Distinguished Guest

Xu Qian held the Zhenyuan Cauldron, which shimmered with five layers of pearly white light, her voice trembling with excitement.

It's done!

I did it!!

Hahahaha!

Spiritual energy swirled around the cauldron's body with increasing urgency. Originally only a quasi-high-grade spiritual treasure, it now faintly radiated the imposing aura of a true high-grade treasure.

She couldn't help but channel her spiritual energy into it. Instantly, a thick pillar of flame erupted from the cauldron, nearly twice as powerful as before, startling several nearby disciples who hastily stepped back.

Why is the enhancement effect even stronger than what the Master said?

It's definitely more than fifty percent!

"My heavens! Senior Sister Qian, this enhancement effect is absolutely insane!"

A female disciple, also a core disciple, stood nearby, her eyes wide as saucers. She reached out to touch the Zhenyuan Cauldron but withdrew her hand, rubbing her fingers together, afraid of disturbing the artifact.

Her eyes held unconcealable excitement.

"Master, I want an enhancement too! My Flowing Cloud Sword is a high-grade spiritual treasure. How many spirit stones for the first enhancement?"

These Xuan Yue Sect disciples are all wealthy, aren't they? Does everyone have a high-grade treasure in hand?

This was somewhat surprising to Ye Chuan. Although, with his current abilities, crafting high-grade treasures from the spirit stones in his backpack was a trivial matter, spiritual artifacts were not common on the Tianxuan Continent. Ordinary disciples couldn't even get their hands on a low-grade one.

Yet, these Xuan Yue Sect disciples all seemed to possess fine treasures.

Wealthy clients are a good thing.

The profits will end up in his pocket anyway.

"Five thousand low-grade spirit stones for the first enhancement of a high-grade spiritual treasure." Ye Chuan leaned back on the sofa and casually quoted a figure, his tone flat, as if discussing the most ordinary matter.

After all, the cost to him wasn't high, just a bit of cash.

Low-level enhancements didn't cost much.

Hu Li, holding a freshly brewed cup of tea, handed it over and looked curiously at the female disciple's Flowing Cloud Sword, as she hadn't seen so many treasures before either.

"Five thousand it is!" The female disciple didn't hesitate, pulling out a storage pouch and placing the Flowing Cloud Sword into the forging furnace.

The flames ignited and then extinguished. In barely three breaths, the Flowing Cloud Sword emerged, sheathed in a layer of white light.

She grabbed the sword, feeling the increased spiritual energy within, and swung it excitedly. The sword wind howled, actually leaving a shallow mark on the floor.

"It worked! It really worked! This is more improvement than half a year of my own refining!"

Seeing the scratch on the floor, Ye Chuan spoke expressionlessly,

"Floor repair fee. One thousand low-grade spirit stones."

That expensive?!

The female disciple was stunned for a moment but ultimately paid up honestly.

"Expensive is normal. Every tile here is made of special material; they can't be damaged." Ye Chuan glanced at the five-coin-per-tile option in the renovation interface and said nonchalantly.

With the successful precedents set by Xu Qian and the female disciple, the remaining Xuan Yue Sect disciples could no longer hold back. They swarmed around the forging furnace, jostling for position.

"Don't rush! I was here first!"

A burly male disciple pushed to the front, pulling out a heavy mountain-splitting axe.

"Master, I want to enhance this Mountain-Splitter Axe! Is a hundred thousand spirit stones enough for several enhancements in a row?"

"Enough. A hundred thousand can get you five attempts. But whether it reaches five layers depends on luck," Ye Chuan reminded him.

"Alright!" The male disciple took a deep breath and placed the axe into the furnace.

The first enhancement succeeded smoothly. The axe body glowed with white light, its imposing aura growing stronger.

His confidence surged. He proceeded with two more enhancements in a row. Upon the third success, the Mountain-Splitter Axe erupted with a powerful axe hum, vibrating the entire shop.

Excited, he continued tossing spirit stones in.

"Hahaha! All five succeeded!!" When the treasure was finally coated with five layers of white light, he triumphantly raised the axe, showing it off to the other disciples.

A female disciple in plain-colored robes nearby watched, her heart itching. She also took out her jade flute treasure and handed it over.

The first two enhancements went smoothly. The flute's tone became clearer and more melodious, able to stir spiritual energy resonance in the surroundings.

But during the third enhancement, the forging furnace suddenly emitted a piercing screech, and the flames instantly turned black.

"Oh no!" The female disciple's face changed drastically. The jade flute flew out of the furnace, its white light significantly dimmed. The original four layers of enhancement had directly fallen back to one.

Holding the flute, her eyes instantly reddened. "How could this happen... I saved those spirit stones with such difficulty..."

"I did say failure reduces the level." Ye Chuan's tone held not a ripple of emotion. "Do you want to continue?"

The female disciple bit her lip, glanced at the bragging male disciple and Xu Qian, and finally shook her head. "No... I'd better go back and save up some more spirit stones first..."

For every success, there was failure. Some disciples later had good luck, succeeding four times in a row without failure, dancing with joy. Others failed on their very second enhancement, standing dejectedly to the side. Yet others, driven by gambler's mentality, repeatedly placed their treasures into the furnace until their spirit stones were exhausted, stopping only with great reluctance.

Xu Qian looked at her own five-layer halo Zhenyuan Cauldron, then at the reactions of the disciples beside her, unable to suppress the upward curve of her lips.

She walked up to Ye Chuan and clasped her fists again. "Master, if any disciples from the Xuan Yue Sect wish for enhancements in the future, I will definitely send them all to you!"

Ye Chuan waved his hand. "No need for thanks. Just pay."

However, these disciples were, after all, just disciples, reluctant to invest in higher-level enhancements.

But that was fine. Ye Chuan had made at least several hundred thousand spirit stones from this wave.

This was much faster than robbery, and the customers paid willingly—and this was only the beginning, as the higher-level cultivators had yet to appear.

The money from these disciples was ultimately just small profit.

Just then, footsteps suddenly sounded at the shop entrance. A middle-aged man in brocade robes, with an extraordinary bearing, walked in, followed by two powerfully-auraed guards.

His gaze swept over the Xuan Yue Sect disciples in the shop before finally settling on Ye Chuan. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"You must be the Master, I presume? I am Zhao Hongyuan, City Lord of Xuanjing City. Hearing of your masterful forging skills, I have come specifically to pay a visit."

The bragging male disciple, Xu Qian, and the others, seeing the City Lord himself at their doorstep, froze for a moment. They hurriedly put away their treasures and bowed respectfully.

"Greetings, City Lord!"

Ye Chuan lifted his gaze to Zhao Hongyuan. Sensing the other's quasi-Enlightenment Realm aura, he finally felt somewhat satisfied.

At least someone worth looking at had finally arrived.

"Hu Li, brew tea," Ye Chuan said.

"Yes!" Hu Li hurriedly prepared the tea. She understood Ye Chuan's implication; this was likely today's distinguished guest.

Seeing Zhao Hongyuan take a seat, Hu Li spoke up, "Hello, Water Fish, please have some tea."

"Water Fish?" Zhao Hongyuan noticed this young demon girl and was somewhat curious about her form of address.

"What does that mean?"

"It means 'honored guest'!" Hu Li said.