Chapter Thirty-Three: The Elite of Gui Water

An indescribable sensation burst on Song Changsheng’s tongue, like tiny currents of electricity spreading through his mouth, almost making him swallow his own tongue.

“This…” Song Changsheng’s chopsticks moved like a rainstorm; he devoured half a plate of dried meat in one sitting, only restraining himself with immense willpower—otherwise, the whole dish would have disappeared.

Song Changsheng’s reaction greatly pleased Zhu Yiqun. Leisurely, Zhu picked up another piece of meat, took a sip of wine, and chewed them together, closing his eyes in pure enjoyment.

Imitating him, Song Changsheng tried the same method and found the taste indeed soared to new heights. What’s more, the spiritual wine, once swallowed, transformed instantly into pure spiritual energy that entered his dantian, and he could clearly sense a slight increase in his cultivation.

He immediately realized just how extraordinary the seasoning was.

“You sense it already, don’t you? My seasoning not only enhances the flavor but also maximizes the conversion of the spiritual energy within the food into cultivation power,” Zhu Yiqun said with a satisfied smile.

“The skills of a medicinal chef are truly remarkable. I’m convinced now—compared to you, the dishes at Jade Feast Pavilion are not worth mentioning.” Song Changsheng was thoroughly impressed—this man wasn’t boasting.

Just a bottle of seasoning had taken Jade Feast Pavilion’s food to another level. If Zhu Yiqun cooked personally, it would be even more astonishing.

“You flatter me. But your attainments in the art of formations and artifacts are equally admirable,” Zhu Yiqun replied.

After a round of mutual praise, the two continued drinking and chatting, until the sun set. Neither could remember how much they’d had when, arm in arm, they finally staggered out of Jade Feast Pavilion.

That meal cost Song Changsheng thirty spirit stones—truly extravagant.

After exchanging spiritual imprints on each other’s communication jades as a bridge for future contact, they reluctantly parted ways.

Returning to Treasure Seeker Hall, Song Changsheng found Song Changqian standing at the door, as if waiting for someone.

This surprised him a little. Ever since he had easily defeated Cheng Xiao, Song Changqian had not shown herself to him for more than half a year.

Was the sun rising in the west today?

But it had nothing to do with him. Reeking of wine, he planned to go back and wash up, so he ignored her and walked straight past.

Just as he was about to go upstairs, he heard Song Changqian whisper, barely audible, “Thank you.”

Song Changsheng paused, then replied without turning back, “We all serve the family. There’s no need for thanks.”

After speaking, Song Changsheng returned to his room, leaving Song Changqian standing in a daze at the door.

Once in his room, Song Changsheng washed away the smell of alcohol and took out his spoils from the market that day.

“I wonder if this Kongming Iron will give me a pleasant surprise,” he mused, pulling out a short knife and carefully peeling away the shell of the Kongming Iron, like unraveling a cocoon, fine powder falling as he worked.

Soon, the fist-sized raw ore was reduced to the size of an egg, and now Song Changsheng could clearly sense the water element spiritual energy emanating from within.

“At least of the second tier. I’ve struck it rich,” Song Changsheng smiled, removing the final thin layer of shell.

With a final cut, an oval piece of metal appeared before him.

The metal was a dreamy blue, its surface smooth as a mirror, with undulating, wave-like patterns clearly visible.

“Could this be Gui Water Essence?” Song Changsheng was overjoyed, turning the piece over and over in his hands.

After a while, he pulled out his heavily damaged defensive artifact from a previous battle, the Water Origin Shield, and chuckled, “You’re in luck this time.”

This artifact had been his early practice work, but over the years it had shielded him from many storms. Since its damage in the last fight, he’d never found suitable material to repair it—until now.

Gui Water Essence was a relatively rare second-tier water-element spiritual material, quite hard in quality. Adding some when refining an artifact could enhance its quality and improve the power of water-element cultivators—perfectly suited for the Water Origin Shield.

If he reforged the Water Origin Shield with it, the quality would surely rise greatly.

No sooner thought than done, he locked himself in the refining room for several days, raising the Water Origin Shield to a top-grade first-tier artifact, with its internal formation patterns redrawn.

Gazing at the renewed Water Origin Shield in his hand, Song Changsheng mused with relief, “Ever since I cultivated the Water-Fire Control Technique, I’ve become extremely sensitive to water and fire spiritual fluctuations. Otherwise, I’d have missed out on this chance.”

He then smelted the other ores in his bronze cauldron; these turned out fairly ordinary, worth four or five spirit stones in total.

Once all the ores were dealt with, Song Changsheng took out the damaged formation base and the broken jade.

The disk-shaped formation base now had only two-thirds remaining, its surface covered in web-like cracks, all spiritual light extinguished.

Such junk wouldn’t even merit a second glance if left on the street, yet Song Changsheng had bought it for ten spirit stones.

Not because he was foolish or wasteful, but because he’d seen something special.

On the surface, those cracks looked like damage from attack, but from the perspective of a formation master, they followed certain patterns—akin to the formation lines used in array construction.

Song Changsheng calmed himself and traced the lines gently with his fingertip. An identical image appeared in his mind.

He had reproduced it with his spiritual sense in his sea of consciousness.

As the image gradually completed, Song Changsheng grew increasingly certain that these were indeed formation lines—profound ones, unlike any he’d encountered before.

It is said that formations originated in ancient times, passed down by mighty cultivators of the upper realms, and contain the deepest truths of the Dao.

Cultivators of high attainment perceive the mysterious laws governing the world, and by altering them, create formation patterns.

Different patterns can be used to set up different arrays, forming the foundation of all formations.

The Song clan possessed a third-tier formation inheritance, and Song Changsheng had studied these texts since childhood.

After comparing, he was sure this was a second-tier primitive formation pattern.

This stirred great excitement in him: it was the purest kind of formation pattern, containing a hint of the world’s fundamental laws.

If he could fully comprehend it, his mastery of formations would improve dramatically.

“Though a third is missing, with my understanding, there’s hope of restoring it. These ten spirit stones were well spent.”

Song Changsheng hurriedly took out a jade slip and copied the incomplete pattern from his mind into it for safekeeping, to study further in the future.

Finally, his gaze fell on the broken jade. The previous two items had brought him pleasant surprises, so he was filled with anticipation for this as well…