"Hmm..."
Narrowing her eyes at the materials before her, Su Min silently calculated their worth.
"Still not enough. Not enough to refine my weapon to the next tier. A high-grade Yellow-tier Life-bound Spirit Treasure would still be a significant boost, though".
Two or three days had passed since the meeting. Though everyone knew the grasslands army was marching south, mobilizing hundreds of thousands of troops was no small feat—it would take time. For now, at least, the battle wasn't imminent. But Su Min was still preparing. After all, the more trump cards and methods she had, the better.
So she had turned her thoughts to refining her Life-bound Spirit Treasure. Unfortunately, the armor she had forged earlier had consumed an exorbitant amount of materials—so much that she had nearly exhausted her entire stock. The materials she'd used to craft weapons for those three youngsters had all been provided by Prince Yong.
Even the young prince had led dozens of men to slay a Qi Refining demon just to gather more. Yet despite all that, Su Min still hadn't collected enough materials to refine her weapon. Her Life-bound Spirit Treasure had a unique trait—it could continuously evolve in grade.
That came with both good and bad news.
The good news? It wasn't picky about materials.
The bad news? The quantity it demanded was absurd.
"Should I go out and search for more materials? If I can refine my weapon to the level I need, my chances of victory will be much higher."
As she pondered, she stared at the materials in her hand. The armor had definitely been worth the cost, but she still needed more.
Knock, knock, knock—
A sudden rapping at the door interrupted her thoughts.
"Come in."
She casually stored the materials away before speaking. The door opened, revealing Sect Leader Mo standing awkwardly outside. He hesitated for a moment—entering a young woman's private quarters felt improper—but when he stepped inside, he froze. Su Min's room was startlingly bare. There were no decorations, no personal effects—nothing that hinted at a girl's living space.
In truth, this wasn't surprising. Considering the caves, stilt houses, and deserts she'd lived in before, Su Min had long abandoned any concern for comfort. Seeing him enter, she politely poured him a cup of tea.
"Danxian, I'd like to request a weapon—one suited to my hand."
Sect Leader Mo didn't waste words. Over the past few days, he'd sparred with the three youngsters. Under equal conditions, his decades of experience allowed him to overpower any one of them. But the moment they wielded their weapons?
He'd been forced to flee. There was simply no contest. Now that he'd reached the Qi Refining stage, ordinary weapons shattered the moment he channeled spiritual energy into them. His swordsmanship was rendered useless. So he'd gone to Prince Yong, hoping to commission a weapon from Su Min.
Unfortunately, Prince Yong couldn't help him this time. Su Min's services were expensive—and the three weapons she'd forged earlier had already drained a significant portion of his material reserves. Besides, this was Sect Leader Mo's personal matter.
Prince Yong wasn't about to foot the bill. He'd already given him a pill—anything more would be pushing it. Still, since he needed the man on his side, Prince Yong had offered a piece of advice: "Don't bother with words. Just throw materials at her."
"Did Prince Yong not explain my terms? Also, I don't have materials on hand right now."
Su Min wasn't refusing outright—nor was she lying. Her stockpile was a mess of random components, none of which could form a complete weapon. What she could make would depend entirely on what he could provide.
"Of course. Over the years, our sect has accumulated some reserves. Please take a look, Danxian."
With that, Sect Leader Mo removed a ring from his finger and placed it before her.
"Oh?"
Su Min's lips curled slightly at the sight.
A spatial ring.
Unlike artifacts, these weren't particularly difficult to forge—she'd made quite a few herself. Still, it was a mild surprise to see one in his possession.
"Tsk. Prince Yong must've treated you well. This is one of my 2×2×2 models, crafted in the last few months." She picked up the ring and examined it before continuing. "Now, let's see these materials of yours. First, tell me—what's your elemental affinity, and what weapon do you specialize in? I need to confirm if we're missing anything."
"Sword. Lightning."
"Mn. Alright. Come back in three days."
After a brief mental calculation, Su Min nodded.
"Thank you, my lady!"
Sect Leader Mo's face lit up with excitement. He bowed deeply before hastily taking his leave—though not without a slight twitch in his cheek. "That was our sect's entire savings over the past few years!"
Unlike Prince Yonf, who controlled vast merchant networks, his sect's resources were limited. But materials were just materials—without a master craftsman, they were useless.
~Edit and rewritten by Rikhi, Reiya_Alberich, ReiNyam~
"Now I've got enough."
Once he was gone, Su Min smirked.
"I'll forge his weapon first. The remaining materials will go toward refining my own. High-grade Yellow-tier should last me until the Golden Core stage. Earth-tier weapons require far rarer and more massive quantities—even with Nanming Lihuo, my current cultivation wouldn't be enough to smelt those."
The difference between alchemy and artifact-forging lay here: Alchemy was about precision and complexity.
Artifact-forging? It demanded firepower. Without sufficient flames, you'd have to brute-force it with raw cultivation. A Golden Core cultivator could forge a Yellow-tier artifact—but by then, why would they need one?
Luckily, forging didn't require the same meticulousness as alchemy. Any fire-aligned cultivator could manage it.
"Time to get to work. For his weapon, I'll only need about 30% of these. The rest? Mine."
Closing her eyes, Su Min summoned her flames. The room's temperature soared as she tossed the ores into the inferno. Common spirit iron. Rare thunderclap ore. She molded them together, shaping the molten mixture into a blade—simple, crude, but brutally effective.
As for its effect?
Pure elemental enhancement.
Soon—
[Thunderbrand Sword (Mid Yellow-tier)]
Enhances lightning-based techniques.
"Reaching the late Qi Refining stage really speeds up the process. Well, I've still got two days left—might as well refine my own weapon now."
Su Min smirked again. The path of cultivation was expensive. Her current gear had already drained Yong Wang and Sect Leader Mo's faction dry. Not that she'd ever tell them the truth—that for every weapon she forged, she pocketed 70% of the materials. They probably suspected she took more than necessary.
But how much more? That, they'd never know.
And the excess?
Well. Consider it her fee.