Wei Yunqing found the long blade before her oddly familiar, though she could not recall where she had seen it. She extended her divine sense, sweeping over the entire blade as she asked, "What is the origin of this blade?"
The manager noticed Wei Yunqing's interest and immediately explained: "This blade was brought to sell by a Foundation Establishment cultivator. He said his ancestors once produced a Divine Transformation cultivator, but during the righteous–evil war five hundred years ago, their clan's Divine Transformation Ancestor fell, and the family declined. This blade was that Ancestor's natal treasure.
He lacks the ability to repair the damage, so he decided to sell it, hoping someone with an eye for value could restore its brilliance. He wanted the spirit stones to exchange for a Golden Core-condensing pill.
Zhenbao Pavilion's appraisers examined it. They said it used to be a spirit treasure, but after its master's fall, the blade spirit dissipated, and the weapon itself suffered heavy damage. Its grade plummeted, and now it is only an ordinary magical treasure.
Sold as-is, it would fetch little. If dismantled for its refinement materials, it might still have some value, so I took the liberty of placing it among the treasure-drawing items just to make up the numbers.
If Zūnzhě is dissatisfied, you may choose another." Afraid of angering a Divine Transformation Zūnzhě, the manager added one more careful line at the end.
Wei Yunqing's eyes flickered. She waved casually. "This Lord already said I came for the fun of it. The Western Region has not seen this sort of game. Besides, as you said, if I break the blade down for its materials, there is some value. This Lord's one high-grade spirit stone was well spent. No need to exchange."
Hearing that, the manager's smile grew even brighter. After a string of flattery, he personally escorted Wei Yunqing out of Zhenbao Pavilion.
Back in her rented cave dwelling, Wei Yunqing dropped a restriction, took the long blade out again, ran her palm along its length, and said coldly, "Long Ya, this Lord has recognized you. Stop pretending to be a crippled knife."
Her gaze turned icy as she stared at the blade, but no response came.
Wei Yunqing narrowed her eyes, summoned a ball of light, and slammed it onto the blade. With a crisp crack, a new fracture ran from an old fissure on the dragon-carved hilt. The already damaged weapon suffered a second blow.
Seeing the fresh crack, Wei Yunqing muttered, "Ill-omened," then tried channeling wood spiritual power into the blade. She gave it a light swing. Stone chips fell from the inner wall of the cave dwelling, and the chips along the edge of the blade deepened. At this point it was no better than a common long knife.
After several attempts, Wei Yunqing had to admit that Long Ya was ruined. She had thought she had found a windfall that might turn her fortunes, but Long Ya had clearly lost its spirituality. On reflection, it was understandable.
Inside the Shanhe Scroll, she had fought against Long Ya and the evil spirits. Long Ya broke the seal and gave them a chance to escape the Shanhe Scroll. She had seen clearly how Wei Yunxi self-detonated her protective immortal artifact to keep Long Ya from being taken by upper-realm evil cultivators.
She had felt distressed on Wei Yunxi's behalf. That was an immortal artifact. Even after ascension it would have protected her, yet Wei Yunxi had chosen to destroy it. If the situation had been reversed, she could not have done it.
She had witnessed the power of an immortal artifact's self-detonation. Later, Long Ya was sealed back into the Shanhe Scroll. Although she missed the Central Region war while in seclusion, she had heard the rumors that the Shanhe Scroll was lost.
Judging by Long Ya's current miserable state, it had clearly used the chaos of the righteous–evil war to break the seal and flee again. But breaking a seal costs power. The result was a drop in grade and the blade spirit's dispersal.
After studying the long blade for a while, Wei Yunqing decided to follow the manager's suggestion: break the weapon down for its refinement materials and merge them into her natal treasure, the Tianqing Water wood Sword.
In her view, Long Ya had once been the Evil God's weapon. Its materials could not be ordinary. If dismantled and fused into the Water wood Sword, her natal sword would surely take another step up.
Decision made, Wei Yunqing left Qinghua City and headed for the Refiners' Association in the Southern Region to find a high-level refiner. She understood the principle: if you wish to do good work, you must first sharpen your tools. In cultivation she could not match Wei Yunxi, so she would find a way to wield a powerful natal treasure.
Where Wei Yunqing could not see, a faint stream of light flashed across the badly damaged blade. It seemed the blade spirit had not entirely dissipated as the manager claimed. Wei Yunqing did not notice. Instead, she strode happily into the Southern Region's Refiners' Association branch.
Haoran Sect, Hive
Temporarily overseeing Hive affairs, Yunxi raised an eyebrow after reading the report Xun Kun sent about Wei Yunqing's movements. A playful smile touched her lips.
Even without seeing the blade, she felt it was not a good thing. That it just happened to fall into Wei Yunqing's hands felt wrong from every angle.
Yet Wei Yunqing, bold as ever, wanted a refiner to dismantle the blade and merge its materials into her natal sword. Yunxi could not fathom her thought process. Was her intelligence forcibly lowered? How could she dare to fuse something of unknown origin into her own natal sword?
A faint, elusive cold smile curved Yunxi's lips. From this alone, the fake Heavenly Dao was getting anxious, squeezing every last drop from the chess piece named Wei Yunqing. It made sense. After all, Wei Yunqing was a Divine Transformation cultivator. Fed to this cultivation by the false Dao, she would be expected to pay it back.
Yunxi sent a message to Xun Kun, instructing him to continue tracking Wei Yunqing, especially her movements. If she left the Southern Region, he was to pay close attention to where she lingered. Yunxi stressed that the blade in Wei Yunqing's hands was definitely problematic and told him to be careful.
Upon receiving Yunxi's reply, Xun Kun arranged for mid-stage Divine Transformation cultivators of Kunmo Sect to shadow Wei Yunqing and keep complete tabs on her.
Wei Yunqing stayed at the Refiners' Association in the Southern Region for over a month. She hired a fifth-rank refiner to dismantle the blade and fused the most precious material within, the Yin Water Stone, into her Tianqing Water wood Sword. The instant the fusion completed, tribulation thunder descended.
After five strikes of tempering thunder, Wei Yunqing's natal sword advanced by a full grade and became a spirit treasure. She was ecstatic, more convinced than ever she had made the right choice.
The refiner accepted his payment and escorted Wei Yunqing out of the association. After watching her leave, his smile faded. He raised a hand, sent off a transmission talisman, shook his head, and returned to his refining room.
When Xun Kun received the news, he relayed it to Yunxi. He had not expected Wei Yunqing's luck to be this good. Even like this, she had managed to raise her natal sword's grade. Spirit treasures were few and far between in the Weiyu Realm.
After receiving the message, Yunxi spoke a word to the two Nascent Soul cultivators assisting her, then headed straight for the Southern Region. Some matters required her personal confirmation.