This was the last thing his brother said to him before returning to the Ten Directions Sect's Enforcement Hall to handle the aftermath of the second branch.
Zhou Fei nodded in agreement, committing the words to heart.
He patted his storage bag. Though his weapon was a big black pot rather than a sword...
And though... he was not a disciple of Xiaoyao...
Still, who among cultivators did not dream of wandering freely between heaven and earth?
Gu Ningyun was naturally unaware of the conversation between the two brothers or Zhou Mao's speculation regarding 'Night-Unlocked-Gate.'
Had she known, she would have certainly poked fun at them for overthinking it.
It was true she had studied the 《Peach Blossom Spring》, but that small sect was merely a disguise they used for this trial; it didn't actually exist.
As for the name, it really had just been a sudden spark of inspiration.
She remembered the big yellow dog, Dahuang, squinting its eyes while carrying a bun in its mouth.
Whenever she thought of it, she couldn't help but chuckle. Puppies were just so cute.
Puppies were so cute.
Zhou Fei was naturally oblivious to this misunderstanding.
Even if he had known, it wouldn't have changed his current decision or mindset.
After all, the root of the brothers' conversation was based on the strength, talent, and composure shown by the five of them.
No matter how complex his feelings were, Zhou Fei simply led the way obediently, no longer harboring any other schemes.
Gu Ningyun and the others were unaware of the conversation between Zhou Mao and Zhou Fei. They spoke via divine sense about the changes in Zhou Fei, reminding each other to proceed with caution.
This "others" did not include Jiang Yao.
While the rest were chatting away via divine sense, Jiang Yao wasn't really listening.
He was reflecting on what he had seen and heard while working at Artifact Peak, wondering if he could also temper his spear when they used the Shocking Thunder Platform later.
A yellow-rank top-grade spear... if he only drew the most minute traces of lightning and tempered the internal meridians of the spear bit by bit, it should be feasible.
Thinking of the solid foundation in artifact refining he had gained under the "exploitation" of the senior brothers and sisters at Artifact Peak, Jiang Yao's confidence rose from fifty percent to sixty.
Then, remembering the research he had done on the internal structure of his spear back when they were in seclusion in Conghe City to prepare for this very thing, his confidence rose another ten percent.
He rubbed his chin. Whatever, he'd just give it a try.
If he failed, he'd just head back to Artifact Peak and forge another one for himself.
Artifact cultivators never had to worry about their equipment.
If he succeeded, he could study the changes in a yellow-rank top-grade artifact after being tempered by heavenly thunder.
Back at Artifact Peak, he had never seen anyone use heavenly thunder to temper artifacts.
He had a few guesses as to why.
First, things like the Shocking Thunder Platform only existed in places like the Zhou family of Conghe City, who were backed by the Ten Directions Sect. It was an ancestral heirloom, and the method of its creation was lost to time.
Because the capacity of the Shocking Thunder Platform was limited, they reserved it for their own descendants or for those within the Ten Directions Sect who borrowed it.
Opportunities for outsiders to use it were few and far between. Naturally, Xiaoyao's Artifact Peak had very few records regarding the application of the Shocking Thunder Platform for tempering artifacts.
If one didn't use a Shocking Thunder Platform, the most common way for a cultivator to encounter heavenly thunder was during a breakthrough to a major realm.
But the thunder that fell during a breakthrough was extremely violent. Whether it was a trial sent by heaven or something else, the more talented the cultivator, the stronger the thunder.
Surviving the thunder and successfully breaking through was hard enough; who would have the mental energy to spare for tempering an artifact?
Tempering an artifact wasn't as simple as just throwing it out and letting it get struck a couple of times.
While Jiang Yao hadn't seen an artifact tempered by thunder, he could draw parallels from what he had seen with exotic fires.
When using exotic fire to temper an artifact, one had to follow a specific order, duration, and intensity based on the artifact's materials, internal structure, meridians, and the external artifact patterns.
Different artifacts had different functions and effects.
Every artifact was forged from several different materials. Some were fire-attributed and needed to be tempered longer.
Some materials were non-attributed, serving to balance and fuse the other materials. For these, the exotic fire had to go from weak to strong, and the duration couldn't be too long.
Some materials were cold-attributed, and the exotic fire had to avoid those parts entirely. Otherwise, the structure and properties of the material would be destroyed, leading to the opposite of the desired effect.
It was like this with exotic fire, and naturally, it would be the same with heavenly thunder.
For these reasons, Jiang Yao didn't share this plan with his four friends.
Even he, an artifact cultivator, wasn't entirely sure of success. His friends weren't refiners, so it would be even harder for them.
The artifacts they used were issued by the sect and were already the most suitable for the Qi Refining stage.
He only wanted to try tempering with heavenly thunder because of his inner curiosity and desire to explore artifact refining.
Time passed as they traveled, lost in their thoughts.
Finally, they passed through a forest of artificial rockery and arrived before a cliff face.
Conghe City was mountainous, so it was common for houses and courtyards to be built against the mountainside.
This particular cliff face was flanked by the walls of the Zhou Manor, and in front of it was a stretch of artificial rockery that matched the cliff in color and appearance.
When viewed from other directions within the manor, this naturally carved cliff face didn't stand out much among the man-made structures.
Zhou Fei led them to a stop in front of the cliff and pulled a jade seal from his storage bag.
He lifted the jade seal with spirit energy and drew a drop of blood from his fingertip onto it.
Gu Ningyun and the others didn't recognize this method, but Mu Chenze's divine sense transmission arrived: "It's a method for bloodline verification, very common among cultivation families."
With his explanation, Gu Ningyun understood.
The moment the blood touched the surface of the jade seal, it was absorbed.
Soon, the jade seal emitted a soft white glow. Having verified the bloodline, it was now activated.
Once the light stabilized, Zhou Fei performed a dozen or so complex hand signs.
He seemed a bit out of practice with the middle signs, as his movements were slightly stiff.
The jade seal slowly absorbed spirit energy according to his hand signs and began to rotate.
When he finished the signs, the seal stopped rotating and then flew toward the upper-middle section of the cliff.
The moment it touched the rock, a speck of spiritual light ignited at the point of contact and spread out like a spiderweb.
It was likely some kind of family guardian array being activated.
As the spiderweb of light expanded, a cave entrance wide enough for three people to walk abreast was revealed.
Once the cave was fully visible, the jade seal turned, and the spiritual light of the array faded away.
Zhou Fei raised his hand to reclaim the seal. "The Shocking Thunder Platform is inside the cave. Everyone, follow me."
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