Qianming

After all, these were things she had picked up while tagging along behind others, so she naturally assumed they were ordinary.

But Jiang Lu forgot that she was following the so-called protagonist group.

What simple opportunities could they possibly have? Even their worst finds were heavenly treasures.

Jiang Lu thought about it briefly and nodded.

With her master around, they wouldn't dare cheat her. Moreover, this was their own territory; if their own people teamed up with outsiders to swindle her, she had plenty of ways to complain.

She then handed the three Yellow Spiritual Fruits, the Thunderstone, and the Black Mystic Iron over to Jian An.

“Rest assured, Little Martial Aunt. Leave this matter to me. I will definitely give you a satisfactory result.”

Jian An looked at the items in his hands and made a solemn promise to Jiang Lu.

Forging the spiritual sword would take some time. During this period, Jiang Lu planned to refine some elixirs to submit for missions.

Elixirs could be submitted at any Medicine King Pavilion branch and converted into mission points.

There were countless alchemy techniques. Up until now, she had been practicing Senior Sister Huang Mei's technique, but Senior Sister Huang Mei was only a Tier Two alchemist.

Now, there were many Tier Three and even Tier Four alchemists here. By observing and learning from them, Jiang Lu benefited immensely.

If she had tried to figure it out entirely on her own, she could still have refined them, but she would have undoubtedly taken many detours.

One month later—

“Little Martial Aunt, take a look. How is this spiritual sword?”

Shi Yan ran toward the backyard alchemy room carrying a box. Jiang Lu was just about to spar with the other disciples when she heard him call out and turned around.

She saw Shi Yan running over in a flash, a wide grin on his face.

He opened the box, revealing a white spiritual sword inside.

The blade was three feet seven inches long. Unlike the cold white tone of ordinary iron, its base color was a translucent moon-glass hue, diffusing a faint, shimmering silver light under the sun.

The spine of the sword lacked any heavy, raised ridges; instead, the entire spine was wrapped in naturally formed, icy-white flowing cloud patterns. These patterns were not carved on but were the inherent appearance of the spiritual veins within the blade.

When spiritual energy was channeled through it, the patterns would flow slowly along the blade, resembling a long river of ice and snow wandering within the sword.

The blade was thin and sharp, its edge inlaid with an extremely faint line of light-purple iridescent light.

The hilt was crafted from Black Mystic Iron, and after exquisite polishing, it possessed a warm, milky-white gentle glow.

Wrapped around it was a silver-gray shark-silk tassel, with a teardrop-shaped ice-soul jade hanging at the end, sealing a wisp of fine, eternal frost mist inside.

The grip naturally featured two shallow grooves that fit perfectly into the palm of a hand. When held, the frost mist would creep from the fingertips up to the wrist, carrying a natural, crisp chill.

The scabbard was made of deep-sea sunken sandalwood, matte dark-cyan all over. The collar at the mouth of the scabbard was crafted from plain silver, engraved with a minimalist ice lotus—no complex carvings, just simple and elegant.

This sword carried its own frosty, snowy spiritual aura, emitting a clean, cold fragrance akin to mountain plum blossoms mixed with morning dew.

The moment it was unsheathed, scattered, delicate ice flowers would drift out, melting instantly upon hitting the ground without leaving a trace of water.

With just one glance, Jiang Lu was completely captivated by this spiritual sword. It was obvious that the blacksmith had put a great deal of heart into it.

Zhao Hu: Oh my, isn't this just giving way too much?

Seeing Jiang Lu's satisfied expression, Shi Yan was also very pleased. Jian An had been involved throughout the entire forging process of this sword and had offered many suggestions.

After all, those three Yellow Spiritual Fruits had truly been a massive help; the three juniors had made breakthroughs the very next day.

They were the cream of the crop of the younger generation. If anything had happened to them, the Jian Clan would have had no successor for a century, which would undoubtedly have been a devastating blow.

Jian An had even thrown in quite a few valuable materials for this spiritual sword. The sheer translucency of the blade was due to it being forged with Snow Mountain Ice Marrow, something difficult to find even within the territory of a Tier Eight power.

He had obtained it by pure chance, and using it here now was proof enough of how much he valued Jiang Lu.

Throughout the entire process, Jiang Lu didn't need to interact with Zhao Hu at all; Jian An handled all the communication.

It was hard to say who gained or lost more, but ultimately, both parties were extremely satisfied.

Jiang Lu reached out and took the spiritual sword in her hand, immediately feeling the crisp, clear aura radiating from it.

“Little Martial Aunt, this spiritual sword contains the Thunderstone. There will be no need to forge it again in the future. If you use it as a guide during your Tribulation Transcendence, it will upgrade itself.”

As he spoke, Shi Yan swallowed hard.

Why else did everyone covet the Thunderstone? If Little Martial Aunt hadn't bought it, any other cultivator who purchased it might not have lived to see tomorrow's sun once they stepped out of the auction.

If he hadn't lacked a Scarlet Flame Flower, he would have kept the Thunderstone for himself instead of letting it end up in the auction.

Jiang Lu nodded. She had brushed up on her knowledge and naturally knew the benefits of the Thunderstone.

She had hit the jackpot this time—absolutely hit the jackpot.

She then began to chant a mantra, her left hand flashing with a hand seal as a white light danced at her fingertips.

With a swift swipe of her finger, she brushed along the spine of the blade.

The spiritual sword vibrated slightly, followed by a resonant sword chime.

Immediately after, Jiang Lu was enveloped in a shroud of light, and a sharp, stinging pain washed over her—this was the sword intent of the blade.

It was actually a Supreme-grade spiritual tool!

If a spiritual sword reached Supreme-grade, it would possess consciousness and could recognize its master. The vibration from earlier was the sword confirming its bond.

With another clear chime, a gentle light flashed across the blade.

Sensing its intent, Jiang Lu looked at it and said earnestly, “Qianming. From now on, you shall be named the Qianming Sword, how about it?”

The sword chimed once more, and the characters 'Qianming' appeared on the blade. The sword light flashed briefly before slowly fading away.

A thread of connection appeared in Jiang Lu's sea of consciousness, and she looked at the Qianming Sword with a soft gaze.

“Congratulations, Little Martial Aunt! This spiritual sword looks absolutely wonderful.”

“Congratulations, Little Martial Aunt!”

“What a great spiritual sword!”

“As expected of Little Martial Aunt, to have such a great opportunity.”

“...”

The crowd gathered around Jiang Lu to offer their congratulations, without a single trace of jealousy on their faces.

Though they were envious, none of them spoke with sarcasm or spite.

Looking at everyone's expressions, Jiang Lu felt a warmth in her heart. She was glad she had joined the Medicine King Pavilion, where everyone from top to bottom was united.

Neither when she gained the opportunity to be taken in as a disciple nor today when she obtained this spiritual sword did she see anyone look at her with malice. This was truly a rare sight in the cultivation world.

Holding her spiritual sword, Jiang Lu couldn't wait to head to the training ground. The light from her sword continuously drew arcs of sword shadows.

The onlookers below let out a succession of amazed gasps.

After a long while, Jiang Lu finally stopped. Had she not been unable to use her spiritual energy to avoid exposing her true strength in front of everyone, she would have enjoyed herself even more.

A few days later, Jiang Lu left the branch. Although staying in the pavilion was nice, it wouldn't help her advance quickly. Furthermore, as news of her presence here spread, various clans were showing signs of wanting to pay her a visit.

She had always disliked such socializing, so she did her best to avoid it.

The best way was to find an opportunity to slip away.

Following the map Jian An had given her, Jiang Lu quickly headed toward that rocky mountain range.

Standing at the foot of the mountain, she looked up at the towering rocky peaks that pierced the clouds, feeling an incredibly powerful sense of oppression.

According to them, the entrance they had accidentally stumbled into was surrounded by the rocky mountains, so she still had to enter from here.