Chapter 19: Starry Tripod

The Artifact Hall of the Taiyuan Gate was a place of utmost importance, housing all the precious materials collected by the Taiyuan Gate from the cultivation world.
The hall was divided into more than a dozen sections, including a blacksmithing workshop, a pill-making workshop, a spirit talisman workshop, storage rooms, and so on. These sections were located in different places, each occupying a vast area spanning thousands of miles.
The blacksmithing workshop was situated in a mountainous region with towering peaks; at every peak and by every stream, there was a building dedicated to blacksmithing.
Qu Yi Fei was flying through the air, heading toward the blacksmithing workshop.
In the distance, flames would occasionally shoot into the sky from the ground and mountains—these were blacksmiths releasing excess true fire into the air, creating a magnificent sight.
Seeing the sparks in the air, Qu Yi knew he had arrived at the blacksmithing workshop. He immediately descended and landed in front of a pavilion named “Lingbao Xuan.”
Lingbao Xuan was the first checkpoint that disciples and various visitors of the Taiyuan Gate had to pass to enter the blacksmithing workshop. Here, everyone had to register their identities and state their purpose before being allowed in by the officials in charge.
When Qu Yi landed in front of Lingbao Xuan’s entrance and tried to go inside, he was stopped by two guards. Both guards had reached the early stage of the Divination Realm and looked down on Qu Yi with arrogance.
“To enter Lingbao Xuan, you must pay one hundred mid-grade spirit stones,” one of the sword-wielding guards shouted.
Qu Yi was shocked. He was also a member of the Taiyuan Gate, yet he still had to pay a fee to enter one of its facilities.
“Friends, I am Li Mu, the captain of the fourth team of the Enforcement Corps,” Qu Yi said, showing his identity badge with a smile.
“Here, don’t mention your status. If you want to enter, you must pay spirit stones,” the other guard, armed with a knife, retorted without even glancing at the identity badge.
Qu Yi was speechless. Now he understood—within the Taiyuan Gate, the Enforcement Corps was the least powerful institution. After receiving tasks from the Internal Affairs Hall, they merely had to carry them out. But the Artifact Hall was a place where people of all cultivation levels sought help, so its status was naturally very high. Even the guards here could rudely command a captain of the Enforcement Corps.
“Alright, I’ll pay. Here are one hundred mid-grade spirit stones,” Qu Yi said after realizing there was no other choice, and he handed over the stones immediately.

The two guards smiled as they took the payment and immediately “split the loot” in front of Qu Yi, each taking fifty mid-grade spirit stones and putting them into their own storage bracelets. Qu Yi chuckled and stepped into the attic, then came to a jade platform. Behind the platform stood a beautiful and elegant female cultivator at the Outward Emergence stage. She smiled gently at Qu Yi and said, “Fellow cultivator, what magical artifact do you need?” After saying that, a wisp of blue Water Element True Energy appeared at the tip of her finger and struck the jade platform, instantly displaying various images of magical artifacts from the cultivation world. Qu Yi smiled bitterly; he hadn’t even said he wanted to buy an artifact yet, but they had already forced him to choose one. In fact, this time Qu Yi was using the pretext of crafting an artifact to actually look for Li Huan, hoping to get some information from him. “Fellow cultivator, I only need a staff-type magical artifact at the lower-grade spirit weapon level. However, I would like Elder Li Huan to personally craft it for me,” Qu Yi said with a sudden idea. After hearing this, the female cultivator stopped sending True Energy, and the jade platform returned to its original state. Then she said, “Fellow cultivator, do you know Elder Li Huan?” Qu Yi nodded. This surprised her, as she realized that Qu Yi was only at the Early Diversion stage of cultivation and was likely just a minor figure in the Taiyuan Sect, unable to know an elder from the Crafting Hall. “So you know Elder Li Huan? Then I’ll send him a message. If he’s willing to meet you, he’ll be here in a moment,” the female cultivator said with a smile. Qu Yi smiled faintly; it seemed that knowing Li Huan would save him a lot of trouble. Otherwise, he would have to be exploited by the people of Lingbao Xuan many times before any real communication could take place. Soon, the female cultivator went to an important room in Lingbao Xuan and used the communication tablet there to inform Li Huan about Qu Yi’s situation. Moments later, a person rushed out from a peak in the Crafting Hall and teleported to Lingbao Xuan. Li Huan had indeed come! “Li Mu, I guess it’s you who came. Haha, well done—becoming the leader of the Fourth Law Enforcement Team so quickly! Our Li family can now spread and grow on other planets,” Li Huan said joyfully as soon as he landed. Qu Yi replied calmly, “Ancestor, there’s still a hundred years left. After I retire from the Law Enforcement Team, I will definitely strengthen our Li family.”

The enforcement teams are replaced every hundred years. Members of these teams can request rewards from the Taiyuan Gate based on their achievements in fulfilling their tasks. Some of them ask to be sent to certain planets to safeguard the Taiyuan Gate’s interests there. After hearing Qu Yi’s words, Li Huan immediately believed that Qu Yi would truly help the Li family grow stronger, and he smiled even wider. At that moment, he had no idea that the real Li Mu was already dead, and Qu Yi was merely impersonating him. “By the way, Li Mu, did you come to the Artifact Forging Workshop this time to create a magical weapon?” Li Huan suddenly asked. Qu Yi glanced around, smiling but staying silent. Realizing this, Li Huan immediately took Qu Yi to a guest room in Lingbao Xuan and then cast a spirit-blocking seal to ensure their conversation wouldn’t be overheard. “Ancestor, I want a magical weapon in the lower-grade spirit artifact category,” Qu Yi said with a smile, then took out the Golden Qilin Mountain-Beating Staff. This time, Qu Yi intended to use the pretext of helping the Golden Qilin craft a magical weapon to gather information. Li Huan glanced at the Mountain-Beating Staff and, seeing it was only a mid-grade treasure weapon, lost interest in examining it closely. He simply noted down details such as its design and weight. “Li Mu, I can help you with the magical weapon, but you’ll have to pay for the spirit stones used to create it yourself. A lower-grade spirit artifact usually costs a hundred upper-grade spirit stones. If you provide the materials yourself, it can be halved in price,” Li Huan said with a smile. After hearing this, Qu Yi replied, “Ancestor, I understand this rule. Please help me create it. Next time, I’ll bring the spirit stones.” Li Huan nodded, agreeing to take on the task. Qu Yi suddenly asked, “Ancestor, during the competition for the team leader position a few days ago, I obtained a mid-grade spirit artifact, the Gold-Pointing Spear. I heard it was also purchased from this Artifact Forging Workshop. Ancestor, is it that easy to create spirit artifacts? There must be tens of thousands of experts at the Divination Stage in the Taiyuan Gate. If they all wanted a spirit artifact, could you supply them all?” Li Huan raised his eyebrows and smiled, saying, “Li Mu, you don’t know this because there’s a treasure in the Taiyuan Gate called the Xingluo Ding.” Seeing Li Huan’s proud expression, Qu Yi’s eyes lit up, and he immediately asked, “What’s the use of the Xingluo Ding? What grade is it?” Seeing his ‘descendant’ so interested, Li Huan decided to share everything and said with a smile, “Li Mu, have you heard about the origins of the top ten sects in the cultivation world?” Qu Yi nodded.

The Immortal Realm, the Demon Realm, and the Fiend Realm each sent five people to the mortal world to pursue Emperor Hao and his two companions. After fierce battles, out of the fifteen people from these three realms, only ten remained. These ten established cultivation sects on the Six Plateau Stars, giving rise to the current Ten Great Sects. After Qu Yi took control of Li Heng, Liang Qu, Shuo Bai, and others, he also learned about these events.

“Back then, the five people from the Immortal Realm fought against Emperor Hao, with only one dying. The remaining four each practiced different cultivation techniques. The immortal who practiced the gold-based technique, calling himself Jin Xuan, established the Taiyuan Sect. When the ten survivors from the three realms returned to the upper realms, Jin Xuan left the Xingluo Ding, a treasure at least at the level of an immortal artifact, to the Taiyuan Sect,” Li Huan said happily.

Hearing this, Qu Yi was stunned and asked in confusion, “Ancestor, aren’t you even sure about the exact level of this Xingluo Ding as a magical artifact?”

Li Huan nodded, speaking with uncertainty, “We indeed don’t know its level. I’m not aware of the details either. It’s probably kept in the most secret place within the sect, where records of those past events are stored. Anyway, the Taiyuan Sect hasn’t utilized most of its functions; we’ve only used its ability to refine materials.”

Qu Yi was greatly surprised and quickly asked, “No wonder the Taiyuan Sect is the strongest among the Ten Great Sects. So there’s such a precious treasure. By the way, Ancestor, can’t even those at the Great Perfection stage fully control the Xingluo Ding?”

Li Huan sighed helplessly and said, “No. Even the most powerful beings at the Great Perfection stage can only utilize a small portion of its functions.”

After hearing this, Qu Yi was about to ask more questions but suddenly froze and fell silent.

Seeing that Qu Yi was quiet, Li Huan thought he must be shocked and said, “Alright, Li Mu. The secret of the Xingluo Ding is known to all the Ten Great Sects, but they all agree not to spread it in the cultivation world. Since I’ve told you, don’t go spreading it.”

Qu Yi understood. If the Xingluo Ding could refine materials, it meant that high-quality treasures could be upgraded to lower-grade spiritual weapons, and lower-grade spiritual weapons could be upgraded to mid-grade ones. Undoubtedly, the Taiyuan Sect could obtain higher-level magical artifacts using the same materials, giving it a huge advantage. If this news were spread, everyone in the cultivation world would surely flock to the Taiyuan Sect. Naturally, the other nine great sects wouldn’t spread it either. And since the Taiyuan Sect itself wouldn’t reveal it either, it was likely because it didn’t dare to break ties with the other nine sects. So, keeping it secret was best.

“Ancestor, I won’t keep you any longer. Please craft the magical artifact I need for me; I’ll come to purchase it later,” Qu Yi said as he stood up.
Li Huan nodded and immediately removed the restriction.
After leaving Lingbao Xuan, Qu Yi quickly returned to his own courtyard, set up a spiritual confinement restriction, and then entered the Cunjie Ball.
“Vessel God, is that Xingluo Ding the magical artifact you used before?” Qu Yi called out as soon as he entered the Cunjie Ball.