Chapter 20: New Task

The Artifact God lay motionless on the soft chair by the lake, seemingly lost in memories.
Qu Yi was thrilled to hear the Artifact God admit that the Star Luo Ding was his former magic weapon, as it finally allowed him to estimate the Artifact God’s strength. Excitedly, he flew over to the soft chair beside the Artifact God, tilting his body to stare at him.
“Star Luo Ding… I never expected it to end up in your low-level cultivation world,” the Artifact God murmured.
Hearing this, Qu Yi was shocked and quickly asked, “Artifact God, I know there are higher realms like the Immortal Realm, the Demon Realm, and the Monster Realm above this cultivation world. Is there perhaps an even higher realm?”
The Artifact God chuckled lightly and replied, “With your current strength, it’s better to focus on cultivating and strive to ascend to the Immortal Realm first. I won’t tell you anything else.”
Qu Yi was momentarily stunned, but he could roughly guess that the Artifact God must have come from a place even more powerful than the Immortal Realm.
“Alright, I won’t ask about you anymore. But you have to tell me about this Star Luo Ding. Since it’s your magic weapon, you must have a way to retrieve it, right?” Qu Yi asked eagerly.
The Artifact God sighed and said, “Stop dreaming. My soul is currently restricted by the Dimensional Sphere. I’m still far from having the strength to fully control the Star Luo Ding. However, if you manage to seize the Tai Yuan Gate in the future, I might tell you some formulas to help you use it. Right now, the people of Tai Yuan Gate are simply insulting the Star Luo Ding by forcing it to only refine materials—it infuriates me.”
After hearing this, Qu Yi understood that the Artifact God had no intention of retrieving the Star Luo Ding at the moment. But it wasn’t urgent either; with his current skill level in crafting, he really didn’t need it.
After speaking, the Artifact God fell silent for a while before suddenly saying, “Qu Yi, since the Star Luo Ding has arrived in the cultivation world, it’s likely that another magic weapon I created has also come here. Now, I’ll teach you a special formation and allow you to start crafting a magic weapon right away.”
Previously, the Artifact God had stated that Qu Yi could only craft magic weapons after mastering the formation and becoming proficient with crafting materials. Now, in preparation for the future, the Artifact God finally allowed Qu Yi to start crafting.
Qu Yi wasn’t very excited upon hearing this and said directly, “Go ahead and tell me. After all, aside from allowing me to craft communication tokens, you’ve never allowed me to craft other magic weapons. Creating just one more won’t take much time.”

Upon hearing Qu Yi’s words, the Artifact God realized that Qu Yi had grievances against him, but he didn’t mind and smiled, saying, “The formation I’m about to teach you is quite special. It’s called the Soul Coordinate. All you need to do is create an artifact core and inscribe the formation into it, and then you’ll be able to know the location of this magical artifact at any time.”

Qu Yi reacted calmly and said directly, “This is somewhat similar to the Soul Shackles. By planting Soul Shackles in someone’s soul, you can know where that person is at any time. It’s just that now you’re planting Soul Coordinates in a magical artifact to know where it is at any time.”

The Artifact God’s eyes lit up as he clapped his hands and laughed loudly, “Good, good! You have a good understanding ability.”

After saying that, the Artifact God inscribed a formation and an artifact-making method into Qu Yi’s soul. Qu Yi quickly scanned it with his spiritual awareness and understood the Soul Coordinate formation, as well as knowing that the magical artifact created from it was called the Soul Compass, along with the materials and methods needed to make it.

“Dream Soul Stones, Five Constellations Stones, Witch Spirit Crystals—these are all top-grade materials for spiritual artifacts. I don’t have them now. But since it’s the Artifact God who specifically instructed me, I’ll definitely find a way to collect them from the cultivation world,” Qu Yi said with a smile.

The Artifact God nodded and then quietly settled back on the soft chair.

…

In the sky, a slender figure flew above the residence of the Fourth Enforcement Team.

“Captain Li Mu, come quickly to take on a mission!” called a thin young man in the sky.

Qu Yi, who was inside the Dimensional Sphere, immediately stepped out, removed the restrictions, and rose into the air.

“I am Li Mu,” Qu Yi said calmly.

By now, Qu Yi already understood well the status of the enforcement teams within the Taiyuan Gate—almost anyone could give orders to them. So, he took it lightly that the young man who delivered the mission called him by name and saw no need to take it personally.

Qu Yi had infiltrated the Taiyuan Gate not to gain a prominent position there, but for other purposes.

The young man tossed a jade slip to Qu Yi without saying a word. Qu Yi caught it and scanned it with his spiritual awareness, learning about the ten missions assigned to the Fourth Enforcement Team. Then, he threw the jade slip back to the young man without saying anything either.

The young man sneered coldly and flew away. Qu Yi didn’t bother to think about why he sneered and instead reflected on the contents of the jade slip—there were ten missions assigned to the Fourth Enforcement Team, and one of them was a special mission assigned to him as the captain.

“Magic Poison Star Region, capture a Poison Soul Beast. Captain Li Mu, please handle this personally.”
This was one of the ten tasks assigned to Qu Yi personally—going to the Magic Poison Star Region, one of the four most dangerous places in the cultivation world. At that moment, Qu Yi understood immediately: the strange smile of that young man earlier meant he was about to become a dead man.
Qu Yi immediately contacted the Artifact God’s spiritual consciousness and asked, “Artifact God, do you think someone is deliberately framing me?”
The Artifact God replied quickly, “There’s no need to guess. I’ve already found out that Meng Zhan and Gui Ning have contacted those elders from Guangyuan Gate within Taiyuan Gate and taken secret actions to assign this task to you.”
Hearing this, Qu Yi’s face turned icy. He had already condemned Meng Zhan and Gui Ning to death in his heart—they would surely be killed by him in the future.
There was a saying in the cultivation world: first, immortal palaces; second, extreme perilous places; third, lost treasures; fourth, dangerous regions. The four dangerous regions referred to the Magic Poison Star Region, Tidal Mist, Soul Heart Star Region, and Heavenly Fire Star Region. In the Magic Poison Star Region, the planets there were inhabited by special beasts with deadly poisons. Just being touched by them could be fatal, and even cultivators from the cultivation world dared not enter.
Naturally, when Qu Yi thought about being framed into going to the Magic Poison Star Region, it meant someone wanted to kill him. A deep hatred was formed between them.
“Magic Poison Star Region? Alright, I also want to see one of these four dangerous regions. Others dare not go, but I have my Dimensional Ball—what can possibly stop me?” Qu Yi said proudly.
The Artifact God remained silent.
…
Qu Yi returned to Lingbao Xuan. This time, the two guards knew he knew Li Huan, so they didn’t ask for an entry fee again.
In the guest room, Qu Yi waited for Li Huan.
“Ancestor, I need to leave Taiyuan Gate for a while soon. I’m going to the Magic Poison Star Region, so I came to pick up the club I ordered,” Qu Yi said as he stood up to greet Li Huan.
Upon hearing this, Li Huan was very surprised and asked anxiously, “That’s impossible! You’re only at the early stage of Divine Soul cultivation. How could the Internal Affairs Hall allow you to go to the Magic Poison Star Region? Even those at the Great Vehicle stage might not be able to return unharmed.”
Previously, such extraordinary tasks were always requested by the Internal Affairs Hall to the Elders’ Hall, never assigned to the Enforcement Hall.
Qu Yi smiled helplessly and said, “The task has already been assigned. Ancestor, don’t worry. Nothing will happen to me.”

Upon hearing this, Li Huan’s facial muscles twitched nonstop; clearly, he was deeply saddened. He also lamented that his lack of strength and influence had allowed his descendants to be framed in such a way.
“Li Mu, I know even without you saying it—someone in the Law Enforcement Hall must be framing you. Do you know who it is?” Li Huan’s eyes flashed with cold light, his expression resolute.
Qu Yi remained calm for a moment before smiling and saying, “It’s people from the Guangyuan Gate. But that doesn’t matter. I’ll take revenge on them myself in the future.”
Hearing this, Li Huan was once again surprised and said angrily, “People from the Guangyuan Gate do have influence within the Taiyuan Gate. Although I can’t defeat them, when they need to craft magical artifacts in the future, I’ll make them suffer.”
Qu Yi could only smile. Li Huan could only resort to petty tactics—lack of strength was truly pitiful.
“By the way, Ancestor, have you brought the magical artifact I asked for?” Qu Yi quickly changed the subject.
Only then did Li Huan remember the matter at hand. He immediately took out the Mountain Smashing Rod from his space ring and tossed it to Qu Yi.
As soon as Qu Yi held the rod, which glowed with golden light, he knew it would suit the Golden Qilin well. With this lower-grade spiritual artifact, the Golden Qilin’s attack power would increase significantly. Finally, it wouldn’t need the Eight Directions Sword to compete with experts at the Fusion stage in public.
“Li Mu, wait a moment. Since you’re going to the Poisonous Star Region, you’ll need some antidote pills. I’ll go fetch some for you,” Li Huan said, seemingly remembering something.
With that, Li Huan teleported away to the alchemy workshop.
A short while later, he returned, holding a white jade bottle the size of a fist, containing three pills.
“Li Mu, these are the lower-grade spiritual pills—Zhenhao Jade Pills. They can cure various severe poisons for cultivators below the Fusion stage. I think they’ll be of great help to you,” Li Huan said with a smile, his expression finally showing some relief.
Qu Yi took the pills and felt a hint of emotion. He never expected Li Huan to actually go fetch them. It seemed he had exchanged something in return for these pills—this gesture was truly meaningful.
“Ancestor, rest assured. I promise the Li family will thrive and grow stronger in the future,” Qu Yi said firmly.
By now, Qu Yi had decided to treat the Li family well and help them prosper.
Li Huan never imagined that his kindness would bring such great benefits to the Li family’s future.

“Oh, right. For this Mountain Smashing Rod, I won’t charge you the processing fee. You only need to pay for the materials provided by the category, which totals thirty high-quality spirit stones.” Li Huan thought for a moment before finally remembering that he hadn’t yet taken back any spirit stones for the Mountain Smashing Rod.
Qu Yi smiled faintly; his previously touched mood was instantly shattered.