Chapter 873: Silver Spear

In the quiet room of a small shop, a burly man distractedly sipped his tea, his eyes frequently darting towards the back hall. He was so absentminded that his fingers unconsciously twirled a jade cup, scattering fine powder as he rubbed away a layer of its surface.

The shop assistant watched him with wide eyes, daring not to voice his anger. After all, this was a high-level cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage.

The man gulped down his tea, then rose and paced around the room, moving with an air of immense power.

The assistant couldn't help but say, "Senior, please calm down. My shop owner's artifact refining skill is second to none in the entire market. He surely won't disappoint you."

"What do you know?" The burly man glared, his eyes like a tiger's. "I searched the sea for two full years to catch that Silver-tailed Beast and finally got a fist-sized throat stone to upgrade my silver spear. If it's ruined, not only will the throat stone be lost, but my spiritual tool, the silver spear, will also suffer significant damage to its spirituality. How could I have been so foolish, listening to those guys' instigation and coming to a refiner I've never met before? If only I had known... sigh!"

The assistant, having been scolded, shrank his neck and dared not retort, quickly retreating to the front of the shop.

The burly man was left alone, pacing back and forth in the room. There was no news from the back hall, and he didn't dare to barge in and disturb the refiner. He was truly anxious. His agitation was understandable; that silver spear was his only top-grade magic artifact, exceptionally important. If it were ruined, his strength would be severely diminished.

Just as the burly man’s anxiety reached its peak, the door finally opened. A middle-aged man with an ordinary appearance and a smile on his face walked in. In his hand, he held a silver spear, radiating a brilliant luster that immediately signaled its extraordinary quality. The spearhead was large and sharp, seemingly coated in a layer of glaze, gleaming with a cold light.

The burly man darted forward to Qin Sang, his face filled with urgency. "Fellow Daoist Mingyue, what's the result?" His eyes were fixed on the silver spear, unable to look away. The spear felt both familiar and alien to him, yet he was certain it was his own spiritual tool.

"Fellow Daoist, why don't you see for yourself…" The shop owner, smiling, tossed the silver spear to the burly man, then walked to the table, sat down, and took a sip of fragrant tea.

This man was Qin Sang, disguised. He had assumed this identity to refine artifacts for others in the market, hoping to further comprehend the Way of Artifact Refining. Naturally, cultivators in the market wouldn't have magical treasures for him to refine, but as Qin Sang was only in the preliminary stages of understanding restrictions, even top-grade spiritual tools proved effective. He took on few commissions, selecting them carefully, but the results consistently satisfied his clients, establishing a good reputation. This burly man was particularly fortunate. Qin Sang had achieved a new breakthrough in his artifact refining skill just the day before, greatly improving it. The silver spear he refined for the burly man now possessed power comparable to artifacts he had previously refined with the aid of the Nine Nether Demonic Flame.

The burly man lightly twirled the silver spear, and a blue wave suddenly shot from the spearhead. The quiet room then seemed to transform into an underwater space, with ripples rapidly spreading in all directions.

*Clang! Clang!*

The jade cups on the table shattered one after another.

Qin Sang lightly tapped his finger, and white light shimmered on the four walls of the quiet room. He coldly snorted, "Fellow Daoist, why don't you stop? Are you trying to dismantle my small shop?"

As if waking from a dream, the burly man hastily ceased his movements and quickly walked to Qin Sang, clasping his fists. "I was overjoyed by the hunt and got a bit carried away. I hope Fellow Daoist doesn't mind…"

A moment later, the two sat opposite each other in the now tidied quiet room. The burly man no longer harbored any doubt towards Qin Sang and spoke with immense admiration.

Qin Sang shook his head. "My luck was excellent today, and your spiritual tool had a good foundation. That's why it could achieve such a significant improvement. This situation cannot be replicated." He did not wish for his fame to grow too large, lest it attract unwanted trouble.

However, the benefits of refining this silver spear for the burly man were evident. The burly man regarded Qin Sang as a master refiner and was keen to befriend him, sharing everything he knew without reservation.

Qin Sang learned that the burly man came from a sect called Dianjun Mountain. After a moment of thought, he recalled that Dianjun Mountain was a small sect on Landou Island, with one particularity: its mountain gate shared the same mountain range as the Lan Dou Sect. This mountain range, named Lan Dou Mountain, was vast, but the most fertile areas and best spiritual veins were occupied by the Lan Dou Sect. Small sects like Dianjun Mountain could only establish their gates in remote areas.

"I heard that sects near the Lan Dou Sect have intricate connections with it. Some who render great service can even observe the Lan Dou Sect's true legacies. Just now, Fellow Daoist displayed exquisite spear techniques, and your water-attribute spiritual energy is remarkably refined. The Lan Dou Sect has a famous technique called the *Water Breath Art*. Have you ever had the opportunity to observe it?" Qin Sang asked, feigning curiosity.

The burly man smiled wryly and shook his head. "Fellow Daoist thinks too highly of me. My sect is small; how could it catch the Lan Dou Sect's eye? Only sects affiliated with the Lan Dou Sect might have such an opportunity. If I had truly seen the *Water Breath Art*, I wouldn't have only this level of cultivation."

"Are the Lan Dou Sect's true legacies truly that powerful?" Qin Sang continued to probe.

"Of course! The profound heritage of a major sect is beyond our imagination," the burly man, though rough in nature, spoke with genuine admiration when discussing the Lan Dou Sect. "The Lan Dou Sect's three most famous true legacies—the *Water Breath Art*, the *Wood Automaton Sutra*, and the *Yin-Yang Heavenly Struggle Secret Art*—are all top-tier cultivation techniques. Even their slightly weaker true legacies are premium techniques that we could never hope to attain in our lifetime…"

Qin Sang silently listened as the burly man detailed the Lan Dou Sect's true legacies. During this time, he had encountered many Foundation Establishment cultivators and secretly gathered information, learning a great deal about the Lan Dou Sect. Yet, what surprised him was that there was not a single cultivation technique related to star-origin power! The burly man, who knew more about the Lan Dou Sect than anyone Qin Sang had previously met, recounted the true legacies, but still no such technique was mentioned.

Qin Sang inwardly found this strange. The Lan Dou Sect had once produced a Core Formation cultivator named Qiyunzi who practiced such a technique, yet no one knew of this technique, nor did anyone even recognize Qiyunzi's name. Qin Sang recalled what Old Man Zhushan had said at the time. When he met Qiyunzi, he had just entered the Immortal Path, and now Old Man Zhushan was over four hundred years old. If something unexpected had happened to someone from four hundred years ago, it was understandable that no one remembered them now, especially since the Lan Dou Sect did not lack Core Formation cultivators. However, for a renowned sect like the Lan Dou Sect, their true legacies could not be kept secret, only the core content of the cultivation techniques.

"Could it be that Qiyunzi obtained the cultivation technique outside the sect gate?" Qin Sang couldn't help but entertain this thought. This would be rather troublesome. He might have chosen the wrong target. If Qiyunzi had fallen outside the sect gate, or even in the Demon Sea, his secrets would have vanished with him. It would be difficult for Qin Sang to start with Qiyunzi to find clues about the star-origin infusion; his best hope still lay with the Scorpion Venom Grass.

Qin Sang pondered this, while the burly man continued to prattle on, finally sighing, "If you want to learn these techniques, you can only join the Lan Dou Sect. Otherwise, even if we get a chance to observe a true legacy, the Lan Dou Sect would never reveal the core content of the cultivation technique to us."