Stress testing his new defensive skill turned out to be even more illuminating than Yu Xiang had initially expected.

Dozens of imperfections were laid bare in the heat of the moment, things that he wouldn’t have been able to notice on his own. Like his inability to repair individual scales while keeping the technique intact, something he decided was a priority to fix for the future.

Another painfully obvious tidbit of info he got out of the whole ordeal was that [Snake Skin] was a terribly expensive skill, both because of its nature as a defensive technique, which tended to be extremely resource intensive as a rule of thumb, and also because creating hundreds upon hundreds of scales which were able to both act as a singular suit of armor and break without compromising the working of the entire technique left it open to severe leakage issues.

Using [Snake Skin] was more like performing countless of minuscule defensive techniques layered upon each other rather than the single full scale one it presented itself as. And executing hundreds of techniques meant hundreds of different chances for spiritual energy to go wild and start leaking, leading to the already pricey technique to weigh even harder on his reserves of spiritual energy.

Oh well, no other way to fix those issues than to keep working on it, he supposed. Which is exactly what he did once he got back to his not so humble abode.

On a happier note, Lin Fen had been positively ecstatic at the veritable truckload of spiritual herbs he’d dragged back from his trip down the bowels of the earth, something that had been really amusing to witness no matter how many times he’d already seen it.

The feline alchemist’s long grey tail waved hypnotically behind him, curling in on itself in elation every time he went over some new herb he had never seen, and his furred ears waved this way and that unconsciously in a little show that the young cultivator was completely oblivious of.

He hadn’t even minded needing to make more cultivation pills for Zheng Yin and Feng Liu, simply taking it for granted that it was his responsibility to pay them back for helping Yu come back with this many herbs. In his own words, “It will merely give me more chances to practice my pill refining skills, so it is no hassle at all.”

Secretly, Yu Xiang let out a sigh of relief upon hearing that. Lin had been making pills and interacting only with the young reincarnator almost exclusively since they’d first started working together, so knowing that he had no problems with using his talents to benefit other people lifted a weight off his shoulders he hadn’t even noticed was there.

And as an added plus, this would be the perfect excuse to push the feline cultivator into interacting with more people! Heavens know the poor lad needed more friends and social experience.

The grey haired beastfolk let out a sharp sneeze out of nowhere. He briefly wondered if he was about to develop a cold but dismissed the notion out of hand immediately as he now had a refined constitution, completely impervious to mortal illnesses.

Another thing that Yu Xiang had finally gotten off of his ass to do was visiting the Forges, looking for someone that would use his looted skin and scales from the giant snake to make some protective armor.

He already knew that spiritual beasts tended to possess far superior constitutions than human cultivators in general, but feeling it on his own skin after getting blasted away with a single attack from the monstrous praying mantis had certainly put things in perspective.

The Forges were located away from the central part of the inner compound, probably due to all the noise the weapon masters made as they smelted, forged, and beat various materials into shape.

A cacophony of sounds hit Yu Xiang like an invisible wall as he neared the forging district, a discordant chorus of metal against metal, people shouting at each other, and heavens know what else.

The forging district was separated into two sections, the actual forges, which looked like little more than wooden huts of varying shapes and sizes planted against the rocky outcropping of the Golden Peak, and a single large building that stood away from the hustle and bustle of the working blacksmiths.

It was this large building that Yu Xiang was headed towards, as that is where he needed to go to place his order.

You see, weapon masters aren't exactly the most patient of people, despite how long they could stay motionless and in complete silence in the middle of forging. Why waste time arguing and shouting at potential customers when they could just forge all day and let other people take care of all the unpleasant parts of receiving commissions?

As he entered the shop the clanking noises from outside suddenly cut off, courtesy of what Yu believed was either an array or some seriously impressive architectural chops, but just as his poor ears relaxed another series of sounds reached him.

The sound of furious, sweaty, and oh so sweet haggling. For where there is money to be made there is always somebody who refuses to part with their hard earned coin.

The inside of the shop was almost homely in its appearance, with warm woods and colorful banners and rugs covering every inch of the interior. Dozens of people were standing behind waist high counters, almost growling at penny pinching cultivators who were trying to save up as much as they could, organizing the various wares that were set up around them to look more enticing for customers or simply looking into space with vacant eyes, no doubt wishing they were doing anything else more productive right now.

It was one of the people in this last group that Yu Xiang approached, hoping for an easy mark.

"Excuse me, brother." He said, trying to snap the youthful disciple out of his daydreams.

The shop attendant blinked uncomprehendingly at the sound of his voice, turning around slowly before freezing. In a flurry of movement, the man behind the counter straightened up his posture and fixed his disheveled robes, coughing in his fist in embarrassment at being caught in a moment of distraction before he finally responded to Yu's call.

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Now that he could take a better look at the attendant, Yu Xiang realized that he might've been mistaken in his first assumption. A disarming smile obviously practiced over hours spent pulling coins out of unwilling men's purses flashed under a pair of maroon eyes, framed by long locks of dark brown hair mostly held behind the man's back with a single long pin.

The shopkeeper's eyes flashed with greed as he eyed Yu from head to toe before he finally answered his call.

"Haha, apologies for the disheveled state you found me in, today has been a slow day." He started in an apologetic tone. "But enough about that! What have you visited our fine establishment for on this fine day?"

The man rubbed his thin hands together in a stereotypical 'evil merchant' way, leaving Yu now completely sure of the man's conning prowess.

However! He would not be outdone today!

Yu Xiang put on his own game face and gave the attendant a dazzling smiler before they began their fight for man's one true lord.

Money.

<<<>>>

A heavy hammer was lifted up high above a soot stained mop of messy dark hair.

It descended in a flash of movement, hitting a bar of glowing, white hot metal with enough force to crack solid stone, letting out sparks that illuminated the wooden hut for but a brief moment, glinting off of a pair of brown eyes.

Again and again, the hammer rose then fell back down, creating a cacophony that the focused smith had once found obnoxious and deafening but that with time he grew to enjoy.

This was the symphony produced by his unending efforts!

With a pair of tongs held tightly in his hand the blacksmith raised the still glowing piece of metal from his anvil, then dunked it in a barrel full of a pale azure liquid with cold mist overflowing from its edges.

A sizzling sound echoed through the hut, then after a few seconds of waiting, the blacksmith took the now cooled blade out from the barrel.

He inspected it with a critical eye, watching out for any cracks on the spiritually forged surface, checking its edges, and looking at its curvature to make sure it hadn't bent while cooling.

After a thorough inspection, he finally nodded to himself, a small self satisfied smile appearing on his soot blackened visage, after which he laid out the now mostly completed blade on a nearby workbench.

A weary sound of tiredness escaped from the dirty weapon master as he took off his reinforced apron and walked slowly towards another barrel, this one filled with normal water.

Unceremoniously the man dunked his entire head into the barrel while also dipping both of his hands inside. With all of his extremities now underwater the weary blacksmith started scrubbing down his face and hair, trying to get rid of as much dirt and burnt residues as he could.

He remained underwater for a couple of minutes scratching every which way until he finally decided he'd tidied himself enough.

With a booming sound of relief, Su Rong finally pulled himself from the barrel of water, which had now turned a dark murky color, now looking like an actual human being instead of a wide golem made out of coal and dust.

The fiery cultivator sat down at his workbench, eyeing his latest work with a glint of pride shining in his eyes.

Blacksmithing had always been a talent of his, even before he'd become a cultivator he had used to make farming tools, hinges, little toys for children, and whatever else was needed.

There was no cheating when it came to forging. The hammer didn't care what bloodline you came from, the tongs were deaf to the name of your oh so important daddy, the glowing metal gave no face to the womb which had birthed you, and the fire would bite the hand of even the most eminent of noble scions if they were not careful enough.

And it brought Su Rong no small measure of comfort to know that the Golden Peak sect's Forges mirrored the art they so devotedly pursued.

When he'd first asked to join the Forges his Master had merely snorted then pointed at a pile of metals, rocks, and different spiritual beast parts then told him. "You see those? Pick them up."

For almost three weeks he'd ran around the Forges carrying different materials. Some light as a feather, others heavy enough to make him sweat from the strain of holding them, and still others were so weird he still couldn't quite put into words what he'd felt when he held them in his hands.

But he hadn't complained once in that time, for he hadn't been alone in his labor.

Other disciples had been given the same task as him, left carrying around the weapon masters' supplies. All of them had been at a higher stage than him and he'd even seen a Core Disciple, his crimson garments unmistakable, stuck doing the same thankless job as him and the others.

Only once he'd familiarized himself with the many materials he had to ferry from place to place did his Master stop him and tell him to take up a hammer and tongs.

He was then given his own hut to work in and a couple of jobs to work on, one of which was the half finished blade laying on his workbench.

His reminiscing was rudely interrupted by a loud thumping at his door.

"Oi! Su Rong! Open the door, I got another job for ya!"

The fiery cultivator stumbled out of his seat and sped towards the entrance to his hut at the sound of his Master's voice.

As he opened the door a bear of a man acted as a second obstruction, blocking almost all light from the outside entrance into his forge.

"Took ya long enough, brat!" Commented the wall of meat, two orbs the color of coal settling upon the younger disciple which looked almost thin next to him.

"Sorry Master, I was working on a commission." Su Rong explained himself quickly.

The bearish man rolled his eyes, scratching at his red beard then passing a hand through his matching short hair, both of which looked to be stained by soot. "How many times do I hafta tell ya? I ain't your master."

Su Rong simply smiled at the man's reaction, having played this same song and dance before.

An exasperated huff left the older man's mouth and having lost his patience he simply slapped a scroll and a full sack in the shorter cultivator's hands.

"That's for ya, make sure to not mess it up. The commissioner got some of the materials himself, so there won't be a second try." The bearish cultivator warned his junior.

Su Rong grinned at the taller man in assurance, which just made the bearded weapon master roll his eyes before he simply turned around and left.

A chuckle escaped the fiery cultivator's lips as he closed the door to his hut, then he went back to his workbench to continue working.

He looked through the contents of the scroll, humming in interest, then he put his hands inside the sack, from which he extracted a bundle of pearly white scales.

Another smile split the apprentice weapon master's face. "I can make some good armor with this."