Having the elder glare his way, Li Lang bowed politely and acted submissively to prevent worsening her impression of him.

“Elder Tie, I await your instructions.”

Hearing his words, the elder seemed to have snapped out of it. She cleared her throat, playing off the astonishment she had just presented.

“Interesting. I’ve never seen or heard of two affinity tests by the same person, on the same day, producing different results. It must either mean the testing device is defective or you managed to improve within minutes, which is an unprecedented feat in itself.”

The elder held up the green bell in curiosity, examining it carefully before striking it with the mallet once more. Just like the first time she had done it, metallic dust descended from the bell.

“Well, I’ll take a further look at it later. For now, you have officially passed the affinity test. I welcome you as my student.”

With that, the elder quickly explained a few rules and how things worked before retreating with the bell in hand. She had told Li Lang to report to his seniors at the workshop to get things started while she went to attend to her own matters.

Left to navigate through the workshop alone, Li Lang headed back to the work area where Long Yi had once brought him. Inside, he found half a dozen other young cultivators, hard at work in their own task.

He even spotted Long Yi in the corner, sorting through a bunch of cabinets. The entrance of a new person drew everyone’s attention, and Long Yi was no different.

“Li Lang, you got accepted?”

“That’s right,” he nodded. “I was told to find a senior by the name of Jing Dou.”

At his words, everyone directed their gaze toward a tall young man at the center of the room. He had a thin frame, but glimpses of toned muscle could be seen from his rolled-up sleeves. Hearing his name, he immediately put down his round hammer and approached Li Lang.

“That’s me. New student?”

“Yeah. Elder Tie told me to report to you to get started.”

The young man had a serious expression as he nodded several times to himself.

“Understood. I’ll walk you through your role in the workshop for the day. I recommend you ask as many questions as you can because you’ll be busy starting tomorrow.”

Li Lang interpreted the advice as a green light to go wild with questions. He had previously been distracted by the new topic of artificing, but he could now ask about his current main objective.

“Senior Jing, I wanted to ask you to give me a tour of all the materials you use in this workshop. Especially in materials that can power artifacts.”

“Okay. Right over here.”

Jing Dou led him toward the cabinets where Long Yi was and began bringing out materials from them. The man took his responsibility seriously and got straight to what Li Lang wanted.

“There are various materials that can conduct Qi, but only a few that can actually contain it over a long period. Among this select group, even fewer can manipulate Qi without the active intervention of a cultivator. These materials are all at the pinnacle of mortal grade, so please do be careful with them.”

Li Lang’s artifice senior spread out two bags of materials for him. Inside the first bag, he found ingots that gave off a dull sheen.

These should be alloys of some sort. Interesting. I’d love to take a few samples.

When Li Lang laid eyes on the contents of the second bag, his eyes widened. He immediately knew the object before him was exactly what he wanted. It was an oval crystal ball-like object but with a murkier coloration. It was the size of a tennis ball and exuded powerful energy.

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“This is a Qi beast core!” Li Lang exclaimed.

“That’s right. This one is just from an Energy Gathering level beast, so it’s incomplete. Proper beast cores are perfectly round.”

“Do you think I could purchase a few?”

“Junior…I may have said they were just from Energy Gathering level beats, but I’m referring to beasts at the peak of that realm. Even then, the chance of finding a beast core from these powerful beasts is one in a hundred at best! The market price for these is dozens of red crystals.”

“That’s fine. Do you think I can buy everything here?” Li Lang said as he smiled cheerfully at the six cores before him.

“What?! Junior, that would cost…” Jing Dou took a moment to re-examine the young man before him, trying to gauge his background. “Nevermind. You can’t have any of these cores without Elder Tie’s permission. I doubt she would sell you any, as these are valuable resources. Mortal grade artifacts may not be particularly powerful, but it is vital in an artificer’s training.”

“I heard, but that’s fine now, isn’t it? I’m an apprentice artificer, and I can pay for it too.”

“No, it’s for assisting artificers in their studies. It would be a waste for a beginner to use them. Please be patient. There will come a time when you’re ready to create an artifact yourself. Familiarize yourself with how we run things around here first,” Jing Dou sternly remarked.

He made it clear that he wouldn’t budge on the matter and there was nothing Li Lang could do. He could try reaching out to someone at The Orchid Covenant for a chance to purchase these cores instead, but he doubted he would receive a positive reply. It made him curse at his lack of power within his organization.

As much talent as he displayed with the incident in the pocket realm, it was another matter when it came to artificing. It was known he was new to the craft. Everyone would assume it’d be wasteful to give him strategic materials.

It’s so close yet so far!

Left with no choice, Li Lang could only keep himself occupied with learning the other aspects of artificing.

Like that, two weeks passed.

As he returned to his lodging at the end of the day, Li Lang spotted a familiar figure sitting in his room. Both Wei Ping and Long Yi were there, sitting with them.

“Li Lang, you’re back!” a cheerful girl called out.

“Yes…I didn’t expect to see you so soon, Sima Xue.”

“Hey, I told you I’d come as soon as my cultivation stabilizes. I also happen to be running an errand for someone.”

Sima Xue grinned as she held up an envelope.

“Errand? From Senior Jian or on behalf of Nightmoon Valley?”

“No silly. For Liang Po. You guys were talking about running an errand for him right? Well, this is the letter he wanted you to deliver.”

“Umm…I thought he said he would come deliver it once it’s written. Why do you have it?”

“Myriad Bones Pavilion’s headquarters is in Nightshade Valley, where I am from. I offered to bring the letter for him since I’m headed to you anyway. Don’t tell me you forgot about your promise of tofu pudding, did you?”

“...Of course not. I wouldn’t dare.”

“Then good. I’m ready to head out for it tomorrow morning.”

“We can just go get some tonight, you know?”

“No, no. I don’t want the regular kind found around here. I want the best! Let’s go to Polarity City! They have the best food around.”

“That…is a little sudden.”

“You’re heading off to deliver the letter for Liang Po anyway, right?”

“Isn’t this a little too reckless for you? Polarity City is just on the border of the orthodox sects.”

“It’s fine. Nothing ever happens in neutral territory. As long as I don’t step over into enemy territory, I’m fine. Besides, you’re going to accompany me, right?”

Being pressed by an innocent-looking smile, Li Lang glanced at his companions for help. Neither of them dared to meet his eye, abandoning their friend in need.

Li Lang took a moment more to deliberate on the matter. It was true he was planning to complete Liang Po’s errand as soon as possible. It was partly because he wanted to complete all his obligations to be able to focus on his research. However, there were several other underlying reasons.

One, he wanted to procure modern orthodox cultivation techniques and materials. The righteous sects had a much larger territory overall, meaning they had a bigger selection of resources. They were approaching the Foundation Establishment realm, so it was vital to stock up on as many materials as possible. The more options they had, the better.

Two, he wanted to start recruiting some young disciples if possible. All the people in Demonic Cultivator Territory were partial to demonic cultivation. Even those with grade two aptitude would rarely pursue orthodox techniques. The mindset they had was deeply seeped into their culture.

As for the final reason, it was the most important of them all. After learning more about how demonic cultivators were organized, and how they weren’t a united entity, Li Lang was determined to look into a certain cultivator. A cultivator who had kidnapped his childhood friends and was feared far and wide.

I have to see if any of the sects are behind the Abductress. If she isn’t so powerful, I could say for certain a sect is behind her, but with her cultivation, it’s hard to say whether she’s independent or not.

Zi Xi and Zi Xiao Mei, you both better still be okay…