Chapter 63

"Ah—"

A scream interrupted Shang Xia's cultivation of the sword technique, it was his aunt Shang Xi!

A flash of sharp light appeared in Shang Xia's eyes. He held the green steel longsword behind his back, his steps suddenly becoming irregular as he arrived at the top of the Shang Tower.

At the same time, several figures also rushed up, including Shang Ke, Shang Quan, and Yan Qi.

The group arrived outside the quiet room from which the sound came, exchanged glances, and were about to rush in together.

Unexpectedly, Shang Xi's angry voice came again: "Who is wasting such a precious thing, using yan down to pad a bird's nest?"

Shang Xia was slightly stunned and relaxed, only then noticing that the quiet room in front of him was where he had just cultivated.

Shang Quan and Yan Qi, however, looked surprised. What yan down?

Could it be that kind...?

Shang Ke glanced at Shang Xia, shook his head helplessly, as if something he hadn't mentioned had been exposed, and then pushed the door open and walked in directly.

Shang Quan, Shang Xia, and Yan Qi followed closely behind, also entering the room.

Inside the quiet room, Yan Nie seemed to have been startled and was now perched on a beam, issuing a high-pitched, threatening call at Shang Xi, who was holding the newly built small nest in her hands.

However, Shang Xi ignored this, instead looking sharply at the people who had entered the quiet room, her gaze finally settling on Shang Xia, as if she were seeing him in a new light, scrutinizing him continuously.

Shang Xia, feeling the strange gaze, his hair standing on end, forced a grim smile and asked, "Aunt, what's wrong?"

Shang Xi said in a low voice, "You... You don't know the use of this yan down? You actually used it to make a nest for your spirit pet?"

Shang Ke's figure flashed, and he was already beside Shang Xi, his gaze falling on a clump of fine down under four bird eggs, his expression slightly stunned.

Seeing this, Shang Quan quickly walked over, looked at the contents of the small nest, then at the bewildered Shang Xia, and clicked his tongue disapprovingly.

Behind Shang Xia, Yan Qi also stretched his neck to look into the small nest.

"Really, it's yan down. Tsk tsk, such a large clump, hehe..."

Shang Quan rubbed his hands, looking as if he couldn't wait to pull the clump of yan down out of the nest, causing Yan Nie on the beam to protest with a series of "chirps" and "chatters."

Shang Ke sighed, "Ah, it was expected, but I didn't think it would happen so soon. This will surely make all the families envious!"

Shang Xi looked at Shang Ke in confusion, asking, "Fifth Uncle, what do you mean?"

Shang Ke sighed, "This boy showed off a large group of mutated rain swallows at the base of Yan Ling Mountain in front of Ji Wenlong, Shang Bing, and Yun Yishu. From that moment, Tongyou Academy and the Ji and Yun families have probably been planning how to collect yan down through him."

"What, a group of mutated rain swallows? Seen by others? Or did he show them off himself?"

Shang Xi's voice grew louder and more shrill with each word.

In a fit of anger, she stuffed the small nest into Shang Quan's arms and stepped forward to grab Shang Xia's ear, saying, "You little rascal, look what you've done! This thing could have been ours alone, all ours! Do you understand?"

Shang Xia, wincing in pain, quickly pleaded, "Aunt, Aunt, I'm sorry, please let go! Can you at least tell me what this thing is used for?"

Shang Xi, fuming, pinched Shang Xia's ear and pushed him hard, almost dislocating his neck.

"What is it used for?"

Shang Xi glared at her nephew, "Weren't you already eyeing the brocade cloud box in my hands? Now you don't have to. The clump of yan down in the nest, not to mention making a brocade cloud box, is probably enough to weave a spatial bag."

"What?"

Shang Xia's eyes nearly popped out. He looked at the yan down under the four bird eggs in the nest, then at the expressions of the elders around him, and couldn't help but ask, "This thing is a treasure for making spatial items?"

Shang Ke and the others remained silent, clearly acknowledging what Shang Xia had said.

How rare spatial items were, Shang Xia knew very well.

The Shang family, one of the four major families in Tongyou City, had only three brocade cloud boxes in total throughout the entire family.

Shang Xia had long coveted the brocade cloud box in Aunt Shang Xi's hands.

However, Shang Xi was very protective of the box, and Shang Xia had never had the chance to get it.

The Shang family had five powerful weapons, and Shang Xi could indulge her nephew by letting him take two and show them off at Tongyou Academy, but she absolutely wouldn't let him touch her brocade cloud box.

Shang Xia looked at the angry Shang Xi, then at Fifth Uncle Shang Ke, who was looking up at Yan Nie, seemingly calculating something, and finally settled his gaze on Uncle Shang Quan, asking with a smile, "Uncle Quan, how many brocade cloud boxes can this clump of yan down make? And what is this spatial bag Aunt mentioned?"

Shang Quan glanced at Shang Xi, who had turned her face away in anger, and could only smile bitterly, "The quality of brocade cloud boxes varies, and the extraordinary materials needed for their production are not just yan down. Of course, if you have yan down, the other materials are less important. Yan down is the core material for making brocade cloud boxes."

Shang Quan didn't directly answer Shang Xia's question but first explained the importance of yan down in spatial items, then said, "Brocade cloud boxes are classified by the size of their storage space, usually divided into three categories: one foot square, two feet square, and three feet square. Three feet square is about the limit for a brocade cloud box."

At this point, Shang Quan paused and glanced at Shang Xi, saying, "Aunt Xi's brocade cloud box is three feet square, the largest storage space among the three brocade cloud boxes in our Shang family."

"How much yan down is needed to make each of these three brocade cloud boxes?" Shang Xia asked again, somewhat impatiently.

Shang Quan waved his hand, signaling him not to rush, and continued, "Generally speaking, without considering the possibility of failure, a one-foot-square brocade cloud box requires five grams of yan down, a two-foot-square brocade cloud box requires one ounce, and a three-foot-square brocade cloud box requires two ounces."

Shang Xia looked at the yan down in the nest, estimating that the clump was at least three ounces. According to Uncle Quan, that would be enough to make at least one three-foot-square and one two-foot-square brocade cloud box; if all were made into one-foot-square boxes, at least six could be made.

Shang Xia felt a bit of a toothache, finally understanding why his aunt had screamed and raged. Even he felt he had reached a new level of wastefulness.

However, Shang Xia quickly remembered the spatial bag his aunt had mentioned and hurriedly asked, "What about the spatial bag?"

Shang Quan said, "You don't need to rush, I was just about to explain. The spatial bag is different from the brocade cloud box."

"The brocade cloud box uses yan down as the inner lining, which is the core material, but it also uses some other extraordinary materials."

"However, the spatial bag is entirely woven from yan down, seemingly without the need for any other extraordinary materials."

"Of course, some secret techniques are definitely involved. As I understand it, when spinning the yan down into threads, the weaver must weave tiny, intricate spirit patterns into each thread. During the weaving process of the spatial bag, these patterns interconnect, forming a series of talisman patterns that ultimately expand the space inside the bag."

Seeing Shang Xia's stunned expression, Shang Quan said helplessly, "You don't need to be surprised. I only know the general idea. The specific production process may not even be fully preserved in Tongyou Academy, and even if it is, the masters in the Hall of a Hundred Arts may not have the ability to do it."

Seeing Shang Xia's slightly disappointed expression, Shang Quan continued, "Although the spatial bag is difficult to make, each one has at least a five-foot-square space inside. It's said that the top-tier spatial bags can even hold a ten-foot-square item, making the brocade cloud box seem like a toy in comparison."

Shang Xia swallowed, "How much yan down is needed to make a spatial bag?"

Shang Quan smiled slyly, "Three ounces!"

Three ounces, exactly what Shang Xia had obtained!

However, according to Uncle Quan, the difficulty of making a spatial bag was extremely high. What if it failed...

While Shang Xia was standing there, hesitating whether to make a brocade cloud box or a spatial bag, Shang Ke, who was looking up at Yan Nie, suddenly sighed.

"Ah, how long will it take to pluck three ounces of yan down from that group of mutated rain swallows?"

Everyone was taken aback.

Shang Quan asked curiously, "Such a precious extraordinary item, did you really find it on a Wuji Realm Blue Spirit Warrior?"

Shang Xia, feeling strange, nodded, "Yes!"

He then recounted the events of that day, mentioning the other items he had obtained.

Shang Quan shook his head, "Even if that group of Blue Spirit Warriors was being pursued by the patrol riders, such valuable items would definitely be carried by Wuji Realm experts, unless... no one knew about the existence of the yan down!"

Shang Xi then said, "There's only one possibility. It can be confirmed that the group of Wind Swallow Tribe warriors found and attacked a nest of mutated rain swallows, but the yan down was not collected by them. It must have been collected beforehand by the Thunderbird, and then accidentally found by the Blue Spirit Warrior. He might have known what it was, or he might not have, but in the end, he chose to keep it secret and claim it for himself."

Everyone nodded, roughly agreeing with Shang Xi's deduction.

"What should we do now? There's no master in Tongyou Peak who can make a brocade cloud box."

Shang Quan asked casually, his gaze falling on Shang Xia.

Shang Xia scratched his head, "Uh, I haven't decided yet. How about letting Yan Nie continue incubating them here?"