Chapter 93

Compared to half a year ago, Nie Tian had not only become even stronger but had also grown taller. In An Shiyi's eyes, Nie Tian, who was still a child half a year ago, had now become a teenager. The trials in the Green Illusion World had greatly increased Nie Tian's realm, making him seem to have shed his naivety and become more composed. Although An Shiyi found these changes surprising, she was not astonished. What truly made An Shiyi feel a myriad of emotions was Nie Tian's current status... Nie Tian had become Wu Ji's disciple. She had long heard of Wu Ji's noble status and position in the Lingyun Sect, and even throughout the Li Tian Domain. Nie Tian, who had been recognized by Wu Ji, could be said to have soared to the heavens in one step. Nie Tian's future, due to having Wu Ji as his master, had become immeasurable. She was very clear that the identity of being Wu Ji's disciple could make even the powerful Yuan Xian have to avoid his sharp edge, and she would no longer dare to provoke the Nie family. "Sister An, why are you welcoming guests?" Nie Tian asked with a smile. An Shiyi snapped back to her senses, forced a smile, and said, "The sect has been short of hands recently. I'll arrange for someone to take you to meet Jiang Lingzhu and the others." "She's here too?" Nie Tian asked in surprise. "Of course," An Shiyi replied. "Not only your Lingyun Sect, but also the Gray Valley, Xuanwu Palace, and several families under our Lingbao Pavilion have sent people." "Oh," Nie Tian nodded. "Go in first. When I have time, I'll come and talk to you," An Shiyi said. "Alright, I'll go in first," Nie Tian said without much thought. "Liu He, take Nie Tian to the Lingyun Sect side," An Shiyi instructed. At the door, a person from the Lingbao Pavilion hurriedly walked out and said respectfully, "Please follow me." "Whoosh!" At this moment, the thunder beast that had brought Nie Tian here flapped its wings and soared back into the clouds. Knowing that Jiang Lingzhu and the people from the Lingyun Sect were also here, Nie Tian was not worried about the thunder beast's departure. In his view, after the matter was over, whether the thunder beast came to pick him up or not, as long as Jiang Lingzhu was there, he could return to the sect with Jiang Lingzhu and the others. Thus, he followed the person from the Lingbao Pavilion and entered the gate. Inside the Lingbao Pavilion, stone buildings stood tall, and many cultivators of various realms were entering and exiting some of the stone buildings. "Success! Ha ha! I finally succeeded this time!" A loud laugh echoed from a stone cave on the left mountain peak. A red-haired old man with a beard that emitted sparks was seen waving a long sword that glowed with moonlight, his expression manic. Nie Tian looked up at the extremely excited old man and said, "An alchemy master?" Liu He nodded with a smile and bowed slightly, saying, "In the entire Li Tian Domain, our Lingbao Pavilion has the most alchemy masters. They are all arranged in nearby stone caves, where there are alchemy rooms. These unique alchemy rooms are connected to the fiery core of the earth, allowing them to easily melt materials." "This appraisal meeting has many patrons, and they all hope to refine unique spirit artifacts, expecting to sell them for a good price." "Therefore, they are all rushing to refine spirit artifacts of no ordinary rank these few days." Nie Tian was taken aback and said, "Oh, it's an appraisal meeting." He had heard his master Wu Ji mention the Lingbao Pavilion's appraisal meetings and had some understanding of them. Liu He was not lying; the most powerful alchemy masters in the Li Tian Domain mostly came from the Lingbao Pavilion, and the Red Flame Mountain Range where the Lingbao Pavilion was located was extremely suitable for alchemy masters to refine artifacts. Alchemy masters needed intense flames to melt spirit materials. The Red Flame Mountain Range had underground core flames, which the Lingbao Pavilion channeled through special methods to the alchemy rooms in the stone caves, allowing the alchemy masters to refine spirit artifacts and help them cultivate their alchemy skills. The spirit artifacts refined by the Lingbao Pavilion's alchemy masters would be sold in the seven cities of Broken Bone City, Cold Stone City, Black Cloud City, and others. These alchemy masters would exchange the spirit artifacts for spirit stones, and then use the spirit stones to buy various materials to refine even higher-grade spirit artifacts. However, the spirit artifacts that flowed into the seven cities were often not of high quality. The truly rare, high-grade, and special-purpose spirit artifacts would be temporarily kept by the Lingbao Pavilion, to be sold to the Xuanwu Palace, Gray Valley, and Lingyun Sect during the appraisal meetings. Because only the Xuanwu Palace, Gray Valley, and Lingyun Sect could afford these high-grade spirit artifacts. According to Wu Ji, the artifacts refined by the Lingbao Pavilion were not only outstanding in the Li Tian Domain but were also well-known in the Fallen Star Land. Wu Ji had mentioned that some of the appraisal meetings held by the Lingbao Pavilion had even attracted cultivators from the other eight domains, crossing the star rivers to attend. Moreover, it was said that the Lingbao Pavilion would also select some of the spirit artifacts they refined to supply to cultivators from the other eight domains. Nie Tian, deep in thought, followed Liu He for a while and was led to a six-story stone building. "All the people from your Lingyun Sect have been arranged here," Liu He informed him and then called out, "Is Mr. Liu here?" "I am," Liu Yan's voice came from inside the stone building. "Young Master, I'm leaving," Liu He bowed slightly to Nie Tian after hearing Liu Yan's response and then returned the way he came. As soon as he left, Liu Yan from the Lingyun Sect came out. "Were you calling for me?" Liu Yan looked at Nie Tian with a puzzled expression. "Hello, Mr. Liu!" Nie Tian greeted him with great respect. He did not remember Liu Yan's appearance, but he had heard from Nie Donghai and Nie Qian that when he was one year old, it was because of Liu Yan's nod and the additional two small artifacts that he was allowed to participate in the family's lottery ceremony. He also knew that during the lottery ceremony, he had been too domineering and mischievous, angering everyone. If not for Liu Yan's protection, he would have been punished by the family at a very young age. Moreover, the bone that had brought him great fortune also came from Liu Yan! Because of these reasons, he had always been grateful to Liu Yan since he learned about him, but due to his insufficient status, he had never had the chance to visit the Lingyun Sect. In the past half year, he had been practicing with Wu Ji in the back mountain and had not left, nor had he found an opportunity. He never expected to meet Liu Yan, who had done him a great favor, inside the Lingbao Pavilion. "Y-You," Liu Yan looked at Nie Tian, who was bowing deeply with sincerity, feeling puzzled and unable to recognize the young man. "Uncle Liu, it's Nie Tian," Jiang Lingzhu called out from inside the room. "Nie, Nie Tian!" Liu Yan was startled, finally recognizing him, and hurriedly said, "It's you, you little rascal! Don't do that, I can't accept such a grand bow!" He rushed to help Nie Tian up. But Nie Tian took three steps back and bowed again before looking up and saying, "Uncle Liu, I was just a year old that year, so I don't remember your appearance. But from a young age, I've heard my grandfather and my aunt mention you many times. I've always been grateful to you and wanted to visit you at the Lingyun Sect, but I never found the opportunity." "Ha ha ha!" Liu Yan laughed heartily and said, "Your mother is my junior sister, so it's my duty to take care of you. You don't need to be so formal." With that, Liu Yan stopped laughing and looked at him with a complex expression, saying, "I never expected that my junior sister's child would be even more outstanding than her. When your grandfather brought me to test your cultivation attributes, I found nothing." "I'm not as wise as my senior uncle, so I couldn't see your potential back then." "But I'm truly happy for my junior sister that you've become what you are today. I hope you can cherish this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, rise to the heavens, and one day step out of the Li Tian Domain, just like your two senior brothers!" Liu Yan said solemnly. "Thank you, Mr. Liu!" Nie Tian said respectfully. "You're too kind, really too kind!" Liu Yan shook his head. "You're the disciple of my senior uncle, so by seniority, I... should call you junior uncle." "Let's put seniority aside. If you don't mind, can I call you Uncle Liu in the future?" Nie Tian asked sincerely. "Alright," Liu Yan said with a pleased expression. "Don't stand outside. We're all family, come in quickly." Soon, he led Nie Tian inside the stone building. "Let me introduce you," Liu Yan said after they entered, pointing to a few people from the Lingyun Sect and introducing them to Nie Tian. "You know Jiang Lingzhu, and you know Ye Gu, so I won't say more. This is Shi Yi, and this is Luo Xin, both my junior brothers and sisters. Our master Wu Xing, who brought us here, is currently visiting old friends at the Lingbao Pavilion and is not here for the moment." Just as Nie Tian was about to bow to each of them, those mentioned by Liu Yan all looked at him strangely and bowed to him, saying, "Greetings, Junior Uncle." Even Jiang Lingzhu, though unwilling, obediently bowed. "Shi Yi and Luo Xin are my junior brothers and sisters. Shi Yi joined the sect very early, and when your mother was still around, he was already my master's disciple. Luo Xin, my junior sister, was accepted by my master nine years ago and has never met your mother," Liu Yan explained softly. Nie Tian looked at the quiet Shi Yi, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Uncle Shi." "You're too kind," Shi Yi hurriedly said. "Luo..." Just as he was about to bow to Luo Xin, the gentle and seemingly only in her twenties Luo Xin quickly said, "Don't call me that. I'm not much older than you, so just call me Sister Xin, not Aunt!" "Sister Xin," Nie Tian chuckled. Luo Xin let out a sigh of relief and smiled at him, saying, "You really have it good, being recognized by Senior Uncle. The sect even broke a rule that had been in place for decades because of you. That's quite an achievement." "I just got lucky," Nie Tian said self-deprecatingly. "Let's continue talking," Liu Yan invited Nie Tian to sit down and started discussing the appraisal meeting again. Nie Tian could tell that they had been discussing it before he came in, so he listened quietly. Afterward, they had a pleasant conversation. Through their talk, Nie Tian learned that Liu Yan also knew a bit about alchemy and had a small interest in it, so he never missed the Lingbao Pavilion's appraisal meetings. The seven spirit artifacts that Liu Yan had brought to the Nie family years ago were all collected from the Lingbao Pavilion's appraisal meetings. Even the bone that had brought Nie Tian great fortune came from one of the Lingbao Pavilion's appraisal meetings, which made Nie Tian secretly look forward to this one even more. ...