414: Chapter 414 Turn Enemies into Friends

Elder Xuanqing walked in from outside the hall, holding a brocade box. He approached Gao Feng and handed it to him. "Gao Feng, this is a personal gift from me." Gao Feng took the box and opened it to find a dark gold Jade Slip and several volumes of ancient texts. It was the complete version of the Five Elements Evasion Technique, along with the Spell insights and combat case studies left by the past sages of the Wanfa Sect.

"The complete version of the Five Elements Evasion Technique," Elder Xuanqing's voice was not loud, but everyone in the hall heard him clearly. "There are also some Wanfa Sect records; they aren't forbidden secrets, but they should be helpful to your cultivation." Gao Feng did not decline and accepted this generous gift. The Wanfa Sect records were not just about Spells, but also about understanding the Sect itself.

After the lecture ended, the Disciples gradually dispersed. Han Feng did not leave; he stood under the corridor outside the hall, seemingly waiting for Gao Feng.

When Gao Feng stepped out of the hall, Han Feng came forward to meet him. "Senior Brother Gao Feng, I want to go with you. I want to join your team and go to the Lingbao Sect, Changsheng Valley, Taixu Palace... anywhere is fine." His voice was sincere, and his eyes were full of expectation.

Gao Feng stopped and looked at him. This young man was Master Lieyang's Named Disciple, who had initially been hostile toward him but now wanted to follow him. Gao Feng remained silent for a moment before shaking his head. "The team is already full; we cannot add anyone else."

A flash of disappointment crossed Han Feng's eyes, but it was quickly masked.

"But if you are willing, we can be friends." Gao Feng extended his hand. "The Wanfa Sect and the Wuxiang Sect can visit each other more often in the future."

Han Feng looked at the hand, stunned for a moment, and then smiled. He gripped Gao Feng's hand and shook it firmly. "Alright. If anything happens here at the Wanfa Sect in the future, just look for me anytime." He paused and lowered his voice. "Senior Brother Gao Feng, regarding the Lingbao Sect, you all must be careful. Sect Master Sect Leader Qilingzi has an eccentric personality; he has no prejudice against the Wuxiang Sect, but his temper is volatile. His attitude toward the Heavenly Sword Sect and the Wanfa Sect is different from his attitude toward other Sects." Han Feng's voice dropped even lower. "Sect Leader Qilingzi dislikes the Wuxiang Sect because Master Cangsong went to the Lingbao Sect to request a Magical Artifact when he was young; he was arrogant and offended him. Cang Song went more than once. Since you are from the Wuxiang Sect, Sect Leader Qilingzi might take his anger out on you."

Gao Feng nodded. "Thank you for the warning."

Han Feng patted his shoulder and turned to leave. After a few steps, he looked back. "Senior Brother Gao Feng, take care." Then he strode toward the end of the corridor.

As night fell in the Wanfa Sect guest house, the nine were packing their gear. Chu Lan packed the last few spirit plant seedlings into a jade box, Tian Xin sorted the Talismans into categories, Luo Li tuned the strings of the flowing sound zither, Su Ning checked the coordinates of the spatial teleportation formation, and Lin Yue reinforced the formation patterns on the Formation Plate once more. Yao Guang gave everyone a portion of Medicinal Pills, Lin Jingyu wiped his flowing cloud sword, and Situ Lan tightened the tassel on her azure phoenix sword.

Gao Feng stood by the window, holding the Jade Slip of the Five Elements Evasion Technique. Lingbao Sect, Sect Leader Qilingzi, eccentric personality... He tucked the Jade Slip into his robe.

Departing from the Wanfa Sect, the spatial teleportation formation was positioned fifty miles south of the Lingbao Sect mountain gate.

Su Ning said that the Lingbao Sect was surrounded by a Great Sect Protection Array, which would lock onto spatial fluctuations; if the teleportation landing point was too close, they could easily be mistaken for invaders. When the nine landed, they were facing a winding mountain path.

Bizarre rocks stood jaggedly on the mountain peaks on both sides. Embedded in the stone walls were the discarded remains of Magical Artifacts—some with half a sword blade exposed, others with only a hilt remaining, all rusty and looking like scars on the mountain.

The Lingbao Sect was built among the mountains. The main peak was not high, but the mountain itself had been hollowed out. From a distance, the entire mountain looked like a giant upturned cauldron, with countless caves extending from the mountainside to the summit.

The mountain gate was a massive stone door with the words "Lingbao Sect" carved into the lintel in stiff, forceful strokes. The gatekeeping Disciples were dressed in dark red robes with Storage Pouches hanging from their waists, expressionlessly checking the tokens of everyone entering or leaving.

Gao Feng presented the letter of introduction from the Wuxiang Sect and the Xuantian Token. The gatekeeper glanced at them and didn't make things difficult, simply saying, "The Sect Master is waiting for you in the Artifact Refining Hall."

The Artifact Refining Hall was inside the main peak, a massive grotto. The vaulted ceiling was about twenty zhang high, and the four walls were embedded with glowing crystals, lighting the interior as bright as day.

In the center of the hall stood a massive furnace, its flames glowing blue-white with a terrifyingly high temperature. A man stood beside the furnace, his hair and beard grizzled, his face gaunt, wearing a dark red robe covered in ash. His eyes were bright, like the flames in the furnace, observing people with a sharp, scrutinizing gaze.

Sect Master of the Lingbao Sect, Sect Leader Qilingzi, eighth level of the Golden Core.

He got straight to the point. "Jian Wuwei of the Heavenly Sword Sect and Xuanqing of the Wanfa Sect have both sent messages to me. You passed nine trials at the Heavenly Sword Sect and nine levels at the Wanfa Sect; here at the Lingbao Sect, the rules cannot be broken." He pointed to a stone door deep within the grotto. "That is the Artifact Graveyard—the resting place of Magical Artifacts that either failed in the refining process or were recovered after being damaged in battle by generations of Disciples. Inside are countless broken artifacts and the guardian beast, the 'Gold-Eating Beast.' Your trial is this: enter the Artifact Graveyard, choose a damaged artifact for yourselves, and repair it within the tomb using only your own spiritual power, without any external aid. Once the repair is complete, bring it out for me to see."

"Is there a time limit?" Gao Feng asked.

"None." Sect Leader Qilingzi turned back toward the furnace, his back to them. "But the Gold-Eating Beast is very sensitive to spiritual power fluctuations. The longer you stay in the Artifact Graveyard, the easier it is for it to target you. That thing is at the fifth level of the Golden Core; it lives by devouring artifacts, but it wouldn't mind tasting a living person either."

The stone door slowly opened, and a stale, decaying scent wafted out from behind it.

The moment the nine stepped into the Artifact Graveyard, the stone door closed behind them. Before them was a dark, gloomy space with a low ceiling and a floor paved with blue-gray stone slabs. Broken artifacts were scattered everywhere—shattered longswords, snapped spears, dented shields, dull orbs, and incomplete armor, piled into small hills. Some artifacts still retained faint spiritual power fluctuations, like the final gasps of a dying person.

Chu Lan crouched down and picked up a longsword that was only half-intact; the blade was covered in cracks, and the formation patterns at the hilt had already dimmed. She shook her head and placed the broken sword back where it was.

"There are too many artifacts here, at least ten thousand." Lin Yue looked around, his brow furrowed. "How do we search?"

Gao Feng did not rush to answer. He spread out his spiritual sense, perceiving the residual spiritual fluctuations of every artifact. Most of those fluctuations were weak and chaotic, like intermittent whimpering. After a moment, he walked toward the depths of the Artifact Graveyard. After about a hundred steps, in a pile of rubble in a corner, he saw a sword.

The sword was about three feet long, its blade a pale blue and covered in a thin layer of frost. There were three cracks on the blade, the deepest extending from the crossguard to near the tip. An ice-blue crystal was embedded at the hilt; the crystal was dim, but its original quality was still apparent. Gao Feng pulled the sword from the rubble; it was cold to the touch, and a faint icy spiritual power came from the blade as if responding to his touch.

"Cold Frost." Sect Leader Qilingzi's voice came from the direction of the stone door; though separated by the entire Artifact Graveyard, it was as clear as if he were speaking right next to their ears. "That is a seventh-rank Magical Artifact refined by the third Sect Master of this Sect. It has an ice attribute and a sharp Sword Intent. It was damaged in a great battle long ago, and generations of Disciples have tried to repair it, but none succeeded. If you can fix it, you will have passed the trial of the Lingbao Sect."

Gao Feng did not look back. He laid the Cold Frost sword flat on a smooth stone slab. Tian Xin crouched beside the sword, took out a blank sheet of Talisman paper, and spread it out. Using a Talisman brush dipped in cinnabar, she quickly mapped out the distribution of cracks on the blade. The position, length, depth, and direction of every crack were precisely recorded. Then she placed the Talisman paper on the blade, using the power of the Talisman to analyze the residual spiritual power within the cracks.

"There are three cracks. The deepest one has penetrated the main formation pattern of the blade and needs to be repaired from the inside." Tian Xin looked up. "The repair requires ice-attributed spiritual power to be poured in from the hilt toward the tip. If the speed is too fast, it will shatter the remaining formation patterns; if it's too slow, the spiritual power won't reach the depths of the cracks. This degree must be precise."

Su Ning's hands formed a seal, and the Space Power fixed the entire sword in mid-air, preventing it from shifting due to spiritual power impacts during the repair. A Spatial Barrier isolated the blade from the surrounding environment to prevent external spiritual power from interfering with the process.

Chu Lan took several silver-white Ice Grasses from her robe and gently placed them along the cracks of the blade. Ice Grass is a spirit plant that grows in extremely cold regions, and the juice in its leaves is a natural carrier for ice-attributed spiritual power. Chu Lan used the Spirit Plant Art to stimulate the Ice Grass, and the silver-white juice seeped from the leaf veins, slowly flowing into the cracks of the blade.

Luo Li sat cross-legged on the ground, placing the flowing sound zither across her knees to play a slow, low melody. The melody was not an offensive piece but a "Pitch-Setting Tune"—using rhythm to stimulate the remaining formation patterns within the sword, keeping them active during the repair. The sound of the zither permeated the blade, and several dim formation patterns on the sword flickered slightly.

Lin Yue set up a defensive formation around everyone. An earthy yellow light shield enveloped them; it did not block external spiritual power but could isolate the aura they emitted—the Gold-Eating Beast was sensitive to spiritual power fluctuations, and the less aura leaked out, the lower the probability of being discovered. Yao Guang sat cross-legged next to Chu Lan, healing light condensing in her palms. She wasn't healing anyone yet, but was ready to provide immediate treatment in case someone suffered a spiritual power backlash during the repair.

Lin Jingyu and Situ Lan stood guard on either side of the defensive formation, their Sword Intent projected outward as they kept watch for any movement deep within the Artifact Graveyard. Situ Lan's left arm was still wrapped in bandages, but her sword-holding posture had recovered. Yao Guang's treatment over the past few days had further improved her arm injury; although she couldn't swing the sword with full force yet, light sentry duty was no problem.

Gao Feng sat cross-legged before the Cold Frost sword, his hands hovering over the blade as spiritual power slowly flowed from his palms. He converted his spiritual power into the ice attribute and, following the crack mapping analyzed by Tian Xin, poured it from the hilt toward the tip.

The spiritual power did not rush in all at once; instead, it was divided into countless fine threads, each corresponding to the direction of a crack, stitching the cracks together from the inside like a needle and thread.