407: This person's talent is no less than mine.

"That is absolutely impossible!"

Zhou Qingwei waved his hand abruptly, pointing at the great sun flying boat below, and said, "On the surface, it looks like an ordinary tier 2 medium grade Flying Boat, but in the eyes of a true Artifact Refiner who knows their craft, it is a work of art of exquisite workmanship!"

The more he looked, the more incredible he found it, and the admiration in his eyes grew ever stronger.

"It is the ultimate blend of intricacy and complexity. Every Fusion is perfectly placed, and the layered designs interlock flawlessly. It looks complicated but has no redundancy, and every pattern is outlined with natural perfection!"

"If the Artifact Refiner who crafted this Flying Boat is under five hundred years old, their talent is not below mine!"

True Lord Haoran was dumbfounded after hearing this. If not for having known Zhou Qingwei for many years, he would have definitely thought this old fellow was trying to fool him.

The great sun flying boat was crafted by the Liu Family in Great Sun City. It wasn't anything special; its biggest advantage was mass production, and the price was relatively cheap.

His eldest daughter, Yun Miao, had reported to him that although the Liu Family Artifact Refining Workshop was a bit peculiar, it was all to improve efficiency, and everything else was normal.

That brat Liu Xuan was also very well-behaved. Apart from attracting a Golden Core Yao Beast from the Peach Blossom Sect to attack the city, he had never actively caused trouble, mainly focusing on being harmonious, bullying the weak, and fearing the strong.

Yun Miao had told him that it was impossible for Liu Xuan to have any background. He spent every day holed up with women, and his greatest pursuit was having children and strengthening his Family.

Things like Talisman Drawing, Alchemy, Artifact Refining, and Formation... to him, they were just hobbies, and he had never seemed to take them seriously.

After witnessing Liu Xuan refining the third-rank xuanhuang undying pill, Yun Miao had once tried to persuade him to focus his efforts on Alchemy.

Liu Xuan agreed readily enough, but in reality, he didn't take it seriously at all. He wouldn't even refine a Medicinal Pill for days; he would rather spend time teaching other Alchemists than study Alchemy himself.

How could such a typical hedonist be the Artifact Refining Genius whose talent was not below Zhou Qingwei's, as claimed?

"Fellow Daoist Qingwei, are you sure you didn't misjudge it? It's just a tier 2 medium grade Flying Boat; surely it doesn't warrant such exaggeration?"

Zhou Qingwei turned to look at True Lord Haoran and asked in confusion, "Since you ask that, do you know the Artifact Refiner who crafted this Flying Boat?"

Seeing that An Haoran did not speak, Zhou Qingwei took it as tacit consent and pressed further, "How is this person's talent in Cultivation? Is there a chance for Nascent Soul Formation? Is their age over six hundred?"

"As long as this person is under eight hundred years old, I can take them as a Disciple. If they are under six hundred, I can even get them into Tiangong Immortal City."

Zhou Qingwei assumed the maker of the great sun flying boat was at least a Third-rank Mid-grade Artifact Refiner, so he defaulted to assuming they were a Golden Core True Person and did not consider the possibility of them being younger.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist. If this matter succeeds, I will certainly pay you a handsome reward."

"This..."

An Haoran opened his mouth, unable to figure out how to explain it to him for a moment.

"Fellow Daoist Qingwei, this person's identity is rather special, and I haven't figured out the specific situation yet. Shall we chat about it slowly another time?"

Zhou Qingwei frowned, then smiled, "No rush, we'll talk about it later. Let's continue our game of chess."

The two continued playing chess, as if they had completely forgotten about what just happened, until Zhou Qingwei left after a few more games.

Zhou Qingwei resided next to Zhengqi Tower, inside a golden sphere.

The golden sphere floated in mid-air. It didn't look as grand and imposing as Zhengqi Tower, but it was shrouded in a mysterious aura that made it imperceptible to the Divine Sense of ordinary Cultivators.

Upon returning to his palace, Zhou Qingwei immediately sent people to investigate the origins of the great sun flying boat. Since An Haoran wouldn't say, he would investigate it himself.

A top-tier Artifact Refining Genius was extremely valuable. If he found this person, he would at least gain a Disciple with supreme talent. If this person was under six hundred, recommending them to Tiangong Immortal City would bring even greater benefits!

Tiangong Immortal City was one of the places in the entire Cultivation World that valued Geniuses the most. For every official Disciple that joined, the recommender would receive generous rewards.

On the other side.

After Zhou Qingwei left, An Haoran immediately ordered his subordinates to send over all the information and data regarding Liu Xuan.

The information he had previously known about Liu Xuan had all been reported by others and were isolated points; Liu Xuan had not been worth him spending effort to study specifically.

As his Divine Sense swept over the pile of information, An Haoran's brows smoothed and furrowed in turn.

After reading all of Liu Xuan's information, An Haoran's first impression was that it was strange. Liu Xuan was full of anomalies; everything about him was weird.

Recently, he had even gotten involved with the Yao Race of the Peach Blossom Sect. This brat was secretly in contact with the Yao Race—his guts were truly extraordinary!

"Could he really be a Prodigy-level Genius that only appears once in ten thousand years, naturally attuned to the Dao?"

If he were a Genius of that level, it would be normal for him to have some anomalies. If he weren't abnormal, could he even be called a Genius?

Looking at the data, although Liu Xuan was strange, all the strange points had reasonable explanations.

Liu Xuan's style of conduct did not resemble those old monsters; it completely fit the characteristics of a young Cultivator, just a little bit indulgent.

He was a Genius, after all! A little indulgence was only to be expected.

An Haoran called his eldest daughter, Yun Miao, and asked her again for her opinion on Liu Xuan.

"Father, you previously said he might have a mysterious background, but from my observations, the possibility is very small. He just likes to hide his strength, which is why he seems strange to us."

An Yunmiao's expression was very firm, "If we view him as a talented Cultivator with extremely high talent but no ambition, everything makes sense."

An Yunmiao did not yet know True Lord Qingwei's evaluation of Liu Xuan's Artifact Refining talent and assumed her father had suddenly come to value Liu Xuan's attainments in Alchemy, so she continued:

"Every Genius has their own unique way of growing. As long as his Alchemy level can continue to improve, we should not interfere too much, lest it be counterproductive."

Yun Miao had a pretty good impression of Liu Xuan, and since she could see that her younger sister Yun Xi was deeply in love with him, she was willing to speak well of him.

An Haoran was noncommittal about his daughter's words. He pondered for a while and asked:

"Yun Miao, you have stayed at the Liu Family. I heard that Liu Xuan is simultaneously proficient in Talisman Drawing, Alchemy, Artifact Refining, and Formation. In your opinion, in which craft does he have the highest talent?"

Initially, when An Haoran saw Liu Xuan drawing a Talisman out of thin air, he thought his Talisman talent was the best. Later, when Yun Miao said he had successfully refined a third-rank pill, he thought his Alchemy talent was the best. Now, Zhou Qingwei said Liu Xuan's Artifact Refining talent was not below his!

No! Zhou Qingwei's meaning was that if Liu Xuan was currently under five hundred years old, his talent was not below his.

How old was Liu Xuan? Never mind five hundred years old, he wasn't even one hundred!

According to Zhou Qingwei's statement, what kind of Genius was Liu Xuan?

Zhou Qingwei was no ordinary person, but a Fourth-Tier Artifact Refining Master of Tiangong Immortal City, a figure who had achieved the status of True Lord through the Dao of Artifacts. His own status as the Academy Head of the South Courtyard was not much more noble than his.

Yun Miao thought for a moment and said, "It should be Alchemy!"

She was also a bit uncertain, "In Liu Xuan's eyes, all Cultivation crafts are just tools to make money. I feel that he has never taken them to heart, nor have I ever seen him go all out."