10: Chapter 10 Hidden Gold

For the next few days, Gu Shen did not step outside.

Apart from going to Baicao Pavilion early every morning to sign in and clean up the medicinal dregs in the Earth Fire Room, he shut himself in his small room in Bitter Water Alley for the rest of the time.

Inside, the doors and windows were tightly shut, and he had posted that Diamond Talisman he hadn't been willing to use yet as a warning system.

Gu Shen sat cross-legged, his right index finger pointing out again and again.

Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!

Streaks of golden finger energy tore through the air, striking the blue stone in the corner that was already riddled with holes.

Every time the finger energy was shot out, the spiritual power in Gu Shen's body would be instantly consumed by ten percent.

After ten fingers, his Dantian was parched.

If it were an ordinary Cultivator, they would have to stop at this moment to meditate and recover Qi, which would take at least two hours to restore.

But for Gu Shen, this was just a matter of opening his mouth to swallow.

He picked up the porcelain bottle filled with emerald green liquid beside him and took a small sip.

Boom!

That mass of "Qi Gathering Spirit Liquid" entered his abdomen and instantly transformed into vast, pure spiritual power, refilling his exhausted Dantian in the blink of an eye.

"Continue."

Gu Shen was expressionless as he raised his finger again.

It was dull, boring, and accompanied by the soreness brought on by the overuse of his Meridians.

But he never tired of it.

In the Great Yu Cultivation World, there are no shortcuts to practicing Spells; only practice makes perfect.

For a manual like "Golden Light Finger," if an ordinary Loose Cultivator wanted to Cultivate it to "Minor Achievement," achieving the ability to have their finger follow their heart and instantly wound people, it would take at least half a year of grinding effort.

But Gu Shen had repeated it three thousand times in just five short days.

If others saw this near-self-mutilating method of Cultivation, their jaws would certainly drop.

This bottle of spirit liquid, worth ten Spirit Stones, was luxuriously consumed by him on practicing low-level Spells as if it were plain boiled water.

But Gu Shen felt it was worth it.

Spirit Stones could be earned again if they were gone, but one only had one life.

Late at night on the fifth day.

Gu Shen looked at the flicker of golden light at his fingertip that was as condensed as a needle and flickering in and out, a hint of satisfaction appearing in his eyes.

With a thought, the golden light suddenly appeared.

Pfft.

Three zhang away, a moth that had just flown through the air was instantly severed in two, the cut smooth as it slowly drifted down.

"Instant cast, silent."

Gu Shen stopped his technique and exhaled a long breath of turbid air.

Now, within ten paces, taking someone's life was as easy as reaching into his own pocket.

This "Golden Light Finger," which was regarded by the world as a useless chicken rib, finally revealed its fangs in his hands.

...

The next morning, at the Hour of the Ox.

Gu Shen appeared in the Ghost Market again.

He was still wearing that washed-out gray cloth robe, wearing that "Green Wood Fang Mask" on his face, his aura restrained to the extreme.

He did not stop at other stalls and walked straight to that corner.

The book stall was still there.

The stall owner was still curled up in a ball, seemingly having not moved from his spot for days.

That rusty piece of iron was still casually pressing down on the corner of the books, attracting no attention.

Gu Shen squatted down, casually flipped through a few new tattered books laid out on the stall, and said in a hoarse voice:

"How much for this 'Spirit Beast Identification Record'?"

The stall owner raised his eyelids and glanced at Gu Shen, seemingly not recognizing him as the buyer from a few days ago, and lazily said, "Fifty broken crystals."

Gu Shen shook his head: "Thirty."

"Forty, take it or leave it."

"Deal."

Gu Shen took out forty broken spirit crystals and tossed them down, picked up the book, and then pointed to the piece of iron pressing the books, "Throw this thing in for me too, I'll use it to prop up a table leg back home."

The stall owner glanced at the scrap iron covered in verdigris and impatiently waved his hand: "Take it, take it."

Gu Shen felt settled inside, but his face remained calm as he grabbed the iron piece and the book, turned, and merged into the darkness.

The whole process was natural and smooth, not attracting anyone's attention.

Back at his residence.

Gu Shen lit the oil lamp and took out the piece of iron immediately.

The iron piece was about the size of a palm, irregular and triangular, its surface severely rusted, even stained with some dark red soil, looking just like a rotten iron nail pried off a coffin lid.

But in the perception of the [Heaven and Earth Furnace], this thing emitted a heart-palpitating, sharp aura from within.

"Refine."

Gu Shen held the iron piece in his hand, a thought moving through his mind.

Hum.

The iron piece disappeared.

In his Sea of Consciousness, the Great Furnace roared.

The commotion this time was greater than any time before.

The illusory furnace fire actually presented a pale white color, as if it were calcining some extremely hard divine object.

It took a full cup of tea's time.

The thick rust and verdigris were stripped away layer by layer, turning into fly ash.

Immediately after, the ordinary iron part was also melted and removed.

Finally, only three golden grains of sand remained at the bottom of the furnace.

They were only the size of rice grains, yet they shone with brilliant golden light, as if they had condensed the purest sharpness in the world.

Gu Shen just touched them slightly with his Divine Sense and felt a sharp pain in his Sea of Consciousness, as if he had been pricked by a needle.

[geng metal sand.] [The essence of the five metals of Heaven and Earth, indestructible, can break through protective spirit light.]

"It really is geng metal!"

Gu Shen was overjoyed.

This is the main material for refining High Grade, or even top-grade Flying Swords!

Usually, one only needs to mix in a fingernail-sized amount into the sword embryo, and the grade of the Flying Sword can be raised by one level.

These three golden grains of sand, if taken to an auction, would be worth at least fifty Spirit Stones!

"But I can't use this thing."

Gu Shen quickly calmed down.

Geng metal is too hard; it cannot be used directly against enemies and must be fused into a Magical Artifact.

His gaze fell on the "cold iron kitchen knife" at his waist.

Although this knife was of decent material, it was ultimately of mundane craftsmanship; it had enough hardness but lacked toughness, and the edge had already chipped.

"I wonder if it can be fused..."

Gu Shen had a sudden thought.

He threw the kitchen knife, those three grains of geng metal sand, and the mass of "pure refined iron" previously refined from the "Blue Scorpion Dagger" all into the Great Furnace.

"Fuse!"

This was a bold attempt.

Since the Great Furnace could separate all things, it should naturally be able to reshape all things.

Boom!

As Gu Shen poured a large amount of Divine Sense power into it, the Great Furnace operated crazily.

The cold iron kitchen knife quickly softened in the furnace fire, reverting into silvery-white molten iron; that mass of refined iron merged into it, making up for the material deficiency; finally, those three grains of geng metal sand turned into golden streams of light, like golden threads, drilling into the molten iron.

It did not change its shape.

Gu Shen desperately visualized the original appearance of the kitchen knife in his mind—that was the shape he used most comfortably.

Half an hour later.

Gu Shen's face was pale, his Divine Sense nearly overdrawn.

But in his palm, a brand new "kitchen knife" lay quietly.

The style was still that of the stainless steel kitchen knife, but the whole body had turned a dull grayish-white, and a layer of golden patterns flowed faintly on the surface of the blade, like fish scales.

At the edge, it even emitted a chilling dark golden luster.

Gu Shen swung the knife gently.

There was no sound.

The mahogany tabletop in front of him silently split open a gap, and it wasn't until he retracted the knife that the corner of the table slid off and fell to the ground.

The cut was as smooth as a mirror.

"Good knife."

Gu Shen stroked the blade.

Although it had no Spirit Pattern Restriction and was not an orthodox Magical Artifact, and it could not change size or be controlled from a distance.

But relying on the sharpness of this geng metal and the hardness of the cold iron, this was a great killing weapon for close combat.

"Since I added geng metal, and I don't want people to recognize it as a kitchen knife..."

Gu Shen found a rag and wrapped the blade a few times, leaving only the handle exposed.

"From now on, you shall be called 'Gold Cutter'."

Gu Shen stuck the knife back into his waist, feeling that icy touch, his confidence greatly increased.

This knife, plus the Major Achievement Golden Light Finger, plus the remaining poison evil bead.

Although he was only at Qi Refining Level 3, he felt that he was now fully qualified to go toe-to-toe with a Middle Stage Qi Refining Cultivator.

Of course, that was on the premise that he had to fight.

Gu Shen blew out the oil lamp.

The sky was about to brighten; it was time to go see the Wasteland.

That was his "real job."