Chapter 218: Master Craftsman
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
17 was a time of youthful and brashness. Coupled with having been spoiled from childhood, Ouyang Taiyi's personality was domineering.
A raspy voice escaped Su Yu's throat, "I saved your life? I came for the snakeskin. To think that I saved someone along the way…" In other words, Su Yu was implying that Ouyang Taiyi was too full of himself.
Feeling a little ashamed, in addition to his outrage, Ouyang Taiyi let out a furious grunt. "Wretched thing! You dare patronize me?"
"Enough…" Su Yu said. He finally stopped using the Divine Ice Threads in his hand and lifted his head toward Ouyang Taiyi. "You would dare to let the words 'wretched thing' pass from your mouth? Do you have any manners? Why did I look down on you? Give me a reason to notice you."
Ouyang Taiyi was furious. "You… wretched thing—!"
Ugh—
Ouyang Taiyi had barely uttered the words when a red glow flashed before his eyes. Su Yu had teleported in front of Ouyang Taiyi, lifting his arm about to slap him!
"Stop!" Tan Lin hurried over, frustration written on his face. "What are you doing?"
Su Yu calmly answered, "Teaching him some manners."
"Who do you think you are?" Tan Lin demanded in annoyance. "What right do you have to teach him his manners? Scram!"
His golden opportunity had been snatched away by a beggar who had come out of nowhere! But what he was secretly surprised about was that this beggar had decent abilities and was very brazen, even going so far as to dare to slap Ouyang Taiyi! If Tan Lin struck now, it would please Ouyang Yuxin even more than if he had defeated the Ice Dragon Snake.
Su Yu did not turn around, calmly stating, "If you also wish to be taught by me, I'll grant you your wish."
"Insolent thing! You dare to be so arrogant in front of me, Tan Lin?" Tan Lin laughed in anger. A mere beggar had the cheek to claim to teach him manners!
But just as Tan Lin was about to strike, a melodious voice came from behind him, saying, "Stop. You are not his match."
Tan Lin froze, losing his voice. Finally, he managed, "I am not… his match?"
If those words had come from anyone other than Ouyang Yuxin, he would have blown his top. True, this newcomer had killed a Dragon Realm Level Three Ice Dragon Snake with a single foot. To an ordinary person, that was indeed shocking. But to Tan Lin, who was Dragon Realm Level Four, it was unremarkable. He could kill Su Yu with one technique!
But Ouyang Yuxin had spoken. Even if Tan Lin felt he had been wronged, he had no choice but to stop.
With dainty steps and a lingering fragrance, Ouyang Yuxin stepped forward, speaking coldly to the newcomer. "My brother is in the wrong," she said. "You can let him go now."
Her words acknowledged her brother's fault, but her tone did not carry any hint of apology. Rather, the words "you can let him go now" came off as an order—and an impatient one, at that. It was as if she was a noble from high above, hiding her disgust as she conversed with a beggar.
In Ouyang Yuxin's eyes, saying any more to Su Yu was unbearable.
"Since he was wrong, he should be punished," said Su Yu mercilessly, swinging his hand down.
Sigh—
A light sigh came from behind him. Ouyang Yuxin's expression was cold.
"Do it on my account," she said. It seemed like a plea, but it was still an order.
"Do we know each other?" Su Yu questioned.
Ouyang Yuxin creased her brows. "No, but we are the Ouyang Family of the Alliance…"
"I do not know the Ouyang Family, either." Su Yu interrupted, "Since we do not know each other, why should I do it on your account?"
After saying this, Su Yu hesitated no more.
Paaah—
The crisp sound of the slap reverberated across the silent snowfield. The palmprint on Ouyang Taiyi's face was clearly visible.
"You…" stammered Ouyang Taiyi. "You dare hit me? Wretched…" Ouyang Taiyi was just about to curse when Su Yu glared at him.
Tan Lin was furious. "Insolence!" he shouted.
Ouyang Yuxin's beautiful face was unfazed. At this moment, she released a cold expression. "There are not many who would dare hit a member of the Ouyang Family in the Alliance City—"
"I am an exception," Su Yu said, interrupting her mid-sentence.
Su Yu put down Ouyang Taiyi. Then he folded the snakeskin and stuffed it into his robes, then turned towards the Alliance City.
Ouyang Yuxin wrinkled her brows. "Ridiculous!"
Su Yu secretly shook his head. Ouyang Taiyi had not been grateful that Su Yu saved him, but instead had hurled hurtful words towards him. Teaching him a lesson had now resulted in his sister calling him ridiculous. Furthermore, it looked like she was going to strike.
If they really fought, Su Yu's Buddhist Saint's Eight Characters would make her fate like Qian Kun, being killed by Su Yu. Su Yu had seen too many of these kinds of people and did not want to bother.
Whoosh—
Su Yu unleashed his pristine hundred zhang wings and left.
With the flap of the Divine Spirit's Heavenly Wings, Su Yu's figure blurred as he disappeared from where he stood.
Ouyang Yuxin squinted. What speed!
"That bloody thing!" Tan Lin said with dissatisfaction. "He ran fast! Miss Yuxin, why do you not chase after him? That snakeskin is the present we wanted to give to the Yunxiang Cabinet master for her birthday!"
Tan Lin could not understand. He did not know that Ouyang Yuxin's movement techniques were unable to match Su Yu's.
Ouyang Yuxin wrinkled her brows, her eyes filled with disgust. "Dirty! Do you think I would touch something a beggar has touched?" She turned. "Go to the Heaven Treasure Building and pick out some other treasure."
The Alliance City was crowded and filled with the noise of fanfare. Located in the center of the Hundred Territories, it was home to a million people, and its area was comparable to that of the entire Shenyue Continent!
Su Yu had spent two months there before getting news of where he could forge an item using the skin of the Ice Dragon Snake: the Heaven Treasure Building. It was a merchant store carrying items of the highest quality in all of the Hundred Territories. It had everything anyone could have wished for. Many craftsmen gathered there, one of whom was a legendary master craftsman who could forge half-divine artifacts!
Su Yu arrived at the Heaven Treasure Building.
"Stop!" the guard at the door said sternly. His cultivation level was at Dragon Realm Level Three.
Su Yu sighed. A Dragon Realm Level Three would be an elder in the Liuxian Faction. But here, they were only guards.
"Is something the matter?" Su Yu asked, lifting his eyelids.
The guard observed Su Yu, his gaze impassive. "The Heaven Treasure Building is not serving outsiders today. Please go somewhere else."
Not serving outsiders? Su Yu did not understand.
At the same time, a plump, Dragon Realm middle-aged man took out a crystal coin and passed it to the guard. The guard smiled as he stepped aside, allowing the middle-aged man to enter.
Crystal coin. Su Yu seemed to recall that this was the currency of the Alliance City. The Liuxian Faction was situated on the outskirts, and such coins were rarely seen.
In this case, the Heaven Treasure Building was not closed to outsiders. It was the guard looking down on Su Yu—thinking that Su Yu's cultivation level was only average and observing his tattered clothes—who was not allowing him to enter.
Su Yu took a step forward, and the guard furrowed his brow.
"Do I need to repeat myself?" said the guard. "The Heaven Treasure Building is not open to outsiders!"
Su Yu's expression was calm as he removed a plant with black scales from his robes. It was Black Dragon Grass from the Ancient Xianyun Temple. This item could increase the cultivation level of Dragon Realm Level Threes and below. It was worth at least ten alliance coins! Compared to the one coin it took to enter the Heaven Treasure Building, this was ten times the value.
"Black Dragon Grass!" said the guard.
Su Yu stuffed it into the hands of the guard. Looking up, he said, "Are we open today?"
The guard was shocked! This item was incredibly rare, only existing in ancient relics. The value of an item was determined by its rarity, the value of this item might have been as much as twenty alliance coins.
Hearing Su Yu's words, the guard turned rigid. He could not refuse a person with money. His face turned red.
"We… are open," he said. "Please enter, sir."
Nodding coldly, Su Yu entered with his hands behind him, leaving the guard with a trailing message: "It's not right to judge someone by his appearance."
In other words, do not look down on anyone. The guard agreed in embarrassment.
Moments later, Tan Lin respectfully allowed Ouyang Yuxin to step forward daintily toward the door of the Heaven Treasure Building. Her beautiful appearance and noble aura seeped into the surrounding atmosphere, turning many heads.
"Miss Yuxin, we have arrived," said Tan Lin.
The guard recognized this lady, stepping aside in a fluster, his voice full of respect. "Welcome, Miss Ouyang," he said.
"En, is Master Lin around? Ouyang Yuxin asked quietly.
The guard nodded. "What we tell others is that he is traveling out of the city!" he said. "But Master Lin gave instructions that if Miss Ouyang were to come, you can feel free to find him inside."
Master Lin was the legendary craftsman of the Heaven Treasure Building—the master who could craft half-divine artifacts. His status was extraordinary. Other than the master of the Alliance, everyone else had to give him some form of respect.
Families of mediocre influence did not even have the chance to meet Master Lin, but he owed the Ouyang family a favor and had agreed to help them forge an item. This deal had been previously communicated and agreed upon, meaning that Ouyang Yuxin naturally would be able to meet him.
Calmly nodding her head, Ouyang Yuxin entered.
Su Yu scanned the Heaven Treasure Building. They had everything from elixirs and herbs to weapons. The top-class Marrow Cleansing Elixir—highly sought after in the Liuxian Faction—was considered a mere low-quality item in the Heaven Treasure Building, trivially placed at a counter by the entrance. But Su Yu's motive today was to forge an item, and upon arriving at the equipment forging area, he found an old man sitting at the counter, visibly bored.
Seeing Su Yu approach, the old man silently observed him, his expression peaceful. Within that peace was pridefulness.
"What do you want?" he asked. "Choose for yourself. The prices are all stated."
"I want to craft a robe," Su Yu answered simply.
"What level of service do you want? Crafting standards vary. The prices are marked. You can see them for yourself." The old man lifted his hand and pointed.
Su Yu looked down at a sign.
Third grade craftsman, basic fee: 100 alliance coins.
Second grade craftsman, basic fee: 1,000 alliance coins.
First grade craftsman, basic fee: 10,000 alliance coins.
Su Yu finished reading. "Show me the treasures crafted by the three different craftsmen," he said. He naturally did not want to jump into things. He wanted to first inspect the quality of the items crafted.
The old man creased his brows, a little impatient, but the request was reasonable. He took out and three crafted treasures and displayed them for Su Yu.
"From left to right are the treasures crafted by the third grade, second grade, and first grade craftsmen respectively," he said. "They are all swords. You can compare them for yourself."
Su Yu scanned them. Outwardly, the three swords did not look very different from one another. Other than the sword of the third grade craftsman being a little crude, there was not much difference between the swords of the second and first grades.
With a beat of his heart, Su Yu activated the soul ripple. The sword of the second grade craftsman's sword had a smooth exterior but was filled with many small cracks in its interior. The first grade craftsman's sword was uniform, the only imperfections being three thin cracks.
"Even the best craftsman cannot craft a perfect weapon?" Su Yu said, letting out a sigh. "Three cracks… What a pity."
Upon hearing this, the old man slammed his hand on the counter. "Insolence!" he shouted.
The magnitude of the movement and the old man's sudden fury came as a surprise to Su Yu—and also to at least half of the rest of the people in the building. Their collective attention was instantly attracted toward the commotion.