Chapter 433: Chapter 397: Moon-Cutting Saber (2)

The end of the year was approaching, and the number of cases was quite large. Lu Yuanxiu scanned through them, ten lines at a glance, planning to finish them as soon as possible so he could return to his cave abode to cultivate.

His Divine Sense swept over a jade slip, and he suddenly saw a familiar name: Zhao Lin.

Lu Yuanxiu’s eyebrows rose, and a soft "Huh?" escaped his lips.

Every year, the provincial government compiled statistics on the completion of posted missions and ranked the cultivators by the merit points they earned.

Zhao Lin’s name was conspicuously present on the top-ten list.

’Could it be someone with the same name?’

Lu Yuanxiu murmured to himself.

Everyone who ranked in the top ten for merit points were Foundation Establishment Realm or even Purple Mansion Realm cultivators. Zhao Lin was still studying at the Spirit Dao Institute; how could he have earned so many merit points?

The list included brief profiles of the cultivators. Zhao Lin’s introduction was just a single short sentence: Began cultivation in the year of Renyin, a disciple of the Han Chi County Spirit Dao Institute.

’It really is him!’

Lu Yuanxiu was both surprised and pleased, a smile touching the corners of his lips.

Although they had only interacted once, Lu Yuanxiu had a very good impression of Zhao Lin. Moreover, they both came from the same small world and hailed from the same martial arts sect.

With this connection, Lu Yuanxiu had long planned to look out for him.

However, since Zhao Lin was still studying at the Spirit Dao Institute, he had temporarily set the matter aside. He hadn’t expected the young man to accomplish something so significant.

"Summon Minister Hong. Tell him I need to review the merit point records."

Lu Yuanxiu instructed the aide standing by his side.

"Yes."

The aide acknowledged the order and quickly walked out of the central hall. A moment later, an old man with a ruddy complexion walked in.

The old man appeared to be in his fifties, but he was actually over a hundred years old. In terms of age, he was in fact a bit younger than Lu Yuanxiu.

"Minister Hong."

Lu Yuanxiu rose to greet him.

A minister was a cultivator below the rank of elder who was in charge of a department’s affairs.

"May I ask whose merit point records Elder Lu wishes to review?"

Minister Hong asked with a bow.

"There is a disciple in the Han Chi County Spirit Dao Institute named Zhao Lin. Minister Hong, please help me pull up his Body Stone."

Only the cultivator themselves and the Merit Hall had the authority to view a Body Stone, but for Lu Yuanxiu, who was in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, such things were not secrets.

"Yes."

Minister Hong agreed, reached out, and grabbed at the empty air. A few dozen jade slips appeared before him.

Each jade slip was engraved with black characters for indexing and searching.

Minister Hong glanced over them, found a specific slip, and flicked it lightly. The jade slip floated slowly toward Lu Yuanxiu.

"All the Body Stones of the Spirit Dao Institute disciples are in here."

Lu Yuanxiu caught the jade slip and, without a word, immersed his Divine Sense into it. He quickly found Zhao Lin’s Body Stone, and his expression gradually grew solemn.

Zhao Lin had only completed two missions—one gold and one white—yet he had accumulated over five thousand merit points. This was exceedingly rare.

The first, a gold-level mission, involved capturing and killing bandit cultivators and slaying a Ghost Cultivator, which was already incredible. The second, a mission to collect Spirit Pearls, resulted in him killing fourteen cultivators from the Earth Dark Sect.

’He’s got guts and ability. He’s even more ruthless than I was back in the day.’

Lu Yuanxiu praised him sincerely. He pinched his fingers to make a quick calculation; Zhao Lin was about to complete his three years at the Spirit Dao Institute and would be sent out on assignments in just over a month.

’Such talent... I’ll have to give him a promotion.’

’What kind of assignment should I give him?’

’Transferring him directly to the central administration wouldn’t be appropriate. Zhao Lin was able to complete those two missions, so his mind and martial prowess are unquestionable, but I don’t know anything about his administrative abilities.’

’There are many cultivators in the sect with excellent cultivation talent, proficient in magic and Daoist arts, who are complete idiots when it comes to dealing with people and are a total mess at handling administrative affairs.’

Lu Yuanxiu decided to give Zhao Lin a chance to see what he was made of.

"Minister Hong, how are the preparations for the market in Dongfu County coming along?"

Minister Hong paused for a moment before replying, "The construction is almost complete. The Array has been set up, and merchants are beginning to move in."

Lu Yuanxiu nodded. "I hope we can build the Dongfu County market into a place like the Shangyuan Immortal Market, providing a steady stream of revenue for the province."

Minister Hong replied, "That won’t be easy. Dongfu County’s location isn’t as good as Shangyuan County’s, and it doesn’t have any unique, high-value goods to offer."

Lu Yuanxiu said, "That’s the point. I wouldn’t bother with it if it wasn’t difficult!"

"Minister Hong, reserve a shop for me. I have a candidate for the Shopkeeper position in mind."

Minister Hong was taken aback. "Elder Lu’s candidate... it couldn’t be this disciple named Zhao Lin, could it?"

Lu Yuanxiu didn’t try to hide it, nodding. "That’s right."

Minister Hong said, "But he’s still a disciple of the Spirit Dao Institute. To have him manage a shop right after graduation... there’s no precedent for something like this."

"Precedent? I only believe that success depends on the person!"

Lu Yuanxiu said dismissively, "Don’t forget, he’s a Martial Cultivator and already in his thirties; he doesn’t lack life experience. Besides, the market is just opening. Whether he runs it well or poorly is of no great consequence. If he does a bad job, we’ll just replace him. It’s no big deal."

"I understand."

Minister Hong said no more. For a distinguished elder of the Six Ministries to appoint a market shopkeeper, it was a matter of a single sentence. There was no need for him to court trouble.

After Minister Hong left, Lu Yuanxiu took up a brush to write a letter, sealed it in a Communication Talisman, and had his aide send it to Han Chi County.

...

Ten days later, Zhao Lin arrived at Yuding Peak as scheduled, heading to Zhengtu’s Artifact Refining room.

’I wonder how the magic weapon turned out.’

Zhao Lin felt a mix of anticipation and anxiety. Two hundred merit points, several hundred Spirit Stones, plus three brow knives—he had invested a huge amount.

"You’ve come at the perfect time. I just finished carving the inscriptions."

The stone door opened, and Zhengtu emerged, brandishing an unusually shaped battle saber and laughing heartily as he spoke to Zhao Lin.

"The Moon-Cutting Saber is finished?"

Zhao Lin strode over.

"Mhm."

Zhengtu said, but he didn’t hand the saber over. Instead, he pointed to a black iron sword on the anvil. "This is a crude magic weapon blank. With a little polishing, it would be the kind of common junk you see at the market."

Then he asked with a grin, "Want to test the quality of the Moon-Cutting Saber?"

"This..."

Zhao Lin was about to say no, but without another word, Zhengtu swung the Moon-Cutting Saber and brought it down hard.

CLANG! Sparks flew as the magic weapon blank was sliced in two.

Zhao Lin’s mouth twitched. He felt a pang of heartache, like having someone step on your brand new shoes the first time you wear them.

Seeing this, Zhengtu roared with laughter. "Don’t worry! I added plenty of tungsten-vanadium stone to the materials. Forget one iron sword—it wouldn’t even get a nick if you stacked three of them together."

With that, he flourished the saber and handed the hilt to Zhao Lin.

Although magic weapons are mostly controlled by Divine Sense, they are all fitted with hilts. This serves two purposes: first, for close-quarters self-defense in an emergency, and second, to provide an initial acceleration when thrown during a fight.

Zhao Lin took the battle saber and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the blade was smooth and undamaged.

The saber was about a foot and a half long with extremely fluid lines. Though not large, it was wide and solid, feeling substantial in his grip.

The body of the blade was covered in patterns. The cutting edge was very wide, extending from the tip all the way to about three inches from the hilt.

Two words were carved on the tang: Moon-Cutting.

Below it was a line of smaller characters: Made by Zhengtu of Han Chi in the year of Jiachen.

Zhao Lin’s heart surged with emotion. ’I finally have my own magic weapon.’

"Try it."

Zhengtu rubbed his hands together excitedly. "If you had come any later, I wouldn’t have been able to resist refining it for myself."

Zhao Lin was also eager to test it. He immediately performed the blood-binding ritual, dripping blood on the saber. His Divine Sense immersed itself in the blade, spreading out like water.

"Ice Blade Skill!"

Zhao Lin shouted softly, flicking his wrist to throw the Moon-Cutting Saber.

The Moon-Cutting Saber streaked through the air like a clear autumn river, circling the Artifact Refining room.

Controlling the Moon-Cutting Saber felt as natural as moving his own arm, responding perfectly to his will. It was almost identical to controlling an ice blade.

The only drawback was that once the distance exceeded fifty zhang, it became quite strenuous to control. Sixty zhang was its absolute limit.

"A fine saber!"

Zhao Lin decided to stop while he was ahead, planning to go back and study it more carefully.

’This magic weapon will accompany me for several years at least. Even after I reach the Foundation Establishment Realm, Tier One magic will still have its uses.’

The thick muscles on Zhengtu’s face bunched up as he asked with a wide grin, "Well? Are you satisfied?"

Zhao Lin thanked him solemnly, "Very satisfied. Thank you, Master Zheng."

Zhengtu waved his hand dismissively. "No need to be so formal! I should be the one thanking you for letting me become the first Artifact Refiner to forge a recurve battle saber!"

"Remember, a magic weapon must be constantly nourished with your Divine Sense before it can truly become your own."

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