Chapter 86: The Blacksteel Spirit Sword

As expected, this was indeed the house belonging to the owner of the ancient scroll painting.

Ye Mo encountered no obstacles as he walked right in.

The thatched cottage was rather spacious, several meters long and wide. The furnishings inside were simple—just a table and chair, and a wooden bed. It was clearly a humble dwelling.

Ye Mo looked a little disappointed; he had hoped there might be books or records inside to help him understand this painted world. It seemed he would have to rely on questioning A Li and his own exploration to uncover the secrets of the Immortal Village scroll.

“Master, what’s inside?” A Li asked curiously as Ye Mo stepped out of the cottage, craning his neck to peer inside.

“Nothing much, just a table and chair,” Ye Mo replied with a shake of his head.

“So simple?” A Li said regretfully. He had never been able to enter and had imagined something extraordinary inside.

“By the way, A Li, what is the purpose of this village?” Ye Mo remembered the mysterious black iron ore behind the cottage.

“The little thatched cottage is the master’s residence and place of cultivation. There’s an acre of spiritual farmland to grow magical plants, and the spiritual tree behind the cottage can be felled to build all kinds of pavilions,” A Li explained eagerly.

“One spiritual tree—what use is that?” Ye Mo asked, puzzled.

“When it’s cut down, it grows back. You’ll never run out of it, as long as there’s spiritual energy here. I plan to build a warehouse to store your ores, and a refinery to smelt them into black iron,” A Li said proudly.

“You… you know how to refine ore?” Ye Mo was startled.

“What’s so hard about that? Build a refinery, melt and cool them, simple as that. I’ll build a forge now, Master, you just watch,” A Li chuckled mischievously.

Ye Mo nodded.

A Li waved a paw, and the spiritual tree toppled with a crash. A little fire crow shrieked and flew from the treetop. Under A Li’s nimble claws, the wood of the spiritual tree was swiftly transformed into beams and pillars, soon assembled into a simple warehouse and a tall, imposing forge.

The forge stood on a clearing in the village, looking grander than Ye Mo’s own cottage.

A Li then swept up some of the black iron ore with a gesture, grabbing a few pieces, and conjured a ball of true fire to melt the ore into molten black iron, which he shaped into a variety of refining tools.

“All done!” After more than half an hour, A Li clapped his little paws together with great satisfaction.

Ye Mo stepped into the forge and was surprised to see all manner of black iron tools—ore furnaces, hammers, and more—all neatly in place. However, these were all miniature-sized, clearly designed for A Li’s own use.

“A Li is incredible!” Ye Mo couldn’t help but marvel as he weighed the tiny black iron hammer in his palm.

A Li was already eager to get started. One lump after another of black iron ore flew over at his summons, tossed into the furnace. Spiritual wood burned beneath, ignited by true fire, and the intense heat turned the ore into black iron liquid, with slag floating on top.

After removing the slag, A Li blew a cool breath over the molten iron, and it quickly solidified into blocks of refined black iron.

“These black iron ores have been preliminarily refined—they’re now black iron,” A Li announced.

A pile of jet-black refined black iron sat there, making Ye Mo’s eyes light up.

“These will certainly fetch a higher price than raw ore… But in Donglai Immortal Village, all the forges handle their own production, buying ore from Ore Valley, refining it into black iron, and then making spiritual tools to sell to the shops. The whole process is tightly controlled by the city lord and the forges, very exclusive and quick to notice anything unusual. If I get involved, I’ll easily arouse suspicion—unless I can directly forge spiritual tools and sell them to wandering cultivators from other islands. That way, no one will suspect my tools are linked to Ore Valley, and they sell for much more than black iron bars,” Ye Mo quickly reasoned, muttering to himself.

“Master wants to forge tools?” A Li tilted his head.

“That’s right. You… know how to forge?” Ye Mo was taken aback.

“Of course! I’m clever—what’s so hard about forging?” A Li boasted, waving his little paw. “But I don’t know what kind of spiritual tools Master needs—what shape, how tough, how sharp, how durable. Different tools have totally different requirements. If you want to combine different materials, you have to follow the blueprint precisely, or the properties will be wrong. Give me the blueprints for what you need—only then can I forge it. If it’s a spiritual sword, bring a sword blueprint. If it’s armor, bring an armor blueprint.”

“Alright, keep refining the black iron. I’ll go buy tool blueprints!” This little fox really was something!

Ye Mo was delighted.

He calmed his mind, and with a thought, the ancient scroll’s light flashed, the scene shifted, and he was back in the cabin on his ship. The ancient scroll still floated in midair, radiant.

“Return!”

He reached out, and this time the scroll no longer pulled at him. Its light faded away and it fell back into his hand. Ye Mo let out a sigh of relief—just as he’d hoped.

After putting away the scroll, Ye Mo left the ship and headed to Donglai Immortal Village nearby.

Night had fallen. The village night market was bustling, lanterns hanging from every tower and pavilion. Cultivators and martial artists, busy all day, now crowded the streets—this was the busiest time for trade.

“Fellow Daoist, you’re looking to buy a ‘Five Elements Spiritual Sword Blueprint’? That’ll be hard to find.” The stall owner looked at Ye Mo with a troubled expression.

“Yes, I’ve searched almost the entire night market and haven’t found a single place selling Five Elements tool blueprints! Doesn’t anyone sell them?” Ye Mo asked, puzzled.

“These are rare on the market. Every forge treats their blueprints like family treasures—they’d never sell them lightly. Selling one is like creating a new competitor. They’re not fools. Not just forging blueprints, but pill recipes as well—those are all tightly guarded by the pill pavilions,” the stall owner explained, shaking his head.

Ye Mo felt his heart sink, even a little disappointed.

“So there’s no hope of finding any?” he pressed, unwilling to give up. He’d already asked countless stall owners, even tried the big shops, but they had nothing either.

“Once in a while, a blueprint might show up, but that’s pure luck,” the vendor said, then brightened as he remembered something. “Actually, a friend of mine recently said he wants to sell off his belongings and move to another village. He used to be an apprentice at a forge, and made some low-grade tools in the past. Maybe he’d be willing to sell his blueprints. Do you want me to ask?”

“I’d appreciate your help, fellow Daoist!” Ye Mo said eagerly.

“Wait here, I’ll go find him and be right back,” the stall owner said, packing up and hurrying off.

Donglai Immortal Village was small, and most cultivators stayed in the village at night, so finding someone was easy.

Ye Mo waited anxiously for the better part of a meal before the stall owner returned.

“I got it! It took some convincing, but my friend agreed to sell the blueprint. This ‘Black Iron Spiritual Sword Blueprint’ covers swords from tier one to tier three! It doesn’t include Five Elements attributes, but otherwise it’s just like a normal Five Elements sword,” the vendor said cheerfully, holding up a blueprint.

“Black Iron Spiritual Sword?” Ye Mo was momentarily taken aback, then understood and gave a wry smile. Having spent some time in Donglai Immortal Village, he knew that black iron swords were basic non-elemental weapons forged purely from black iron. Add Five Elements materials, and you get a Five Elements sword, which is much stronger thanks to its elemental properties. For example, Ye Mo’s own Gold Spiritual Sword was forged from black iron and gold materials, giving it great piercing power.

The real strength of the Five Elements swords lay in their attributes. Without those, black iron swords were much less desirable; any cultivator with money would never buy one. The difference showed in the price—a first-tier Five Elements sword cost a hundred spirit stones, whereas a black iron sword only fetched a little over ten.

Ye Mo had spent plenty of time at the market and knew this well.

“No wonder your friend wants to leave Donglai Immortal Village—nobody wants black iron swords!” he said with a wry smile.

Seeing Ye Mo hesitate, the stall owner quickly added, “Don’t think black iron swords don’t sell! Most cultivators are rogues, and when they start out, they’re poor and can’t afford Five Elements swords. Black iron swords are all they can manage. Why not buy this blueprint? Once you’ve made the swords, I’ll sell them at my stall for you! As long as the price is reasonable, they’ll definitely sell. To be honest, my friend is too honest for business. He bought a batch of black iron at a high price, which meant he had to sell the swords for over fifteen spirit stones each—no one bought them, he lost money, got into debt, and now he has to leave to make a living elsewhere.”

Ye Mo considered this. He couldn’t get the Five Elements Sword blueprint, but the black iron blueprint was still useful. He had plenty of black iron, and even if the profits were lower, he could still earn spirit stones.

Still, he decided against partnering with the vendor.

“Alright, I’ll buy your blueprint. But I’m a bit short on spirit stones right now. Can I pay with tier-three refined black iron? I’m only doing this for practice, to be honest—I don’t have much spare money,” Ye Mo said, feigning difficulty.

“Tier-three black iron!” The vendor was surprised and eyed Ye Mo, clearly skeptical. Would someone seeking Five Elements blueprints really be short on spirit stones? Still, tier-three black iron was in high demand, so bartering was no problem.

“Alright, but I can’t offer the market rate since I’ll have to resell the black iron myself. For the blueprint, you’ll need to give me fifty pounds of tier-three black iron,” the vendor said after a moment’s thought.

“That’s too much! Forty pounds—it’s not worth it otherwise,” Ye Mo bargained.

After some haggling, they settled on forty-five pounds.

Ye Mo took the blueprint and, with no desire to linger at the market, hurried back to the wharf and boarded his ship, ready to start forging spiritual swords.