Li Shuang paused, seeing Lihua's actions, then quickly followed her.
The door to the medium-grade treasure vault opened with a push.
Lihua already had a target in mind, and she darted straight to a secluded corner.
In that corner lay a plain, unremarkable black stone.
Lihua rushed over, wanting to gnaw on the stone.
"Wait! This isn't ours yet!" Li Shuang was startled and quickly took the stone away.
Lihua immediately looked at Li Shuang with longing eyes.
The information about the stone appeared on the Heaven and Earth Furnace.
"Sixth-grade Hidden Dragon Stone: 100,000 value points."
Li Shuang's pupils constricted slightly.
100,000 value points.
An ordinary sixth-grade treasure would only be worth about 10,000 value points in the furnace.
But this Hidden Dragon Stone was worth a full 100,000.
This was the same value as the Spirit of Living Water!
There must be something extraordinary hidden within this Hidden Dragon Stone.
"This is a Hidden Dragon Stone," Elder Ling's voice chimed in.
She was also a little surprised.
She had accidentally obtained this stone in a secret realm. Although it was a sixth-grade treasure, it didn't suit her attributes. After studying it for a while, she had put it aside.
Today, thinking of giving Li Shuang more options, she had casually brought it out.
She hadn't expected Li Shuang's sword spirit to be so interested in the Hidden Dragon Stone.
Even so.
Elder Ling still reminded her, "You have an ice spiritual root. Focusing on ice attributes and forging a pure ice-attribute sword should be the best plan. If other powers are mixed in, it might be detrimental to the sword's growth. A sword spirit's choice isn't always correct; a sword cultivator should still provide guidance."
Li Shuang glanced at Lihua.
Lihua looked at her with a pleading expression. "Wuwuwuwu, this Hidden Dragon Stone smells so good, so good."
Li Shuang rubbed Lihua's head and said, "Elder Ling, I trust Lihua's choice. May I ask how many contribution points this Hidden Dragon Stone requires?"
Elder Ling paused, "Are you really sure you want it? It's a sixth-grade resource, and you're only advancing to the second stage now, so you won't be able to use it for a while. Perhaps you should consider it for a longer period and wait until Lihua is about to advance to the sixth stage."
A flicker of disappointment was visible in Lihua's eyes, but she still obediently said, "Sister Li Shuang, Lihua will listen. We can come back later."
Li Shuang pinched her cheek, "It's okay, Lihua doesn't have to be so obedient."
However.
Given the high value point the Heaven and Earth Furnace assigned to this Hidden Dragon Stone, Li Shuang wasn't sure if she could acquire it.
Li Shuang looked at Elder Ling and respectfully asked, "Elder Ling, this Hidden Dragon Stone has no price tag. May I ask how many contribution points it requires?"
Elder Ling hesitated for a moment and said, "This item was temporarily placed here from my private collection. If you want it, it will be 3,000 contribution points."
3,000 contribution points, this was the price of an ordinary sixth-grade treasure.
It was completely different from the 100,000 value points given by the furnace!
If she acquired it at this contribution point, it would definitely be a huge profit.
Li Shuang thought for a moment and said, "Elder Ling, my sword spirit is very sensitive. She likes this Hidden Dragon Stone so much, there might be something extraordinary hidden within it. At 3,000 contribution points, you might incur a loss."
After all, this was a sect elder, and Li Shuang would definitely use the Hidden Dragon Stone in the future. If Elder Ling discovered that there was something extraordinary about the stone, it might displease her.
Rather than that, Li Shuang might as well say it herself.
Elder Ling couldn't help but smile, "I've also studied this Hidden Dragon Stone for a while, but I haven't found anything special. 3,000 contribution points is the normal price for a sixth-grade treasure, just take it."
Li Shuang was about to say something more.
Elder Ling smiled at her, "How about this: if one day you truly discover the wonders hidden within the Hidden Dragon Stone, you personally demonstrate it to me as an additional condition, how does that sound?"
With things said to this extent, Li Shuang thought about it and seriously agreed, "This disciple understands."
"Continue choosing," Elder Ling nodded.
Next.
Lihua no longer had such a strong reaction, but she still excitedly picked some materials she found "very fragrant" and handed them to Li Shuang.
These materials totaled about 8,000 contribution points.
Among them, the only sixth-grade material was the Hidden Dragon Stone. She also picked a few fourth and fifth-grade materials, but the most numerous were second and third-grade materials.
These materials were ones Lihua reacted strongly to. Some wouldn't be used immediately, but could be collected first to avoid having to search for them later.
"Elder Ling, all selections are complete," Li Shuang respectfully handed over the materials she had chosen.
Elder Ling deducted the corresponding contribution points and then returned the token to Li Shuang.
She gave Hei Yuan a meaningful look, then said with a sigh, "Purple compatibility is rare and hard to come by. Do not let this rare affinity go to waste."
After speaking.
She took out a new handkerchief and lowered her head to resume her embroidery.
Seeing this, Li Shuang obediently left on her own.
With the materials in hand, she could now test her sudden idea.
To avoid drawing attention, she still needed to go to the forging room.
The sect had specialized forging secret chambers.
These forging secret chambers were divided into A, B, and C grades, with different furnaces equipped in each. She was only forging a second-grade sword, so a C-grade secret chamber would be sufficient.
Li Shuang was about to head there.
Suddenly.
"Xiao Shuang!" Luo Mingyue's voice rang out.
"Senior Sister," Li Shuang was a little surprised.
Who had angered Luo Mingyue? She looked furious, as if she was about to kill someone.
"I guessed you'd be here," Luo Mingyue said, then gnashed her teeth fiercely, "Those madmen from Lingxu Peak are acting up again! Come on, I'll go with you to the Enforcement Hall, so they don't unilaterally twist the facts!"
Enforcement Hall?
Li Shuang's gaze shifted slightly. Remembering Sheng Yuan's resentful look when he left, she vaguely had a guess.
This Sheng Yuan...
He wouldn't really be that stupid, would he?
As they walked, Luo Mingyue began to rattle off the story.
"Sheng Yuan from Lingxu Peak suddenly went to the Enforcement Hall to request the public release of the footage recorded by the token. He accused you of deliberately not saving Ye Zhaozhao and Chang Le'an due to personal grudges! You know, although the token has a recording function, the footage is generally not made public. But Sheng Yuan kept saying that you had framed Ye Zhaozhao once in the snowy mountains, and this time in the Langya Secret Realm, you repeated the same trick, committing the great sin of abandoning fellow disciples! He requested the public release of the footage to punish you."
The more Luo Mingyue spoke, the more speechless she became.
She really didn't understand.
Were those people from Lingxu Peak some kind of persistent nuisance? Why couldn't they be shaken off once they latched on?
"This person is simply inexplicable! But don't worry, Xiao Shuang, he has no evidence, so the Enforcement Hall won't agree to release the footage," Luo Mingyue said.
Li Shuang smiled, looking calmly at Luo Mingyue, "Why not?"
"Hmm?" Luo Mingyue blinked.