A few days passed in the blink of an eye. Shi Xueyun had already arranged everything, tasking An Ling and Qin Xue with accompanying him down the mountain to procure materials.
When he arrived at the Main Hall of Merak Palace, Shi Xueyun was already there, discussing something with two young women.
As he approached, Shi Xueyun turned and smiled at him. "You're here. This is An Ling and Qin Xue. They'll be accompanying you to procure materials this time. If you have any questions along the way, feel free to ask them."
"I'll be in your care on the road, Senior Sister An Ling and Senior Sister Qin Xue. If I do anything wrong, please don't hesitate to point it out!"
Yi Tianyun sized them up. Neither of them was lacking in looks. Dressed in white robes, to an ordinary person they would seem like ethereal fairies, untouched by the mortal world.
Both had reached the fifth layer of the Spirit Refining Stage. With such a cultivation level, their bearing was naturally exceptional.
Yi Tianyun's attitude was excellent. His polite opening words easily made a good impression.
As he looked at them, he quickly checked their Favorability scores toward him: thirty-five and thirty-two.
'This level of favorability is only just a bit better than a first meeting. My recent actions must have improved their opinion of me to cause any change at all. It's clear their initial favorability toward me was extremely low—it might have even been a negative number.'
'After everything that's happened, their favorability was bound to rise. It's not like you only raise favorability by completing quests; everyday conversations and offering help have an impact too.'
"Junior Brother, you won a spot for Merak Palace, earned us a great deal of honor, and you even know Artifact Refining. The two of us are probably just here to be your bodyguards."
An Ling exchanged a look with Qin Xue, her lovely eyes narrowing slightly.
"Having two beautiful Senior Sisters as my guards is my honor," Yi Tianyun said with a smile.
The two Senior Sisters giggled behind their hands, clearly delighted. Being called "beautiful Senior Sister" again and again made them giddy with laughter.
They rarely interacted with men, so they certainly didn't dislike an outstanding one like him. Especially now, when Yi Tianyun was the man of the hour—the sole Artifact Refiner in the entire Merak Palace. All the Spiritual Artifacts came from him!
"Alright, alright. If you two keep this up, it'll be nightfall before you leave."
Shi Xueyun gave Yi Tianyun a look. Who knew he was such a smooth-talker? His compliments had the two of them grinning from ear to ear.
Yi Tianyun gave a sheepish smile and followed them out.
Outside the main gates of Merak Palace, a horse-drawn carriage was already waiting. The driver was an ordinary man, hired to take them to Celestial Wind City.
"Take this Storage Ring," Shi Xueyun said, handing him a ring. "There's some gold inside, along with the Spirit Swords you forged earlier. Sell the extras, procure more materials, and bring them back for more Artifact Refining."
Yi Tianyun took it, his eyes lighting up. He toyed with it in his hand for a moment before slipping the Storage Ring onto his finger. He channeled a bit of Spiritual Power into it and could instantly see the contents within.
The space inside was about a few dozen square meters, which wasn't considered large. It was filled with a good amount of gold and several Spirit Swords.
'This thing is really useful. It can hold so much. It would be a real pain to have to carry all this on my back.'
"We'll be sure to return with a full load!" Yi Tianyun said with a grin.
"Ding! Quest received: Procure materials and return to Merak Palace. Completion Reward: 10,000 EXP, one thousand gold taels, one lottery ticket, and +20 Favorability with all members."
It was no surprise that he received this quest, as it was given to him by Shi Xueyun, but the rewards were quite generous.
Never mind the one thousand gold taels—a lottery ticket and a 20-point increase in favorability with everyone was an incredible reward!
After they settled into the carriage, Yi Tianyun asked, "Senior Sister An Ling, we're headed to Celestial Wind City to procure materials, correct?"
"That's right, we're heading to Celestial Wind City," An Ling confirmed with a nod.
'Celestial Wind City, huh…'
Yi Tianyun's eyes narrowed. He had never been to Celestial Wind City, but he knew someone from there: Master Kong.
Master Kong was the one who'd been driven away before. He seemed to have connections to a powerful family in Celestial Wind City. On this trip, Yi Tianyun wondered if he would run into them.
'I hope I don't run into him again…'
Yi Tianyun's eyes narrowed. His anger over the past incident had yet to subside. If he hadn't been afraid of causing trouble for Merak Palace, he would have taken action long ago.
After a two-day journey, they finally arrived in Celestial Wind City, the trip itself having been peaceful and uneventful.
'So this is Celestial Wind City?'
Yi Tianyun looked up. The massive city gates were magnificent. People flowed in and out, and even from a distance, he could see the bustling, lively streets within. The guards at the entrance were all experts at the Spirit Refining Stage, their expressions grim. No one dared to cause trouble.
Just as they were about to enter the city, an angry roar came from behind them. "Everyone, get out of the way! Don't block the road!"
Yi Tianyun peeked his head out of the carriage. Another carriage was barreling toward them, plowing through the crowd and charging into the city without any regard for the pedestrians.
Many commoners along the path didn't even have time to dodge before they were sent flying by the powerful horses. Others were lashed with a whip by the driver and flung aside. Their arrogance was boundless!
The guards at the gate moved to intercept, but when they saw the carriage's insignia, they scrambled out of the way and began shouting as well, "Everyone, move aside! Get out of the road if you don't want to die!"
The guards were actually helping clear the path, scaring everyone who had been about to enter the city into hastily dodging aside. Though furious, the crowd could only watch as the carriage charged forward and stormed through the city gates.
The surrounding crowd began to speculate about who could be inside, to act with such tyranny.
"No wonder they're so arrogant. That's a carriage from the Divine Forging Sect," Qin Xue said, shaking her head. "Even for a high-ranking sect, isn't this a bit much?"
"Can't be helped. They have the power to back up their arrogance. The Divine Forging Sect is even a cut above the Celestial Spirit Sect. They're also one of the factions that will enter the Celestial Sinking Ruins, and they secured four spots!"
An Ling sighed. They couldn't afford to provoke a faction like that.
'The Divine Forging Sect?'
Yi Tianyun's eyes narrowed. 'So, a sect of Blacksmiths.' The Divine Forging Sect was composed of a large number of Blacksmiths; it was a place that specialized in training them. That carriage from just now was personally forged by them. Unless you were an absolute top-tier expert, it would be impossible to even damage it.
In other words, the people inside were undoubtedly safe. This single carriage was enough to demonstrate the skill of the Divine Forging Sect.
This carriage alone was equivalent to a High-Grade Spiritual Artifact. They were truly wealthy and ostentatious.
It was precisely this immense wealth that allowed them to be so arrogant, plowing through the streets without a care for anyone else.