Chapter 16: Cheer Me

Hu Dingtian had once imagined many scenarios of the inauguration of a new head of the Demon Artifact Pavilion. At that time, the Demon Artifact Pavilion hadn't fallen to its current state.

He always imagined how the new head would exploit them, make them do all the dirty and exhausting work, and maybe even take away things from them.

Later, when the position of the head remained vacant, he gradually realized that those big shots in the sect didn't care about them and their petty affairs.

He thought it was a good thing to not have a head, at least nobody would bother him. All of them were fellow brothers who were ousted from the [Joyful Lotus Domain], and nobody would mock or ridicule him anymore.

The [Joyful Lotus Domain] of the Demon Sect was a cruel place. Fortunately, after the new Sect Master took over, the management of the Domain was strengthened, and it became more restrained.

Otherwise, they would have been forced to become female cultivators' cultivation sex partners and would be literally drained by them, losing their cultivation and becoming useless.

At least by coming to the Demon Artifact Pavilion, they had a chance to go to those prosperous places to cultivate, which was better than the disciples of the Demon Sect who were tied up in the Royal City to cultivate.

That was why the Demon Artifact Pavilion's staff consisted of disciples from the [Joyful Lotus Domain].

However, even if they were later betrayed by Lu Bin, that despicable jerk, he never expected a new head to come and uphold justice for them.

All those who came to the Demon Artifact Pavilion were those who couldn't survive in the Demon Sect. Even if they became the head of the Pavilion, it wouldn't change anything. That was the deepest realization he had gained in the past year.

He was also afraid that the money they had worked hard to earn would be taken away by some new head.

But now...

Looking at the small mountain of spirit stones in front of him, and then at Luo Wusheng who was already walking upstairs, Hu Dingtian suddenly felt that maybe things would develop in a better direction?

Then he slapped himself in the face.

"Ah, what am I thinking? Even if he is the Holy Saint, it is impossible for him to become an Artifact Refiner so easily. Even if he really can become an Artifact Refiner, as long as the flaws in the Demon Sect Artifact Refining technique are not eliminated, the situation in the Demon Artifact Pavilion will not change..."

He became a bit pessimistic.

He got a hunch, that if the Holy Saint were to fail, he would just return to the Demon Sect...

But with these spirit stones, it should be enough for them to hold on until the next time they receive their annual pay. If the Holy Saint could help them get revenge...

His eyes flickered, and he slowly bowed to the place where Luo Wusheng disappeared, then picked up the spirit stones on the ground.

...

At this time, Luo Wusheng had already walked up to the second floor of the Demon Artifact Pavilion.

The second floor is where the Demon Artifact Pavilion sells Artifacts. Ordinary artifacts are Artifacts used by ordinary people and Qi refining cultivators, but to cultivators above the Foundation Establishment realm, ordinary artifacts are just sharp toys at best.

But Artifacts are different, they are divided into three grades. The low grade corresponds to the Foundation Establishment realm, the middle grade corresponds to the Golden Core realm, and the high grade corresponds to the Nascent Soul realm. Each one has its own characteristics, and can also be nurtured with one's own blood to become a cultivator's life-saving treasure.

Each Artifact is extremely precious, and it is common for cultivators at a certain realm to not have access to a corresponding Artifact that suits them.

As the Holy Saint of the Demon Sect, Luo Wusheng once had several low and middle grade Artifacts. However, he later exchanged them all for strange stones.

As a result, his nominal master, the Demon Sect Sect Master, became furious.

The Demon Sect Sect Master had originally planned to give Luo Wusheng a high grade Artifact after he reached the Golden Core stage, but realized that this guy, who was full of stones in his head, would soon sell it off. So, he decisively decided to emit the wait and see approach.

Luo Wusheng scanned the second floor of the Demon Artifact Pavilion with his eyes, and only saw two Artifacts, both of which were low grade.

One was a great sword that burned with terrifying flames, the epitome of an Artifact that would cause 1000 damage to your foes while causing 999 damage to oneself, and the other one is a dagger that constantly emitted a deadly poisonous miasma.

Each one can be considered to be a suicidal artifact, no wonder no one wanted them.

Moreover, although low grade Artifacts were not mass produced in other Pavillion, they were still considered to be common enough that any decent craftsman can make one or two in a year without any weird drawback. There were even occasional opportunities to see middle grade Artifacts emerge in other places.

Under these circumstances, the Demon Artifact Pavilion really had nothing that made them competitive for other Artifact Pavillion.

Shaking his head, Luo Wusheng walked towards the third floor.

The third floor contained books and techniques related to the Demon Sect's refining of Artifacts, as well as a complete set of techniques for cultivating the Demon Sect Artifact Refining technique.

After removing the restrictions with the authority of the pavilion head, Luo Wusheng collected everything into his storage bag and used the token in his hand to open the fourth floor.

This was the true place for refining Artifacts in the Demon Artifact Pavilion.

Looking at the already empty fourth floor, Luo Wusheng fell silent.

"Just as I expected, considering how poor they are, to the point of needing to sell their own body day by day, how could they not sell the materials for refining the Artifact?"

Luo Wusheng let out a sigh.

The fourth floor, which should have been piled with materials for Artifact Refining, was now completely empty. If anyone else were to see this, even a true master Artifact Refiner would bemoan the fact that one cannot make something out of nothing.

But Luo Wusheng didn't care.

Because he couldn't even count the number of precious stones and jade in his storage bag, which could be used as raw materials for refining Artifact, and they are even better in quality than the materials stored by the Demon Artifact Pavilion.

"Looking on the bright side, this floor is cleaner in every sense than the other floors."

As a dedicated place for refining, it was equipped with many formations, including a formation that could clean dust.

Luo Wusheng took out all the books from the third floor and stacked them aside, and then, using his authority as the pavilion master, sealed off the fourth floor, preventing others from entering. Finally, he sat in the center.

Rather than rushing to start learning, he picked up the wooden short sword at his waist.

As a student, he had to send a few messages to his online friends before he could start learning.

[Hey, are you there? Have you arrived in the Sword Province? I'm about to start learning how to craft Artifacts. Can you give me some encouragement?]

[Not here, not arrived yet. What does you learning how to refine Artifacts have to do with me? I still have to train my sword skills and don't have time to joke with you.]

Although Lu Yuliu's message was full of contempt, she still responded to his message very quickly.

Is this what they call being straight-forward with a sharp tongue?

[It's really sad. You weren't like this on the ship before, my little Yuli.]

[Do. You. Want. To. Die?]

The real protagonist's anger value +9999.

Luo Wusheng chuckled and was about to explain that he was joking, but the other side sent a new message.

[I wish you a smooth journey in artifact refining. Or better yet, I wish you can refine a top-quality Artifact that will make a name for yourself in the Royal City. Anyway, don't mention that thing on the ship to me again. If you dare call me "Little Yuli" one more time, I will find you to spar every day when I go to the Royal City next time, even if I can't beat you, I will annoy you to death!]

Luo Wusheng felt much more relieved after receiving the protagonist's blessing.

To express his gratitude, he promptly agreed to the other's request.

[Okay, little Yuli. No problem, little Yuli.]

[—You—! Just wait and see….]

The writing on the wooden sword disappeared completely.

This meant that the other party had unilaterally cut off contact.

Lu Yuliu was so angry that she went offline.

As if the image of the girl gnashing her teeth and the huge fluctuations of her heart with each breath flashed through his mind, Luo Wusheng satisfiedly put away his wooden sword.

"So~ How much boost can the encouragement of the true protagonist really have to my craft?"

It's time to start practicing the Demon Sect Artifact Refining method!