Long Haotian and Wang Yian were not men of many words, and Chen Tao did not glean much information about the artifact forging master from them.
He subconsciously assumed this artifact forging master was an unremarkable middle-aged male cultivator, or perhaps a vigorous elder.
When he saw Xu Yi walking towards them, his jaw nearly dropped.
She was the artifact forging master?
She was too young.
Long Haotian stepped forward with a smile, "Fairy."
"Xu Yi."
Long Haotian was startled, then quickly reacted, "I see that you, Fairy, are of similar age to me. May I presume to call you Senior Sister Xu?"
Xu Yi nodded, "You may."
Long Haotian called Chen Tao over and had him greet Xu Yi.
"Senior Sister Xu, greetings," Chen Tao stammered, then lowered his head, not daring to meet Xu Yi's gaze.
Long Haotian found Chen Tao's reaction a bit strange but didn't dwell on it. He said to Xu Yi, "Senior Sister Xu, the place we are going is still thousands of miles from here. I have a flying artifact that can carry dozens of people. I wonder if Senior Sister Xu would be interested."
Long Haotian patted his storage bag, and a golden feather floated out.
He struck the feather with a ray of spiritual light. The feather grew in the wind, quickly transforming into a giant wing capable of accommodating dozens of people.
Xu Yi stared at the wing for a long time and stated with certainty, "This is the feather of a Sacred Gold Bird."
Sacred Gold Bird feathers were golden and the birds themselves were enormous. It was said that their newly hatched eggs alone were comparable to a small palace.
Their feathers were lustrous and highly spiritual, serving as superior materials for artifact forging, hence their pursuit by artifact masters.
Sacred Gold Birds were rarely seen on the Jiuzhou Continent now.
Xu Yi had only seen records of Sacred Gold Birds in the sect's archives. Seeing Long Haotian casually produce a flying artifact made from one, she could only sigh at the Xuanqing Sect's immense wealth.
"No need, I have my own flying artifact."
Xu Yi declined Long Haotian's invitation and took out a flying shuttle from her storage ring.
The flying shuttle was entirely dark green, with pointed ends and a flat, elongated middle. The faint array patterns on it seemed to flow under the sunlight.
Long Haotian's eyes lit up, "Senior Sister Xu, could this be the artifact that triggered the tribulation?"
"That's right, this item is called the Flying Sky Shuttle."
The Flying Sky Shuttle was a top-tier Level Five artifact upon completion. It later survived a lightning tribulation, breaking through to become a Level Six artifact, which surprised and delighted Xu Yi.
Long Haotian chuckled, "Then let us depart. Let me also witness the power of this Flying Sky Shuttle."
As Long Haotian said this, a trace of hidden pride flashed through his mind.
While the Flying Sky Shuttle was good, the Sacred Gold Feather he produced was refined by the sect's most powerful artifact forging elder. In comparison, his Sacred Gold Feather was definitely superior.
Upon seeing the difference between their flying artifacts, Senior Sister Xu would not dare to look down on them.
As Long Haotian stood on the Sacred Gold Feather, he was still contemplating how to subtly suppress Xu Yi later.
Whoosh—
A strong wind blew past.
Long Haotian stared in stunned silence at the Flying Sky Shuttle, which had vanished into the distance like a streak of light.
So, so fast.
Chen Tao exclaimed, "Senior Brother Long, let's quickly catch up!"
Only then did Long Haotian come to his senses and urge the Sacred Gold Feather, pursuing Xu Yi.
Xu Yi sat cross-legged on the Flying Sky Shuttle, listening to the whistling sound in her ears, a satisfied smile on her face.
The Level Six artifact, the Flying Sky Shuttle, had indeed not disappointed her.
Because the Flying Sky Shuttle eschewed other functions and was personally refined by her, its flight speed was comparable to the Divine Travel Ship when fully powered by her.
With it in hand, her subsequent travels would undoubtedly be much more convenient.
After testing the Flying Sky Shuttle, Xu Yi slowed down, waiting for Long Haotian and the other two.
When the Sacred Gold Feather caught up, Long Haotian's face was pale, and his spiritual energy was nearly depleted from powering it.
Seeing this, Xu Yi awkwardly rubbed her nose and, for the rest of the journey, reduced her speed to match the Sacred Gold Feather.
Long Haotian, his plan thwarted and feeling humiliated, remained unusually silent throughout the journey.
One day later.
The Sacred Gold Feather stopped beside a mountain stream, and Long Haotian and the other two leaped off.
Xu Yi also jumped off the Flying Sky Shuttle, spreading her divine sense. Her gaze fell upon an inconspicuous rock face ahead of the stream.
That rock face showed no abnormalities, yet Xu Yi had a strong intuition that there was something amiss.
Just then, Long Haotian said, "Senior Sister Xu, have you discovered anything?"
Xu Yi slightly raised her chin and pointed at the rock face, "It's there, isn't it?"
The smile that was about to appear on Long Haotian's face froze again at the corner of his lips. He looked at her in disbelief, "How did you know?"
"You three were very careful, yet you still left your presence here."
If Xu Yi had gone alone, she probably wouldn't have discovered any abnormalities. However, by traveling with these three, the aura emanating from the rock face inadvertently revealed their secret.
"So that's how it is."
Long Haotian hadn't expected Xu Yi to be so meticulous, even noticing such subtle details. The sense of comparison in his heart silently vanished without a trace.
He no longer thought of testing Xu Yi and took out a brown spiritual key, striking it towards the rock face.
The spiritual key instantly penetrated the hard rock face and embedded itself within.
Crack, crack, crack.
The faint sounds were particularly noticeable in the mountain stream.
The illusionary array on the rock face rippled like the surface of water, and a gap broke open from the center, gradually widening to reveal the mountain cave behind it.
"Senior Sister Xu, I will lead the way."
"Alright."
Long Haotian walked into the mountain cave first, with Xu Yi closely following. Chen Tao and Wang Yian followed behind Xu Yi.
The mountain cave was narrow and dark at the entrance, but as they went deeper, the opening widened. Luminous ore stones were embedded on both sides, dispelling the darkness.
After walking for half an hour, Long Haotian suddenly stopped and said, "Senior Sister Xu, the gateway to the secret realm is just ahead."
Xu Yi nodded gently, curious about the trials set by the ancient artifact forging grandmaster.
Soon, she saw the trial and was stunned.
Before them stood a massive stone gate, with a black stone slab inlaid in its center. The slab was covered with dense questions.
She turned her head and looked at the three Xuanqing Sect disciples in surprise, "You can't solve it?"
Long Haotian looked back at her even more surprised, "Why do you ask, Senior Sister Xu? I have never heard of the artifact forging materials listed here. I believe only artifact masters would know."
Xu Yi: …
She turned back to look at the stone slab and, with questions that required no thought to answer, fell into contemplation.
Are the disciples of Xuanqing Sect this lacking in fundamentals?
They don't even recognize these famous artifact forging materials?
That shouldn't be the case.
Suspicion appeared in Xu Yi's eyes.
Seeing her lost in thought, Long Haotian and the others dared not disturb her, looking at her with inexplicable expressions.
After the time it takes an incense stick to burn, Xu Yi belatedly discovered the problem.
The artifact forging common knowledge she thought everyone knew was from two thousand years ago.
In the subsequent two thousand years, some artifact forging materials that were common to Xu Yi had disappeared and been replaced by others, while some had become treasures of major sects due to their rarity.
Xu Yi once again felt the power of time.
Wait, doesn't this mean that this ancient grandmaster could have been a contemporary of hers, or even her descendant?
Xu Yi was astonished.