The rest of the Star Cultivators and Su Xing all had similar lines of thought. One by one, they all went up, making ready to do something. Those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds weren"t foolish enough to kill and rob someone in broad daylight, and in the lead was a handsome and bright n.o.ble"s son waving his paper fan. He very elegantly cupped his fists at the young girl, inviting her to join his own group, intentionally revealing for a moment his Nebula Middle Stage cultivation.“Not interested.”
The young girl very bluntly rejected the offer without even turning her head.
Touching the paper fan against his nose in discouragement, he mockingly smiled. His gaze stayed on the girl"s back, his eyes full of sinister intent.
The rest of the cultivators that were there also themselves began to disperse in boredom.
“I"m afraid this ancient tomb was something that was supposed to only look impressive, let"s go.”
“I heard that the Blooming Water Sword Sect"s Star Square1 is rather impressive. Going there is definitely more interesting than being here.”
“En, perhaps we can purchase some good items there.”
Star Square?
Hearing this name made Su Xing"s eyes shine. Maybe he could inquire as to the whereabouts of Relic Blade Sand or a Mist Cloud Seed. Going by this, Su Xing asked Wu Xinjie about this place, the Star Square.
The Knowledge Star was surprised at Su Xing"s ignorance: “It can"t be, Young Master, you don"t know about even Star Squares?”
“Originally, even Lin Yingmei had to fill me in on what Star Cultivators were.” Su Xing did not hide this fact.
“Ah, it"s rare to see Star Cultivators that are like Young Master.” Wu Xinjie facetiously laughed.
Star Squares were extremely famous in Liangshan Continent. Not a single Star Cultivator was unaware of them. Thus, it was no wonder that Wu Xinjie was very surprised since most Star Cultivators would visit these locations to trade and conduct item transactions between each other there. After agreeing on a set location, some Star Cultivators that did not wish to cultivate would just take up residence at said location. Over time, a square would gradually take shape. These squares generally received the protection of a sect, so Star Cultivators did not need to be uneasy.
“The Blooming Water Sword Sect"s Star Square isn"t too far away. Xinjie originally exchanged a Nebula Stage Artifact for a few hundred talismans here.”2
Su Xing"s heart was not surprised. How else would she have had so many talismans.
Under Xinjie"s guidance, Su Xing very quickly found the Heavenly River Star Square, and the place was very similar to the image he had in mind. The only difference was that the real square"s myriad Star Cultivator"s kept their powers within, not dispersing a single bit.
Su Xing browsed through nearly the entire square, and he learned about the general circ.u.mstances of how Star Cultivators make transactions. The most common form of transaction used by Star Cultivators was bartering.3 There was no specific limit to quant.i.ties; it was all up to personal preference. Sometimes, gold was used as a form of currency. If one was fortunate enough, even several hundreds liang4 of gold could be exchanged for a Nebula Stage Artifact. As far as a Star Cultivator was concerned, artifacts that were Nebula Stage and above were the most well-received and most valued for transactions.
With this in mind, Su Xing discovered he was actually quite rich.
“Young Master, what do you want now?” Wu Xinjie asked.
“Relic Blade Sand and Mist Cloud Seeds.” These two items were what Su Xing needed the most. Thinking over the business about the Water and Land Ceremony and the Blooming Water Divine Thunder could come second. He could not neglect considering some methods of self-preservation.
“Relic Blade Sand, huh. This thing is always in great demand. Xinjie previously had the fortune of seeing some at the Great Liang Dynasty"s “Heavenly Star Gathering.” There was quite a wild fight over it, and in the end, two Galaxy Stage5 Artifacts were traded away.”
Su Xing became depressed. “How can this Relic Blade Sand be so expensive.”
“Young Master doesn"t know everything about this. Relic Blade Sand possesses very potent spiritual powers. Generally, only centuries old ancient monuments can turn out Relic Blade Sand. Legend has it that Relic Blade Sand is the highest quality material that can advance weapons to the “One Star” Grade. If a Heavenly Star General wants to upgrade her own weapon, then she will definitely choose Relic Blade Sand…Little Sister Lin Chong, your weapon isn"t yet at One Star. This makes Xinjie a bit surprised.”
“En.” Lin Yingmei laughed.
“One Star?”
Su Xing discovered that the scholarship surrounding Star Generals was quite deep and profound; here was another new term.
“Aiya, Little Sister Lin Chong, seriously? Apparently, it seems you"ve explained absolutely nothing to Young Master.” Wu Xinjie complained.
“Your servant has failed her duties…”
“It"s fine.” Su Xing didn"t really mind. Lin Yingmei just had this sort of temperament. If you didn"t ask her, she wouldn"t say anything.
In actuality, this was not as profound as Su Xing thought it was. As everyone knows, the only artifacts the Maiden Mountain Star Maidens can use are their own Destined Star Weapons. These Star Weapons grow from the Star General"s own body, and they can be counted as a spirit item. For the sake of making that sole Star Weapon even stronger, “Refining Star Weapons”6 has become the Star Maidens" inevitable choice.
Choosing the most suitable refining materials for their Star Weapon, every time a refinement was successful, this was called a “One Star.” The higher the Star Grade, the more powerful the Star Weapon"s later stages would become. There was no upper limit to refining Star Grades, however, higher rank necessitated refining the Destined Star Weapons with increasingly rare and precious types of materials.
During a certain generation"s Star Duel, the Bright Star,7 10 Feet of Blue, Hu Sanniang relied on her “Seven Stars” refined Destined Star Weapon to sweep away that generation. The Heavenly Stars that died under her weapon were far too many to count, among the most powerful was the Strength Star.
However, Hu Sanniang"s Seven Stars Grade Star Weapon still wasn"t Liangshan Continent"s highest recorded Star Grade. The most powerful was undoubtedly the previous generation Star Duel"s Harm Star, the Pilgrim, Wu Song. Her Star Weapon Grade reached up to Nine Stars, and she became the first in Maiden Mountain"s history to not have a contractor. Having killed every single Star Master, she was the first to rule the Maiden Mountain through sheer force.
Following this, not only did the Star Maidens refine their Star Weapons even more frantically than before, the rest of the Star Cultivators also themselves partic.i.p.ated in this kind of frenzy. Of course, the latter"s refined weapons paled in comparison with the Star Weapons" grades.
Having finished listening to Wu Xinjie, Su Xing felt chills along his back as he understood the reason behind Lin Yingmei"s dedication to finding Relic Blade Sand.
One really could not be even a little bit careless in this war for Maiden Mountain.
Su Xing walked into a Blooming Water pavilion"s storefront. From the outside looking in, this could count as Heavenly River Star Square"s largest shop.
The owner was a middle-aged man with a rather shady appearance8. His cultivation was only at Stardust Early Stage.
“Do you have Relic Blade Sand?”
Su Xing asked, getting straight to the point.
“My friend, you must be joking. Relic Blade Sand, this sort of thing, a small store definitely would not have it.” The owner smiled. “My friend, are you a Star Master or looking to become a Star Master that you"d want such a thing?”
“What"s it to you.” Su Xing twitched his mouth.
“Although this small store may not have Relic Blade Sand, I do have plenty of Thunder Fire Sand. My friend, would like to see some?”
Su Xing nodded, after all, taking a look wouldn"t hurt.
The owner opened a brightly colored case, and inside was a square bottle. Within it was a pile of dark red dust, a little bit similar to gunpowder.
“Although Thunder Fire Sand can"t be compared with Relic Blade Sand, using it to refine an artifact will allow attacks to sound like rolling thunder. Not only will the artifact carry fire, it can also let the artifact"s speed to increase a rank. I guarantee enemies will feel fear upon hearing its sound.”
Su Xing consulted with Xinjie within his mind.
“Thunder Fire Sand is useless to a Star General, however, it actually has some benefits for Young Master.” The Knowledge Star said: “Young Master, that odd shooting artifact, if it was refined with some ThunderFire Sand, it would definitely be like a tiger that has grown wings.”9
Su Xing laughed wryly. His bullets were already all but used, and this thing could still be refined. Su Xing was about to refuse when he suddenly had an outrageous idea. He could use the Thunder Fire Sand to subst.i.tute for gunpowder in making ammunition. As for the projectiles, sh.e.l.l casings and primers, leaving those to the brilliant item refining techniques of Liangshan Continent to complete shouldn"t be a problem.
Ever since arriving in Liangshan Continent, Su Xing knew deeply from experience Silver Blade"s strong points; taking advantage of this place"s rare stones and quality steel arts to refine a few improvised bullets wouldn"t be impossible.
The Star Maidens refined their own weapons to increase their battle strength. He was completely capable of upgrading the Silver Blade in his hand so much that it would become number one in Liangshan Continent.
Thinking about this, Su Xing became excited.
1. As in a marketplace, not a literal geometric figure. ↩
2. And here it is, why Xinjie is so rich! ↩
3. Trading one object for another. ↩
4. 兩 is used here to refer to 50 grams ↩
5. This stage sits directly above Nebula Stage ↩
6. 煉化星武 ↩
7. Actual characters used were 地彗星, whereas the Bright Star is actually 地慧星. ↩
8. 尖嘴猴腮 ↩
9. Basically, it"s going to be even stronger. A pity that she wants to use it on Silver Blade when the sand"s name is just begging for it to be used with the Heavenly Lightning Earthly Fire Sword. ↩