Chapter 14:
Sect Leader
AFTER LULLING THE CAT to sleep, Mo Tianliao once again concentrated on making inventory pouches. The quality of an inventory pouch depended on two factors: how smooth and complete the dark crystal ore array was, and the amount of spiritual energy infused.
A spatial array was the foundation of all inventory-type magical artifacts. It was highly complex, with both spatial-overlaying and spiritual energy-storing arrays inscribed inside. Any interruptions or irregularity could result in storage space instability or spiritual energy leakage. This was why these magical artifacts were so expensive.
Usually, an artificer would carefully draw the array with a precious array-drawing brush. It was typical to take at least a day to finish a set, as the whole array would be invalidated if even a single stroke was wrong.
Mo Tianliao, on the other hand, drew so fast his finger was a blur. With his pretty, half-lidded eyes, he appeared laid-back, finishing a set in a quarter of an hour or so. He slowly infused spiritual energy into an array for about half an hour, then stopped to take a breath. At the sixth level of the qi-refining stage, he only had enough spiritual energy to create a space half the size of a room.
He meditated for a moment, recovering his depleted spiritual energy. By then, the dark iron ore in the furnace was ready. Picking up the small knife, Mo Tianliao coated the blade with the dark iron ore solution. Then, with fingers enveloped in spiritual energy, he quickly molded it into a strange shape with a sharp hook at the tip, for use as a carving blade.
He took out his biggest piece of raw material yet—a log of Sinking Agarwood he’d harvested from the back mountain. Using the knife, he split the wood and pared it down into thin wooden spikes about four inches long.
Time passed. Outside, the gatekeeping disciples discussed Mo Tianliao as they drank. “That guy from Woqing Sanctum has seriously been in there for ten days.”
His companion stroked his beard knowingly. “Maybe he’s practicing. People with fire spiritual attributes often come here for the seclusion.”
The others thought so too. After all, there was no way a cultivator at level six of the qi-refining stage could actually forge any magical artifacts.
“These personal disciples just have too much money to burn. The three sanctums are practically brimming with spiritual energy, so anyone can cultivate sitting in their own room. And then there’s this guy, wasting money on a pointless endeavor.”
“I know, right…”
They were still chatting away when someone placed a jade button gently on the wooden tray on the desk and casually said, “Here you go.” His voice was low and pleasant, but tired.
Before anyone could react, he turned and left.
The disciples looked at the departing figure of the man in black and traded looks, wondering uneasily just how much of their conversation he had overheard.
The gatekeeper caught up to him. “Shishu, please hold on.”
Mo Tianliao looked back. “What is it?” The furnace was so low quality that Mo Tianliao had gone without sleep for a few days out of fear it would explode. He desperately needed to sleep, so his temper wasn’t particularly good at that moment.
His cold gaze sent a shiver through the gatekeeper, who hurriedly took out two pieces of low-grade spiritual stone. “You didn’t use the full ten days, so we should refund you two stones—”
“You can use it to get some wine for yourselves.” Mo Tianliao didn’t wait for an answer. He left with a flick of his sleeve.
Rather than going to pay his respects to his master on returning to Woqing Sanctum, Mo Tianliao headed straight for his courtyard, where he activated the protective barrier array and went right to bed.
The fluffy white cat crawled out of his arms and sat on his chest, looking down at him. The handsome face had darkened from days of being surrounded by flames and smoke, and there were even faint dark circles under his eyes.
He jumped off the bed, materializing into Qingtong in a flash of white light. The man in the flowing white robe continued to look at Mo Tianliao with disdain in his eyes. Dummy! Don’t you know you should cover yourself with a blanket when you’ve just exited a fire chamber? You don’t have fur to keep you warm. What if you catch a cold? Who’s going to warm my bed?!
Pursing his lips, he pulled over the thin quilt from the side and threw it over Mo Tianliao. With his hands clasped behind his back, he circled the room once. Then, assuming Mo Tianliao wouldn’t be waking up anytime soon, he left.
He had only just stepped into the grand hall of Qingning Palace when an attendant stepped forth and handed him a voice transmission talisman. “Zhenren, the sect leader has a message for you.”
Qingtong traced his finger over the talisman, and Tianlang-zhenren’s steady voice came through: “I’ve just returned from Qingyun Sect. Do you two want to meet up?”
The talisman burst into flames after playing the message. Qingtong threw away the burning talisman and left again.
Disputes often arose among the various orthodox sects, which required the three great sects to mediate. In these cases, this would often result in the distribution of benefits, so whenever the sect leader returned from mediation, he brought back a lot of good stuff.