Chapter 277 - Ancient Intent and a Mountain of Treasure

Chapter 277: Chapter 277 - Ancient Intent and a Mountain of Treasure

Su Bai nodded in satisfaction.

The commotion that had filled the Main Peak after his arrival was gone.

Disciples who had crowded around him only moments earlier now sat scattered throughout the training ground, their attention fixed entirely on the ancient walls. Even those who had not entered a state of enlightenment had become unusually quiet.

Several elders were no different.

One stood before a wall marked by countless shallow cuts, studying the traces so intently that he seemed to have forgotten everything around him. Another had closed his eyes while quietly moving two fingers through the air, repeatedly testing some realization he had drawn from the lingering intent.

Su Bai watched them for a while before looking back at the walls.

Only now did he fully appreciate how useful they were.

These walls had once stood in places where the soldiers of the ancient war trained, exchanged insights, and compared their techniques. Countless cultivators had left traces behind, sometimes deliberately and sometimes simply through repeated practice.

A sword mark might contain the remnants of one cultivator’s intent, yet another person looking at the same mark could understand something entirely different.

That was precisely why Su Bai had never tried to turn everything recorded on the walls into proper techniques.

He could certainly analyze the movements and principles left behind. With enough time and the Dao-Shattering Jade, he might even reconstruct some of them into complete methods.

However, doing so would force those scattered insights into a single interpretation.

The walls themselves were far more flexible.

A swordsman might see the angle of a strike.

A body cultivator might notice how force had been transferred through the stance.

Someone studying movement could understand the footwork that preceded it, while another cultivator might ignore all of those things and instead grasp a fragment of the intent left behind.

Their paths did not need to be the same.

More importantly, Su Bai could reproduce techniques, but he could not simply manufacture the intent accumulated within these ancient traces.

Leaving the walls as they were preserved something that a rewritten jade slip could not.

Su Bai smiled faintly.

For once, not improving something had actually been the better choice.

Another disciple quietly sat down before one of the walls.

The elder beside him immediately moved the surrounding disciples farther away and placed a simple isolation restriction around the area.

Su Bai watched the increasingly strange silence of the Main Peak for a little longer before deciding there was no reason to remain.

Nobody was paying attention to him anymore.

That was probably the best possible result.

He turned and left without disturbing anyone.

His next destination was Heavenly Forge Peak.

...

By the time Su Bai reached the lower paths leading toward the peak, news of his arrival had already traveled ahead of him.

He had not even reached the main barrier when a familiar figure hurried out to meet him.

"Senior Brother Su!"

Qin Baoshan clasped his hands with considerably more enthusiasm than Su Bai remembered.

Su Bai returned the greeting before taking a proper look at him.

Qin Baoshan had clearly grown stronger.

His aura was steadier, and there was more weight behind the way he carried himself. He had not wasted the months since Fallen-Star Sanctuary.

However, Su Bai’s attention soon shifted toward the shield strapped across his back.

It was different.

The overall design remained heavy and practical, exactly the kind of shield Qin Baoshan preferred, but the material had changed. Dark mineral patterns ran through its surface, and some sections possessed the same strange texture Su Bai had seen on the mineralized bodies of the miasma beasts.

Su Bai’s eyebrows rose slightly.

"You finished another shield."

Qin Baoshan immediately brightened.

"You noticed?"

Su Bai looked at him.

Considering the shield was almost large enough to hide Qin Baoshan behind it, not noticing would have required considerable effort.

He chose not to say that.

"You’ve grown stronger as well."

Qin Baoshan smiled and reached back to pat the edge of the shield.

"I used some of the mineralized beast material we brought out of Fallen-Star Sanctuary. My master helped me understand how to treat it, but most of the forging was mine."

There was obvious pride in his voice.

Su Bai nodded.

"Good. It suits you better than the old one."

That simple approval seemed to please Qin Baoshan more than a lengthy compliment would have.

The two began walking deeper into Heavenly Forge Peak.

Qin Baoshan continued talking as they walked.

Most of what happened after their separation in Fallen-Star Sanctuary had been relatively uneventful compared with Su Bai’s experience, although Qin Baoshan had clearly spent a large portion of his time improving his forging and defensive techniques.

When the topic returned to materials, his excitement became much harder to hide.

"I wanted to use some of the star-metal fragments in the shield," Qin Baoshan admitted, "but I gave up after Peak Master Huo let me examine one properly."

Su Bai glanced at him.

"You couldn’t refine it?"

Qin Baoshan shook his head.

"I could barely affect the surface. Our current furnaces can heat smaller fragments, but properly refining enough star-metal for a shield is another matter. Even Peak Master Huo would need considerable preparation."

Su Bai remembered that.

He still possessed a large personal reserve of star-metal, while most of what he had brought back was already meant for the sect.

Knowing that Heavenly Forge Peak could not casually process it made the material even more troublesome.

Before long, they reached Huo Yan’s personal forging chamber.

The heavy doors were already open.

Huo Yan stood outside with his arms folded.

Apparently, Qin Baoshan had not needed to announce them.

The Peak Master had sensed Su Bai approaching long ago.

Qin Baoshan bowed.

"Peak Master."

Huo Yan waved him away.

"You have work waiting. Go finish it before you find another excuse to stare at your shield."

Qin Baoshan coughed.

"I was showing Senior Brother Su the improvements."

"You showed me the improvements three times yesterday."

Qin Baoshan immediately decided that his work was extremely urgent.

Su Bai watched him leave before turning toward Huo Yan.

He clasped his hands.

"Greetings, Martial Uncle Huo."

Huo Yan laughed and placed a heavy hand on Su Bai’s shoulder.

"Enough with that. Come inside."

His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at Su Bai.

"I can already tell you didn’t climb Heavenly Forge Peak just to greet me."

Su Bai smiled helplessly.

Huo Yan’s instincts were apparently excellent whenever materials were involved.

They entered the forging chamber.

Compared with the workshops outside, the room was surprisingly organized. Several furnaces occupied one side, while racks of tools and unfinished artifacts lined the walls. A large stone table sat near the center.

Huo Yan took his seat.

Su Bai sat opposite him. He did not waste time.

"Martial Uncle, I brought some materials back from Fallen-Star Sanctuary that I intend to leave with the sect. I thought you would be the best person to determine what can be used, what should be studied, and what might be worth selling."

Huo Yan’s expression immediately changed.

"How much?"

Su Bai took out a storage ring.

"A portion."

Huo Yan accepted the storage ring and sent his spiritual sense inside. The smile on his face faded almost immediately.

For several breaths, he remained silent as his awareness swept through the contents again, slower this time, checking whether he had somehow mistaken what he had seen.

When he finally raised his head, the casual amusement from moments ago had completely disappeared, replaced by a seriousness Su Bai rarely saw on him.

Inside were damaged ancient weapons, mineralized beast materials, formation components, ores, and a substantial quantity of star-metal among many other things Su Bai had collected inside the Sanctuary.

Huo Yan remained still for a moment.

His gaze dropped to the storage ring in his hand, and only after several breaths did he seem to remember what Su Bai had called it.

"A portion?"

Su Bai nodded.

Huo Yan looked at him again.

The word suddenly sounded offensive.

Even without touching the star-metal, the damaged ancient weapons and formation components alone were worth more than what many smaller forces could gather in years.

Heavenly Forge Peak could reforge some of them, dismantle others for materials, and study the ancient structures that had survived. Whatever they could not use could still be exchanged for an enormous amount of resources.

And this was apparently only a portion.

Huo Yan opened his mouth, but before he could decide what to say, Su Bai placed another storage ring beside the first.

The faint sound against the stone table made his eyes shift downward.

For the first time since Su Bai entered the chamber, Huo Yan hesitated.

He picked up the second ring anyway.

A few breaths later, his back straightened.

His spiritual sense swept through the contents once, slowed, and returned to several places as if he refused to trust the first inspection. Whatever composure he had recovered disappeared completely.

Su Bai watched his Martial Uncle’s expression tighten little by little.

Huo Yan had handled rare materials for most of his life. He knew how much trouble a single valuable ore could cause when Heavenly Forge Peak needed it badly enough, and he knew exactly how many promising projects had been postponed because the sect could not justify the expense.

The second ring contained enough material to make those old problems suddenly feel very small.

His fingers tightened around it.

"This much star-metal..."

His voice had lost its earlier amusement.

Huo Yan remained silent afterward, but Su Bai could practically see the calculations passing through his head.

They could not refine all of the star-metal yet, but there was no reason to sell something so difficult to replace. The damaged ancient artifacts were another matter. Some could be reforged, while others were worth more as examples of techniques Heavenly Forge Peak no longer possessed.

Even the mineralized beast remains that looked crude beside the ancient treasures could become armor, shields, reinforcement plates, or simply valuable trade goods.

The more Huo Yan considered it, the less the storage ring resembled a pile of salvage.

It looked like decades of resources.

Perhaps far more.

His lips moved faintly.

"If we keep what the peak can use and sell only the excess..."

Su Bai waited.

Huo Yan’s eyes slowly brightened.

"A hundred years of expenses would no longer be difficult."

He frowned almost immediately and recalculated.

"No, that is too conservative."

His spiritual sense dipped into both rings again.

For several breaths, the forging chamber became so quiet that Su Bai could hear the faint crackling of spiritual flame from the furnaces nearby.

Huo Yan finally leaned back.

"If these materials are handled properly, Heavenly Forge Peak alone could stop worrying about several of its largest expenses for generations."

There was a dangerous amount of happiness in his voice.

Su Bai decided that this was probably the right moment to bring out the third storage ring.

He placed it on the table.

Huo Yan stopped moving. His gaze settled on it.

The happiness disappeared.

"Martial Nephew."

"Yes, Martial Uncle?"

Huo Yan pointed at the new ring without taking his eyes off it.

"Is that also a portion?"

Su Bai considered the question.

"It should be the last storage ring."

Huo Yan visibly relaxed.

Su Bai continued before the misunderstanding grew worse.

"The rest is too large to store conveniently."

Huo Yan’s hand, which had already reached toward the ring, froze halfway.

He slowly looked up.

"The rest?"

Su Bai nodded.

For several breaths, Huo Yan said nothing.

His hand eventually completed the journey and picked up the third ring with the solemnity of someone handling an ancestral relic.

When his spiritual sense entered, his expression changed again.

This time, he did not mutter.

He did not calculate aloud.

He simply sat there.

Su Bai waited patiently.

A strange calm gradually settled over Huo Yan’s face, so complete that Su Bai was briefly reminded of cultivators who had suddenly understood some profound truth after decades of struggle.

Unfortunately, Huo Yan had not comprehended the Dao.

He had comprehended wealth.

"The sect is rich."

His voice was unusually peaceful.

Su Bai’s mouth twitched.

Huo Yan stared at the three storage rings in front of him, and the corners of his lips slowly rose.

"Very rich."

The smile grew.

"Extremely rich."

Su Bai could hear his heartbeat speeding up again.

He decided not to interrupt whatever spiritual experience his Martial Uncle was currently undergoing.

After a while, Huo Yan finally drew a long breath and pressed both hands against the table.

His eyes had become frighteningly clear.

"We keep anything that can improve our forging. We study what we cannot understand. We sell only what is redundant or useless to the sect."

Su Bai nodded.

That was exactly what he had hoped Huo Yan would say.

"There is still one problem."

The brightness in Huo Yan’s eyes faltered.

"What problem?"

Su Bai glanced toward the open space near the far wall.

"Can I put the remaining materials there?"

Huo Yan followed his gaze.

The space was large enough to hold several furnaces.

He looked back at Su Bai.

"How much space do you need?"

Su Bai studied the chamber for a moment before pointing farther to the side.

"Probably that part too."

Huo Yan’s smile finally collapsed.

Only now did he seem to understand that the three stuffed storage rings had not been the donation.

They had merely been the portion that fit neatly inside storage rings.

His gaze remained on Su Bai for a long time.

"How much of Fallen-Star Sanctuary did you dismantle?"

Su Bai gave the question genuine thought.

He had left ordinary stone behind. He had ignored collapsed structures that contained nothing useful.

From his perspective, he had exercised considerable restraint.

"All the useful parts."

Huo Yan closed his eyes.

’Of course. That basically means everything.’