Ye Qin had never heard of such spiritual tools existing before. Astonished, he listened closely as the old man in the white robe explained the uses of the two materials.

After the old man in the white robe had prattled on extensively about the uses of these two materials, still feeling dissatisfied, he added fuel to the fire: "The greatest advantage of wing-type artifacts is that if you find yourself outmatched by an opponent, you can simply flap the wings and soar skyward, escaping their attack range. You can go wherever you please! Those ordinary Qi Refining stage cultivators can only stand on the ground, staring helplessly."

"Of course, this is only relative to Qi Refining stage cultivators. Foundation Establishment cultivators can already fly on their artifacts; they can target things in the sky. Don't provoke them, and they won't chase you down without reason."

Ye Qin nodded slightly. Within Xian Yuan City, he rarely encountered Foundation Establishment cultivators, let alone provoked them. With a flying artifact in hand, he at least had the capital for escape when facing Qi Refining stage cultivators.

Seeing that Ye Qin was tempted, the old man licked his dry lips, looking rather smug: "There's one more thing I must tell you. Artifacts refined from demonic beast materials possess a magical characteristic that those refined from ore or wood lack. Demonic beast artifacts often carry the spell abilities of the beast itself. If the beast knew a certain spell, then this artifact might also be able to unleash a corresponding spell."

"Ordinary demonic bat wings only serve the function of flight; ordinary demonic bat thorns only serve to drain blood. However, the materials taken from your white Demonic Bat King are completely different from the wings and fangs of an ordinary Demonic Bat King. Forgive my poor sight, but this is the first time I have seen a Demonic Bat King that looks like this, so I cannot make a definitive judgment. Ah, when you hunted this Demonic Bat King, did you notice it using any special spells?"

The old man's eyes flickered, staring intently at Ye Qin's expression, seemingly agitated and filled with expectation, eager to get a clear answer to this question.

Ye Qin looked coldly at the old man. His expression remained impassive, but internally, he felt quite annoyed by the old man's relentless prying. The Bao Feng Workshop only needed to refine the items for him; why did they need to ask so many irrelevant questions?! These materials were his, not the Workshop's.

"No."

Ye Qin stated flatly.

The old man was greatly disappointed, running a hand through his messy, bushy hair. This made things difficult. Artifacts imbued with spells and those without carry vastly different prices. It was hard for him to inflate the valuation of these two artifacts.

Ye Qin stared at the old man and asked, "Tell me, how many spirit stones in total will it cost to refine these two artifacts? If the price is reasonable, I'll have them refined; if it's too high, I'll go to another refining workshop."

The old man stroked his beard, subtly assessing Ye Qin's attire, rapidly calculating how to set the price. Although the young man looked poorly dressed, it was likely an act. Look at him; he produced the materials of two Demonic Bat Kings right away, and they were stored in a storage bag. He was either a young disciple from some great clan venturing out, or a rogue cultivator with strong backing—someone certainly wealthy. Only the higher the grade of refining material, the more legitimately he could charge for the commission fee.

The old man pondered for a moment, shook his head, and stated his price: "Ahem~ This is how it is. The strength of a second-tier demonic beast king is equivalent to a third-tier demonic beast. Artifacts refined from materials taken from them are considered high-grade artifacts. High-grade artifacts sell for at least two thousand low-grade spirit stones in the market. These two materials, however, will create extraordinary artifacts. Those bat wings are worth at least four thousand spirit stones; the bat fangs are cheaper, two thousand. But since you are providing the raw materials, our workshop only charges the customary fifty percent commission fee for the refinement. Combined, the total will be three thousand low-grade spirit stones for you."

The old man anxiously watched Ye Qin again. This price was a bit high. If the deal went through, he would get a five percent cut, about one hundred and fifty low-grade spirit stones—a substantial sum he might not earn even after several months of hard work.

Ye Qin had his own considerations. The ten-plus spiritual artifacts like knives and swords he had collected in the Ling Wu Great Canyon, once sold, would fetch nearly one to two thousand spirit stones. If he simply took one of the spirit herbs required for sect entry and sold it—the market demand for spirit herbs was booming right now—he could quickly gather the money. Thus, although the price quoted by the old man was high, it wasn't entirely outrageous to him; good things naturally came with a good price tag.

What mattered most to Ye Qin was obtaining this life-saving flying artifact as quickly as possible; that was more important than haggling over the price for half a day.

He calmly said, "I need to get these items as soon as possible. When can you refine these two artifacts?"

Seeing that Ye Qin agreed to the price, the old man was overjoyed.

"The Bao Feng Refining Workshop has over ten artifact refiners, all specializing in the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. They can only refine five-element materials; none of them knows how to refine wings or fangs. Furthermore, these wings are wind-element materials, extremely difficult to refine. Only a Foundation Establishment stage refiner with wind affinity can craft such a rare winged artifact. Wind-element refiners are scarce. In the entire Xian Yuan City, not a single refining workshop has a wind-element refiner."

Ye Qin paused, then immediately became irritated. "We've talked for so long, and you can't refine the materials? Then why did you even mention it?" He picked up the pair of wings and fangs from the table, preparing to leave.

The old man hurriedly stopped him, his voice strained: "Hey~ Little brother, don't rush off! I haven't finished speaking! Although no one in our Bao Feng Refining Workshop can refine them, we have a Foundation Establishment stage Artifact Master named Kong. He is quite familiar with several disciples from the Da Luo Sect. We can have him commission a refiner from the Da Luo Sect to do the work. The Da Luo Sect thoroughly studies unconventional refining methods and specializes in refining all sorts of unique materials. They definitely have wind-element refiners. If they handle the refinement, the chance of success will increase significantly! I will find Master Kong right away; please wait a moment!"

Ye Qin immediately stopped, his expression softening slightly, nodding. At least he hadn't walked out the door yet.

The old man quickly took out a small golden sound transmission talisman from his robes, spoke a few words into it, and tossed it toward the air. The talisman moved nimbly, erupting in a brilliant golden light before flying away.

After a while,

A cultivator in white robes ascended to the second floor, hands behind his back, entering the compartment where Ye Qin and the old man were. This cultivator was the Master Kong mentioned by the old man, a Foundation Establishment stage artifact refiner. Master Kong appeared middle-aged, tall and slender, with a face as dry and lifeless as old tree bark. He gave Ye Qin a detached glance.

Ye Qin's eyes suddenly narrowed, and he took a slight step back. This was the first time he had stood so close to a Foundation Establishment cultivator. The moment Master Kong entered the room, a massive spiritual pressure nearly crushed him, making it hard to breathe. He dared not use his Spiritual Eye technique to probe the Foundation Establishment cultivator's cultivation; he could only strain to keep himself from being flattened by the pressure.

Seeing this cultivator, the old man in the white robe immediately became respectful. "Master Kong," he bowed deeply, nearly bending his waist in half. Although the old man was also an appraisal "Master," in front of this Foundation Establishment stage refiner, he probably didn't amount to much.

Master Kong grunted noncommittally, "What materials are worth me asking my Da Luo Sect fellows to handle?"

The old man hurriedly described the pair of wings and fangs on the table.

Master Kong glanced at the Demonic Bat King Snow Wings and Demonic Bat King Fangs on the table, finally showing a hint of surprise. His eyes flashed with sharp light, but he said nothing, made no gesture, and simply walked out of the compartment, hands behind his back.

The old man quickly followed him out of the compartment.

Ye Qin was left alone in the compartment. The spiritual pressure vanished, and he couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.

Master Kong, having stepped out of the compartment, spoke as if asking an unimportant question to the air, "Did you ask him what spells that mutated second-tier Demonic Bat King possessed?"

The old man quickly tried to placate him: "Master, I did ask. That brat said the Demonic Bat King knew no spells. That kid is inexperienced; I quoted two thousand spirit stones, and he didn't even haggle! This deal has profit potential. If Master can commission the Da Luo Sect to refine these two artifacts, our Bao Feng Workshop will instantly earn three thousand low-grade spirit stones."

Master Kong scoffed lightly, "A second-tier demonic beast king is equivalent to a third-tier demonic beast, but a mutated beast requires an additional tier increase on top of that. Those two blood-sucking fangs are useless junk. However, those wings are indeed good items for Qi Refining stage cultivators. It’s a pity it was a beast without spells. But if a fourth-tier flying beast possessed spells, how could it possibly be captured and killed by Qi Refining stage cultivators? You priced them too low. Raise the price directly to six thousand low-grade spirit stones."

The old man was stunned.

Master Kong was a wood-element refiner and held little interest in these demonic beast materials. After giving a few instructions to the old man, he left quickly.

"This is a mutated demonic beast king, equivalent to a fourth-tier demonic beast?"

The old man muttered, still reeling from the shock.

He returned to the compartment and smiled at Ye Qin, who was just recovering from the immense pressure: "Master Kong said it's fine to commission the Da Luo Sect refiners, but the fee will be double the price of ordinary high-grade artifacts—that means six thousand low-grade spirit stones. I wonder if little brother can afford it?"

Ye Qin's face immediately darkened. After that Master Kong visited, the price had instantly doubled. This rapid increase was unacceptable!

Seeing that Ye Qin looked ready to storm out in anger, the old man calmly smiled: "Besides the connections Bao Feng Workshop has, no one else can refine these wings. Even if you genuinely find another channel, the price will surely be the same as ours, definitely no less than six thousand."

Ye Qin was silent for a moment.

"I just want to know how long it will take to refine these two artifacts?"

The old man said with considerable pride, "Our workshop has a rare avian—the Nine-Toed Bird—that can fly directly to the Da Luo Sect. The round trip takes only half a day. The refinement process itself only takes about two days. We will definitely hand over the artifacts to you within three days."

Ye Qin said no more. He finalized a contract with the Bao Feng Refining Workshop, paying a deposit of one thousand low-grade spirit stones and agreeing to pay the remaining five thousand upon completion. If the refinement failed and the materials were destroyed, the deposit would be refunded, and they would compensate three thousand one hundred spirit stones per item. Ye Qin, with a grim expression, pocketed the contract and left the Bao Feng Refining Workshop without looking back. (To be continued. For future developments, please visit www**com for more chapters, support the author, and support genuine reading!)