Handing Li Xiaoyao’s "Candy Drops" to Zhang Ling as a snack—Ye Wende wasn't particularly interested in such things anyway; he'd rather have boiled peanuts over these any day.

“I wonder if that kid Xiaoyao can manage to whip up something like a cola!” The sudden thought struck him as rather unlikely. If elixirs and candy drops bore any resemblance, what sort of substance could approximate cola? A medicinal decoction? If such a brew were actually made, who would dare drink it?

Emerging from the Artifact Forging Pavilion, Ye Wen toyed with the rather ordinary longsword in his hand. This sword was indistinguishable from the standard sidearms carried by the disciples of the Shushan Sect—a typical longsword design. Apart from the inscription of "Shushan" upon it, there was nothing else remarkable to see.

Yet, Ye Wen could feel faint, meridian-like structures within the sword, allowing his Zhenqi to flow more smoothly along its length.

Activating the Innate Violet Qi, Ye Wen observed delicate, subtle lines faintly appearing along the sword. These must be the trails left by his Zhenqi as it coursed through the weapon.

“Zhang Ling said that she and Zheng Ying have only learned the rudimentary steps—etching talismans onto ordinary weapons. These internal channels must be those inscribed talismans, granting a common longsword the nascent abilities of a Dharma Artifact. It’s still far removed from forging a true Dharma Artifact!” It turned out that the earliest form of these artifacts was just like this: inscribing talismans onto pre-existing objects, with the resulting effect varying according to the talismans used.

For example, the longsword in Ye Wen’s hand possessed talismans designed to better channel the wielder’s Zhenqi, effectively making the sword an extension of the user to unleash more formidable power.

“Sharper, tougher!”

However, this type of Dharma Artifact was not without its drawbacks! Setting aside the fact that the surface-etched talismans were extremely vulnerable to damage, the increased sharpness and fortitude only manifested when the user held the sword and circulated their Zhenqi.

If the user refrained from channeling Zhenqi, the sword’s durability would be inferior to its original state—it was absurd to think that etching runes onto it would make it intrinsically stronger than it was before.

In summation, this longsword barely qualified as a Dharma Artifact; it remained merely a mundane weapon. Items of this caliber were entirely unused in the Immortal Realm: ordinary mortals couldn't utilize them, and cultivators disdained such crudely made objects.

If the entire Shushan Sect were to employ such artifacts, they would likely be laughed out of the Immortal Realm, unable to hold their heads up. No one could accept being pointed at and mocked: “Look, those are members of the Shushan Sect, treasuring junk!”

While some individuals might not care, Ye Wen was certainly not among them. He could not tolerate others viewing the sect he had painstakingly developed with scorn. Furthermore, he believed that Dharma Artifacts should either not be used at all, or if they were, they must be of high quality!

However, there was no need to rush this. Zhang Ling had already mastered numerous talismans and was beginning to explore methods of integrating talismans inside objects. She had even started learning how to incorporate formation talismans during the actual forging process.

This was the most conventional method for manufacturing Dharma Artifacts; the internal formation talismans were nearly complete the moment the artifact emerged from the forge!

Of course, artifacts made this way were merely commonplace; they were ubiquitous in the Immortal Realm, typically found on any cultivator capable of traveling outside, and thus unremarkable.

The difficulty in forging artifacts lay in two aspects: first, integrating complex formations while simultaneously casting the item, and second, the subsequent stage of activating those formations.

Take the Nine Heavens Demonic Blood God Sword, for instance. Considering the sword itself, its external form was flawless upon completion of forging. But this did not mean it was instantly the peerless, terrifying weapon that made everyone recoil.

The reason was that the intricate formations within the sword had not yet been activated—they hadn't been triggered! The activation method varied depending on the formation. Some required the refiner to nurture the flying sword over a period of time to initiate the arrays.

Others might need to be catalyzed by utilizing the advantages of a specific location. Beyond these, there were countless other bizarre methods. Sacrificing living beings for refinement was also common—the Nine Heavens Demonic Blood God Sword was a prime example.

Simply put, creating a flying sword artifact involved integrating increasingly complex and exquisite formations within a set timeframe, then finding the appropriate activation method to trigger the arrays. Only then could it be considered a true Dharma Artifact.

Dharma Artifacts were further categorized into those with fixed power levels and those whose might varied according to the wielder’s strength. The fixed-power variety was the easiest to manufacture.

The most notoriously difficult to create were artifacts whose power scaled precisely with the user’s strength. Such artifacts were almost considered legendary, unobtainable, and currently, no one in the Immortal Realm possessed the skill to manufacture them.

Even the finest master smiths at the Heavenly Mystery Sect could, at best, produce artifacts of immense power capable of manifesting the strength of most Immortals. While formidable, these still had an upper limit; they were not boundless. It was simply that everyone assumed the power these artifacts exhibited was already terrifying enough—one couldn't exactly destroy the Immortal Realm, could they? Thus, nobody pursued that level of creation.

The artifacts Zhang Ling was currently capable of tinkering with were only those with fixed, very weak power levels. These might still be of some use to the current Shushan Sect, as the disciples’ strengths were low, and these artifacts required minimal Zhenqi to operate while delivering respectable power—at least for those disciples.

However, Ye Wen had no intention of letting her mass-produce such items. Not only would it be a waste of time, but it would also easily instill a bad habit of relying on external tools in the disciples. Shushan Sect disciples relied on their bodies, as the sect possessed no immortal arts for them to study. If they became overly dependent on artifacts and neglected their own training, they would face certain death when confronting a powerful opponent.

Instead, Ye Wen hoped Zhang Ling would focus on creating artifacts whose potential power was determined by the user’s own strength. While the maximum output might be slightly lower, it didn't matter much—most such artifacts were only partially unleashed because the user lacked the requisite cultivation. Ye Wen’s current idea was to implement a threshold system, like permissions; only upon reaching a certain level of strength, thereby earning the requisite clearance, could one access higher levels of ability.

Though at a quick glance these two scenarios seemed identical, the difference was vast.

Firstly, the artifacts Zhang Ling currently produced lacked great power. In the Immortal Realm, artifacts of this low power level generally had no restrictions; those that truly limited usage due to insufficient wielder strength were invariably top-tier treasures. Their potential output was astonishing, naturally demanding greater cultivation to mobilize.

Low-level artifacts... rarely carried such limitations. Because their power was limited, the difficulty in activating them was negligible. Thus, cultivators could use common or low-tier artifacts to their full potential after only a brief period of familiarization.

To put it more plainly, one situation involved being passively restricted—the limitation wasn't an inherent design flaw in the artifact itself! The other situation involved proactive restriction, or restriction implemented intentionally.

After hearing the general overview of Dharma Artifacts, Ye Wen had already begun calculating these variables in his mind. After this prolonged contemplation, he had reached a firm conclusion: Shushan Sect artifacts must all incorporate this type of restriction. This would provide the disciples with motivation to strive harder, preventing a situation where someone who reached a certain level could suddenly match a senior brother who had trained diligently for years, thereby losing all impetus to advance. That would be disastrous.

After walking a while longer, he entered the Scripture Repository.

He hadn't intended to visit the Scripture Repository initially. However, having gone to the other two locations, skipping this one might cause unforeseen speculation among the disciples, so it was best to take a look.

In reality, there wasn't much for him to do here. The few disciples still learning literacy had already finished their lessons for the day. Wei Hong and Nangong Huang sat chatting, while the eunuch Liu Fushun stood respectfully to the side, serving them, looking exactly as he had when they first met him in the Imperial Palace.

“Master!”

“Master!”

Ye Wen hadn't announced his arrival. But having already toured the sect for nearly the entire day, he presumed these two had received word of his visit; even the tea had been prepared.

“Oh? Still warm?”

“Disciple guessed Master would arrive around this time, so I prepared the tea just now!” Seeing Ye Wen wave his hand, Wei Hong knew he didn't need to be overly deferential—in fact, he hadn't been particularly so; having been an emperor for decades, it was usually others who showed him utmost respect.

Ye Wen grunted, sat down directly, and surveyed the room, which resembled a classroom, inhaling the rich, pervasive scent of ink. “The environment here is quite good!”

“But before long, this room will likely be empty!” Nangong Huang remarked. Shushan wasn't planning to recruit new disciples currently, and soon, those still learning would graduate. Who would use this place then?

Ye Wen wasn't worried about that, laughing heartily, “Aren’t there still Lingshan and Changqing?”

“How old are those two? They’re still years away!” Nangong Huang chuckled, shaking his head. For those two little ones to learn calligraphy, they needed at least three or four more years, perhaps five or six.

Ye Wen didn't mind. “Aren’t Huang Yun’s two sons about the same age? Shouldn’t they be studying with you too?”

“Shouldn’t Huang family’s two boys study with their father? Do they really need our direct tutelage?”

“What nonsense is this? For Shushan Sect disciples, matters of zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting fall under the purview of the Scripture Repository. How could you not be required to teach them? Are you trying to slack off?” Ye Wen founded the Scripture Repository with the original intention of providing a place for sect disciples to learn reading and writing. If they had someone else teaching them, they wouldn't need to come here; why establish the Repository at all? They could just find their own masters to instruct them!

Therefore, anyone who needed instruction was sent to the Scripture Repository. This served two purposes: allowing the disciples to foster camaraderie while studying, and enabling the masters who taught martial arts or other skills to focus solely on those specialized disciplines without being distracted.

He conversed with his two disciples for a while. Since there were no outsiders, the conversation was quite unrestrained. Nangong Huang, though not his direct disciple, inherited his lineage from Xu Xian and was hardly an honest man himself. If not for his old injury and advanced age, he might have been even more unruly than that boy Li Xiaoyao.

“Speaking of which, Junior Brother Xiaoyao seems to be getting quite close to that Claire. I wonder when that good thing will happen!” The most discussed topics were naturally the sect members and internal affairs. Over these past days, the disciples Ye Wen had recruited later were gradually getting acquainted with the original Shushan disciples. The one attracting the most attention was Li Xiaoyao's apparently developing relationship with Claire. Everyone was curious—she was the only foreign woman in the entire Shushan. Furthermore, Claire’s personality was very different from their perception of young women; she seemed rather boisterous, sometimes even fiercer than men, ready to roll up her sleeves for a duel at the slightest disagreement. What kind of girl was that?

Although women who roamed the Jianghu were rarely gentle, such a temperament was exceedingly rare, naturally drawing more scrutiny from the crowd.

Nangong Huang was similarly attentive. Given his excellent early relationship with Li Xiaoyao—they were close buddies who stole chickens, stole dogs, fought, and drank together—it was natural for him to express concern when his friend started getting cozy with a woman.

Ye Wen paused to consider; he realized that, without him noticing, Li Xiaoyao and Claire were indeed growing closer. Ah, back then, Claire had a bit of a brother complex; basically, wherever Chris went, she followed. I wonder when it switched to wherever Li Xiaoyao went, she followed...

Wait, that seems wrong. It should be wherever she went, Li Xiaoyao followed. But the fact that Claire stopped trailing her brother and started walking around alone with Li Xiaoyao—doesn't that indicate a lot?

More importantly, that rascal Li Xiaoyao was using the most shameless ultimate move: grabbing a woman's pot and ladle to curry favor with Claire. No wonder they were so close now. Claire would likely realize with chagrin when she finally came to her senses that she was already inseparable from Li Xiaoyao's... ladle!

“As for their affairs, let them follow their nature and resolve it themselves. We can just watch the fun from the sidelines,” Ye Wen sipped his tea. “What about you, Huang’er? When do you plan to settle your own lifelong matters?”

Nangong Huang, having thought that the topic was closed once Ye Wen spoke, was taking tea when Ye Wen suddenly posed this question, startling him so badly that he nearly ruined the calligraphy Wei Hong had just finished writing.

“Senior Brother, be careful, I am quite pleased with this piece!” Wei Hong moved the calligraphy away as if guarding a rare treasure, handing it to Liu Fushun nearby, though his posture clearly betrayed that he was merely putting on an act.

Nangong Huang finally managed to catch his breath. “Martial Uncle, please stop joking. I am already this old!” In truth, Nangong Huang had pondered this issue before. But having been injured in his early years, he maintained a romantic, dashing façade while being perpetually sickly. In severe episodes, he might lie bedridden for days, unsure if his end was near.

Under those circumstances, even if someone arranged a marriage for him, he wouldn't dare accept, fearing he would ruin the young lady’s life! After all, his injury showed almost no hope of recovery; he was merely hanging on by a thread.

Unexpectedly, his life proved resilient. Later, Eldest Senior Brother Yue Ning successfully cultivated the Innate Violet Qi. While not as profound or formidable as Ye Wen’s, it had at least alleviated Nangong Huang’s injuries, allowing him to live to his current age!

At that time, Nangong Huang wasn't truly ancient, only middle-aged; marrying a wife would have been normal. But years of suffering had aged him prematurely, and over time, he had grown indifferent to such matters, so he remained unmarried.

Now, at this age, he felt his path was set. If he had the time, it was better spent mentoring several excellent grand-disciples to ensure Shushan Sect's long-term prosperity.

“How old are you? Are you older than Martial Uncle here?” Ye Wen was unconcerned. “With Martial Uncle around, and so many miraculous elixirs, your body will recover quickly. Then, diligently practicing the Primordial Spirit Essence Body Cultivation Art will be enough to restore your body to robust health! After diligent effort, cross the Earth Immortal threshold, reshape your flesh, and regaining the appearance of your youth won't be difficult!”

To add conviction, Ye Wen cited an example: “Look at Martial Uncle. Since entering the Earth Immortal realm, my appearance hasn’t changed in decades! Your Martial Aunt, she’s even more exaggerated, deliberately acting youthful—hardly looks like an old crone nearing a hundred!”

“Ahem…” Discussing his Martial Aunt privately was awkward. Nangong Huang simply coughed dryly in acknowledgement. “But Martial Uncle, Master, and Martial Aunt all crossed that threshold when they were young, so that’s why…”

“That’s not entirely true. When I was on Earth, a cultivator told me that upon achieving Earth Immortal status, the physical body undergoes a tempering. If one can survive it, one can completely reshape their appearance, restoring the body to its youthful state!”

“Can it really?”

To be honest, this possibility was not only tempting to Nangong Huang; Wei Hong was also deeply stirred!

What was the pursuit of immortal cultivation for? Was it not the quest for eternal life? Wei Hong had already enjoyed all the glory and wealth of the mortal world, having been a ruler for decades. His only regret was the lack of longevity.

Now, Ye Wen was telling him that not only could he achieve immortality, but he could also regain his youth!

“Guaranteed, dear!” Ye Wen suddenly remembered he hadn't detailed the specific benefits awaiting them after reaching Earth Immortal. He had only told them that surpassing that level would extend their lifespan by at least several hundred or a thousand years; he had forgotten to mention the physical rejuvenation aspect.

After Ye Wen elaborated on the situation, Wei Hong thought for a moment, then suddenly said, “Actually, there is something I’ve wanted to discuss with Master for a long time, but I wasn't sure if Master would agree!”

“What is it?”

Wei Hong pointed to Liu Fushun, who was respectfully serving beside him. “This disciple wishes to teach our sect’s martial arts to him and Steward Zhou, but without Master’s permission, this disciple dares not act on his own!”

“Oh… This matter!”