Chapter 275: The Mystic Gate Artifact Codex

Chapter 275: The Mystic Gate Artifact Codex

Ning Xiaochuan did not immediately head to challenge the Heavenly Bridge. Instead, he returned to the Three Masters Martial Academy with Yu Qianqian, intending to visit Ning Xin'er first.

"Little Red! Little Red!"

Ning Xin'er rushed out of the Three Masters Martial Academy and froze when she saw Ning Xiaochuan and Yu Qianqian standing outside. Tears welled up in her large eyes as she dashed forward and threw her arms around Ning Xiaochuan's neck.

"Brother..." Ning Xin'er rubbed her delicate face against Ning Xiaochuan's chest, her beautiful, clear eyes slightly reddened.

Ning Xiaochuan missed her dearly as well. To him, Ning Xin'er was his closest family in this world.

Ning Xin'er had also made significant progress in her cultivation, having already reached the Seventh Level of the Divine Body Realm. Her cultivation speed was astonishingly fast. If not for Ning Xiaochuan's own extraordinary achievements, she would undoubtedly have become the top talent among the younger generation of the Jian Pavilion Marquis House within two more years.

"Roar, roar, roar!"

The Small Red Dragon, clutching a large red fruit in its arms, scurried forward on its stubby little legs.

A small black tiger chased after it, its agate-like eyes fixed on the fruit in the Small Red Dragon's grasp, drooling incessantly.

Suddenly, the Small Red Dragon stopped and glanced at Ning Xiaochuan. Its eyes lit up, and it tossed the fruit to the small black tiger before swaggering over to Ning Xiaochuan, letting out a series of roars.

Ning Xiaochuan understood its meaning and extended an arm.

Little Red climbed up Ning Xiaochuan's arm and perched on his shoulder, then let out another round of noisy cries right into his ear.

"She's already hatched?" Ning Xiaochuan swatted at Little Red, sending it flying.

This little troublemaker was far too loud!

Little Red's eyes gleamed as it scurried back to Ning Xiaochuan's feet, tugging at his pant leg with a claw, demanding he take it out of the Emperor's Martial Palace.

"Not now. I'll take you to see her in a few days," Ning Xiaochuan said.

Little Red, of course, refused to accept this. It stood upright on its hind legs, puffing out its chest as it stared at Ning Xiaochuan, letting out indignant roars.

"Little Red, don't bother Brother. Once he finishes his business at the Emperor's Martial Palace, he’ll definitely take you out!" Ning Xin'er grabbed Little Red by the scruff of its neck and stuffed it into her sleeve.

Ning Xiaochuan noticed a small black tiger crouched on the doorstep nearby, munching on the fruit with loud, smacking noises, looking for all the world like a black guard dog.

"Huh? Why is it here too?" Ning Xiaochuan stared at the small black tiger.

Ning Xin'er, her fair face lovely and delicate, beckoned. "Little Black, come here."

The small black tiger had been intently gnawing on the fruit on the doorstep. Hearing Ning Xin'er's call, it lifted its head in a daze, pointing a tiny paw at itself as if to ask, "Are you calling me?"

Ning Xin'er nodded.

The small black tiger clamped the fruit between its teeth and trotted over obediently, plopping down on Ning Xin'er's shoe before resuming its feast.

Ning Xin'er said, "Little Black was a playmate Little Red found, but the two of them are quite mischievous and never stay still. Not long ago, they ruined the Deputy Headmaster's painstakingly cultivated medicinal field, devouring all the third-grade and above profound medicines. When the Deputy Headmaster heard the terrible news, he fainted on the spot and is still hunting for the culprits. Luckily, he doesn’t know it was them, or else we’d be having dragon and tiger meat for dinner tonight."

The small black tiger sitting on Ning Xin'er’s shoe perked up at the word "eat," its eyes gleaming like tiny stars. It raised its head to stare at Ning Xin'er with a delighted expression, completely unaware that she was talking about eating dragon and tiger meat.

Ning Xin'er didn’t know the origins of this small black tiger, but Ning Xiaochuan did. This little black tiger was none other than the mystic beast king of the Ghost Dream Wilderness, a seventh-level mystic beast—the Roaring Sky Tiger. If it were to go berserk, its combat power could rival that of a Martial Venerable.

Ning Xiaochuan hadn’t told Ning Xin'er the little tiger’s true identity, letting her treat it as a cute pet instead. At least when he wasn’t around, the little black tiger could protect her.

"Heh, whose ugly little dog is this? And it’s a vegetarian too? What, no meat to eat? How about I take you out hunting for some wild game?" Yue Mingsong, dressed in a loose robe, stroked the two wisps of hair on his lips, looking utterly carefree.

"Roar!"

Hearing this, the little black tiger flew into a rage, pouncing on Yue Mingsong and knocking him to the ground. It swiped its claws relentlessly, tearing his robe to shreds.

"Damn it, whose dog is this?! I’ll fight you to the death!" Yue Mingsong scrambled up, rolling up his sleeves, ready to brawl with the little black tiger.

"Bam!"

Yue Mingsong was knocked down again.

"Rip!"

His robe was torn into even smaller pieces.

The little black tiger and Yue Mingsong went at each other, battling for dozens of rounds.

Seeing they’d fought enough, Ning Xiaochuan called out, "Little Black, come back!"

Little Black released Yue Mingsong, shook its fur, and glared fiercely at the panting man lying on the ground before turning away. It looked just like a triumphant and arrogant patron, as if it were saying, "I’ll be back for more next time!"

Yue Mingsong lay on the ground, his robe reduced to tattered strips by Little Black’s teeth. His arms, chest, and thighs were covered in red bite marks. It took him a while to get up, clutching the remnants of his pants with a look of utter despair. "You beast…"

"Roar!"

Little Black let out a tiger’s roar.

"Fine! I won’t argue with you over this. I’m going to change first!" Yue Mingsong didn’t dare say more, covering his lower half as he scurried away in disgrace.

Little Black wanted to chase after him but was stopped by Ning Xiaochuan.

They entered the Three Masters Martial Academy and arrived at Ning Xiaochuan’s residence.

Ning Xiaochuan took out a defensive Sixth-Grade Mystic Artifact and gave it to Ning Xin'er. This Sixth-Grade Mystic Artifact had been obtained from Tianchenzi’s Heaven and Earth Bag. Its defensive capabilities were extremely strong—with Ning Xin'er’s current martial arts level, activating it could fully withstand a full-force strike from a Transcendent Realm Martial Artist.

Yu Qianqian didn’t need Ning Xiaochuan to gift her a Mystic Artifact at all. Her own cultivation resources far surpassed his and were more than sufficient.

“What about Murong Wushuang?” Ning Xiaochuan asked.

Ning Xin’er replied, “He went to the Natives’ territory for training. I’m afraid he won’t be back anytime soon.”

Yue Mingsong returned, now wearing a clean academy robe, and glared at Little Black with a cold snort. “I was just going easy on you earlier. Honestly, I can’t be bothered to fight a mere beast—it’s beneath my noble status. Hey, hey, don’t come any closer! Ning Xiaochuan, I was just joking with it. Tell it not to take it seriously!”

Little Black, being a seventh-grade mystic beast, was no less intelligent than a human and understood Yue Mingsong’s words perfectly. It immediately bristled, ready to pounce on him.

Ning Xiaochuan quickly called Little Black back. “Brother Yue, please sit. Actually, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”

Seeing that Little Black didn’t charge at him, Yue Mingsong relaxed, straightened his posture with an air of a lofty master, and sat at the table with a smile. “Little Brother Ning, ask away. Don’t hold back. Not to brag, but there are very few things in this world I don’t know.”

“It’s about forging,” Ning Xiaochuan said. He had witnessed Yue Mingsong’s forging skills firsthand—they were indeed extraordinary, capable of crafting bizarre and unprecedented Mystic Artifacts, some of which weren’t even recorded in books.

Yue Mingsong grew even more confident, lowering his voice. “Little Brother Ning, you must understand—I am the neighbor of the disciple of the World’s First Forging Master. If even I don’t know something about forging, then no one in the world does. Shh—keep it quiet. This must remain confidential. Absolutely no third person can know.”

Though Yue Mingsong spoke softly, the room wasn’t large. Yu Qianqian and Ning Xin’er heard every word clearly, and even Little Red, hidden in Ning Xin’er’s sleeve, poked its head out to stare at Yue Mingsong.

Ning Xiaochuan intended to establish the Divine Sword Palace and naturally sought to recruit as many forging masters as possible. Relying solely on the Situ Family’s forging masters was far from enough to build the world’s premier forging sanctuary.

The Emperor’s Martial Palace had no shortage of outstanding forging masters, and Ning Xiaochuan planned to recruit talent from there first.

After Ning Xiaochuan shared this plan, Yue Mingsong slammed the table excitedly. “Excellent! A brilliant idea! But why recruit so many forging masters? Just getting me alone is enough.”

“You… alone is enough?” Ning Xiaochuan asked.

Yue Mingsong whispered, “Think about it—what’s my status? I’m the neighbor of the disciple of the World’s First Forging Master. If I were to preside over the Divine Sword Palace, wouldn’t all the forging masters in the Yulan Empire rush to join? There’d probably be no shortage of people begging to become my disciples.”

Sweat beaded on Ning Xiaochuan’s forehead. He coughed dryly. “I thought you preferred to keep a low profile?”

“I am being very low-key!”

Yue Mingsong then adopted a solemn expression. “We share a life-and-death bond. For your sake, I can make an exception and be high-profile once. Sacrificing myself for a friend—I think it’s worth it.”

Ning Xiaochuan forced a smile. “I’m curious—what level have you actually reached in forging?”

"This... height isn't important. The most crucial thing in forging is one's state of mind. What is the ultimate truth of forging masters? It can be summarized in eight words: 'Sincerity leads to success, even metal and stone will yield.' Shh... you must never spread these eight words. They came from the mouth of the World's First Forging Master, and each word is worth a fortune."

Yue Mingsong paused, then his expression shifted as if he had something more to say. "If... never mind."

Ning Xiaochuan said, "Just say it if you have something to say."

Yue Mingsong's expression turned grave. "Legend has it that the Heavenly Emperor left behind a book called the 'Mystic Gate Artifact Codex.' It not only records methods for forging Mystic Artifacts but also includes techniques for crafting Supreme Imperial Artifacts, Quasi-God artifacts, and even divine artifacts. If we could obtain this 'Mystic Gate Artifact Codex,' we could more easily forge higher-grade Mystic Artifact weapons, undoubtedly elevating the prestige of the Divine Sword Palace and making it the foremost forging sanctuary in the Yulan Empire."

"Did the Heavenly Emperor really leave behind a 'Mystic Gate Artifact Codex'?" Ning Xiaochuan was skeptical, finding Yue Mingsong's words somewhat unreliable.

Yue Mingsong raised his voice. "Of course he did! Otherwise, why would I come to the Yulan Empire... heh, what I mean is, the Heavenly Emperor's ancestral home is in the Yulan Empire. This 'Mystic Gate Artifact Codex' must be hidden in some secret place—maybe in the 'Heavenly Emperor's Tomb Forest,' or perhaps inside the 'Heavenly Palace.'"

Ning Xiaochuan's expression shifted. "Brother Yue, you're not from the Yulan Empire?"

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