“There are indeed a few first-grade magic treasures, but I’m afraid they won’t suit Senior’s taste.” Yvonne Fisher said with a smile. After dealing with Brian Carter many times, he was well aware of Brian Carter’s shrewdness—he rarely bought anything he didn’t need.

“Let me take a look.” Brian Carter replied noncommittally.

Yvonne Fisher took out several magic treasures, and Brian Carter examined them one by one.

An orange-red bracelet, carved from a whole piece of fire jade, could enhance the user’s fire control. Brian Carter casually set it aside. This bracelet was suitable for alchemists, but of no use to him. Besides, the price of ten second-grade spirit stones was too expensive and impractical.

He quickly put down the next few items as well.

Only a single brass ring caught his attention for a long while.

“Senior is interested in this ring?” Yvonne Fisher saw hope and immediately became enthusiastic: “The [Golden Sword Ring], a first-grade metal-type magic treasure. You just need to infuse it with metal-type spiritual power, and once it’s full, it can release three sword beams—extremely powerful and formidable. The key is, the price is really good, only five second-grade spirit stones. You won’t find another magic treasure for just five second-grade spirit stones anywhere else.”

Yvonne Fisher went on and on, praising the [Golden Sword Ring] to the skies.

Brian Carter said nothing. He adjusted his breath and began infusing spiritual power into the ring. In the past, he wouldn’t have been able to use this ring, but now that he had learned the [Gengjin Qi Mang], he could convert his power into metal-type spiritual energy, making the ring usable.

Yvonne Fisher noticed what was happening and quickly fell silent, so as not to disturb Brian Carter.

Spiritual power continuously poured into the ring, and the dull brass ring gradually began to shine. Brian Carter was secretly amazed—worthy of being called a magic treasure. More than half of his spiritual power was drained just to barely fill a third of the ring.

With a thought, he raised his fingers and pointed at the ground in front of him.

Whoosh!

A golden sword beam shot out, striking the bluestone floor. Sss! Stone chips flew, leaving a very fine, deep hole in the bluestone slab.

What a sharp sword beam!

Cultivators below the Foundation Establishment stage would hardly be able to withstand it. The power of this magic treasure was sufficient; its only flaw was that it could store only three sword beams. But then again, if it didn’t have this flaw, how could it possibly be sold at such a price?

Yvonne Fisher leaned over. “How does Senior feel about it?”

Brian Carter was satisfied, but kept a calm expression. “I’ll take it.”

Yvonne Fisher was overjoyed. “Senior has a discerning eye!”

Brian Carter then handed over a list filled with materials. “Do you have these items?”

Yvonne Fisher took the list, glanced at it, and said in surprise, “Senior wants to make a [Zhenling Hoe]? Why go to all that trouble? I have a finished product of good quality here. If you want it, I’ll give Senior a fair price.”

“I’d rather make it myself. It’s a kind of experience.” Brian Carter replied with a smile.

Yvonne Fisher was taken aback, then immediately grew solemn. “Senior is right. I admire you. I have all these materials here. Please wait a moment.”

After leaving the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, most of Brian Carter’s spirit stones had been spent. Buying the [Golden Sword Ring] wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision. Ever since he broke through to the eighth level of Qi Refining last night, he had decided to buy a self-defense magic treasure. In two years, he had risen from the third to the eighth level of Qi Refining—a truly astonishing speed.

In his view, his talent was decent, but by no means so extraordinary. The greatest credit, he believed, belonged to that small section of spiritual vein!

He couldn’t hide his eighth-level Qi Refining cultivation from others. In the eyes of those who paid attention, all sorts of speculation would naturally arise. But the matter of the spiritual vein absolutely could not be revealed.

As the saying goes, “An open spear is easy to dodge, but a hidden arrow is hard to guard against. It’s not the thief you fear, but the thief who covets.” If news of his breakthrough to the eighth level got out, there would be no shortage of people eyeing him.

He made up his mind to go out less for a while and focus on studying jade slips at home. He had only just started learning the [Gengjin Art]; he was still far from the second level, let alone the third. Still, he knew that paper couldn’t wrap fire forever—his breakthrough wouldn’t stay hidden for long.

The [Golden Sword Ring] was precisely to guard against unexpected situations.

Though he had never witnessed a murder for treasure, he had heard plenty of stories. It never hurt to be cautious.

As for forging the [Zhenling Hoe], that had always been his intention. Ever since he learned about artifact forging, he had been fascinated by it, but never had the chance. Not long ago, Mr. Clark had explained the methods for forging the [Zhenling Hoe] and the [Thousand Silk Needle Pouch], finally giving him the opportunity to try his hand at artifact crafting.

After buying the materials, he didn’t start right away. Having just broken through to the eighth level, his cultivation hadn’t stabilized yet—in other words, he wasn’t fully familiar with his current spiritual power. He spent most of his time on the [Gengjin Art], and except for his daily trip to the medicine fields, he basically stayed at home. When helping others with rainmaking, he never used his full strength, always feigning fatigue after a single use as before.

After several days, no one had discovered that he had reached the eighth level of Qi Refining.

Brian Carter finally felt at ease. Sometimes he wondered if he was being overly cautious, but out of prudence, he still spent time every day practicing with the [Golden Sword Ring], always keeping its spiritual power at full capacity.

Fortunately, everything remained calm, and nothing unexpected happened.