Chapter 804 - 276: The Fourth Golden Core
Western Wilderness, Flame Lake City.
In the city, Shen Xiuyun and He Zhongyi were leading many Shen Family cultivators in artifact refining by the Magma Lake.
Flame Lake City has been established for over twenty years. Now, besides He Zhongyi and Shen Xiuyun, there are nearly thirty artifact refiners who can steadily produce lower-grade ancient magical artifacts.
These artifact refiners can continuously refine lower-grade magical artifacts and magical robes for many lower-tier cultivators of the Shen Family, forming the foundation of the Shen Family’s Artifact Refining Dao.
As the annual ritual approaches, several heavy snowfalls have already descended outside Flame Lake City, located in the Western Wilderness.
The surrounding desolate Gobi Desert has been covered with frost, the cold wind howling, effectively making it a forbidden zone for ordinary people.
However, at this time, Flame Lake City remained unaffected by the severe cold due to the presence of the Magma Lake and was instead unbearably hot.
"Young Master Xiuyun, could you take a look at how this long sword, which I refined, turned out?"
Inside the artifact refining workshop by the Magma Lake, a middle-aged strong man, bare-chested and covered in sweat, held a freshly made lower-grade magical artifact long sword and came to Shen Xiuyun.
Shen Xiuyun took the long sword and examined it carefully, then activated the internal artifact pattern with spiritual power.
The long sword in his hand suddenly emitted a bright blue glow, and at the same time, a hint of icy cold aura emerged from the sword’s body.
"Hmm!?"
Seeing this scene, Shen Xiuyun looked at the middle-aged man with some surprise.
The middle-aged man grinned and cupped his hands, saying, "This was discovered by chance."
"When refining the artifact embryo, I was momentarily careless and didn’t completely melt the piece of Cold Feather Spirit Iron within it, causing it to condense as a unit inside."
"But at that time, the artifact embryo had already taken shape, and apart from this piece of Cold Feather Spirit Iron, there were no other issues, so I thought not to waste it and tried engraving an artifact pattern inside to see if it would cause any problems."
Shen Xiuyun nodded with a delighted expression and said, "So, this long sword has this unique ability because the Cold Feather Spirit Iron was not fully melted?"
The middle-aged man nodded repeatedly and continued, "It should also be because I engraved the core part of the artifact pattern onto the Cold Feather Spirit Iron inside the artifact embryo, which is why it..."
"Ah!"
Before the middle-aged man could finish his sentence, a loud and dignified roar suddenly came from a distant place to the west of Flame Lake City!
The residual sound of the loud roar reverberated continuously in the sky above the Western Wilderness.
In Flame Lake City, everyone was startled awake by this terrifying and authoritative roar, their hearts trembling uncontrollably, and they gazed in horror towards the western sky.
"Xiuyun, what’s happening?"
While everyone was staring at the sky, He Zhongyi arrived with a serious expression, flying over from afar.
He had been in seclusion in a secret chamber studying the Tier Two Artifact Pattern, but was suddenly interrupted by this terrifying cry.
"Uncle Zhongyi."
Shen Xiuyun came to his senses, cupped his hands towards He Zhongyi, then turned to look at the western sky, saying: "The sound came from that direction."
"Listening to it, it seems to be some extremely terrifying fierce beast."
"Uncle, should we go take a look?"
He Zhongyi hesitated upon hearing this, when the terrifying roar echoed once again!
In an instant, a fear arising from the depths of the soul surfaced within everyone, and many artifact refiners at the edge of the Magma Lake were scared weak at the knees by this terrifying cry.
He Zhongyi suppressed the fear in his heart with a grim expression and said:
"Quick, send a message to your uncle!"
"Whatever it is, it’s not something we can handle!"
Currently, there are only over a hundred cultivators in the entire Flame Lake City.
With his cultivation having reached the late stage of Fetal Breathing, he is the most powerful presence in Flame Lake City.
But just that unknown entity’s single terrifying cry brought immeasurable fear to his heart, making him unable to muster any will to resist.
He Zhongyi understood that this was already beyond their capability to handle.
Shen Xiuyun dared not delay and immediately took out a Communication Stone to report the anomaly occurring in Flame Lake City to Shen Chongming, who was far away in Yunshui City.
...
Yunshui City.
Shen Chongming was discussing matters regarding the spirit of Yunmeng Marsh with Shen Wen’an and Xu Zhan.
Receiving a message from Shen Xiuyun suddenly, he immediately furrowed his brow.
Nearby, Shen Wen’an and Xu Zhan, noticing his expression, exchanged glances.
"Chongming, what happened?" Shen Wen’an asked cautiously.
Meeting their puzzled gazes, Shen Chongming, coming back to his senses, said: "Xiuyun just sent a message, saying something strange happened in Flame Lake City..."
After hearing him, both of them frowned deeply.
"Some kind of fierce beast’s strange roar..."
Xu Zhan murmured, then cupped his hands and said: "Should I and Third Uncle head to Flame Lake City to have a look?"
He knew the importance of Flame Lake City.
If this strange incident could be handled by Flame Lake City, He Zhongyi certainly would not have bothered the family with a message.
Shen Chongming pondered for a moment, then looked at Shen Wen’an and cupped his hands, saying: "Please trouble Third Uncle to accompany Xu Zhan for a trip."
The current situation is intricate and unpredictable; he was somewhat concerned that the incident in Flame Lake City could be a ploy by the several Golden Core influences from the Southern Border targeting the Shen Family and Cyan Ruo Sword House.
Sending only Xu Zhan seemed insufficiently stable.
Shen Wen’an nodded, instructing him:
"Be careful at home by yourself."
"If anything seems off, send a message to your eldest aunt for assistance promptly, and do not act rashly."
He also speculated that the matter in Flame Lake City could be connected to the Southern Border’s several Golden Core influences and was even more worried that it could be a ploy to lure them away.
Once he and Xu Zhan left Yunshui City, the entire Shen Family would only have Shen Chongming as their Golden Core combat strength.
If by any chance the Southern Border’s several Golden Core influences were to target Yunshui City, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Shen Chongming nodded, agreeing, watching the two leave the room.
Once Shen Wen’an and Xu Zhan left Yunshui City, to facilitate action, he directly summoned the Void Treasure Ship gifted by the golden-haired monkey years ago.