The Mirror Master

Lu Bai could tell that Li Yue’er really had nothing left on her. He waved his hand and said, "Then we’ll talk about it another day."

"Mm-hmm."

Li Yue’er nodded quickly. "Don’t worry, Young Master Lu. Yue’er will be sure to remember this life-saving kindness."

Lu Bai found a stone mortar, crushed the herbs he had gathered into a paste, mixed it with rainwater, and fed it to Xiaodie bit by bit.

A short while later, Xiaodie’s breathing stabilized considerably, and her temperature also dropped a little. Only then could Lu Bai and Li Yue’er feel at ease.

Lu Bai asked, "Daoist Li, what happened just now? Where was your Flying Sword? Why didn’t you use it?"

Li Yue’er’s face turned red as she recounted what had happened to Lu Bai. "Young Master Lu, I was too inexperienced in the Jianghu and fell for those villains’ trap.

If I had just been a bit more careful, not letting that woman get close and guarding against the lime powder and the Red Dragon, my Flying Sword would have definitely been able to kill them all."

Remembering that her Flying Sword, tainted by the Red Dragon, had fallen near the entrance, Li Yue’er gently laid Xiaodie down.

She then ran to the doorway of the dilapidated temple, picked up her Flying Sword, and began to wash it in the rain.

Lu Bai followed her over and asked, "Is the Red Dragon so powerful that it can ruin a Cultivator’s Magical Treasure?"

"This Flying Sword of mine is only a Tier One Lower Grade Magical Treasure. When it was tainted by the Red Dragon, I lost my connection to it."

Li Yue’er explained, "If it were a Tier One Middle Grade Magical Treasure, I wouldn’t have lost the connection, but controlling it would have become much slower, and its power would have been greatly diminished.

If it were a Tier One Upper Grade, the Red Dragon’s effect on the Magical Treasure would be negligible.

With a Flying Sword like mine, as long as I wash off the Red Dragon, it can be restored to its original condition."

Lu Bai nodded.

’That makes sense,’ he thought. ’If the Red Dragon from an ordinary woman could ruin a Magical Treasure, then these treasures would be far too fragile.’

Lu Bai then asked, "How are the Tiers and Grades for Magical Treasures distinguished?"

Although he was not yet sure if he had a Spirit Root or if he could practice Cultivation, it was never a bad thing to learn more about it.

Li Yue’er said, "Tier One Magical Treasures correspond to Cultivators in the Qi Refining Stage. Those in the Foundation Establishment Stage can generally control Tier Two Magical Treasures, and so on.

As for the Grade of a Magical Treasure, it’s actually determined by the number of Restrictions it has.

Inscribing one Restriction makes it a Lower Grade Magical Treasure. Two Restrictions make it Middle Grade, three make it Upper Grade, and four make it Top Grade.

I heard the Observatory Master say that above Top Grade, there are even more powerful Supreme Magical Treasures!"

Lu Bai fell into thought.

’Ultimate Skill... Supreme... It seems that anything with a word like that in its name is truly extraordinary here.’

Li Yue’er continued, "However, for an ordinary Cultivator, even obtaining a Middle Grade Magical Treasure is a rare feat. Upper Grade Magical Treasures are things you can only hope to come across by chance, not something you can actively seek out."

Lu Bai thought for a moment, then asked, "You mentioned an Exorcism Restriction before. What kind of Restriction is that?"

"A Restriction is also known as a Magic Ban."

Li Yue’er said, "This involves the Cultivator’s art of the Talisman. When a Rune is inscribed onto talisman paper, if the strokes are precise and completed in one continuous motion, it forms a Talisman.

If you can successfully inscribe and seal nine Runes onto a Magical Treasure, it forms a single Restriction.

Therefore, the Refining process for a Magical Treasure is extremely tedious and complex. There can be no mistakes while inscribing the nine Runes; otherwise, all prior effort is wasted, and the Restriction won’t form. The difficulty in Refining even a Middle-Upper Grade Magical Treasure is immense, to say nothing of a Top Grade one."

Seeing Lu Bai’s silence, Li Yue’er thought to herself, ’This is all so complicated for him. It’s only normal that he doesn’t understand.’

In fact, by combining this information with certain experiences from his past life, Lu Bai already understood most of it.

’Talismans are consumables because they only have a single Rune.

They’re destroyed after a single use.

Talisman paper can’t handle having multiple Runes inscribed on it.

Only Magical Treasures forged from rare and special materials can endure the inscription of multiple Runes.

It takes nine sealed Runes to form a single Restriction.

That’s why the Restrictions on a Magical Treasure are so hard to destroy; their Magical Power is always present.’

Li Yue’er said, "As for the Exorcism Restriction, it’s just one of many types. There are hundreds of inherited Restrictions passed down in the Cultivation Realm, like the Exorcism Restriction that specifically targets evil spirits, or the Demon Suppression Restriction that’s used to counter Demon Beasts.

The famous Demon-Revealing Mirror, for instance, has a Demon Suppression Restriction on it."

Pausing to catch her breath, Li Yue’er added, "If a Flying Sword like mine were inscribed with an Exorcism Restriction, it could also be used against evil spirits.

But for a Cultivator, the Flying Sword is their most important offensive weapon. So, they tend to choose Restrictions like ’Quenching Blade’ or ’Extreme Speed’ to either increase its sharpness or its velocity."

Lu Bai asked, "So, if you inscribed four Restrictions onto a Flying Sword—Quenching Blade, Extreme Speed, Exorcism, and Demon Suppression—wouldn’t it become a multi-functional Magical Treasure?"

"Hmm... ’multi-functional Magical Treasure.’ What a strange phrase."

Li Yue’er privately mused.

However, she more or less understood Lu Bai’s meaning. "That would be possible, yes," she said, "but a four-Restriction Top Grade Magical Treasure like that would be considered inferior.

A jack of all trades is a master of none. It would mean that its power in every area is diminished, preventing it from unleashing its true potential.

In the Cultivation Realm, a Top Grade Flying Sword with four Quenching Blade Restrictions, or one with four Extreme Speed Restrictions, is far more valuable than the ’multi-functional Magical Treasure’ you described, Young Master Lu."

Lu Bai gave a light cough. "That makes sense."

Li Yue’er shook her head. "But stacking the same type of Restriction is extremely difficult. The success rate for inscribing the first Restriction is fairly high. But when you try to inscribe a second one of the same type, the chance of failure becomes significant.

The more Restrictions you stack, the greater the chance of failure—and stacking the same type of Restriction increases that chance even more. That’s why three-Restriction Upper Grade and four-Restriction Top Grade Magical Treasures are so rare."

Li Yue’er said, "Young Master Lu, you cultivate the Martial Dao, which focuses on Blood Qi, so you can’t control Magical Treasures. The weapons used by Martial Artists are called Treasure Artifacts, and they have a similar grading system to Magical Treasures."

"Oh?"

Lu Bai’s expression was inquisitive.

Li Yue’er explained, "Inner Qi Realm Martial Artists can use Tier One Treasure Artifacts, Innate Realm Martial Artists can use Tier Two Treasure Artifacts, and so on.

The quality of a Martial Dao Treasure Artifact is determined by the number of times it has undergone Blood Tempering."

"Blood Tempering?"

’Another new term.’

Li Yue’er said, "Normally, the final step in forging a weapon is quenching."

Lu Bai had a rough idea of what that was.

’It’s the process of plunging a red-hot, fully-formed weapon into cool water or oil to rapidly cool it down.’

Li Yue’er continued, "Blood Tempering is just using Demon Beast Blood to quench the weapon instead.

One round of Blood Tempering makes it a Lower Grade Treasure Artifact, two rounds for Middle Grade, three for Upper Grade... and so on, all the way up to the legendary Supreme Divine Weapons.

When stimulated by a Martial Artist’s Blood Qi, these Treasure Artifacts can unleash immense power, comparable to a Cultivator’s Magical Treasure.

Furthermore, if the Demon Beast blood used for the tempering is of a pure yang nature, the Treasure Artifact will naturally be effective against evil spirits and Ghostly Creatures, making it no weaker than a Magical Treasure in that regard."

Lu Bai nodded.

’It seems the Martial Dao isn’t necessarily weaker than Cultivation.

It’s just that in the early stages, the Martial Dao’s Inner Strength and Innate realms are at a natural disadvantage against the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stages of Cultivation.’