MARTIAL ADVERSITY, VOLUME 8 - Season 12 Episode 5

Yang Yan was a strange woman. In addition to being interested in High-Grade’s artefacts, her other passion in life seemed to be Saint Crystals. Every time Yang Kai passed by her stone room, he would see her meticulously counting and polishing her Saint Crystals, piece by piece.

The stains and dust on her Low-Rank Saint Crystals were wiped clean and were now glittering brightly, making Yang Yan seem very satisfied with herself. Every time Yang Kai saw Yang Yan taking care of her Saint Crystals, he would see a sloppy grin on her face, but when she noticed Yang Kai staring at her strangely, she would immediately sweep away and hide her Saint Crystals, lest they be taken away by him.

[This woman is just a money-grubber!] Yang Kai concluded.

As time passed, fewer and fewer people came to seek Artifact Refining from Yang Yan. Having satisfied all prospective customers already, Yang Yan’s business gradually came to a halt.

One day, while Yang Kai was sitting in meditation, he suddenly heard Wu Yi calling out to him from outside.

Yang Kai didn’t know what Wu Yi was up to recently, but presumable she had been busy as she had not shown up for quite some time. After hearing her voice, Yang Kai immediately opened his eyes and walked out to find her slim and graceful figure standing outside his cave.

“How are things here?” Wu Yi asked with a light smile.

“Very good,” Yang Kai nodded, and thoughtfully looked at her face, discovering that she seemed a bit unhappy.

“I heard Yu Feng say that you and that female Artifact Refiner set up an Aura Gathering Spirit Array here, is that true?” Wu Yi turned swept her eyes over the surrounding terrain, sensing the World Energy aura and taking a deep breath, “The effect seems to be pretty good. If I knew this place was so compatible, I would have found someone to arrange such a Spirit Array a long time ago. Yu Feng and the others all need to pay a certain amount of contribution points or Saint Crystal to use the family’s cultivation rooms but they’re only slightly better than this place right now.”

“Having regrets?” Yang Kai asked her with a calm and composed look.

Wu Yi rolled her eyes and snorted, “Do I look like such a narrow-minded person? Since I said I would deliver you this mountain, it is yours now. No matter how much better the environment here becomes, it has nothing to do with me, so you can live here without worries, no one will dare try to seize it from you.”

Yang Kai was about to say something when he suddenly frowned, turning his eyes towards a certain direction where he saw a streak of blue light. It was clearly someone using a Star Shuttle to examine Dragon Cave Mountain.

“Someone from your family?” Yang Kai asked as he continued staring at this figure.

“En, one of my family’s stewards, you don’t need to mind him,” Wu Yi was also a little displeased, “He came this time to find that Artifact Refiner named Yang Yan.”

“What does he want to see her for?” Yang Kai was surprised.

“She is an Artifact Refiners, what do you think he wants to see her for?” Wu Yi smiled, “It’s not easy to cultivate an Artifact Refiner in a small family like ours, yet right now, there is a wandering Artifact Refiner so close by. Although she isn’t old, she is still worth recruiting. Right, according to members of the family, she can at least refine Saint Grade artefacts.”

During this time, the cultivators who had come to seek Artifact Refining services from Yang Yan weren’t very strong, with Yu Feng having the highest cultivation. As a result, the level of artefacts they had asked to be refined were naturally not very high grade, so the people of Hai Ke Family assumed Yang Yan was a Saint Grade Artifact Refiner.

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With an unattached Artifact Refiner so nearby, regardless of her true level of skill, the Hai Ke Family felt they should show their sincerity in the hopes they could recruit her and ultimately bring huge benefits to the family. Thinking so, they had sent someone over to negotiate with Yang Yan.

“What’s your relationship with that woman? I remember you saying you didn’t know anyone here, so how were you able to bring back a beauty to your place after such a short time?” Wu Yi stared at Yang Kai, thinking there was some kind of prior or hidden, unspeakable relationship between him and Yang Yan.

“I have no idea about her actually, I just asked her to come back here to help me set up that Spirit Array, then she asked if she could stay here, and I agreed. En, if your family can recruit her, that would be the best, she’s a bit annoying to have around,” Yang Kai said bitterly.

“It’s up to her if she wants to come with us. In any case, I don’t have an opinion, either way, I just came here today to see how you were doing,” Wu Yi pursed her lips and laughed, not dwelling on the subject.

After a while, the steward from Hai Ke Family flew over and nodded to Wu Yi, “The aura around this mountain is not bad. After a year or so, it will probably be quite astonishing. I heard that the Young Lady gave this mountain away. Was it to him?”

Saying so, he intentionally or unintentionally glanced over at Yang Kai, his eyes full of contempt.

Wu Yi frowned and said, “Uncle Zhou isn’t here for this mountain, don’t you have another task to take care of?”

The cultivator surnamed Zhou snickered, “I was just inquiring casually, Young Lady need not pay it any mind.”

Saying so, he shot another look at Yang Kai before disregarding him completely, crossing his arms behind his back in an aloof manner and taking big strides towards the nearby cave.

“How annoying, them coming over sticking their noses into everything. I’ve never seen them take any interest in this place before. Out of all the surrounding ten thousand kilometres of territory my family owns, because I am just a woman, they assigned me this barren hill, but now that they see some possible benefits, they want to snatch it up,” Wu Yi said indignantly.

Yang Kai remained silent. It was truly inconvenient for him to express his views on the internal affairs of another’s family.

Wu Yi also no longer complained, wearing a smile on her pretty face again and talking to Yang Kai about her recent life while asking him if he needed anything.

The two chatted happily with each other and Wu Yi was quite looking forward to having him help her with her future ambitions, her eyes constantly filled with hope and expectation.

After a half cup of tea’s time, the steward surnamed Zhou suddenly stormed out of the cave and muttered in annoyance, “That little girl can’t appreciate kindness, hmph, really thinking she is something great. How could my Hai Ke Family not be capable of cultivating a trivial Saint Grade Artifact Refiner? Such shameless boasting, actually daring to claim she’s an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner!”

The steward was so angry he didn’t even bother saying hello to Wu Yi before summoning out his Star Shuttle and flying off.

Wu Yi’s jaw dropped slightly, seemingly not having through that the Artifact Refiner named Yang Yan would so bluntly refuse her family’s invitation. Before coming here, Wu Yi had also read the contract of employment and felt that the conditions from her family weren’t bad. Although it couldn’t compare to a large force like Shadow Moon Hall, they still had some status among the smaller attached forces.”

“That woman you brought back seems to be very demanding,” Wu Yi looked at Yang Kai, “Steward Zhou said she claimed to be an Origin Grade Artifact Refiners? Wasn’t she only in her twenties?”

“She claims to be Origin Grade Artifact Refiner, but whether that’s true or not I have no idea,” Yang Kai shook his head.

“Interesting,” Wu Yi pursed her lips and laughed, “Forget it, Artifact Refiners have the right to choose their own employers, boasting irresponsibly like that is a bit annoying but it’s her decision. Good, I have some other things to do now, so I’ll see you later.”

After saying goodbye to Wu Yi, Yang Kai sank into contemplation for a moment before walking back into the cave and proceeding to Yang Yan’s stone room.

Yang Yan wore a pitiful look on her face as she turned to Yang Kai and asked, “Why does no one believe I am an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner?”

“What method do you have to make people believe you?” Yang Kai rubbed his forehead.

“They just need to give me a chance to prove myself, as long as they give me some Origin Grade materials, I guarantee I’ll refine an Origin Grade artefact,” Yang Yan shouted, her plump peaks bouncing vigorously, a wronged look appearing on her face.

“Do you think Origin Grade materials are cheap? Those kinds of materials can only be obtained by big forces. Hai Ke Family is just a small force with scarce finances, how do you expect them to suddenly bring out such expensive materials just to verify your skills? What if you destroy those materials? If I told you that I’m a Saint King Grade High-Rank Alchemist, would you believe it?” Yang Kai stared at her earnestly.

Yang Yan batted her eyelashes as she looked him up and down, saying with a sneer, “You? Really?”

Immediately, Yang Yan doubled over and began laughing, as if she had just heard the funniest joke in the world.

Yang Kai’s face went pitch black.

He suddenly understood why no one believed Yang Yan’s words. Just like Yang Yan refused to believe his, both of them seemed far too young to be matched with such distinguished status. Which Saint King Grade Alchemist or Origin Grade Artifact Refiner wasn’t hundreds, if not thousands of years old?

After thinking about this, Yang Kai came to realize that Yang Yan may not be lying or intentionally using false titles to inflate her identity. She may really have such ability!

“I’ll ask you seriously one more time, are you really an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner?” Yang Kai stared at her with a solemn look.

“What point is there asking such a question again? Can’t you just discern the truth after giving me some appropriate materials? You could also let me work on your Star Shuttle or those small seven coloured flags. If I fail, you can do whatever you want with me!”

“You think too highly of your short figure,” Yang Kai waved his hand dismissively, “There’s no way you could make up for the loss of my materials or artefacts even if I were to sell you.”

Yang Yan immediately began grinding her teeth audibly.

“What can you make from these things?” Yang Kai waved his hand again and dumped out a pile of materials in front of Yang Yan.

He felt it was time he tested this woman’s true ability.

Yang Yan, who was just grinding her teeth and staring at Yang Kai with pure hatred, suddenly saw these materials and leapt over to them, tossing away her anger and image as she sifted through them with surprise, calling out in rapid succession, “Eighth-Order Monster Beast Thunder Cloud Leopard’s teeth, Blazing Blue Flame Rhinoceros’s horn, Illusionary Cloud Butterfly’s wings, Heavens! A Diamond Dragon Beetle’s antenna…”

Every time she picked up an item, Yang Yan was able to accurately name it and its origins. Instantly entering into a deluded state, Yang Yan became ignorant of everything around her except this pile of materials, hugging them tightly as if they were her babies, pressing them up against her proud peaks, her arms soon overflowing as she continued picking items up from the ground in a seemingly endless cycle.

As Yang Yan picked up and named these treasures, Yang Kai suddenly noticed that her eyes were red and that tears were actually dripping down her cheeks to her chin.

“What are you crying for?” Yang Kai was speechless for a while, only now realizing just now abnormal this woman’s brain really was.

“I haven’t seen so many precious materials for so long…” Yang Yan’s tiny shoulders trembled as she spoke through her sobs, “They all treated me as a fraud, refusing to bring out any materials or artefact above Saint Grade, I’m not a liar!”

“Don’t cry, I’ll give you a chance now to prove yourself. These things are now yours, I don’t care what you make with them just show me your skills.”

“Really?” Yang Yan lifted her head and stared at Yang Kai with puffy eyes.

Yang Kai nodded and said lightly, “I also want to know if you’re just spouting nonsense or not.”