Chapter 1482: Wondrous transformations (1)
After the two sides reached an agreement, both satisfied with their ends of it, Tang Xiadan stored away his coins as Yang Qing debated where to store what was now arguably his second most prized possession, or first, given he couldn’t quite choose which was more valuable between the coin and the wine and the Empyrean World Jade Gourd it was stored in.
Both were extremely precious, whether in terms of craftsmanship, the quality of material used in said craftsmanship, or the added beneficial effects they offered towards cultivation.
Where do I store it? Yang Qing debated, because unlike the gourd, whose appearance and aura were subdued, the coin... His gaze drifted over to the golden mist, echoing with faint dragon roars that had suffused the entire room.
It was too showy. Ideally, he wouldn’t mind it if he were within the Order. In fact, he welcomed it even. He was already making plans on which location would be best to place it in for maximum effect once he was back in his abode. But whilst he was still out here, the showy effects were a glowing target, and he wasn’t sure a regular storage ring would be able to completely subdue and isolate the aura of the coins. Not when he had seen the different seals those coins had been stored under by Tang Xiadan. The man had the feather of what was likely a domain-level Star Shrouding Sky Crow to contain their aura, and on top of that, he was also using two Ascendant Grade artifacts to aid in the effort.
What did he have? Well, he had Shitong’s feather, plucked from one of their regular bouts. But that feather was even showier than the coin. It was liable to add to the flair and draw even more attention to himself. Just like its owner, even after leaving Shitong’s body, the feather still carried that troublesome nature.
Did he have an Ascendant Grade sealing treasure? Considering he was here selling his wares all so he could afford to upscale his formation array from low-tier Blue Grade to mid-tier, his wealth was evident... Yang Qing’s eyes suddenly lit up as the mountain spring storage gourd he’d received at his promotion ceremony came to the front of his mind.
"As long as you refine the coin with your spiritual and blood essence, there are restrictions within the coin that allow it to completely seal its aura until it looks no different from a mundane coin," Tang Xiadan said softly, drawing on his perception in reading Yang Qing’s expression. Given Yang Qing’s earlier confession of valuing his life above all else, it wasn’t hard to infer that he might worry about the coin drawing unwanted attention.
Yang Qing, pulled out of his thoughts, looked over at the rectangular box next to Tang Xiadan that held the two coins. "It can?" he asked, surprise and confusion open in his expression.
Sensing the meaning behind his gaze, Tang Xiadan smiled. The fingernail on his right index finger elongated and transformed into its thickened, golden hooked form, which he then used to gently scratch along one of the longer sides of the rectangular box. As he did, he said, "While this item can seal things, it is not its main purpose."
When he reached the end, Tang Xiadan stopped and tapped the box in four different positions, as though drumming his fingers on it, and after the fourth tap, the box shook, then melted into an amber resin that bubbled as though it was boiling, before slowly reforming into something else. At first, Yang Qing wasn’t sure what it was shaping up into, given how misshapen it looked, but as the seconds trickled by and a clear form emerged, it became evident what the thing it was transforming into was. It was a fish. A red snapper, to be precise.
"It is a cauldron?" Yang Qing asked in surprise when he saw the form the transformation finally settled into. The mouth of the cauldron was the snapper opening its mouth wide, while the fins formed the handles and the eyes held two pearls, through which Yang Qing detected Green Pheasant Fire flames in both. It was a remarkable flame for alchemy and artifact refinement, given its ability to melt almost anything, its compatibility with most ingredients, and the ease with which it could be controlled over prolonged periods, as it also nourished the spirit of the one operating it. Not to mention, Yang Qing had read that in the hands of skilled alchemists and artificers, those flames could gain spirituality, which effectively transformed them into capable assistants in the refinement process.
In ingredient processing that didn’t require extreme detail or close watchfulness, an alchemist or artificer could leave the Green Pheasant Fire with awakened spirituality to handle the refinement on its own. It was quite the time saver, especially when it came to ingredients whose processing could take months. Having the flames handle it freed the alchemist or artificer to tend to other matters, or even just allowed them to experiment with ingredients as the flames let them step into the role of outside observer.
Given the benefits, it was a remarkable flame to have, and hard to find, given they could only usually be found in the nesting grounds of Green Pheasants. The spirit beast was gregarious by nature and highly protective of one another, and deeply distrustful of outsiders, whether they be other spirit beast or human. And because of that heightened distrust and extreme protectiveness, they were a highly violent bunch when their space was intruded upon.
Being beset by thousands of Green Pheasants wielding their destructive flames was not something many would be willing to face. More than a few domain experts had been burnt to cinders by those flames. So, unless someone was confident in their ability to withstand heat, the best way to acquire Green Pheasant Fire was through diplomacy, by knowing someone who knew someone who knew someone on friendly terms with a nest of Green Pheasants.
Seeing the flames, Yang Qing couldn’t help but wonder if Tang Xiadan, on top of being friends with a Star Shrouding Sky Crow, also had a connection with a nest of Green Pheasants. He wouldn’t put it past him. Or maybe he had scavenged the cauldron from one of his lucky exploits and it had come with those flames already inside it.
He couldn’t help but click his tongue in envy as he examined the cauldron. The craftsmanship was top tier. He had no doubt that if Chief Song saw this, despite the gruff man being one of few words, he’d likely devolve into a tirade of endless praise the moment he laid eyes on it. It was so lifelike. If thrown in water, there would be no shortage of those who would mistake it for a real snapper. It also carried the charm of something ancient, which it likely was, given the coins it had been holding.
Then the functionality... what could Yang Qing say? It went without saying that the Green Pheasant Fire within those pearls very much had its spirituality unlocked, if the pheasant form those flames had taken was any indicator, along with the uncanny wisdom in the eyes of both pheasants. They behaved no differently from the unusualness Yang Qing’s own spells showed.
"The sealing was mostly because I was trying to refine the aura of the coins and infuse their essence into a few things, without letting the energy leak out," Tang Xiadan explained, patting the cauldron on the side, from which one of the Ancestral Jade coins suddenly flew out. With the coin in hand, Tang Xiadan flipped it over to the black gold side, and with just a light tap, the coin shimmered as it transformed into an aged bronze coin with a worn image of a tree, whose form one could only make out in rough outline, while the other side held a faded gourd.
