Don't Cause Trouble Chapter 19: Refining Materials

The massive trial grounds were clearly divided—on the left stood a hundred visiting artifact refiners, each dressed in robes of different colors; on the right were the inner sect disciples of Poyuan Sect, all uniformly dressed in stone-blue Daoist robes.

There were rumors circulating in private: one of the inner sect disciples participating in the competition was the sect master’s only son, which was why the materials had been changed at the last minute.

But none of that had much to do with Ye Su.

Free materials for practice—she wasn’t about to complain.

Although the Sect Master of Poyuan Sect was seated at the center, the one actually presiding over the artifact forging competition was still Elder Rong Chuqiu.

"This trial will last fifteen days. Materials are standardized. Once you leave the refining room, it will be considered forfeiting," Rong Chuqiu explained the rules briefly, then led everyone toward the refining chambers.

Each participant was assigned a private refining room.

This prevented spying or copying techniques, and all the refining rooms were among the best Poyuan Sect had to offer—located directly beneath the mountain, right atop the spiritual veins.

With abundant spiritual energy, there was no risk of running out of spiritual power mid-process.

This significantly reduced the chances of failure during forging.

Poyuan Sect had clearly spared no expense this time.

"Senior Sister, do we really have to refine for fifteen whole days?" Xia Er whispered to Ye Su beside her. "Isn’t that kind of long?"

In their usual training, artifact forging rarely took more than two days.

Ye Su turned her head slightly and explained, "The better the materials, the longer it takes to refine them."

As they spoke, they arrived at their destination.

"Elder Rong," Ye Su raised her hand before entering, "what happens to any unused materials? And do we return the finished artifacts to Poyuan Sect, or do we keep them?"

Rong Chuqiu: "…"

In past competitions, the materials were of average quality, and Poyuan Sect didn’t care much for the resulting artifacts—so both leftover materials and finished items were often left alone.

But this time was clearly different.

"You may keep any artifacts you forge," Rong Chuqiu finally said after a pause. "But unused materials must not be taken away."

"What if someone manages to refine all the materials into artifacts?" Xiyu asked, raising his hand.

Rong Chuqiu was silent for a moment, then said, "If you truly have the skill to forge every material into an artifact within the trial period, then you may keep them."

Quan Jiaying subconsciously looked toward Ye Su’s group.

For some reason, he had a feeling these people from Qianji Sect would actually try to refine more artifacts than anyone else.

Maybe it was because of Qianji Sect’s "well-known" reputation…

He shook his head slightly.

With the kind of materials his father had provided, even just refining them took time.

To make more than one artifact? Unlikely.

"That’s enough," Rong Chuqiu said, answering a few more questions from rogue cultivators.

Then he handed each participant a bottle of Fasting Pills—three pills per person, enough for the fifteen-day duration.

Only then did he light the incense stick to begin the countdown.

Ye Su pushed open the door to her refining chamber and entered.

In the center of the room was a rectangular stone platform—likely the spiritual energy conduit.

Against the wall stood a shelf stocked with ten different kinds of materials, all high-quality and suitable for Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Two of them she hadn’t even seen at any material shops before.

She walked straight over and began examining them—left to right, top to bottom—picking each one up to inspect closely.

In truth, nearly all the artifact refiners began the trial the same way:
First, identify all the materials on the shelf.
Then choose what they could work with, refine them, and finally forge them into the desired artifacts.

……

The sect master of Poyuan Sect, along with the elders and disciples, remained in the trial grounds. Once all the participants had entered their assigned refining chambers one by one, two hundred shimmering projection panels lit up at once—each displaying the interior of a refining room.

"That girl... is she the one who forged the Mistflower Fang?" Sect Master Quan Shen suddenly pointed to a corner of the display.

Rong Chuqiu, who had just returned, nodded. "Yes, that’s her. She even broke through her cultivation while staying in our sect."

Quan Shen frowned. "It seems some rogue cultivators have really mastered the Qianji Sect’s techniques... Forget it, let’s keep watching."

Inside the refining rooms, the faster participants had already picked up their materials and begun refining. Meanwhile, Ye Su was still examining the materials with great interest—it was her first time seeing such high-grade items, so she had to take a few extra looks.

She wasn’t the only one. Ming Liu Sha and the others were also crouched around the shelves, carefully touching and inspecting the materials. Xia Er was practically drooling.

Though Quan Jiaying held a piece of material in his hand, his thoughts were elsewhere. He stood silently in front of the shelf, mind racing as he tried to decide what kind of artifact to forge.

Swords and sabers were too conventional, too hard to innovate with. Hidden weapons, on the other hand, came in many shapes and forms, making them the true test of a refiner’s skill.

But... Quan Jiaying suddenly recalled the wind pattern etched on the blade Xiyu had submitted during the artifact selection.

He wanted to try again.

In another refining chamber, Ye Su had just taken out a chunk of Burning Silkworm Stone—a rare material known for being full of impurities, but excellent for shaping artifacts once refined.

She glanced at the rest of the materials on the shelf.

The elders of Poyuan Sect had said: as long as you can forge all the materials into artifacts, you can keep them.

If she didn’t take advantage of that offer, she’d be a fool.

Without hesitation, Ye Su pulled down all the materials and arranged them in a circle around her as she sat cross-legged in the center of the refining room. Then she began refining them one by one.

Watching her through the projection, Elder Zhang snorted coldly.

"Biting off more than she can chew."

Refining was a process that consumed enormous amounts of a refiner’s spiritual fire.

Each material contained impurities, and depending on the artifact being forged, the refining requirements could vary even for the same material.

Ye Su raised a spiritual flame in her palm and manipulated the material with her other hand, initiating the refining process.

A refiner's ability to sense materials was a type of innate talent—something the Qianji Sect’s four disciples certainly didn’t lack.

Ye Su continuously tempered the Burning Silkworm Stone with her spiritual fire while sending out threads of spiritual power to probe its internal purity.

Only when the refinement matched her standards did she move on to the next.

One material after another.

Ye Su spent the entire first three days refining materials.

During this time, some participants at the Qi Refining stage began to withdraw—they couldn’t even get past the first step of refining the materials they needed, let alone forge a finished artifact.

"She finished refining all that in three days. Can those materials even be used anymore?"

Several disciples not participating in the trial began murmuring as they watched the projections.

"Probably just winging it."

"Still, the artifact she submitted before was impressive—she’s got some skill."

"Look! Senior Brother Quan’s blade is already taking shape!"

"As expected of someone ranked on the Baiqing Ranking!"

The watching disciples were visibly excited, their attention fully on Quan Jiaying.

But the elders on the platform wore varied expressions. Rong Chuqiu frowned—she hadn’t expected Jiaying to try forging a blade again.

The two refiners from Zhanjin Sect had submitted completely different artifacts this time, compared to the ones that had earned them a spot on the Baiqing Ranking. It showed they were skilled in multiple areas.

"If he can make the rankings again with just a single blade, that’s still something," said Elder Zhang approvingly—he himself had specialized in crafting blade-type artifacts his entire life.

But Sect Master Quan Shen’s gaze shifted elsewhere.

"That refiner over there, the one with the little pink knife on her head—what’s her name?"

Elder Zhang craned his neck to look. "That’s Xiyu, I think. The blade she forged wasn’t bad either."

Quan Shen nodded but said no more.

His gaze darkened slightly.

He had been secluded for a long time... Was the world outside now filled with rogue cultivators this skilled?