"Look! A strange man has come in!"
Jiang Yuan had barely stepped halfway through the area when he heard the sounds of girls playing. He turned around and looked at Shi Xuyao with a strange expression.
"What are you doing? Why are there so many girls here!"
Shi Xuyao seemed to have anticipated Jiang Yuan's reaction, and calmly explained, "This is the true haven of Yanshan Village!"
"What about outside?" Jiang Yuan pressed.
"The forging ground! When the artifact tablet fell from the sky, it brought down countless minerals, and those minerals all landed on the outer perimeter, including the forging cave we occupied. Therefore, we must have someone stay behind to guard Yanshan Village!" Shi Xuyao said frankly.
"Brother Shi, you haven't showered for days! I can smell the stench on you from far away!"
A group of girls gathered around, among them a girl with an oval face wearing a school uniform who stretched out two fingers and pinched the corner of Shi Xuyao's clothes with a look of disgust.
"Xiaoman, you're still as mischievous as ever!" Shi Xuyao quickly snatched back his clothes and pushed Jiang Yuan forward. "Let me introduce you to the new blacksmith from Yanshan Village!"
"A weapon forger!"
"Has our Yanshan Village produced another blacksmith?"
Taking advantage of their numbers and the fact that they were on their home turf, the girls were quite proactive and showed no shyness at all when meeting strangers.
"My name is Jiang Yuan. I got lost in these mountains, so I came to Yanshan Village to ask for directions!" Looking at the girl in front of him, Jiang Yuan felt like he had returned to modern society.
As the number of Spirit Awakeners increases, many items from before the cataclysm are being phased out, including the most ordinary clothing. This has led to the emergence of mismatched and incongruous fashion styles, and very few people maintain a modern and youthful style like the girl in front of us.
"My name is Lin Man! It's nice to meet you!" The oval-faced girl was very bold and reached out her hand before Jiang Yuan could.
"Get out of here, get out of here! You're a young lady, why are you just loitering around here all day!"
The moment Shi Xuyao saw Lin Man reach out, he quickly shooed away the group of people in front of him, muttering as he did so, "Yanshan Village hasn't produced a single female blacksmith yet, don't you guys reflect on where the problem lies!"
"You're so stingy! It's rare to see a fair-skinned boy like him in the village. What would it hurt if you let us get to know him better?" Lin Man stuck her tongue out at Shi Xuyao. Although her tone was indignant, she still obediently left.
"Master, please don't be offended. The girls in the village don't have any bad intentions. It's just that they've been in seclusion for almost a month since the disaster, and they're really bored. They just want to chat with people whenever they see them!" Shi Xuyao quickly explained after the group left.
"Can't you leave from here?" Jiang Yuan asked in surprise.
“It’s not that we can’t go out, it’s that we’re reluctant to go out!” Shi Xuyao took a deep breath, not intending to continue, but changed the subject: “But Master, you really are the first person from outside the village to come here, so it’s inevitable that they will find it a bit novel.”
Seeing that he seemed reluctant to talk, Jiang Yuan didn't force him, but instead took the initiative to ask about the artifact tablet.
"You're going to take me to see the artifact stele, but where is it?"
Shi Xuyao gestured for silence, then walked towards a certain place, and Jiang Yuan quickly followed.
The two did not go far. After walking about a few hundred steps, Shi Xuyao stopped. In front of him stood a tall tower made of special materials.
“This is the magical artifact tablet!” Shi Xuyao pointed to the tall tower in front of him.
"I thought it was a stone tablet, how come it's a tower!" Jiang Yuan was both amused and exasperated. How did this artifact tablet end up as a tower?
"Master, you've misunderstood. The artifact tablet is just a stone tablet, and the tower outside was built only to protect it!" Shi Xuyao explained.
"Not bad, this tower is made entirely of ninth-grade metal. I underestimated the forging skills of your Rock Mountain Village!" Jiang Yuan said.
"actually!"
A hint of embarrassment flashed across Shi Xuyao's face. "Actually, this tower was forged by the artifact itself. We only played a supporting role at most."
"And the reason why those girls didn't want to go out, as you just asked, is also because of this tower!"
"Oh, this tower is really amazing!" Jiang Yuan felt even more that the origin of the artifact tablet was mysterious.
"Aren't you curious why our Yanshan Village has twelve blacksmiths?" Shi Xuyao turned his head to look at Jiang Yuan.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuan glanced at the tall tower and then said, "It's because of the artifact tablet!"
"right!"
Shi Xuyao was not surprised by Jiang Yuan's answer, because if he still couldn't see it, then he must have something wrong with his brain.
He continued, "You can receive the inheritance within the artifact stele, but only the first time you enter. That is to say, once you step into the domain, you must receive the inheritance. If you leave the domain, you will never be able to enter again! Of course, you can force your way in, but the price you pay is definitely not something an ordinary person can afford!"
"Does entering this place automatically mean you have to inherit the legacy?" This was the first time Jiang Yuan had ever heard such an 'unreasonable' requirement for inheritance.
“Yes, that’s why Lin Man and the others are unwilling to leave! As long as they are within the domain, their aura will not disappear from the artifact tablet. And if they can study the basic forging techniques on the artifact tablet during this time, they will have the opportunity to obtain the inheritance of a forging master,” Shi Xuyao said.
"Since you have obtained the inheritance, why do you still want to learn forging techniques from me and bring me to the Weapon Stele?" Jiang Yuan was puzzled by Shi Xuyao's actions.
Shi Xuyao was silent for a moment, then shook his head and said, "You'll understand why once you go in!"
"So mysterious, you're not trying to trap me, are you?" Jiang Yuan said with a smile.
Upon hearing this, Shi Xuyao's expression changed. Without explaining, he raised his hand and swore to the Golden Gate: "Heaven above, if I, Shi Xuyao, have any disloyal intentions towards Jiang Yuan, I will be punished by heaven and suffer eternal damnation."
"Alright, I'll go in and take a look!" Jiang Yuan, confident in his skills and courage, stepped into the tower without hesitation.
Watching Jiang Yuan's disappearing figure, Shi Xuyao's eyes were filled with longing. He sighed helplessly, "If it weren't for the fact that the people of Yanshan Village couldn't qualify for the highest inheritance within a month, why would I have asked outsiders for help!"
Jiang Yuan entered the tower, where a huge stone tablet, three meters wide and ten meters high, came into view.
Wow, it really exists!
He had always been wary because he dared not fully trust Shi Xuyao's words. They were just strangers who had met by chance, and he did not believe in the kindness of strangers.
"Deep-level identification by the Sky Eye!"
Six words echoed in his mind, and his Heavenly Eye began to operate rapidly. But the moment it started operating, the stone tablet shot a beam of light toward Jiang Yuan.
"Depend on!"
Jiang Yuan's reflexes, honed through countless life-or-death experiences, allowed him to dodge the attack at the last second. However, the light grazed past him and landed on the floor behind him, melting a hole half a meter deep in the floor.
"Damn Shi Xuyao, he really wants to kill me!"
Jiang Yuan was furious immediately because the floor was made of ninth-grade material, which melted when exposed to light. If he happened to be there, would there still be a shadow of someone?
Just as he was about to retaliate, the stone tablet's attack suddenly stopped, forcing him to calm down.
"Wait a minute, Shi Xuyao said before that energy cannot be activated here. Could it be that I caused the energy to dissipate when I used the Heavenly Eye just now?"
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