Hammer in her left hand, sword in her right, the eldest sister is connected to both worlds.

The venue for the weapon-refining assessment was generously provided by the War Puppet Mansion. As the largest weapon-refining sect in the Yuanming Lower Realm, the War Puppet Mansion built a huge underground weapon-refining field using the crater left by the sun's fall when it was founded.

The weapon-refining workshop extends dozens of meters underground, beneath which lies the War Puppet Mansion's mine, rich in Golden Crow Seal Iron. Xue Lan stood at the edge of the mine, staring down for a long time.

Yan Chengxue quietly instructed her disciples to keep their guards on high alert.

Beware of Xue Lan.

That's how friendships are among these senior disciples; they seem to exist, but they're not very common.

The weapon crafting assessment was conducted in batches. Xue Lan went up on stage and drew a lot. The talisman in her hand was turned over, and it read "Group D, Number Twenty".

The assessment was divided into four groups, with twenty people in each group.

Xue Lan looked at her account and found it amusing. She held up the talisman in her hand and showed it to Yin Shishi beside her: "The very last one?"

Yin Shishi looked at her: "You've always had bad luck!"

"What?!" Xue Lan retorted sarcastically, refusing to admit anything, and carefully folded the talisman, putting it into her sleeve. Only then did she have a moment to glance at the people around her.

The weapon-refining assessment is completely open and transparent, with thousands of seats surrounding the enormous assessment platform. Yan Chengxue said that the place only becomes solemn during the annual weapon-refining assessment.

Normally, this is where the disciples receive guidance from the elders of the sect, and it's always a chaotic place.

Xue Lan believed her. This was because when she left, she stepped on a piece of iron left over from an explosion during the weapon-forging process.

They also saw a large patch of black marks that the War Puppet Mansion had not completely cleared away.

Looking at Xue Lan's expression, Wu Yijun finally spoke awkwardly, "This was done the year before last. Master wanted to explore the possibility of embedding Fire-Branch Sparrow feathers into the Flowing Fire Divine Stone. And then..."

Xue Lan felt somewhat resentful towards the Xuanhuang Sect's elders, especially Dao Xuanzi, who had put up a sign that read "Xue Lan and dogs are not allowed to enter!"

There's no way a cultivation artifact won't have problems; at least Xue Lan wouldn't do this kind of experiment!

Wu Yijun looked at Xue Lan and gave a forced smile: "Master Hengyang, he is truly ingenious, truly ingenious!"

Wu Yijun's master, Master Hengyang, was the top weapon-refining master in the Yuanming Lower Realm, and also Ling Yuanzi's mortal enemy.

The reason why the two old men were enemies was ultimately because of Xue Lan.

Xue Lan was a genius at weapon crafting, a fact known to both Ling Yuanzi and Master Hengyang. Therefore, in the early years of Xue Lan's weapon crafting career, Master Hengyang would take Yan Chengxue to the Xuanhuang Sect every year to seduce Xue Lan.

Initially, it was said that Xue Lan and Yan Chengxue were her junior brothers.

Ling Yuanzi was so frightened that he picked up a junior brother for Xue Lan.

Later, Wu Yijun told him that his junior sister was well-behaved and adorable.

Afterwards, Ling Yuanzi brought Ji Jinjin to Xue Lan.

In short, Xue Lan is currently suffering from the torment of these rebellious sons under his command, and the cause and effect lies with Master Hengyang.

"Master is currently refining the Giant Spirit Crossbow for the improved front line of Luoxia Mountain and does not have time to see you. If you want to see him, you will have to wait for a while."

Xue Lan waved her hands repeatedly in refusal: "I don't miss it that much."

Poor Junjun, have you really forgotten that when you were little, your master brought you here to be given to me?

After the draw, the disciples of Group A began to take their places on stage to begin refining their weapons. The materials for refining were procured centrally by the War Puppet Mansion. Xue Lan glanced at the stage and spotted Lin Su.

The young man had lost an arm, but he was not at a loss in the face of the materials in front of him. He channeled golden spiritual energy into his fingertips, and all the materials in front of him floated up.

The elder of the War Puppet Mansion, who was in charge of the assessment, walked in front of everyone and announced loudly: "The weapon crafting assessment will be held once for each disciple, and will be divided into four levels."

There are four major levels of weapon refiners, judged by the quality of the magical artifacts they create.

Generally speaking, it refers to the first level of the "Qi Yi Ling Zhi Ding" (器以灵御之丁).

The artifact is cultivated with spiritual energy and is classified as Grade C, intermediate level.

The vessel possesses a spirit, and those who wield it are classified as Grade B, a higher level.

The vessel possesses a spirit, and through cultivation, it is classified as Grade A, or Grandmaster.

The first two "ling" refer to spiritual energy, while the latter two refer to the spirit of an artifact.

The first and intermediate levels are called magical artifacts. They can be controlled by spiritual energy and can absorb spiritual energy, but it is very difficult to generate an artifact spirit. Some artifacts cannot generate an artifact spirit even after thousands of years.

High-level and master-level artifacts become spiritual artifacts, developing their own spirits. The artifact spirits can cultivate themselves by relying on spiritual energy, thereby nourishing the artifacts and enhancing their strength.

As far as Xue Lan knew, there were even higher titles for weapon crafting in the Upper Realm, but there were currently no sects in the Lower Realm capable of judging such levels. Therefore, the highest-ranking weapon crafting masters were also respectfully called Grandmasters.

For this opportunity at the Ten Thousand Crafts Workshop, the War Puppet Mansion's requirement for Xue Lan is to become a Grandmaster of Weapon Forging, which is considered a very demanding requirement.

Lin Su checked the distributed materials on stage and, while waiting, inadvertently saw Xue Lan below.

He turned his head away with just one glance, and Xue Lan could almost hear a crisp cracking sound from his neck.

"Where are you going now?" Yin Shishi blocked Xue Lan and Wu Yijun's path.

"This weapon-refining assessment will probably last for three days. I'm going to go for a walk outside." Xue Lan took Wu Yijun's arm, looking completely harmless.

"Stay put. You got that item on the front lines. Xie Cui City is a mixed bag right now. Who knows, a demon with a higher cultivation level than you or me might have infiltrated." Yin Shishi transmitted her voice to Xue Lan, her tone extremely serious.

“I know!” Xue Lan replied to Yin Shishi, “But isn’t this also an opportunity?”

Xuan Shuo's demonic soul wasn't taken by a powerful human, but rather ended up in the hands of a Golden Core disciple. This Golden Core disciple has now broken away from the sect's protection and appeared in Mingyangchuan.

If Xue Lan were one of those demon lords, he would also gamble on this opportunity.

But in the end, Xue Lan was scolded by Yin Shishi and sent back to watch the game. She was kept in her seat and dared not move.

Yin Shishi stood beside Xue Lan, dressed in a simple blue dress, exuding a faint medicinal fragrance. Xue Lan watched as the disciples on the platform began processing the materials one by one. The heat of the smelting furnace combined with the light medicinal scent made one feel drowsy.

When Yin Shishi wanted to turn around and scold Xue Lan again, she found that he had already fallen asleep on Wu Yijun's shoulder.

Yin Shishi sighed and rubbed her forehead in exasperation.

Yan Chengxue's little doll came from behind and landed lightly on Wu Yijun's other shoulder, raising her hand to tug at Wu Yijun's hair.

"Sister Shishi..."

"Ah Xue wants to see me about something..."

Wu Yijun spoke carefully, and Yin Shishi grabbed Xue Lan by the collar and pulled her away.

The girl quietly left, lifting her skirt. Watching her walk out of the weapon-refining room, Yin Shishi pushed Xue Lan down onto the chair.

But Xue Lan still didn't wake up; it seemed she was truly asleep.

So Yin Shishi pulled her up again and made her lean on her shoulder.

[Your fellow disciples are really good to you.] In the sea of ​​consciousness, the system poured Xue Lan a cup of tea and looked at the girl who was resting in the pavilion.

Are you really asleep?

Xue Lan opened her eyes and shook her head: "Xie Cuicheng's fever is abnormal."

"What's the plot about?"

[The Myriad Crafts Workshop was the only important secret realm that Lu Feng didn't enter. Ultimately, no one obtained the opportunities within. However, Lu Feng later passed through the area and learned that another opportunity existed there—the Golden Crow Essence, which had been obtained by the demon race of the upper realm.]

"I knew it was abnormally hot here; Zhu Lingzhi alone couldn't have done it. It turns out it's the essence of the Golden Crow."

The system had spent some time with Xue Lan and noticed that Xue Lan's eyes would light up whenever it mentioned something good.

The girl picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip: "You didn't let me kill Lu Feng before, and then you said that my karmic ties with him weren't deep. I had a suspicion before that I could only change the fate of people with whom I had karmic connections, right?"

The system nodded knowingly: "You're a smart person. The Heavenly Dao of the Yuanming Realm is currently in decline, like a thatched hut on the verge of collapse."

[Above, the demonic forces are looming overhead; below, the mindless plot is burning everything.]

"I am also a blade of grass on this roof, layered with other grasses, affecting the surrounding area. I try to save all living beings by exploiting loopholes in the plot, but I can't fully intervene in the whole thing?" Xue Lan asked.

The system nodded.

The previously amiable girl sneered, "But I don't want to be a blade of grass!"

"The Golden Crow's essence was obtained by the demon realm in the upper realm, and Xue Lan, the senior sister of the Xuanhuang Sect in the lower realm, was not allowed to interfere, because the cause and effect had not yet arrived and it was not in accordance with the destiny!"

The system's eyes widened, and Xue Lan patted its head:

"But Xue Lan from the Upper Realm is not necessarily a member of the Upper Realm's demon race!"

The system seemed somewhat stunned.

"Good boy!" Xue Lan laughed, "If there's no cause and effect, we'll just switch the pieces."

The system nodded somewhat bewildered, unaware that it had embarked on a wrong path.