JSCMU-Chapter 151: Great Gift

Yang Hui remained silent for a long time. Then he gritted his teeth and said, “In any case, you should still spend more time on artifact forging.”

“I’d like to,” Yun Jin sighed, “but Peak Master Yang, you know that children without guidance have hard lives! My master doesn’t understand a thing about artifact forging. I can’t really expect him to teach me, can I?”

She wore an expression full of melancholy.

Yang Hui, of course, saw through this little act. After a moment of silence, he directly took out a jade slip and placed it on the table.

“Peak Master Yang, what’s this?” Yun Jin blinked.

Yang Hui said calmly, “It’s my personal insights from cultivating artifact forging from first to fifth rank. None of my disciples turned out useful, I’m afraid none of them are worthy of inheriting my legacy. I’m giving these insights to you. You don’t need to call me master. As long as you can carry the art of forging forward, this will settle the karma between us.”

Yun Jin raised her eyes, visibly surprised.

She only hoped for a bit of guidance from Yang Hui.

Even though she had the Simplification System, if she could learn things herself, it would save her from using up simplification attempts.

But she never expected Yang Hui to give her the core compilation of his life’s work.

This kind of thing is typically only passed down to personal disciples!

In the cultivation world, cultivators have long lifespans and differing talents. As time goes on, it’s not rare for disciples to surpass their masters in cultivation.

Besides that, cultivators often choose a secondary profession, like alchemy, forging, talismans, or formations, and their primary master might not even practice those. So, is it reasonable to learn these skills from others? Of course it is.

Thus, in this world, a cultivator can have multiple masters.

However.

Not all masters are the same.

Take Lin Ya, for example. Though he had many disciples, only a few were true disciples.

And when Heavenly Sword Peak was in crisis, only those few remained.

Lin Ya also never made things difficult for the rest, he took the initiative to let them leave. 

But in his heart, there was still a difference between true disciples and ordinary disciples.

So Yun Jin wanted to learn from Yang Hui, but she never expected to be treated like a true disciple. Even being allowed to audit his teachings would’ve been enough. Yet Yang Hui gave her the most treasured part of his legacy!

This shocked her deeply.

“Your talent is extraordinary,” Yang Hui said calmly, pulling out several more jade slips. “These contain mineral information and basic forging knowledge. I believe you’ll need them. Study them alongside my insights, and you’ll progress much faster.”

Lastly, Yang Hui placed some spirit stones on the table.

“I’ll purchase your hundred-refined iron. These are the spirit stones for the transaction. Please keep them.”

He stood up, “It’s late. I won’t overstay.”

He turned to leave.

“Peak Master Yang,” Yun Jin called out solemnly.

Yang Hui paused and looked back at her.

Yun Jin rose and gave him three deep bows.

Yang Hui’s eyes flickered. He sighed softly and did not dodge them, he accepted the three bows.

Yun Jin straightened up, her tone gentle, “Though you may not want to take me as your disciple, I shall recognize you as my master. When the time is right, I’ll prepare a formal gift and officially pay my respects.”

Both of them knew when that “right time” would be.

Yang Hui said nothing more. He gave a barely perceptible nod and turned to leave.

Yun Jin looked at the jade slips and spirit stones on the table. She put everything else away and left only Yang Hui’s insights in front of her.

She immersed her consciousness into it. Lines of characters began surfacing in her mind:

“The path of forging requires perseverance, focus, and…”

“Today I discovered a small trick. When melting Golden Crystal Ore, adding a drop of Heartless Oak sap significantly improves efficiency.”

“Today I finally advanced to third-rank refiner. I’ve had some insights and will record them here…”

These weren’t a continuous set of instructions, but rather more like a personal diary.

Yet within these journal entries were the thoughts and revelations of a fifth-rank master refiner. Some small tricks seemed simple enough, but without Yang Hui documenting them, one could waste a great deal of time trying to discover them through trial and error.

Yun Jin read with great interest.

When she finished the first round of reading.

“Ding. First-time reading the refining insights of a fifth-rank master refiner. Proficiency +30.”

Yun Jin just reached second-rank, and her proficiency was only 5%. With one read, the progress bar jumped drastically, now at 35%!

Her eyes widened in disbelief.

“Wait… this insight book can boost proficiency?”

She hurried to read it again.

This time she skimmed more quickly.

“Ding. Reading the refining insights of a fifth-rank master refiner. Proficiency +1.”

Only one point?

Yun Jin felt a bit of regret.

She pondered for a moment and began a third reading. 

This time, carefully slowing down and fully immersing herself, pausing at the complex parts to reflect and comprehend.

After finishing this reading.

“Ding. Reading the refining insights of a fifth-rank master refiner. Proficiency +8.”

Yun Jin’s spirits lifted!

It actually gave 8 points!

Although it was far less than the first time, it was still much better than the previous attempt.

It seemed that careful reading was necessary.

Yun Jin hurriedly began reading again from the beginning.

This time, she still read very attentively.

“Ding. Reading the refining insights of a fifth-rank master refiner. Proficiency +0. (Only the first three readings per day grant proficiency.)”

This time it was 0!

But Yun Jin understood after seeing the content inside the parentheses.

This refining insight book was equivalent to a tool. Right now, she could only use it three times per day. After three uses, it would no longer grant proficiency.

Yun Jin thought for a moment, then picked up the other jade slips to study.

These jade slips contained some basic knowledge about artifact forging.

They were quite dull in comparison.

Yun Jin’s soul strength was very strong, so reading this type of text was like photographic memory to her.

These things, unlike Yang Hui’s refining insights, didn’t require detailed understanding or bring new insights with each reading.

These just needed to be memorized!

After Yun Jin quickly finished reading.

“Ding. Reading basic refining texts. Proficiency +30. (Fully mastered. Further readings will no longer provide proficiency.)”

Thirty points of proficiency!

That was certainly impressive!

However.

Compared to Yang Hui’s refining insights, it still fell short.

These were all one-time tools. Once used, they had no further benefit.

Yang Hui’s refining insights, however, could continuously provide her with proficiency.

Yun Jin felt that just by relying on reading the refining insights, she might be able to advance to a third-rank refiner.

Yang Hui really gave her a massive gift this time!