Who let him join the Sword Sect?!

In the past six months, the artifact refiners in Cyan Thorn have been having a hard time.

The loose cultivators who used to respectfully call them "Sir" or "Senior" are nowhere to be seen.

The customers who brought their treasure materials to have magical artifacts crafted are also gone.

Although they are not starving, the drop in status is really significant.

Meng Jiang is one such person.

As an artifact refining master with some fame in Cyan Thorn, he had connections with elders of several small sects and was often treated as an honored guest.

In the past, he accepted business based entirely on his mood; those wishing for Mr. Meng to refine a magical artifact had to have acquaintances pay him a visit first.

But now, he hadn't had any business for months.

The reason is undoubtedly the full responsibility of the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion.

Beautiful patterns, exquisite forms, and enough quality to last three generations are worth nothing in the face of the word "cheap."

One traditional magical artifact can buy three equally powerful Thousand Mechanism Tools.

The Thousand Mechanism Pavilion even offers half-a-year warranty, with an exchange policy within two years.

The plight that Thousand Mechanism Cultivators faced in the past is now appearing among the artifact refiners.

Of course, not all artifact refiners are stubborn; they are also thinking of various solutions.

Some people, with the principle of joining if they can't beat them, just changed clothes, filed an application, and became apprentices at the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion.

After all, the technique of arrays has many common principles; transitioning to the Path of Thousand Mechanisms isn't really troublesome.

Some others, with some perseverance, began to lower their stature, preparing for a long-term battle against the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion, relying on their reputation and quality to secure the final victory.

These old folks began offering low-cost blade and sword magical artifacts and Sound Transmission Jades to loose cultivators and small sects.

It went well at first, until Lily completed the Thousand Mechanism Rune Array and Little Walnut was developed.

Their offerings were completely unwanted then.

A pure hand-crafted, low-tier divine technique-refined blade and sword magical artifact was cheap at a hundred or so spirit stones in the artifact refiners' hands.

But over at the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion, with their big promotion, weapons made by the Sword Sect puppet lathe, paired with spell plug-ins from the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion, cost only ninety-nine.

Spells could be chosen at random, weapon styles could be freely picked, with an extra charge for customization, they could forge anything, even pitchforks.

Spell plug-ins came with discounts, buy three get one free, the more you buy the more you save, and you could collect points to exchange for the limited Heavenly Illusion Pendant.

As for Sound Transmission Jades, they were worthless in front of Little Walnut.

Under the merciless mass production strategy and discounts from the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion, these small artifact refining workshops quickly fell apart.

After losing the price war, some left Cyan Thorn for development elsewhere, while others chose the halfway option to survive.

These people were working in Thousand Mechanism Town.

Most artifact refiners are adept at material identification, and now, almost all appraisers at the Fried Shide Auction House are former artifact refiners.

They worked on enemy grounds while also studying and refining their artifact crafting techniques, aiming for a comeback.

The last group included Meng Jiang, those who couldn't give up the path of artifact refining; their status was slightly higher, and they couldn't bring themselves to work as appraisers.

They truly loved artifact refining, just like the Thousand Mechanism Cultivators of last year.

...

Cyan Thorn, Dharma Ring Sect.

Meng Jiang was chatting with his old friend, Elder Xing from the Dharma Ring Sect.

Between the lines, Meng Jiang was asking Elder Xing if the Dharma Ring Sect lacked a Guest Elder proficient in artifact refining.

Seeing his old friend in distress, Elder Xing sighed.

"Brother Meng, why go through this trouble, why not..."

Meng Jiang shook his head, "Brother Ma, no need to persuade me to join the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion, I..."

Elder Xing raised his hand to interrupt Meng Jiang and looked around before speaking softly to him.

"It's not that I don't want to help you, but there's no use. Our Sect Leader is already contemplating taking the entire sect to join the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion."

"Brother Meng, joining our Dharma Ring Sect is just a matter of words, but this..."

Elder Xing, being somewhat coarse, didn't actually say the last part directly, which was something akin to "pointless effort."

"What? Why is that?" Meng Jiang, who was a bit out of the loop with recent news, was puzzled.

"Here's the deal..." Elder Xing explained to Meng Jiang.

As the most progressive small sect in Cyan Thorn, the Dharma Ring Sect was the first to equip its disciples with the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion's gear.

The numerous explosive Thousand Mechanism Tools significantly improved the combat power of the sect's disciples, and items like the Demon Evil Atlas allowed the disciples to handle more complex environments.

Subsequently, the Sect Leader of the Dharma Ring Sect invested a huge amount to have the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion custom-build two Underground Cities within the sect for training disciples.

This saved the sect's disciples from having to queue up with those loose cultivators every day.

In the positive cycle of field training and then being tested in the Underground Cities back home, the Dharma Ring Sect, which already had a good ethos, fostered the habit of disciples traveling in groups and cooperating in battles.

They could even take on challenges beyond their level for many tasks.

Within the sect, most tasks were even replaced with those from the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion, allowing disciples to spend their earned sect shared points there.

Meanwhile, the Dharma Ring Sect also began doing business with the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion.

After all the fuss from the Sect Leader, although only half a year had passed, the results were remarkable.

The strength of the disciples improved significantly, and by "drinking soup" alongside the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion, not only didn't the sect account go into deficit, they even made a profit.

The Sect Leader thought, why not go all out and directly join.

He learned from a secret source that the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion's heart method blends the essence of three great sects: Sword Sect, Beast Taming Sect, and Dragon Tiger Mountain.

Although it's just starting now, he believed it definitely has more prospects than the Dharma Ring Heart Scripture created by his great-grandfather.

If the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion becomes the seventh great sect in the future, wouldn't he, having joined early, also soar high?

Recently, the Sect Leader of the Dharma Ring Sect has been visiting the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion three times a day for this matter.

Elder Xing finished explaining and spread his hands, indicating that's how things stood.

"Sigh." Meng Jiang sighed after listening.

This time, Meng Jiang truly had no prospects. However, when he got up and cupped his hands to take his leave, he was stopped by Elder Xing.

"Don't be hasty, Old Meng, just hear me out."

"Please go ahead." Meng Jiang sat back down.

"Do you harbor any grievances against the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion?"

"Why do you say that? It's just that our paths are different. I only blame myself for lacking ability."

Hearing Meng Jiang say this, Elder Xing was relieved.

He took out a three-fold screen device gifted by his eldest disciple, opened a group chat.

"Brother Meng, look at this."

He handed the device to Meng Jiang.

Meng Jiang took it, his gaze froze.

In the picture, a few young girls held up a large banner, with a figure in a silver-white metallic suit standing beneath it.

The banner read:

"Artifact Refining and Mechanisms Together as One, the Divine Egg Gang Welcomes You"

"What is this?" Meng Jiang was puzzled.

Elder Xing chuckled, "Recently, the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion recruited an Artifact Refining Grandmaster from the Northern Territory. It's said that his Path of Artifact Refining is extraordinary; now the pavilion is broadly recruiting refiners to seek the great path together."

After speaking, Meng Jiang saw images of cultivators registering for recruitment scroll down on the device screen.

Still under the big poplar tree, a group of artifact refiners, both young and old, were standing tall and proud, lining up to register.

Meng Jiang stared for a long while, suddenly jumped up, and quickly walked towards the door.

"Old Meng, where are you going?" Elder Xing hurriedly asked.

"Lu Sheng, that stubborn old donkey, is also there. That brat is very proud; if even he has signed up, it surely means this refining master is someone significant. I..."

The latter half of the sentence was inaudible as Meng Jiang had already flown into the sky on his lifebound magical artifact.

The Dharma Ring Sect was not far from Thousand Mechanism Town. Meng Jiang landed outside the town, put away his giant drum artifact, tidied his clothes, and stepped into the town gates.

...

Near the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion, by the big poplar tree.

A scruffy old man, with a small stature and twitching mouse-like mustache, squatted by the roadside, muttering to himself while clutching a silver-white round magical artifact.

"Ancestral Master bless, Ancestral Master bless, I didn't see wrong, it's all true..."

This artifact was obtained from an Artifact Refining Master called Dan Dan after he registered. Although it was simple and merely glowed and floated, it was no ordinary item.

But Lu Sheng's hand was connected to his heart; as soon as he touched it, he knew it was a rare treasure. He discovered that the operating mode of its inner spiritual qi array was completely different from usual magical artifacts.

He felt that if he could fully understand this sphere, his artifact refining technique would certainly advance further.

Just as he was absorbed in his treasure, Old Man Lu suddenly saw an old hand trying to snatch it away, and swiftly used an escape technique divine power to retreat several meters. He summoned his lifebound gourd and posed a white crane spreading its wings stance, aiming the gourd at the thief.

"Hey, where did this old thief come from! Watch out, or I'll have the Sword Sect cultivators catch you!"

But upon seeing the intruder's face clearly, he dropped the posture and, with his hands behind his back, swaggered over with a look begging for a good punch.

"Oh, who do I see? Old Meng, what brings you to our Thousand Mechanism Pavilion?"

"Let me have a look." Meng Jiang ignored his old friend's teasing and hurriedly stepped forward to take the sphere, injecting spiritual qi to explore its mysteries.

Meng Jiang immediately noticed the peculiarity within it, but just as he was about to study further, the sphere was snatched away again.

"Give it back. If you want, why don't you go and register yourself?" Old Man Lu, fearing Meng Jiang would damage it, grabbed the sphere back.

Then he retreated several steps.

"What... what is this?" Meng Jiang asked.

Now looking at that sphere, he couldn't resist the urge, wanting to hold it a while longer.

"This is my assignment for the week!" Finished speaking, Old Man Lu clumsily controlled the sphere with spiritual qi, demonstrating its inner mysteries to Meng Jiang.

Inside the sphere was a puzzle—the same array that had appeared in the first stage of Dan Dan's grand contest was now before Meng Jiang.

"If I can open this sphere, I've completed the first step. Solving the array within means entering the gate," Lu Sheng boasted.

Meng Jiang ignored him, flicked his sleeve, turned, and ran towards the big poplar tree.

But after only a few steps, he was stopped by Lu Sheng's call.

"Hey! Old Meng! Hold on, I have something to tell you!"

"Say it quickly!" Meng Jiang was in a hurry.

But the old Lu Sheng was in no rush. He stroked his mustache, grinning at Meng Jiang.

Just when Meng Jiang thought Lu Sheng had something important to say, the old man slapped his chest and announced.

"Once you've registered, remember to call me Senior Brother, don't forget.

I was here first!"

Meng Jiang wanted very much to put his great drum on this brat's head, but he had more urgent matters to attend to and did not delay, hurriedly going to wait in line.

"Name and cultivation?"

When it was Meng Jiang's turn, the cultivator responsible for registration asked.

"Meng Jiang, cultivation... just list it as Golden Core." Meng Jiang replied.

"Ah, it's Senior Meng, please wait a moment..."

The cultivator responsible for registration quickly erased the information from a jade scroll and took out a new one.

"Divine Pill Gang Special Brilliance Class, Number Seven, Meng Jiang"

After registering, he handed the new jade scroll to Meng Jiang and pointed in a direction, indicating where Meng Jiang should go to take the test.

"Next!" He called out loudly after sending Meng Jiang off.