"Don't worry, Owner Tan Delun. We will do all we can to assist both you and Cultivator Wen Yingjie in bringing this matter to a successful close," gently said Yang Qing to the young blacksmith before shifting his gaze over to Wen Yingjie.
"Cultivator Wen Yingjie, would you please," Yang Qing said, motioning that it was the rogue cultivator's turn to give his testimony.
Wen Yingjie cupped his fist first before speaking.
"I won't waste the court's precious time by repeating details that have already been stated, as I can personally attest to the veracity of my little brother Tan Delun's statement regarding the materials, the arrangement I had with his father, and everything that transpired in between," he began.
"I have known the Falling Meteor Blacksmith Shop for quite some time now. Though I'm not a regular, I've had a few pieces of equipment made by Owner Tan Ping. I've personally experienced the quality of their craftsmanship, which is why I felt confident entrusting them with the commission of refining a custom saber for me," Wen Yingjie continued.
"After working out the details with Tan Ping—which Tan Delun has already elaborated on—Tan Ping called me three months later to inspect the saber and determine whether it met my satisfaction. I had left him with additional ingredients so that, if there were any issues, he could make the necessary adjustments without charging me anything extra.
The saber more than exceeded my expectations, from its craftsmanship to its overall quality," Wen Yingjie said, his tone carrying genuine praise.
"I've seen my fair share of top-tier sky-grade weapons, and I can confidently say that the saber Tan Ping crafted is more than capable of standing alongside the best of them and or perhaps even surpassing some of them," he added.
"Pleased with the effort he put into making the saber, I left the additional ingredients with him as a token of my gratitude and left," Wen Yingjie said before taking a brief pause.
"It was nearly a week later that I noticed a problem with the saber, though I can't say it's a common issue.
For some reason, the saber kept attracting lightning. At first, I thought nothing of it equating it to just a freak accident or the whims of Mother Nature," Wen Yingjie said, his eyes flickering slightly as the memory surfaced in his mind.
"However, the problem didn't go away. In fact, it only grew more intense. I didn't realize it at first, but after nearly getting struck a few times, I discovered it was the saber's doing.
It would emit a silent humming sound whenever there was a cloud overhead, and soon after, lightning bolts would start to gather. If it had been regular lightning, I wouldn't have paid it much mind, but this was different.
For one, it could actually hurt me though not severely, but it was enough to leave me with some minor injuries," Wen Yingjie said.
"Things got worse one time when I was trying to escape the lightning. No matter how much I tried to run, the saber, somehow ... anchored itself to the ground and refused to budge an inch. No matter how hard I pulled, it wouldn't move.
It kept drawing more lightning strikes to itself for nearly ten minutes before the storm finally cleared," Wen Yingjie said, with a hint of wariness showing in his tone.
"I honestly expected it to be destroyed after such a bombardment, but there it was—still standing and completely intact," he added, his surprise evident in both his voice and expression.
"I don't know why, but I had this intuitive feeling that it had changed after being bathed in all that lightning. Everything seemed normal at a glance, but my instincts told me something was different about it, though I couldn't quite tell what," he said, his gaze drifting toward the saber.
"When I tried to pick it up again, it finally budged, as if nothing had happened. I could lift it with ease. That was when I decided to hurry back to the Falling Meteor Blacksmith Shop and inform Tan Ping about the saber's strange behavior," Wen Yingjie explained.
"As a rogue cultivator, I'm often in perilous situations when sourcing cultivation resources. I can't afford for my saber to bring out unstable components like lightning or, worse, dislodge itself during a fight. A single moment of distraction or weakness could very well cost me my life.
When the saber behaves normally, it's the perfect weapon. The problem is the strange anomalies surrounding it which I have no idea if they'll disappear on their own or continue to worsen with time.
I decided to err on the side of caution rather than find out," said Wen Yingjie.
Roaming the continent as a wandering cultivator was hard enough, let alone doing so while having an unstable weapon.
"But when I went to see Tan Ping, I found out he'd already gone into seclusion. As for little brother Tan Delun, he tried to help, but even he was stumped by the saber's bizarre behavior. So I decided to wait for his father to come out of seclusion. But even after three months, he never did," Wen Yingjie said, letting out a sigh.
"If it were any other time, I wouldn't have minded waiting a year. But right now, I have something time-sensitive that I cannot afford to postpone whose success and failure hinges upon having a powerful weapon," said Wen Yingjie. "And dependable too," he immediately added.
"I would have traded the saber for another weapon as long as it was a top-tier sky-grade weapon of similar caliber from their shop. But I felt it would be irresponsible of me to leave it with Tan Delun given what I have seen and experienced with it.
If it invoked another lightning strike while in his possession, at best, he'd be crippled and at worst, he'd die instantly. The odds of the latter happening are much higher since the strikes have been growing stronger. They're already nearing the power of an attack from a late-stage Core Formation cultivator," Wen Yingjie explained.
"With no capital to buy another high-grade weapon and no other competent, trustworthy person for Tan Delun to consult, we decided the best option was to settle the matter here.
Judge Yang Qing, I sincerely hope you can help us. If possible, I'd rather keep the saber as I'd hate to part with it. I humbly ask for your guidance," Wen Yingjie solemnly said as he cupped his fists once more.
"Well, Wen Yingjie you may be in luck, one better than you could have ever imagined. Luckily you brought this matter to us rather than go someplace else especially other blacksmith shops or merchants with a keen eye for detail and who know their weapons well," Yang Qing said with a sense of mystique to his tone and look
"Yi Jie, you've noticed it too, right?," Yang Qing said, his eyes glittering as he studied the saber in Yi Jie's hands.
Yi Jie was just as focused, even bringing the saber close to his eye for further inspection.
"Mmmh… That explains why the owner went into seclusion right after finishing it. To craft something like this in just three months, and on the first attempt, no less. It looks like it the embodiment and culmination of his entire experience finally coming together and erupting into a singular masterpiece. It's a fine saber," Yi Jie said, admiring the weapon with rare appreciation.
It was a stark contrast to his usual deadpan expression or the occasional frustrated, throbbing-vein frown he always wore thanks to a certain green-haired judge.
Yang Qing and Yi Jie's exchange only deepened the confusion of Wen Yingjie and Tan Delun, who struggled to keep up. The way the two examined the saber, as if it were some kind of priceless treasure, left them completely bewildered.
"Before I fill you in on what you're wondering about, let me first introduce Yi Jie over here," Yang Qing said. "He's an inquisitor—well, actually, the head inquisitor of this court—but he also holds another title: blue-grade blacksmith.
You should know what that means, right? He can craft monarch-grade weapons or equipment with the potential to reach that level."
As Yang Qing explained, both Wen Yingjie and Tan Delun were visibly shaken—especially Tan Delun. As a blacksmith himself, he understood just how difficult it was to attain the rank of blue-grade blacksmith.
How old was this guy? His own father had been stuck at the orange grade for years, and even though he was considered one of the best at that level, it was still nowhere near blue grade.
What would his reaction be if he knew Yi Jie was only a casual blacksmith? Yi Jie hadn't even dedicated himself to the craft. He had only pursued it because it was convenient. He needed a customized saber that suited him, and the best way to get it was to make it himself. So, he learned the trade. The moment he got what he wanted, he let it go, as his true passion lay elsewhere— it was in winemaking.
In that sense, he was quite similar to Yang Qing.
Yang Qing was a blue-grade healer and herbologist, not because he had an undying love for either field, but because his physique naturally endowed him with the talent to excel at them. His true passion also lay elsewhere— his was in archaeology. He loved dissecting cultivation arts, whether ancient, fragmented, or complete. If it was related to cultivation techniques and had an interesting or mysterious background, it would pique his curiosity and that was how he even got to create one when he evolved a red-grade cultivation technique into a blue-grade one.
Yet, while countless cultivators would give anything to gain the same level of expertise these two held, they treated their skills almost like an afterthought.
In the Blue Origin World, blacksmiths, alchemists, and other craftsmen—including beast trainers and formation array masters—were classified into the following grades, in ascending order: White, Red, Orange, Blue, Gold, and finally, Purple. Their ranking system mirrored the classification of foundation pillars formed during the cultivation stage, with White being the lowest and Purple the highest. However, rumors hinted at a level beyond Purple, though only those at that tier—if they truly existed—knew what it entailed.
In Yi Jie's case, being a blue-grade blacksmith meant he could forge weapons with monarch-rank potential or those that had already reached that level. A weapon with monarch-rank potential was the equivalent of a palace-stage cultivator in terms of power.
Craftsmanship followed a different evaluation system than cultivation realms. While a craftsman's grade often correlated with their cultivation rank, this wasn't always the case—especially with highly skilled individuals. A formation array master at the core formation realm, for example, could construct a formation capable of exhibiting the power of a palace-stage expert, just as a blacksmith could forge a weapon capable of unleashing a palace-stage attack, even if only once.
Yi Jie fell into this category. He was a quasi-palace-stage expert, yet he could craft weapons with palace-rank power or weapons that had the potential to reach that level.
However, there was an even rarer class of craftsmen—those like Song Chuanli, the chief craftsman of the Order. Their mastery was so profound that they could elevate an artifact's rank purely through their Dao, as long as they had the necessary materials. Chief Chuanli, despite being in the same cultivation realm as Yi Jie, was a gold-grade craftsman and one of the best. This meant he could produce artifacts that had the power of a domain expert or had the potential to reach such a level.
It was because of experts like him that the concept of artifact potential and artifact igniters was born—an acknowledgment that some craftsmen could shape the very destiny of a weapon or tool, allowing it to surpass its original limits.