The Artificers' Conference continued on as though the earlier fight between Lu Tianzi and Squad Leader Sanlong never happened.

Squad Leader Sanlong was ultimately still a member of the Sacred Cliff City Guards – the influence under the direct control of the Burning Titan Overlord.

Given how badly Squad Leader Sanlong lost, no one would foolishly bring up the matter if they had a choice.

However, many among the attendees still could not help but steal glances at Lu Tianzi from time to time, checking out this young man who had just put his capabilities on display.

As for Lu Tianzi himself, he naturally sensed these people's attention falling upon him, but he cared not about all that.

Right now, he was focusing on the topics that were being discussed.

Even though the discussions had already moved on from the technicalities of the art of artificing, there was still a lot to gain from the seniors present, and that included general knowledge of current affairs.

After a long round of discussions, it was decided that the Sacred Cliff City Guards would recruit volunteers from its ranks to form an expedition party, aiming to rid the area around Sacred Cliff City of any members from the Radiant Raven Sect.

In the meantime, everyone was advised to stay within the city for their own safety.

If anyone were to be targeted by the Radiant Raven Sect members outside of the city walls, the Sacred Cliff City Guards would not bear any responsibility.

This might not the best outcome, but most of the attendees were satisfied.

In fact, it was already more than what they had expected.

No time horizon had been committed as to when the expedition would officially begin. It could be days after the Artificers' Conference, or it could even be years.

Before that happened, the travellers around Sacred Cliff City would still be exposed to the same danger as before, which was why everyone was encouraged to stay within the city for their own safety.

But looking at it from another point of view, this also meant that their enemies would not know when they would start taking action.

That alone should be enough to deter the Radiant Raven Sect members from continuing to act so brazenly in the meantime.

Once this was decided, the discussion moved on again, and again, eventually covering a huge span of topics.

Thankfully, no one else decided to bother Lu Tianzi after what happened to Squad Leader Sanlong, allowing him to focus on taking in whatever information he could.

It was not until late at night that the Artificers' Conference finally came to an end.

Under Grandmaster Tiequan's lead, Lu Tianzi and Young Master Xuan Hao paid his respects to the Burning Titan Overlord before taking their leave.

When they did, Lu Tianzi took special notice of the Burning Titan Overlord's expression, only to find that the Burning Titan Overlord did not seem pay much attention to Lu Tianzi.

Lu Tianzi could not help but sigh in his heart.

It seemed that what he showed earlier was still nowhere near enough to impress the Burning Titan Overlord.

Then again, that could not be helped.

He was only an Origin Core realm martial artist at the moment, and there was only so much he could do.

If he wanted to be able to stand on his own two feet within the central regions of the continent, he really had to work a lot harder from now on!

Grandmaster Tiequan did not say much when they parted.

However, he did give Lu Tianzi an approving nod, expressing what he thought of the youngster.

Even Young Master Xuan Hao could not help but give him a thumbs up before leaving with Grandmaster Tiequan.

It was only then that Lu Tianzi let out a sigh of relief.

He might not have shown it, but he was actually rather worried that things could go wrong during the Artificers' Conference.

The way he expressed dominance over Squad Leader Sanlong might have been necessary, but it was not without risks.

There was always the chance that the Sacred Cliff City Guards would be overprotective of their members, and end up blacklisting Lu Tianzi.

Even though it was unlikely that the Sacred Cliff City Guards as a whole would do so, there was always the chance that an overprotective senior could not hold himself back after seeing Squad Leader Sanlong disgraced.

It was fortunate that nothing like that happened, or at least not during the Artificers' Conference itself.

As for the future, Lu Tianzi would have to deal with them as they come.

Lu Tianzi slowly made his way back to the Sky Snow Manor while contemplating over what he should do next.

Now that he had revealed a portion of his capabilities to everyone, as well as obtained the support of a few major figures, perhaps it was finally time to go ahead with what he wanted to do from the start!

***

The next day, Sky Snow Manor started receiving visitors from early morning.

Some of these visitors were present at the Artificers' Conference as well, and had wanted to speak to Lu Tianzi since witnessing his fight against Squad Leader Sanlong. However, they eventually chose not to do so simply because they were still in the presence of the other members of the Sacred Cliff City Guards.

After all, they did not know Lu Tianzi personally before this, and had no idea if it was worth the risk.

Of course, they did not mention this to Lu Tianzi, but he could guess as much.

Lu Tianzi did not hold it against them though – he understood just as well that it was better to be safe than sorry.

He spent the next few days entertaining his visitors along with Housekeeper Changyu, exchanging pleasantries and accepting gifts of all sorts.

Of course, Lu Tianzi's main aim in meeting these guests was not for the gifts.

While they were rather expensive, the gifts were nothing especially rare. Now that Lu Tianzi had been contracted by the Sacred Lotus Treasury, he was also able to afford these items with relative ease.

Instead, it was the connections with other influences that he was after.

This was something intangible, but invaluable at the same time.

Even though Lu Tianzi already had allies in the city, he was not nearly naive enough to think that he no longer needed more friends.

His current relationship with the Sacred Lotus Treasury, Grandmaster Tiequan, and Fairy Pingxi, were not exactly the strongest of bonds, and Young Master Xuan Hao was going to leave the city soon.

Lu Tianzi knew that if he did not make more allies while he still could, he would only be the one to suffer in the future.

But besides that, Lu Tianzi actually had another reason as to why he was so willing to host these visitors.

"I heard that Brother Tianzi is looking for an artificer to help you forge a sabre?" Young Master Xuan Hao asked curiously while seated in Sky Snow Manor's front hall.

"So Brother Xuan Hao has heard about it as well?" Lu Tianzi answered with a smile. "It seems that the news is spreading well. That's good to know."

"I heard it from Sister Ruan Ling," Young Master Xuan Hao took a short glance at the young lady beside him before turning his attention back to Lu Tianzi. "But why all of a sudden? Doesn't Brother Tianzi already have a sabre?"

"I do," Lu Tianzi nodded. "However, my sabre is a little old. Very soon, it will no longer be able to keep up with my cultivation level. So I thought that this is the perfect chance to make a change."

Lu Tianzi was still at the Primary Essence Condensation realm when he first obtained the Torrential Sabre from Nanqing Zhengxian.

Now that he had already broken through to the Origin Core realm, it was about time for him to change it out for something better.

Otherwise, things could get dangerous for him if the Torrential Sabre failed to keep up during a critical battle and ended up breaking.

But after hearing Lu Tianzi's words, Young Master Xuan Hao felt the corner of his lips twitch.

The sabre was no longer able to keep up with his cultivation level?

Young Master Xuan Hao could not help but think back to when they were cultivating in the cave at Mount Asui.

Back then, Young Master Xuan Hao had seen Lu Tianzi wield the Torrential Sabre to unleash a storm of terrifying attacks, as well as a dominating strike that could even cut through the pressure exerted on them by the Overlord realm Elder Qiren.

And that was the sabre not being able to keep up with Lu Tianzi's cultivation level?

If that's the case, what would Lu Tianzi be capable of after he obtained a sabre of a suitable level?

Young Master Xuan Hao could not help but feel excited when he thought about that.

"Ahem!" Young Master Xuan Hao cleared his throat. "I heard that Brother Tianzi is offering a piece of Moonlight Metal Ore as reward for helping you forge the sabre?"

"It is as you have heard," Lu Tianzi nodded. "I happen to have some Moonlight Metal Ore in my possession, and am thus looking for an established artificer who can help me forge a sabre with it. As long as I am satisfied with the product, any excess metal ore can be given to the artificer as their reward."

"Hahaha, it seems that Brother Tianzi is much more extravagant that I thought!" Young Master Xuan Hao laughed.

He did not doubt that Lu Tianzi knew the value of the Moonlight Metal Ore, because they came across it together back at the Sacred Lotus Auction.

Since Lu Tianzi was still willing to offer it as a reward despite that, Young Master Xuan Hao would definitely respect his choice and not stop him.

"But why didn't you ask Grandmaster Tiequan about this? Perhaps he would be willing to help?" Ruan Ling asked from the side.

Grandmaster Tiequan had already expressed interest in the Moonlight Metal Ore back at the Sacred Lotus Auction, so why would Lu Tianzi not ask him directly?

Lu Tianzi smiled in response. "Does Sister Ruan Ling remember what Grandmaster Tiequan said back then during the Sacred Lotus Auction?"

"Did he say something special?" Ruan Ling pondered hard, but could not remember anything specific.

On the other hand, Young Master Xuan Hao let out a meaningful smile. "So you already had the Moonlight Metal Ore in your possession since then?"

Lu Tianzi merely smiled in response.

Back then, Lu Tianzi had already asked Grandmaster Tiequan if the Grandmaster Artificer would be willing to forge a weapon for him if he was able to provide the Moonlight Metal Ore.

However, Grandmaster Tiequan declined, saying that he could task one of his disciples to forge the weapon instead, and only because Lu Tianzi was a friend of Young Master Xuan Hao.

Even though they were considered allies now, Lu Tianzi still vividly remembered Grandmaster Tiequan's condescending tone on that day.

He could not just pretend that the conversation never happened, or Grandmaster Tiequan might just see him as a pushover in the future.

But if Grandmaster Tiequan personally came to him after hearing about the matter and offered to forge the sabre, that would be akin to swallowing his words that day, and Lu Tianzi would thus be willing to let the matter go.

In any case, Grandmaster Tiequan was not the only Grandmaster Artificer in Sacred Cliff City.

Given how enticing the Moonlight Metal Ore was to an artificer, as well as his rising fame in the city, Lu Tianzi did not believe that he would not be able to find another Grandmaster Artificer to help him forge a new sabre!

"Is this the reason why Brother Xuan Hao and Sister Ruan Ling came today?" Lu Tianzi asked.

Since Young Master Xuan Hao was the one who connected Grandmaster Tiequan and Lu Tianzi, any further discussion on this matter might make things awkward for him.

Thus, Lu Tianzi decided to end the topic there.

"That is just one matter," Young Master Xuan Hao let out an awkward smile. "More importantly, there is something else that I wish to ask Brother Tianzi. Actually, it is more like I have a favour to ask."

"Oh? Please feel free to speak," Lu Tianzi replied.

"As Brother Tianzi knows, I am intending to return to the Timeless Flame Sect soon. But once I return, I would have to face the pressure of being one of the heir candidates of the Timeless Flame Sect," Young Master Xuan Hao said. "Because of that, I am hoping that Brother Tianzi will be able to come along as well."

"Eh?" Lu Tianzi was genuinely surprised this time. "Come along with you? Me?"

He understood that being an heir candidate of one of the ancient sects was not all sunshine and rainbows. It was only normal for there to be immense mental pressure that accompanied the prestige.

But even so, why would Young Master Xuan Hao ask him to go along as well?

How could he help with relieving that pressure?

Or could it be that.. Young Master Xuan Hao actually swung that way..?