I Was Forced to Marry a “Trash” Cultivator, But She Turned Out to Be a Reborn Empress!

Chapter 292: Dragon Turtle Seeks Treasure, Sword Upgrade

Guided by the pulsing speck of light in his palm, Shen Xian navigated the labyrinth of bustling streets until he stood before the imposing structure of the trading hall.

Stepping inside, the world expanded.

The hall was a massive rotunda, its dome lost in the shadows high above. The floor was paved with specially crafted warm jade bricks that radiated a gentle heat, contrasting with the cold outside. Hundreds of stalls formed concentric rings, where rare spiritual materials shimmered atop display stands carved from Cold Jade, their spiritual light weaving a tapestry of temptation.

*This trading hall certainly has presence,* Shen Xian noted, his gaze sweeping over the opulent display.

*However…*

*True treasures are rarely found under the spotlight. They hide in the shadows, waiting for eyes that can see.*

The light in his palm throbbed rhythmically, pulling him toward the southeast corner.

This was the desolate fringe of the hall, a place where the stalls were sparse and customers even scarcer. A few cultivators, looking rather down on their luck, squatted on the ground behind haphazard piles of miscellaneous junk.

*This is the place.*

Shen Xian’s heart gave a singular, powerful beat. The treasure Little Black had sensed was close.

Adopting an air of bored nonchalance, he strolled forward. The light in his hand pulsed violently before stabilizing directly in front of a stall manned by a grey-robed old man.

The elder, possessing a head of white hair and a beard to match, sat with his eyes closed, seemingly resting. Spread before him on a ragged beast skin were several rust-eaten metal fragments and a collection of oddities that looked more like refuse than merchandise.

“Hmm?” Shen Xian’s eyes narrowed imperceptibly. *That metal shard the old man tossed aside… the pattern on it bears a seventy percent resemblance to the Formless Pattern on the hilt of my Traceless Sword!*

Could that be the treasure?

Shen Xian did not lunge. Instead, he drifted to the nearby stalls, circling like a shark that hadn’t yet decided to bite.

*First, I need to dissect this old fox’s trading habits.*

Shen Xian observed closely. The man appeared lethargic, but every time a potential customer paused, his eyelids would crack open just enough to scrutinize their micro-expressions. After watching three transactions, Shen Xian had his profile.

*He practices Qi Gazing. He feeds on the buyer’s desire to inflate the price.*

The corner of Shen Xian’s mouth quirked upward in a cold, faint smile.

*If he wants to see something, I’ll give him a show.*

Shen Xian suppressed his aura, masking his true power down to the early Golden Core stage. Simultaneously, he adjusted his robes so the Duobao Sect Artificer token at his waist flashed visibly with every step.

*The persona: A wealthy, talented sect Artificer with a powerful background, but woefully inexperienced in the ways of the world. A fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered.*

He approached the stall and “casually” picked up a chunk of high-quality Crimson Copper Essence Ore. “Fellow Daoist, what’s the price on this?”

The old man opened his eyes a slit. “Three hundred Middle Grade Spirit Stones.”

*A lion opening its mouth wide,* Shen Xian chuckled internally. *He’s testing my bottom line.*

Externally, Shen Xian’s face lit up with delight, followed immediately by a clumsy attempt at a frown. “That’s… too expensive. How about one hundred?”

The old cultivator snorted derisively. “Three hundred. No bargaining.”

He had spotted the interest in the young man’s eyes. Having finally caught a naive mark, he wasn’t about to let go.

But Shen Xian didn’t follow the script. He shook his head with exaggerated disappointment and turned on his heel. “Forget it, then. It’s useful, but not worth that price.”

The confidence on the old man’s face cracked.

The ore was worth a hundred stones at best, and it wasn’t exactly a rare commodity. He couldn’t let this wealthy novice walk away.

“Wait!” the seller called out hurriedly. “This isn’t ordinary ore; it contains a trace of frost energy. Tell you what—two hundred and eighty, and it’s yours!”

Shen Xian paused, his back to the seller. “Two hundred.”

Seeing there was still a healthy profit margin, the old cultivator gritted his teeth. “Fine… deal.”

As the words fell, Shen Xian turned back and pointed a lazy finger at the pile of rusted scrap. “Throw in those broken iron pieces, too.”

The old cultivator’s eyes sharpened. He secretly activated his Qi Gazing technique, hunting for any spike in Shen Xian’s emotions.

But Shen Xian had already cloaked his mind with his Soul Formation-tier Divine Sense. To the old man, he was a blank slate.

“I need material for shaping practice,” Shen Xian said, his tone dismissive. “Those scraps are hard enough to serve as molds.”

He made no effort to hide his identity as an Artificer. Using scrap metal for shaping molds was a perfectly logical excuse.

The old cultivator found no desire in the young man’s aura. Reasoning that the pile of rust hadn’t sold in years, he figured getting rid of it wouldn’t hurt.

*However…*

“That will be an extra twenty Middle Grade Spirit Stones,” the old man ventured, testing the waters one last time. He wanted to see if the boy actually cared about the scrap.

“Forget it.” Shen Xian turned to leave immediately, his stride decisive.

The test having failed, the old man panicked. “Alright, alright! Just two hundred Middle Grade Spirit Stones for the lot!”

The transaction was completed in seconds. Shen Xian swept the ore and the pile of fragments into his Storage Ring.

As he walked away, he could feel the old man’s gaze boring into his back, lingering until he disappeared into the crowd.

*That old fool is likely gloating about offloading his trash on a naive disciple,* Shen Xian thought, his expression cool and composed. *He has no idea he just handed over a king’s ransom for pennies.*

***

Back in the safety of the Chamber of Commerce’s courtyard, Shen Xian wasted no time.

He retrieved the dark cyan fragment.

On the surface, it was unremarkable. Even probing it with Divine Sense or spiritual power yielded no reaction. It looked like dead metal.

*But the Dragon Turtle doesn’t make mistakes.*

As a Tier-5 Artificer and Formation Master, Shen Xian began to deconstruct the object. He analyzed its structure, turning it over in his hands, his mind racing through thousands of possibilities.

It wasn’t until nightfall that he found the seam. He applied a specific counter-formation to the object’s surface.

*Hiss—*

The rust flaked away like dead skin, revealing a material inside that was as crystal-clear as jade.

Suddenly, the patterns on the fragment ignited with light, humming in resonance with the Traceless Sword!

*Omm…*

Inside the Blood Jade Ring, the Traceless Sword vibrated violently, projecting a palpable sense of hunger. It wanted to devour this object.

Shen Xian injected a surge of spiritual power into the fragment.

In an instant, a streak of cyan light erupted from the shard, coalescing into the phantom image of a sword suspended in mid-air.

“This is… a Sword Soul!” Shen Xian’s pupils constricted.

It was the crystallized essence of sword intent—a treasure that legends said could only be condensed by Grandmasters of the sixth rank or higher.

*With a Sword Soul, the Traceless Sword can ascend.*

It would evolve from a top-grade Magical Artifact into a **True Spirit Treasure**, gaining its own artifact spirit.

The most critical barrier to a treasure’s evolution was the birth of a spirit. Usually, a spirit had to be nurtured over centuries of use or born during the initial forging. But for an existing artifact to gain a spirit, one needed a catalyst.

The Sword Soul was the ultimate catalyst.

*A massive windfall.*

Shen Xian felt a rare surge of ecstasy. Three hundred Middle Grade Spirit Stones for a treasure that even Soul Formation cultivators would kill for? It was practically theft.

Even more intriguing, as his spiritual power delved deeper, he extracted a packet of information from the Sword Soul. This fragment was merely a shard of an ancient, shattered Magical Artifact. The other pieces were scattered across the Northern Region.

“I’ll need to keep my eyes open for similar fragments,” Shen Xian murmured, carefully storing the Sword Soul. “If I can reassemble the original form within the Traceless Sword… the power would be unimaginable.”

***

For the next several days, Shen Xian secluded himself in the merchant association’s refining chamber.

Day and night, he tempered the Traceless Sword. He summoned the Earth Fire from the chamber’s vents and wove it together with the violent Thunder Fire from his Burning Heaven Cauldron, smelting the fragment and slowly guiding the Sword Soul into the blade.

The room was bathed in blinding cyan light.

Frost, Li Fire, and Thunder—three opposing forces—achieved a perfect, terrifying equilibrium under the Sword Soul’s guidance.

As Shen Xian slammed the final Artificer seal into the blade, the characters “Wu Hen” (Traceless) etched upon the steel writhed and transformed into coiling dragon patterns. The sword let out a clear, melodious cry that sounded like a dragon’s roar.

The Sword Soul awakened.

It took the form of a three-inch cyan dragon, coiling possessively around the sword’s guard. It breathed in the ambient Qi of heaven and earth autonomously, completing the evolution.

The Traceless Sword was now a Low-Grade True Spirit Treasure.

The reborn blade could transform into a streak of cyan light, striking targets over a hundred feet away in the blink of an eye. Its strikes carried an innate Dragon Pressure that suppressed enemies, and by channeling the artifact spirit, Shen Xian could unleash the “Azure Dragon Break”—a technique with destructive power rivaling the full-force strike of a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.

Shen Xian ran his fingers along the cold steel, feeling the artifact spirit hum in response to his touch. Their minds were connected; the sword was no longer just a tool, but an extension of his will.

His combat prowess had just taken a quantum leap.

Outside, the atmosphere in Snowstorm City was reaching a boiling point.

The highly anticipated auction was finally about to begin.