Chapter 1096: Vice Guild Leader Xu
"Saint intermediate-tier?" The attendant leaped in shock.
Saint artifacts were extremely precious commodities within the Qingyuan Empire. Even Saint low-tier artifacts were extremely rare, let alone Saint intermediate-tier artifacts. The most powerful weapon currently wielded by the emperor of the Qingyuan Empire, the Infinite Sword, was also only at Saint intermediate-tier.
If a Saint intermediate-tier artifact appeared in an auction, it would definitely attract countless experts' attention.
Due to Zhang Xuan's young age, the attendant had thought that he would only have a Spirit pinnacle artifact in his possession at best. Yet, who would have thought that Zhang Xuan actually had an artifact of such caliber with him?
The attendant couldn't help but ask, "Young Master... are you a master teacher?"
"Un." Zhang Xuan nodded. Slightly intrigued by the attendant's question, he asked, "How did you know that?"
He was not wearing his master teacher robe at the moment, and there did not seem to be anything about him that would suggest that he was a master teacher either. How did the attendant know that he was a master teacher?
"If you weren't a master teacher, your Saint intermediate-tier artifact would have long been snatched from your hands," the attendant said with a bitter smile.
All Saint intermediate-tier artifacts could be considered top-notch treasures within the Qingyuan Empire. Any news about them would induce countless cultivators to gather together like ravenous piranhas, and they would do everything that they could so that the Saint intermediate-tier artifact would be theirs in the end. Considering how young Zhang Xuan was, it was hard to believe that he would be able to retain possession of his Saint intermediate-tier weapon by himself.
Unless... he was a master teacher!
Considering the vast power that the Master Teacher Pavilion wielded, there were very few who would have the guts to steal from a master teacher.
"Un." Zhang Xuan nodded in realization.
He knew of this as well.
Had it not been for his standing as a master teacher, there would have surely been many who had attempted to obtain his cultivation technique, and he would have met with much trouble along the way. He would not have been able to progress this far so smoothly.
Being a master teacher was a heavy responsibility, but it was also a huge umbrella that protected one as well.
After confirming that the other party was a master teacher, the attendant decided not to dwell too much on the matter.
"A 7-star spirit awakener is needed to wake the spirit within a Saint intermediate-tier artifact. In our guild, there are only three people who have achieved this level, and they are our guild leader and the two vice guild leaders. I will help you to make arrangements now."
Zhang Xuan nodded. A moment later, he asked curiously, "You mentioned earlier that the guild leader and the two vice guild leaders are 7-star spirit awakeners. Is the ranking system for spirit awakeners the same as the other occupations?"
"That's right. However, the lowest rank for spirit awakeners is 4-star," the attendant replied.
"The lowest rank is 4-star?" Zhang Xuan was perplexed to hear those words.
"That's right. While other occupations range from 1-star to 9-star, spirit awakeners have to take the 4-star examination right after their apprentice stage," the attendant said. "This is just an arrangement to align our ranking system with the other occupations. Conventionally, spirit awakeners are divided by low-tier, middle-tier, and high-tier. Low-tier spirit awakeners range from 4-star to 5-star, middle-tier spirit awakeners range from 6-star to 7-star, and high-tier spirit awakeners range from 8-star to 9-star. However, as this ranking system deviates from the convention adopted by the other occupations, it isn't preferable."
After a moment of thought, Zhang Xuan nodded in realization. "I see."
Since the occupation dealt with spirits and souls, the minimum requirement to becoming a spirit awakener would be to possess a cultivation of Transcendent Mortal 5-dan Consonant Spirit realm. At such a level of cultivation, one could already be deemed to be at 4-star pinnacle or half 5-star in other occupations.
If the Spirit Awakener Guild ranked their members from 1-star, they would not be able to match their ranking system with those adopted by the other occupations. Thus, for convenience purposes, they decided to set their lowest rank as 4-star.
Ultimately, there were countless occupations in the world, and there were all kinds of unique or even bizarre rules for them as well.
For example, there was a unique occupation in the Master Teacher Continent known as a seer. They wielded the power to peer into the secrets of the heavens, allowing them to foretell fortunes and calamities. This mystical art required them to have a deep understanding of the world in order to interpret it, so the minimum requirement to become a seer was to possess a cultivation of Saint realm.
Naturally, their lowest rank would be even higher than that of spirit awakeners, starting off from 7-star.
The 7-star spirit awakener that the attendant spoke of was effectively referring to middle-tier spirit awakeners. Judging from the conventional ranking system, an individual of that rank would possess a cultivation of Saint 2-dan at the very minimum.
While maneuvering their way through the Spirit Awakener Guild, Zhang Xuan continued asking questions, and it did not take long before he gained some understanding of the circumstances of the guild.
The guild leader and vice guild leaders were Primordial Spirit realm cultivators, and they could be considered top-notch experts within Qingyuan City.
Following behind the attendant, Zhang Xuan entered a vast hall.
Taking a swift look, Zhang Xuan saw quite a few cultivators queuing neatly in a line, waiting for a spirit awakener to help them temper their souls so that they could further raise their cultivation.
At the very front of the line, he saw a Clarifying Turbidity realm cultivator walk up to the young man ahead of him and say, "I haven't been able to make a breakthrough into Consonant Spirit realm due to my inability to sense my soul, so I hope to receive your pointers for this matter."
The young man nodded as he gestured to the round platform in front of him. "Sit down!"
The Clarifying Turbidity realm cultivator quickly took his seat on the middle of the round platform.
Shortly after the cultivator sat down, the young man placed his palm on the ground, and a surge of light began creeping its way toward the round platform, creating a circle of light around the cultivator.
"Relax your body," the young man said. His voice carried some kind of magic to it that compelled others to obey him.
The Clarifying Turbidity realm cultivator could not help but shut his eyes, and gradually, he fell into a unique state of mind.
Witnessing this scene, Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up. He is... trying to stimulate the cultivator's soul? He is assisting the cultivator in sensing his soul so that the latter can achieve a breakthrough? Incredible!
His opinion of spirit awakeners, based on what he had heard from the attendant earlier, was that it was an occupation that specialized in means that stimulated the soul. However, it seemed like it was not as simple as he had thought.
The occupation seemed to be a little similar to soul oracles. While soul oracles possessed expertise in strengthening themselves through unique means, spirit awakeners used their abilities to support others.
Taking the Clarifying Turbidity realm cultivator for example, he had been unable to sense his soul thus far, so he had not been able to reach Consonant Spirit realm yet. However, under the stimulation of the spirit awakener, his soul had grown stronger, making it easier for his body to tap into it. As such, it should not be long before he achieved a breakthrough.
Hong long!
While Zhang Xuan was still deep in thought, the Clarifying Turbidity realm cultivator suddenly howled in agitation, and his aura surged swiftly. In a single push, he managed to break the bottleneck that had limited him and reached the Consonant Spirit realm.
Seeing how the cultivator managed to achieve a breakthrough within just a few minutes, Zhang Xuan could not help but feel a little impressed. No wonder everyone seeks to head to higher tier empires, there are indeed more opportunities here.
In places like the Myriad Kingdom Alliance, the Consonant Spirit realm was a huge hurdle that most failed to overcome despite working their entire life. Over here, however, the very same bottleneck could be overcome that easily. Spirit awakener was indeed an extraordinary occupation.
However, while it was common knowledge that there were more opportunities in higher tier empires, not everyone could afford to move to such an empire.
Putting aside the dangers that lurked throughout the long journey from the Myriad Kingdom Alliance to Qingyuan City, the cost of living within higher tier empires was frightening as well. Just a single enchanting session could easily cost up to a high-tier spirit stone!
Not even the Alliance Head Residence of the Myriad Kingdom Alliance could afford to fork out such a sum.
On top of that, there were also multiple restrictions here and there. There was indeed a huge sum of money flowing around Qingyuan City every single day, but without reaching a certain level of proficiency in an occupation, one would never be able to lay their hands on the resources flowing through the area.
"Alright, we'll stop here today. I need some time to rest, and I will only return in ten days' time!"
As the Clarifying Turbidity realm cultivator achieved a breakthrough, the young man's face gradually turned ghastly pale, as if he had overexerted himself.
Fearing that the young master before him would be unaware of the matter, the attendant explained, "Spirit enchantment is very taxing on the soul, so spirit awakeners can only serve three people in a single sitting, and they then have to rest for at least ten days afterwards!"
Zhang Xuan nodded.
As a soul oracle who commanded a deep understanding of souls, he could see through the difficulties that lay in spirit enchantment. Ten days was indeed the minimum time required for them to recover from their exertion.
Proceeding ahead, Zhang Xuan saw a few others spirit awakeners; some were helping to temper the souls of cultivators while others were busy enchanting weapons. In order to ensure that they could be served before the spirit awakener exhausted themselves, there were even some who paid a hefty sum to purchase the queue positions of those ahead of them.
After taking a swift look around, Zhang Xuan could not help but remark, "It's indeed a lucrative occupation."
The cultivation of a soul was much different from the cultivation of a physical body and zhenqi. The latter two were at least tangible, making it easier for cultivators to grasp them, but the same could not be said for souls. As a result, it was not uncommon for cultivators to face trouble cultivating their souls, and this was where spirit awakeners came in. They could hasten the growth of one's soul, thus saving the cultivator much time and fumbling around.
At the same time, taming the spirit within a weapon was also a troublesome process. Depending on the spirit one was dealing with, there were those who had not succeeded even after many years of effort. Since that was the case, it was sometimes a more viable option for the cultivator to eliminate the spirit and have a spirit awakener enchant a more obedient one in.
These two abilities were more than sufficient to lay the foundations for the explosive popularity of the occupation.
Circling through the crowd, they finally arrived at the doorstep of a vast room. "Just ahead of us is the area where Vice Guild Leader Xu works. I have to give you a heads up first; the prices for Vice Guild Leader Xu's spirit enchantment tend to be steeper, especially when it's a Saint intermediate-tier artifact we are talking about here."
"How much will it cost?" Zhang Xuan had known that it would not be cheap from the start, so he dove right into the topic at hand.
"100 high-tier spirit stones!" the attendant replied.
"It's still alright. That isn't too expensive." Zhang Xuan nodded.
As long as he could save the Golden Origin Cauldron, even ten thousand high-tier spirit stones would not be an expense too high for him to incur, let alone a hundred.
Huala!
With a flick of his wrist, Zhang Xuan took out a hundred high-tier spirit stones.
Upon seeing the sum, the attendant hurriedly nodded in agitation before saying, "Give me a moment to report the matter to Vice Guild Leader Xu."
After which, he entered the room, and it did not take long for him to return with a relieved look on his face. "Young Master, it seems like your luck is not bad today. Vice Guild Leader Xu happens to have one more slot left. Allow me to bring you in!"
Following behind the attendant, Zhang Xuan walked into the room.
The room was roughly a hundred square meters large, and there was a beautiful lady, who looked to be in her early thirties, sitting at the center of the room. Even though she had concealed her cultivation, her subtle gestures had a peculiar air to them, a feeling that he had felt from Wu shi and Guild Leader Han as well. It seemed that she was a Primordial Spirit realm expert, too.
"Vice Guild Leader Xu, this is the master teacher who wishes to awaken the spirit within his Saint intermediate-tier artifact!" the attendant introduced.
"Un." Vice Guild Leader Xu nodded before turning her assessing gaze toward Zhang Xuan. With a slightly surprised expression, she asked, "You have a Saint intermediate-tier artifact?"
She could tell that the young man before her was only at Saint 1-dan pinnacle. Even if he was a master teacher, he should not be qualified to wield such a strong artifact yet.
"That's right." Zhang Xuan nodded as he brought the Golden Origin Cauldron out from his storage ring. "The spirit of my artifact has fallen into a deep sleep, so I hope that Vice Guild Leader Xu can help me awaken it."
"Deep sleep?" Vice Guild Leader Xu got up from her seat and walked up to the Golden Origin Cauldron. After a careful examination, a tight frown etched itself onto her forehead, and she turned her gaze back toward Zhang Xuan.
"Its will is currently deep in sleep. Are you intending to create a new will to replace it, or do you intend to wake it from its sleep?"
There were two ways for an artifact with a dormant spirit to regain spirituality. Firstly, creating a new spirit and replacing the dormant spirit with it. Secondly, awakening the dormant spirit.
"I intend to wake it from its sleep," Zhang Xuan quickly replied.
Creating a new spirit within the Golden Origin Cauldron was equivalent to having the current Golden Origin Cauldron killed. That was something that he would never do.
"This might pose to be a little difficult..." Vice Guild Leader Xu shook her head. Just as she was about to continue speaking, someone suddenly knocked at the door once more, and an attendant walked in.
"Vice Guild Leader Xu, Elder Dao Kou wants you to enchant his disciple's Embryonic Soul in order to push for a breakthrough to Primordial Spirit realm!"
"Dao Kou?" Vice Guild Leader Xu frowned. "Tell him that I don't have any more slots for today..."
But before she could finish her words, an elder suddenly barged in with a middle-aged man following behind him.
"No more slots? I'm quite certain I heard that you have only conducted spirit enchantments for two people so far. Shouldn't you still have one more slot today?"