The name Master Fan sounded somewhat familiar to Jun Changxiao, but he couldn’t recall it for the moment.

Li Luoqiu said: “The current generation’s forging master of Xingyun Continent. Weapons forged by him not only have extraordinary power but also possess extremely high collectible value.”

“Forging master?”

Jun Changxiao suddenly remembered frequently encountering weapons engraved with the character ‘Fan’ when fighting enemies, and realized: “So it’s him!”

If Master Fan were present, he would definitely pummel Jun Changxiao’s chest with his little fists. After all, so many weapons he forged had been broken by this guy, and sometimes they even served to help him show off, yet he only just remembered!

“I thought Master Fan had long passed away, didn’t expect he was still alive.” Jun Changxiao said.

“…” Li Luoqiu said: “According to my investigation, over twenty years ago, East Sea Yu Province sent people over and invited Master Fan and others away.”

“Invited away?”

Jun Changxiao was puzzled: “Then why is he calling for rescue?”

You went with them voluntarily, yet now you’re using drift bottles to call for help—this was a bit mischievous.

Li Luoqiu said: “Perhaps there are hidden circumstances.”

The Fine Rain Hall’s intelligence network had spread throughout the nine provinces, but couldn’t extend to East Sea Yu Province, so she also had difficulty obtaining information about Master Fan’s situation.

Old Wei said: “I also heard a little about the events from twenty years ago. It’s said that East Sea Yu Province discovered a miraculous ore, so they came to the continent to invite a forging master, hoping he could forge it into weapons.”

“Master Fan is someone who’s obsessed with forging arts and cannot extricate himself, to the point of remaining single for hundreds of years without a female companion. Learning about the ore, he would definitely go there regardless of everything.”

The first half of his statement was what he’d heard; the latter half was his own speculation.

Jun Changxiao said: “Old Wei, not all men in this world care about relationships as much as you do.”

“For example.”

Li Luoqiu supplemented: “The Sect Master.”

At first she was very puzzled—the Sect Master was young and promising, with great strength, so his romantic life should be rich and colorful. Yet he was even more pure and ascetic than a monk. It wasn’t until later when she heard from villagers that he had fallen as a child that she understood.

Old Wei said: “Master Fan’s forging arts have reached the pinnacle. Perhaps East Sea Yu Province used the ore as a pretext and forcibly kept him there to forge weapons?”

“Reached the pinnacle?”

Jun Changxiao said: “This seat doesn’t find the weapons he forges very strong.”

If Master Fan heard this, he would definitely cough up three liters of blood. To a cheater like you, of course the weapons I forge wouldn’t seem strong!

“Did other sects receive the news?” Jun Changxiao asked.

“They did.”

Li Luoqiu said: “However, from the current situation, all major sects are troubled by the battlefield and no one is considering going to East Sea Yu Province to rescue Master Fan. Moreover, many people are skeptical about this matter—after all, the East Sea is extremely far from the continent, how could bottles possibly drift over?”

“Even if he really is trapped, due to the Planar Battlefield, who would have the mind to go out to sea to rescue someone who only knows how to forge weapons?” Jun Changxiao said.

“Sigh.”

Old Wei sighed: “I’ve heard that Master Fan has extensive connections and good relations with all major sects. Now trapped in the East Sea, yet no one will help rescue him. How tragic.”

“Even couples are like birds in the same forest who fly separately when disaster strikes, let alone friends who claim to stick together through thick and thin.” Jun Changxiao stood up: “Deal with sect affairs first. This seat is going out for a bit.”

“To rescue Master Fan?” Old Wei asked.

“No.”

Jun Changxiao said: “Going to the Planar Battlefield.”

He’d only heard of Master Fan, and they had no connection whatsoever, so he definitely wouldn’t go rescue him.

Moreover, he was very busy himself, still needing to develop the stronghold within the specified time. How could he have time to accumulate merit through good deeds?

“Sect Master.”

Old Wei’s expression became solemn: “Master Fan’s understanding of forging arts is quite profound. If our Myriad Ancient Sect rescues him and recruits him into the sect, it would definitely bring nothing but benefits!”

Li Luoqiu said: “I think so too.”

The two wanted to rescue Master Fan not for chivalrous justice, but because of his extremely high forging skills. The sect had developed to this point and still lacked technical talent in forging.

Jun Changxiao considered briefly: “Rescuing is possible, but first we need to confirm whether the information is authentic.”

“As long as we verify whether the handwriting came from Master Fan’s hand, we can prove it.” Li Luoqiu said.

“I’ll leave this matter to you.” Jun Changxiao said: “This seat will go to the Planar Battlefield first.”

With that, he turned and left.

“Old Wei.”

Li Luoqiu said: “Master Fan is the master with the highest achievements in forging throughout history. Why does the Sect Master seem so indifferent?”

Old Wei said: “Perhaps he’s skeptical about the distress letter.”

Jun Changxiao’s lack of enthusiasm stemmed from the system having a Forging Pavilion. Whatever equipment he wanted to craft, he only needed formulas and ores—why would he need a forging master?

If the system released a side quest to rescue Master Fan now, see if he’d be enthusiastic then!

…

Planar Battlefield.

Jun Changxiao held the Treasure Seeker, continuing to search around inside. The light spots appearing on it also became fewer and fewer with his continuous searching.

This kind of opportunity left behind by Upper Realm mighty experts appeared on average perhaps once every few years. After he came, he was finding three to five per day on average. Who could withstand this!

“Sect Master.”

Li Qingyang said: “The stronghold is now comparable to the scale of three towns, with many areas still empty. Should we construct them?”

“Tomorrow bring Peqi over. With its help it should be very fast.” Jun Changxiao said.

Actually, he didn’t want to continue constructing the stronghold. After all, the current scale was sufficient. But the epic quest said to reach city scale, without specifying whether it was just reaching the area or necessarily having the appearance of a city.

To ensure half a year later he could smoothly complete the quest without being stuck at a bottleneck, Jun Changxiao could only go with the most complete approach—not only expanding the area but also creating the scale.

This engineering project was somewhat large, but fortunately Peqi had evolved, its strength reaching the entry standard. Its control over earth-attribute had also strengthened, making construction even faster.

…

The next day.

Peqi came to the stronghold through the transmission gate. Its four limbs stepping on the ground, its gaze immediately became fervent.

As an earth-attribute spirit beast, it could sense that the earth attribute contained in every grain of sand beneath its feet was stronger than Xingyun Continent. Taking a bite of this would definitely be good!

The special feature of the Earth-Devouring Sacred Beast was being able to obtain heaven and earth attributes from soil. First, it could be used for strengthening; second, it could be used to grow itself.

After evolution, Peqi worked tirelessly in the medicine field every day. Though somewhat miserable, with each swallowing and spitting absorption, its strength improvement was still very significant.

In this regard.

Xiao Longlong and Little Demon Fairy couldn’t compare.

So although the current Peqi was weak, with its earth-devouring ability, as long as it had a good environment, its strength improvement was not slow at all.

“Roar!”

On the stronghold’s empty ground, Peqi raised its head and roared.

The surrounding soil began to roll slightly, then rapidly sank, forming crisscrossing foundations.

Li Qingyang and the others were stunned.

This ability to create foundation after foundation with a single roar was simply a natural-born construction king!