The blacksmith quickly waved his hands and said, “No, no, it’s not that. This magical artifact has already developed a mind[1] of its own. It has self-preservation instincts. Not to mention, it’s been tempered a thousand times over and built to withstand extreme heat. I doubt my forge can even reach the temperature needed.”0

After all, would a sentient artifact just sit there and let itself be melted down?0

“Then who can do it?”0

“No one in Heishui City, and probably no one in all of Jin Province either,” the blacksmith replied after a brief hesitation. “You’d have better luck in a major city in the east, or the state capital. I’ve heard the Spirit Artifact Sect has branches in those places, and they might have the secret techniques and specialized forges to extract the Wu Metal from the staff.”1

In short, only a magical artifact could defeat another magical artifact. His own...0