Artifact Refining

Artifact Refining

"Two bottles of Mid-Grade Spirit Speed Pills, one bottle of High-Grade Body Tempering Pills."

Xu Fan placed the three bottles of Spiritual Pills on the trading counter. From time to time, he completed tasks within the Alliance, and seeing the envy on others' faces was sometimes quite satisfying.

At that moment, the clerk handed Xu Fan the corresponding trade goods. The pill clerk did not inspect the pills either; within this Alliance, no one would dare falsify a trade.

After the transaction was complete, Xu Fan said to Pang Fu beside him, "Senior Brother, help me post a task. I want to purchase all kinds of rune materials. Naturally Formed Divine Descent Runes would be even better. The price will depend on the value of the runes."

"Also note that there's no need to bring in the runes ordinarily taught by Artifact Refining Peak," Xu Fan added.

"Alright. Come on, Junior Brother Xu, let's go upstairs for tea and a chat," Pang Fu said with a smile. A trace of doubt flashed through his eyes. Purchasing runes—could it be that this junior brother was now learning Artifact Refining?

In the Guest Reception Room, Xu Fan watched the bustling flow of people downstairs and praised, "Senior Brother Pang, not bad. It hasn't even been that long, yet our Alliance is already running with such vigor and flair."

"Isn't it because the Alliance has a great talent like Junior Brother Xu holding down the fort? That's why I could quickly draw our Alliance brothers together."

Though he was clearly an immortal cultivator, he was steeped in the air of a merchant.

"What should our Alliance do next? You know that our sect is somewhat averse to this sort of thing. Although they haven't opposed us, they won't simply sit back and watch us grow stronger," Xu Fan said. He understood some of the sect's attitudes.

After Xu Fan had entered the Outer Sect for some time, he had been astonished by the sect's cultivation system.

The Outer Sect Disciples they recruited had to remain in the Outer Sect area throughout the entire Qi Refining Stage, even if they were geniuses. Even those who had already been accepted as disciples by sect seniors had to live in the Outer Sect. Whether they could enter the Inner Sect would then be decided based on their performance in the Outer Sect.

Within the Heavenly Gate Sect, great importance was placed on disciples' character and temperament.

Xu Fan had a feeling that, in the skies above the Outer Sect, a pair of special eyes was watching the Outer Sect—perhaps even watching every single disciple.

Pang Fu pondered for a while before saying, "Once our scale grows a little larger, I'll establish a Merchant Guild and gain a foothold in the Outer Sect."

"Establishing this Alliance was originally just a way for me to accumulate connections. In the future, this Alliance will also exist in the form of a Merchant Guild."

Pang Fu said this without the slightest concealment. They were both intelligent people; hiding things too deeply would seem like looking down on the other.

"One day, you'll surely become a cultivator whose wealth resounds throughout the world," Xu Fan praised. Anyone who could so easily manage such a platform possessed both schemes and methods.

In Xu Fan's view, it was only a matter of time before such a person became renowned throughout the cultivation world.

"Haha, Junior Brother Xu, you flatter me."

"By the way, Junior Brother Xu, have you recently been studying Artifact Refining?" Pang Fu asked.

"Yes. What's wrong? Don't tell me you're going to persuade me to focus on the Dao of Pill Refining," Xu Fan said with a smile. Wang Yulun had tried to persuade him of that before.

"Junior Brother Xu, I'm not trying to persuade you. Let me first tell you a secret."

"Oh? What secret?" Xu Fan asked with interest.

"I happened to obtain some information about Dual Cultivation of Pill and Artifact."

"Whether it's Pill Refining or Artifact Refining, once one reaches the summit, this world will send down Guiding Light and guide them into the Immortal World."

"But if one cultivates both pills and artifacts, that is equivalent to giving up the Guiding Light. One can only break through the world by relying on one's Cultivation Base," Pang Fu said solemnly.

"Haha, Senior Brother Pang has thought far too far ahead for me."

"But I still have to thank you, Senior Brother Pang."

Xu Fan took a bottle of high-grade Little Spirit Pills from his Storage Bag.

"I won't listen to Senior Brother Pang's secret for nothing."

"This bottle of high-grade Little Spirit Pills is in exchange for Senior Brother's information," Xu Fan said. For someone with potential in the future, Xu Fan did not mind forming more connections.

"Then many thanks to Junior Brother Xu."

Pang Fu did not waste words and directly accepted the Little Spirit Pills. A trace of approval flashed through Xu Fan's eyes.

Amid Pang Fu's farewell, Xu Fan flew toward Artifact Refining Peak. Before entering the Mystic Realm, he wanted to refine several Magic Artifacts.

Artifact Refining Peak was the place of the Heavenly Gate Sect's Artifact Refining lineage. The mountain itself was a massive volcano. It was said that a thousand years ago, the Peak Master of Artifact Refining Peak had drawn up Earth Core Flame from beneath the polar earth for the younger generation's early-stage Artifact Refining.

Only after Xu Fan paid one hundred Spirit Stones at Artifact Refining Peak did he receive a token for a private room in the Earth Core Workshop.

"My heavens, did they hollow out the entire mountain?"

"And isn't there far too much Fire Spirit Qi here?"

The moment he entered the Earth Core Workshop, Xu Fan saw the magma at the center of the main hall. As though controlled by an invisible force, it flowed like water toward every room.

Following the order on the token, Xu Fan found his room and directly placed it into the mechanism. The room's Main Gate opened.

It was a room of just over forty square meters, the lowest-grade room in the Earth Core Workshop. It was just right for refining basic Magic Artifacts.

At the base of the diagonal wall were channels for inflow and outflow, through which Earth Core Magma flowed. There was also a small magma pool, and three Fire Spirit Stones embedded in the wall to ensure the room had ample Fire Spirit Qi.

"It must be at least sixty degrees in here. Perfect for a sauna."

With a wave of his hand, a thin layer of Frost Battle Armor appeared over Xu Fan's body, and he instantly felt refreshed.

"Black Iron Spirit Ore, Thousand Cloud Steel, Baihua Spider Silk, Thousand Fire Copper, Flame Wood Vine Fiber." Xu Fan laid out everything he would need.

"I'll use these for practice first." As he spoke, Xu Fan directly tossed the Black Iron Spirit Ore and Thousand Cloud Steel into the magma pool, waiting for them to soften.

Using Spiritual Fire directly for refining consumed too much spiritual power.

Half an hour later, Xu Fan swiftly drew out the softened Black Iron Spirit Ore and Thousand Cloud Steel. He used spiritual power to suspend them in mid-air, then slowly lowered them onto the Quenching Platform specially prepared in the room.

Xu Fan formed hand seals with both hands, using one mind for two purposes. Two hammers formed from spiritual power appeared in the air and began striking the two pieces of Spirit Ore on the Quenching Platform.

"This is completely different from the Artifact Refining I imagined."

As he spoke, Xu Fan controlled the spiritual-power hammers to strike and temper the two Spirit Ores, occasionally turning the metal over.

An hour later, just as the Black Iron Spirit Ore and Thousand Cloud Steel began to solidify, he had finally tempered them to the degree Xu Fan wanted.

"This consumes quite a bit of spirit qi. If my foundation weren't deep, an ordinary Qi Refining Level Four cultivator really wouldn't be able to hold on."

Xu Fan instantly controlled the two tempered metals to float in mid-air. He then took out a High-grade Spirit Speed Pill and swallowed it, his spiritual power immediately returning to full.

Shaping Art

The two pieces of metal in mid-air began to transform. The Thousand Cloud Steel became the most Ordinary long sword, while the Black Iron turned into a mass of liquid that slowly adhered to the sword's surface.

A pitch-black long sword appeared.

At this point, Xu Fan's expression grew serious. All that remained was to integrate the runes.

Xu Fan used his finger as a pen, inscribing runes in the air and integrating them into the Magic Artifact.

"Spirit Control, Armor Break, Reinforce, Featherlight, Silencing, Spirit Break."

Just as Xu Fan was about to integrate the sixth rune—

Bang!

The explosion of spiritual power directly destroyed the Magic Artifact that had just been about to take shape.

Earth Spirit Shield

Water Spirit Shield

At the instant of the explosion, two layers of defensive shields formed around Xu Fan's body.

Xu Fan looked at the disastrous scene of failure and felt like crying without tears.

"More than four hundred Spirit Stones' worth of materials are just gone?"

End of this chapter