Mysterious Broken Jade

With a loud rumble!

After a burst of lightning and thunder, a torrential downpour instantly began outside the window.

Chen Heng glanced up at the curtain-like rain outside, placed the incomplete jade stone in his hand back onto the low table, supported his forehead with one hand, and frowned deeply.

This incomplete jade stone, which had caused the [Water-Fire Harmony] inscription in his sea of consciousness to stir slightly, felt like nothing more than his own illusion.

Subsequently, whether he agitated his true essence, channeled mana into it, or probed with his spiritual sense.

It was all like a clay ox entering the sea, producing no reaction whatsoever.

He refused to believe it, but afterward, whether he chopped with a saber, struck with an axe, or subjected it to water and fire, he exhausted all methods, yet it remained unresponsive.

Chen Heng even attempted to see if he could drip blood to recognize it as his master, but there was still no reaction.

The only conclusion he reached was that the incomplete jade stone was exceptionally resilient.

After enduring various means of destruction, it still maintained its original appearance, showing no signs of damage.

With this thought, Chen Heng cautiously put it back into his storage bag. This incomplete jade stone might reveal its mystery once his cultivation realm was higher in the future.

"I should first examine this Crimson Flame Profound Crystal wrapped in volcanic ash. This should be the item I have the most confidence in among these things."

Chen Heng formed his fingers into a sword, gathered true essence at his fingertips, and channeled mana, condensing fire into a thread to cast the mid-grade first-tier spell—Flame Heart Finger.

He began to meticulously peel away the volcanic ash encasing the Crimson Flame Profound Crystal, like drawing silk from a cocoon.

As dark, fine powder rustled down, the fist-sized black raw ore was reduced to the size of an egg.

At this point, Chen Heng could clearly feel the fluctuations of fire spiritual energy emanating from within.

"It really is a Crimson Flame Profound Crystal. A huge profit!"

The corners of Chen Heng's mouth curved slightly as he began to remove the last thin layer of shell.

As the Flame Heart Finger rose and fell, a fiery red, oval-shaped metal appeared in his palm.

Its surface was as smooth as water, and distinct flame-like gradient patterns could be seen.

Chen Heng examined it carefully and murmured, "If I take a suitable treasure material from the storeroom, I should be able to refine a mid-grade first-tier defensive magical artifact."

The clan had actually prepared a top-grade first-tier defensive magical artifact for him—the Profound Water Shield.

Fifth Elder Chen Xingjiang had personally handed it to him when he sent him to Southern Foothills Market.

As for the top-grade first-tier offensive and defensive talismans, there were ten of each. It could be said that they were sufficient for combat at the Qi Refining stage.

However, he still needed a regular defensive magical artifact for backup during normal times.

Besides, he could also continue to hone his artifact refining skills.

With this thought, Chen Heng put away the Crimson Flame Profound Crystal and turned his gaze to the tattered shield with its dim artifact patterns and ferocious cracks.

Two-thirds of the defensive artifact patterns on it had faded, its surface was covered in a spiderweb of cracks, and the spiritual light it contained was completely gone.

Such a broken magical artifact, if thrown in the rogue cultivator residential area on the outskirts of Southern Foothills Market, probably wouldn't even garner a second glance.

The reason Chen Heng had spent ten Spirit Stones to purchase it was that the defensive artifact patterns on it were somewhat mysterious. In his opinion, at least a second-tier artifact refiner had been involved in inscribing them.

Although the artifact patterns on this shield had mostly vanished due to an attack from a powerful spell.

Still, based on the inscription rules of the artifact patterns, he should be able to deduce them.

Chen Heng then closed his eyes, concentrated, and slowly traced the remnants of the patterns with his fingertips. A defensive artifact pattern gradually appeared in his mind.

This was something he replicated in his sea of consciousness using his innate spiritual sense.

It was also a common technique for Qi Refining cultivators.

If his spiritual sense had evolved into divine sense, it wouldn't be this troublesome. A few glances would suffice to imprint it in his mind, making it truly photographic.

However, to deduce the incomplete artifact patterns, it would still take a considerable amount of time.

As a defensive artifact pattern, interwoven with water and wood, gradually became complete, Chen Heng became increasingly certain that this was an artifact pattern that combined the dual defensive properties of water and wood.

This artifact pattern was profound, blending the flexibility of water and the sturdiness of wood. If inscribed on a suitable magical artifact, its defensive effect should be quite outstanding.

After an unknown amount of time.

Chen Heng slowly opened his eyes, and the tattered shield in his hand shattered.

However, he had completely memorized this defensive artifact pattern, and the ten Spirit Stones were definitely worth the expenditure.

He took out a jade slip and copied the defensive artifact pattern from his sea of consciousness to preserve it properly.

After all, he had only memorized it for now and couldn't fully inscribe it yet. He still needed to practice and ponder it diligently in the future.

Finally, he set his gaze on the gray stone, which looked like ordinary rock, devoid of any life.

Both the mysterious incomplete jade and the broken shield had given him great surprises, and Chen Heng was filled with anticipation for this stone as well.

According to his speculation, this stone, like the Crimson Flame Profound Crystal, might have been wrapped in a layer of rock that firmly isolated spiritual sense.

After all, how could something appearing at a cultivator market stall be a mundane object without any spiritual energy fluctuations?

This was also the reason this item had captured Chen Heng's attention.

A short while later.

He joined his fingers like a sword, condensed fire into a line, and cast Flame Heart Finger, carefully cutting this piece of gray stone bit by bit.

But to Chen Heng's surprise, until he completely split the stone in half, he found nothing worth mentioning.

This thing was indeed insulated by a layer of rock on the outside, but on the inside, it was merely an ordinary jade stone that did not contain any spiritual energy.

If Chen Heng guessed correctly, this should be a stone specifically forged for stone gambling.

It wasn't even as good as some raw ore produced by the mines.

Stone gambling was when some mines took out a portion of the difficult-to-smelt stones and sold them directly to the public. As for whether precious materials could be unearthed, it depended on each person's ability.

Many rogue cultivators were willing to buy such stones from the mines and take a gamble.

After all, if they could really cut out high-grade precious materials, it would be a huge profit.

Chen Heng recalled that he had bought this item from the stall of an old cultivator who looked simple and honest. He had examined it carefully at the time and bought it because he deemed it strange.

He didn't expect to be tricked and lose five Spirit Stones.

"This person most likely worked in a mine doing this kind of business of forging stones, otherwise, they wouldn't have such skillful forgery techniques."

Chen Heng was not angry about being deceived, nor did he want to pursue his responsibility.

Instead, he greatly admired the person's craftsmanship. In his opinion, this was also the person's skill.

After all, he considered his own judgment to be quite good, otherwise, he wouldn't have found the Crimson Flame Profound Crystal and the defensive artifact pattern. The fact that this person could deceive his eyes was indeed commendable.

Although the gray stone was somewhat unexpected for Chen Heng, his harvest today was still quite good, making the trip out worthwhile