It Won't Fail

Chen Xingfeng and Mo Cuidao had studied under the same master, and they had learned the same things.

Their conflict stemmed from the different paths they chose.

What Chen Xingfeng admired was simply incompatible with Mo Cuidao's views.

And what Chen Xingfeng disagreed with most was Mo Cuidao's understanding of artifact refiners in the Qi Refining realm.

In Mo Cuidao's view, the farther one wanted to go, the more one had to lay a solid foundation.

When Chen Xingfeng first heard this theory, he had agreed with it. But after reading through Mo Cuidao's material, he started cursing.

What kind of utter bullshit was this?

Who could possibly learn that much in the Qi Refining realm?

Mo Cuidao's ideas were far too fantastical.

And one of the things that left Chen Xingfeng most speechless was—

Mo Cuidao wanted to teach Qi Refining realm artifact refiners to cultivate the Rune of the Artifact Spirit!

Rune of the Artifact Spirit.

It was a rune shaped somewhat like a brain, drawn by artifact refiners in imitation of a real human brain.

This sort of rune was usually needed only for magic treasures meant to nurture artifact spirits. Only with this rune would the chances of obtaining an artifact spirit increase.

They believed that only by giving a magic treasure a "brain" could that "brain" develop and ultimately nurture an artifact spirit.

The ultimate purpose and loftiest pursuit behind crafting the Rune of the Artifact Spirit was—

The magic treasure I refine is going to grow a brain!

But how could the Rune of the Artifact Spirit be something Qi Refining realm cultivators could master?

It not only demanded delicacy, but also precision and balance. Furthermore, it could not take up too much space, or it would interfere with the normal operation of other runes.

The difficulty was like carving an entire city onto a piece of tofu the size of a thumb.

Qi Refining realm artifact refiners simply could not handle such difficulty.

The "brains" drawn by Qi Refining realm artifact refiners would absolutely be crude and incomplete.

They wanted to make magic treasures grow brains with that?

Impossible. Growing brain damage was more like it.

Yet Mo Cuidao still insisted on it.

That was precisely why Chen Xingfeng cursed Mo Cuidao. He lamented that Mo Cuidao possessed such extraordinary talent and formidable skill, yet used them to study this nonsense instead of spreading them like Chen Xingfeng did, benefiting the Cultivation World.

Luoxia City could revolve around Craftsmanship Tower because Chen Xingfeng was willing to pass on his skills. Only then could he drive the whole of Luoxia City forward. If he merely sold magic treasures, why would Luoxia City center itself around him?

And Chen Xingfeng believed that even if Mo Cuidao disliked teaching so many people, that was fine. But couldn't he at least research something that could succeed?

But now...

Chen Xingfeng watched as Ning Ri frantically and incomparably smoothly drew the Rune of the Artifact Spirit across the molten iron.

There wasn't a single mistake.

It was unbelievably stable!

After watching, Chen Xingfeng felt as though he himself was about to grow a brain.

It seemed Mo Cuidao truly was going to succeed.

He had also seen Ning Ri's fire-control method, the Blazing Heaven Chapter, and his material-fusing method, Red Furnace Melting Snow, with perfect clarity. That was precisely why he had marveled at Ning Ri's talent.

But now...

He did not even know what to call Ning Ri anymore.

All he felt upon seeing this scene was absurdity. Where had this monster leaped out from?

And why was Ning Ri adding the Rune of the Artifact Spirit to this set of magic treasures?

It clearly wasn't on the blueprint!

Chen Xingfeng fell silent for a moment—

Was this Ning Ri venting Mo Cuidao's anger for him?

Chen Xingfeng had misunderstood Ning Ri.

He was not helping Mo Cuidao vent his anger.

He was currying favor with Chen Xingfeng.

Ning Ri knew that the Rune of the Artifact Spirit was incredibly powerful and not something that belonged on a Qi Refining magic treasure. Moreover, the task requirements had not called for the Rune of the Artifact Spirit...

If he forcibly brought it out, it would look somewhat like he was showing off and posturing.

But...

There was no helping it!

He had his difficulties!

Ning Ri believed that since no one had completed Chen Xingfeng's task in all these years, even if he refined artifacts normally, there was still a risk of failure.

And if he failed, he would not obtain the Heaven Defying Foundation Establishment Method.

For the Heaven Defying Foundation Establishment Method, even though he was a traditional cultivator who was low-key, serious, steady, grounded, and disliked showing off, he had no choice but to show off.

That was why he had brought out two hundred percent of his effort, all to complete this task!

He focused intently on the molten iron before him, yet inwardly he thought—

Chen Xingfeng even praised me for pausing my artifact refining just now, so...

Now that he's seen my Rune of the Artifact Spirit, this elder will surely praise me to the skies, right?

Haha!

No need to praise me, no need to praise me. I'm only doing this for the Heaven Defying Foundation Establishment Method!

Two hours later, Ning Ri's artifact refinement had reached a stopping point. Even though he had "rested" repeatedly, he was still far faster than the others.

However, once he was done, he did not immediately announce that he had finished. He pretended to rest there, then continued refining...

He would not do something like handing in early just to mess with everyone else's mentality.

Both Chen Xingfeng and Yang Xingming saw through Ning Ri's intentions and could not help shaking their heads—

No one was even competing with you anymore. Even if you said you were done, it would not make anyone else's Dao heart collapse.

Half a day later.

Everyone had finished refining.

Other than Xi Yuan, the other three had all achieved high completion levels. Calling them ninety-five points would have been no problem. The remaining five points had been deducted because Ning Ri had thrown off their mental balance.

But even so, these three sets of Qi Refining magic treasures were all fine works.

Yang Xingming nodded repeatedly at the sight.

It seemed these three were all outstanding talents in artifact refinement within their respective sects!

As for Ning Ri's artifact refinement...

He did not evaluate it. He only learned from it.

Then Chen Xingfeng began the formal inspection. He walked up to Jin Le's magic treasure, gave it two glances, and said flatly, "Failed."

Jin Le's expression stiffened, then he gave a bitter smile. "Yes! Thank you, Master Xingfeng!"

He walked over to Liang Shuyou, looked it over a few times, reached out to touch it, then shook his head. "Failed."

Liang Shuyou was not surprised by this result, so he directly said, "Thank you for your guidance, Master Xingfeng."

Chen Xingfeng said, "Mm."

With that, he walked over to Jiang Wen. After picking up the magic treasure and examining it twice, he smiled. "You learned what I taught rather quickly. Your control of the Artifact Fire is quite good."

Jiang Wen scratched his head awkwardly, and had only just revealed a delighted smile...

When Chen Xingfeng immediately changed his tune. "But you also failed."

Jiang Wen's expression stiffened. "Thank you, Master Xingfeng."

Chen Xingfeng walked over to Xi Yuan. Xi Yuan was looking at him with expectant eyes.

After sweeping his gaze over it a few times, a trace of complexity suddenly appeared in his eyes. But he quickly shook his head. "Failed."

Xi Yuan looked somewhat dejected. "Yes, thank you, Master Xingfeng."

Chen Xingfeng was not responsible for comforting children. He walked straight over to Ning Ri, without looking at the magic treasure. Instead, he stared at Ning Ri.

Ning Ri was looking at him with an expectant expression...

Inside the silent Refining Room, the air still carried the scorching heat left behind by spitting flames. At this moment, everyone else turned their gazes over.

Their failures were understandable.

In past years, people had done even better than they had, yet still failed.

But...

In all the previous tasks, no one had ever been more impressive than Ning Ri!

And Chen Xingfeng had even praised him aloud just now...

In that case, Ning Ri could not possibly fail, could he?!

Yang Xingming, who was comforting Xi Yuan, thought the same.

Chen Xingfeng had given Ning Ri an unprecedented evaluation—

That he should learn from Ning Ri.

Under such circumstances, could he fail?

In his dreams!