Artifact Refiner

Master Chen was at the eighth layer of Qi Refining and over a hundred years old. His hair and beard were half white, but his build was sturdy and powerful. His face, blackened by the furnace flames year-round, was dark as charcoal, yet he remained vigorous and sharp-eyed, with a booming voice.

Master Chen was watching several disciples forge iron. Perhaps they had done something wrong, for he glared wide-eyed as he berated them. The tall, brawny artifact-refining disciples meekly took the scolding, not daring to lift their heads.

After giving them an earful, Master Chen personally swung up a great hammer to demonstrate. His powerful frame wielded it with such force that it whipped up a howling wind. Sparks flew in every direction from the red-hot Refined Iron under his blows, and gradually, the rough shape of a blade emerged.

Once he was done hammering, Master Chen merely wiped away his sweat. His breathing remained even, as though he had not expended much effort at all.

Born weak, Mo Hua watched with immense envy. If only he could possess such strength someday...

"Watch carefully! This is how iron is supposed to be hammered! What was that just now? You were all limp and listless—young ladies doing embroidery have more spirit than you!"

Master Chen scolded the disciples again, then turned and spotted a fair little child with red lips, white teeth, and bright, watery eyes gazing at him in admiration.

Master Chen hesitated, then asked, "Little one, do you want to learn artifact refining too?"

Rogue Cultivators had a hard time making a living. Once they left their sects, they had to fend for themselves. Some had not learned any practical skills in their sects, so they had to seek out other paths and pick up a trade.

Cultivators nearby often sent their children to Master Chen to learn artifact refining from him, so that they could stand on their own feet in the future.

Master Chen only charged a small amount of Spirit Stones. If they had no Spirit Stones, he accepted Linggu and the like as tuition instead.

Mo Hua looked at the tall, powerfully built disciples, then at his own skinny arms and legs. He shook his head helplessly before asking directly, "Master, do you make Stoves for people here?"

"Stoves?" Master Chen looked at Mo Hua. "What does a child like you need to ask about that for?"

"I'm asking for my mother."

"Of course I can make Stoves, but making one requires a great deal of Refined Iron. Converted into Spirit Stones, it certainly won't be a small sum."

"Then if it's smaller, would it be cheaper?"

"Of course," Master Chen said. "A smaller Stove uses much less Refined Iron and labor, so naturally it costs less. But few people in Immortal City have small Stoves made. The Array Technique would need to be designed and inscribed separately by someone, and that would likely cost quite a few Spirit Stones as well."

"Then how many Spirit Stones would the smallest Stove cost?"

Master Chen did not brush Mo Hua off just because he was a child. Instead, he seriously took out a sheet of paper, noted down the prices of the various materials recorded on it one by one, calculated the total, and finally listed the Spirit Stone costs for Stoves of different sizes and scales.

Master Chen handed the paper to Mo Hua, then added, "Of course, that is only the cost of materials. We artifact refiners must also charge for our labor, calculated by the day. However many days it takes to make the Stove, that is how many days' fees we charge."

"Oh, okay." Mo Hua wrote everything down, then took his leave. "I've noted it all down. I'll discuss it with my parents when I get home, and once we decide what size Stove to make, I'll come back to find you."

Master Chen grunted and waved him off. "Go home early, little one. Be careful on the road!"

He did not take Mo Hua's words too much to heart. Many cultivators came to commission artifacts, asked about the price, and then let the matter drop. Most said they would go home and consider it, only for there to be no further word.

Besides, this was only a child of around ten, and he wanted a Stove—a Spirit Artifact that took considerable time and effort to make. There would most likely be no follow-up.

After returning home, Mo Hua used the price list Master Chen had given him to choose a Stove that was suitably sized and within what he could afford. The materials alone would cost roughly one hundred and fifty Spirit Stones.

There was also the artifact-refining labor fee, which still had to be negotiated.

Mo Hua did not know how long Master Chen would need to make the Stove. But by his estimate, it would take at least ten days to half a month, which came to somewhere between fifty and seventy-five Spirit Stones.

That was somewhat over Mo Hua's budget. When the time came, he might have to ask his parents for some Spirit Stones or borrow some from someone.

The most crucial matter next was the Array Technique.

Mo Hua spread the Molten Array Diagram across the table and began to study it carefully.

The Molten Array Diagram contained five fire-element Array Patterns. Most strokes of its Array Patterns fell upon the Li Fire positions, and its intricate patterns alone made it far more complex than the Metal-Stone Formation and Earth Solidification Formation.

Mo Hua sighed softly, banished his stray thoughts, and began concentrating on memorizing the Array Patterns and the order of the brushstrokes.

Mo Hua studied with single-minded focus, and before he knew it, night had fallen.

Even while eating, Mo Hua was thinking about the Array Patterns of the Molten Array. After taking a few bites of his steamed bun, he would drift into thought, holding it as he stared blankly ahead.

Liu Ruhua watched him, both annoyed and amused. She pinched his cheek. "Eat properly. You can think about things after you finish."

Mo Hua came back to himself and gave a sheepish chuckle. Then he focused on eating, and as soon as he was done, he ran back to his room.

Mo Hua had already memorized most of the Molten Array's Array Patterns. He then spent another hour practicing on rough paper with ink that contained no Lingli. Afterward, at the Midnight Hour, he entered his Sea of Consciousness and began practicing the Array Technique upon the stone stele.

Though the Array Patterns were fairly intricate, their fundamental structure and logic differed little from those of other Array Techniques. Memorizing them was not difficult; the difficult part should be Divine Consciousness.

Mo Hua's Divine Consciousness might not be enough to support him in drawing a complete Molten Array Diagram.

Mo Hua began drawing the Molten Array upon the Broken Stele.

The first three Array Patterns went smoothly, but by the fourth, he was clearly beginning to struggle. His Divine Consciousness gradually grew sluggish, as though it were steadily drying up.

Mo Hua's little brows furrowed.

By the time he finished the fourth Array Pattern, waves of stabbing pain surged through his Sea of Consciousness, as though the riverbed left behind by receding tides had begun to crack in mottled patches.

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Mo Hua hurriedly stopped and quickly erased the Array Patterns on the Broken Stele. Only then did the stabbing pain in his Divine Consciousness ease.

Mo Hua collapsed onto the half-real, half-illusory ground of his Sea of Consciousness, gasping for breath.

I'm done for. My Divine Consciousness falls a little too far short...

Mo Hua's Divine Consciousness was only enough to draw four Array Patterns. After drawing those four, he had no strength left at all to draw a fifth.

It seemed like he was only short one Array Pattern, but Divine Consciousness could not be rapidly strengthened in a short time. That single Array Pattern might hold him back for a long while.

"What should I do?"

Mo Hua pondered inwardly.

There was no shortcut to increasing Divine Consciousness. This was common knowledge in the cultivation world.

At least, among Qi Refining cultivators in Immortal City, it was universally accepted.

Mo Hua had asked Instructor Yan about it before. Instructor Yan had also said that Divine Consciousness could mostly only grow alongside one's cultivation. The higher one's cultivation realm, the stronger one's Divine Consciousness would naturally become.

The next best way was to strengthen Divine Consciousness through using it. The more often and more frequently cultivators used their Divine Consciousness, the stronger it would naturally become. For example, Array Masters often drew Array Techniques and needed to use their Divine Consciousness frequently, so their Divine Consciousness was naturally far stronger than that of ordinary cultivators.

Mo Hua had also asked whether there were methods specifically for cultivating Divine Consciousness. Instructor Yan had bluntly said no.

Whether in ancient texts or in the records of the various methods passed down by aristocratic families, there were no safe and reliable ways to cultivate Divine Consciousness. Some methods did exist, but they were mostly heretical arts of evil demons and crooked paths. Once cultivated, they would likely lead to deviation and madness, turning one into a Demonic Cultivator whom everyone had the right to execute.

As for whether such methods truly did not exist, or whether they had been secretly hoarded by great aristocratic clans, no one knew.

But even if they did exist, Mo Hua certainly could not get his hands on them. And even if he did, he would not dare risk deviation and madness to cultivate them.

Mo Hua was currently at the third level of Qi Refining. He could not break through to the fourth level anytime soon, so he could not strengthen his Divine Consciousness through an increase in cultivation.

That left him with only one method:

Keep drawing Array Techniques.

The method without shortcuts was the best shortcut.