First Artifact Refining

"People like that should just be killed. Why didn't you kill him? Don't tell me you couldn't?"

Lin Mu smiled and patted Xiao Zhan on the shoulder. Then, before everyone's eyes, he spread his Dou Qi Wings and turned into a streak of light, vanishing into the sky and leaving the crowd standing there in stunned silence.

"The Xiao Family really has a Dou Emperor..."

For a time, this news exploded throughout Wutan City. Everyone knew that from now on, Wutan City might well become the Xiao Family's domain. They understood all too clearly how terrifying a Dou Emperor was.

Monster Beast Mountain Range.

At Lin Mu's speed, traveling back and forth between the Monster Beast Mountain Range and Wutan City did not take long. With his previous experience, he headed straight for the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King's cave this time.

Perhaps sensing the aura of a human expert appearing once more, the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King emerged. But when he saw that it was Lin Mu again, his face twitched violently with rage.

"Human, you again?! What do you take my territory for, a place for your amusement?"

The Purple Crystal Winged Lion King's voice boomed across the sky. The surrounding magical beasts sensed the pressure and could only flee in panic.

"Don't be so fierce. I didn't come here to fight this time."

Lin Mu waved his hand. "I came for Purple Spirit Crystal."

"Purple Spirit Crystal?"

A blood-red hue began to creep into the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King's pupils. Purple flames surged across his body, condensing like purple lightning and spreading across the heavens with terrifying power.

"You should know how precious Purple Spirit Crystal is. You think you can take it with just a few words? What a pipe dream."

The Purple Crystal Winged Lion King flew before Lin Mu.

"Today, I will kill you. Devouring a Dou Emperor will greatly enhance my strength."

Seeing that the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King was ready to fight at the slightest disagreement, Lin Mu sighed softly. Then his gaze suddenly turned sharp, and his palm slowly descended. The world instantly darkened as bolts of lightning leaped through the sea of clouds like fish swimming through water.

"Kun Peng Method!"

A massive Kun Peng phantom, hundreds of feet long, plunged down from the sky. Its wings spread wide, shattering space along its path and leaving cracks behind as though heaven and earth had frozen solid.

The Kun Peng locked onto the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King. Faced with such terrifying might, the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King froze in place, his entire body trembling uncontrollably!

"What... what kind of terrifying Dou Technique is this?!"

Facing the godlike Kun Peng, he felt as though even his soul was trembling.

Could this really be a Dou Technique that a one-star Dou Emperor could unleash?!

"I surrender!"

The Purple Crystal Winged Lion King roared. It was clear just how deeply he feared Lin Mu's attack!

With a casual wave of his hand, Lin Mu dispersed the Kun Peng Method into the heavens and earth.

He was not surprised by the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King's reaction. Compared to a magical beast like the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King, the Kun Peng was a true ancient divine beast!

This suppression came from the depths of the soul!

"Wouldn't it have been better if you'd done that from the start? Now we can talk properly, right?"

Lin Mu clapped his hands and landed on the ground.

"..."

The Purple Crystal Winged Lion King was on the verge of tears. Where the hell did this monster come from? He just wanted to quietly rule the Monster Beast Mountain Range as its overlord. Why was that so difficult?

"Human, what do you need Purple Spirit Crystal for?"

The Purple Crystal Winged Lion King asked in a deep voice. Purple Spirit Crystal was so precious—how could he bear to hand it over so easily?

"I naturally have my own use for it. Or do you want another fight?"

Mysterious Dou Qi swirled around Lin Mu's fingertips. Faced with such a threat, the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King could only reluctantly offer up a piece of Purple Spirit Crystal. Feeling the scorching aura emanating from it, Lin Mu smiled in satisfaction.

"Alright, I'm leaving."

After seeing Lin Mu off, the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King felt as though all his strength had drained away and collapsed onto the ground.

It was the first time he had ever felt so humiliated...

Within the Monster Beast Mountain Range.

Lin Mu looked at the Purple Spirit Crystal in his hand. After finding a quiet place, he cleared away the surrounding obstacles and began preparing for his first artifact refinement.

"This Purple Spirit Crystal had better not disappoint me."

Dou Qi began surging from Lin Mu's body. He was not an alchemist, so he naturally could not condense Dou Qi into tangible flames. However, with Lin Mu's domineering Dou Qi, the effect was no less impressive.

"Boom!"

Dou Qi instantly enveloped the Purple Spirit Crystal, and Lin Mu began releasing his Soul Power as well. Under the combined force of Soul Power and Dou Qi, the Purple Spirit Crystal gradually transformed into energy, its purple fiery aura spreading through the surroundings.

Next, pieces of metal Lin Mu had brought with him were carefully fed into the Purple Spirit Crystal's energy shell. Only in this way could he ensure that the metals would not melt directly into molten iron. Instead, they could fuse more thoroughly with the Purple Spirit Crystal and become even harder!

Following the method provided by the system in his mind, Lin Mu used his Soul Power to wrap the Purple Spirit Crystal and carefully controlled the changes within.

As time passed, Lin Mu watched the Purple Spirit Crystal before him completely transform into an energy form. With a flick of his finger, a drop of blood flew out and fell into it.

The instant the blood entered, it flashed with an intense purple radiance streaked with a trace of red!

"If this thing can truly be refined, it will probably be far more than first grade. What a pity—I didn't have time to find a magical beast's Magic Core."

Thinking back to the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King, its Magic Core would have been suitable. But this was only Lin Mu's first attempt at artifact refining. If he rashly added a Sixth-tier Magical Beast's Magic Core, it would likely end in failure.

"Boom!"

A ray of light emerged, and at that moment, Lin Mu felt as though he had formed a special connection with the weapon that was about to appear.

This was all thanks to the drop of essence blood he had just infused into it. With that drop of essence blood, the weapon could change into any shape Lin Mu desired according to his thoughts.

As the weapon began to take shape, Lin Mu withdrew his Soul Power and instead unleashed even stronger Dou Qi. This process was called tempering. Although the weapon had already taken on a preliminary shape, it still needed to be tempered by his own Dou Qi.

Only after the Dou Qi tempering reached a certain level could this weapon become truly indestructible!

"This process..."

Lin Mu gritted his teeth. During this process, he did not dare to lose focus in the slightest.

If the tempering was uneven, then even if the weapon took shape, it would still be extremely prone to breaking.

Like an invisible forging hammer, the Dou Qi continuously removed impurities, allowing the Purple Spirit Crystal to fuse more thoroughly with the metals Lin Mu had added later.

This process lasted for nearly an hour.