Presenting Treasures

"Hum!"

Once the inscription was drawn, he gave it a slight push, driving it into the shattered inner armor.

The moment the inscription adhered to the armor, a golden light flickered, and a mottled, jagged gap began to mend piece by piece.

Following this, he repeated the process, continuing to engrave inscriptions.

Repairing a magical artifact was significantly less difficult than forging one from scratch, and the procedures were far less complex.

Shen Mo only needed to engrave and complete the inscriptions that bolstered defensive attributes, as dictated by the Artifact Casting Technique.

However, while the technique was simple, the time consumption remained immense.

As this was his first attempt at forging, Shen Mo focused his entire concentration on the drawing and embedding of every single inscription.

He dared not slacken in the slightest.

Before he knew it, a full day and night had passed.

When he finished drawing the final inscription and perfectly embedded it into the tattered armor, his taut nerves finally relaxed.

All the inscriptions were complete.

The silver-white Heart-Protecting inner armor was now adorned with many pale-gold Mystic Crystal accents, completely mending the damaged sections.

He held the armor in his hands and stroked it; it was incredibly smooth, no longer possessing the jagged, prickly feel it had before.

[You have successfully repaired the low-grade Profound-tier inner armor "Heart-Protecting." Through your first hands-on experience, you have gained many nuanced details regarding artifact casting. Your proficiency in the path of artifact casting has increased. Artifact Casting Experience +12.]

"Well, it's a bit ugly, but as long as the effects are restored, that's all that matters."

He looked at the notification on the system panel with joy in his heart, then repeatedly examined the finished product that had absorbed his first efforts at artifact casting.

He was quite satisfied.

After his repairs, the once-shattered Heart-Protecting inner armor was as good as new.

Its defensive efficacy was even stronger than when he had first bought it.

After a day and night of toil, Shen Mo, having finished repairing the Heart-Protecting inner armor, finally pushed open the door.

He stepped out, intending to get some fresh air.

At this moment, he was still the only one in the cave dwelling.

Chen Mengze had likely gone out on night patrol.

As for Guo Zhao, since he had been rejected after confessing his feelings yesterday, Chen Mengze would likely not be patrolling with him.

Yet he was not in the cave dwelling either; there was no telling where that fellow had gone.

"Ying! Ying! Ying!"

Just as he was planning to go for a stroll, he suddenly heard the cry of a strange beast near the stone pavilion.

It was the Spirit-Hidden Rat!

It seemed to have been waiting in the stone pavilion for a long time. Seeing Shen Mo emerge, it grew excited, hurriedly leaped down the stone steps, and bounded straight to his feet.

It rubbed its head against Shen Mo's ankle, staring at him expectantly, as if begging for food.

"Oh, I almost forgot!"

Seeing it, Shen Mo finally realized his oversight and hurriedly slapped his forehead.

He had spent too much time forging and had become muddled, forgetting the promise he had made to this Spirit-Hidden Rat yesterday.

"Wait here for a moment, don't wander off."

He gave the instruction and went into the cave's larder, taking out five catties of Red-Browed Deer leg meat.

He then sliced it up, coated it in barbecue seasoning, and placed it on the grill to roast.

Shen Mo had roasted plenty of meat during this period, so he was well-versed in the craft.

It took less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn for him to roast the five catties of raw Red-Browed Deer meat until it was golden, crispy, and fragrant.

"Ying!"

As the aroma of the roasted meat wafted through the air, the Spirit-Hidden Rat, waiting by the stone pavilion, was so tempted its saliva nearly dripped out.

It ran over excitedly, using both paws to beg Shen Mo for the meat.

Shen Mo held the plate of roasted meat, a faint smile on his face, but he did not give it to the rat immediately.

Instead, he did the same as the rat and held out his hand.

"I told you yesterday, reciprocity is the key to a lasting relationship. Did you bring me a gift today?"

"If you didn't, you'll just have to watch me eat today."

If you want to eat meat, pay up first!

Shen Mo was no saint who allowed others to freeload off him.

"Ying! Ying!"

The Spirit-Hidden Rat spun in a circle twice, and then, under Shen Mo's expectant gaze, it actually opened its mouth.

From its bulging mouth, it spat out a jade slip.

"It actually brought something!"

Shen Mo's eyes lit up. He immediately set the roasted meat aside and reached out to pick up the jade slip.

"Sss!"

Seeing that Shen Mo had finally put down the meat, the Spirit-Hidden Rat leaped up and began to feast at once.

Shen Mo paid it no mind, instead using his divine sense to probe the jade slip to see what kind of gift this little guy had brought him.

"Dragon-Elephant Blood-Baleful Body."

As Shen Mo's soul sank into the jade slip, five pale gold characters instantly appeared before his eyes.

The next moment, these five pale gold characters transformed into countless streams of information, drilling straight into his sea of consciousness.

After a long while, Shen Mo finally digested all the information, feeling somewhat astonished: "This is actually a body-refining technique!"

Body-refining techniques, as the name suggests, are a category of techniques specifically designed to temper the strength of the physical body and enhance one's constitution.

Under normal circumstances, such techniques are the rarest and most expensive among immortal arts of the same rank.

For a low-grade Profound-tier immortal art, an offensive technique might only cost seventy or eighty Spirit Stones, while a defensive technique would be slightly more expensive, priced at around one hundred Spirit Stones.

The value of movement-based immortal arts is even higher than both, usually reaching a value of one hundred and twenty Spirit Stones.

Finally, there are mental cultivation techniques and body-tempering immortal arts.

According to the market prices Shen Mo had seen in the marketplace, a standard low-grade Profound-tier body-refining technique would typically sell for no less than two hundred Spirit Stones!

"I've struck gold!"

Shen Mo muttered, his heart filled with wild joy.

This Spirit-Hidden Rat truly had treasures in its possession!

Recalling his earlier strategy of using food to entice it into a reciprocal exchange, Shen Mo felt he was simply too clever!

"And although I can't determine the grade of this body-refining technique, its standard... doesn't seem to be merely low-grade Profound-tier."

Shen Mo immersed himself in the information within the jade slip once more. After carefully pondering it, he spoke to himself: "Absorbing blood-baleful essence to condense the true Dragon-Elephant form—this technique is quite extraordinary!"

Shen Mo estimated that this body-refining technique was at least mid-grade Profound-tier, and possibly even higher!

"It's just a pity that the information in this jade slip is incomplete!"

At this, Shen Mo's brows furrowed slightly, and he finally felt a touch of regret: "According to the introduction, this body-refining technique has three major realms: Elephant Body, Dragon Form, and Blood-Baleful Body."

"But the cultivation methods recorded in the jade slip only cover the Elephant Body and Dragon Form; the Blood-Baleful Body doesn't seem to be included!"

With a frown, he looked at the Spirit-Hidden Rat, which was happily eating with its mouth full of grease, and asked tentatively: "This jade slip seems incomplete. Where did you get it? Is there any follow-up content?"

"Ying! Ying!"

The Spirit-Hidden Rat paused its gnawing, shook its head, and seemed to tell him that this was the only copy.

It appeared to be a fragmentary technique.

Shen Mo felt a pang of regret, but he quickly adjusted his mindset.

He was already lucky enough; to feel dissatisfied now would be overly greedy.

A few pounds of roasted meat had been traded for such a valuable fragment of a body-refining technique—what more could he ask for!