He cast all several dozen Golden Core fragments into the Threefold True Fire. The transparent fragments slowly softened and warped within the flames.
The residual impurities within them were forced out bit by bit by the amber flames, turning into wisps of gray smoke that rose and scattered.
The fragments that still bore the luster of the Five Elements continuously shrank beneath the scorching fire. Each fingernail-sized fragment, after being refined by the Threefold True Fire, contracted to the size of a grain of rice. Yet as they shrank, their colors became even purer.
During the tempering process, Li Bufan delightedly discovered that an arcane connection indeed remained among the shattered Golden Core fragments. Within the flames, every fragment shifted slightly toward the others, as though countless invisible threads were drawing them together.
The Threefold True Fire continued to scorch the fragments, and the connections between them became increasingly distinct. Adjacent fragments drifted together on their own, and the instant they touched, they fused as naturally as droplets of water meeting.
The fused mass was smaller than the combined size of the two original fragments, but the density of energy contained within it rose markedly. The Divine Intents that had previously been bound to the surface by the Five-Element Ring were now flowing back into the depths of the fused mass.
The Small Cauldron at Li Bufan's chest turned on its own, its mouth tilting slightly downward. Streams of pure Essence Fluid flowed from it and entered Li Bufan's battered body. Wherever the Essence Fluid passed, charred skin grew fresh flesh anew, and shattered bones joined and healed by themselves.
More than a tenth of the Essence Fluid stored within the Creation Cauldron had already been expended over the past several days, yet it still poured forth without the slightest