Artifact Refiner Certification

"At last, I'd mastered it."

After half a day of practice, Wu Tao had mastered the One-Second Clothes Off, One-Second Clothes On Skill. The skill had been inspired by a certain variety show from his previous life, and it perfectly solved his current predicament.

"Now I can begin tempering my physical body."

With greater strength came another measure of protection against unknown dangers. Entrusting his life entirely to the Demon Slaying Hall was not advisable.

Wu Tao took out the medicinal herbs and a small scale.

He strictly followed the records in the secret manual, carefully controlling the precise amount of every medicinal herb. This was cultivation, after all, not child's play.

In the end, he divided them into five portions.

One hundred low-grade spirit stones were only enough for five days of medicinal baths. Wu Tao had now personally experienced just how enormous the resource consumption of the Body Tempering Art was.

Arriving in the kitchen, Wu Tao tossed the medicinal herbs into a pot, lit the fire, and began brewing the medicinal liquid.

It took a full four hours before it reached the standard described in the Dragon Spear Technique secret manual. A pungent medicinal scent filled the kitchen. Looking at the ink-black medicinal liquid in the pot, Wu Tao could sense its astonishing potency.

Even a cow would probably be blown apart from overnourishment if it drank this.

Once the medicinal liquid was ready, Wu Tao no longer hesitated. Carrying the pot into the cultivation room, where he had specially prepared a large bathing barrel beforehand, he poured all the medicinal liquid into it.

Wu Tao stripped naked, gritted his teeth, and leaped into the bathing barrel.

"Hiss!"

The instant he entered the barrel and his body came into contact with the medicinal liquid, Wu Tao cried out in pain. It felt as though he had jumped into lava, his entire body being scorched. It was agony.

But he had already learned of this from the secret manual. Even so, experiencing it firsthand, he still could not help himself.

"Steady your mind, endure the pain, and begin absorbing the essence of the medicinal liquid. First stage of the Dragon Spear Body Tempering Art: Flesh Refining!" Wu Tao clenched his teeth and followed the circulation method recorded in the Body Tempering Art, guiding the medicinal effects into his body through his meridians and pores.

In an instant, Wu Tao felt as if his insides had caught fire. This medicinal effect was far too overbearing.

The Body Tempering Art did not merely consume immense resources. What was even harder to endure was the body-tempering process itself. It was not something an ordinary person could withstand.

To grow stronger, to live forever, Wu Tao felt that he could still endure this much pain.

Gritting his teeth and steadying his mind, Wu Tao continuously absorbed the medicinal liquid. Once he reached saturation, he immediately sprang from the bathing barrel, grabbed the Three-Pointed Great Spear at his side, and began practicing the Wind and Thunder Form.

The Body Tempering Art combined with the movements refined the medicinal liquid.

Spear thrust after spear thrust followed. Wu Tao could feel the medicinal liquid within him being absorbed and his body beginning to strengthen. Though the changes were exceedingly subtle, he still caught them.

After exhausting the medicinal effects within his body, he jumped back into the bathing barrel to continue absorbing. Once he reached saturation, he resumed practicing Wind and Thunder.

The cycle repeated itself.

One hour later.

Wu Tao withdrew his spear and looked into the bathing barrel. All the medicinal effects within had been absorbed and refined by him. The medicinal liquid, once black as ink, had become crystal clear.

Bare-chested, he carefully examined his body. He did not know whether it was an illusion, but he felt that his body had become sturdier and that his strength had increased considerably.

[Secondary Profession · Body Cultivator: Dragon Spear Body Tempering Art: Flesh Refining (1%), Dragon Spear · Fire Sweep Entry (2%), Dragon Spear · Wind and Thunder Beginner (5%)]

"One portion of medicinal liquid raises it by one percent. It takes one hundred portions to complete the Flesh Refining stage. In other words, one hundred days... and two thousand low-grade spirit stones to complete the Flesh Refining stage?"

"If I hadn't become an artifact refiner, then with the original owner mining at the mine, when would I ever earn two thousand low-grade spirit stones?"

Wu Tao clicked his tongue.

Over the following days, Wu Tao took medicinal baths every day, cultivating the Dragon Spear Body Tempering Art and the Wind and Thunder Form. Before he knew it, five days had passed.

He could feel the changes in his body.

[Secondary Profession · Body Cultivator: Dragon Spear Body Tempering Art: Flesh Refining (5%), Dragon Spear · Fire Sweep Entry (2%), Dragon Spear · Wind and Thunder Beginner (25%)]

After his physical body grew stronger, he discovered that circulating the Sanyang Technique to absorb spirit stones for cultivation seemed to have become smoother as well. Although the effect was not obvious yet, one day, as the Body Tempering Art improved, the effect would surely become significant.

"The Body Tempering Art has such a miraculous effect?"

Wu Tao fell into thought, delight filling his heart. Was this not a road leading in two directions? The Body Tempering Art could drive his spiritual power cultivation forward.

"Thinking about it, it makes sense. Once the body grows stronger, one's perception grows stronger, and naturally one becomes more sensitive to spiritual power. The two complement each other. This means I..."

"This means... immortality is within sight!"

Wu Tao grew excited.

After calming his emotions, he prepared to go out.

It was not that he had grown bolder. Rather, over these five days, aside from the first three days when cultivators from the Demon Slaying Hall had gone door to door searching for the hidden devilish cultivator, none had come on the fourth or fifth day.

He guessed that the devilish cultivator had probably been captured.

Still, to be safe, he wore six Small Spirit Shield Robes beneath an ordinary long gown to conceal them. Outsiders would only think he was fat; they would never see the inner workings beneath.

There was no need to inquire after leaving home. The Demon Slaying Hall had already spread the news. Rogue cultivators everywhere were discussing how, three days later, the devilish cultivator would be ground to dust and ashes at the entrance to Ding District Market. All rogue cultivators were welcome to come and watch.

The Demon Slaying Hall's move, with methods so cruel, was clearly intended to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys. If devilish cultivators dared to enter Five Spring Mountain territory to murder again, this would be their fate.

Upon learning this news, the great stone in Wu Tao's heart finally fell to the ground.

It seemed he was not someone who attracted trouble wherever he went. As long as he maintained a low-profile style of conduct, a minor rogue cultivator at the Second Level of Qi Refining would not be worth anyone's special attention.

He had originally planned to take the Artifact Refiner Certificate assessment, but the certification required thirty low-grade spirit stones.

It was probably a handling fee, assessment fee, or something of the sort.

Wu Tao did not find this strange. The Five Spring Artifact Refining Hall was not running a charity. All those certificates and credentials it came up with were, at their core, simply meant to earn rogue cultivators' spirit stones!

He only had eleven low-grade spirit stones on him at present, so he had to sell one Small Spirit Shield Robe before he had enough for the assessment fee.

As for his other magic robes, Wu Tao did not intend to sell them yet. He would wait until he obtained the Artifact Refiner Certificate. With the certificate in hand, he could raise the price with perfect justification.

Artifact refiners certified by the Five Spring Artifact Refining Hall came with guaranteed quality. They were not comparable to those uncertified artifact refiners, so a slightly higher price was entirely normal.

After selling one Small Spirit Shield Robe at Ding District Market, Wu Tao immediately headed to the Five Spring Mountain Artifact Refiner Certificate assessment point here.

Fragrant Spring Road.

Near the Inner City stood an assessment point specially established by the Five Spring Artifact Refining Hall for rogue cultivators from the Outer City. In the entire West Outer City, there was only this one assessment point.

After Wu Tao arrived at the window and paid the fee, he was told to wait. Once his name was called, he could enter the assessment room for the examination.

In the waiting hall, there were more than ten rogue cultivators seeking artifact refiner certification.

After waiting for nearly half an hour, an artifact refiner wearing the Artifact Refining Hall uniform finally came out and told their entire group to follow him into the assessment room.

After entering the assessment room, the artifact refiner said, "My name is Yan Jin. You may address me as Steward Yan. I will also be presiding over your assessments. I assume you already know the assessment requirements. To receive certification from the Five Spring Artifact Refining Hall, you must be able to inscribe five restrictions, one of which must be a Tier 1 Level 3 restriction. Furthermore, you must refine a Tier 1 Level 3 magic tool on the spot before you can obtain an Artifact Refiner Certificate."

The magic tool refinement assessment came first. Only after passing it would they take the written examination—the test on One Thousand Basic Knowledge of Artifact Refining.