Refining

The next morning, Wu Tao woke up feeling better than ever.

Perhaps it was the joy from successfully engraving the Wind-Speed Restriction yesterday that relaxed him completely, leading to excellent sleep quality. He hadn't heard any amorous sounds from next door during the night.

After a simple wash, he picked up his chamber pot and went to empty the night soil.

He opened the door and had only taken a few steps when he heard the familiar clatter of a door opening next door. He knew without looking back that his female neighbor must be seeing a guest out.

As he thought this, he heard Zhang Li call out, "Fellow Daoist Li, wait for me."

Wu Tao turned around and saw Zhang Li locking her door. She was bending over, holding her chamber pot, and jogging towards him. Startled, Wu Tao quickly moved away, saying, "Slow down, don't spill it on me."

Zhang Li didn't listen. She stopped in front of him, her chest heaving, and chuckled, "I'm a fairy, so even my excrement and urine smell fragrant."

Wu Tao was speechless. He couldn't possibly smell her chamber pot to prove her statement correct, he didn't even want to look at it.

He vowed silently in his heart that he must find a fairy who doesn't defecate to be his Dao Companion in the future.

However, it seemed Zhang Li had no guests last night, which explained why he slept so soundly.

Seeing his gaze drift towards her door, Zhang Li understood and said, "Don't look, there's no one inside. Fellow Daoist Li, you know, everyone living in New Virtue Alley are poor ghosts. Even if their bodies could handle it, their wallets couldn't."

Well, I'm a poor ghost too... Wu Tao stopped talking and walked forward with his chamber pot.

Zhang Li walked beside Wu Tao, chattering like a machine gun, as if she had to tell him everything on her mind, though Wu Tao didn't really want to listen, if he had a choice.

All the way, Zhang Li was the only one talking; Wu Tao remained silent.

"Sigh, transmigrating to a cultivation world, and as a cultivator, having to go empty night soil with another female cultivator, what is this?" Wu Tao felt a bitterness he couldn't express.

This transmigration was simply the worst.

After emptying the night soil, on the way back, Wu Tao deliberately quickened his pace. Zhang Li, however, was carefree, seemingly oblivious to Wu Tao's impatience, and continued to cheerfully recount her glorious deeds at the Spring Beauty Pavilion.

'Finally, home.'

Seeing his own dwelling, Wu Tao breathed a sigh of relief and said to Zhang Li, "Fellow Daoist Zhang, I'm going back to my room to cultivate."

Without waiting for Zhang Li's reply, Wu Tao opened and closed his door in one smooth motion.

Zhang Li stood between her door and Wu Tao's, watching his door close and his talking stop. She didn't show any displeasure on her face and turned back into her own room.

Back in his room, Wu Tao dispelled Zhang Li's bee-like incessant chatter from the journey, adjusted his mindset, and sat cross-legged on the bed to cultivate the Sanyang Technique.

Now that he was afflicted with evil possession, the Sanyang Technique would regress if not practiced daily. He couldn't miss a single day, or his strength would decline, and the evil qi would spread more easily.

After cultivating for an hour, Wu Tao stopped.

The Wind-Speed Restriction engraving was complete, and in theory, the magic robe could be refined immediately.

But he wasn't in a hurry to refine it. Instead, he used two days to adjust his state to its best before officially starting the refining work.

This was exactly what "sharpening the knife doesn't delay the woodcutting."

For these two days, besides cultivating the Sanyang Technique in the morning, he did nothing else. He only went to the Market midway to replenish his food, as the Common Rice and dried meat in his home reserves had run out.

After replenishing food, he only had six Fragmented Spirit Stones left.

"I'll start refining the magic robe tomorrow. I'll sleep well tonight."

It was worth mentioning that for the past two nights, the neighbor's place was very quiet. If it remained quiet for a few more days, Wu Tao would sleep soundly and feel refreshed, which would be of great benefit to refining the magic robe.

That night, Wu Tao fell asleep very early. Just when he thought he could sleep until dawn, he was woken up again at some point.

There were guests next door.

"I miscalculated! The Calm Spirit Incense Zhang Li gave me ran out long ago."

Wu Tao frowned, feeling that his luck was bad. His mood couldn't help but turn emo, feeling it was his own problem. If he had transmigrated into a wealthy and powerful Cultivator, he naturally wouldn't have these troubles.

It could be seen that transmigration was like reincarnation; it depended on fate.

After worrying for a while, thinking that he still had to refine the magic robe tomorrow, Wu Tao forced himself to sleep no matter what.

The next day, Wu Tao rubbed his groggy forehead, trying to clear his head. As he got up to dispose of the Night Soil, he saw Zhang Li opening the door to see off a guest. He sighed inwardly and continued walking forward.

When he returned, Zhang Li still wanted to chat with him. Wu Tao made an excuse about having something to do and returned to his room.

After a cold shower, he felt much more awake. Wu Tao, wearing a dry robe, took out the materials for refining the magic robe.

Starfire Stone.

First-Rank Elementary Demon Silkworm Silk.

He looked at the Starfire Stone and Demon Silkworm Silk in front of him and calculated in his heart: "I am now going to refine a First-Rank Level 2 magic robe with the function of Wind-Speed. According to the refining requirements, I need three Starfire Stones and one jin of Demon Silkworm Silk."

"The materials left by the Original Owner can be used to refine twice. In that case, I can only fail once."

"There are four days left until it's time to pay the rent. I owe the Agency Steward four Spirit Stones, plus two for this month's rent, plus various miscellaneous fees. I need to pay six Low-Grade Spirit Stones and fifteen Fragmented Spirit Stones."

"The market price for a First-Rank Level 2 magic robe is twelve to fifteen Low-Grade Spirit Stones."

"I can only fail once."

To be honest, even with the Primary Profession Artifact Refiner bonus, Wu Tao was still uneasy. If he failed both refining attempts, he would definitely be dragged away by the Agency to do hard labor to pay off his debt. Even if they showed leniency and kicked him out, he wouldn't escape the fate of dying in two months when the Evil Qi spread throughout his body.

Uneasy as he was, the magic robe still had to be refined.

Wu Tao dug an earth pit in the center of the room, temporarily using it as an artifact refining room. This was the method of a poor ghost.

He heard that artifact refiners in the sect had dedicated artifact refining rooms and access to earth fire.

Wu Tao dared not think about these things now.

After making preparations, Wu Tao took out the book <Refining Methods for First-Grade Dharma Robes and Five Types of Restrictions> and carefully memorized the refining steps and precautions.

Once he had completely memorized it, Wu Tao adjusted his mindset, cleared his mind, and officially began refining.

Two Starfire Stones were dropped into the earth pit and ignited by the spiritual energy from the Sanyang Technique. A faint firelight illuminated Wu Tao's face. He picked up the pre-portioned jin of Demon Silkworm Silk and controlled it with spiritual energy.

The Demon Silkworm Silk was still in its cocoon state. Under Wu Tao's spiritual energy control, it floated above the earth pit. In the flames of the Starfire Stones, the cocoons began to loosen.

Wu Tao immediately divided his attention, using spiritual energy to draw out the silk, peeling the cocoons one by one. He also had to be careful of the Starfire Stone's temperature. If the temperature was too high, the Demon Silkworm Silk would burn; if it was too low, he couldn't peel the silk.

Before long, sweat began to bead on Wu Tao's forehead.

The process of peeling the Demon Silkworm Silk was far more difficult than he had imagined.

This was only the first step, and no matter how difficult it was, Wu Tao dared not relax his focus.

Time slowly passed, and the Demon Silkworm Silk cocoons turned into floating threads. When the last cocoon's silk was completely peeled out, Wu Tao felt a sense of relief in his heart.

Next was the second step: weaving the Demon Silkworm Silk into fabric, then using spiritual power as the shuttle, threading the needle to weave it into the shape of a dharma robe.

This step was much simpler than the first.

Wu Tao's spirit remained focused, and he seamlessly proceeded with this second step. Threads of Demon Silkworm Silk shuttled back and forth, and as time passed, the hem, sleeves, and collar gradually took shape.

Finally, it formed a robe resembling a large-sleeved shirt.

'Second step complete. The most difficult part is the third and final step.'

Wu Tao felt soaked through, and his Essence, Qi, and Spirit were considerably depleted. However, the refining process had to be completed in one go, or it would fail. This was the difficulty of the artifact refining profession.

The final step was to engrave the complete Wind-Speed Restriction onto every single strand of Demon Silkworm Silk in the robe. Not a single strand could be missed, otherwise, the Wind-Speed Restriction would be incomplete and could not be activated.

This was the most difficult step.

Wu Tao threw another Starfire Stone into the earth pit. The flames flared up, and the temperature noticeably increased. It was at this moment that he, neither rushed nor slow, carefully engraved the restriction.

A drop of sweat trickled down his brow and into his eye.

Wu Tao dared not blink, fearing failure.

As fate would have it, what he feared most happened. Wu Tao felt a momentary lapse in concentration, and with a snap, he pressed down too hard, directly breaking a small part of the preceding Restriction Rune. The entire restriction lost its integrity and suddenly dissipated.

It had failed.

The ruined robe fell onto the Starfire Stone and began to burn.

Wu Tao fell backward, collapsing onto the ground. His entire body was drenched in cold sweat, and his spirit was utterly depleted. He didn't want to think about anything.