Artifact Forging Art Breakthrough

Zhou Yang greeted his fifth uncle, Zhou Xuanbin, and after explaining the situation, he emerged onto the surface of Haoyang Cave.

Eight years had passed, and the desert plants around the original sandy slope had grown back in abundance. Thanks to the care of the Zhou Family mortals, these plants were not only more lush than before but also more diverse. Some mortals had even begun raising animals like Sand Chickens, Sand Antelopes, and Sand Rabbits here.

Not far below the sandy slope lay the earthen city where the Zhou Family mortals resided. About two kilometers west of the earthen city was the oasis currently under construction.

Having been newly built only a few years ago, the oasis currently had a strip of grassland, tens of meters wide, encircling the desert lake formed by the underground river.

Zhou Yang stood on the sandy slope and gazed into the distance. Thousands of Zhou Family mortals were divided into four teams, positioned on the four sides of the lake, forming long lines. The people at the front filled wooden buckets with water from the lake and passed them down the line to the people at the back, who then used the water to irrigate the sandy ground.

A bucket of water, when poured onto the sand, could only penetrate half a meter deep. However, the sandy soil in the area designated for the oasis was, on average, over five meters deep.

If these thousands of people relied solely on this primitive method to irrigate the sandy land, it would take more than a year to create even a hundred square meters of oasis, and that was without considering the factor of desert erosion.

This was where the cultivators came in.

Among the common first-rank spells used by cultivators, there was a minor spell called "Cloud Gathering Rain Technique." By casting this spell, one could condense water even in the hottest parts of the Boundless Sea of Sand.

Furthermore, if a Foundation Establishment Cultivator used this first-rank spell near a large body of water with abundant moisture, it could truly, as the spell's name suggested, bring forth a heavy rain within a radius of several miles.

The desert lake formed by the underground river was far from being a "large body of water." Zhou Xuanyan, a Ninth Layer Qi Refining Cultivator, could not be compared to a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

However, as a Ninth Layer Qi Refining Cultivator who primarily practiced a Water Element Cultivation Method and with the aid of a Tier 2 High-grade Artifact, the Water Cloud Banner, specifically designed to enhance the power of water-element spells, she could, after casting the "Cloud Gathering Rain Technique," barely manage to bring a moderate rain to a square kilometer of land.

In order to create an oasis as quickly as possible, Zhou Xuanyan would cast the "Cloud Gathering Rain Technique" dozens of times each day, at dawn, noon, and dusk, to irrigate the land around the desert lake until her mana was depleted.

Therefore, the sandy ground that Zhou Yang saw the mortals irrigating was actually land that had already been watered by Zhou Xuanyan's spell. The mortals were now simply adding water as a small supplement, barely compensating for the evaporation caused by the desert's temperature.

"It must be very hard work for Aunt Xuanyan. This kind of minor task should have been handled by the lower-level cultivators in the family. Having an Elder do this is not only overkill but also beneath her dignity!"

Zhou Yang couldn't help but shake his head and sigh. The truth of the matter was that the Zhou Family was simply too weak.

In the eyes of ordinary Rogue Cultivators, a cultivation family like the Zhou Family, which occupied a medium-sized oasis and had a Foundation Establishment Cultivator guarding it, was an existence they could not hope to reach.

However, in the eyes of high-level cultivators, a cultivation family with only one Foundation Establishment Cultivator, like the Zhou Family, was an existence that anyone could trample upon.

If word got out that the Zhou Family, in addition to the Jade Spring Lake Oasis, also occupied a Third-tier Spirit Vein, it would not take a month for other Foundation Establishment Cultivators to come knocking, forcing the Zhou Family to relinquish the Haoyang Cave spirit vein and the Crimson Flame Iron Ore Vein.

If they encountered those who were ruthless, they might even use this as an excuse to join forces with other Foundation Establishment Cultivators or families, directly break through the Mountain Protection Array of Jade Spring Peak, and carve up the entire Zhou Family!

Such things had happened before.

To prevent such a situation, the Zhou Family needed to produce a new Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

Therefore, all the high-ranking members of the Zhou Family who were aware of Haoyang Cave were secretly placing their hopes on Zhou Yang, the descendant who carried the hopes of the entire clan, to successfully achieve Foundation Establishment and lead the Zhou Family through this difficult period.

Seeing that Zhou Yang had not emerged from seclusion after reaching the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining in one go, both Zhou Xuanyan and Zhou Xuantai, elders of the Zhou Family, felt a sense of pity mixed with relief.

Since Zhou Yang was no longer in seclusion, they no longer had to assign someone to protect him every day. With one more person to share the burden of creating the oasis, their work would be significantly easier, especially since Zhou Yang would occasionally take time to help.

Creating an oasis was not something that could be accomplished overnight. Zhou Yang and the others were merely laying the groundwork. To truly create a large oasis in Haoyang Cave would require the efforts of several generations and take decades or even centuries.

Therefore, Zhou Yang's main focus after emerging from seclusion was to improve his Artifact Forging Art.

Over the past eight years, he had focused on his cultivation and rarely practiced artifact forging, making his skills somewhat rusty.

However, his foundation was still solid. After a few forging sessions to reacquaint himself with the feel of it, he quickly regained his form.

In the battle to eliminate the Poison Fire Scorpion swarm, the Zhou Family had obtained a large quantity of Tier 2 Demonic Beast materials. As a Tier 2 Mid-grade Artifact Forger, Zhou Yang had received a significant share, so he was not lacking in artifact refining materials at the moment.

However, using materials from demonic beasts for artifact forging was a first for him, presenting a considerable challenge.

Materials from demonic beasts were not like metal ores that could be easily melted into liquid for shaping. When forging artifacts with demonic beast materials, the type of artifact had to be determined based on the material's original form.

For example, the scorpion stinger of a Poison Fire Scorpion could only be used to forge flying needle artifacts.

If the scorpion stinger were melted down, the unique fire poison of the Poison Fire Scorpion would dissipate, rendering the material useless.

Of course, forging with demonic beast materials also had advantages over metal ores. Materials from demonic beasts had been tempered by the beasts' own demonic energy over the years, meaning they contained very few impurities and were easier for artifact forgers to inscribe with spiritual formations. Some special demonic beast materials, when forged into artifacts, would even possess a certain divine ability that the demonic beast had mastered during its lifetime.

Since he had never forged artifacts with demonic beast materials before, Zhou Yang dared not use precious Tier 2 materials directly. Instead, he decided to practice with materials from Tier 1 Poison Fire Scorpions. The warehouse in Haoyang Cave stored a large quantity of these Tier 1 materials, so wasting them would not be a concern.

The usable materials for forging from a Tier 1 Poison Fire Scorpion were its two pincers and its stinger. The pincers were suitable for forging a peculiar weapon called the "Iron Arm Divine Hook," while the stinger could be forged into "Poison Fire Flying Needles."

Compared to the more delicate "Poison Fire Flying Needles," the thick and cumbersome "Iron Arm Divine Hook" was undoubtedly more suitable for a novice forger.

To explain the so-called "Iron Arm Divine Hook" in scientific terms, it would be an "exoskeleton armor," or a mechanical arm.

Zhou Yang took out the stored scorpion pincers, first scraping away all the residual dried meat fibers from within them. He then placed them into the artifact refining cauldron, poured in a special solution mixed with various acidic ores and plant juices, and ignited the furnace fire, intensely heating the cauldron to soften the scorpion pincers.

At this point, he used his spiritual sense to observe the softening process of the scorpion pincers within the cauldron. As the pincers began to soften under the action of high temperature and the acidic solution, he started to cast artifact shaping techniques recorded in artifact forging classics, finely adjusting the softened pincers to form the shape of the "Iron Arm Divine Hook."

Once the shaping was complete, Zhou Yang maintained the flame temperature while casting artifact forging techniques, inscribing a "Vibration" spiritual formation within the "Iron Arm Divine Hook."

After the formation was inscribed, he used the "Object Grasping Technique" to retrieve the "Iron Arm Divine Hook" and drop it into a pre-prepared quenching pool. With a hiss and a burst of white steam, the artifact was successfully forged.

Tier 1 artifacts did not require consecration; they could be used by injecting true qi and mana. Zhou Yang casually sent a stream of mana into the newly forged artifact. The two "Iron Arm Divine Hooks," weighing dozens of pounds each, heavily struck the iron dummy that had been prepared to test the artifact's power.

With a loud "boom," the iron dummy, cast from refined iron, immediately developed dozens of long, slender cracks as thick as chopsticks. Then, two faint yellow spiritual lights spread out from the "Iron Arm Divine Hook," causing the entire refining chamber to shake, nearly overturning the artifact refining cauldron on the ground.

"Hmm, its power is already close to that of a Tier 2 Low-grade Artifact's strike. It seems my Artifact Forging Art is incredibly close to Tier 2 High-grade. Very good, I'll continue trying."

With a wave of his sleeve, he sent a stream of mana to right the artifact refining cauldron and took out another set of materials, placing them into the cauldron to continue forging.

After about half a year, following hundreds of forging attempts, Zhou Yang finally succeeded in breaking through to become a Tier 2 High-grade Artifact Forger, becoming the youngest Tier 2 High-grade Artifact Forger in the Zhou Family's history.

Upon breaking through to Tier 2 High-grade in his Artifact Forging Art, Zhou Yang immediately sent word of this good news to the old clan leader Zhou Minghan and his parents. Not long after, his parents arrived at Haoyang Cave, looking travel-worn.

"Father, have you made up your mind?"

Zhou Yang blinked in surprise as his parents suddenly appeared, but after a moment, he understood why they were there.

"What, can't your father just miss you and come to see you?"

Zhou Xuanhao smiled faintly, seemingly oblivious to the sudden somber expression on Zhou Yang's face.

"Alright, you two, don't act like enemies the moment you meet. It's a joyous occasion for father and son to reunite, why bring up such unpleasant things?" Lin Yuting, seeing the awkward atmosphere, quickly interjected to ease the tension.

After speaking, she grabbed Zhou Yang's hand and chuckled, "Come, come, Yang'er, take your mother to your cave dwelling. Mother has brought you many specialty delicacies from the market this time."

ps: I have something to tell everyone here. This book is on recommendation this week. Although it's only a recommendation for the PC web version, every little bit counts. I want to perform well and let the editor see the book's potential, so that we can get better recommendations in the future.

Therefore, I kindly ask you all to cast your recommendation votes for me for at least the first few days of this week, okay? This is very important for whether this book can get the next recommendation. Also, with the recommendation this week, I want to push into the top ten of the new book list for our category. We've already fallen out of the top ten. Therefore, I ask any fellow readers who are able to help by giving a few yuan in rewards. I will tally the total amount of rewards when the book goes on sale, and there will be extra updates then.

Thank you to fellow reader Qingfeng Fuluoye for the 100 Qidian coins reward!