Yan Chihuo grimaced inwardly. The Artifact Refining Pavilion's prices were steep. Still, today was the twelfth, and the Pavilion would hold its lecture in three days. Fortunately, he had obtained three Jade Crystals; otherwise, he couldn't even afford the fee. But this showed just how expensive artifact refining was. The Jade Crystals issued by the sect were only enough to pay for lessons. If he wanted to practice, he would have to find another way.
After learning from Shu Yuan where the lessons were held, he returned to his cave abode and, following Ping Qi's instruction, practiced the Ape Lord Sword Art and Soul-Snatching Claw. Three days passed in the blink of an eye. He arrived at the lecture hall early that morning, only to find more than ten people already seated inside. He grumbled to himself that the artifact refiner could earn more than ten Jade Crystals just by giving a lecture—it was practically robbery.
He handed a Jade Crystal to the boy outside the hall, then took a seat inside to wait for the artifact refiner. Before long, a man in his fifties arrived. His cultivation was also at the Body Tempering Middle Stage.
He sat down in a chair, cleared his throat, and said, "My name is Lu Fan. Today, I'll explain how to refine spiritual materials..."
At that, Yan Chihuo felt a little dejected. His main reason for coming was to learn how to inscribe Restrictions. But after a moment's thought, he decided that learning some fundamentals would be worthwhile. When he crafted Talisman Artifacts in the future, he would need to refine spiritual materials as well.
Lu Fan's skill in artifact refining was hard to judge, but his fundamentals were exceptionally solid. He explained the subject in clear, accessible terms, and Yan Chihuo benefited greatly. He spoke for more than an hour before finally stopping. "Is there anything you still don't understand? You can ask questions."
Several people asked questions one after another, and Lu Fan answered them all. The doubts Yan Chihuo had been harboring were cleared up as well.
Yan Chihuo saw that Lu Fan seemed about to leave, so he said, "I have a question I'd like to ask."
"Go ahead," Lu Fan replied.
"Can I inscribe Restrictions on ordinary materials, such as copper, iron, wood, or stone?"
Lu Fan sneered. "You're not only overambitious, you're also dreaming. How could you inscribe Restrictions on mundane materials? Before you could even finish, the material would fail to withstand the Restriction and crumble. If you could inscribe Restrictions on such ordinary materials, wouldn't you be able to make as many Talisman Artifacts as you wanted?"
Yan Chihuo was about to ask another question, but Lu Fan said, "I know what you're thinking. To become an artifact refiner, you need plenty of materials to practice on, but you don't have enough Jade Essence to buy spiritual materials, so you came up with this idea. Let me tell you: inscribing Restrictions isn't as simple as you imagine. You can only make out the general shape of the various spirit patterns within a Restriction. Then you have to inscribe them according to how your own magical power flows when you cast a spell. So, when you first start inscribing Restrictions, succeeding once in ten attempts is already a sign of good talent."
Lu Fan continued with a cold laugh, "Since no one can see a Restriction clearly, the Restrictions they inscribe differ from the real thing. The smaller the difference, the greater the Talisman Artifact's power. Only once your cultivation reaches the Dao Foundation Stage can you see the Restriction's patterns clearly. That's why Talisman Artifacts crafted by Dao Foundation cultivators are far more powerful than those made by Body Tempering or Qi Gathering cultivators. But when it comes to Dharma Tools, even Dao Foundation cultivators can't see the true patterns clearly."
Yan Chihuo asked again, "If you have to inscribe Restrictions according to how your magical power flows when casting a spell, doesn't that mean each person can only inscribe Restrictions for the cultivation method they practice?"
"At the Body Tempering Stage, that's naturally the case. But when you reach the Qi Gathering Stage, you'll have considerable experience and purer magical power. Even if you don't know how magical power flows through cultivation methods of other attributes, the principles are the same, so you'll be able to craft Talisman Artifacts—or Dharma Tools—of other attributes. Once you reach the Dao Foundation Stage, if you have enough experience, it may not be impossible to inscribe Restrictions on mundane materials. But first, the success rate is low. Second, you can't inscribe many Restrictions. Third, even if you succeed, the Talisman Artifact won't withstand the erosion of magical power for long before it's ruined. So no Dao Foundation artifact refiner would bother."
He went on, "It's much too early for you to be inscribing Restrictions. The only Restrictions you've encountered are the ones you've seen on Talisman Artifacts. You can't make out the finer details, let alone figure out how to inscribe them. All right, that's all for today."
After leaving, Yan Chihuo realized he needed to take on sect missions in exchange for Jade Essence. Otherwise, the one Jade Essence he received each month would only cover the lectures—and once they started teaching more advanced artifact-refining methods, even that might not be enough.
Before taking on any sect missions, though, he needed to master the Ape Lord Sword Art and Soul-Snatching Claw so he could defend himself. From then on, he practiced the Spirit Jade Vajra Art, the Ape Lord Sword Art, and Soul-Snatching Claw, and in his spare time picked up stones to practice inscribing Restrictions.
Although he had no complete Restriction to use as a reference, the cloud patterns on the Snake Scale would still help him. And while at the Artifact Refining Pavilion that day, he had also used a little trick: he had studied all the Restrictions on the Primordial Chaos Hammer and committed them to memory.
The Restriction on the Primordial Chaos Hammer was Imprisoning Earth, and it had fourteen layers. Though all fourteen layers were the same kind of Restriction, each was more complex and intricate than the one before. For Yan Chihuo, they provided an excellent example for studying how Restrictions developed. After returning to his cave abode that day, he had feared forgetting the fourteen layers, so he had drawn them all out on paper.
Lu Fan had said that without sufficient skill, and without cultivation at the Dao Foundation Stage, one couldn't inscribe Restrictions on mundane materials. But Yan Chihuo was different. The cloud patterns of the Restriction were so complex that even Dao Foundation cultivators couldn't see them clearly, yet Yan Chihuo had no such problem. That was why he wanted to give it a try. He simply couldn't afford to experiment with large quantities of spiritual materials.
As Lu Fan had said, no matter what he did, he couldn't inscribe Restrictions on mundane materials. He tried hundreds of times without succeeding once. Occasionally, a few cloud patterns would appear, but the material would crumble at once.
Another month passed in the blink of an eye. Yan Chihuo spent another Jade Essence to attend a lesson on artifact refining. Lu Fan gave the lecture again, and once more it was about purifying materials.
After half a year, Yan Chihuo finally stopped attending. The fee for the next lectures had risen to two Jade Crystals. Still, over those six months, he had at last learned the basic method for inscribing Restrictions. Though he still hadn't managed to inscribe a Restriction on mundane materials, he could now inscribe a third of the first layer of Imprisoning Earth onto a stone.
The moment he cast a spell, however, the stone split into pieces. It was nowhere near as useful as the Snake Scale, but Yan Chihuo was quite satisfied. Over those six months, he had also mastered the Ape Lord Sword Art and Soul-Snatching Claw. More cloud patterns had appeared on the Snake Scale. They still didn't form a complete Restriction, but they had become a great help when he cast spells.
Before you continue