Cultivation Arrangements

The setting sun cast its slanting rays over the valley, bathing it in orange light. A waterfall cascaded into a deep pool, spraying droplets into the air.

A faint rustling of fabric came from the tent. Under Xiao Yan's watchful gaze, Xiao Yi Xian crawled out, grabbed Huo Yuhao, and pulled him into the woods by the pool.

"Whoa! Straight into the woods already? What animals!" Xiao Yan watched them vanish with a teasing grin.

"Brother Yuhao, did you see that just now...?"

"What was that?"

Huo Yuhao tacitly admitted it without dwelling on the matter, instead directly asking about Xiao Yi Xian's condition.

"It's the mark of the Calamity Poison Body. There's nothing unusual about it!" Xiao Yi Xian's face reddened all the way to her ears. Then, as if she had made up her mind, she tugged her dress down slightly, pinched the hem of her top, and lifted it gently. Circulating her Dou Qi, she revealed a Seven-Colored Hidden Thread emerging across her lower abdomen.

"The Seven-Colored Poison Manual says this line will keep extending as my Dou Qi or poison qi grows stronger. When it reaches my heart, I... I'll die." Xiao Yi Xian bit her lip. Both her voice and the arm clutching her clothes trembled slightly.

There was no hint of impropriety in Huo Yuhao's eyes. His expression did not change as his spiritual power passed through her skin, searching between muscle and bone for the hidden thread.

After a long while, Huo Yuhao withdrew his spiritual power, his voice low.

"This thread... is only a warning. It isn't the real cause."

Hearing that, Xiao Yi Xian released the corner of her clothes, and her gaze dimmed slightly. The two stood facing one another in silence. After quite some time, Xiao Yi Xian finally forced out another smile, trying to make her voice sound relaxed.

"It's okay. Compared with other Calamity Poison Bodies, I'm already much luckier. This line is actually quite pretty!"

As Xiao Yi Xian spoke, she took out the Seven-Colored Poison Manual again and turned to an illustration.

"Look, the Calamity Poison Bodies of normal Dou Zhe are much longer than my Seven-Colored Hidden Thread."

"...Let's go back."

By the pool, Xiao Yan sat atop a large rock with a crude fishing rod in hand. Several fish lay belly-up and barely alive in the bucket beside him. Judging by their state, they did not seem to have been caught.

Hearing footsteps, Xiao Yan turned around, his eyes questioning as he looked at the pair approaching side by side. When he saw Huo Yuhao shake his head slightly, his expression eased.

"You two were quick. Oh, right, how about fish for dinner tonight?"

"Sure."

"Gah—so spicy!!!"

Ignoring Xiao Yan, who was sprawled beside the pool, Huo Yuhao handed Xiao Yi Xian another grilled fish with a normal color.

The next day.

Considering Yao Chen's unusual circumstances, Huo Yuhao and the others discussed it and decided to postpone their search for medicinal ingredients, choosing to cultivate here for a while instead.

"Begging won't help. You can't chew more than you can swallow. Wait until you successfully open your Spiritual Sea before cultivating the Purple Cloud Wings." Huo Yuhao rejected Xiao Yan's request to cultivate a flying Dou Technique. Raising a hand, he pointed at the ground and condensed a sheet of ice over an open patch nearby.

"Your Explosive Step is fast enough, but you lack agility. From now on, practice making flexible turns on this ice. You are not allowed to leave its boundaries. When restoring your Dou Qi, remember to apply Bloodburn."

After arranging Xiao Yan's cultivation goals, Huo Yuhao turned to Xiao Yi Xian.

"It's fine if you don't plan to change cultivation methods. Teacher said it isn't advisable to switch methods too often. Next, Xiao Yi Xian, you can cultivate this Dou Technique first. It can make up for your lack of attack power when facing nonhuman targets."

Huo Yuhao handed Frenzied Poison Claw to Xiao Yi Xian and explained the key points of cultivation in detail.

"Yuhao, didn't you only see that thing yesterday?"

"I studied it for a while last night."

"Hiss!" Xiao Yan sucked in a breath. Then he asked, "So what are you cultivating now?"

Clang! Bang! Crash! A pile of weapons formed a small mountain at Huo Yuhao's feet.

"What are these?"

"The Wolf Head Mercenary Group's 'inheritance.' I'm planning to see whether ordinary weapons can be refined into Spirit Artifacts."

The sun had already set, but the weather remained somewhat scorching, and the area around the forge was even more unbearable. On the second day after Huo Yuhao assigned everyone their cultivation tasks, Yao Chen emerged from his "self-imposed isolation." While teaching Xiao Yi Xian and Xiao Yan alchemy, he also helped Huo Yuhao improve his artifact-refining methods.

Huo Yuhao extinguished the forge and picked up the long-handled war hammer he had just "improved," pouring Dou Qi into it. Yet this time, the Heaven and Earth Origin Qi showed almost no reaction.

"Still no good. The material has no spirituality, and the spirit inscriptions are terribly inefficient."

Huo Yuhao tossed aside the hammer, which had overloaded and collapsed from forcibly operating its spirit inscriptions. His voice carried a trace of dejection.

"With all this scrap metal lying around, anyone who sees it will think I collect junk." Looking at the twisted and warped weapons scattered everywhere, Yao Chen rubbed his forehead and helped Huo Yuhao pick up a few usable ones.

"I never expected you could truly complete these spirit inscriptions." Yao Chen brought one of them close to his eyes. Though he had seen it many times already, he could not help but marvel whenever he witnessed the inscriptions Huo Yuhao had completed.

"This modified core Qi-Gathering Spirit Inscription of yours should be enough for Spirit Artifacts from the second to fourth grade."

"More precisely, they are classified as second- to fourth-grade Spirit Artifacts according to the spirituality of the materials and the abilities of the other matching spirit inscriptions. Essentially, they are still within the same major grade." Huo Yuhao took out the ancient book Yao Chen had previously given him. "That differs somewhat from the classification recorded in this book."

After briefly comparing the records, Huo Yuhao took out another silver-white metal blank. It was a piece of Void Silver, known for its high hardness and light weight. Unfortunately, it conducted energy poorly. Therefore, in the Jia Ma Empire, it was mainly mined to make armor for high-ranking military officers.

Injecting Dou Qi into the forge to raise its temperature, Huo Yuhao placed the Void Silver inside and waited for it to soften. Then he took out a piece of Essence Gold. Both rare metals had come from the Mittel Auction House in Wutan City. Who knew what sort of shady deal Xiao Yan and Ya Fei had made to obtain so much rare metal from her.

"Yuhao, it's been nearly a month now. You don't sleep at night at all. How can your body endure that?" Seeing that Huo Yuhao intended to continue, Yao Chen grabbed his wrist. His voice was urgent as he stared into Huo Yuhao's eyes, trying to find some proof of exhaustion so he could force Huo Yuhao to rest.

Back in Wutan City, Yao Chen had not seen Huo Yuhao every day. Therefore, he did not know that Huo Yuhao had gone without rest for far more than half a month.

"I can't sleep." Huo Yuhao's eyes remained calm, as though he did not feel the slightest fatigue.

"Ah!" Yao Chen let out a long sigh, knowing he could not persuade this disciple of his. These days, he had nearly begged Huo Yuhao to rest every night, yet Huo Yuhao had never listened even once. Even hypnotic techniques had been completely ineffective. Every time, Huo Yuhao said that studying cultivation methods and Dou Techniques counted as rest.

"Yuhao, when will you be willing to trust us?"

"I have always trusted you, Teacher. I trust Xiao Yan, and I also trust..."

"Ah—I didn't mean that..." Yao Chen lifted his head, not knowing what he was looking at.

The master and disciple's conversation faded into inaudibility, leaving only the sound of metal being struck.

Under Huo Yuhao's hammer, the Void Silver was shaped into a pair of thin, light wings. Veins of Essence Gold, already inscribed with spirit inscriptions, were embedded within them.

"Good. As expected, the core spirit inscription does not need to be inscribed together with the other functional spirit inscriptions." After confirming that the wings had no further issues, Huo Yuhao condensed an ice needle at his fingertip and inscribed a Qi-Gathering Spirit Inscription in the core area of each wing.

Buzz! When Huo Yuhao infused them with Dou Qi, the two wings floated on their own amid the embrace of Heaven and Earth Origin Qi, radiating a gentle spiritual glow.

"Success. By the standard, this flying Spirit Artifact should be a third-grade Spirit Artifact."