Version Update: Second-Generation Spirit Artifacts

The crisis of the Burning Incantation going out of control had passed. However, the group did not set off immediately. Xiao Yan continued serving as Yao Chen's "lab rat" for several more days.

"Master, shouldn't we get going? Are we still looking for medicinal herbs?" Xiao Yan could no longer sit still. He remained worried about the bloody tears Huo Yuhao had shed that day and did not want to stay cooped up here forever.

"I checked. Not only has Yuhao's Sea of Spirit not worsened, it is even slightly better than before." Yao Chen gritted his teeth. The Burning Incantation had been brought by him, yet when something went wrong, he could do nothing. Whenever he asked Huo Yuhao what exactly had happened that day, Huo Yuhao would always be vague and brush it off.

"Ah! Forget it, forget it." Yao Chen let out a long sigh and waved his sleeve. "Let's pack up and leave."

Xiao Yan had long grown sick of these identical stone pillars. What frustrated him even more was that ever since Huo Yuhao had picked up that strange strip of metal, he had completely immersed himself in his great artifact-refining endeavor. Even his food preparation had become perfunctory. Xiao Yan had no chance at all to find any amusement with Huo Yuhao.

Now that he was finally free, Xiao Yan immediately dashed out like a colt released from its stable and shouted, "Yuhao, Little Fairy Doctor, get ready! We're leaving!"

After several days of research, Huo Yuhao named the metal strip given as "compensation" Spirit Gold. It was relatively soft and did not conduct Dou Qi very efficiently, making it unsuitable for directly forging into a weapon.

However, by accident, some powder from the metal had fallen onto a refined and spirit-imbued steel ingot that Huo Yuhao had kept at an extremely high temperature. To his surprise, the steel, which had possessed only faint spirituality even after spirit imbument, experienced a tremendous surge in spirituality at that instant.

After further research, Huo Yuhao discovered that Spirit Gold could be fused into other metals. For metals without spirituality, it could imbue them with spirituality as if turning stone into gold. For metals that already possessed spirituality, it could greatly enhance it.

After several experiments, Huo Yuhao confirmed that only a tiny amount of metal powder was needed each time. For the entire strip of Spirit Gold, that amount was barely worth mentioning. Unfortunately, using more Spirit Gold powder did not improve the results. It seemed this "compensation" was indeed not stingy at all. This one piece would be enough for Huo Yuhao to use for a long time.

But he had already called it "stingy," so what else could he do? Over the past few days, Huo Yuhao had secretly complained about "It" quite a few times, occasionally dragging Xiao Yan into it as well. Unfortunately, that voice had not appeared again since that day.

At the moment, Huo Yuhao was putting the finishing touches on two pairs of gauntlets. Just then, Xiao Yan's voice rang out like a prisoner being released from his cage.

"Yuhao, pack it up already! We're heading deeper into the core region to try our luck for you!"

After giving the soft copper at the gauntlet joints and the Jade Steel in the protective sections one final check to ensure they connected perfectly, Huo Yuhao swiftly put away the forge and workbench.

"Gloves?"

Xiao Yan skidded to a stop beside Huo Yuhao, his gaze instantly drawn to the two pairs of "strange gloves" in Huo Yuhao's hands. The backs of the gloves were covered in metal, with buckles around the wrists and fingers for securing them. One pair had slightly raised fingertips.

"Gauntlets. One pair is yours, and the other is for Little Fairy Doctor." Huo Yuhao handed the pair without raised fingertips to Xiao Yan. "Here, try them out."

As Xiao Yan took them and put them on, he asked, "You can make something this small too? Are these Spirit Artifacts as well?"

"Mm. They should be a bit stronger than third-grade Spirit Artifacts." Huo Yuhao nodded. "Thanks to that piece of Spirit Gold, the gauntlets' spirituality has improved considerably, and the spirit inscriptions' efficiency has nearly reached its limit."

Huo Yuhao continued, "Looks like I need to study the next stage of spirit inscriptions. This current version can only support Spirit Artifacts up to the fourth grade."

Xiao Yan fastened the wrist straps and finger buckles, securing the gauntlets in place. He flexed his fingers slightly and found that they barely hindered him at all. Then, he tried channeling Dou Qi into the gauntlets. As the natural energy of heaven and earth stirred, Xiao Yan threw a punch through the air at a stone pillar.

Yet nothing happened. A gentle breeze swept past, brushing the dust from the pillar's surface and making it look much cleaner.

"That's it? This is useless, isn't it? Or am I using it wrong?" Xiao Yan was a little dumbfounded. "Yuhao, what skill did you inscribe on this thing?"

A smile appeared at the corner of Huo Yuhao's lips. "There is no skill."

Xiao Yan: "???"

With an expression that said, Are you messing with me?, he was just about to speak when Huo Yuhao interrupted him.

"Didn't you just throw out a wisp of wind?"

"What the hell?"

Xiao Yan was about to start cursing when Yao Chen, who had somehow come over, set down the gauntlet he had been examining for a while and praised, "Yuhao, you truly are a genius."

Seeing Xiao Yan's puzzled little eyes, Huo Yuhao decided to clear things up for him.

"Compared to before, I made two main changes to these Spirit Artifacts." Huo Yuhao took the other gauntlet back from Yao Chen, put it on, and actively injected Dou Qi to activate it. In an instant, wind-attributed energy and the natural energy of heaven and earth were drawn together, while an intricate, profound combination of spirit inscriptions emerged across the gauntlet's surface.

"First, the original spirit inscriptions were connected together, so they required a great deal of space. This time, I layered the spirit inscriptions together, turning them into a spirit inscription combination."

"Second, aside from the fixed Sturdy Spirit Inscription and Qi-Gathering Spirit Inscription, I replaced the skill spirit inscription with inscriptions that can gather and enhance attribute energy." Huo Yuhao pointed at several patterns within the spirit inscription array.

"Once you wear these gauntlets, whether you use ordinary attacks or Dou Techniques, you will receive the support of wind-attributed power. If you use wind-attributed Dou Techniques, their power will increase even more significantly."

After explaining everything, Huo Yuhao looked at the thoughtful Xiao Yan, took a breath, and continued.

"This spirit inscription was inspired by that flying Spirit Artifact. Teacher and I studied it for a long time before completing this first Enhancement Spirit Inscription: the Wind-Attribute Enhancement Spirit Inscription."

"That's not right!" Xiao Yan spotted a problem. "Then why was there no reaction when I punched just now? Didn't you say both ordinary attacks and Dou Techniques would become stronger? Why did that punch feel like I was fanning the air with a fan?"

Huo Yuhao glanced at him. "How much strength did you use? You only threw a punch through the air and didn't hit anything. Besides, only a Da Dou Shi can release Dou Qi externally. Tsk tsk, a six-star Dou Zhe."

Hearing this, Xiao Yan did not care about the mockery in Huo Yuhao's words. Instead, he excitedly walked to the stone pillar he had just cleaned and struck it with all his strength.

Eight Extremes Collapse!

With the support of wind-attributed energy and the natural energy of heaven and earth, Eight Extremes Collapse finally displayed the power described as "comparable to an Earth-tier Dou Technique."

Crack! With a crisp sound, the upper half of the stone pillar shattered on the spot, turning into powder that scattered everywhere in the gust from his punch.