Before that, it had always been a Crab Demon, a member of the Demon Race dwelling in the East Sea, and naturally fell under the jurisdiction of the East Sea Dragon Clan.
These strands of dragon qi therefore had a natural affinity with the crab shell, which had once belonged to a demon of the East Sea, and could greatly accelerate its refinement while reducing the difficulty.
Sure enough, upon touching the crab shell, the dragon qi merged into it more than a hundred times more smoothly than spiritual power. Meeting almost no resistance, it easily penetrated the shell and began inscribing restrictive spells within it according to Cui Jiuyang's will.
When refining natural objects or ownerless items like this, inscribing restrictive spells within them was the most common and reliable method.
But the number of layers required varied enormously depending on the object's grade.
For ordinary Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, a single layer might be enough to claim and use them.
For a spiritual treasure rarely seen in a hundred years, ten or twenty layers might be needed to fully subdue it and make it one's own.
As for this shed shell of a Crab Demon Yaoxian, its value was incalculable. Cui Jiuyang's preliminary estimate was that it would probably take at least one hundred and eight layers of restrictive spells just to begin refining it.
Afterward, if he wanted to put it to full use, whether by making it into a magical treasure or an immortal pill, there was no telling how many more layers of painstaking work would be needed.
Even with the help of dragon qi, refining something left behind by a Yaoxian was no simple matter.
Inscribing the first layer alone took Cui Jiuyang well over half a two-hour period.
Thinking of the hundred