Nanzi Dong was truly desperate when someone butted in just as his heart was most tempted. He had finally gotten a chance to obtain two treasures; with careful study, he dared not say he could learn Heart Refining, but he could certainly advance his Instrument Refining. He pushed Kubo aside and walked up to Li Qiang, wearing a smile that sent a chill down even Li Qiang's spine.
He chuckled, "Boss... heh-heh, I'll trade a hundred and twenty sets of armor and arm shields, plus a hundred and twenty pairs of flying wings and weapons. Also, everyone here can pick something as a first-meeting gift. It's settled. No backing out."
Nashan cheered. "Old Beetle, thanks in advance! Haha, another treasure for me!" He pulled Paben, Tange, and Zhao Zhi over. "Hey, brothers, let's talk this over. Old Tan knows his goods better than I do. We have to get our hands on the best stuff."
Zhao Zhi laughed. "What's there to discuss? My way's the simplest. Once we find something, ask Boss to take a look. If he says it's good, that settles it."
The four immediately began searching. After a while, Nashan said dejectedly, "A whole roomful of things, and my eyes are dazzled. I don't even know what to take anymore."
Li Qiang smiled. "I won't go back on my word. Old Beetle, we have a deal."
Nanzi Dong was beside himself with joy. "Thank you, Boss! Hehe, thank you, Boss..." Li Qiang hurriedly stopped him. From the look of it, he would have kept thanking him endlessly otherwise.
Kubo gazed longingly at Li Qiang. "B-Boss..."
Hong Qian glared at him. "Kubo, whether Martial Uncle gives you a Law Treasure or not, how can a junior ask for one? Martial Uncle, ignore him!"
"Now, Hong Qian, I wasn't planning to give you ready-made Law Treasures..." Li Qiang paused. Kubo looked visibly disappointed, while Hong Qian stood respectfully to one side without the slightest displeasure.
Li Qiang sighed inwardly. It seemed Kubo still had a long way to go in cultivation after all. He continued, "But I intend to refine one for each of you, master and disciple. You can also watch and learn."
Kubo nearly fainted with joy at these words. Even Hong Qian could no longer remain composed. "Wonderful! Thank you, Martial Uncle! Although I received my master's guidance, alas... my cultivation was very low then, and there were many things I didn't understand. After Master left, I cultivated in seclusion alone, and only then discovered that I couldn't resolve many questions. By then, asking Master for guidance was no longer possible."
Nanzi Dong kept smiling bitterly at the side, so anxious that cold sweat broke out. Where else could he find an opportunity like this? But this was instruction between members of the Chongxuan Sect, and he had no way to ask to join them. He tugged his neatly combed long beard into a mess, muttering constantly, though no one knew what he was saying.
Li Qiang had long since noticed his distracted state. He smiled. "Old Beetle, come along when I refine the treasures. You may watch, learn, and listen, but you may not ask questions. How about it?"
Nanzi Dong's legs went weak, and he landed on his backside with a thud. Looking up, he cried, "Yes! I won't ask... I'll tie my mouth shut and not say a word... Thank you, Boss! Thank you, Boss! Thank..." He, too, had gone wild with joy.
Nashan came over excitedly, carrying a strange weapon. "Boss, what kind of weapon is this? It's so weird. Is this thing any good?"
Li Qiang took it and looked. It was two and a half feet long and as thick as a fist, with black-and-white patterns winding around it. An unknown beast's head was carved on it, with a pair of horns somewhat like a bull's, except that one was white and the other black. Li Qiang thought it looked less like a weapon than a piece of indigenous artwork.
"Nashan, I've never seen one either," he said. "I don't know how to use it. You'll have to ask Old Beetle. Take it."
Nanzi Dong's emotions were surging, and at these words he wished he could tell Li Qiang everything he knew. He was truly grateful. No expert from any cultivation sect would help an outsider this way. Li Qiang's generosity made him bow in admiration from the bottom of his heart.
First, he praised him. "Old Na, you really have a good eye. This is a Law Treasure, not an ordinary weapon. It's called the Azure Shadow Binding. Anyone with a little foundation in cultivation can use it. It isn't very powerful, but it's much better than the Spine-Piercing Spear. To use it, feed True Essence Power into the grip and activate it."
Nashan could already wield a tiny bit of True Essence Power. At these words, he immediately fed some in. The black-and-white patterns on the Azure Shadow Binding lit up, and bluish-white arcs flickered over the beast head's black-and-white horns. Overjoyed, Nashan cried, "Oh, it's glowing! How fun! How fun!" He lowered his head and turned the Azure Shadow Binding. A long arc shot out between its black-and-white horns.
Nashan looked up and was horrified. Tange happened to be approaching with something he had picked, and the arc flew straight at him, catching everyone off guard. As though struck by lightning, Tange went rigid and trembled uncontrollably. Li Qiang suddenly understood: this seemed to be electricity. Tange had been electrocuted. Luckily, this was Nashan's first time handling it, and the arc he released was only a small one. Otherwise, he would have caused a disaster.
Caught completely unawares by the shock, Tange shook all over. "Na... Na... Na... Nashan... shan-shan..." He could barely form words. Hearing that he could still speak, Li Qiang breathed a sigh of relief. He hurried forward to support him and circulated True Essence Power to examine his injuries. Fortunately, he was not seriously hurt.
Nashan was so frightened that he stammered too. "Ta... Ta... Tange, s-s-sorry..." He truly felt guilty. Reversing the Azure Shadow Binding in his hands, he offered it to Tange. "Old Tan, hit me with it too..."
It took Tange a good while to stop shaking. "Ow... I nearly shook myself to death. Old Na, don't you want me alive anymore? Bringing something like that to hurt me! What are you standing there for? Come support me and pound my back..."
Flustered, Nashan dropped the Azure Shadow Binding and kept apologizing. "Sorry, sorry! Old Tan, hit me!"
Tange suddenly laughed. "What would I hit you for? Hurry! Pound my back and massage my feet... let me relax too."
Everyone relaxed. Tange was all right. Only once they had collected themselves did they notice his appearance. The arc had scorched holes all through his clothes, and thin wisps of smoke still rose from them. Every strand of green hair stood on end, making his head seem several sizes larger than usual. His face was mottled green and black, yet he was smugly ordering Nashan to do this and that.
Li Qiang was the first to burst out laughing. "Haha, Tange... enough... go wash and tidy yourself up. You look outrageous... hahaha..." With his fright subsiding, Nashan also chuckled quietly as he pounded Tange's back.
Tange said, "Old Na, why do I hear a strange sound?"
Nashan struggled desperately to keep a straight face. "No... there's no sound at all... it's so quiet here..."
Zhao Zhi made muffled snorting sounds as he fought to hold back his laughter. It was not Tange who amused him, but Nashan's face, held stiff as a bitter melon. His expression looked caught between laughter and tears, making it impossible for Zhao Zhi not to laugh. Yet he felt too embarrassed to laugh aloud and could only struggle to suppress it.
Li Qiang stopped laughing. They looked at one another and fell silent. Suddenly, a strange snort escaped Nashan's nose. That broke everyone. They all roared with laughter, and not one could keep a straight face.
Nanzi Dong truly envied this group. Being with them gave him a sense of unfettered freedom, of acting as he pleased, and he felt utterly relaxed. He picked up the Azure Shadow Binding and walked over to Nashan. "Old Na, this Azure Shadow Binding is yours. Be careful with it from now on. You can't fully control it yet. Practice more."
A trace of fear crossed Nashan's face as he looked at the Azure Shadow Binding. He had nearly electrocuted his own brother to death, and even now he was still afraid. Li Qiang took it from Nanzi Dong, deeply curious. Back home, electricity was a very ordinary power source. He had never expected crystal stones to produce such a powerful current. Sending a thread of True Essence inside, he closed his eyes and carefully analyzed its structure. Nanzi Dong immediately grew nervous. This Azure Shadow Binding was a work he was proud of, and he knew Li Qiang was examining how it had been made.
After a careful inspection, Li Qiang inwardly admired it. This Law Treasure was ingeniously designed. Its finest feature was its ability to unleash a relatively powerful attack with very little True Essence Power. Unfortunately, its method of attack was too limited: it could only release a single electrical arc, which was of little use against experts.
"Boss, does... does it have any flaws?" Nanzi Dong actually sounded a little timid.
"It's a very good Law Treasure. Hmm, let me try modifying it." As Li Qiang finished speaking, the Azure Shadow Binding floated up from his hands. A mass of purple flame emerged from his hands and began scorching it.
No one had expected Li Qiang to begin modifying it immediately. Nanzi Dong was so excited that his calves went weak. He let out a low cry, then quickly covered his mouth. He had discovered that the purple flame in Li Qiang's hands was actually the legendary Brilliant Swift Heavenly Fire, the fire used to refine treasures in the Immortal Realm.
Everyone gathered around. Hong Qian waved at them, signaling them not to disturb Li Qiang.
In fact, Li Qiang's Brilliant Swift Heavenly Fire was no longer quite the same Heavenly Fire it had been at the Star Palace. Since the Purple Flame Heart had absorbed it, with the Fire Essence fanning the flames, the Brilliant Swift Heavenly Fire was no longer as overbearing as when he first encountered it. Now it was like a tamed beast, fully controllable. Heavenly Fire was far stronger than Samadhi True Fire. He was probably the only person in the Cultivation Realm who used it to refine treasures; others could not learn it even if they wished.
Since this was a ready-made Law Treasure, modifying it was much easier. Li Qiang first tempered the rod with Heavenly Fire, burning away its impurities and making slight adjustments to its structure. This was simple for him. Wherever his mind reached, the structure changed immediately. He infused some more True Essence, and everything was finished in less than thirty minutes.
The Azure Shadow Binding seemed to have become something entirely different. It had shrunk from two and a half feet to one and a half feet long, and from the thickness of a fist to that of a duck's egg. The rod, once wrapped in black-and-white patterns, was now black, with countless glittering silver stars drifting over it. Everyone marveled at its exquisite craftsmanship.
Nanzi Dong knew that the smaller a Law Treasure was, the harder it was to refine. He had spent more than ten days making this Azure Shadow Binding, trying every means to shrink it, and had thought he had reached its limit. He had never imagined Li Qiang could effortlessly reduce the rod to almost half its size. Its entire structure seemed to have changed. He was not merely impressed, but profoundly shocked.
Li Qiang lightly waved the Azure Shadow Binding toward a corner. A long electrical arc shot out and struck the floor with a series of cracks. Tange darted behind Li Qiang, so frightened that his hands shook.
Nashan said, "It seems about as powerful as before. It's still just a streak of blue light."
Li Qiang smiled faintly. "Watch carefully, everyone."
He swiftly waved the Azure Shadow Binding. In an instant, a net of electrical arcs flew out, crackling with sparks. Stranger still, the electrical net hung in midair, slowly turning with the Azure Shadow Binding in Li Qiang's hand. Smiling, Li Qiang nodded repeatedly. "A very good thing. With proper control of its force, its power is extraordinary."
The electrical net bathed the entire room in bluish-white light. Li Qiang gave a slight jerk, and the net immediately contracted into a humming ball of light. He asked, "Old Beetle, where should I shoot this ball? I can't take it back."
Still stunned, Nanzi Dong casually pointed to the foot of a wall. "Just shoot it there." Before he finished speaking, the ball had already struck.
No one had expected the ball of light to land without a sound. The instant it landed, Li Qiang regretted it. He uttered a single word, "Fly!" and was already in the air, holding Tange and Zhao Zhi in either hand. But he had no hand left to grab Nashan. Hong Qian and Kubo pulled Paben up together, while Nanzi Dong also hovered in midair, still dazed.
The moment the ball touched down, it spread across the floor. Electrical light shot in every direction, filling the entire room in an instant.
Nashan, the only one left on the floor, screamed in terror. "Boss, save me... waaah... eee-ah-ow-oh-la... oo-la-la..." The current sent him into a frenzied ballet. Fortunately, he still had no hair on his head, though any hair elsewhere on his body had probably stood on end.
Frantic, Li Qiang flung Zhao Zhi toward Nanzi Dong and roared, "Catch!" Still dragging Tange with his other hand, he reached for Nashan.
Tange screamed in terror, "No!" To an expert like Li Qiang, a little electric shock was nothing and did no real harm. Nashan and Tange were different. Although it would not kill them, the sensation of electricity passing through their bodies was hardly pleasant.
Li Qiang snatched Nashan up, and the current on his body immediately traveled through Li Qiang to sear Tange. Nashan shook violently in Li Qiang's hand for a full two minutes, making Tange shake for a good while too.
Li Qiang felt absolutely nothing. He even wondered inwardly whether it was really that powerful.
Holding the Azure Shadow Binding, Nashan was terrified. This was the first Law Treasure he had obtained in his life, and he had personally tasted its power. He wanted to refuse it, yet could not bear to part with it. Boss had modified it himself, after all, and its ability to electrocute people held no small attraction for him.
Tange watched him from the side. "Old Na, if you don't want it, give it to me. I want it!" He was genuinely afraid this fellow would lose control again someday and give him another shock. That would be unbearable. It would be safer in his own hands.
Hearing someone compete for it, Nashan said without thinking, "I want it! Who said I didn't? It's safer in my own hands." He had caught on too.
Nanzi Dong lowered his head and racked his brains, baffled as to how the Azure Shadow Binding had become like this. This was his first time seeing Heart Refining; previously, he had only heard of it. His greatest puzzle was that Li Qiang had used not Samadhi True Fire, but Brilliant Swift Heavenly Fire. He had never heard of anyone in the Cultivation Realm using Heavenly Fire to refine treasures. That was the legendary refining fire of the Immortal Realm, something cultivators found very difficult to master. This Li Qiang truly defied his expectations.
The entire refining process had been plain to see, yet his questions only multiplied. His heart itched so badly that he wished he could reach inside and scratch it. Since learning to refine treasures, he had devoted almost all his time and effort to it, to the point of hampering his own cultivation. Witnessing the Cultivation Realm's supreme refining method firsthand had shaken him deeply. He knew that his days ahead would probably be spent in torment.
Before long, Paben and the others had chosen their equipment. Zhao Zhi and Tange had both chosen armor. Besides armor, Paben had also selected an arm shield, which Li Qiang had let him have. Hong Qian and Kubo had also given their shares to the others. To those two, Nanzi Dong's weapons and protective gear no longer counted as anything particularly good.
Li Qiang said, "Old Beetle, here are three Law Treasures. Choose two. They're called the Hundred-Blade Spear, the Eagle Strike Crossbow, and the Crimson Flame Dragon Shield. They're weapons I often used before, but lately I've had some new ideas and intend to refine new weapons."
Nanzi Dong beamed with delight. Holding the three weapons, he had no idea how to choose. Their appearance alone enthralled him. He knew that weapons made through Heart Refining had to be personally refined again before they could be used, unlike those made through Instrument Refining, which could be used as soon as they were completed.
Having to choose two of the three nearly drove him mad with worry.
Li Qiang glanced at Kubo again and smiled. "Kubo, what weapon do you usually use? Bring it out and let me see."
After seeing Li Qiang's weapons, Kubo truly lacked the courage to bring out his own treasure for display. Hong Qian knew exactly what his precious disciple was thinking. "Kubo, take it out... what nonsense are you thinking?"
Blushing, Kubo took out eighteen egg-sized beads strung together. They had brown backgrounds covered in black dots and lines, densely floating in layer upon layer over their surfaces. Li Qiang discovered that each layer depicted a formation. This was his first time seeing such a weapon, and his curiosity flared.
Li Qiang took the beads and examined them with his mind. He discovered that every formation on a bead was interconnected. Sometimes there was a formation with complementary attributes between beads, though not between every pair. Each bead contained eighteen layers of formations, yet something still seemed to be missing, leaving it incomplete. Even so, it was the most intricate Law Treasure he had ever seen.
"Kubo, what is this Law Treasure called? Who made it? Demonstrate it for us."
Seeing Li Qiang take it so seriously, Kubo was surprised too. "Boss, I don't know its name either. I call it the Linked Beads now. I found it in some ruins on the Western Continent. At first, I couldn't use it. Only after studying it with Master did I learn a little. It isn't very powerful, but it's more useful than my own Law Treasure because it can both attack and defend."
Li Qiang asked, "Old Beetle, you must have a place specifically for testing Law Treasures here. Take us there!"
Nanzi Dong hurriedly replied, "Yes! Yes! Yes! Follow me, everyone."
The testing ground lay deeper underground. It was spacious, with a hemispherical ceiling specially reinforced with protective measures. They entered the open, clean space. Nanzi Dong smiled. "You can test freely here. I've added five layers of defenses to this place. There shouldn't be any problems," he said confidently.
Li Qiang examined the beads again, silently committing them to memory. There were eighteen unusual formations in all, and it took him little time to memorize them completely. This was thanks to memorizing them with his mind, which was both quick and resistant to forgetting.
He returned the Linked Beads to Kubo and smiled. "Let me try and see just what this thing is."
Standing in the center of the testing ground, Li Qiang considered the formations he had just seen, then tried drawing one in midair with True Essence Power. He gave a low cry. "Go!" A streak of red light flew from his hand and struck the wall with a smack. The defensive blue light on the wall flashed, silently dissipating it.
Kubo was astonished. That red light was his Law Treasure's form of attack, yet Li Qiang was not holding the Linked Beads.
Li Qiang immediately drew the second formation. This time, a streak of blue light flew from his hand, likewise with very little power. He stopped, closed his eyes, and sank into thought.
Hong Qian and the others hardly dared breathe, knowing he was studying the Linked Beads' secrets. Kubo was filled with admiration. Boss truly was extraordinary. After examining the Linked Beads just once, he could unleash their attacks empty-handed, while Kubo and his master had tried countless times before learning even the rudiments of using them.
Li Qiang replayed the formations he had memorized over and over in his mind. Suddenly, he began to understand.