Modifying the Artifact Refining Cauldron

The greatest feature of Yi Xuan's artifact refining cauldron was its control over temperature.

Ordinary cultivators in this world all knew a little about artifact refining and alchemy, but those who had mastered either were exceedingly rare.

One reason was that, at their core, cultivators sought to raise their level of life, and both artifact refining and alchemy were merely means of assisting them in that process. As such, most cultivators devoted their efforts to improving their strength.

Another reason was that the skills of artifact refining and alchemy were not at all friendly to ordinary cultivators.

When it came to controlling temperature, for example, only experienced artifact refiners and Alchemists could do so with any precision. Other ordinary cultivators had no concept of it at all.

On top of that, the cauldrons sold on the market were, at the end of the day, nothing more than containers. Better cauldrons could simply withstand higher temperatures and melt rarer metals and medicinal ingredients.

Under those circumstances, relying on a cauldron alone to refine pills and artifacts effectively was a fool's dream. In the end, it still came down to the Alchemist's or artifact refiner's control over temperature.

Yi Xuan, however, had improved his artifact refining cauldron by adding a fire-control system. This allowed him to control the temperature with great precision during artifact refining, instead of ending up like other ordinary cultivators, whose lack of experience and inability to control the temperature precisely made alchemy and artifact refining seem like games of chance.

Yi Xuan opened a cover at the bottom of the artifact refining cauldron and placed a pitch-black piece of Mysterious Iron inside, then closed the cover.

Yi Xuan went around to the side, where a screen was embedded in the artifact refining cauldron.

Yi Xuan entered the optimal melting point of Mysterious Iron that he had worked out into the screen, then pressed confirm.

A boom came from inside the artifact refining cauldron. Through the transparent section beside the screen, he could see that the flames inside were rapidly melting the Mysterious Iron.

Yi Xuan kept his eyes on the inside of the artifact refining cauldron. Once the Mysterious Iron had completely melted, he extended his Divine Sense into the cauldron and began guiding the molten mass into the shape of the three-dimensional model in his mind.

At the same time, the temperature inside the artifact refining cauldron began to drop slowly. Yi Xuan did not dare let his attention wander for an instant. His Divine Sense held the formed mold firmly in place, keeping it in the required shape as the temperature fell so it would not warp from the change.

Yi Xuan used his Divine Sense to control the mold being refined inside while watching the temperature on the artifact refining cauldron's screen. Only when it had dropped to a certain point did he carefully lower the mold onto the platform inside the cauldron.

At this temperature, the Mysterious Iron would no longer warp as it cooled. Yi Xuan withdrew his Divine Sense and tapped the screen a few times. A jet of gas sprayed out inside, quickly bringing the temperature down to normal room temperature.

Yi Xuan looked at the mold inside the artifact refining cauldron and let out a soft sigh of relief. He waited a little longer before taking it out.

Looking at the black mold in his hand, Yi Xuan measured it with his Divine Sense and found that its precision was excellent, far exceeding his expectations.

Yi Xuan then made the remaining molds one by one in the same way.

It was late at night by the time Yi Xuan took the last mold out of the artifact refining cauldron. He felt as though he had not been this tired in a long time. Still, he was very happy as he looked at the molds on the table.

Although Yi Xuan was at the very bottom among cultivators in terms of strength, his stamina was still beyond that of an ordinary person. Even after working late into the night, he was still full of vigor.

After checking his mental state, Yi Xuan decided to finish the other things as well. If he worked quickly, he might be able to start mass-producing grenades by the next morning.

With a goal in mind, his work became much more efficient.

Yi Xuan worked through the night to upgrade the artifact refining cauldron.

First, he upgraded its control system. In fact, there had been nothing wrong with the original system. Even someone from the cultivation world could operate it with ease after being trained by Yi Xuan.

If a master artifact refiner from this world saw it, he would surely drop dead from shock on the spot. Something that allowed a person from the cultivation world with no artifact refining experience to succeed on their first attempt would not be undeserving of the title of divine artifact.

But Yi Xuan's knowledge was not something the natives of this world, who knew nothing of science, could compare with.

It was hard for Yi Xuan to be satisfied with a machine that still required someone to control every step manually.

So Yi Xuan added quite a few functions to the artifact refining cauldron's control system, including automatic control over the cooling of known materials, control over the quantity of materials used, and updates to some of the workflows, among other things.

Although the software work was finished quickly, the hardware and machinery also had to be updated to match. Otherwise, no matter how stable the software was, it could not make the artifact refining cauldron perform functions beyond its capabilities.

After a busy night, Yi Xuan finally finished thoroughly upgrading the artifact refining cauldron in the early morning.

From the outside, the artifact refining cauldron seemed much the same, but through the transparent section beside the screen, one could see that its interior had undergone an earth-shaking transformation.

Most obviously, the interior was no longer so empty. Several folded mechanical arms had been added around the sides, along with an area for storing molds. A large vat was suspended in the middle to hold the liquid metal melted by the artifact refining cauldron.

Yi Xuan had originally wanted to add a few more large vats to prepare for having to modify the artifact refining cauldron again when he needed alloys in the future.

After giving it some thought, however, he decided against it. By then, he might already have rendered the cauldron before him obsolete.

As for the mechanical arms inside the artifact refining cauldron, Yi Xuan had no electric motors, so he could not give them the multiple degrees of freedom of industrial robots.

In the end, Yi Xuan chose the simplest method: hydraulic drive, like the mechanism used in an excavator.

Although this structure was not flexible, fortunately the operations inside the artifact refining cauldron were not complicated. Four simple mechanical arms were more than enough to meet his needs.

Looking at the artifact refining cauldron before him, Yi Xuan eagerly put in Spirit Stones and Mysterious Iron, ready to test it.

When the artifact refining cauldron started up, its operating interface appeared on the screen once more.

Besides the previous icons on the desktop, there was now an icon that looked like a small cup, with the word "molds" written beneath it.

Yi Xuan tapped the little cup, and seven or eight molds appeared on the screen in an instant. They were precisely the molds needed for the grenade parts.

He chose a mold at random, then selected the material and quantity. Yi Xuan pressed confirm, then stood there waiting.

The wait was exceedingly long. Although Yi Xuan could watch what was happening inside in real time through the transparent section, he was still a little nervous until the parts were finished, afraid that his modifications had failed.

Fortunately, nothing unexpected happened. When the sounds inside the artifact refining cauldron died away, Yi Xuan opened its access port.

Ten identical parts were arranged neatly on the platform inside the artifact refining cauldron.