Chapter Ninety-One: Artifact Refining

With the aid of the Ghost Cultivators of the Spirit Ghost Realm, Leng Bingyan finally felt his heart settle. Three hundred thousand Ghost Cultivators were, after all, far more dependable than searching alone.

With their arrival, Leng Bingyan seemed to swallow a pill of reassurance, and he devoted all his energy to artifact refinement. Why refine artifacts at all? It had everything to do with rebuilding the Nine Provinces Barrier. To reset that barrier, the nine divine dragon cauldrons alone were far from sufficient. At most, they could serve as the suppressing foundation of the formation. If the barrier was truly to be made stable, countless arrays would be needed, and for those arrays, one could not do without magical treasures acting as the eyes of the formations. Thus, the most urgent task before him now was to refine artifacts, and not just a few, but a great many.

At the foot of Mount Kunlun, the peaks rose and fell in succession, the forests were ancient and deep, and the scenery was exquisite. More often, sheer cliffs and ravines dominated the view. Legend said that Kunlun was also an immortal mountain, and that the Primordial Deity Hongjun had come forth from it. Stretching for a thousand leagues, it naturally contained many primal grotto-heavens and blessed lands rich in spiritual energy.

Under Ziling's guidance, Leng Bingyan arrived at a secluded cave. This was the place on all of Mount Kunlun where spiritual energy was most abundant. More precious still, it was relatively hidden. In artifact refinement, one needed not only ample spiritual energy, but also freedom from disturbance.

There were usually three methods for refining artifacts. The first was ordinary refinement, using a fixed vessel as the cauldron and immortal stones as the base flame. The second was refinement by mind and spirit, using heaven and earth as the cauldron and controlling the process with the Three Flames of True Fire or with true essence; this was the best choice for refining high-grade magical treasures. The third was refinement with a magical treasure as the vessel, using one's own high-tier magical treasure, a divine artifact or something beyond it, as the cauldron. Unlike the first method, this approach demanded not only an exceedingly superior vessel, but also an even more exacting base flame. Only divine fire would do. Divine fire was a flame seed that surpassed Red Lotus Karmic Fire, and so the third method was only feasible for those with cultivation above the level of a divine being.

He took out the storage ring Mo Wuxie had once given him. During the trial forest, Leng Bingyan had used this ring to store the flesh of a giant serpent. At the time, he had taken a glance and found that the ring already contained quite a few things, but because he had not examined it carefully, he now brought it out again and searched through it item by item, seeing whether anything useful might be found.

From the ring, he took out a crimson crystal. Its surface gleamed brilliantly, like a ruby, though it was much harder than ruby and even more clear and translucent. "This is... Flame Crystal?" A strange light flashed in Leng Bingyan's eyes. He had heard Mo Wuxie mention it before: a pure fire-attribute crystal, rich in fire essence. For cultivators who practiced fire techniques, it was a tremendous tonic, and it was also the finest raw material for artifact refinement. If one added even a little Flame Crystal when refining magical implements, the implement would absorb fire energy far better during the process, and the grade of the finished treasure could leap forward by a qualitative margin.

Leng Bingyan examined the Flame Crystal in his hand. It was as large as a palm. One had to know that Flame Crystals were not easy to form at all. They did not exist on Earth, and even on planets where they could naturally arise, they were usually only thumb-sized. Yet this piece was as large as a palm. He stared at it for a long while, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. The crystal was clear and translucent; its grade could not possibly be low. If he used it to refine artifacts, would he not be able to produce a great batch of spiritual and immortal implements?

He looked again and found that there were still quite a few Flame Crystals in the storage ring, probably weighing at least several tons. Mo Wuxie was indeed Mo Wuxie; he truly was formidable to have collected so many Flame Crystals.

Of course, the ring did not contain only Flame Crystals. There was also a large quantity of high-quality black iron, which was the fundamental material for refining magical implements, as well as red copper, translucent stone, glass essence, and other essential refinement materials.

It could be said that the storage ring Mo Wuxie had left to Leng Bingyan contained more than enough material for artifact refinement. Used wisely, there might even be a surplus.

Once he decided to act, he acted at once. Leng Bingyan had studied the classics on artifact refinement before. During the grand inverted star-doubling formation of the Great Cycle of Heaven, aside from fusing the feathered purple qi within his body, he had spent all his remaining time reading those texts. He could not claim to have mastered the art without a teacher, but he understood seven or eight parts of it. Naturally, that was all theory; whether it could truly be put into practice depended on his skill.

Leng Bingyan did not dither. He casually picked up a piece of translucent stone, about the size of a palm and entirely white, somewhat resembling limestone. Holding the stone aloft in one hand, he rapidly formed seals with the other. In only a few short seconds, a total of one hundred and twenty-eight hand seals were struck out into the air without pause, completed in one seamless breath.

He released the stone from his grasp, and it miraculously floated of its own accord in midair. Then his other hand turned, five fingers straightened, palm facing upward.

"Nine Flames True Fire!"

With a low call, a pale white flame suddenly bloomed in his palm. It danced and immediately cast an immense pressure over the surrounding space.

Leng Bingyan did not use Three Flames True Fire, nor Six Flames True Fire. He went straight for Nine Flames True Fire. He knew that with Three Flames True Fire, being able to refine something of mere treasure grade would already be decent, while Six Flames True Fire would at best produce a spiritual implement. Artifact refinement was very strict about its fire seed. Since he could use Nine Flames True Fire, why would he choose anything less?

He placed the translucent stone above the pale flame. The white stone instantly turned red. Leng Bingyan kept his eyes fixed on it, fearful of missing the best moment to add the materials, after all, this was his first attempt at refinement.

Before long, the translucent stone had completely melted. Leng Bingyan cast a talismanic command, and the red copper and black iron beside him flew over as well, joining the burning Nine Flames True Fire and instantly liquefying too. Carefully controlling them as they fused in midair, Leng Bingyan strove to do his utmost. Once the three liquid substances blended together, he immediately cut off a portion of the Flame Crystal. He did not need much of it; just a little would be enough, since its effects were obvious and it was precious besides.

Just as the raw materials were about to finish melding, Leng Bingyan was briefly delighted.

"Eh—"

With a dull boom, the crystal materials in fusion suddenly exploded. Leng Bingyan flicked his fingers, forming a barrier that blocked the scattering crystals and stray fire.

"What happened? Why did everything go to waste like this?" he wondered in confusion.

"What is there to be puzzled about? The number of failures is always greater than the number of successes," Ziling comforted him in his mind. "Besides, the success rate of artifact refinement was never high to begin with. For a beginner like you to hope for success on the first try would be a fool's dream."

"Is that so?"

"Of course. If artifact refinement were so easy, would magical treasures not be flying everywhere in this world? But in truth, have you seen so many? Even now, the major sects and factions all regard magical treasures as precious things."

Leng Bingyan thought it over and found that Ziling's words made sense. How could artifact refinement truly be so easy to succeed at? The reality was indeed like this. In the vast cultivation world, though its numbers could not compare with the mortal realm, cultivators were still by no means few. Yet even so, those who understood artifact refinement were only a minority, and those truly versed in it were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. Thus, magical treasures were exceedingly precious in the eyes of cultivators, and high-tier treasures could even attract greedy eyes from others, bringing bloodshed and disaster. Perhaps this was the meaning of the saying: an innocent man is punished for his wealth.

Leng Bingyan once again threw himself into artifact refinement. He did not feel distressed over the materials wasted in failed attempts, after all, he still had many more in his storage ring. Having gained experience from the first attempt, the second refinement went much more smoothly. Experience was something that always accumulated step by step.

"Eh—"

It failed again, but Leng Bingyan did not lose heart. He adjusted his state of mind, absorbed the lessons from the previous attempts, and began anew.

At last, after failing an unknown number of times and wasting an unknown amount of material, the first magical implement was successfully refined. Looking at the heap of slag filling the cave, Leng Bingyan finally understood why artifact refiners were so few among cultivators. It was simply too ruinous. To cultivate a grand master of artifact refinement, how many priceless crystals and materials would have to be consumed!

The first implement was not of very high grade. Even though Leng Bingyan had used the high-level Nine Flames True Fire, the item he refined was only a treasure of the lowest rank among magical implements, still a long way from becoming a spiritual implement.

Still, Leng Bingyan was already very satisfied. At last, he had succeeded at one. His earlier efforts had not been in vain. Pressing forward with renewed vigor, he threw himself back into refinement and produced several more pieces in succession. Among them was a cyan longsword that especially pleased him. Its blade was slender, its lines graceful. It was enough to qualify as a spiritual implement, though it lacked an artifact spirit. An artifact spirit was something that formed over a long period of self-nurturing. This longsword had only just been forged; it possessed the quality of a spiritual implement, but not yet its true substance.

Failure is the mother of success, and never was this truer. Through failure, Leng Bingyan succeeded in forging a spiritual implement, and in the refinements that followed, he grew ever more adept, sweeping away the dull awkwardness of his beginnings and revealing the bearing of an expert in artifact refinement. Treasure implements, spiritual implements—Leng Bingyan refined them tirelessly and without fatigue, and one successful creation after another came into being. By chance, when fortune smiled, he could even produce one or two immortal-grade treasures.

"Not bad. You've become an expert so quickly," Ziling praised him without reservation. Leng Bingyan felt rather embarrassed by the compliment, thinking to himself that Ziling had finally praised him for once, when before it had always been criticism.

Yet for an immortal at the early stage of Immortal Emperor cultivation, the fact that the treasures he refined were not all immortal artifacts could also be counted as a disgrace. One had to know that magical treasures refined by ordinary immortals were generally considered immortal artifacts. Still, one could not be too harsh in one's demands; after all, this was his first time refining artifacts.

"Why not try Red Lotus Karmic Fire?" Ziling said something astonishing.

What was Red Lotus Karmic Fire? It was the final trial an immortal faced after passing the heavenly tribulation and ascending to the divine realm. It tested the cultivator's karmic burden. If one had committed too many sins and accumulated too much karmic fire, then there was no escaping the burning of Red Lotus Karmic Fire. It was, in truth, the thing all immortals feared most.

Use Red Lotus Karmic Fire to refine magical treasures?

Leng Bingyan's eyes lit up. Although at present he could at most wield Nine Flames True Fire, he possessed the source of fire itself. With that source reinforcing him, he could still manage a brief release of Red Lotus Karmic Fire.

Since the thought had come to him, Leng Bingyan naturally no longer hesitated. With a flip of his hand, a brilliant red flame, lovely as a lotus, sprang into being. Layer upon layer, its petals of fire were exquisitely beautiful. But one must not be deceived by its appearance; it was, in truth, an utterly terrifying existence.

Using the same method as before, Leng Bingyan repeated each step according to his prior experience. The only difference was that Nine Flames True Fire had become Red Lotus Karmic Fire.

Before long, a peerless magical treasure was born. It was a scarlet lotus, its shape entirely modeled after the appearance of karmic fire when it manifests. What an extraordinary treasure it was—it had actually already reached the level of a high-grade immortal artifact. If it were just a little better, it would have become a divine artifact outright. Fortunately, it was not a divine artifact; otherwise, with a divine artifact's emergence, the heavenly tribulation that would descend would not have been pleasant at all.

He hurriedly added several different kinds of power enhancement to the scarlet lotus and named it Crimson Lotus, a title perfectly suited to its form.

Putting away the freshly refined Crimson Lotus, Leng Bingyan was brimming with excitement. He intended to keep this lotus as a personal memento and not use it in laying out the Nine Provinces Barrier. At the very least, it could serve as a keepsake.

After that, he plunged once more into the dark and ceaseless labor of artifact refinement. Laying out the Nine Provinces Barrier was no child's play. It would require a great many magical treasures to serve as the eyes of the countless formations.