Two days passed in a blink of an eye.
In the inn, Yuan Ming slowly opened his eyes, his gaze intense.
With the assistance from the Nine Elents Technique combined with the Nourishing Origin Pill and the Mystic Fragrance, his mana had grown much denser. The cultivation of just these two days was equivalent to nearly half a month's effort from the past.
Presumably, the Mystic Fragrance, suited for high-level cultivators or as tributes in sects, was originally intended for aids in cultivation.
Moreover, each cultivation session consud more than one incense stick, and the cost in spirit stones was substantial—not sothing a minor sect could easily afford.
In the barbaric land of the Southern Border, there couldn't be many capable of affording such expenses—no wonder that old priest's business was so poor.
According to the agreent, today he could collect the Thousand chanism Mask; he wondered whether Master Huo Lian had succeeded.
Yuan Ming checked out of the inn and headed to Master Huo Lian's magic artifact shop.
Since the other party was aware of his identity, he didn't bother to conceal himself this ti.
"Haha, Fellow Daoist arrives just in ti; the Thousand chanism Mask is already refined, and I've not failed my mission." Before Yuan Ming could speak, the bald man chuckled.
"Thank you! Is Master Huo Lian not in the shop?" Yuan Ming asked, his heart settled.
"Oh, my master is busy in the back room. Please have a look." The bald man said and retrieved a wooden box from beneath the counter, passing it over.
Yuan Ming opened the wooden box, inside was a sowhat translucent white mask, extrely thin and warm to the touch, feeling almost like human skin.
He tried putting it on his face; it fit perfectly and was nearly imperceptible.
"My master said you are quite lucky, Fellow Daoist. This artifact refining session was quite successful. This Thousand chanism Mask can be used three tis, so please use it carefully," the bald man added.
"What! Only three uses?" Yuan Ming's eyes flashed with surprise.
"Do you not know, Fellow Daoist? The Thousand chanism Mask is indeed a consumable magic artifact. Its main material is the face skin of a human-faced spider, a re Level 1 Fierce Beast material, containing too weak spiritual power. Being able to sustain three transformations is already quite impressive," the bald man explained.
Yuan Ming fell silent.
A Magic Artifact Shop welcod custors openly and was unlikely to deceive him on such matters. The Thousand chanism Mask, made from a Level 1 Fierce Beast material yet being surprisingly effective to the point of deceiving even Foundation Establishnt cultivators, was indeed unusual. It seed his expectations were a bit high.
With that in mind, he didn't pursue further, paid the remaining half of the artifact refining fee, and left with the Thousand chanism Mask.
Yuan Ming didn't linger in Black Rock City and quickly departed towards Biluo Cave Sect.
...
On the way, Yuan Ming was wary of potential robbers and made ample preparations, but the journey was uneventful.
Upon returning to Biluo Cave, Yuan Ming headed straight to the back mountains to find the Third Cave Master.
"Is this Yin Jade?" The Third Cave Master's expression changed upon seeing the half of the white Ruyi he took out.
"Indeed," Yuan Ming nodded.
"I didn't expect you to find Yin Jade as a substitute. Although its grade cannot compare to the thousand-year-old ice crystal, it's not easy to find, and it has a particularly unique attribute. You're quite fortunate. Just be cautious, as using such a magic artifact for prolonged periods might harm your Divine Soul. I'll try to minimize its backlash during refining, but you still need to be careful," the Third Cave Master said after inspecting the Yin Jade Yuan Ming brought back, and nodded slightly with a warning.
"Then I'm in the hands of the Third Cave Master," Yuan Ming said, bowing with his fists.
"Follow ," said the Third Cave Master, rising to lead Yuan Ming to the small courtyard's back hall.
Upon reaching the back hall, Yuan Ming imdiately noticed a pitch-black casting furnace, similar in style to Master Hei Mu's, also engraved with many secretive patterns.
The Third Cave Master approached the furnace, picked so charcoal stones and sulfur from a nearby shelf, and tossed them into the furnace.
Then, raising her hand, she ford a spell and pressed it onto the body of the furnace.
The next mont, a flash of fire light ignited from her palm, spreading like a wildfire, lighting up the patterns on the furnace.
Streams of red light converged from all directions, focusing into the body of the furnace, coalescing into a blazing fla that ignited the furnace chamber.
An incredibly intense heat erged fiercely from the furnace, the blast of hot air caused Yuan Ming's face to tighten and he instinctively stepped back.
The Third Cave Master, however, seed unaffected.
Perched on her shoulder, Huo Chan'er tipped his head back, sagged his waist, and luxuriously stretched, looking quite comfortable.
"Pass the sword," said the Third Cave Master.
Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming imdiately offered up the Green Fish Sword with both hands.
Huo Chan'er then climbed onto his shoulder by traversing the arm that reached out.
The Third Cave Master waved her hand and opened a sealing door on the furnace, and a surge of fire burst out like floodwaters from a dam.
She raised her palm and made a virtual press towards the oncoming flas, and an invisible mana forced the fire back into the fire pit.
Next, she levitated the Green Fish Sword with her mana, slowly inserting it into the furnace.
Entering the center of the fire pit, the sword was imdiately surrounded by roaring flas, the licks of fire tasting the blade as if they had found delicious food.
Yuan Ming felt it strange, but upon closer observation, he realized that the Third Cave Master was deliberately manipulating the flow of the flas.
"You must have a Fire Spiritual Root. On normal days, you should choose a fire attribute magic to practice the Fire Control Technique, which is very necessary for an Artifact Refiner," the voice of the Third Cave Master rang out, giving advice to Yuan Ming.
Yuan Ming subconsciously wanted to say that he had been practicing, but he imdiately stopped himself.
Not to ntion the problematic origin of his magic, even the Burning Explosion Skill, a volatile technique, had nothing to do with Fire Control. If really used, he feared it would instantly blow up the casting furnace.
"Yes," Yuan Ming nodded in response.
"The second slting is particularly critical regarding the heat; watch carefully," the Third Cave Master instructed.
"With personal guidance from the Third Cave Master, this disciple must engrave it in his heart," Yuan Ming responded.
Actually, Yuan Ming wouldn't miss such a rare observation opportunity even without her reminder.
After the Third Cave Master finished speaking, she no longer continued but concentrated on controlling the flas and the furnace's temperature.
The Green Fish Sword was undergoing a second slting, unlike the initial slting where all materials were lted together to remove impurities and rge. Instead, it needed to be burned until it reached the critical state of retaining form but dispersing energy.
Once beyond this critical state, the form of the Green Fish Sword would lt, losing its original solid structure, but if it did not reach this state, the Yin Jade could not be rged into it.
Yuan Ming understood this principle, but to actually perform it, with his current level of power, he was not capable yet.
After about a quarter of an hour of burning, the temperature inside the casting furnace suddenly rose, and the surface of the Green Fish Sword sequentially lit up with bright white, golden, and bright red lusters from inside out.
"Yin Jade," the Third Cave Master said with a slight frown.
Yuan Ming imdiately presented it with both hands.
The Third Cave Master took the Yin Jade with one hand and gently stroked the casting furnace's sealing door with the other.
The furnace's sealing door opened again, and a more intense blast of air whooshed out, yet the flas remained under the control of the Third Cave Master within it.
Then, with a flick of her finger, a thread of mana pulled the Green Fish Sword out, placing it on the casting platform.
Almost simultaneously, the hand holding the Yin Jade pressed down towards the Green Fish Sword.
"Hiss..."
With a soft sound, a large amount of white vapor stead up, obstructing Yuan Ming's vision.
He only saw the Third Cave Master close the fire pit's sealing door, grab the casting hamr beside her, and smash it down on the platform.
"Clang, clang, clang"
With each strike, there were no sparks, but a series of light rings shone brightly with each hamr blow.
The hazy vapor only revealed a blurry, graceful figure, whose movents were fluid and elegant, not giving off any sense of clumsiness.
Yuan Ming's eyes sharpened as he concentrated his mana to his eyes, significantly enhancing his vision.
Only then did he see that with each hamr strike by the Third Cave Master, the Green Fish Sword shined with radiant light, enveloped in a thin layer of white Jade Powder that, no matter how it vibrated, always clung around the sword, never dissipating.
With each hamrfall, so Jade Powder would integrate into the sword, rging with it.
And with each integration, the light on the sword would diminish slightly, and its heat noticeably decreased as well.
Suddenly, the Third Cave Master began to swing her hamr faster and faster. The "clang" sounds of the hamr strikes also began to sound continuous and uninterrupted.
Yuan Ming watched in astonishnt, unable to fathom the number of continuous strikes, not to ntion, this speed was beyond his reach for now.
However, Yuan Ming could see clearly that the Third Cave Master suddenly sped up to maintain the sword's temperature through the hamring, ensuring all the Yin Jade Crystal Powder could integrate into the sword.
Just then, a hurried call suddenly ca from outside the courtyard: "Is the Third Cave Master present? The Great Cave Master sends a disciple to invite her for urgent consultation."
"What bad timing?" Yuan Ming frowned, afraid that the Third Cave Master might be affected. My Virtual Library Empire (*) hosts the original.
The urgent summons from the Great Cave Master, an issue concerning a re registered disciple, how could it compare? If the Third Cave Master stopped now, all previous efforts would be wasted. Not only would the hard-earned spiritual materials be ruined, but the Green Fish Sword might also lose the chance to improve further.
Fortunately, the latter's actions showed no delay; it was as if she hadn't heard at all and was unaffected.
The person outside seed to hear the activity inside, fearing that it had not been heard, projected their mana to shout louder, and the voice beca even clearer.
But the Third Cave Master continually swung her hamr as if nothing could disturb her.
Seeing this, Yuan Ming finally felt relieved.
He silently counted in his mind until the Third Cave Master had swung her hamr three thousand six hundred eighty-one tis before the hamring sound finally ceased, and the surrounding vapor had long since dissipated.
The Third Cave Master put down the casting hamr and single-handedly held up the newly refreshed Green Fish Sword, lifting it in front of her to observe.
The shape of the long sword had not changed much, but the blue body of the sword now had countless white specks, like snow falling in a blue sky or stars spread across the sky, indeed more splendid and ornate than before.
Yuan Ming's eyes lit up as he saw faint traces of white cold air seeping from the sword.
"Is it done?" he couldn't help asking.
"The materials have rged very well; the properties of the Yin Jade and the Green Fish Sword are perfectly compatible. As long as there is no problem with the Engraving and Spirit Implanting, this sword is at least a Mid-grade Magical Artifact," the Third Cave Master also seed quite satisfied, comnted.
"Many thanks to the Third Cave Master," hearing this, Yuan Ming imdiately knelt down, sincerely thanking her.
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