Chapter 2623 - 2615: Artifact Refining Begins

Chapter 2623: Chapter 2615: Artifact Refining Begins

Feng Jun’s words express distrust towards the entire clan practitioner system.

Everyone knows that the clan practitioner system is fragmented, but it’s not absolute. When new interest growth points appear, their first consideration is unanimously external confrontation.

Therefore, most loose cultivators are naturally repulsed by the clan system. Even sect system cultivators are not entirely unguarded against clan practitioners—if clan practitioners really want to steal techniques, their varied methods make it difficult for others to guard against them.

Qian Zhong also knew the reputation of clan practitioners, but she still wanted to try, "Dispersed refinement can effectively reduce risk. I believe others will give you some respect, but if the sect learns your technique, it truly takes it away."

Feng Jun nodded, "I support dispersed refinement, but it’s impossible to give all the refining tasks to clan practitioners. The clan will take part, the sect will take part, which is quite fair."

Qian Zhong was not satisfied with this result. However, from Feng Jun’s perspective, his decision was impeccable, so she could only express, "I hope you allocate more to the clan practitioners."

Yi Jue felt curious hearing this, "Isn’t the Yao Family secluded? How can they still have ties with other families?"

Qian Zhong replied, "They don’t know about our presence, but the Yao Family knows about theirs. We are still able to effectively grasp a lot of information."

Yi Jue nodded and asked Feng Jun again, "Can’t your sect refine this Magical Treasure?"

My sect... Feng Jun did not want to deceive Yi Jue but could only respond with some reluctance, "I have my own considerations."

In the following days, the three continually refined the Magical Treasure’s design. Meanwhile, Qian Zhong and Yi Jue both entrusted people to spread words, aiming to find skilled Artifact Refiners to schedule for custom Magical Treasure crafting.

Ten days later, the time to enter the void arrived again; the number of people was gathered at the Ice Plate, and then Feng Jun planned to send them into the void in batches.

Because he imposed a quota limit, there were just over one hundred cultivators entering the void this time, some of whom did not reveal their identities at all—such as the Yao Family disciples, which of course couldn’t escape Feng Jun’s detection.

Besides the Yao Family disciples, it was the first time for Green Lotus Sect practitioners to enter the void. Feng Jun was surprised that Green Lotus Sect had a Nascent Soul Middle Phase cultivator with the "space" constitution.

Clearly, with her cultivation level, she must occupy a spot. But Green Lotus Sect expressed indifference; they believed having this Nascent Soul True Immortal greatly enhanced their adaptability.

Seizing this opportunity, Feng Jun inquired about each family’s Artifact Refiners, and everyone was very enthusiastic, not only recommending their own forces’ Artifact Refiners but also offering advice on how to persuade them.

That’s right, it’s "persuade." Despite Feng Jun’s current popularity, excellent Artifact Refiners have always been courted proactively in any society, top technical talents always enjoy superior treatment.

Feng Jun noted down the names mentioned by everyone and then sent them into the void. Because many enjoyed free quotas this time, he only collected several tens of thousands of upper-grade spirit stones.

Qian Zhong initially intended to enter the void with the Yao Family disciples to impart her experience firsthand, but her interest in Feng Jun’s upcoming Magical Treasure was too great, so she could only hand over a few pieces of obsidian to Can Sheng Zhen Xian for completion.

After sending them off, Feng Jun did not return to White Pebble Beach but entrusted a mission at Xuanshui Sect, hoping Xuanshui disciples help contact the Seven Gates Eighteen Paths’ Artifact Refiners to see who was interested in taking the refining job.

Yes, he didn’t deliberately search for those top Artifact Refiners because the difficulty of refining this Magical Treasure isn’t high; the most challenging aspect is the conceptual approach. Anyway, as it’s the first refinement, there’s no need to pursue perfection.

Seeing him operate this way, Qian Zhong felt a bit helpless but still notified Yao Family disciples to quickly contact clan Artifact Refiners.

Five days later, eleven Artifact Refiners arrived—among them three were from Xuanshui Sect, which can be seen as keeping the wealth within the family.

Feng Jun’s call was quite effective; the top Artifact Refiners wouldn’t come personally, but some rising stars were willing to establish some good ties with him.

Once everyone was present, Feng Jun brought out the contract—the same confidentiality agreement from the Earth Realm—requiring them to sign it before refining.

For the Artifact Refiners, this situation was quite rare; they had encountered requests for confidentiality before, usually enforced through oaths. More assertive clients might even demand oaths on the cultivation path or family members’ life and death.

This simple contract was new to them, feeling it lacked severe restraint.

Though two Artifact Refiners couldn’t accept this constraint and bid farewell.

The remaining nine Artifact Refiners, however, signed the contract, followed Feng Jun to White Pebble Beach, and began preparing to refine the various modules of the comprehensive Magical Treasure.

Feng Jun defined the entire Magical Treasure as True Artifact level, but most modules are essentially Precious Treasure level; only a few core components reach True Artifact level, and among the Artifact Refiners accompanying Feng Jun, there were two Nascent Soul True Immortals.

Generally speaking, Yuan Ying True Immortals are rejected in Kunhao, but the Kunhao Realm is immensely fond of Feng Jun.

Moreover, with the formation of Earth Vein, there are three Nascent Soul Cave Mansions available for cultivation, even someone like Yi Jue at the Nascent Soul Peak can still recover spiritual energy even if she can’t cultivate in the cave mansion.

With all these conditions met, refining the magical treasure becomes much more convenient.

Since this is a magical treasure never refined by anyone before, even though Feng Jun and the artifact spirit did extensive simulations and absorbed opinions from both Yi Jue and Qian Zhong, the refining process still involves a lot of trial and error.

While the artifact refiners were crafting the magical treasure, Feng Jun wasn’t idle either. He continued to open the bidirectional gate, and every now and then traveled to the Insect World to help human cultivators smooth the relationship between the frontline and the rear.

As time progressed, the Insect Race’s offensive in the First Battlefield weakened noticeably, unable to advance further; instead, the battles in the Third and Fourth Battlefields grew somewhat more intense. However, with Great Sages like Luan Xiong and Wei Sancai holding the fort, human cultivators suffered minimal casualties.

A month passed swiftly and the progress in refining the magical treasure wasn’t significant, with nearly a hundred components scrapped. Feng Jun didn’t show any abnormal reaction, but a few artifact refiners felt somewhat embarrassed.

Artifact refiners are well aware that crafting a brand new magical treasure requires extensive experimentation, and multiple failures are quite normal. However, those invited by Feng Jun are among the best refiners, so they naturally feel a bit embarrassed.

Fortunately, Feng Jun made it clear that the failures in refinement aren’t solely their fault; they relate quite a lot to our unclear explanations. There’s no need to feel guilty; just keep up the efforts.

Otherwise, these artifact refiners might have been tempted to leave—it’s genuinely embarrassing.

Feng Jun calmed them down, then found Yi Jue and took out an obsidian box, "There’s something I’d like to consult with you..."

Inside the box were microorganisms he obtained from Mars, and he wondered if she had seen such organisms before.

After he explained, Yi Jue lifted her eyebrows indifferently, "A creature that devours spiritual energy... there are way too many, let me take a look."

"Hold on," Feng Jun gestured to stop her, asserting seriously, "If it’s handled improperly, can you guarantee it won’t spread?"

"It’s not as terrifying as you think," Yi Jue smiled indifferently, "In the Spirit Plant studies, there are plenty of dangerous things. Creatures that can be destroyed by common fire really don’t have to be worried about... does your sect act with such caution?"

"I believe I am just cautious," Feng Jun replied with a grin, "But such things that might spread massively, if handled improperly, could at least cause significant mortal casualties... it wouldn’t be the first time."

"Mortals... okay," Yi Jue was obviously dismissive but still took out an array plate, activated it, and a faint wisp of white smoke emerged, soon diluting to the point of being invisible.

"First use the Drunken Spirit Array to control it. If that doesn’t work, you can use common fire to burn it. If all else fails... you and I possess divine skills, there’s nothing to fear from them overturning the world. Worst-case scenario... send them into the void."

Feng Jun nodded, internally agreeing that the cultivation world indeed had its own methods for handling unknown organisms.

Of course, such confident handling comes from decades of nurturing such confidence over tens of thousands of years.

Feng Jun even thought enviously: it’s just unknown how many tuition fees Tianqin cultivators have paid over these years.

While he was lost in thought, Yi Jue opened the obsidian box and began to sense those microorganisms.

After about ten minutes, she slightly frowned, "Hmm?"

After the brief "Hmm," she raised her hand to close the obsidian box and then put away the Drunken Spirit Array, glancing at Feng Jun and stated, "These microorganisms haven’t leaked. If you’re still worried, use common fire to treat them again."

Feng Jun chuckled, "Since the fairy said so, I am certainly reassured... what’s the degree of harm of this thing?"

It wasn’t that he was appealing to her; he could also judge whether the microorganisms leaked or not. He worried about any accidents, but Yi Jue’s divine sense was much stronger than his, and her judgment was almost definitive.

"The degree of harm... difficult to say," Yi Jue arched her beautiful brows, "But its evolutionary path is very bizarre. Coincidentally, Spirit Plant studies are gathering similar organisms, can I take it back for analysis?"

"Of course you can," Feng Jun nodded without hesitation, and then curiously asked, "What are you collecting such organisms for?"

Yi Jue gave him a peculiar look, "Naturally, it’s used for spirit plant cultivation. The reason you feel many things are harmful is that they’re not applied correctly.