Chapter 249 - 176: Liu Heng’s Return, Gains, Artifact Refining

Chapter 249: Chapter 176: Liu Heng’s Return, Gains, Artifact Refining

The gray, hazy world grew illusory and the phantom of the Qilin vanished. As Zhao Zuo opened his eyes, the Qilin Seal had already transformed into a streak of light that shot toward him, ultimately merging with his brain and appearing inside his Sea of Souls.

Normally, the Qilin Seal floated above his Sea of Souls, but this time it had merged directly into it, which was equivalent to becoming completely integrated with Zhao Zuo’s soul.

From within the Qilin Seal, wisps of a cool aura spread out. The once-still Sea of Souls now showed traces of surging currents.

He could feel that there was no longer any barrier between the Qilin Seal and himself. It was no longer a foreign object, but more like an organ that had grown from his very soul.

At the same time, Zhao Zuo could feel that a part of his soul had become heavier. This was because in the Cultivation Realm, there was a limit to the number of Lifebound Magical Artifacts one could refine. Each Refinement placed a burden on the soul, so the number of Lifebound Magical Treasures refined became a measure of a person’s soul strength.

That night in the Yunlan Mountain Range, the reason Xue Wuxing had been so astonished was that Li Ge had refined an incredible number of Lifebound Magical Artifacts, far beyond his imagination. That was the domain of a genius.

Feeling the current weight of his soul, Zhao Zuo made a rough estimate. He could probably handle one more Lifebound Magical Artifact. As for his target... Zhao Zuo had long since decided: the Sky-Breaking Saber.

The cool aura spread throughout his Sea of Souls, mutually nourishing and enhancing his own soul. The Qilin Seal’s soul-defending capabilities would be improved as well. Not only that... ’All of its abilities must have been amplified to some extent.’

The effects of Nourishing Meridians, Body Protection, and gathering Spiritual Power were all strengthened as well. The most obvious change was the concentration of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power in his surroundings, which had increased to the point of being visible to the naked eye.

Zhao Zuo used his will to deactivate the Qilin Seal’s ability to gather Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power, leaving only the two passive abilities of defense and Nourishing Meridians active. The concentration of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power in the surroundings dropped noticeably.

These were the benefits of the Refinement of the Qilin Seal into a Lifebound Magical Artifact: more convenient and detailed control over each ability, and an amplification of all of them. Of course, its other effects... those could only be truly felt when facing an attack of Divine Thought.

Zhao Zuo smiled. He used a Talisman to incinerate the nearly dried blood inside the bronze cauldron, then used a Cleaning Talisman to remove the filth from its inner walls. Finally, he stored the bronze cauldron in his Storage Bag for next time.

Although he had succeeded in the Refinement of his Lifebound Magical Artifact on the first try.

But the ordeal... had left Zhao Zuo both mentally and physically drained. And because he had lost so much blood, he was once again showing signs of anemia.

This condition was clearly unsuitable for Cultivation, so he simply lay down on his bed to rest.

He slept until dawn. When Zhao Zuo sat up, his fatigue from the previous night was completely gone. He took out a blood-replenishing Pill Medicine and swallowed it, further stimulating his body’s ability to produce blood.

The Sky-Breaking Saber would be repaired within five days. When it was ready, he would have to let blood again to perform the Refinement of his second Lifebound Magical Artifact. His supply of Bright Soul Pills and Soul Cleansing Water was still plentiful, so he didn’t need to purchase more.

After taking a few sips of mountain spring water, Zhao Zuo took out his Communication Jade and checked the messages within.

"Younger Brother Zhao, I’m back. The trip was a success. I’ll tell you all about it when I visit tomorrow night..."

"I heard some news!"

"How did you manage to offend Meng Tianhua? The entire Inner Sect is saying he’s going to challenge you to the Life and Death Platform again."

"But it’s probably fine. He shouldn’t be a match for you..."

Zhao Zuo could sense a complex mix of joy, nervousness, and lingering fear in Liu Heng’s voice. Based on the message, they must have returned yesterday but hadn’t come to visit directly. Liu Heng was probably recovering from their trip by sleeping.

"Alright, I’ll wait for you in my Cave Mansion tonight."

After sending the message, Zhao Zuo got up and fed his Fire Spirit Snake. Once it had eaten its fill, he returned to his bedroom to enter seclusion, beginning to read the book on the Heaven-Melting Scripture and infusing Mana into his Qilin Seal.

"——Focus, activate!"

All sounds fell silent, and the world lost its color.

Fifty minutes later, Zhao Zuo emerged from his state of focus. Just as he’d guessed, turning the Qilin Seal into a Lifebound Magical Artifact had indeed increased the duration of his focused state. The headache he experienced afterward had also lessened; it was no longer that feeling of his soul being torn apart.

Still, he needed to rest for a moment.

Half an hour later, Zhao Zuo finished organizing the memories in his mind. A smile touched his lips, a joy that not even the Sutra of Calming the Mind could suppress. In the mentally simulated world, his success rate with the Melt Casting Technique...

...had finally reached 100%!

This meant Zhao Zuo could officially start Refining Middle-Grade Magical Artifacts. Even if he could only make one per day, that was an income of hundreds of thousands of Spirit Stones each month. More importantly, being able to refine Middle-Grade Magical Artifacts meant he was qualified to take the Earth Fire Hall’s True Inheritance assessment and enter the ranks of the Moyun Sect’s True Disciples.

The Earth Fire Hall was in charge of the Moyun Sect’s Artifact Refining, so its disciple assessments were naturally related to the craft. Proficiency in forging Spirit Iron could make one an Outer Sect disciple. Being able to refine a Lower-Grade Magical Artifact made one an Inner Sect Disciple. And successfully refining a Middle-Grade Magical Artifact... that made one a True Disciple.

As for Upper-Grade Magical Artifacts, that was a Realm only the most outstanding among the Inner Sect Elders could reach.

In the entire Moyun Sect, the number of people who could refine Magical Treasures could be counted on one hand. Only the highest-ranking Elders within the Earth Fire Hall possessed such skill. The current strongest expert in the Earth Fire Hall’s Path of Artifact Refining was its Head, Wei Tianheng, who was rumored to be over three hundred years old.