Chapter 255 - 179: Warning, Ascetic Practice, Contact

Chapter 255: Chapter 179: Warning, Ascetic Practice, Contact

When struck by an enemy’s attack, it would reflect a portion of the force and energy, knocking the enemy back and damaging their internal meridians. An attribute like this meant it was a characteristic that could only be used in a Defensive Magical Artifact.

According to the diagrams, the Cyan Mountain Shield weighed around fifty pounds. It was a one-handed, handheld shield, making it well-suited for Body Refining Cultivators to block an opponent’s magical artifacts.

Zhao Zuo’s perspective was much broader now than it had been before. He had also come much further down the Path of Artifact Refining. Only now did he truly understand the value of the Cyan Mountain Shield blueprints.

If Upper Grade Magical Artifacts were divided into tiers, then one inscribed with three of the same Spirit Pattern would be considered lower-tier. One with three different Spirit Patterns would be middle-tier. And one with three different Spirit Patterns that complemented and fused with each other would be considered upper-tier.

The pattern formed when three Spirit Patterns were overlaid and fused was called a ’Trifold Spirit Descent.’ This was a product of a higher level of the Path of Artifact Refining, and it was also the minimum requirement for refining a Magical Treasure.

It wasn’t just a blueprint for an Upper Grade Magical Artifact; it was also one of the requirements for advancing to become a Second Tier Artifact Refiner.

Zhao Zuo reined in his thoughts and began to study the inscription method for the Thick Earth Spirit Pattern. This pattern consisted of sixty-one strokes. Some of the techniques overlapped with those for the Heavy Mountain Spirit Pattern, but others were completely new. Fortunately, an ancestor of the Shen Family had left annotations in the margins, so it wasn’t difficult to understand.

In fact, Zhao Zuo had started learning the Thick Earth Spirit Pattern a long time ago. He just hadn’t reached the threshold of being able to inscribe it in under five seconds, so he still needed to practice repeatedly.

Zhao Zuo stirred a bit of his mana, injecting it into the Qilin Seal in his mind.

’Focus: activate!’

At that moment, the world fell silent. Zhao Zuo’s vision narrowed, focusing only on the manual in his hands, on the key techniques for inscribing the Thick Earth Spirit Pattern. The virtual space in his mind reappeared, and he began to practice inscribing the pattern over and over. In the real world, his right hand simultaneously began to trace the inscription onto the surface of the Spirit Wood.

His speed was incredible, though his success rate was still low. However, he was visibly making progress, getting closer and closer to the correct method. In what felt like the blink of an eye... forty-five minutes passed.

Zhao Zuo collapsed onto his bed, closing his eyes to recuperate.

After a few moments, he sat up and visualized a giant silver hammer repeatedly smashing down within his Sea of Souls. This was something he had discovered by chance: after overdrawing his mental energy with ’Focus,’ the effectiveness of cultivating the Soul-Forging Technique was boosted immensely—it was at least twice as effective as usual.

’At this rate, I can finish the first level of the Soul-Forging Technique in about two years,’ Zhao Zuo recalculated.

Right then, high above his Sea of Souls, the giant silver hammer slammed down, kicking up layer after layer of silver waves that ebbed and flowed like the ocean tide. A silver mist billowed upward, and upon reaching a certain height, it condensed into a rain of fine threads that fell back down. Through this cycle, the power of his soul was compressed.

This was the secret behind how the Soul-Forging Technique strengthened the soul.

「The next day.」

Zhao Zuo first swallowed a wisp of Sun Essence and began cultivating the Golden Body Technique. Scorching energy surged down his throat and into his stomach, as if he had swallowed a burning piece of charcoal. Excruciating pain spread from his stomach, eventually permeating every piece of his flesh, down to the very cells.

Zhao Zuo’s body trembled slightly. He gritted his teeth and began to perform the postures of the Golden Body Technique, continuously refining the Sun Essence. As the searing energy spread, beads of cold sweat broke out on his forehead. The pain was a scorching, burning sensation, as if his body were being roasted over a fire, forcing sweat from his pores.

He discovered that the Sun Essence’s energy boosted his Golden Body Technique even more effectively than the Vajra Pills, which were specifically designed for it. Under the influence of this energy, his progress with the Golden Body Technique advanced at a visible rate. His muscles trembled unceasingly, and a golden light began to shine from beneath his skin.

"Hah..."

Zhao Zuo took a deep breath, then exhaled a plume of waste air. For a moment, it looked as if flames flickered from his mouth and nose. Fortunately, he had a Fire-series Spiritual Root. Combined with the various Spiritual Objects and Magical Treasures within him, he possessed a high resistance to fire-energy damage. The pain was not unbearable; on the contrary, a pleasant sensation spread through his limbs and bones.

Two hours later, the Sun Essence was completely refined. Zhao Zuo stood up and casually used a Cleaning Talisman to wipe away the traces of sweat and blood on his body before taking out a flask of cool water and gulping down several mouthfuls.

What puzzled him was that Vajra Pills seemed to be a lower-grade version of Sun Essence.

The energy they both emitted felt remarkably similar to Zhao Zuo, as if they shared a common origin. This confirmed a suspicion he’d had.

Cultivating the Golden Body Technique was impossible without Vajra Pills. While other items could replenish one’s Qi and Blood, they couldn’t replace the core energy found within the pills.

Zhao Zuo quickly did the math in his head. ’Each dose is equivalent to about five or six days of ascetic practice.’ He didn’t mind the pain. After all, he was far more afraid of being weak and powerless.

Unfortunately, he could only obtain two wisps of Sun Essence each month. As for the side effect of a worsening temper... it was not enough to shake Zhao Zuo’s will, which had already reached a state of Constant Calm.

All in all, Zhao Zuo was very satisfied with both the Moonlight Essence and the Sun Essence.

After finishing his cultivation, Zhao Zuo brewed some Cold Thorn tea with hot water, stored it in a gourd, and headed to the Artifact Refining Chamber to continue his attempts at refining Middle Grade Magical Artifacts. He tried twice, and both attempts ended in failure at the fusion stage.

’The virtual simulations in my mind are one thing, but refining in reality is another.’

In the Earth Fire Chamber, Zhao Zuo stared at the two pieces of blackened scrap in his hands. He could no longer sense any spirituality within them. He couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret, and at the same time, an idea surfaced in his mind.

He took out the Spirit Powder used when forging Spirit Iron. ’I’ll try and re-infuse these materials with spirituality. Even if I can’t restore them completely, as long as they can be used to refine a Lower Grade Magical Artifact... I can at least recoup some of the loss.’

With this idea in mind, he immediately put it into action. But the result was unexpected.

Zhao Zuo failed.

Even after re-forging the material to remove impurities and infusing it with new Spirit Powder, he still couldn’t restore its spirituality.

Zhao Zuo couldn’t understand what had happened. After some thought, he fused the two pieces of scrap together and forged them into a fine weapon by mortal standards. At least it mitigated a tiny fraction of his losses.

[Grade: Mortal Artifact - Ink Pattern Saber]

[Experience: 1/10]

[Status: Not Upgradeable]

Zhao Zuo stared at the transparent panel in front of him. It suddenly occurred to him that he hadn’t explored the other functions of his Golden Finger in a long time. ’Maybe there are other ways to use it.’

He raised the temperature of the Earth Fire and activated his Huayang Bead, which began to absorb the natural fire-series energy from the world around him to quench and enhance his Spiritual Root. At the same time, his right hand began to swing the Ink Pattern Saber.

Thirty seconds later, he gained ten experience points, and the saber upgraded.

A minute later, he gained another twenty experience points, and it upgraded again.

Three minutes later, he gained forty experience points, and it upgraded once more.

Ten minutes later, the Ink Pattern Saber was upgraded, costing five Creation Points.

It had become a Half-Magical Artifact. Although it now possessed spirituality, it still had no Spirit Patterns inside.

Zhao Zuo refused to accept this. Wanting to further explore his Golden Finger, he continued to grind for experience.

Forty minutes later, the Ink Cloud Saber advanced to become a Lower Grade Magical Artifact.

"An hour of my time and fifteen Creation Points for a single Lower Grade Magical Artifact. What a ripoff."

Zhao Zuo murmured to himself, then with a wave of his hand, he placed the saber into his Storage Bag. At the same time, the Huayang Bead in his Dantian exhausted its stored energy and fell dormant once more.

For the next while, Zhao Zuo continued practicing the refinement of Middle Grade Magical Artifacts. His success rate improved to the point where he could successfully forge three Middle Grade Magical Artifacts for every one failure, a cycle that took about two days.

This meant that Zhao Zuo’s income increased significantly once again. Just as he was lost in the throes of Artifact Refining, the Communication Jade in his Storage Bag suddenly vibrated.

"Younger Brother Zhao, I’m trapped in the core chamber! I hope you can..."

"Save me!"

"Save me!"

"Save me!"

...