Chapter 2856: For Your Lives, Do Your Best!

Time flowed like water; in artifact refining there was no sense of day or night.

Carson Flores immersed himself completely in the world of Artifact Refining, his progress advancing by leaps and bounds, to the astonishment and delight of both Jorren Jaramillo and Grayan Darlington.

They hadn’t expected Carson Flores’s talent for Artifact Refining to be this high!

Because of the time constraints, Carson Flores didn’t waste much time on actual Artifact Refining. After all, true refining takes a long time—within three months, how many artifacts could he really refine?

Jorren Jaramillo and Grayan Darlington were teaching Carson Flores refining techniques—how to control fire to a certain level of precision, then combine that with operations to finally achieve specific effects. Yet the two of them discovered that when Carson Flores manipulated the Refining Flame it was like moving his own arm: free and effortless; he picked things up almost as soon as they were taught.

When they asked, Carson Flores told them he was a Fire Path Divine Ability Pathist, and the two immediately understood.

A Fire Path Divine Ability Pathist has a huge Innate advantage in Artifact Refining. Carson Flores’s Cultivation Technique was also Top Tier, and his fire control was superb. Now, applying it to Artifact Refining, as long as Carson Flores grasped the principles, his subsequent execution would be incredibly smooth. In just a few trial runs, it was as if he had practiced hundreds or thousands of times.

In three months, Carson Flores hastily learned the Skyfire Refining Technique and mastered the Hundred Refinement Technique of Flower, after which Jorren Jaramillo taught him many other powerful Artifact Refining Methods.

Carson Flores didn’t have time to verify each one in depth. He could only first ensure he fully understood, then practice a little before fast-forwarding to the next step of study.

With progress like this, it naturally couldn’t be called true mastery. But after this matter was over, as long as Carson Flores was given enough time to apply what he thoroughly understood in practice, verifying it again and again, in the end he would inevitably achieve complete integration.

Just as Jorren Jaramillo had said: "I’m teaching you the Floral Refining Technique. Once you finish refining those thousand-plus stingers, you’ll already be a qualified Artifact Refiner. Because in that process you’ll encounter all sorts of problems, and by solving them one by one, your skill will naturally deepen."

During those three months, Carson Flores and the others weren’t sure whether the Black Robed Man had been secretly watching them, but he never appeared. That at least gave Carson Flores a quiet environment to study.

The agreed three-month period came due, and just as everyone was feeling uneasy, the Black Robed Man arrived as promised.

"Everyone, these three months have been quite pleasant for you, hasn’t it?"

Jorren Jaramillo asked in a deep voice, "Cut the nonsense. Did you get the materials?"

The Black Robed Man chuckled lowly. "I got them. The Star River Sect and the Skyfire Sect really deserve their reputation as top Artifact Refining sects. So many materials prepared in mere moments—I’m quite satisfied."

Grayan Darlington asked, "Since you’ve already obtained what you wanted, then keep your word and let us leave!"

The Black Robed Man’s voice was low. "You must have forgotten—I said after I got the materials, I’d have you help me refine one or two small items. Only then would the deal be considered complete."

The Black Robed Man had indeed mentioned this before. Jorren Jaramillo couldn’t be bothered to argue and asked directly, "What do you want us to refine?"

"Array Cores."

The Black Robed Man reached out and tossed over a scroll. "The items to be refined are on this diagram—two in total. Each of you will refine one. Once you’re done, I’ll let you go. If you fail, then don’t blame me for being merciless."

Jorren Jaramillo and Grayan Darlington leaned over the scroll, studying it for a long while. Then Jorren Jaramillo looked up. "These are cores used in constructing a Teleportation Array?"

The Black Robed Man answered calmly, "Yes. We originally had prepared cores, but unfortunately some accidents occurred and they were destroyed. So we have to refine new ones."

"You two are both Master Refiners. I’ve prepared the materials for you, and given you the Structural Array diagrams as well. I trust you won’t disappoint me."

Jorren Jaramillo said in a low voice, "This thing is not simple. We can’t guarantee we’ll succeed."

The Black Robed Man’s tone remained calm. "Whoever succeeds lives. Whoever fails dies. For the sake of your own lives, do your best."

Jorren Jaramillo really wanted to curse him out, but he also knew that cursing would be useless except for angering the other party.

Jorren Jaramillo weighed it for a moment. "Refining one core will take roughly ten days."

The Black Robed Man nodded. "Fine, I’ll give you ten days. The finished products you refine will decide whether you live or die. Time is limited, so treat it seriously."

The Black Robed Man waved his hand again, and a Space Ring fell down. "The refining materials are inside. I’ll be waiting for your good news."

After speaking, the Black Robed Man stepped back and vanished into the pale green mist.

Jorren Jaramillo let out a sigh. "The three-month period is up, and they’ve gotten what they wanted. It seems that whether our Sect has realized something’s happened to us or not, they still have no way of finding us or rescuing us..."

Grayan Darlington’s face was cold. "Start refining. There’s no other way."

Jorren Jaramillo, however, didn’t rush. He flipped through the diagrams in his hand. "This Teleportation core is no small thing. As long as the other components are suitably matched, it can support a very large Teleportation Array. What exactly does he intend to do?"