Immortal Refiner

Storm Pear Blossom Nails!

That’s right, Li Qing intended to refine the Earth Rock Bears’ toughest claws and fangs into a consumable magic artifact.

”After all, these materials are still too scarce. If I were to create a reusable artifact, a Wolf Tooth Club-type weapon would be more suitable.”

”But I already have the Peerless Hammer. Another heavy weapon wouldn’t significantly enhance my combat prowess.”

Li Qing had thought it through clearly. This refinement was merely an experiment, a way to accumulate experience.

If this method proved successful, he could then attempt to spirit-refine and rune-inscribe the remaining Fallen Life Nails, transforming them into Storm Pear Blossom Nails.

Fortunately, he still possessed half a head-sized chunk of Snow Silver Iron, allowing him to continuously increase the number of Fallen Life Nails. Once he had enough, this consumable magic artifact would become a devastating weapon!

”Even if it fails, it’s just a learning experience. I haven’t inscribed runes on small magic artifacts before. This practice will make the process smoother when I eventually refine the Wandering Dragon Dagger into a magic artifact.”

With that settled, Li Qing retrieved a black forge from his storage pouch.

The Black Furnace!

Even the experts at the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion couldn’t identify the material of this forge. What they did know for certain was that it wasn’t a spirit material.

Multiple artifact refiners had attempted to imbue it with spirituality and engrave spirit patterns, only to be bitterly disappointed. The pitch-black forge remained as stubbornly unresponsive as a stinking stone in a latrine pit.

No matter the method, they couldn’t successfully infuse it with spirituality. The spiritual energy channeled by the refiners simply couldn’t penetrate its surface. Without this infusion, engraving spirit patterns became impossible.

One desperate refiner even tried engraving spirit patterns directly onto the unspiritualized Black Furnace. As expected, the patterns vanished like spring snow upon contact.

Later, a Refining Grandmaster speculated that the Black Furnace might have been forged from a molten mixture of various waste materials. Unable to be refined into a Magic Artifact, it was merely a sturdy forge.

Every artifact refiner knew that not everything could be imbued with spirituality. For instance, even the greatest master could never instill spirituality into a roadside pebble.

And so, the Black Furnace gradually came to be equated with such stubborn stones, eventually relegated to the dusty depths of the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion’s storeroom, left to gather dust in obscurity.

If Li Qing, a financially strapped artifact refiner, hadn’t come along, the Black Furnace would likely have continued to gather dust in the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion indefinitely. Given enough time, the pavilion might even have discarded it as a space-hogging nuisance.

Clang! Clang!

Li Qing lightly tapped the furnace’s pitch-black surface, producing two dull, metallic thuds.

”Three hundred spirit stones for a forge made from spiritual scrap? I feel like I got ripped off!” Li Qing muttered to himself, clicking his tongue.

To an artifact refiner, materials that couldn’t be imbued with spiritual energy or inscribed with runes were essentially worthless.

However, Li Qing valued the Black Furnace’s exceptional durability and heat resistance. Its ability to withstand the Innate True Fire of a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator meant it still had merit.

An ordinary forge would crack or even explode under such intense heat, turning artifact refinement into an arduous and inefficient process.

”Sigh, well, if I just use it as a forge, it’s still a decent deal. Plus, its defensive capabilities aren’t bad,” Li Qing consoled himself before beginning his refinement.

Whoosh!

With a flick of his wrist, he ignited a roaring flame within the Black Furnace.

The fire blazed like a sudden full moon in the deep night sky, its brilliance stark and eye-catching.

Li Qing quickly discovered another remarkable feature of the Black Furnace: its exceptional thermal insulation. It contained nearly all the fire’s heat within its interior, making it difficult to sense the intense temperatures from the outside.

Next, he tossed twenty Earth Rock Bear claws and two sharp fangs into the forge.

This step wasn’t for melting or shaping, but for purging the lingering fiend qi.

When a demon beast dies, residual fiend qi remains. If left unchecked, it would severely hinder the spirit refinement process.

Using demon beast materials to forge Magic Artifacts required this essential step.

The best methods for eradicating fiend qi were Heavenly Thunder and Earthfire, both natural enemies of Yin Fiend Qi!

Of course, the flames Li Qing had kindled were ordinary. Fortunately, the fiend qi from a low-tier Earth Rock Bear wasn’t particularly potent, allowing mortal fire to completely cleanse it.

After a long while, the bear’s claws and teeth grew searingly hot, their fiend qi thoroughly purged.

Li Qing retrieved them from the Black Furnace. Once he confirmed the qi had been eradicated, he tossed the purified materials back into the furnace.

By now, the flames in the Black Furnace had died down, and the temperature was slowly dissipating. The Earth Rock Bear’s fangs and claws were gradually cooling.

This process, known as annealing, was crucial for enhancing the plasticity of the materials, making them easier to shape into the desired forms.

After a prolonged period, once the annealing was complete, Li Qing began meticulously polishing the Earth Rock Bear’s claws and fangs with unwavering focus.

As an earth-attribute demon beast, the Earth Rock Bear’s foreclaws contained the densest concentration of earth-attribute Vital Energy, making them particularly challenging to refine.

It took Li Qing two full days of tireless effort to finish shaping all the materials.

Finally, twenty-two hidden weapons materialized in his hands. They resembled nails but had the sharp, needle-like points of hidden weapons.

Two were white, crafted from the bear’s teeth, while the remaining twenty, forged from its claws, were a distinctive earthy yellow.

Li Qing gently rubbed the weapons between his fingers, showing no urgency to infuse them with spiritual energy. Instead, he rekindled the Black Furnace.

Boom!

As a raging fire roared to life once more, Li Qing tossed the roughly shaped hidden weapons back inside.

This second firing wasn’t for remelting, but for further tempering, pushing the weapons closer to their ultimate structural strength.

Li Qing was refining Magic Artifacts, not mere hidden weapons, so the material preparation had to be flawless. After all, he might one day use these against cultivators who could threaten his very life, so there was no room for carelessness.

After a while, the twenty-two Storm Pear Blossom Nails glowed red-hot once more. This time, Li Qing carefully removed each one individually and plunged it into a bucket of cold oil he had prepared beforehand.

Boom!

Fiery tongues erupted from the oil’s surface in a dazzling display. But Li Qing paid no attention to the spectacle. His gaze remained fixed on the submerged nails, where fine bubbles rose steadily from the metal.

He meticulously repeated this process for all twenty-two hidden weapons, ensuring every step was executed flawlessly.

With this, the first stage of artifact refinement—forging the form—was perfectly completed by Li Qing!

This flawless execution stemmed from his years of experience as a blacksmith in the mortal realm.

The twenty-two hidden weapons now radiated a soft, warm luster, yet even a light touch would reveal the deadly threat they contained.

It was clear that ordinary steel armor or shields would offer no protection against these hidden weapons; they would be easily pierced.

But Li Qing wasn’t satisfied with mere mortal weapons. He sought Magic Artifacts, not the crude hidden weapons of the Jianghu. He could never be content with such limited power!

The second step of artifact refinement: Spirit Tempering!

The materials harvested from the Earth Rock Bear already possessed abundant spirituality, making this stage relatively straightforward. Li Qing, who could effortlessly imbue ordinary iron with spirituality, naturally executed this step with practiced ease.

Without expending excessive effort or spiritual energy, all twenty-two hidden weapons were successfully spirit-tempered.

Now half-finished Magic Artifacts, the next step was the most crucial: inscribing spirit patterns!

The ultimate power of a Magic Artifact depended entirely on the skill and precision of this process.

However, this was Li Qing’s first attempt at inscribing spirit patterns on such small objects, presenting a formidable challenge. After all, inscribing spirit patterns on twenty-two hidden weapons was no less demanding than refining twenty-two separate Magic Artifacts!

This task demanded an extraordinary level of precision from the artifact refiner. A single misstep, even an involuntary twitch of the hand, could doom the entire endeavor.

The sheer magnitude of the undertaking left Li Qing feeling overwhelmed. He wondered if the workload was excessive, especially considering the disproportionate reward.

”No, I’ve been thinking about this all wrong!”

Li Qing suddenly snapped out of his daze, his eyes snapping open to focus on the twenty-two hidden weapons before him.

”I’m not refining twenty-two separate Magic Artifacts. These bone nails are merely disposable ammunition. They should be treated as a single, unified system!”

”That’s right! I’m crafting Storm Pear Blossom Nails, not a magical version of twenty-two Fallen Life Nails!”

Closing his eyes, Li Qing recalled the various hidden weapons he had encountered during his years of Jianghu adventures.

”Most hidden weapons are hand-thrown, but some, like sleeve darts or Storm Pear Blossom Needles, are triggered by mechanisms.”

”Exactly! I should treat the bone nails as ammunition and focus on crafting a separate launching mechanism.”

”Yes, that’s exactly what I need to do!”

”This way, I don’t need to inscribe complete spirit patterns on the bone nails themselves. I can just carve a portion, and the mechanism of the hidden weapon can handle the rest!”

The more Li Qing considered it, the more brilliant his idea became. A sudden burst of inspiration flooded his mind, unleashing a torrent of ideas.

”Perfect! The incomplete artifact refinement inheritance I traded for at Heavenly River Market specializes in speed and agility.”

”While it’s useless for crafting a flying boat, it’s ideal for activating the mechanism of the Storm Pear Blossom Nails!”

”This simplifies mass production. From now on, I only need to repeatedly refine the nails for replenishment.”

In an instant, a complete artifact refinement plan crystallized in Li Qing’s mind.

For a moment, Li Qing felt like a true artifact refinement genius. If he could successfully craft it, he might even document the process into a comprehensive Artifact Refinement Diagram, given its undeniable feasibility.

”Whoa! Calm down. Don’t get ahead of myself. The plan is solid, but it hasn’t been tested in practice. There’s plenty of time to celebrate once I’ve actually refined a Magic Artifact version of the Storm Pear Blossom Nails.”

As Li Qing finished speaking, the excitement that had gripped him moments before instantly subsided, replaced by calm contemplation of the mechanism’s components.

He knew the Storm Pear Blossom Nails were renowned for their intricate mechanical complexity. Achieving seamless integration between the trigger and the launch mechanism required numerous precision parts.

Fortunately, his mastery of the Art of Artifact Refinement allowed him to substitute spirit patterns for some of the more difficult-to-comprehend components.

For instance, he could engrave spirit patterns onto the nail chamber to impart velocity to the nails upon launch. A small amount of spiritual energy would then perfectly activate the mechanism.

With his extensive artifact refinement experience, Li Qing quickly envisioned a suitable prototype.

”No need for excessive precision,” he murmured. ”Overly intricate designs are prone to malfunction!”

”From a Refiner’s perspective, this mechanism can be simplified into three main components: a trigger grip, a nail-containing barrel, and a skeletal frame for the launch mechanism.”

As he spoke, Li Qing retrieved his materials, preparing to begin a new round of forging.

(End of the Chapter)

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