Immortal Refiner

After securing three golden silkworm eggs from the ancient battlefield, Li Qing felt no further attachment to the place. He and Zhao Tianxiong swiftly departed.

Reaching the void rift that served as the battlefield’s exit, they plunged through without hesitation.

Upon emerging, they returned their entry tokens to the Blood Spirit Sect disciple guarding the exit. With no further obstruction, they left the southernmost region of the Great Wilderness Domain.

Having achieved their primary objective, Li Qing and Zhao Tianxiong had no reason to linger.

With the deadline for Zhao Tianxiong’s son’s conscription to the Taiyi Sect fast approaching, Li Qing planned to return to his cave abode as quickly as possible to refine the Golden Jade Garment.

Having successfully refined one Golden Jade Garment, replicating the process to create a magic artifact version should prove relatively straightforward.

Thus, the pair pressed on without rest, continuing their flight toward Giant Deer Prefecture in the Great Wilderness Domain.

During their journey, Li Qing occasionally frowned. He couldn’t shake the feeling that ever since leaving the ancient battlefield, he had been under the scrutiny of an elusive, almost imperceptible gaze.

Despite repeatedly scanning the surrounding area with his divine sense, he detected no anomalies.

Finally, after passing Great Yan Immortal City, the sensation of being watched vanished completely.

Confirming this, Li Qing let out a slight sigh of relief.

He had initially feared that the Blood Spirit Sect had been targeting him since he emerged from the ancient battlefield, but now it seemed that wasn’t the case.

”True Lord Li? You seem a bit troubled. Is something amiss?” Zhao Tianxiong, ever perceptive, immediately noticed Li Qing’s unease.

Li Qing shook his head. ”It’s nothing. Ever since leaving the ancient battlefield, I’ve had this persistent feeling of being watched, but it’s gone now.”

Zhao Tianxiong’s heart skipped a beat. If a core formation realm true lord could sense such scrutiny, someone must indeed have been observing them from the shadows.

”Could it be the Blood Spirit Sect or the Yin Puppet Sect?” Zhao Tianxiong’s face paled slightly.

”Don’t scare yourself unnecessarily,” Li Qing said, shaking his head. ”The feeling vanished after we passed Great Yan Immortal City. Let’s just head back for now.” With that, he increased his pace.

At that moment, in a shadowy corner beneath the towering city walls of Great Yan Immortal City, a figure emerged from the darkness.

The person wiped a bead of cold sweat from their forehead, then glanced warily in the direction Li Qing and Zhao Tianxiong had departed, muttering to themselves:

”As expected of core formation realm cultivators. Their spiritual perception is truly sharp—they almost detected my shadow escape technique.”

”Continuing to follow them would be too risky. It seems I’ll have to abandon that extraordinary cultivation scroll for now. How frustrating.”

Time slipped by, and several more days passed.

During this time, the Great Yan Immortal City’s ascension platform assembly was in full swing, drawing countless cultivators from distant lands to witness the event.

Ultimately, three foundation establishment realm cultivators distinguished themselves and were directly accepted as Personal Disciples by Great Flame True Lord.

However, at this very moment, a chilling incident occurred in Great Yan Immortal City.

That night, the immortal city’s guardian grand formation was fully activated, its overwhelming aura plunging the entire city into panic and unease.

After that night, no one knew what had truly happened in the bustling immortal city, sparking endless speculation.

”What exactly happened? Was there an invasion by foreign enemies?”

”That can’t be right. Great Yan Immortal City has decent relations with the three demonic sects. Who would dare provoke it?”

”Could it be that the city’s protective array malfunctioned due to age?”

”...”

Finally, after several days, fragments of information began to surface.

It turned out that cultivators from the outer domain had infiltrated the city that night, attempting to steal from the City Lord’s Manor!

The final outcome remained unknown.

This revelation sent shockwaves through Great Yan Immortal City.

Outer domain cultivators had become exceedingly rare since the ancient demonic race’s invasion, severing most connections between the great domains.

Even the Great Wilderness Domain had long ceased receiving news from other great domains. The mere mention of ”outer domain cultivators” stirred up fresh waves of unease.

Li Qing, however, remained unaware of these developments concerning the outer domain cultivators.

Having returned to his cave abode, Li Qing immediately began preparing to refine the Golden Jade Garment.

Zhao Tianxiong acted swiftly, delivering the Warm Sun Jade Marrow from his clan to Li Qing without delay. After all, his son’s life hung in the balance, leaving no room for negligence.

”With all the materials gathered, I can finally attempt to refine the Golden Jade Garment,” Li Qing murmured.

After reviewing the artifact refinement diagram one last time to ensure its accuracy, Li Qing retrieved a portion of Golden Silkworm Silk from his storage pouch.

Boom!

The Netherworld Cold Fire erupted, and Li Qing meticulously separated the Golden Silkworm Silk into individual strands, each refined by the spirit fire.

As countless golden threads filled the cave abode, Li Qing subtly activated his divine sense.

Under his mental control, the threads began weaving themselves together as if imbued with life.

In moments, a radiant golden garment materialized, hovering in the air—the embryonic form of the Golden Jade Garment.

Of course, this was merely the initial stage.

Currently, there was only the Golden Thread, but no Jade Garment!

To achieve this, Li Qing would naturally need to use the Warm Sun Jade Marrow.

He produced a piece of golden-yellow jade, roughly the size of a human head.

The jade was impure, even appearing somewhat cloudy, lacking any of the characteristics one would expect from fine jade.

”To extract the marrow, we must first melt it with intense heat. However, Warm Sun Jade Marrow is inherently yang in nature. Using Netherworld Cold Fire for melting might be inappropriate.”

With these words, Li Qing retracted the Netherworld Cold Fire and began tapping his fingertips repeatedly in the air.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

As he moved, crimson pill fire materialized from thin air, descending upon the Warm Sun Jade.

Sizzle!

Almost instantly, the jade emitted a sound like melting ice and snow.

Under the scorching heat of Li Qing’s pill fire, the Warm Sun Jade rapidly shrank, revealing the pale yellow Jade Marrow within.

Seeing this, Li Qing channeled his spiritual energy to draw out the essence of the Warm Sun Jade and infuse it into the garment woven from Golden Silkworm Silk.

An unexpected phenomenon occurred: the molten Warm Sun Jade Marrow instantly permeated the Golden Silkworm Silk upon contact!

”I never imagined the compatibility between Warm Sun Jade Marrow and Golden Silkworm Silk would be so high!” Li Qing murmured, his eyes narrowing in surprise.

Upon reaching the core formation realm, refining magic treasures differed significantly from crafting magic artifacts. The compatibility between spiritual materials became paramount. Combining incompatible materials made refining a treasure nearly impossible, almost guaranteeing failure.

This was why most core formation realm cultivators chose to refine their natal magic treasures using only a single material.

The compatibility between spiritual materials remained a closely guarded secret among most artifact refiners. Unraveling this mystery typically required painstaking trial and error.

Of course, a complete third-tier artifact refining inheritance would reveal much about material compatibility.

For now, Li Qing needed no such considerations. With the artifact refinement diagram in hand, he simply followed the steps meticulously.

He continued to focus, evenly infusing the molten Warm Sun Jade Marrow into the golden threads of the treasure robe.

Soon, the prototype of the Golden Jade Garment was complete.

The dazzling golden light that had constantly radiated from the Golden Silkworm Silk now receded, replaced by a gentle, subdued radiance.

Li Qing reached out and retrieved the precious garment.

It felt warm, smooth, and remarkably resilient to the touch.

”Impervious to blades and spears, resistant to water and fire—this precious garment is truly exceptional,” Li Qing remarked, his eyes brimming with satisfaction.

Of course, this was merely the initial refinement of the prototype. Many intricate steps remained before it could become a true Golden Jade Garment.

First came spiritual tempering!

Even with such peerless spiritual materials, brimming with abundant spirituality, Li Qing still needed to temper the garment with his own true essence. This fundamental step in artifact refinement was one he would never overlook.

Hum!

His profound true essence surged forth, instantly enveloping the entire precious garment.

After several hours of meticulous refinement, Li Qing slowly withdrew his true essence.

”To make the Golden Jade Garment capable of defending against divine sense attacks, the most crucial element lies in its dao patterns,” he murmured.

As he spoke, the profound and intricate dao patterns from the artifact refinement diagram materialized in his mind.

Following the blueprint, Li Qing’s fingertips landed with perfect precision on the Golden Jade Garment.

His movements suddenly became slow and gentle.

Line after line of profound dao patterns were imprinted onto the Golden Jade Garment. They flickered briefly before vanishing into the jade.

Li Qing spent three full days meticulously engraving these specialized dao patterns.

As the final dao pattern was etched into place, the entire Golden Jade Garment emitted a soft golden light, illuminating Li Qing’s cave abode.

He channeled a surge of true essence into the garment, performing a simple nurturing ritual.

Since this magic treasure was not a natal magic treasure, it didn’t need to be stored in his dantian and nourished with his mana over an extended period. Instead, infusing it with his true essence during the refining process was sufficient to activate its spirituality.

As several crimson strands of true essence slowly refined into the Golden Jade Garment, Li Qing finally ceased his movements.

In the next moment, wind and clouds gathered within the cave abode, drawing in vast quantities of spiritual energy that converged upon the newly refined Golden Jade Garment.

Boom!

The spiritual energy in the heavens and earth surged violently, and a powerful aura erupted outward.

A magic treasure had been born into the world!

(End of the Chapter)

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