When the Iron Essence entered the water, it didn't splash at all. Instead, it sank slowly as if sinking into a swamp.
Before long, a sizzling sound echoed from within the bucket. Bubbles began to gurgle rapidly across the dark, silent surface of the water as if it were boiling, sending up wisps of greyish-black vapor—likely the impurities being purged from the Iron Essence.
Shi Yu regulated her breathing while waiting. Once all activity inside the bucket ceased, she brought over another empty wooden bucket and slowly poured the water into it.
As she poured, Shi Yu inspected the liquid and noticed the change in the Slaughter Spring water. “The color has faded a bit. The Slaughter Spring water is being consumed.”
This was well within her expectations.
The Iron Essence lay at the bottom of the bucket, fully revealed once the water was poured out.
When Shi Yu saw the piece of Iron Essence—now only the size of an infant's fist—at the bottom of the bucket, a flicker of surprise flashed in her eyes. “It's only half its original size.”
The current piece of Iron Essence had shrunk to half its size, but all traces of rust and impurities on its surface were completely gone. It now glinted with a cold light, radiating sharpness.
“The impurities were purged. The Slaughter Spring water truly possesses the effect of purifying and refining.”
It seemed her prior assumption had been correct.
Observing it more closely, Shi Yu lightly touched the surface of the Iron Essence. The sharp aura was potent enough to almost prick her finger. Such chilling sharpness was hardly characteristic of ordinary Iron Essence; it was much closer to Profound Iron Essence, which was a tier higher.
She grew thoughtful. “It seems it doesn't merely purify; the innate quality and characteristics of the Iron Essence itself have changed as well.”
Iron Essence was one of the most common metallic spiritual materials used in artifact refining. Its value was low, suited only for crafting the lowest-grade unranked or Tier-1 artifacts.
Yet in terms of quality alone, this piece of Iron Essence refined by Slaughter Spring water was probably suitable for crafting Tier-2 artifacts.
Examining it further, Shi Yu grew increasingly satisfied. “With the Slaughter Spring water, any spiritual material soaked in it becomes extraordinarily high in quality and completely free of impurities. It can be used directly for refining.”
“Bypassing the melting step saves so much time and effort.”
Pleasantly surprised, Shi Yu placed the section of Sunset Red Cedar Wood she had previously melted into the bucket as well. When she retrieved it, it had also shrunk by a margin.
She then retrieved the rest of the materials she needed—more Iron Essence, Profound Light Stone, Silver Shark Scales, and others—and placed them into the bucket one by one to soak and refine.
The color of the Slaughter Spring water faded visibly to the naked eye.
She did not sit idle while waiting. Even after being purified and refined by the Slaughter Spring water, the spiritual materials still needed to be softened over charcoal fire and pounded into shape using divine sense and spiritual energy.
Weapon refiners typically drew blueprinted diagrams before crafting. They would deconstruct the artifact's structure in advance, designing the layout of spell formations and combinations of restrictions. During refinement, they followed the diagrams step by step to avoid panicking, making mistakes, or wasting spiritual materials.
However, crafting a Tier-1 artifact held little difficulty beyond requiring some physical and mental effort.
Shi Yu was already highly skilled at this, having the entire process mapped out in her mind, rendering blueprints unnecessary.
Holding a piece of refined Iron Essence, she inspected it briefly before reigniting the Gansong Charcoal fire. Wrapping the Iron Essence in spiritual energy, she turned and flipped it over the fire, hammering it into a flat, curved strip.
...
Before she knew it, several days passed. Shi Yu remained completely immersed in her work, entirely oblivious to the passage of time.
Aside from taking Dew-Condensing Pills and sitting cross-legged to recover whenever her spiritual energy was depleted, Shi Yu spent all her time hammering these spiritual materials.
When exhaustion weighed heavily on her mind, she would sleep for a few hours to recharge.
As her spiritual energy cycled between depletion and recovery, her cultivation advanced through the ordeal.
Inside her dantian, the Qi cyclones rotating around the yellow sprout had increased to nine, with the tenth showing signs of taking shape.
Seven days later, all the materials had been hammered into shape.
The Slaughter Spring water in the bucket had shifted from its original dark, ink-like hue to completely clear and transparent, its power exhausted. Fortunately, plenty of Slaughter Spring water remained within the Yin-Yang Fate-Tapping Bell.
Following the design in her mind, Shi Yu began engraving source runes and applying restrictions onto the talisman pen first.
She knew countless restrictions, but low-tier artifacts could only hold a select few.
“I'll engrave the ‘Spirit-Channelling’ and ‘Durability-Enhancing’ restrictions.”
The former enhanced the pen's spiritual energy conductivity, making talisman drawing more sensitive and stable; the latter increased durability, preventing the pen from breaking or wearing down too quickly during use.
Tier-1 artifacts could hold two or three restrictions at most; adding more was counterproductive. Furthermore, restrictions could not conflict with one another, or the pen body might crack under the strain. These two restrictions were more than enough for the time being.
The raw pen body crafted from Sunset Red Cedar Wood and Green Mane Sable belly fur had looked somewhat dull, but as the restrictions were engraved, light gradually radiated from it.
Gazing at this sight, Shi Yu felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction rise within her.
The Three Thousand Daos were vast and varied. Though artifact refining, alchemy, array formations, and talismans were auxiliary paths, reaching a high level of mastery in them could bolster one's cultivation.
For instance, concocting a supreme-grade pill allowed one to comprehend the origin Dao of heaven and earth through its pill veins; similarly, when an artifact was successfully refined, a strand of “treasure Qi” was generated, which could be absorbed into the body to enhance cultivation.
And so it was now. The moment the restrictions were complete and the talisman pen was formed, spiritual light flashed along the shaft. The entire pen felt completely different from when it was merely an unrefined blank.
It radiated a brilliant treasure light and brimmed with vibrant spiritual energy.
The talisman pen before her was extraordinary among Tier-1 talisman pens, far superior to any of the Tier-1 talisman pens she had seen back at Tongyi Pavilion.
Crafting a talisman pen of such quality from ordinary Sunset Red Cedar Wood and Green Mane Sable belly fur was due not only to Shi Yu's profound refining techniques, but also to the assistance of the Slaughter Spring water.
Purified and refined by the Slaughter Spring water, these spiritual materials had drastically improved in quality.
The moment the talisman pen was formed, a nearly imperceptible strand of treasure Qi emerged from it and entered her body, flowing along her meridians and merging into her dantian.
Shi Yu had been paying close attention and noticed her cultivation slightly increase after absorbing the treasure Qi.
At this moment, the faint tenth Qi cyclone inside her dantian grew increasingly solid. Breaking through to the second layer of the Qi Refining Realm was just around the corner.
Once the talisman pen was finished, Shi Yu rested briefly before immediately starting on the pill furnace.
A pill furnace was larger than a talisman pen, requiring more varieties and quantities of spiritual materials, making its refinement naturally more troublesome.
Shi Yu spent two continuous days refining the pill furnace to completion, adding three restrictions: “Spirit-Gathering,” “Spirit-Channelling,” and “Explosion-Proof.”
Now, the completed furnace stood about a foot and a half tall. Its main body was crafted from Iron Essence, imbued with Profound Light Stone to give it a dark red color throughout. The restrictions engraved on its surface radiated a mysterious aura. Its domed lid was studded with Silver Shark Scales, which reflected the sunlight in a brilliant array of colors.
The materials used to craft the furnace had all been purified and refined by the Slaughter Spring water, compounding their effects until the resulting furnace was just a step away from Tier 2.
The tiny gap remaining was simply due to Shi Yu's low cultivation, which prevented her from pushing it further.
The moment the pill furnace was successfully refined, another strand of treasure Qi entered Shi Yu's body, slightly larger than the one generated by the talisman pen.
As this treasure Qi entered her body, it spurred her cultivation upward. Inside her dantian, the tenth Qi cyclone condensed completely, no different from the other nine. With this, Shi Yu smoothly stepped into the second layer of the Qi Refining Realm.
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