novelraw Chapter 540 - 232: Revisiting the Dragon Tamer’s Mansion
Chapter 540 - 232: Revisiting the Dragon Tamer’s Mansion
He Zhongyi brought those artifact embryos to the stone house and said to the two cultivators guarding the entrance, "Once I enter, you two shall lower this stone door and guard this place well."
"Unless it’s a matter of life and death, you mustn’t disturb me."
The two cultivators heard this and respectfully clasped their hands, "Yes, my lord!"
He Zhongyi nodded and walked into the stone house at a slow pace.
The two cultivators behind him followed his instructions and lowered the heavy stone door.
Inside the stone house, the lights were bright, and the dense Earth Vein Fire Qi permeated the air.
He Zhongyi came to the spacious stone chamber in the depths, neatly placing all the refined artifact embryos before casting a technique to open the stone slab engraved with complex Array Patterns in front of him.
This was a magma well.
The bottom of the well had a dark slot, utilizing the array to draw Earth Fire Essence Qi from distant magma lakes.
The temperature of this Earth Fire Essence Qi far surpassed mortal fire, and relying on the array set up by Jiang Xiuqi back in the day, it could even invoke the terrifying Earth Fire Golden Flame from the depths of the magma for refining.
He Zhongyi sat cross-legged in front of the magma well, forming formulas with both hands, his right hand releasing a strand of Fire Attribute Spiritual Power, manipulating a sword artifact embryo to suspend above the magma well.
His left hand formed formulas, activating the array of the magma well.
The scalding Earth Fire Essence Qi spouted forth from the well, rapidly refining the sword artifact embryo.
In just a moment, the artifact embryo was burned red, seemingly cast from crystalline jade.
Seeing the timing was right, He Zhongyi held his breath and focused, his hands constantly changing spells, his fingertips continuously tracing lines of spiritual power in the void.
These spiritual power lines quickly formed a strange symbol, emitting a faint spiritual charm in front of him.
The symbol He Zhongyi was inscribing in the void was known as an "Artifact Pattern" in the Ancient Refining Technique.
The path of cultivation in ancient times was not as diverse as today, nor were there so many ready-made legacies for cultivators to choose from and practice.
At that time, living beings who wished to cultivate could only comprehend the world and nature, understanding natural laws and the elusive Dao.
The operation of laws and the Dao contained extremely complex principles of heaven and earth, difficult to express in words.
Thus, the ancient saying "Only perceivable, not transmittable" comes to be.
Ancient beings, to pass on what they had comprehended, created the symbols.
But the symbols inherently contained the operation of laws and the Dao, making it still extremely difficult for later generations to understand the meaning expressed by the symbols.
As time went by, those obscure and difficult symbols gradually evolved into language.
Evolving the operation of heaven and earth principles into written form was more succinct but also lost the core and essence of it.
This led to many ancient people becoming immortals, while in recent antiquity and the present, few could reach the achievements of the ancient people.
Of course, there are other reasons involved as well.
The symbol He Zhongyi was currently inscribing was one of the twelve basic Artifact Patterns of the Ancient Refining Technique.
According to the description in the "Li Palace Bing Fire Refining Form Technique," there are nine levels in total for Artifact Patterns in the Ancient Refining Technique.
Tiers one to three belong to basic Artifact Patterns; once mastered, one can refine Magical Artifacts.
Tiers four to six belong to "Spirit Patterns"; once mastered, one can refine Spiritual Artifacts stronger than Magical Artifacts.
Tiers seven to nine are "Immortal Patterns"; an Artifact Refiner who masters Immortal Patterns and possesses immortal-grade materials can create legendary Immortal Artifacts!
However, the "Li Palace Bing Fire Refining Form Technique" itself is merely a True Technique; He Zhongyi believes that by practicing this technique, it’s already commendable to comprehend Spirit Patterns. Immortal Patterns are simply unattainable.
After the Tier One Artifact Pattern was inscribed, He Zhongyi cautiously injected a strand of spiritual Qi into it.
Once infused, the spiritual Qi slowly circulated along the spiritual power lines.
He Zhongyi stared fixedly at the slowly circulating points of spiritual light, a hint of tension flashing in his eyes.
Whether the artifact embryo could transform into a Magical Artifact depended on the Artifact Pattern.
And whether the spiritual power could circulate smoothly within the Artifact Pattern affected the quality of the Magical Artifact.
After about a dozen breaths, under He Zhongyi’s focused gaze, the Artifact Pattern in front gradually emitted a stronger spiritual charm, its radiance illuminating the entire stone chamber.
Seeing this, He Zhongyi’s face showed a hint of relief.
"Although there are still three flaws, where the spiritual power slightly gets obstructed during circulation."
"But as a Lower Grade Magical Artifact, it’s still usable."
After murmuring to himself, He Zhongyi then looked towards the sword artifact embryo suspended above the magma well.
The next crucial step follows.
Inscribing the Artifact Pattern into the internal structure of the artifact embryo, allowing it to perfectly integrate with the whole artifact embryo!
Only this way can a Magical Artifact be considered completely formed.
This step is a test for any Artifact Refiner.
He Zhongyi took a deep breath, his Divine Sense slowly enveloping the sword artifact embryo, now resembling crystal jade, and gradually infiltrated the inside of the artifact embryo!
The instant his Divine Sense invaded the artifact embryo’s interior, He Zhongyi felt as if he had fallen into a marvelous yet bizarre world.
The three-finger wide, three-foot long sword artifact embryo seemed magnified a thousand-fold.
And his Divine Sense now had to inscribe a complete Artifact Pattern within the internally expanded artifact embryo, and the thickness, depth, and position of each Artifact Pattern line, with the margin of error controlled to the slightest measure.
This endeavor is destined to test patience and the strength of Divine Sense.
He Zhongyi had failed several times before, mostly in the final stages, where his Divine Sense couldn’t maintain absolute focus, leading to errors in the inscribing of the Artifact Pattern, rendering all previous efforts wasted.