Translator: AnubisTL
On Wild Cloud Peak, Li Qing sat in his cave abode, examining the spiritual materials Elder Xu had delivered. A satisfied smile spread across his face.
"Excellent! He's managed to gather all five elemental spiritual materials. Elder Xu's methods are truly remarkable."
It had been less than half a month since Li Qing accepted the commission, yet Elder Xu had already procured all the necessary materials. This demonstrated the elder's extensive connections and influence.
Li Qing resolved to put his best effort into this task, aiming to cultivate a good relationship with the eccentric Elder Xu. Such a connection would be an invaluable asset.
"The malevolent blood energy radiating from these python tendons is overwhelming. They must be from a malevolent blood python. Even among Second-Tier Demonic Beasts, these pythons are exceptionally formidable."
"Now that I have both tendons, failure is not an option."
Li Qing's brow furrowed in concentration as he prepared to refine a spirit binding rope that would satisfy Elder Xu in one go. Once completed, he could claim the second malevolent blood python tendon for himself.
He felt no guilt about this arrangement, considering it perfectly justified.
All of this hinged on whether the spirit binding rope he refined would satisfy Elder Xu. Otherwise, it would all be empty talk.
With the complete spiritual materials in hand, Li Qing immediately rushed to the refining hall without stopping.
The refining hall was located in an unbearably scorching valley. Li Qing first collected some Spirit Fruit favored by the Fire Essence Crocodiles from the hall's entrance before heading straight to the Fire-Drawing Origin Formation.
Boom!
Arriving at the formation, he displayed his refining elder identity token and activated the array, effortlessly opening a passage through the formation.
After randomly selecting a Fire Essence Crocodile habitat, Li Qing retrieved several Red Leaf Fruits and tossed them to the fire attribute demon crocodiles below.
The crocodiles immediately reacted to the Spirit Fruit, gaping their bloody maws and spewing torrents of intense flames.
Boom!
"Draw Fire!"
Li Qing manipulated the formation, drawing the fiery tongues of Demon Fire into the array. Using the intricate array patterns, he gathered and channeled the Demon Fire to his position.
Clang!
With a dull thud, a pitch-black, ancient-looking Forge materialized before Li Qing.
It was the Black Furnace!
Without wasting any time, Li Qing guided the pure Demon Fire into the forge. He then retrieved two malevolent blood python tendons and tossed them in, using the Demon Fire to purge the malevolent energy within.
As the Demon Fire originated from a late first-tier Demon Beast, its power fell short of Innate True Fire. The demonic purge process would take slightly longer, but the advantage was its sustained duration and the fact that it didn't drain his spiritual energy.
Li Qing waited patiently, quietly observing as the malevolent energy gradually dissipated from the python tendons.
Malevolent blood pythons were inherently bloodthirsty creatures, their bodies saturated with malevolent energy. Naturally, any materials harvested from their corpses after death would also be heavily tainted with this energy.
The invisible malevolent energy within the python tendons continued to dissipate, a process that lasted a full day and night.
Just as the dawn sun began to rise, a wisp of Purple Qi emerged from the eastern horizon.
Li Qing, who had been meditating with his eyes closed, suddenly snapped them open.
Whoosh!
Two beams of sharp light shot from his eyes as he gazed at the now-purged malevolent blood python tendons. He murmured softly, "It's time to begin."
The Demon Fire spewed by the Fire Essence Crocodile was nearly exhausted. Li Qing casually added a few more Spirit Fruits, replenishing the flames to full strength. He then retrieved the five elements spiritual materials from his storage pouch.
In the next moment, an even more terrifying inferno erupted, sending scorching waves radiating outward.
Using this intense heat, Li Qing focused intently on feeding all five invisible spiritual materials into the Black Furnace.
This was an incredibly daring technique—refining five different five elements spiritual materials simultaneously. If the other refining elders in the refining hall were to witness this, they would undoubtedly gasp in astonishment. Li Qing's fundamental skills in artifact refinement had clearly reached a state of perfection!
Ordinary artifact refiners typically refine materials one at a time, preferring to waste extra time rather than attempt such a bold method.
However, Li Qing's extensive experience in artifact refinement, combined with his powerful divine sense, made this task remarkably effortless.
Having started forging iron in the mortal realm and never abandoning weapon forging even after entering the immortal world, he now possessed the aura of a Grandmaster in the art of refining magic artifacts.
Continuing to intensify the Demon Fire, Li Qing took a deep breath and began extracting the multicolored essences of the five elements spiritual materials from the Black Furnace.
In an instant, the area was bathed in radiant light as the five elements essence began to shimmer brilliantly.
Though not the highest-grade five elements spiritual materials, the refined essence was more than sufficient for crafting a high-grade magical artifact.
Seeing this, Li Qing didn't hesitate. He pressed two fingers together and resolutely pointed at one of the python tendons that had undergone the demonic purge.
The five elements essence within the Black Furnace began to dance across the python tendon like dragonflies skimming the water's surface.
This refining technique was unheard of in the Azure Ridge Domain, let alone other great domains. No one had ever witnessed such a method.
Li Qing had learned it from the second-tier artifact refinement inheritance he obtained from Tianliang Mountain. This was his first attempt at using it, and the results far exceeded his expectations.
"Dragonfly skimming the water—this method of refining spiritual materials is truly miraculous."
Previously, when crafting the Wind, Forest, Fire, and Mountain spear, using conventional methods to refine the five elements essence had caused the bone spear to crack.
Now, having mastered this technique, he no longer needed to worry about damaging the materials during the refining process.
With each gentle touch, a portion of the five elements essence seeped into the python tendon, the process smooth and seamless, like a spring breeze nurturing the earth or silent rain nourishing all things.
As the refining process continued, more and more five elements essence permeated the python tendon. Li Qing intentionally began shaping it into the form of a spirit binding rope.
By adding spirit wood essence, he slightly sacrificed the tendon's natural flexibility, but significantly enhanced its overall durability.
The material, already resistant to sword strikes and blade cuts, became even more impervious to damage.
Another two days passed, and the initial shaping of the spirit binding rope was complete. The python tendon now resembled a five-colored spiritual cord.
"Only when the five colors unite can it truly become the Five Elements Spirit Binding Rope," Li Qing murmured.
With these words, he proceeded to the second stage of refinement, channeling his mana to infuse the nascent high-grade magical artifact with spiritual energy.
After thoroughly purging the malevolent energy, the spiritual infusion process proceeded smoothly and swiftly, completing in less than half a day. The rope's spirituality grew increasingly vibrant.
The third and most crucial step was engraving the spirit patterns.
This step would directly determine the magic artifact's final power. Even Li Qing had to proceed with utmost caution.
Before starting, Li Qing mentally reviewed his spirit pattern design.
First, he considered the Water Entangling Net he had refined before. Its intricate spirit patterns offered valuable insights.
"Of course, since the Water Entangling Net is only a mid-grade magic tool, directly copying its patterns won't suffice."
"However, given that the spirit binding rope harnesses the power of all Five Elements, composite spirit patterns would be ideal. I can adapt the Water Entangling Net's water attribute patterns, combine them with patterns for the other four elements, and refine a Five Elements Spirit Binding Rope."
"Fire Binding Pattern, Water Entangling Pattern, Wood Binding Pattern, Metal Suppressing Pattern, Earth Pressing Pattern—these patterns must be harmonized and integrated seamlessly."
"Hmm... I should also inscribe an auxiliary spirit pattern at both ends of the spirit binding rope."
"..."
Li Qing murmured to himself, drawing on his years of artifact refinement experience. A coherent and comprehensive spirit pattern design gradually formed in his mind.
This would be the first time he had inscribed spirit patterns for all Five Elements into a single magic artifact. Even the Wind, Forest, Fire, and Mountain Spear had only focused on a single element.
Fortunately, the five elements essence had been refined perfectly, ensuring the spirit binding rope could reliably support spirit patterns of all five attributes.
With a plan in place, Li Qing wasted no time.
"What?! You mean Junior Brother Li accepted that old geezer Xu Changyun's artifact refinement commission?" Elder Wen's eyes widened, his lips twitching uncontrollably as he heard the mission assignment disciple's report.
"Yes, this happened some time ago," the disciple replied uneasily, glancing at Elder Wen.
Wen Feng, the second elder of the refining hall, sighed, his face darkening with worry. "Ah, I forgot to tell Junior Brother Li about this. Now we'll probably have to involve the Grand Elder again!"
Elder Wen's gaze drifted toward the Fire-Drawing Origin Formation, where Li Qing was working. He sighed repeatedly, knowing Xu Changyun would likely cause another scene at the refining hall.
Even Elder Wen, who was used to dealing with difficult personalities, couldn't help but feel a headache coming on at the thought of Elder Xu's eccentric temper.
"Let's hope Junior Brother Li truly knows what he's doing."
News of Li Qing accepting Elder Xu's artifact refinement commission spread like wildfire through the refining hall.
"Elder Li truly possesses both skill and audacity!"
"In the refining hall, aside from the Grand Elder, who else would dare accept Elder Xu's artifact refinement commission? Even Elder Wen's efforts failed to satisfy him."
"Elder Xu's booming voice will likely thunder again soon."
Not only qi refining realm disciples in the refining hall but also some refining elders shook their heads with amusement.
"High-grade binding-type magical artifacts are notoriously difficult to refine to perfection. I doubt anything short of that will meet Elder Xu's standards."
"Hmph, in my opinion, Xu Changyun is deliberately making things difficult. He always demands the finest quality magic artifacts. Aside from the Grand Elder, who would dare claim they can produce top-grade artifacts every time?"
"Let's wait and see. We might have to call upon the Grand Elder again."
"..."
Seven days passed in a flash. Just as everyone was preoccupied with this matter, a sudden surge of turbulent spiritual energy erupted from the direction of the Grand Formation in Refining Valley.
Boom!
Five-colored spiritual light shot skyward from within the formation, and a five-colored rope, writhing like a giant python, coiled and surged through the radiant glow.
Vast amounts of spiritual energy began converging toward the five-colored giant python, radiating layers of powerful spiritual pressure.
Beneath the python, Li Qing continuously performed hand seals and refined the newly forged high-grade magical artifact, cleansing it with spiritual energy.
The commotion was truly remarkable. Even when a single bone spear from the Wind, Forest, Fire, and Mountain spear was refined, it couldn't match this massive convergence of spiritual energy.
As the gathered spiritual energy gradually waned, the minor spiritual energy tide neared its end.
The five-colored giant python slowly descended, transforming into an ordinary-looking rope that landed in Li Qing's hand.
That's right—the Spirit Binding Rope, or rather, the Five Elements Spirit Binding Rope, was complete!
"Excellent. This Five Elements Spirit Binding Rope is a masterpiece even among high-grade magical artifacts. Under specific circumstances, it could even rival the effectiveness of a top-grade magical artifact," Li Qing said, stroking the rope with satisfaction.
Soon, figures began streaking through the sky toward the commotion.
"What just happened? Was someone refining an artifact?"
"The spiritual energy tide was so intense—almost comparable to refining a top-grade magical artifact!"
"Who's refining artifacts? I thought the Grand Elder wasn't in the refining hall recently."
"..."
(End of the Chapter)
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