My Artifacts Can Upgrade Infinitely

Chapter 70: Chapter 70: First Taste of Artifact Refining

Earth Fire Chamber.

Zhao Zuo meditated to adjust his condition, striving to be in the most perfect state for this attempt.

The Path of Artifact Refining moved the body and Mana, but stilled the mind. At the very least, inscribing the Spirit Pattern Path required absolute focus and patience as calm as still water.

The cost of Artifact Refining was another reason Zhao Zuo had to be cautious. The Spirit Pen was fine, as it could be used indefinitely, but the price of the Spirit Ink was somewhat outrageous.

A porcelain bottle cost twenty Spirit Stones, and each bottle contained enough to inscribe about five Spirit Pattern Paths. This meant each attempt cost four Spirit Stones. A failure was equivalent to throwing four Spirit Stones into the water.

Each time, he had to be extremely cautious—and then some.

Zhao Zuo picked up the block of Spirit Iron with a pair of tongs and placed it above the Earth Fire Furnace. He then used a key to adjust the flame’s output to maximum. The orange flames gradually took on a golden hue, dancing gracefully at the furnace’s mouth.

The block of Spirit Iron turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye. Zhao Zuo removed it and placed it on the forging anvil. He infused the Forging Hammer with Mana and began to strike it repeatedly with his right arm.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Occasionally, thin gray flakes peeled off the ingot. This was the first step of Artifact Refining: removing impurities.

After the Spirit Iron cooled, he would heat it again and continue hammering.

The Artifact Refining Introduction noted that the process of purifying and removing impurities must be repeated at least five times. Otherwise, the material would lack spirituality, and even if one successfully inscribed the Controlling Objects Spirit Pattern, the resulting product would be considered defective in terms of power. Therefore, this purification step could not be skipped.

Zhao Zuo spent about forty minutes completing nine rounds of forging. By now, the gray impurities being beaten out of the Spirit Iron had become very sparse. The entire block of Spirit Iron had shrunk by a size, but its own Spiritual Light had grown richer, and silvery specks of light would flash across it from time to time.

At this point, the first step of Artifact Refining—purification—was perfectly complete.

For a High Level Magical Artifact, this would involve forging and fusing different materials. However, a Lower Grade Magical Artifact was made entirely from Spirit Iron, so the fusion step was naturally omitted.

Zhao Zuo heated the block of Spirit Iron again until it was soft. He then took out his Sky-Breaking Saber and sliced it down the middle. He placed one half on a nearby platform as a spare, while he used the Sky-Breaking Saber to cut the other half into thumb-sized pieces and tossed them into a smelting pot.

The smelting pot looked like an oversized teapot on the outside, but its inner walls were thinner for faster heat conduction. When placed on the Earth Fire Furnace, it could melt the metal chunks inside into a liquid.

It also had a long iron handle; the grip was a wooden rod over ten centimeters long, wrapped in heat-resistant material to prevent the user from accidental burns.

Zhao Zuo placed the smelting pot on the Earth Fire Furnace to heat up. He then took several molds out of his Storage Bag and chose one carefully. He had bought molds for common designs... among them were the Sky-Breaking Saber, the Cloud Escape Shuttle, the Cloud-Breaking Sword, and the Cyan Steel Sword. This time, he planned to try Refining the Sky-Breaking Saber first.

Perhaps it was because his own Magical Artifact was a Sky-Breaking Saber that Zhao Zuo was more familiar with it.

About ten minutes later, Zhao Zuo stood up to check. The Spirit Iron inside the smelting pot had completely melted into a liquid, bubbling in the high heat like boiling mercury.

Zhao Zuo tensed his right arm, lifting the smelting pot with immense stability. He moved it over to the forging platform and slowly turned his wrist. The triangular spout of the pot aimed at the opening on the mold’s surface. He exerted more force with his right hand, increasing the pot’s tilt, and a stream of silver liquid fell straight down, flowing through the opening.

His arm was as steady as a machine’s, not shaking in the slightest. The moment the silver liquid began to overflow from the opening, he quickly placed the smelting pot back on the furnace to keep it hot and also set the mold at the furnace’s mouth, continually applying heat to prevent the liquid inside from cooling and solidifying.

Zhao Zuo held his breath and concentrated his spirit. He raised the Spirit Pen and began a dance of dragons and snakes. His Mana pushed the Spirit Ink evenly onto the mold’s surface, leaving behind silvery tracks.

Suddenly, the flow of Zhao Zuo’s Spiritual Power fluctuated, leaving behind an overly thick blotch of ink.

’This is bad!’

A wisp of smoke rose from the mold’s surface, and the already-formed strokes rapidly disintegrated into specks of light.

First attempt: failure.

Fortunately, he hadn’t wasted too much Spirit Ink this time.

Zhao Zuo refilled the Spirit Pen’s reservoir and began to inscribe once more.

The second attempt also ended in failure.

Zhao Zuo refilled the Spirit Ink again. Just as he was about to continue, a drop of cold sweat suddenly fell from his brow, landing on the mold and instantly evaporating into a puff of smoke. His right hand paused, and he did not put pen to mold.

He knew his mind was in turmoil.

Zhao Zuo put down the Spirit Pen and ran both hands through his hair. He found a clean spot and sat down cross-legged. For a long time, he had been practicing day and night, even recalling the lines of the Controlling Objects Spirit Pattern in his dreams. He had held such high hopes for Artifact Refining.

’But why did I fail?’

’I never had any problems when I practiced on Spirit Wood. I must have done hundreds of simulations, yet I still failed twice in a row.’

Zhao Zuo gulped down several mouthfuls of cool water and began to think back on his recent mistakes.

’The first few strokes went smoothly, until my Mana fluctuated. That’s what caused the failure in the Spirit Pattern Path inscription.’

’If I continue... the most important thing is to maintain a steady infusion of Mana, to keep the brushstrokes fluid and natural.’

’The reason for both failures was the same: halfway through, my Mana wavered, which made my strokes messy and the ink flow unsteady, ultimately leading to failure.’

"The flow of Mana must be stable."

Zhao Zuo pushed open the door, walked into the courtyard, and took several deep breaths of fresh air.

In the night sky, the river of stars shone brilliantly. A gentle breeze, like countless hands massaging his skin, was as soft as silk and brought a hint of coolness. Only then did Zhao Zuo realize with surprise that the Array in the core district could even regulate the ambient temperature. Even though it was the dead of winter, the temperature in the courtyard was perfectly pleasant.

The moon appeared in the sky, hanging in the center of the celestial canopy, casting a soft and warm light.

For the first time in months, Zhao Zuo finally felt a sense of inner peace, even if only for a moment.

This was not the forced state of tranquility he entered when he needed to concentrate his spirit for Cultivation or Artifact Refining. Instead, this was a peace born from the bottom of his heart and spreading outward, a serenity with no ulterior motive.

Zhao Zuo looked up at the moon and the stars, which were like diamonds embedded in the night sky. They radiated a dazzling light that suffused the heavens, like countless tiny lanterns.

A powerful confidence suddenly surged within him. It was as if a flash of Spiritual Light had exploded in his mind, spreading with the speed of a wildfire until it consumed his entire Soul. It was a strong impulse, an intention... or perhaps even the guidance of Destiny in the shadows.

’This time... I will succeed in inscribing the Spirit Pattern Path!’

Filled with this powerful confidence, Zhao Zuo walked back into the Earth Fire Chamber.

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