Lingyun Pavilion
After bidding farewell to True Lord Tianhong, Li Mu returned to his courtyard, summoned Xiao Jin and Xiao Wa to guard it, and then walked towards the secret chamber.
Upon entering the secluded chamber, he first set up the Dragon Trapping Protection Array. Li Mu's Divine Thought cautiously swept around, confirming that no one else was peeking, then he took out the Rank 7 Immortal Cave Spirit Treasure, Painting World Treasure Mansion, from his storage grid and placed it on the stone table.
With a 'whoosh', Li Mu vanished in a flash, his figure disappearing from where he stood.
Li Mu entered the space of the Immortal Cave Spirit Treasure, eager to fly into the Artifact Refining Room within the Immortal Cave, preparing to continue improving the Eightfold Heavenly Fire Tempering Method.
The firepower of the Extreme Yang Heavenly Fire was extremely overbearing. However, Li Mu had completely refined it with the Spirit Control Contract Seal, allowing him to fully control its firepower without a single trace leaking out. Thus, there was no need to worry about the Extreme Yang Heavenly Fire burning down the Rank 7 Heaven-Reaching Spirit Treasure!
Li Mu flew into the Artifact Refining Room, and with a gentle wave of his large hand, the Purple-Gold Fire Phoenix immediately emerged from within him, circling him with great agility. A faint warmth emanated from it, far from the intensity of True Lord Tianhong's summoned Extreme Yang Heavenly Fire, which could incinerate Heaven and Earth.
Looking at the Purple-Gold Fire Phoenix circling close by with such spirituality, Li Mu smiled slightly. Under the Heavenly Talent - Identifying Myriad Spirits, all information about the Extreme Yang Heavenly Fire was fully revealed.
Extreme Yang Heavenly Fire
Rank: Rank 7 Dao Spirit
Characteristics: Melts all things, Extreme Yang to utmost firmness, burns evil and dispels demons, Extreme Yang Law.
Status: Dao body follows, Dao Fire Spirit is joyful and pleased.
A Rank 7 Heavenly Dao Fire, forged over tens of thousands of years, gathering the most rigid and yang Qi between Heaven and Earth, condensing Laws to be born. It is the Heavenly Fire with the most fire-yang spirituality in the world, capable of devouring other yang flames to complete the meaning of Extreme Yang, restraining the most yin and evil forces in Heaven and Earth, and capable of refining all things!
Upon seeing the attribute information of the Extreme Yang Heavenly Fire, Li Mu was inexplicably shocked and overjoyed. This Extreme Yang Heavenly Fire could continue to devour Extreme Yang Fire, complete the Extreme Yang Fire Dao Law, and continue to advance in Rank.
It was truly extraordinary!
Li Mu sighed at the power of the Heavenly Fire, then his gaze fell upon his character panel. Next, it was time to continue improving the Eightfold Heavenly Fire Tempering Method, this Heaven Rank Refining Skill!
Previously, the Eightfold Heavenly Fire Tempering Method could only be raised to Level 1: Heavenly Fire as Furnace, due to the lack of the Heavenly Fire element, and could not be further improved.
Now that he had finally obtained the Extreme Yang Heavenly Fire, completing this missing element, and with over ten million free proficiency points, he should be able to raise the Eightfold Heavenly Fire Tempering to Level 4 or 5!
Li Mu's Divine Sense landed on the character panel, and he added points to the Eightfold Heavenly Fire Tempering Method.
Ding, you consumed one free proficiency point. Eightfold Heavenly Fire Tempering Method proficiency +1.
Ding, you consumed one free proficiency point. Eightfold Heavenly Fire Tempering Method proficiency +1. Eightfold Heavenly Fire Tempering Method Rank has been raised to: Level 2. You have comprehended the Divine Ability: Second Heaven - Heavenly Fire Spirit Casting.
Ding, you consumed one free proficiency point. Eightfold Heavenly Fire Tempering Method proficiency +1.
Ding, you consumed one free proficiency point. Eightfold Heavenly Fire Tempering Method proficiency +1. Eightfold Heavenly Fire Tempering Method Rank has been raised to: Level 3. You have comprehended the Divine Ability: Third Heaven - Tempering Heaven and Earth.
Ding, conditions not met. Lacking Heavenly Fire, Eightfold Heavenly Fire Tempering Method cannot be further improved.
After spending over five million free proficiency points to raise the Eightfold Heavenly Fire Tempering Method to Level 3 and comprehending two Artifact Refining Divine Abilities, Li Mu immediately closed his eyes tightly, his Divine Thought immersing into the two Divine Ability knowledge pouring into his mind, sensing the extraordinary nature of the two Heavenly Fire Artifact Refining Divine Abilities.
Half an hour passed before Li Mu opened his eyes, awakening from his 'Epiphany' state.
The Purple-Gold Fire Phoenix circled and landed on Li Mu. It had just felt a resonance with its spiritual Law from its master, and a closer connection.
Looking at the Purple-Gold Fire Phoenix so close, Li Mu gave a wry smile. As expected of a Heavenly Fire involving Heavenly Dao Laws, with his Aptitude, even with the aid of the proficiency panel, he had automatically comprehended these two Artifact Refining Divine Abilities. However, to fully adapt and apply them, it would take some time and practice; otherwise, he certainly wouldn't be able to refine anything.
The First Heaven Divine Ability of Level 1 Eightfold Heavenly Fire Tempering Method, Heavenly Fire as Furnace, as the name suggests, controls Heavenly Fire to condense into a Heaven and Earth Cauldron, refining Spiritual Artifacts.
The Second Heaven Divine Ability of Level 2 Eightfold Heavenly Fire Tempering Method, Heavenly Fire Spirit Casting, as the name suggests, simultaneously casts the Foundation for the birth of an Artifact Spirit during Artifact Refining, with Heavenly Fire casting the Artifact Spirit.
The Third Heaven Divine Ability of Level 3 Eightfold Heavenly Fire Tempering Method, Tempering Heaven and Earth, is to integrate Heaven and Earth Laws during Artifact Refining, causing the refined Spiritual Artifacts and Spirit Treasures to inherently possess Laws, generate Dao Seals, and thus gain the ability to advance to higher Ranks.
Heavenly Fire Spirit Casting and Tempering Heaven and Earth, these two Artifact Refining Divine Abilities, are absolutely not something Li Mu can master right now. They involve spirituality, Dao Laws... Even if Li Mu has 'mastered' these two Divine Abilities, his own spirituality and understanding of the Dao are far from sufficient to use them.
Forcibly using them would be like a child holding a loaded pistol; while it could 'kill', it might end up harming themselves.
Li Mu glanced at the System log; a series of new prompts occupied the character log column.
However, the Eightfold Heavenly Fire Tempering Method only reached Level 3 and could not be further improved. Was it because it needed this type of Heavenly Fire to complete its Aptitude?
Seeing this improvement, Li Mu couldn't help but sigh, feeling that Cultivating the Eightfold Heavenly Fire Tempering Method was truly too troublesome!
Heavenly Fire is rare in the world; obtaining one is already a good Opportunity. Who has the ability to gather three? This Eightfold Heavenly Fire Tempering Method truly lives up to its name as a Heaven Rank Cultivation Technique; indeed, not just anyone can Cultivate it!
Such Opportunities would be considered if encountered in the future.
Li Mu did not plan to specifically search for the next Heavenly Fire. For now, it was more important to improve his Cultivation and increase his strength.
The Eightfold Heavenly Fire Tempering Method had already been raised to Level 3, and the Extreme Yang Heavenly Fire had also been collected. Li Mu decided to first familiarize himself with the First Heaven - Heavenly Fire as Furnace Artifact Refining Divine Ability and try to refine artifacts with it.
As for the other two Artifact Refining Divine Abilities, Li Mu dared not use them. He needed to wait until his Cultivation improved, or his spirituality increased, and he gained a clearer understanding of Dao Laws.
Li Mu mentally rehearsed the operational steps of the First Heaven Divine Ability of the Eightfold Heavenly Fire Tempering Method - Heavenly Fire as Furnace.
Immediately after, Li Mu swiftly formed hand seals, complex and intricate Refining Skill seals appearing one after another. Streams of spiritual energy were discharged in succession, and in mere moments, a three-dimensional spiritual energy seal was condensed in the empty space before him.
The spiritual energy seal floated in the air, emitting bursts of spiritual light, and quickly resonated with the Purple-Gold Fire Phoenix.
The Purple-Gold Fire Phoenix, formed by the Extreme Yang Heavenly Fire, gracefully flapped its fiery wings, then disintegrated in the air, transforming into specks of purple flame that merged into the Heavenly Fire spiritual seal condensed by Li Mu.
The Heavenly Fire spiritual seals interconnected, echoing each other, pulsating rhythmically. At this moment, the entire spiritual seal seemed to come alive, gradually transforming along the imprint into a purple flame Cauldron, solidifying into form.
The Extreme Yang Heavenly Fire, capable of melting all things, released terrifying high temperatures, causing the temperature within the Artifact Refining Room to rise, but this temperature was entirely under Li Mu's control.
The Perfection-Rank Spirit Control Contract Seal gave Li Mu perfect control over the Extreme Yang Spiritual Fire. This amount of heat was harmless to the Immortal Cave, which was a Rank 7 Spirit Treasure transformed into a dwelling.
Li Mu continued to form hand seals, pouring a large amount of spiritual energy into it, and the Extreme Yang Heavenly Fire's intensity grew stronger.
Li Mu's eyes blazed with fire, he brought his hands together, grasped the Void Realm, and shouted: “Eightfold Heavenly Fire Hammer, Heavenly Fire as Furnace, condense for me!”
The next moment, the endless Heavenly Fire Seals surrounding his body continuously gathered in the air, merging with each other, and in a blink of an eye, transformed into the tangible image of a purple Cauldron, gradually taking shape.
Specks of purple-gold fire light, like nine stars aligning, combined to form the Cauldron, its body, and its legs. Finally, the three merged into one in the air.
For a moment, within the Artifact Refining Room, light shone brightly, and a peculiar Dao charm fluctuation rippled outwards.
As the purple-gold fire light flickered, Li Mu couldn't help but narrow his eyes, overjoyed.
Soon, as the purple-gold fire light receded, a purple-gold fire furnace, about a zhang high and two zhang wide, covered in complex and mysterious Heavenly Fire imprints, was seen floating in mid-air within the Artifact Refining Room. Its light was restrained, emitting a mysterious and powerful aura.
Li Mu could clearly feel a wave of intimate spirituality emanating from the Skyfire Refining Furnace, and he couldn't help but smile happily!
Good! Good! Excellent!
Li Mu repeatedly exclaimed in delight, unable to find words to describe his feelings at that moment.
Li Mu had been an Artifact Refiner for decades, refining countless Spiritual Artifacts during that time. He had used various Artifact Refining furnaces, both high and low Rank, and had seen dozens, even hundreds of them. Even the Rank 6 Celestial Void Cauldron had not given him this kind of feeling, a feeling like it was a part of him.
Feeling the uniqueness of the Skyfire Refining Furnace, Li Mu eagerly began Artifact Refining.
Rank 5 Heavenly Meteor Spirit Gold, Ancient Essence Gold, Grand Unity Gold Stone...
Li Mu decided to first try refining a Rank 5 Gold Element Spirit Sword. He took out various Gold Element Rank 5 Artifact Refining Materials one by one from the nine storage spiritual pearl, and under the pack of his Divine Thought, directly sent them into the Skyfire Refining Furnace.
Inside the Skyfire Refining Furnace, the Artifact Refining Materials quickly melted.
Li Mu's Divine Thought entered the Skyfire Refining Furnace, allowing him to control the furnace temperature, the shape of the melted Materials, the refining effect, the mixing degree, and so on, all at will. He could also multi-task, arranging basic arrays and artifact patterns within the artifact embryo Materials...
Numerous Rank 5 Gold Element Artifact Refining Materials were fed into the Skyfire Refining Furnace. In less than a hundred breaths, their Impurities were removed, leaving only the essence, which was then smelted by the Heavenly Fire into a golden Spirit Sword embryo.
Just as Li Mu was about to take out the artifact embryo to condense artifact patterns for it, a wisp of Extreme Yang Fire from the Heavenly Fire Spirit within the Skyfire Refining Furnace actively separated, flying out and condensing into a fiery hammer.
The fiery hammer circled Li Mu, emitting joyful hums and playfully nudging him, as if it understood its master's intentions and wanted to continue assisting Li Mu in Artifact Refining.
Seeing this, Li Mu smiled knowingly, overjoyed.
He thought that with the assistance of the Heavenly Fire Spirit, perhaps there would be no need for Little White to threaten Yao Beast spirits; they might even actively choose to become Artifact Spirits.
Thus, Li Mu directed his Divine Sense into the nine storage spiritual pearl, searching for suitable Yao Beast spirits in the Dao collection where they were stored.
To refine a Rank 5 Gold Element Spiritual Artifact, using a Gold Element Yao Beast spirit would be most suitable. However, Li Mu's stock of Yao Beast spirits was limited, and Rank 5 Yao Beast spirits were even rarer. Even after acquiring all of Nine Nether Demon Lord's spoils, he couldn't find a suitable target.
Li Mu sighed, and finally took out the spirit of a Rank 4 Red Flame Golden Qilin.
He took out the soul gathering bottle and opened it. As soon as the Red Flame Golden Qilin spirit was released, it used its incredibly fast movements, intending to escape from this place.
Hmph! Where do you think you're going!
Li Mu snorted coldly, about to extend his grasping claw. The next second, the fiery hammer floating beside him suddenly flew out with astonishing speed.
The fiery hammer sprayed a wall of fire, blocking the Red Flame Golden Qilin spirit's path.
Gulp!
The Red Flame Golden Qilin spirit was in a panic, shrinking into a ball, terrified of the purple-gold intense flames and daring not to touch them in the slightest.
Heavenly Fire is the most rigid and yang substance, while spirits are yin. Heavenly Fire restrains yin substances. Realizing this, Li Mu was delighted.
Little White was still in deep sleep, and Li Mu was worried about how to threaten Yao Beast spirits into becoming Artifact Spirits in future Artifact Refining. The characteristics of Extreme Yang Heavenly Fire solved this problem easily.
No wonder Heavenly Fire is what Artifact Refiners seek their entire lives. Is there any difficulty in refining pseudo Magic Treasures with Heavenly Fire's assistance?
At Li Mu's instruction, the Heavenly Fire Spirit released a threatening aura towards it, compelling the Red Flame Golden Qilin spirit to merge into the artifact embryo and willingly become an Artifact Spirit.
How could the Red Flame Golden Qilin spirit dare to disobey? The terrifying might of the Heavenly Fire, once touched, would incinerate its Divine Soul, leaving no trace of life. The Red Flame Golden Qilin Yao Beast spirit obediently cooperated, plunging into the artifact embryo and actively merging with it.
Seeing this, Li Mu was overjoyed. Next, he only needed to condense the artifact patterns to complete this Artifact Refining.
Li Mu channeled streams of spiritual energy into the 'golden longsword' floating in mid-air, condensing artifact patterns for its embryo.
Within the Artifact Refining Room, spiritual light flickered repeatedly. In the blink of an eye, one artifact pattern condensed, followed by the second, third, fourth, and so on. In total, Li Mu condensed twenty artifact patterns for the Rank 5 Gold Element longsword. Finally, he channeled another burst of spiritual energy, and his Divine Thought directly reached the core of the artifact array, instantly refining it.
The golden Spirit Sword let out a 'hum' of a sword cry, and in a flash, transformed into a nimble golden Qilin, which actually showed goodwill by darting towards Li Mu, landing on his shoulder, incredibly docile.
A Rank 5 Top-grade Pseudo Spirit Treasure, refined just like that!
With the aid of the Skyfire Refining Furnace, this Artifact Refining was definitely Li Mu's most relaxed and enjoyable experience. Refining a Rank 5 Top-grade Pseudo Spirit Treasure this time was surprisingly easy, and his Divine Soul felt no fatigue whatsoever.
Li Mu grinned, placing this Rank 5 Gold Element Spirit into the nine storage spiritual pearl.
The Eightfold Heavenly Fire Tempering Method truly lives up to its name as a Heaven Rank Refining Skill! It is indeed incredibly marvelous!
Just the First Heaven's Artifact Refining Divine Ability allowed Li Mu to achieve over ninety percent success rate in refining Rank 5 Top-grade Spiritual Artifacts, and his Divine Soul did not feel the fatigue from previous Artifact Refining sessions.
What kind of power could the Artifact Refining Divine Abilities of the Second Heaven and Third Heaven bestow upon Spiritual Artifacts!
Li Mu did not want this wondrous feeling of Artifact Refining to end there, and continued to immerse himself in Artifact Refining.
The previous battle with Nine Nether Demon Lord had severely damaged the spirituality of the five Five Elements Spirit Swords, requiring a period of rest to recover. Li Mu decided to take this Opportunity to refine five replacement Rank 5 Five Elements Spirit Swords.
Additionally, the Five Elements Spirit Treasure - Mount Tai, had its artifact body burned and its artifact array slightly damaged during the process of subduing the Extreme Yang Heavenly Fire, resulting in a significant reduction in its spirituality. Li Mu decided to re-refine 'Mount Tai'.
Li Mu's Divine Thought entered the nine storage spiritual pearl, searching for suitable Artifact Refining Materials. (End of chapter)