All three of the Loose Cultivators had a Storage Pouch, containing quite a few Spirit Stones, totaling over three hundred Medium Grade Spirit Stones. They also stored many sinister tools, such as poisoned flying daggers, crossbow bolts, and hunting gear for setting traps. It was clear they were the type of hunter-cultivators who frequently engaged in combat and hunting.
Their appearance served as a wake-up call for Li Mu; his sales of spirit talismans in the Loose Cultivator market were too conspicuous, and he didn't know how many people were envious of his business.
Today, three Loose Cultivators targeted him. What about next time? Five? Ten?
Eventually, there would be Loose Cultivators that Li Mu couldn't handle.
Once intercepted and killed by Loose Cultivators, he would lose his life, and the Spirit Stones earned from his stall would become theirs.
Li Mu sighed, deciding to give up on setting up a stall and continue to remain hidden in the mountains, cultivating his fields.
The more spiritual plants he harvested from cultivation, the stronger he would become. Li Mu decided to reconsider earning Spirit Stones by setting up a stall after he reached Foundation Establishment.
Li Mu decided that in a few days, he would go to Wanbao Pavilion to bring the ordered Artifact Refining Furnace back to the mountain. From then on, he would focus on cultivating his fields in the mountains and absolutely not descend the mountain easily unless necessary.
Three days passed in a flash.
Li Mu arrived at Wanbao Pavilion discreetly as agreed to pick up his order.
After paying Lin Huirong the remaining 180 Medium Grade Spirit Stones for the order, Li Mu successfully obtained the Yanyang Refining Furnace and put it into his Storage Pouch.
Seeing Li Mu about to leave after receiving the Artifact Refining Furnace, Lin Huirong quickly tried to persuade him to stay: "Li Gongzi, our pavilion's Auction is about to begin. Won't you participate?"
"Next time! I don't have enough Spirit Stones on me," Li Mu replied with a smile, politely declining.
During the days he spent at the stall, Li Mu acquired many Artifact Refining spiritual ores. While he couldn't yet refine a set of Five Elements second-tier spiritual swords, he could refine many first-tier spiritual swords.
Now that he had the Artifact Refining Furnace, refining a batch of first-tier spiritual swords was not an issue. Since he couldn't form the Five Elements Sword Formation, Li Mu decided to practice the Seven Stars Sword Formation first—a set composed of seven first-tier gold-element spiritual swords.
"Li Gongzi, our pavilion's Auction is held once every three years. If you miss it this time, you'll have to wait a long time!" Lin Huirong couldn't help but feel anxious, reminding Li Mu again.
Upon hearing this, Li Mu frowned and hesitated.
However, thinking about the possibility of a large number of Loose Cultivators appearing after the Auction, Li Mu immediately decided not to get involved in this murky business.
He could continuously grow stronger by constantly cultivating fields and harvesting spiritual plants. Possessing such a Heaven-Defying Heavenly Talent, Li Mu didn't want to perish prematurely before he had fully matured.
Therefore, Li Mu resolved that he must fully remain hidden. Any activity with even a slight risk, if avoidable, should be avoided as much as possible to eliminate all risks.
After making up his mind, Li Mu decisively refused: "There's nothing I can do. I'm short on funds, so even if I attend the Auction, I won't have Spirit Stones to spend. Let's talk about it next time! Miss Lin, farewell!"
With that, Li Mu hurriedly left Wanbao Pavilion. Lin Huirong called out a few times, but he didn't look back.
"Sister Lin, is that your potential client? He left so resolutely!" A female cultivator in a red dress walked up behind Lin Huirong and said with disdain.
"I don't know what stimulated him. He clearly has the financial means of a first-tier talisman master and is qualified to participate!" Lin Huirong sighed, unable to understand, disappointed at losing a potential performance.
Today, Wanbao Pavilion was bustling. Lin Huirong had no time to sigh. With an enthusiastic smile, she continued to entertain other clients.
____
Safely back at Xiao Liang Mountain.
Li Mu completely relaxed. He placed the second-tier Yanyang Refining Furnace into the Artifact Refining Room and embedded a Mid-Grade Spirit Stone into each of the dozen or so Spirit Stone slots on the Artifact Refining Furnace.
As the Spirit Stones were embedded, Li Mu activated the Artifact Refining Furnace's artifact formation. With a 'boom', a surge of high-temperature flames suddenly ignited within the Artifact Refining Furnace.
These high-temperature flames were the Yan Yang Spiritual Fire generated by the Yanyang Great Formation built into the Yanyang Refining Furnace.
Relying on this spiritual fire, it was easy to calcine second-tier spiritual ores and melt Artifact Refining Materials.
This second-tier Yanyang Refining Furnace was indeed useful, but it consumed Spirit Stones very quickly. Eighteen Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, with the Artifact Refining Furnace running continuously, would only last for three or four days.
Now that the Artifact Refining Furnace's Yanyang Great Formation was activated, it was consuming Spirit Stones. Li Mu dared not delay and began to take out twelve pieces of first-tier Mystic Iron Ore, starting to attempt Artifact Refining.
The furnace fire blazed, illuminating the entire Artifact Refining Room with a red glow, and the Mystic Iron in the fire gradually softened.
Li Mu picked up the iron tongs and clamped the glowing red Mystic Iron Ore onto the forging platform. Then, he picked up an iron hammer and began to strike with a 'ping-pong' sound. With each strike, spiritual power surged out, pouring into the hammer and heavily smashing the Mystic Iron, sending sparks flying.
"Clang, clang..." With each strike, the texture of the glowing red Mystic Iron block gradually became denser, and its volume continuously shrank.
About half an hour later, all the Mystic Iron blocks had shrunk to about one-fifth of their original volume.
Li Mu refined and purified twelve pieces of Mystic Iron in one go, and then placed this batch of hammered Mystic Iron essence back into the Artifact Refining Furnace for a final calcination.
Soon, the high-temperature Yan Yang Spiritual Fire of the Artifact Refining Furnace rapidly melted the twelve Mystic Iron blocks into a mass of molten Mystic Iron. Under Li Mu's control of Divine Sense, it slowly flowed out of the Artifact Refining Furnace's opening and into a sword blank mold.
Once the Mystic Iron liquid in the sword blank mold solidified into a block, Li Mu used iron tongs to clamp it out and continued to place it on the forging platform, striking it.
Since the Refining Skill was not yet recorded on the panel, Li Mu could only forge the sword blank according to the contents recorded in the "Essentials of Artifact Refining", and then attempt to engrave the artifact base and condense artifact patterns on the artifact blank, learning the Refining Skill.
Li Mu gripped the Spirit Gathering Hammer, which was similar to a talisman brush, specifically used for forging artifact blanks and condensing artifact patterns—an Artifact Refining tool.
Following the key knowledge points recorded in the "Essentials of Artifact Refining", Li Mu gathered spiritual power in his palm and injected it into the Spirit Gathering Hammer. Each spiritual power-infused hammer strike was injected into the Mystic Iron Sword blank, and the spiritual power quickly condensed within the fiery red artifact blank, forming an artifact pattern.
One hammer, two hammers, three hammers... Li Mu consumed his Divine Sense and spiritual power, forging the artifact blank repeatedly.
"Ding!" With a crisp sound, the Mystic Iron Sword body suddenly emitted a spiritual light and a faint sword hum.
It's done?
Li Mu eagerly looked at his character's virtual panel.
"Ding! You have successfully refined a first-tier spiritual sword. You have learned Refining Skill. Refining Skill proficiency +1."
Li Mu was delighted to see the new prompt appearing in the virtual log. He had learned Refining Skill in one go! It was worth the high price he paid for this second-tier Artifact Refining Furnace.
This Artifact Refining experience made Li Mu realize the highly efficient auxiliary function of powerful Divine Sense for Refining Skill. The reason he could learn Refining Skill so efficiently was inseparable from the powerful Divine Sense brought by the fourth-level Quenching Spirit Art.
Powerful Divine Sense allowed Li Mu to clearly 'see' the spiritual power's direction and the state of the spiritual patterns' condensation when condensing artifact patterns for the artifact blank, significantly reducing the difficulty of condensing artifact patterns and making it exceptionally easy to get started.
When refining spiritual talismans, Li Mu also felt the excellent auxiliary effect of powerful Divine Sense.
Next time he harvested Wind Spirit Grass, he must prioritize the Quenching Spirit Art.
Li Mu beamed with joy, making this decision wholeheartedly.