With a crisp 'bang', a Spiritual Artifact embryo on the forging table suddenly exploded.
If Li Mu hadn't reacted quickly and dodged in advance, he would have been injured by the exploding iron fragments.
Li Mu frowned and looked at the character log.
"Ding, your Artifact Refining failed. Artifact Refining Skill proficiency +0."
As expected! Artifact Refining failed, and no proficiency was gained.
After successfully refining a Low Grade Mystic Iron Sword, Li Mu continued to attempt refining a Medium Grade Spiritual Sword, condensing two Artifact Runes on the Artifact embryo.
The result was obvious: without a proficient grasp of Artifact Rune condensation techniques, attempting to condense two Artifact Runes led to Spiritual Rune conflict and the explosion of the Artifact embryo.
The Artifact Refining failed, and the Artifact embryo fragments mixed with residual runes were also scrapped, resulting in a loss of dozens of lower spirit stones.
Therefore, it's better to wait for the Wind Spirit Grass to mature, gain free proficiency from Plant Spirit Absorption, and raise the Artifact Refining Skill Rank before refining Spiritual Swords!
Li Mu sighed, turned off the Blazing Sun Array of the Artifact Refining furnace, and prepared to focus his time and energy on the Symbol Making Art, which was already at Rank four.
"Woof woof!"
As soon as Li Mu came out of the Artifact Refining Room, the Crimson Wolf, which had grown a size bigger, immediately came over, wagging its tail enthusiastically.
"You're hungry, aren't you! Let's go, I'll get you some food."
Li Mu patted the Crimson Wolf's head and walked towards the stove.
He used the Fire Ignition Technique to ignite the stove fire.
The spirit rice was washed clean and put into the pot to cook.
Next, he prepared a piece of spiritual deer meat and soaked some dried vegetables; this would be their lunch.
One person, one dog, simple three meals a day. This kind of life was quite fulfilling, and Li Mu was very satisfied.
Cultivating Immortality through farming! It was destined to be a solitary path. As for taking a Dao Companion, Li Mu hadn't considered it. Firstly, it was troublesome and he didn't have the energy to take care of a Dao Companion; secondly, he had many secrets, and with a Dao Companion, he would have to guard against her and hide things from her; thirdly, weren't the joy-houses in Qing'an Town good enough? They were proficient in the Dual Cultivation Dao, what positions couldn't they satisfy?
After lunch, he cleaned up the pots and bowls.
Li Mu began to manage the spirit fields. The five acres of Wind Spirit Grass were the easiest to care for; a few uses of the Qingfeng Huanyu Technique would make them lush and green.
The spirit rice and Emerald Spirit Fruit needed weeding and fertilizing. Li Mu released the laborer puppet, controlling it to dig fertile mud from the pond...
After managing the spirit fields, Li Mu took the laborer puppet and continued to open up new fields.
...
Time flew by, and a month and a half passed. Li Mu had been staying at Xiao Liang Mountain, farming. Only when he lacked symbol paper or biological supplies would he go to Qing'an Town for purchases, leading a simple and fulfilling life.
Under Li Mu's anticipation, the five acres of Wind Spirit Grass finally entered their ripening season.
Li Mu impatiently took a sickle and went down to harvest the field.
He grabbed a swath of Wind Spirit Grass, extended and pulled hard with the sharp sickle, and the next second, clusters of light green orbs of light appeared at the cut ends of the Wind Spirit Grass.
Li Mu eagerly bent down and stroked it with his hand.
"Talent Divine Power - Plant Spirit Extraction takes effect. You extracted a Plant Spirit, free proficiency points +1."
"Talent Divine Power - Plant Spirit Extraction takes effect. You extracted a Plant Spirit, free proficiency points +1."
...
The log at the bottom of the character's virtual frame immediately showed more than a dozen messages. Harvesting a handful of Wind Spirit Grass yielded a total of 23 free proficiency points.
Li Mu was overjoyed, laughed heartily, and continued to swing the sickle, harvesting Wind Spirit Grass, one handful after another, one patch after another, tirelessly.
An hour later, Li Mu successfully harvested an acre of Wind Spirit Grass, so tired he could barely straighten his back, yet his face was beaming with a happy smile.
One acre of Wind Spirit Grass successfully yielded: 35,952 free proficiency points.
Li Mu rested for a moment, then continued harvesting Wind Spirit Grass. It took him a full day to harvest all five acres of Wind Spirit Grass, yielding a total of 175,899 free proficiency points.
It was already dark. Li Mu, dragging his tired body, returned to the house and began to allocate his free attribute points.
First, it was the Artifact Refining Skill.
"Ding, you consumed one free proficiency point, Artifact Refining Skill proficiency +1."
"Ding, you consumed one free proficiency point, Artifact Refining Skill proficiency +1."
...
"Ding, you consumed one free proficiency point, Artifact Refining Skill proficiency +1. Artifact Refining Skill Rank has increased to: Rank five. Your Artifact Refining experience has greatly improved, the success rate of refining has increased, and you have comprehended the Artifact Refining technique: Divine Refinement Spirit Fusion Method."
In one go, he raised his Artifact Refining Skill to Rank 5. A vast amount of Artifact Refining knowledge and experience surged into Li Mu's mind, and he also comprehended a special Artifact Refining ability: manipulating the Artifact embryo structure through Divine Sense to forcefully incorporate soul spirits, making it more likely for the refined Spiritual Artifacts to produce Artifact Spirits.
Li Mu opened his eyes. The vast Artifact Refining experience and the newly comprehended Artifact Refining technique took him a while to digest before he recovered.
Li Mu glanced at the character panel. Continuing to upgrade the Artifact Refining Skill to Rank 6 would require 30,000 free proficiency points.
Li Mu immediately decided to give up on upgrading the Artifact Refining Skill and allocate the remaining free proficiency points to other skills and Cultivation Techniques. He had too many Cultivation Techniques and skills that needed improvement.
Next, he upgraded the "Illusionary Breath Art."
"Ding, you consumed one free proficiency point, Illusionary Breath Art proficiency +1."
"Ding, you consumed one free proficiency point, Illusionary Breath Art proficiency +1."
...
"Ding, you consumed one free proficiency point, Illusionary Breath Art proficiency +1. Illusionary Breath Art Rank has increased to: Rank five. Your Illusionary Breath Art has reached Minor Achievement Realm, the illusionary effect has greatly improved, and you have comprehended the Illusionary Breath Minor Divine Ability: Transform Mortal into True."
Li Mu took a deep breath and fully activated the Illusionary Breath Art. The next second, all the Spiritual Pressure aura on his body disappeared, and he transformed into an ordinary person.
Even a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator, one Realm higher, would find it difficult to discern his true Realm. Li Mu was delighted, thinking that from now on, it would be very difficult for anyone to see through his cultivation when concealed by the Illusionary Breath.
So, reaching Rank five meant the Minor Achievement Realm of a Cultivation Technique, and one could gain new special effects. He wondered what changes would occur when the Cultivation Technique was fully upgraded to the Major Achievement Realm?
However, the free proficiency points required to upgrade from Rank 5 to Rank 6 were too many. It only took 15,000 free proficiency points to upgrade from Rank 1 to Rank 5, but upgrading from Rank 5 to Rank 6 would require 30,000 proficiency points.
Li Mu gave up the idea of continuing to upgrade the Illusionary Breath Art. Looking at the character panel, his gaze locked onto the next Cultivation Technique to upgrade: "Dragon Elephant Eighteen Formations."
"Ding, you consumed one free proficiency point, Dragon Elephant Eighteen Formations proficiency +1."
...
"Ding, you consumed one free proficiency point, Dragon Elephant Eighteen Formations proficiency +1. Dragon Elephant Eighteen Formations Rank has increased to: Rank five. You have successfully comprehended the Transformation of the Dragon Elephant Array. Your Array Formation Skill and Vein Surveying Skill have both received a certain improvement. You have mastered a special Array Formation ability: Spirit Gathering into Array."
As the Dragon Elephant Eighteen Formations was upgraded to Rank five, a vast amount of knowledge and experience related to arrays surged into his mind out of nowhere. Li Mu couldn't help but hold his head, his brain throbbing faintly from the sudden influx of massive knowledge.
No more!
He needed to rest for a bit.
After Cultivation Techniques and skills break through Rank five, they all undergo significant changes.
Having consecutively upgraded three Cultivation Techniques to break through Rank five, Li Mu had absorbed too much Cultivation Technique knowledge and experience. This feeling was terrible, as if his head was about to explode.