Li Mu activated his full Divine Sense, and the Spiritual Qi in his hand holding the spiritual hammer continuously flowed out, injecting Spiritual Qi and condensing Artifact patterns for the sword embryo during each refining process.
The first Artifact pattern formed, then two, ..., until the eighth Artifact pattern formed.
He had already refined a second-grade, top-tier Earth-elemental Spiritual Sword. The dark grey sword embryo glowed with spiritual light, and the sword body hummed!
Time to take a gamble!
Go big or go home.
Li Mu's expression was resolute. He gathered Spiritual Qi into the hammer and once again condensed Artifact patterns, aiming to make the Wutu sword embryo Breakthrough to the third grade.
The ninth Artifact pattern was about to form..., the Artifact pattern's spiritual light flickered between solid and illusory!
Oh no!
It seems the sword embryo's Materials can't hold up!
Li Mu's expression changed drastically as he stared at the sword embryo's state.
Suddenly, with a 'bang', the Wutu sword embryo disintegrated and exploded, shattering into pieces.
Li Mu had anticipated the danger and fled the spot in advance, narrowly avoiding being injured by the exploding Spiritual Sword fragments.
Picking up the broken sword embryo, Li Mu frowned deeply, analyzing the reasons for this failure.
The condensation time for the ninth Artifact pattern was too long because his cultivation was insufficient, leading to low Spiritual Qi output efficiency. Additionally, the Wutu sword embryo's Materials lacked toughness, making it difficult to withstand the spirituality of a third-grade Spiritual Artifact...
Li Mu summarized the reasons for this Artifact Refining failure, and his expression improved considerably.
Failure is the mother of success!
However, after the Artifact Refining failure, the discarded Materials were filled with residual Artifact patterns and could no longer be used. 60 jin of second-grade Wutu crystal stones and 20 jin of second-grade geomagnetic mother lode resulted in a total loss of 66 medium spirit stones.
The cost of failure was a bit high.
This Artifact Refining failure, along with the consumption of Divine Sense and Spiritual Qi, prevented Li Mu from continuing to refine Artifacts.
Li Mu estimated that in his peak condition, he could refine about ten second-grade Spiritual Artifacts a day. For third-grade Spiritual Artifacts, the number would be reduced to about one-third. If he forced himself, he could refine five third-grade Spiritual Artifacts, but the chance of Artifact Refining failure would likely increase significantly.
Turning off the Artifact Refining furnace, Li Mu, covered in dust, walked out of the Artifact Refining Room and released his Divine Sense to inspect the spirit fields, his mood instantly improving.
Under the influence of the Spirit Gathering Array and Gathering Spirit Formation, the four acres of newly cultivated land had completed their spiritualization. The nine acres of newly planted Wind Spirit Grass were lush and green, growing robustly.
The other two acres of spirit rice and Emerald Spirit Fruit were thriving. The spirit rice had abundant panicles, and the Emerald Spirit Fruit had already begun to bear fruit, small and tender with spiritual light. In about a month and a half, they would all be ready for harvest.
The laborer puppet walked with mechanical steps, patrolling the edge of the spirit fields, driving away birds.
Crimson Wolf lay dozing on a large rock, occasionally opening his eyes to glance at the Cailing Chicken flock foraging on the slope, keeping a close watch on them to prevent them from damaging the spirit fields.
The abundant Spiritual Qi of Xiao Liang Mountain nourished everything. The eleven acres of Low Grade spirit fields were gradually advancing towards Medium Grade spirit fields.
Beside the courtyard, a half-acre nursery field planted with dozens of types of Spiritual Plants saw tender seedlings of various sizes and shapes breaking through the soil, competing for beauty and growing pleasingly.
Li Mu cast several Qingfeng Huanyu Techniques to replenish spiritual rain for the thirsty spirit fields.
Then, with nothing else to do, Li Mu walked to the edge of the illusion Formation and extended his Divine Sense towards the two Xuan Wolf Gang 'members' trapped within the illusion Formation.
Both men lay on the ground, their faces numb, playing dead.
"Your brother was killed on the way. Which of you is willing to go out and buy talisman paper for me?" Li Mu entered the illusion Formation and called out from a distance.
Hearing this, both men were startled and immediately sat up from the ground.
"What! My third brother is dead? How did he die? Did you kill him?" Pang Wenxiong asked, his face pale with shock, looking at Li Mu.
"It must be him! He tricked Third Brother out and killed him! Big Brother, let's fight him!" Pang Chengxiong glared angrily at Li Mu and suggested to Pang Wenxiong.
...
Li Mu was speechless, amused by their reaction.
"If I wanted to kill you, I would have directly activated the killing Formation. Would you still be alive? Why would I go to such trouble?" Li Mu chuckled, retorting with a smile.
Hearing this, Pang Wenxiong and Pang Chengxiong exchanged glances and were instantly speechless. Having experienced the power of the Formation, they knew that what the other party said was true.
"Who, who killed my Third Brother!" Pang Wenxiong asked exasperatedly.
"A very formidable assassin. He was probably also hired by Senior Brother Wang. But! He didn't dare to enter the Formation and has been guarding outside. Perhaps to interrogate the situation on the mountain, he acted against your Third Brother. His body is at the foot of the mountain. Which of you wants to go down? As long as you help me buy enough talisman paper, I will release you," Li Mu explained with a smile.
"Me! I'll go." Pang Wenxiong anxiously walked towards Li Mu.
Li Mu took a step back, ready to exit the illusion Formation in the next step, and gave Pang Wenxiong a warning look.
Pang Wenxiong met Li Mu's wary gaze, his expression slightly changed, and he quickly stopped his steps.
These past ten-plus days, they had suffered quite a bit, and they were extremely fearful of Li Mu, who controlled the illusion Formation.
"Big Brother, let me go! You're injured, and your legs are inconvenient," Pang Chengxiong hastily argued.
"Alright! You go. Walk ten steps to the right, then seven steps south. I'll let you out now." Li Mu directed Pang Chengxiong out of the Formation, and at the same time, glanced at Pang Wenxiong, who was about to move, and sternly warned, "You, it's best not to move randomly!"
Hearing this, Pang Wenxiong immediately gave up, sitting down dejectedly, and secretly vowed in his heart, "Damn Wang Feng, damn Lin Qiuhai. If I can escape this time, you'll both get what's coming to you."
As for the master who trapped them with the illusion Formation, Pang Wenxiong couldn't even muster the thought of revenge.
This guy wasn't old, but he was incredibly cautious!
Who knew how many Formations he had set up on Xiao Liang Mountain? For so many days, the three of them had tried every possible way to contend with him, but they couldn't find any weaknesses in him.
Such a troublesome person, even if he had the grudge of imprisonment, Pang Wenxiong didn't want to have any further dealings with him.
Soon, under Li Mu's guidance, Pang Chengxiong walked out of the illusion Formation, took off running, and sprinted down the mountain, regaining his freedom.
As expected, after running only a few steps, Pang Chengxiong saw Pang Shixiong, whose hands and feet were tied to a tree, with several small beasts burying their heads in his body, eating him.
"Third Brother! Get lost! Get lost!" Pang Chengxiong rushed forward, violently swinging his True Qi, driving away the wild beasts.
Pang Chengxiong, filled with grief and indignation, untied his Third Brother's body, dug a pit, and hastily buried him. Then, he rushed towards Qing'an Town to buy talisman paper for Li Mu, first to get his Big Brother released, and then they would take revenge for their Third Brother together.
In less than a quarter of an hour, Pang Chengxiong returned, appearing outside the Formation with a large bag of talisman paper.
"I bought the talisman paper for you. Now it's your turn to keep your promise!" Pang Chengxiong shouted from outside the Formation, holding a cloth bag of items.
"Throw the items in, and your brother can come out!" Li Mu extended his Divine Sense to confirm.
Pang Chengxiong unhesitatingly threw a large bag of talisman paper into the illusion Formation, and then the cloth bag was taken away by an invisible force.
A moment later, Pang Wenxiong walked out of the illusion Formation with a limping gait.
"How is it! Did something really happen to Third Brother?" Pang Wenxiong asked immediately after exiting the Formation.
"Yes! I buried him myself!" Pang Chengxiong nodded sadly.
"Let's go! Take me to see him. Next, we'll figure out how to avenge Third Brother!" A fierce glint flashed in Pang Wenxiong's eyes as he decided.
——
Inside the Formation, Li Mu received a large bag of talisman paper, his face brightening. Now, he could refine talismans again.
As for those two guys, let them fight Wang Feng like dogs. Li Mu didn't want to dirty his hands. He just wanted to stay on the mountain, cultivate diligently, and practice immortal cultivation. If unnecessary, he didn't want to kill anyone.