Facing the gazes of the three, Wei An gave a bitter smile.
“Forget it! Since Master Li values this turtle shell so much, give me 10 medium spirit stones, and the turtle shell is yours!” Wei An sighed, handing the turtle shell to Li Mu.
“Thank you, Elder Wei.” Li Mu was overjoyed, quickly accepted the turtle shell, and readily paid by taking out ten medium spirit stones from his Storage Pouch.
Wang Wenbao glanced at the turtle shell they were trading, frowned, and then no longer paid attention; he couldn't see anything special about the turtle shell that would make it worth 10 medium spirit stones.
However, it was precisely because of its lack of distinctiveness, yet it could make Master Li willingly pay 10 medium spirit stones, which made it appear quite extraordinary.
But, could a turtle shell of unknown origin be more valuable than recruiting a third-order Artifact Refiner Great Master?
Wang Wenbao knew how to prioritize, remained silent, and watched them complete the transaction.
With the transaction complete and the sixth-order Spirit Luck Turtle Shell in hand, he had truly found a great bargain!
Li Mu suppressed his excitement, put the turtle shell into his Storage Pouch, looked at Wang Wenbao, and asked with a smile, “Manager Wang, how should I demonstrate my Artifact Refining skill? Does your Pavilion have an Artifact Refining furnace for me to refine artifacts?”
“Yes, of course, there is an Artifact Refining Room in the backyard. Testing Artifact Refining skill is a necessary procedure to become a Guest Elder of our Pavilion. Please, Master Li!” Wang Wenbao gestured an invitation, enthusiastically leading the way.
Li Mu nodded and followed Wang Wenbao to the backyard.
Led by Wang Wenbao, the two arrived at the Artifact Refining workshop in the backyard. There were five Artifact Refining Rooms in the workshop, two of which had tightly shut stone doors. Scorching high temperatures emanated from inside, along with faint sounds of hammering, indicating that Artifact Refiners were likely refining artifacts inside.
“Greetings, Manager Wang!” The manager in charge of the Artifact Refining workshop, Liu Zhong, saw Manager Wang and quickly bowed in greeting.
“Liu Zhong, which Great Master is available now?” Wang Wenbao inquired.
“Grandmaster Chen is available; he just finished refining Artifact Refining Materials,” Liu Zhong quickly replied.
“Good, have Grandmaster Chen come over to appreciate Master Li’s Artifact Refining skill, and also prepare a batch of third-order Artifact Refining Materials,” Wang Wenbao instructed, then looked at Li Mu and said, “Master Li, whatever Materials you need, just tell Liu Zhong.”
“Hmm, please arrange fifty catties of third-order geng metal and thirty catties of Taiyi Fine Gold for me!” Li Mu nodded, looking at Liu Zhong.
Upon hearing this, Liu Zhong’s expression changed slightly, and he stammered, “Great Master, that, that, we don’t have that much Geng Metal in stock. Can you choose other third-order Artifact Refining Materials, such as: third-order Fire Cloud Iron, third-order Azure Gold, third-order Dark Ink Stone…?”
“A large batch of Geng Metal was just put into storage, how can there be no stock?” Wang Wenbao frowned, glaring at Liu Zhong and asking.
“Manager Wang, you forgot, to refine a few more third-order Spiritual Artifacts for the Auction, you had Great Master Lin and Grandmaster Chen refine a few third-order Spiritual Swords, and all the Geng Metal was used up!” Liu Zhong quickly reminded him.
“They only submitted three Geng Metal Swords, and two hundred catties of Geng Metal were all used up?” Wang Wenbao’s eyes widened in surprise, asking.
“Uh! Third-order Spiritual Artifacts are not that easy to refine. Great Master Lin failed twice and successfully refined two, and Grandmaster Chen failed once, so…” Liu Zhong indicated.
“Alright, I understand!” Wang Wenbao impatiently waved his hand, looking at Li Mu: “Master Li, I’m truly sorry, for this Auction, our Treasure Pavilion has used up all the Geng Metal. Can you use other Artifact Refining Materials?”
“No problem, give me fifty catties of Fire Cloud Iron and thirty catties of Vermillion Flame Essence Crystal. I’ll refine a fire-attributed Spiritual Artifact then!” Li Mu smiled and nodded.
“No problem! We have all these Artifact Refining Materials. Artifact Refining Room Number One has a third-order Purple Yang Artifact Refining Furnace, and the Spirit Stones were just replaced. Please use Artifact Refining Room Number One!” Liu Zhong was overjoyed and quickly arranged.
After speaking, Liu Zhong quickly got busy, going to the warehouse to retrieve Artifact Refining Materials and sending someone to invite Grandmaster Chen.
Not long after, an Artifact Refiner Great Master with Foundation Establishment Elementary cultivation, dressed in a purple robe, walked up to Wang Wenbao, led by a servant.
“Grandmaster Chen, this is Master Li. He is about to undergo the Guest Elder assessment. Please trouble you to look after him.” Wang Wenbao quickly stepped forward, respectfully introducing him.
“Greetings, Grandmaster Chen!” Li Mu smiled slightly at the elder, greeting him politely.
“Hmm! Not weak in Cultivation. You can participate in the Guest Elder assessment at your age. Do you have confidence? What works have you refined before? Can I take a look?” Chen Yanshou looked Li Mu up and down, asking in surprise.
To improve his Artifact Refining skill, Chen Yanshou invested a lot of time and energy in the Artifact Refining Domain, thereby neglecting his Cultivation. It wasn't until he was nearing the limit of his Foundation Establishment lifespan that he took a Foundation Establishment Pill and fortunately succeeded in Foundation Establishment.
However, Li Mu, at his age, around twenty-three or twenty-four, already possessed Peak Qi Refining ninth-layer cultivation, just one step away from Foundation Establishment. It must be that he cultivated very diligently and spent a lot of time on it. Yet, he could also be invited to participate in the Wanbao Pavilion’s Artifact Refining Guest Elder assessment, proving that his Artifact Refining level was not weak.
So young, yet possessing such cultivation and proficient in Artifact Refining techniques, where did he get so much time and energy? This huge contradiction truly surprised Chen Yanshou.
“Indeed! Here, Grandmaster Chen, this Spiritual Sword is Master Li’s work.” Wang Wenbao quickly took out a crimson gold Spiritual Sword from his Storage Pouch and presented it to Chen Yanshou.
...
“This is a third-order Low Grade Spiritual Sword, and it’s even refined with second-order crimson gold. I don’t even have the confidence to refine this Spiritual Sword. Manager Wang, you didn’t take the wrong one, did you?!” Chen Yanshou frowned, looking at Wang Wenbao and questioning him.
“This Spiritual Sword is indeed Master Li’s work!” Wang Wenbao smiled bitterly; if Li Mu hadn’t admitted it himself, he wouldn’t have believed it either.
“Master Li, did you refine this Spiritual Sword?” Chen Yanshou stared at Li Mu, asking skeptically.
“That’s right, Grandmaster Chen. If you don’t believe me, just watch me refine artifacts!” Li Mu smiled slightly, not showing any weakness.
After speaking, Li Mu walked directly into Artifact Refining Room Number One and activated the Purple Yang Artifact Refining Furnace.
Seeing this, Wang Wenbao and Chen Yanshou quickly followed, entering the Artifact Refining Room to witness Li Mu’s Artifact Refining firsthand.
The third-order Purple Yang Artifact Refining Furnace was activated, and the Purple Yang Spirit Fire Array within the furnace released terrifying purple spiritual fire. Li Mu’s Divine Sense manipulated pieces of Fire Cloud Iron and Vermillion Flame Essence Crystal to automatically enter the Artifact Refining Furnace, rapidly liquefying them and condensing them into an artifact embryo.
Seeing Li Mu’s skilled Artifact Refining technique, effortless and confident, Wang Wenbao and Chen Yanshou held their breath, not daring to exhale loudly.
“This, this, could it be the Divine Refining Foundation Method?!”
Suddenly, Chen Yanshou’s whole body trembled as he looked at Li Mu’s Artifact Refining technique in disbelief, muttering in a lost voice.
“What?” Wang Wenbao looked at Chen Yanshou, puzzled.
In Wang Wenbao’s eyes, he only felt that Li Mu’s Artifact Refining technique was filled with a sense of beauty. The liquefied spiritual material solutions, under the control of his Divine Sense, were rapidly condensing into a fiery red essence wheel artifact embryo, exuding strong spirituality.
“Divine Refining Method! It really is the Divine Refining Method! Amazing!” Chen Yanshou trembled with excitement, speaking in a subdued whisper, fearing he might disturb Li Mu’s Artifact Refining.
“Grandmaster Chen, what is the Divine Refining Method? Is this Artifact Refining technique very special?” Wang Wenbao leaned in and asked in a low voice.
“This is an extremely difficult artifact embryo condensation method. When an artifact embryo is about to take shape, a Foundation array for the artifact embryo must first be set up inside it. This Foundation array is the Foundation of the Spiritual Artifact. Subsequent condensation of artifact patterns, artifact arrays, and even the nurturing of artifact spirits… all depend on the inherent quality of the artifact embryo’s Foundation array. The difficulty of Artifact Refining lies primarily in the construction of this artifact embryo’s Foundation array,” Chen Yanshou glanced at Wang Wenbao, not wanting to lose Face, and explained in a low voice.
“Hmm! Is this Divine Refining Method very powerful?” Wang Wenbao nodded, then asked.
“Powerful, of course, it’s powerful! It’s the most labor-saving, most efficient, and most precise artifact embryo Foundation array refining method. The construction of artifact embryo Foundation arrays generally employs the Thousand Hammer Forging Method, Spirit Gathering Internal Refining Method, Artifact Foundation Molding Method… However, compared to the Divine Refining Method, all these refining methods are trash,” Chen Yanshou said excitedly.
“Grandmaster Chen, do you know this Divine Refining Method?” Wang Wenbao nodded, asking with concern.
“I, I, I…” Chen Yanshou was almost driven to tears by Wang Wenbao.
Seeing this, Wang Wenbao gave an awkward smile and immediately stopped asking. It seemed Grandmaster Chen did not know it.