Why did Qian Duoduo feel like it was only a short while? Thinking about that house-sized Ore again, ten days was about right.
Touching his cheek, Qian Duoduo found he hadn't lost weight, which put his mind at ease.
Ten days of Artifact Refining Ore was also ten days of Cultivating the Eternal Wealth and Constant Nobility Art. If his Spiritual Qi hadn't kept up, he would have been compressed into jerky by the Eternal Wealth and Constant Nobility Art. However, he had used more than half of the Qi Return Pills he carried.
Standing up to stretch, Qian Duoduo felt his Spiritual Qi was more abundant than before, which completely put his mind at ease.
"Bring the Ore, let's continue refining?" Qian Duoduo said to Liu Boli.
There was still two-thirds of the Ore left, and he felt an itch if he didn't refine it.
Qian Duoduo didn't dare to go up and down Phoenix Feather Mountain alone. The Fire Spirit Crows were polite to Liu Boli, but they might not be to him.
Liu Boli nodded, and Qian Duoduo turned and walked down the mountain.
Hundreds of Fire Spirit Crows on the surrounding black trees still pitifully surrounded them, like black leaves growing on black trees.
Seeing them descend the mountain, the black leaves fluttered, and there were a few low caws.
They thought Qian Duoduo and Liu Boli had left, and when the two of them came up again later, they would be dumbfounded.
From a distance, Qian Duoduo saw Brother Tiger lying lazily beside the Ore. In these ten days, he surprisingly hadn't run away, not knowing if he didn't dare or didn't think about it.
"Wake up, lazy cat!" Qian Duoduo jumped down the hill and shouted, simultaneously throwing out a Spirit Chicken.
Brother Tiger bit the Spirit Chicken, swallowed it, and hummed indistinctly.
He gave him a few more, letting Brother Tiger eat his fill, then Qian Duoduo refilled the Golden Toad with Ming Iron Ore.
"Liu Boli and I are going up the mountain, you continue to watch," Qian Duoduo patted Brother Tiger's head.
The second time he refined Ore, Qian Duoduo himself could feel the speed was much faster. It took less than four days to finish refining the Ore.
Going down the mountain and then back up, the third Artifact Refining time was even shorter, taking only a day and a half.
The blue flame in his hand transformed back into a Golden Tiger, but it was an extremely obedient fierce tiger. As soon as the Ore entered the furnace, it was bitten apart by this Golden Tiger and refined into several pieces.
The last batch of Ming Iron refined was not further processed by Liu Boli, which indicated that the purity had passed the test.
Not only did he get Ming Iron worth nine hundred thousand gold coins, but Qian Duoduo was also pleasantly surprised to find that the Spiritual Vein had mostly changed from snow-cyan to bean-green, and the first level, fourth stage of the Eternal Wealth and Constant Nobility Art was almost complete. "There really is no wasted effort. Although Old Liu's face is dark, his heart is still red. Hehe…"
At this moment, Liu Boli was even happier than Qian Duoduo. Refining materials is the most basic and most tedious skill in Artifact Refining. The more solid the foundation, the greater the room for advancement.
When they left Phoenix Feather Mountain, the Fire Spirit Crows almost applauded. Although the blue flame was used quite listlessly by Qian Duoduo, the Fire Spirit Crows didn't mind at all and generously smiled as they saw them off.
Qian Duoduo was also very loyal and did not record the blue flame into the Golden Toad.
He knew that if this fire was gone, Phoenix Feather Mountain would lose its roots, and the Fire Spirit Crows would be finished.
Leaving Phoenix Feather Mountain, three hundred miles to the west, was the last exploration point, Phoenix Tail Mountain. According to the Zhu Family, no one had been to Phoenix Tail Mountain in the past thousand years.
After the Fire Spirit Crows' 'education', Brother Tiger's steps became much steadier, no longer full of resentment.
On the way, Qian Duoduo began to 'grill' Liu Boli. "How to purify the tens of thousands of materials in the first four volumes of the 'Artifact Refining Encyclopedia' in the cauldron, why this way, and why not that way..."
The difficult problems that Qian Duoduo struggled to understand, Liu Boli answered casually, opening doors for Qian Duoduo one after another.
Just as the fatal high temperature to Qian Duoduo was incredibly gentle to Liu Boli.
On the way to Phoenix Tail Mountain, there were more and more rocks, thicker trees, and more powerful auras. Fortunately, they had Liu Boli; they either detoured in advance or hid in the tortoise shell tent.
Six days later, they arrived at Phoenix Tail Mountain.
Phoenix Tail Mountain, though called a mountain, was actually a red desert. Standing under a large tree on the outer high ground, one could see this desert, no smaller than Refining Spirit Sect, like a beautiful crimson Phoenix tail, embedded within a landscape of green mountains. Unlike ordinary deserts, the sand of Phoenix Tail Mountain was flowing.
Within the flowing sand, there were also groups of Sand Cranes with astonishing auras. The Cultivation of these Sand Cranes all exceeded the Ninth Level of Qi Condensation. Their size was larger than a Spiritual Wolf, and their long legs were taller than a person, with sharp beaks at least three feet long. Some Sand Cranes walked in the sand, while others remained motionless in the sand. Suddenly, they extended their long necks, a cold light flashed, and their sharp beaks dragged out a plump Sand Rat from the sand. After shaking it a few times, they tilted their necks, and with a slurp, swallowed it into their bellies.
These Sand Rats, which became a feast for the Sand Cranes, had the same Cultivation as Qian Duoduo, Qi Condensation Level Five.
Poor Sand Rat!
According to the Spiritual Beast Scroll, Sand Rats feed on spirit garlic. And spirit garlic is a rare spiritual plant, with stems like beautiful jade, hollow, often storing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi in the form of spiritual pulp. spirit garlic is a type of Spiritual Plant that neither the sect's Spiritual Plant research institute nor Buhuan Estate possesses. This type of Spiritual Plant not found within the sect can sell for at least ten thousand gold coins per plant!
Qian Duoduo was about to rush down to search for the spirit garlic but was held in place by Liu Boli.
"Hide well," Liu Boli said in a low voice with his Spiritual Awareness.
At this moment, Qian Duoduo noticed a figure appearing in the sky above the desert.
This person was an old man, with a gaunt body but a huge head, wearing a black robe with no markings, riding a Mystic Sky Crocodile. Judging by the oppressive aura he exuded, his and the Mystic Sky Crocodile's Cultivation were only stronger, not weaker, than that of the demon soul dog.
This person was definitely not a Nascent Soul cultivator from the Refining Spirit Sect.
Who was he?
How did he appear here?
What was he going to do?
Brother Tiger beside him had already curled into a ball, restraining his aura, and hid in a tall clump of spiritual plant. Without getting close, one wouldn't be able to find him at all.
The appearance of the gaunt old man caused panic in the desert. The Sand Cranes, who were just the Dominator of the desert, flapped their wings one by one, hiding far away from him.
After circling in the air a few times, the Mystic Sky Crocodile slowly descended, landing in the center of the desert. Its dark green tail swept a few times, sweeping out a patch of grayish-white spiritual plant from under the sand.
So much spirit garlic! Qian Duoduo was stunned. This patch of spirit garlic must have had tens of thousands of plants, no wonder there were so many Sand Rats under the desert. Eating such Spiritual Qi-rich spirit garlic, the Sand Rats' Cultivation was naturally not low.
The Mystic Sky Crocodile's white tongue moved, driving out five or six Sand Rats from the spirit garlic patch. With a wide mouth, its upper and lower jaws closed, swallowing them all into its belly. These Sand Rats could still make some noise and struggle a bit in the Sand Cranes' mouths, but with the Mystic Sky Crocodile, they were like a few dried fruits, silently accepting their fate of becoming food.
The gaunt old man dismounted from the Mystic Sky Crocodile, pulled a spirit garlic from the ground, and threw it into his mouth.
The spiritual pulp of the spirit garlic is a great tonic for Cultivators in the Qi Condensation Realm, but it has little effect on those in the Nascent Soul Realm.
"Leave quickly!" Qian Duoduo secretly prayed in his heart.
This person and beast were not to be provoked; he only hoped they would leave quickly. Once they left, the spirit garlic would be Qian Duoduo's. As for the Spiritual Cranes and Ling Rats, Liu Boli and Brother Tiger would help deal with them.
But just then, the gaunt old man stomped his single foot fiercely.
Even from a considerable distance, Qian Duoduo could still see a cloud of dust instantly rise.
This guy actually destroyed that patch of spirit garlic! That was all money, all the Cultivation resources Qian Duoduo desperately needed...
Qian Duoduo clenched his fists, tapping his thigh lightly in distress.
"He's looking for something," Liu Boli said to Qian Duoduo with his Spiritual Awareness.
Indeed, a huge deep pit appeared under the gaunt old man's feet, and the Mystic Sky Crocodile burrowed into it.