Yuan Ming did not feel that time had passed so slowly.

He didn’t know how many times he had stood up and sat down before Ah Muhe returned to this side. As soon as they met, Ah Muhe shook his head at him.

Yuan Ming’s heart sank.

“Except for the Master, we only have three elders in the Fire Refining Hall who are at the Foundation Establishment stage or above. They are all in seclusion refining tools and none of them have come out. No one can help you.” Ah Muhe said helplessly.

“What should I do then? Can’t I just watch the Qingyu Sword Spirit’s power fade away and become an ordinary item?” Yuan Ming frowned.

“You can only rely on luck and wait to see if the Master can return within three days.” Ah Muhe sighed, feeling helpless.

Yuan Ming could only thank Ah Muhe and leave in a hurry.

First, he went to the courtyard of the Third Cave Master, but still couldn’t find anyone, so he had to return to his residence.

As soon as he pushed open the door and entered, he saw Huo Chan’er lying on the table by the window. But when she heard the movement from Yuan Ming’s side, Huo Chan’er immediately got up.

Yuan Ming looked out the window and saw Xiying seemingly sunbathing on the horizontal branch of a pine tree.

When Silver Cat Xiying noticed Yuan Ming looking at her, she ignored him and turned over.

Seeing Xiying like this, Yuan Ming wanted to speak but swallowed his words. He just brought the sword box to the table and sat down, pondering with a worried expression.

Huo Chan’er came over to him in a pleasing manner, but he didn’t have time to pay attention to her.

It had been almost a day since yesterday.

There were still two days left for the preservation period of the Spirit Nurturing Sword Box. He had to complete the inscription and infusion within these two days.

But he had a premonition that the Third Cave Master probably wouldn’t be back anytime soon.

“Otherwise, should I go to the market again?” Yuan Ming hesitated whether to find a refiner there to help him, but when he calculated the distance, he realized that there was not enough time.

“Let me see what’s inside the Spirit Nurturing Box.” At this moment, the curious voice of Silver Cat sounded in his sea of consciousness.

Yuan Ming instinctively looked up and saw that Silver Cat Xiying had already come to his window, and Huo Chan’er had fallen to the ground without him knowing when.

“This is a sword that the Third Cave Master helped me refine. Without the Foundation Establishment cultivation base, is it impossible to infuse spiritual energy into the magic tool?” he couldn’t help but ask.

“Naturally, it’s impossible… but there are no absolutes.” Silver Cat understood why Yuan Ming had a worried expression as soon as he asked this question.

“Do you have a way?” Yuan Ming’s eyes lit up and he immediately became overjoyed.

“In the field of Taoist cultivation, there are symbol masters who are proficient in talismans and formation masters who are proficient in formations. They specialize in talismans and formations, and can exert unique abilities that other cultivators do not have using symbols or formations. Among them, formation masters have created a rune formation called ‘Gathering Spirit Formation’, which can replace refiners to infuse spiritual energy into magic tools and treasures.” Silver Cat Xiying explained.

“Aren’t you a soul cultivator? Are you also a formation master?” Yuan Ming was surprised when he heard this.

“I’m not a formation master, but I know the Gathering Spirit Formation.” Xiying glanced at him and said.

“You only know it? Can you draw it or… how can you help me?” Yuan Ming didn’t know how to use the Gathering Spirit Formation.

“I’m not a formation master, so I don’t know how to draw it. Besides, the Gathering Spirit Formation is not a talisman. It can’t be used just by drawing it on a talisman paper.” Xiying said.

“Forget it, in two more days, if I can’t find a way to infuse spiritual energy, my Qingyu Sword will be useless. You can’t help.” Yuan Ming said.

“What? Is there something I can’t do?… Actually, you have seen the Gathering Spirit Formation. It was on that misty island, on the furnace of that Master Heimu you discovered. It’s just that you were blind and didn’t take it away.” Xiying said angrily.

It didn’t know that Yuan Ming didn’t fail to recognize its value, but at that time his abilities were limited, otherwise he would have taken the furnace away long ago.

“The furnace on the island seemed to have other people on it at that time. I’m afraid the furnace has long been gone.” Yuan Ming was first delighted, then worried.

“The furnace is still there.” Silver Cat Xiying immediately gave him a reassurance pill.

“Really?” Yuan Ming was overjoyed when he heard this.

Silver Cat Xiying snorted disdainfully with its nose and didn’t bother to answer.

“Thank you!” Yuan Ming was overjoyed and picked up the sword box and ran out.

“Next time, I will definitely find something you don’t know to test you.” When he reached the door, Yuan Ming remembered something and added.

“I’ll accompany you!” Silver Cat replied.

As Yuan Ming passed by Huo Chan’er, the latter immediately followed his leg and jumped onto his shoulder.

Silver Cat Xiying watched his departing figure and a hint of smile appeared in its eyes. After a moment of hesitation, its figure leaped down from the pine tree and quickly disappeared.

…

Half a day later, on the Misty Island.

On a steep mountain wall, patches of moss grew, and green and black vines hung down, covering a hidden semicircular cave entrance.

In the sky outside the cave, a black raven spread its wings and flew, circling for a long time before slowly landing.It landed on a stone outside, pecking its head as if eating, but its pitch-black eyes were spinning around, secretly observing its surroundings.

Seeing that everything around was normal and there was no abnormality, the raven changed direction and flew into the vine-covered cave entrance on the mountain wall, disappearing.

Ten miles away, Yuan Ming sat quietly in the dense canopy of a towering ancient tree, using the vision of the soul crow to observe the situation on the other side of the cave.

“Fortunately, it’s still here.” When he saw the casting furnace, he couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Then, he stood up and used the Wind Swift Technique to leap down from the canopy, rushing towards that direction.

The figure of the silver cat appeared not far away and followed closely behind.

In no time, Yuan Ming was already carrying the Fire Greedy Child and arrived inside the cave.

When he saw the casting furnace, Yuan Ming immediately waved his sleeve, blowing away all the dust on the casting furnace, and then quickly approached, looking for the Spirit Gathering Array mentioned by Xiying.

He circled around the casting furnace but didn’t see any array engraved on it.

“How could there be none?” He pondered while bending down and crawling under the casting furnace.

At the bottom of the casting furnace, there were only flame patterns, and Yuan Ming didn’t see anything special.

“It’s inside the furnace chamber.” At this moment, the voice of the silver cat Xiying sounded timely in Yuan Ming’s mind.

Yuan Ming suddenly raised his head, and with a “thud,” his head bumped into the casting furnace.

When he crawled out from under the furnace body, he saw Xiying already lying on the casting furnace, leisurely watching him in a fluster.

“Even if you found it, do you know how to use the Spirit Gathering Array?” Xiying glanced at him with a mocking expression.

Yuan Ming was also stunned for a moment, then asked, “Do you know?”

“Of course, open the furnace door and look at the bottom.” Xiying instructed.

Yuan Ming quickly complied, opening the furnace door as instructed. Before he could see clearly, the Fire Greedy Child took the opportunity to crawl in along his arm, ran around inside, and then ran out.

Only then did Yuan Ming see that the bottom of the furnace was not smooth and flat, but engraved with a complex set of runic arrays.

At first glance, he felt that one of the runes looked somewhat familiar, resembling a transformed flame rune, but he couldn’t recognize the other five runes with complex lines around it.

These five runes were connected to the flame rune at the center, supporting each other and forming a stable framework structure.

“Is this the array?” Yuan Ming murmured to himself.

“This Spirit Gathering Array is simple. Although the design is exquisite, its power is limited. At best, it can only assist in the infusion of medium-grade artifacts. It can be considered the most rubbish kind.” Xiying said.

“Where do you see the simplicity?” Yuan Ming felt that the lines were already quite complex.

“This Spirit Gathering Array is centered around the flame rune and uses it as the starting point. It is constructed with the support of five Spirit Gathering Runes. There are no extra runes or complicated lines, so its power is limited, but it also avoids the loss of spiritual power. Isn’t that simple?” Xiying’s voice sounded in Yuan Ming’s mind.

“So, the runic array is not a simple stacking of runes. If the combination is not appropriate, it may have a half-hearted effect?” Yuan Ming pondered for a moment and asked.

“Of course, it is impossible to simply stack them. In fact, this kind of combination is quite difficult to control. Not only do you need to consider the compatibility of rune attributes, but also whether the lines between the runes are smooth and whether they will cause mutual interference. Otherwise, every rune master would be able to become a formation master.” Xiying said.

“I see. Then how do you use this Spirit Gathering Array?” Yuan Ming suddenly realized and asked.

“Did you see the grooves at the center of the five runes around it?” Xiying asked.

“I see, what are they for?” Yuan Ming asked in confusion.

“They are for placing spirit stones to absorb spiritual power. Your own mana is not enough, so you need to fill it with the spiritual power of the spirit stones. The flame rune in the middle is the key to transformation, controlling the flow of spiritual power into the Bluefish Sword.” Xiying answered.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming immediately turned his wrist and took out five low-grade spirit stones.

“Is this enough?” Yuan Ming humbly asked.

“It’s enough to infuse your sword.” Xiying glanced at it and nodded.

Yuan Ming carefully placed the five spirit stones into the furnace as instructed.

“Open the Spirit-Infusing Sword Box.” Xiying commanded.

Because Yuan Ming really didn’t understand the Spirit Gathering Array and didn’t dare to be negligent, he obediently acted as instructed.

He opened the Spirit-Infusing Sword Box, and the Bluefish Sword immediately revealed its true appearance. Strands of cold air emanated from it, and the Fire Greedy Child immediately showed a disgusted expression and ran to the side.”The sword has a basic attribute of coldness, what kind of rune do you plan to engrave?” Xiying asked.

Regarding this, Yuan Ming had already thought it through on his way here. However, when it came time to speak, he hesitated a bit.

(End of Chapter)