Two days passed in a flash.

Inside the inn, Yuan Ming slowly opened his eyes, his gaze sharp.

The fluctuations of his mana had become much stronger. With the Nine Elements Formula combined with the Foundation Establishment Pill and the assistance of the Lingxiang, his mana had increased at an extremely fast rate. In less than two days, the effect of his cultivation was equivalent to nearly half a month of previous practice.

It was likely that spiritual incense like the Qingxuan Fragrance was originally used to assist high-level cultivators in their cultivation or for offerings in sects.

Moreover, each cultivation session required more than one stick of spiritual incense, and the consumption of spiritual stones was equivalent to several. This was not something that ordinary small sects could afford.

There shouldn’t be many people in this barren land of the Southern Wilderness who had the financial resources to use it. No wonder that old Daoist’s business was so poor.

According to the agreement, he could already collect the Thousand Machine Mask today. He wondered if Master Huolian had succeeded.

Yuan Ming checked out of the inn and went to Master Huolian’s weapon shop.

Since the other party already knew his identity, he didn’t bother to hide it this time.

“Hehe, Daoist friend came at the right time. The Thousand Machine Mask has already been refined. Fortunately, it didn’t disappoint.” Before Yuan Ming could speak, the bald man chuckled.

“Thank you! Is Master Huolian not in the shop?” Yuan Ming asked, his heart certain.

“Oh, Master is busy in the back room. Please take a look, Daoist friend.” The bald man said and took out a wooden box from under the counter, handing it over.

Yuan Ming opened the wooden box and inside was a somewhat translucent white mask. It was extremely thin, soft to the touch, and felt almost like a human face when he touched it.

He tried putting it on, and it fit perfectly. He could hardly feel the presence of the mask.

“Master said that Daoist friend is lucky. This time, the refining of the Thousand Machine Mask was quite successful. This mask can be used three times. Please be careful when using it.” The bald man said again.

“What! It can only be used three times?” Yuan Ming’s eyes flashed with surprise.

“Don’t you know, Daoist friend? The Thousand Machine Mask is a consumable-type magical weapon. Its main material is the face skin of the human-faced spider, which is only a first-grade ferocious beast material. Its spiritual power is too weak, so being able to maintain three transformations is already very good.” The bald man explained.

Yuan Ming fell silent.

The weapon shop was a business that welcomed customers. They shouldn’t deceive him in this matter. The Thousand Machine Mask was made from first-grade ferocious beast materials, and its effect was indeed amazing. Even a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator couldn’t see through it. It was indeed unreasonable. It seemed that he had some unrealistic expectations.

Thinking of this, he didn’t dwell on it any longer, paid the remaining refining fee, and left with the Thousand Machine Mask.

Yuan Ming didn’t stay long in Heiyan City and quickly left, heading towards the Birodong Sect.

…

On the way, Yuan Ming was still worried about being targeted and robbed, so he made adequate preparations. However, everything was calm and peaceful.

After returning to Birodong, Yuan Ming hurriedly went to find the Third Cave Master.

“Is this Yin Jade?” When the Third Cave Master saw the half piece of white Ruyi that he took out, his expression changed.

“Not bad.” Yuan Ming nodded.

“I didn’t expect you to be able to find Yin Jade as a substitute. Although its grade cannot be compared to the Thousand Year Cold Crystal, it is not easy to find. Combined with its unique attributes, you are quite lucky. Just be careful, using this kind of magical weapon for a long time may harm your own soul. I will try to reduce its backlash during the refining process, but you still need to be cautious.” After examining the Yin Jade that Yuan Ming brought back, the Third Cave Master nodded slightly and reminded him.

“Thank you, Third Cave Master.” Yuan Ming clasped his fists.

“Follow me.” The Third Cave Master said, getting up and leading Yuan Ming to the backyard of the small courtyard.

In the backyard, Yuan Ming immediately saw a black casting furnace. Its style was similar to the one made by Master Heimu, and it was also engraved with many hidden patterns on the surface.

The Third Cave Master approached the casting furnace and selected some charcoal and sulfur stones from a nearby shelf, throwing them into the furnace.

Then, she raised her hand and formed a hand seal, pressing it on the surface of the furnace.

In the next moment, a flame ignited from her palm, spreading like a wildfire, lighting up the patterns on the furnace.

Red light traces converged from all directions and concentrated into the furnace, condensing into a blazing flame, igniting the furnace.

An extremely scorching aura rushed out of the furnace, blowing Yuan Ming’s face and making his skin tighten. He instinctively stepped back.

The Third Cave Master, on the other hand, remained calm and unaffected.

On her shoulder, Huo Chan’er raised her head, lowered her waist, and stretched lazily, looking very comfortable.

“Give me the sword.” The Third Cave Master said.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming immediately handed over the Green Fish Sword with both hands.

Huo Chan’er crawled along his outstretched arm and onto his shoulder.

The Third Cave Master waved her hand and opened a sealed door on the furnace. A bunch of flames immediately rushed out like a flood.

She raised her palm and pressed it against the incoming flames, and an invisible force suppressed the flames back into the furnace.

Then, she used her mana to lift the Qingyu Sword and slowly placed it into the furnace.

As the Qingyu Sword entered the center of the fire pit, it was immediately surrounded by raging flames. The tongues of fire licked at the sword as if they had found a delicious meal.

Yuan Ming was puzzled at first, but then he realized that it was the Third Sect Master manipulating the flames.

“You should have the Fire Spirit Root. During your daily cultivation, you can choose a fire attribute technique to practice controlling and manipulating fire. This is necessary for a weapon refiner,” the Third Sect Master’s voice sounded, giving Yuan Ming some advice.

Yuan Ming wanted to say that he already had a cultivation method, but he immediately stopped himself.

Not to mention that his cultivation method itself was problematic, even the explosive nature of the Ignition Technique had nothing to do with controlling and manipulating fire. If he were to use it, he would probably blow up the furnace immediately.

“Yes,” Yuan Ming nodded.

“The second smelting is crucial, pay close attention,” the Third Sect Master said.

“I will remember your guidance,” Yuan Ming replied.

In fact, even without her reminder, Yuan Ming would not miss this rare opportunity to observe.

After saying these words, the Third Sect Master stopped speaking and focused on controlling the temperature of the flames and furnace.

The Qingyu Sword was different from the first smelting. It didn’t need to melt all the materials, remove impurities, and fuse them together. Instead, it needed to be heated to a critical state where it remained solid but dispersed.

Once it passed this critical state, the shape of the Qingyu Sword would melt, losing its original sturdy structure. But if it couldn’t reach this state, it would be impossible to incorporate the Yin Jade into it.

Yuan Ming understood this principle, but with his current cultivation level, he couldn’t actually do it.

After about half an incense stick’s worth of burning, the temperature inside the furnace suddenly rose. The Qingyu Sword lit up with a bright white, golden, and crimson glow from the inside out.

“Yin Jade,” the Third Sect Master frowned and said.

Yuan Ming immediately offered both hands.

The Third Sect Master took the Yin Jade with one hand and lightly touched the seal on the furnace door with the other.

The seal on the furnace door opened again, and a more intense wave of energy surged out, but the flames were still controlled by the Third Sect Master.

Then, with a flick of her finger, a strand of mana pulled the Qingyu Sword out and placed it on the casting table.

Almost at the same time, the Third Sect Master pressed her hand holding the Yin Jade onto the Qingyu Sword.

“Hiss…”

With a light sound, a large amount of white mist rose, obscuring Yuan Ming’s vision.

All he could see was that the Third Sect Master closed the seal on the fire pit and picked up the casting hammer next to her. She struck down on the casting table.

“Clang, clang, clang.”

One strike after another, sparks didn’t fly up from the casting table, but one after another halo appeared with each strike.

In the pervading mist, Yuan Ming could only see a vague and graceful figure. Her movements were smooth and elegant, without any coarseness.

Yuan Ming focused his mana on his eyes, greatly enhancing his vision.

At this moment, he finally saw that when the Third Sect Master struck with the hammer, a bright rainbow appeared on the Qingyu Sword. It was surrounded by a thin layer of white jade powder that remained attached to the sword no matter how it vibrated.

After each strike, some jade powder would enter the sword and merge with it. After each fusion, the glow on the sword would dim slightly, and the heat on it would noticeably decrease.

At this point, the speed of the Third Sect Master’s hammer strikes became faster and faster. The continuous sound of hammering began to blend together.

Yuan Ming’s eyes were dazzled, and he was secretly amazed. Not to mention the number of consecutive strikes, the speed alone was temporarily beyond his reach.

But Yuan Ming could see clearly that the reason the Third Sect Master suddenly accelerated was to maintain the temperature of the sword through the strikes, ensuring that all the Yin Jade crystal powder could merge into the sword.

Just then, a voice suddenly came from outside the courtyard, “Is the Third Sect Master here? The Grand Sect Master has summoned disciples to discuss urgent matters.”

“What a coincidence,” Yuan Ming frowned, afraid that the Third Sect Master would be affected.

If the Grand Sect Master had urgent matters to discuss, how could it be compared to the matter of a small named disciple like himself? If the Third Sect Master were to stop now, all his previous efforts would be in vain. Not to mention the spiritual materials he had painstakingly found, the Qingyu Sword would probably lose the possibility of further advancement.

Fortunately, the Third Sect Master’s actions showed no signs of slowing down. It was as if she hadn’t heard anything at all and was not affected in the slightest.

The people outside seemed to have heard the movement inside and were afraid that the people inside hadn’t heard them. They used their mana to shout loudly, and their voices immediately became clearer as they entered.

But the Third Sect Master continued to strike the hammer without any interruption. It was as if nothing could disturb her.

Seeing this scene, Yuan Ming finally relaxed.He silently counted in his heart, until after the Master of the Third Cave had swung his hammer three thousand six hundred and eighty-one times in succession, the sound of the hammering finally ceased, and the mist that had filled the surroundings had long since dissipated.

The Master of the Third Cave put down his forging hammer, held the newly rejuvenated Green Fish Sword in one hand, and lifted it in front of him for inspection.

The shape of the long sword hadn’t changed much, but on the green body of the sword, there were now countless white spots that hadn’t been there before. It was as if snow was falling in the blue sky, or as if a starry curtain was spread out, making it even more dazzling and magnificent than before.

Yuan Ming’s eyes lit up, seeing faint traces of white cold air seeping out from the sword body.

“Is it done?” He couldn’t help but ask.

“The fusion of the materials is very good, the properties of the Yin Jade and the Green Fish Sword can perfectly match. As long as there are no problems with the inscription and spirit infusion later, this sword will at least be a mid-grade magical weapon.” The Master of the Third Cave was also quite satisfied, he said.

“Thank you, Master of the Third Cave.” Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming immediately knelt down and thanked him sincerely.

(End of Chapter)