Yuan Ming did not rush back to the Biluo Cave overnight. Firstly, it was unsafe to travel at night, and secondly, he didn’t know where he was currently located or if there were any dangers around. He decided to wait until dawn to make a decision.

He set up a simple grass shed by the lake and sat down, reflecting on today’s encounters.

Yuan Ming had a good habit of carefully reflecting on his shortcomings after experiencing major events.

The reason why he encountered danger multiple times today was because he didn’t consider it thoroughly and was unprepared. Although he knew that Qianlu Lake was vast, he didn’t think about the possibility of getting lost. There were also compasses and other things in the Biluo Cave. If he had prepared one in advance, he wouldn’t have encountered the subsequent troubles.

Yuan Ming let out a sigh and silently remembered this lesson.

Although he encountered danger today, the gains were also great. He obtained a set of “Record of Strange Stones,” four pieces of Fire Jade Essence, a dark red iron hammer, a large storage bag, and the black wooden notebook. Each of them was a treasure.

“Oh right, I almost forgot about this.” Yuan Ming reached out and took out an item, which was the red peach he picked.

The peach emitted a refreshing fragrance that could be felt in one’s heart and contained rich spiritual energy. It was definitely a rare spiritual fruit that could greatly assist in cultivation.

However, he didn’t know the origin and effects of this fruit, so he hesitated to eat it rashly.

“I better investigate it thoroughly after returning to the sect.” Yuan Ming swallowed his saliva and put the peach away.

He took out the black wooden notebook and carefully read through it.

The front of the notebook contained the self-narration of Master Heimu, introducing his life. He came from a small tribe in Southern Border that specialized in iron forging. Since childhood, he had a great interest in refining tools, but unfortunately, his physical condition prevented him from learning the forging techniques of his clan.

Later, by chance, Heimu was found to possess spiritual roots, and they were both fire and wood spiritual roots. As a result, he was sent to the Biluo Cave for cultivation.

Heimu wasn’t particularly interested in cultivating immortality itself; his heart was still set on refining tools. However, the refining techniques in the Biluo Cave also required a certain level of physical strength, which Heimu lacked. He could only do some simple forging tasks with fewer hammer strikes in the fire workshop.

But Heimu didn’t give up. While diligently doing his own duties, he also searched for ways to overcome his lack of strength.

He firmly believed that he was born for refining tools.

During this period, Master Heimu came into contact with the technique of driving objects, which immediately sparked his inspiration.

With his intelligence and wisdom, Master Heimu forcefully combined the technique of driving objects with the forging process, perfectly solving the problem of insufficient strength. He officially embarked on the path of refining tools and became unstoppable.

Just as Master Heimu firmly believed, he was indeed a natural tool refiner. In just ten years, he learned all the refining techniques in the Biluo Cave and integrated them, creating his own unique school of refining tools, the Heimu Style.

According to the self-narration, the back of the notebook recorded all of Master Heimu’s lifelong insights into refining tools and his various ideas. It could be said to be the culmination of his lifelong pursuit and efforts.

Upon reaching this point, Yuan Ming’s expression became solemn.

Chen Wan mentioned that although Master Heimu was hailed as the first genius tool refiner in the Biluo Cave in a hundred years, his refining techniques seemed to have not been passed down in the Biluo Cave. If the other sect members were to find out about the black wooden notebook in his possession, it would likely cause a great disturbance.

“The matter of Misty Island must not be known by anyone, and the black storage bag also needs to be hidden!” Yuan Ming secretly decided and continued reading.

The later self-narration in the notebook became sloppy, mostly recording the difficulties encountered by Master Heimu during the refining process or complaints written when he was in a bad mood. It was scattered and not very coherent.

Yuan Ming didn’t slack off and carefully read these words, not letting go of any details.

According to Chen Wan, the sudden disappearance of Master Heimu caused quite a stir within the sect. Perhaps some clues could be found in this notebook.

These scattered words from Master Heimu revealed a lot of information. As his refining techniques became more and more exquisite, it seemed that he was being restrained by the Biluo Cave sect. Later, he stumbled in the process of refining a special treasure and ultimately decided to leave the Biluo Cave.

“If this continues, everyone will die!”

This was the last sentence written by Master Heimu in the self-narration of the notebook.

“What does he mean by ‘everyone will die’?” Yuan Ming muttered to himself, unable to guess the meaning behind Master Heimu’s words.

Since he couldn’t figure it out, he didn’t waste his time and continued reading the Heimu Style refining techniques in the later part of the notebook.

The handwriting here was very neat, indicating that Master Heimu was extremely serious when writing each word.

The Heimu Style refining techniques were divided into four steps: smelting the ore and forging the embryo.

These two steps were not unfamiliar to Yuan Ming.According to Master Heimu’s description, smelting and forging embryos may seem simple, but they are the foundation of forging an object. There are many things to pay attention to, such as the ratio of ores, control of heat, and the strength of hammering. Any slight problem can affect the subsequent refining process.

Master Heimu has put a lot of thought into smelting and forging embryos. Each step is much more complicated than in the fire workshop. For example, in the fire workshop, there are at most a thousand forges, but Master Heimu requires ten thousand forges, and the requirements for each forging detail are also very high.

Yuan Ming glanced through it roughly. Although there were many things he didn’t understand, he occasionally had a sense of enlightenment and understanding.

However, he didn’t delve into it and continued to flip through.

Because of his current lack of strength, he could only barely touch the first two steps in the fire workshop of Biro Cave. He didn’t know what the subsequent refining process was like. He had been curious for a long time and finally had a more comprehensive understanding now.

Yuan Ming quickly flipped through the pages, scanning ten lines at a glance, and combined with his own deductions, he quickly understood all the steps of refining.

After smelting and forging embryos, the next two steps in refining are carving symbols and infusing spirits.

Only by smelting and forging embryos, the weapons created are just ordinary objects. No matter how well these weapons are forged, they are at most tougher and sharper than ordinary weapons, like the Blue Fish Sword.

To refine a magical tool with special powers, carving symbols and infusing spirits are required.

Carving symbols means engraving runes with magical powers on the weapon, so that the weapon possesses special effects. Some can make the weapon sharper, some make it exceptionally sturdy, and some can even make the weapon unleash flames, thunder, and other powers.

“The patterns engraved on the Broken Stone Hammer in the fire workshop are probably runes. No wonder it can easily crush hard ores,” Yuan Ming recalled the situation when he first screened the materials.

Runes are extremely precious. Every refiner spends their entire life collecting as many new runes as possible. Master Heimu is no exception. His refining manual records forty-five types of runes, such as “Sharp Rune,” “Armor-Piercing Rune,” “Gale Rune,” and so on.

At the end of the pages of writing runes, there are some more complex things, as if many runes are connected together. With his current knowledge, he can’t understand them at all.

Carving symbols is not easy. Master Heimu believes that each rune represents a rule of the operation of spiritual energy in the world. When carving, there must be no slightest mistake. Otherwise, the entire rune will have no effect. To become proficient in carving symbols, it requires years of practice.

Many refiners can only master a limited number of runes in their lifetime. The main reason why Master Heimu is famous is that he has a high level of accomplishment in runes. He has mastered all forty-five types of runes recorded in this manual.

To refine a magical tool, it is not enough to just engrave runes. After the runes are engraved, they do not immediately possess power. They still need to be infused with spiritual energy.

Infusing spirits means injecting mana into the engraved runes to activate their power.

This step may sound simple, but it is not easy to do. Infusing spirits requires a high level of mana manipulation. These newly engraved runes on the magical tool are actually very fragile. A slight excess of impact will cause the runes to collapse.

Infusing spirits also has another purpose, which is to completely integrate the runes with the magical tool.

Only when the newly engraved runes and the magical tool are completely integrated can they be thoroughly stable and withstand the intense collisions in future battles. To achieve this goal, it is not enough to rely solely on skilled mana control. It also requires a natural spirituality, or talent.

Among the several steps of refining magical tools, the failure rate of infusing spirits is the highest. Even senior refiners only have a success rate of two to three percent. According to the records in the manual, even Master Heimu’s success rate in infusing spirits is less than half.

When Yuan Ming saw this, he couldn’t help but sigh at the difficulty of refining tools.

He continued to flip through the pages and quickly finished reading the entire manual, then looked into the distance.

Yuan Ming was not very interested in the path of refining tools. These days, he persisted in going to the fire workshop to learn forging mainly to establish himself in Biro Cave. Now that he had obtained this Heimu manual, he had a shortcut in the field of refining tools. Perhaps he could try it out.

He didn’t expect to reach the heights of Master Heimu. Being able to refine the most ordinary magical tool would be enough.

During his time in the sect, Yuan Ming became increasingly aware of the power and importance of magical tools.

Magical tools are divided into four grades: low-grade, middle-grade, high-grade, and top-grade. Most of the disciples in Biro Cave only have low-grade magical tools. But even low-grade magical tools are not something that everyone has. As for middle-grade magical tools, they are extremely rare, and only a few inner disciples have one.

Unconsciously, the figure of Kun Tu appeared in Yuan Ming’s mind. The black flag in his hands, named Yin Ghost Flag, is a middle-grade magical tool and is well-known in Biro Cave.He had personally experienced the power of the Yin Ghost Flag. If he hadn’t escaped quickly back then, he would have already died under this flag.

As for superior and top-grade magical tools, Yuan Ming had never heard of anyone possessing them. There were rumors that only those at the Foundation Establishment stage had such treasures in their hands.

He flipped his hand and took out his Green Fish Sword. Recently, in battles, the role of this sword was becoming smaller and smaller. If he could upgrade it to a magical tool, even if it was a lower-grade one, his strength would immediately increase greatly.

Yuan Ming was silent for a moment, then he opened the blackwood note again and started reading from the beginning.

The night passed quickly.

Yuan Ming left the grass hut. After confirming his location, he headed straight towards the direction of the Bi Luo Cave’s gate.

(End of the chapter)