Translator: AnubisTL
Back on Liu Clan territory, Li Qing's time was completely consumed by two tasks.
First, cultivation. Without pills, he could only rely on diligent practice to grind through the bottleneck blocking his progress.
In truth, breaking through to the Early Qi Refining Realm wasn't particularly difficult. It was a realm that could be overcome simply by dedicating time to it.
Even with the worst aptitude, prolonged effort would naturally lead to a breakthrough.
Fortunately, Li Qing had plenty of time. His remaining lifespan had now increased to 190 years, giving him ample time to hone his skills and overcome this bottleneck.
The second task was artifact refinement.
Li Qing forged a large number of Low-Grade Magic Tool pseudo-magical artifacts for himself, using ordinary mortal iron as material.
With each swing of his hammer, a variety of pseudo-magical artifacts took shape.
"The market demand for Low-Grade Magic Tools is too small. Even rogue cultivators in the Early Qi Refining Realm might not bother with them. They're only good for practice."
"Once I'm proficient in inscription techniques, I'll start refining the Peerless Hammer into a true Magic Artifact."
Li Qing gazed at the dazzling array of weapons on the ground. Any one of them, if brought into the secular Jianghu, would be enough to make its wielder famous for possessing a Magical Weapon.
With this in mind, Li Qing immersed his entire focus into the steps of Spirit Tempering and Inscription.
This process was destined to be long and tedious, requiring immense patience and perseverance as he repeatedly refined and inscribed spirit patterns.
Yet it was through this unwavering dedication that Li Qing's artifact refinement technique gradually became more refined.
As time passed, by the time he had crafted his fifth Low-Grade Magic Tool, Li Qing gained a new understanding of the most fundamental Five Elements Spiritual Inscriptions.
[Successfully crafted Low-Grade Magic Tool: Curved Water Sword. Reward: Six Years of Lifespan!]
Holding the longsword inscribed with water-attribute spirit patterns, Li Qing exhaled deeply.
He channeled a wisp of spiritual energy into the blade and casually swung it twice. A razor-sharp blade of water materialized from thin air, slicing through the air with a whoosh.
Swish!
"The power is decent, but the water blade's range is too short. It can only threaten targets within a dozen meters at most."
With that, Li Qing returned the Curved Water Sword to his storage pouch, closed his eyes, and carefully contemplated the insights gained from this artifact refinement session while simultaneously replenishing his depleted mana.
The five Magic Artifacts combined granted Li Qing a total of thirty years of lifespan.
At this moment, his remaining lifespan was pushed to two hundred and twenty years!
Even some cultivators who had reached Foundation Establishment late in life, with their potential exhausted, might not live as long as Li Qing.
Of course, besides the thirty years of lifespan, Li Qing's Artifact Refinement Technique had improved significantly.
Using ordinary iron to craft Low-Grade Magic Tools was no longer a challenge for him.
After a long while, Li Qing slowly opened his eyes, digesting the experience gained from this artifact refinement session.
"If I want to forge the Peerless Hammer into a Magic Artifact, I should use Earth Attribute Spirit Patterns, the heavier the better. 'Great craftsmanship lies in simplicity'—that's the true way to wield the Peerless Hammer in battle."
"But if I focus solely on weight, the Peerless Hammer, made mostly of ordinary iron, might not withstand the stress of combat. Perhaps incorporating some Fire Attribute Spirit Patterns could yield unexpected results?"
Within the Yin-Yang Five Elements, there exists a cycle of mutual creation and destruction. Fire gives birth to Earth, and Li Qing's primary cultivation manual happens to be Fire Attribute.
Adding a touch of Fire Attribute Spirit Patterns to the Earth Attribute Spirit Pattern-dominated Peerless Hammer would be a worthwhile experiment.
The more Li Qing thought about it, the more he felt he should give it a try. He was already quite skilled at inscribing spirit patterns with a single attribute, but combining two or more basic Five Elements Spiritual Inscriptions would undoubtedly multiply the difficulty exponentially.
"The Five Elements Spiritual Inscription is just the foundation of artifact refinement. After so many years of development, the Artifact Refinement Technique in the cultivation world must have spawned countless more schools of spirit patterns."
"Ah! The path of artifact refinement is truly long and arduous!"
With that, Li Qing retrieved the Peerless Hammer.
This ancient, unadorned black hammer had been with Li Qing for many years. He vividly remembered forging this Divine Weapon when his Martial Dao cultivation had just reached the Outer Strength realm.
Over the years, he had found the hammer exceptionally comfortable to use, both for artifact refinement and combat. He knew every scratch and groove on its surface intimately.
"Let's start with spirit quenching!"
Li Qing placed his hands on the hammer, channeling his pure spiritual energy into it. This would imbue the Peerless Hammer with spirituality, transforming it into a material suitable for inscribing spirit patterns.
The spirit quenching process went smoothly, so smoothly that Li Qing could hardly believe it.
"As expected, these naturally spiritual materials are much easier to temper than ordinary iron. Especially this material's affinity for spiritual energy—the tempering process was incredibly smooth!"
"No wonder Weapon Refinement Apprentices start with ordinary iron. Mastering the tempering of ordinary iron makes refining these spiritual materials much easier later on."
After tempering came the most challenging part: inscription!
This time, Li Qing focused like never before.
Each failed attempt to inscribe spirit patterns consumed a significant portion of the material's spirituality. Too many failures would force him to start the tempering process all over again.
Of course, if it were just ordinary iron, Li Qing wouldn't have been too concerned. He could simply re-temper it.
But the Peerless Hammer contained Ink Gold. Each failed inscription would also deplete the Ink Gold's inherent spirituality.
Too many failures, and the Ink Gold would be ruined!
"It's fine," Li Qing reassured himself. "I still have two more pieces of Ink Gold. These were left over from when I forged the Qing Hong Sword. Even if I fail, I can just melt another piece of Ink Gold into the Peerless Hammer."
"I refuse to believe I could directly ruin two pieces of Ink Gold!"
With this thought, Li Qing's heart settled, and he began inscribing spirit patterns onto the Peerless Hammer.
First came the Earth Attribute Spirit Pattern. As Li Qing's fingertips traced across the hammer's surface, the faint yellowish glow of the pattern began to materialize, strand by strand.
Earth Attribute Spirit Patterns are all about weight and solidity.
This perfectly suited the Peerless Hammer's combat style, ideally allowing it to shatter any protective spiritual light or defensive Magic Artifact with a single strike.
This was also Li Qing's preferred method of fighting.
Hiss!
Failed!
The yellowish Earth Attribute Spirit Pattern he had just inscribed on the hammerhead melted away like spring snow, causing the hammer's inherent spirituality to diminish slightly.
Seeing the Ink Gold's spirituality suffer a minor loss, Li Qing frowned slightly, a pang of regret tugging at his heart.
But he didn't lose heart. He quickly composed himself and refocused on the inscription process.
Days passed, and soon it was time to return to the mine.
Looking at the Peerless Hammer, its spirituality nearly depleted, Li Qing sighed heavily.
He still hadn't succeeded in refining it. Combining the two basic attribute spirit patterns proved far more challenging than he had anticipated.
Moreover, he had to carefully consider the compatibility of the spirit patterns during inscription, further complicating the process.
"It's no use. I'll have to consider remelting another piece of Ink Gold. If I fail a few more times, the hammerhead's black gold material will lose all its spirituality."
With that, Li Qing stopped his artifact refinement, immediately entering meditation to replenish his spiritual energy in preparation for tomorrow's mine expedition.
(End of the Chapter)
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