Chapter 665: Heavenly Dao Artifact Refinement

Hearing the sound, Luo Qiqi's eyes reddened as she saw Zhang Xuan, who had somehow arrived not far away, his palm surging with true qi, halting her backward momentum.

She quickly turned her head and saw over a hundred formation flags neatly inserted around them. Although arranged in a special pattern, for some reason, they showed no sign of activity.

"Teacher, have you set up the formation?"

"Almost there!"

With a faint smile, Zhang Xuan flicked his wrist, and a formation plate flew out straight.

Hum!

The formation plate opened in midair, and the surrounding spiritual energy was drawn in, forming a thick vortex of spiritual energy.

"This is... a spirit gathering formation?"

Luo Qiqi was startled.

Hadn't a formation already been arranged around them? What was the use of a spirit gathering formation?

Besides, this thing was used for cultivation; she had never heard of it being able to withstand a puppet comparable to a Saint.

Roar!

The puppet ahead was also stunned when he threw out the formation plate, but feeling no attack, it charged at them again, like a mad beast, exuding a fierce aura.

Seeing it getting closer, about to reach them at any moment, Luo Qiqi was tense and at a loss, when she heard the young man not far away let out a cold snort.

Then, he stomped his foot on the ground, and immediately, she saw a blur before her eyes. The puppet disappeared, and the room returned to silence.

It was as if the scene just now was a dream, never having existed.

"What happened?"

Luo Qiqi quickly looked around and found that the Red Flame Cauldron and many books were still there, but where the puppet had been was gone—invisible, intangible, pitch black.

It seemed that with the young man's stomp, she and the cauldron had been stripped from this space and leaped into another world.

"A... concealment formation?"

Suddenly, she thought of something.

Only one thing could achieve this... a concealment formation!

This kind of formation could hide a specific area, making it undetectable, just like earlier in the valley, when they couldn't find the entrance to the underground palace no matter what.

If the formation hadn't been broken, even if they had dug up the entire ground for three more years, they might not have found it.

She hadn't known what formation Teacher Zhang was setting up earlier, but seeing those formation flags and the strange scene before her, she suddenly understood.

"But... concealment formations consume an enormous amount of spiritual energy and require at least a six-star formation grandmaster to activate. How did Teacher activate it..."

Even though she confirmed it, she still couldn't believe it.

A sixth-level formation, and such a profound concealment formation at that, would require at least a Saint realm expert to activate. This Teacher Zhang was only at the Harmonious Spirit realm... the gap was too great!

"Could it be... the spirit gathering formation just now?"

Her pupils contracted.

Teacher Zhang had thrown out a spirit gathering formation plate earlier. She hadn't understood its purpose, but now, combined with this grand formation, she immediately realized.

He must have used the five-star spirit gathering formation as a power source to fully activate this concealment formation.

Using one formation to trigger another... that was a composite formation, something even a six-star peak formation master would find difficult!

Not only had Teacher Zhang done it, but he had done so confidently and effortlessly...

Luo Qiqi's eyes widened.

Formations rely on the surrounding environment and magnetic fields to create special power enhancements. It's not a simple one-plus-one-equals-two. Normally, placing two formations together can easily interfere with each other, rendering both useless.

Using a spirit gathering formation to power a concealment formation... even seeing it with her own eyes, she couldn't believe it.

How deep must one's understanding and control of formations be to achieve this?

"Alright, now we're hidden. They won't find us. Let's hurry and forge a weapon to obtain Senior Wu Yangzi's inheritance!"

Unaware of her shock, Zhang Xuan came over.

A sixth-level concealment formation—even if he could set it up with his current strength, he indeed couldn't activate it, and even if he did, he couldn't maintain it.

It was like a snail pulling a carriage; although his true qi was abundant, it wasn't enough to sustain the operation of a sixth-level formation.

Left with no choice, he had taken out that fifth-level spirit gathering formation plate.

He still had a few hundred medium-grade spirit stones. Using this fifth-level spirit gathering formation to provide spiritual energy, he could fully drive the grand formation and keep it running smoothly.

As for how to integrate the spirit gathering formation with the concealment formation so they helped each other without conflict, with the Library of Heaven's Path in hand, this problem wasn't difficult.

And indeed, he had succeeded.

"Yes, the most important thing now is to forge a weapon, meet Senior Wu Yangzi's conditions, and find a way out..."

Recovering from her shock, Luo Qiqi nodded, then asked with confusion: "Is Teacher going to forge the weapon personally?"

This teacher before her, though younger than her, had given her too many shocks.

Even if he could forge a spirit-grade upper-tier weapon, which only a five-star peak artifact refiner could produce, it wouldn't be surprising.

"Me?"

Zhang Xuan shook his head.

Even if he wanted to forge, he would need to know how!

The profession of artifact refiner was one of the upper nine professions. Like alchemy, the basics were crucial and required years of practice and study. He knew nothing about artifact refinement—how could he forge?

Not to mention that, even with alchemy, he had studied countless books but was still half-baked, unable to refine personally.

"Teacher won't do it?" Luo Qiqi was startled.

"I won't do it. You will forge!"

Zhang Xuan said.

"Me?" Luo Qiqi was taken aback.

"Yes, I already have a teacher, so I can't take another as my master. If forging a weapon earns his recognition and he insists on taking me as a disciple, I wouldn't be able to refuse."

Zhang Xuan looked at her calmly.

"This... Teacher is referring to Senior Yang, right? He... also teaches you artifact refinement?" Luo Qiqi was stunned.

That day, at the Cleansing Pool, Senior Yang had arrived on a fire dragon, breaking the crisis with a single shoe, earning her deep admiration.

She had thought he was only Zhang Xuan's cultivation teacher, but it turned out he also taught artifact refinement.

"That's right!" Zhang Xuan nodded.

"But..."

Hearing his confirmation, Luo Qiqi was filled with envy, but then she smiled bitterly, her brows furrowed: "I'm only a five-star initial stage artifact refiner. Even if I forge, I might not satisfy him..."

"Don't worry, I'll guide you..."

Zhang Xuan said.

"Thank you..." Hearing that he would guide her, Luo Qiqi was thrilled.

This Teacher Zhang had guided her to refine a sixth-level medicinal liquid!

"Mm, recover from your injuries quickly. Once the forging begins, I'm afraid you won't be able to hold on..." Zhang Xuan waved his hand.

"Alright!"

Knowing she was severely injured and wouldn't have the energy to forge even with his guidance, Luo Qiqi immediately sat cross-legged, took out a healing pill, and swallowed it.

Gurgle, gurgle!

The medicinal power spread, warming her whole body, and her wounds slowly healed.

Whoosh!

Seeing her healing, Zhang Xuan knew time was precious and turned toward a bookshelf.

To be honest, he was just bluffing. He knew some things about artifact refinement, but not much.

In Tianxuan Kingdom and Tianwu Kingdom... although he had read some books on artifact refinement, they weren't systematic, and he hadn't taken the artifact refiner exam. Guiding someone to forge an ordinary weapon was fine, but forging a spirit-grade upper-tier weapon... was far beyond his ability.

For now, he had to seize this time to study quickly.

The spirit gathering formation, fueled by medium-grade spirit stones, could sustain the concealment formation, but this wasn't the outside world with natural integration that could gather spiritual energy from thousands of kilometers around...

Once those few hundred medium-grade spirit stones were used up, the concealment formation would naturally lose its effect.

Then, the puppet would charge in, and there would be no other way!

He walked to the bookshelf, which indeed held secret manuals on artifact refinement.

Either collected by Senior Wu Yangzi or left by those who captured him, specifically for reference and study.

Whatever the reason, these books were good for him. Without further thought, he ran his fingers over them, moving quickly.

In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the hundreds of thousands of books on the shelf were all collected into the library.

"Correct!"

With a thought, several books appeared before him.

These were the Heavenly Dao methods for artifact refiners from one-star to six-star.

The so-called [Heavenly Dao Artifact Refinement]. Once he finished studying them, his understanding of artifact refinement would be no less than that of a true six-star artifact refiner, and even surpass it.

He casually opened one.

"Artifacts are tools. Artifact refinement is the crafting of tools suitable for humans. The best weapon is the human body itself. Forging weapons based on the human body is the true Heavenly Dao method..."

The principles in the books entered his mind, refreshing him and opening his eyes.

Whether artifact refinement or alchemy, regardless of level, all changes stem from a single core principle, and this Heavenly Dao Artifact Refinement recorded exactly that.

Once learned, he would fully grasp the 'principle,' making it easier to forge other weapons.

Closing his eyes, he studied book after book.

One hour, two hours, three hours, four hours...

After six hours.

The six volumes of Heavenly Dao Artifact Refinement were completely studied.

And Zhang Xuan had gone from knowing nothing about artifact refinement to becoming a true artifact grandmaster.

Even if Wu Yangzi were resurrected, he would likely be far inferior in the art of artifact refinement.

Of course, even after learning Heavenly Dao Artifact Refinement and knowing a great deal about artifact refinement, if he were to actually forge, it would still be like alchemy—very difficult to achieve.

Because this was different from calligraphy, painting, or formations; it was theoretical. Not to mention other things, just the single step of forging the [artifact embryo] would require countless hours of practice to master.

It couldn't be done overnight.

To become a true master of artifact refinement, one would need to practice for a long time.

"It seems... there's no body tempering method here!"

After finishing the Heavenly Dao Artifact Refinement and reviewing the books he had collected, Zhang Xuan couldn't help shaking his head, feeling somewhat disappointed.

His main purpose in coming here was to obtain Wu Yangzi's body tempering technique. Now it seemed that this bookshelf didn't contain it.

Shaking his head, he stood up and looked at Luo Qiqi not far away. At the sight, his brows furrowed involuntarily.

"Your... injuries haven't healed yet?"

Luo Qiqi was still sitting cross-legged, healing. Although her aura was much stronger than before, her internal injuries were still not fully healed. From her breathing, one could tell she was still uncomfortable.