Two days passed in a blink of an eye.

In the inn, Yuan Ming slowly opened his eyes, his gaze intense.

With the assistance from the Nine Elements Technique combined with the Nourishing Origin Pill and the Mystic Fragrance, his mana had grown much denser. The cultivation of just these two days was equivalent to nearly half a month's effort from the past.

Presumably, the Mystic Fragrance, suited for high-level cultivators or as tributes in sects, was originally intended for aids in cultivation.

Moreover, each cultivation session consumed more than one incense stick, and the cost in spirit stones was substantial—not something a minor sect could easily afford.

In the barbaric land of the Southern Border, there couldn't be many capable of affording such expenses—no wonder that old priest's business was so poor.

According to the agreement, today he could collect the Thousand Mechanism Mask; he wondered whether Master Huo Lian had succeeded.

Yuan Ming checked out of the inn and headed to Master Huo Lian's magic artifact shop.

Since the other party was aware of his identity, he didn't bother to conceal himself this time.

"Haha, Fellow Daoist arrives just in time; the Thousand Mechanism Mask is already refined, and I've not failed my mission." Before Yuan Ming could speak, the bald man chuckled.

"Thank you! Is Master Huo Lian not in the shop?" Yuan Ming asked, his heart settled.

"Oh, my master is busy in the back room. Please have a look." The bald man said and retrieved a wooden box from beneath the counter, passing it over.

Yuan Ming opened the wooden box, inside was a somewhat translucent white mask, extremely thin and warm to the touch, feeling almost like human skin.

He tried putting it on his face; it fit perfectly and was nearly imperceptible.

"My master said you are quite lucky, Fellow Daoist. This artifact refining session was quite successful. This Thousand Mechanism Mask can be used three times, so please use it carefully," the bald man added.

"What! Only three uses?" Yuan Ming's eyes flashed with surprise.

"Do you not know, Fellow Daoist? The Thousand Mechanism Mask is indeed a consumable magic artifact. Its main material is the face skin of a human-faced spider, a mere Level 1 Fierce Beast material, containing too weak spiritual power. Being able to sustain three transformations is already quite impressive," the bald man explained.

Yuan Ming fell silent.

A Magic Artifact Shop welcomed customers openly and was unlikely to deceive him on such matters. The Thousand Mechanism Mask, made from a Level 1 Fierce Beast material yet being surprisingly effective to the point of deceiving even Foundation Establishment cultivators, was indeed unusual. It seemed his expectations were a bit high.

With that in mind, he didn't pursue further, paid the remaining half of the artifact refining fee, and left with the Thousand Mechanism Mask.

Yuan Ming didn't linger in Black Rock City and quickly departed towards Biluo Cave Sect.

...

On the way, Yuan Ming was wary of potential robbers and made ample preparations, but the journey was uneventful.

Upon returning to Biluo Cave, Yuan Ming headed straight to the back mountains to find the Third Cave Master.

"Is this Yin Jade?" The Third Cave Master's expression changed upon seeing the half of the white Ruyi he took out.

"Indeed," Yuan Ming nodded.

"I didn't expect you to find Yin Jade as a substitute. Although its grade cannot compare to the thousand-year-old ice crystal, it's not easy to find, and it has a particularly unique attribute. You're quite fortunate. Just be cautious, as using such a magic artifact for prolonged periods might harm your Divine Soul. I'll try to minimize its backlash during refining, but you still need to be careful," the Third Cave Master said after inspecting the Yin Jade Yuan Ming brought back, and nodded slightly with a warning.

"Then I'm in the hands of the Third Cave Master," Yuan Ming said, bowing with his fists.

"Follow me," said the Third Cave Master, rising to lead Yuan Ming to the small courtyard's back hall.

Upon reaching the back hall, Yuan Ming immediately noticed a pitch-black casting furnace, similar in style to Master Hei Mu's, also engraved with many secretive patterns.

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

Then, raising her hand, she formed a spell and pressed it onto the body of the furnace.

The next moment, a flash of fire light ignited from her palm, spreading like a wildfire, lighting up the patterns on the furnace.

Streams of red light converged from all directions, focusing into the body of the furnace, coalescing into a blazing flame that ignited the furnace chamber.

An incredibly intense heat emerged fiercely from the furnace, the blast of hot air caused Yuan Ming's face to tighten and he instinctively stepped back.

The Third Cave Master, however, seemed unaffected.

Perched on her shoulder, Huo Chan'er tipped his head back, sagged his waist, and luxuriously stretched, looking quite comfortable.

"Pass me the sword," said the Third Cave Master.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming immediately offered up the Green Fish Sword with both hands.

Huo Chan'er then climbed onto his shoulder by traversing the arm that reached out.

The Third Cave Master waved her hand and opened a sealing door on the furnace, and a surge of fire burst out like floodwaters from a dam.

She raised her palm and made a virtual press towards the oncoming flames, and an invisible mana forced the fire back into the fire pit.

Next, she levitated the Green Fish Sword with her mana, slowly inserting it into the furnace.

Entering the center of the fire pit, the sword was immediately surrounded by roaring flames, the licks of fire tasting the blade as if they had found delicious food.

Yuan Ming felt it strange, but upon closer observation, he realized that the Third Cave Master was deliberately manipulating the flow of the flames.

"You must have a Fire Spiritual Root. On normal days, you should choose a fire attribute magic to practice the Fire Control Technique, which is very necessary for an Artifact Refiner," the voice of the Third Cave Master rang out, giving advice to Yuan Ming.

Yuan Ming subconsciously wanted to say that he had been practicing, but he immediately stopped himself.

Not to mention the problematic origin of his magic, even the Burning Explosion Skill, a volatile technique, had nothing to do with Fire Control. If really used, he feared it would instantly blow up the casting furnace.

"Yes," Yuan Ming nodded in response.

"The second smelting is particularly critical regarding the heat; watch carefully," the Third Cave Master instructed.

"With personal guidance from the Third Cave Master, this disciple must engrave it in his heart," Yuan Ming responded.

Actually, Yuan Ming wouldn't miss such a rare observation opportunity even without her reminder.

After the Third Cave Master finished speaking, she no longer continued but concentrated on controlling the flames and the furnace's temperature.

The Green Fish Sword was undergoing a second smelting, unlike the initial smelting where all materials were melted together to remove impurities and merge. Instead, it needed to be burned until it reached the critical state of retaining form but dispersing energy.

Once beyond this critical state, the form of the Green Fish Sword would melt, losing its original solid structure, but if it did not reach this state, the Yin Jade could not be merged into it.

Yuan Ming understood this principle, but to actually perform it, with his current level of power, he was not capable yet.

After about a quarter of an hour of burning, the temperature inside the casting furnace suddenly rose, and the surface of the Green Fish Sword sequentially lit up with bright white, golden, and bright red lusters from inside out.

"Yin Jade," the Third Cave Master said with a slight frown.

Yuan Ming immediately presented it with both hands.

The Third Cave Master took the Yin Jade with one hand and gently stroked the casting furnace's sealing door with the other.

The furnace's sealing door opened again, and a more intense blast of air whooshed out, yet the flames remained under the control of the Third Cave Master within it.

Then, with a flick of her finger, a thread of mana pulled the Green Fish Sword out, placing it on the casting platform.

Almost simultaneously, the hand holding the Yin Jade pressed down towards the Green Fish Sword.

"Hiss..."

With a soft sound, a large amount of white vapor steamed up, obstructing Yuan Ming's vision.

He only saw the Third Cave Master close the fire pit's sealing door, grab the casting hammer beside her, and smash it down on the platform.

"Clang, clang, clang"

With each strike, there were no sparks, but a series of light rings shone brightly with each hammer blow.

The hazy vapor only revealed a blurry, graceful figure, whose movements were fluid and elegant, not giving off any sense of clumsiness.

Yuan Ming's eyes sharpened as he concentrated his mana to his eyes, significantly enhancing his vision.

Only then did he see that with each hammer strike by the Third Cave Master, the Green Fish Sword shined with radiant light, enveloped in a thin layer of white Jade Powder that, no matter how it vibrated, always clung around the sword, never dissipating.

With each hammerfall, some Jade Powder would integrate into the sword, merging with it.

And with each integration, the light on the sword would diminish slightly, and its heat noticeably decreased as well.

Suddenly, the Third Cave Master began to swing her hammer faster and faster. The "clang" sounds of the hammer strikes also began to sound continuous and uninterrupted.

Yuan Ming watched in astonishment, unable to fathom the number of continuous strikes, not to mention, this speed was beyond his reach for now.

However, Yuan Ming could see clearly that the Third Cave Master suddenly sped up to maintain the sword's temperature through the hammering, ensuring all the Yin Jade Crystal Powder could integrate into the sword.

Just then, a hurried call suddenly came from outside the courtyard: "Is the Third Cave Master present? The Great Cave Master sends a disciple to invite her for urgent consultation."

"What bad timing?" Yuan Ming frowned, afraid that the Third Cave Master might be affected.

The urgent summons from the Great Cave Master, an issue concerning a mere registered disciple, how could it compare? If the Third Cave Master stopped now, all previous efforts would be wasted. Not only would the hard-earned spiritual materials be ruined, but the Green Fish Sword might also lose the chance to improve further.

Fortunately, the latter's actions showed no delay; it was as if she hadn't heard at all and was unaffected.

The person outside seemed to hear the activity inside, fearing that it had not been heard, projected their mana to shout louder, and the voice became even clearer.

But the Third Cave Master continually swung her hammer as if nothing could disturb her.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming finally felt relieved.

He silently counted in his mind until the Third Cave Master had swung her hammer three thousand six hundred eighty-one times before the hammering sound finally ceased, and the surrounding vapor had long since dissipated.

The Third Cave Master put down the casting hammer and single-handedly held up the newly refreshed Green Fish Sword, lifting it in front of her to observe.

The shape of the long sword had not changed much, but the blue body of the sword now had countless white specks, like snow falling in a blue sky or stars spread across the sky, indeed more splendid and ornate than before.

Yuan Ming's eyes lit up as he saw faint traces of white cold air seeping from the sword.

"Is it done?" he couldn't help asking.

"The materials have merged very well; the properties of the Yin Jade and the Green Fish Sword are perfectly compatible. As long as there is no problem with the Engraving and Spirit Implanting, this sword is at least a Mid-grade Magical Artifact," the Third Cave Master also seemed quite satisfied, commented.

"Many thanks to the Third Cave Master," hearing this, Yuan Ming immediately knelt down, sincerely thanking her.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.