Chapter 400

Chapter 400: The Cauldron of Weapon Refining

The fully-formed Life Creation Cauldron stood nine feet tall and seven feet wide. Its bronze surface was intricately engraved with countless true seal characters, exuding an aura of profound majesty.

The cauldron’s shoulders were adorned with eight mythical beasts: dragons, tigers, phoenixes, turtles, and snakes!

Each beast reared its head, jaws agape, as if roaring silently into the void.

Wang Chen retrieved eight Intermediate Spirits from his storage bag and, employing Object Manipulation, hurled them into the gaping mouths of the beasts!

The luminous spirit stones tumbled down the throats and into the cauldron’s depths.

Though Wang Chen could not see inside, through his soul connection with the Life Creation Cauldron, he sensed the eight Intermediate Spirits dissolving into nothingness within.

Every ounce of their spiritual energy was utterly absorbed by the cauldron.

Moreover, the cauldron radiated a palpable sense of delight.

A gluttonous feast!

Wang Chen silently groaned in despair.

He couldn’t stop now. He had already committed to this perilous path, and to cut his losses at this point would mean accepting an unbearable sunk cost.

The price of retreat was too steep to bear!

Thus, Wang Chen clenched his teeth, hardened his resolve, and endured the agony as he fed one valuable Intermediate Spirit after another into the insatiable cauldron.

The Life Creation Cauldron devoured everything without pause, its vast interior seemingly bottomless.

Bit by bit, it consumed Wang Chen’s painstakingly accumulated wealth.

At first, he tossed in eight spirit stones at a time.

But realizing this pace was too sluggish, he quickened his offerings.

He grew numb to the process!

Only when his hand grasped at empty air did Wang Chen snap back to reality.

He had exhausted all three thousand Intermediate Spirits!

At this moment, Wang Chen plunged into deep contemplation.

Who am I? How did I end up here? What have I done???

The three questions of the soul!

Yet, he noticed that the Life Creation Cauldron had shed its verdant hue, now gleaming with an ancient bronze and dark gold sheen.

In terms of attractiveness level, it had undeniably ascended to a higher tier!

The problem was, the cauldron’s Cauldron Spirit still showed no signs of satisfaction.

Wang Chen steeled himself and drew out a large handful of spirit stones.

Spirit fragments.

He loaded them into the mouths of the eight mythical beasts.

To his astonishment, after tumbling into the cauldron, these spirit fragments were promptly expelled back out through the beast mouths.

Crackling sounds rained down upon him!

Wang Chen silently endured the discomfort as he retrieved the fallen spirit fragments from the ground. He then pulled out six glowing pearls radiating a silver-white light and tossed them into the mouths of the eight mythical beasts.

These six pearls were the Evil Energy Pearls he had obtained while eliminating Evil Spirits in Huai County.

"That’s all I have; I don’t have any more," he communicated his thoughts to the Cauldron Spirit of the Life Creation Cauldron while throwing the Evil Energy Pearls.

At this moment, Wang Chen felt a strong sense of regret.

He should have tested with the spirit fragments first; if those failed, then he could have used the Intermediate Spirits.

Had the Life Creation Cauldron been able to accept the spirit fragments, he would have had hundreds of thousands worth to offer.

Now, he had fattened the cauldron’s appetite; after consuming the Intermediate Spirits, it looked down on the spirit fragments.

He was forced to produce his last few items.

After consuming the Evil Energy Pearls, the Life Creation Cauldron suddenly shook, lifted into the air, and began to spin rapidly.

Its size shrank quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it became about an inch wide!

At the same time, Wang Chen received a flow of spiritual energy from the Life Creation Cauldron, along with an enigmatic incantation.

This incantation was precisely the method to refine the Life Creation Cauldron!

Wang Chen also gained a direct understanding of the cauldron’s purpose.

This precious cauldron was the pinnacle tool for weapon refining.

Saying it was a tool felt a bit insulting to the name "Life Creation." How could a treasure with awakened spiritual intelligence be reduced to just a tool?

In short, the Life Creation Cauldron was the dream treasure of any weapon refiner!

Weapon refining!

To be honest, Wang Chen’s heart was quite conflicted at this moment.

There is a saying in the world of cultivation that has lasted for millennia: "Alchemy ruins a lifetime; weapon refining impoverishes three generations!"

Unlike the low-cost investment required for Talisman Making, weapon refining absolutely demands substantial resources. A cultivator without family or sect support can hardly become an exceptional weapon refiner.

Weapon refining requires materials, cauldrons, ground fire, and relentless dedication day and night…

One failure could result in a loss of hundreds or thousands of spirit stones worth of materials.

Without hundreds or thousands of failures to learn from, it’s nearly impossible to cultivate a master weapon refiner!

Thus, among the various skills in the celestial realm, very few cultivators study weapon refining; most are cultivated by families, trade associations, and sects.

A weapon refiner among loose cultivators truly is a rare gem!

It consumes too many resources.

Furthermore, the weapon refiners in families, trade associations, and sects must uphold strict contracts, pledging decades or even centuries of service.

Now, Wang Chen faced a dilemma; to uncover the mysteries of the Life Creation Cauldron, he had invested a significant portion of his wealth.

Three thousand Intermediate Spirits, fifty thousand Virtue, and six Evil Energy Pearls—as for the spiritual energy, that is another story.

With such a huge cost, what he acquired was a precious cauldron for weapon refining.

Wang Chen felt incredibly frustrated.

Weapon refining is a bottomless pit and a road with no return; did he really need to pursue the path of weapon refining for this cauldron?

Not to mention the massive material investments in the future, the time cost was already unbearable.

A weapon refiner may spend three to five days in the ground fire chamber just to refine a higher level magical item; spending ten days to half a month is not unusual.

Wang Chen hardly had enough time to cultivate his techniques and spells, let alone allocate a significant portion to weapon refining.

Was it worth it?

He shook his head and reached out to grasp the Life Creation Cauldron that hung before him.

This time, the Life Creation Cauldron behaved, obediently settling into Wang Chen’s palm.

However, when Wang Chen was ready to store it in his storage bag, he discovered that it could not be stored!

It had always been possible before.

He tried several times, all futile, and had no choice but to pull out a fine cord from his storage bag, threading it through the Life Creation Cauldron’s ring, then tying it into a loop and hanging it around his neck.

This fine cord was no ordinary item; it was a trophy he had previously obtained and was a replica of the Binding Immortal Rope.

Though it was just a first-tier magic tool, apart from binding living beings, it had many other useful functions.

Thus, Wang Chen had kept it for future use, and now it came in handy.

The Life Creation Cauldron, serving as a pendant, nestled against his chest, causing little discomfort.

Instead, with the skin-on-skin contact, it created a sense of deep connection, like blood and flesh intertwined.

Wang Chen touched the Little Cauldron, deciding to temporarily set aside thoughts of weapon refining and revisit them later.

To use the Life Creation Cauldron, he still needed to find a cluster of heavenly fire.

The higher the grade, the better.

The issue was that heavenly fire fell under the category of heavenly materials and treasures, and it was quite rare and precious.

Wang Chen had neither spirit stones to purchase it nor knew where to seek it out.

He couldn’t afford to waste energy on this!

Cultivation level, realm, strength, combat ability…

These were what he needed the most!