Chapter 480 – Refining the World of Artifacts

Zhang Xiaohua said joyfully: “Could it be that the people of the Incense-Spreading Sect have come today?”

Valley Master Nie was startled, then shook his head. “Nephew Ren, you may be disappointed. It is not the Incense-Spreading Sect who has arrived.”

He then explained: “Counting the days, the Incense-Spreading Sect should indeed be sending people soon. But their arrival is never fixed — perhaps tomorrow, perhaps ten days later.”

Zhang Xiaohua asked in puzzlement: “Then what matter brings Uncle Nie to find me?”

Hearing this question, Valley Master Nie couldn’t help but look a little awkward. He rubbed his hands lightly and said: “Hehe, this period has truly worn you out, Nephew. Every day you’ve been teaching Little Yu those complicated formations. So much so that you’ve even forgotten the agreement with Elder Zhang!”

“Aiyo, indeed.” Zhang Xiaohua slapped his forehead. Dozens of days ago, he had indeed agreed with Elder Zhang to help Spring Rebirth Valley refine Scarlet Flame Pills. But because of the affairs with the Artifact Forging Sect, he had been transcribing the Great Evolution Five Elements Formation every day, and had long since thrown this matter to the back of his mind. If not for Valley Master Nie’s reminder, Zhang Xiaohua truly would have forgotten.

Zhang Xiaohua hurriedly apologized, saying: “Valley Master Nie, it wasn’t intentional on my part. It’s just that during this period…”

Valley Master Nie waved his hand. “I understand. Every morning you copy with Little Yu, in the afternoon you still refine medicines, and in the evening you cultivate. If it weren’t for Elder Zhang’s constant urging, and with the Incense-Spreading Sect’s people about to arrive — since their stay here will not be long — if we wait until then to refine the pills, there won’t be enough time. So this old man had no choice but to disturb you, to ask when you might be able to begin refining the pills?”

During this time, Zhang Xiaohua had been transcribing formations while never halting his pill refinement. One could say he had already accumulated rather rich experience in alchemy, and his confidence in refining Scarlet Flame Pills had also grown much stronger.

After thinking for a while, Zhang Xiaohua replied: “Uncle Nie, I suppose that the Sect Master of the Artifact Sect is still waiting in the outer valley? This formation will be fully copied within a day or two. How about this — give me these two days to make some preparations, and as soon as the formation is copied, I will begin right away. What do you think?”

Valley Master Nie, hearing this, smiled broadly and asked: “Why not let Nephew rest a few days first, and then refine — it won’t be too late.”

“Forget it. They’ve urged me to this point already, how could I still rest?” Zhang Xiaohua secretly muttered in his heart, but aloud he repeatedly said, “It’s nothing, it’s nothing. In truth, it’s Little Yu who does the copying — I merely dictate. The one who really needs rest should be Little Yu.”

He then asked: “I wonder, of the several medicinal ingredients for the Scarlet Flame Pill, has Elder Zhang already gathered them all?”

Valley Master Nie nodded. “The ingredients for the Scarlet Flame Pill are all extremely rare. Elder Zhang feared that once picked they could not be refined in time, and their efficacy would be lost, so he dared not harvest them. For these past years, he has been guarding those herbs, lest bird or beast damage them. Wasn’t it just the other day that Nephew encountered Da Bai? Da Bai was moving about among those very herbs, protecting them.”

Zhang Xiaohua was overjoyed to hear this. He had truly feared that Elder Zhang might have casually harvested them, dispersing the Yuan Qi of Heaven and Earth within, in which case the pills refined would be much inferior.

He quickly instructed: “Then please, Uncle Nie, inform Elder Zhang that once I am prepared, he can gather them. At that time, it would be best if…”

At this point, what he originally wanted to say was: “It would be best if I personally did the harvesting.”

But these words were clearly distrust toward Spring Rebirth Valley and overconfidence in himself. He immediately changed his words: “It would be best if Elder Zhang could use jade boxes and such to seal the herbs once gathered. What do you think?”

Valley Master Nie waved his hand. “Nephew need not trouble yourself to remind us. Although Spring Rebirth Valley does not usually pay such close attention when refining ordinary medicines, this is only for common things. For such a precious pill as the Scarlet Flame Pill, naturally the ancient methods of preserving herbs must be used. Nephew can be at ease.”

Zhang Xiaohua broke into a sweat. Indeed — though Spring Rebirth Valley might not refine immortal pills, they certainly knew how to preserve herbs. And Elder Zhang had been immersed in herb studies for many years. Even without immortal techniques, in gathering herbs he was far superior to Zhang Xiaohua. Fortunately he had not said the words aloud, else he would have been laughed at in vain.

Zhang Xiaohua said sheepishly, “That’s good, that’s good.”

Since they had now settled the important matter of the Spring Rebirth Valley, Valley Master Nie was in very high spirits. He said, “Would Nephew like to stroll around here a bit longer? I can go and call Little Yu. She too is most fond of this tranquil valley.”

This time, it was Zhang Xiaohua’s turn to be drenched in sweat. He waved his hands repeatedly and said: “Many thanks for Uncle Nie’s kind intentions, but this nephew has already wasted too much time. I should return to the pill room to cultivate. The path of martial arts is like rowing upstream — if one does not advance, one must fall back. Since childhood I have been dull-witted, and in martial arts I have never made much progress. Many of my fellow disciples in the sect are already far stronger than I. Only by seizing every moment to cultivate can I avoid being left even further behind!”

Now it was Valley Master Nie’s turn to sweat, secretly thinking: With such martial skills as his, he still doesn’t rank in the Big Dipper Sect? Who in the world would believe that?

But he still offered encouragement: “With such perseverance and unyielding determination, Nephew will one day surely stand out among your fellow disciples. Then… Nephew should quickly return to the pill room to cultivate. This old man awaits the day when you reach the very peak!”

With that, Valley Master Nie smiled and left — whether to find Elder Zhang or to head outside the valley, Zhang Xiaohua did not know.

Zhang Xiaohua stood quietly for a while longer. When he released his divine sense, there was no trace of the earlier discomfort, which delighted him inwardly. Forming a seal with his hands, he directly slipped back into the pill room.

After setting up a formation, Zhang Xiaohua naturally sat cross-legged once again. Mm, cultivation of the Immortal Path was indeed wonderful — as long as there was a meditation cushion, even a bed could be dispensed with.

Like a little child impatient to open a toy chest and see his new treasure, Zhang Xiaohua was unable to hold back his eagerness, mingled with some nervousness and much anticipation. This was the Heavenly Wordless Book! Just one Carefree Heart Sutra had already paved a path for him toward the heavens — and now, with such a grand entrance, what kind of heaven-defying techniques might this Heavenly Wordless Book contain?

Earlier, a flood of ancient characters had poured into Zhang Xiaohua’s mind, so many he had barely had time to glance at them before tossing them aside at random. Now, as he closed his eyes and began to unfold those characters, the first thing that appeared before him were four ancient words: “Refining the World of Artifacts”!

Dizzy — Zhang Xiaohua was dumbfounded. So this is the “Heavenly Wordless Book” the Artifact Forging Sect spoke of?? It turned out this “Heaven” was the “Heaven” of “Under Heaven.”

Zhang Xiaohua was left half-laughing, half-crying. Although both titles carried the character Heaven, Heavenly Wordless Book and Refining the World of Artifacts were utterly different. No — more than different, they were as far apart as Heaven and Earth.

Out of ten thousand people in the martial world, there would not be one who did not hold some lofty fantasy about the Heavenly Wordless Book. Yet out of those ten thousand, perhaps only ten would take any interest in Refining the World of Artifacts.

While inwardly cursing the shamelessness of the Artifact Forging Sect’s predecessors, Zhang Xiaohua at the same time carefully began to sort out the words in his mind. As it happened, he was precisely the most eager among those ten people.

The contents recorded in “Refining the World of Artifacts” were extraordinarily vast (of course, Zhang Xiaohua had exchanged his entire divine sense for it; if it had been anything less, he would have cried himself to death). Zhang Xiaohua only roughly organized it, and merely by glancing over the table of contents, he was already wild with joy. In that catalog were listed immortal weapons he had never even heard of, such as the Heaven-Piercing Bow, the Hun-Tian Staff, and so on. There were also formation implements like the Banner Gate Formation, Bewildering Soul Finger, the Sharp Stone Formation, and others. Presumably, these were all methods for refining such weapons and formation tools.

Looking further, sure enough, at the very end of the scroll there was but a single line: Refine every artifact under Heaven!

What arrogance!

No wonder it was called Refining the World of Artifacts — so this was the meaning.

Zhang Xiaohua opened his eyes, stroked his chin with his hand, and chuckled to himself. Now he already possessed the “General Outline of Artifact Refining”, allowing him to learn the basics of refining artifacts. And this “Refining the World of Artifacts” recorded the methods for refining every kind of artifact under Heaven. Together, they were the perfect combination for his study of artifact refinement. In an instant, Zhang Xiaohua’s lingering resentment toward the Artifact Forging Sect’s Sect Master Si Yakong completely dissipated.

Just thinking of it made him snicker. If Sect Master Si knew he had handed over such a priceless treasure of artifact refining, who knew how furiously he would rage?

But immediately after, Zhang Xiaohua’s face clouded over with worry. The Great Evolution Five Elements Formation was merely a single formation, yet it had kept him busy for over twenty days. This was the entire “Refining the World of Artifacts”! To copy it all in full — how much time would that take?

Yet if he did not copy it, how could he fulfill his promise?

Just thinking about it made his head itch. Still, there were twenty years left — he could leave it until then.

Zhang Xiaohua was good at consoling himself. Perhaps by then a way would present itself. If worst came to worst, he could just return the book directly, after copying down a few simpler refining methods useful for martial cultivation.

Thinking of the three damaged little flags in his money pouch, Zhang Xiaohua turned first to the section on formation implements. After reading for a while, he nodded thoughtfully and began mulling it over. The three small flags of the Three Talents Banner Gate Formation, though inconspicuous, actually required quite a number of materials, many of which Zhang Xiaohua had never heard of before. If he had to start from nothing and refine them anew, it was simply out of the question.

Fortunately, the existing items were intact — the flagpoles and flag cloths were undamaged. It was only that the formation’s Yuan Qi within the small flags had been completely exhausted. All that was needed was to replenish the Qi and restore the formation inscribed upon the flags.

Although Zhang Xiaohua had never before undertaken the patching and repairing of formation implements, he was by no means unfamiliar with formations. Moreover, “Refining the World of Artifacts” clearly recorded the methods for repairing these small flags. With careful study, how could there be anything he would not understand?

Seeing that it was still early, Zhang Xiaohua stood up and came before the earth fire. First, he took out the flagpoles and the small flags, then ignited the underground flame.

Zhang Xiaohua’s expression grew solemn. His hands formed seals, and he cast them upon the earth fire, steadying its blaze. Then, with a beckoning gesture, one of the flagpoles flew at once into the blue flames. Following that, he sent in several more incantation seals. When the firepower forced open the flaws in the formation, Zhang Xiaohua cast one of the flag cloths into the flames.

Within the fire, the flag cloth tumbled several times yet did not burn. On the contrary, because the earth fire contained abundant Yuan Qi of Heaven and Earth, that Qi surged into the flag cloth, making its colors all the more vivid. Moreover, on the surface of the cloth there gradually emerged various talismanic patterns.

Zhang Xiaohua knew — these talismans were precisely the formation of the Three Talents Flag Gate Formation.