Chapter 866

Chapter 866: Eight Months of Enlightenment in Teaching

"Luckily, the Wood Origin Immortal Realm is close to the Immortal Realm where I stashed my things."

"Once I retrieve them, the sect should have arrived in the Immortal Realm," Li Xuandao said.

He felt a wave of emotion. He had thought his path was set—become a true immortal, reincarnate quickly, and finally achieve Golden Immortal status.

But he never expected to start off with such a powerful ally.

As long as he stuck with his master, becoming a Golden Immortal seemed almost trivial.

"That place holds all the Spiritual Treasures I gathered after ascending to true immortal in my past seven lives."

"Including a fated celestial tool. I plan to bring it back as an offering to the sect," Li Xuandao said, looking at Xu Fan with sincere admiration.

No matter how others saw this master, Li Xuandao had already accepted Xu Fan as his true teacher.

He was determined to cling to this lifeline with all his heart.

"Go ahead. Since this is part of your past lives’ plans, I won’t stop you."

A small teleportation formation appeared in front of Li Xuandao.

Three celestial tools—a shoe, a shield, and a spirit pearl—all perfect for escaping.

"You have the experience from your past lives, so I won’t lecture you. Take good care of these three celestial tools," Xu Fan said gently.

Seeing the three celestial tools, Li Xuandao felt his eyes moisten.

From the moment he began cultivating, he had schemed and plotted, all for the slim chance of becoming a Golden Immortal.

The warmth he had only felt from his mother thousands of years ago, he now felt from his master.

"When I return, I wish to serve by your side forever!" Li Xuandao declared, kneeling and bowing deeply.

"No need for that. We have a master-student bond; you won’t leave me, and I won’t leave you," Xu Fan said with a smile.

At that moment, Xu Fan produced a space ring.

"Once you reach the Immortal Realm, do me a favor and give this space ring to your third senior brother."

Xu Fan felt he needed to offer some support to that good disciple in his comfortable spot; relying solely on his wife’s wealth wasn’t sustainable.

"Understood, Master!" Li Xuandao promised.

"Go now. Until we meet again in the Immortal Realm."

Three days later, an Immortal Gate appeared above the Ten Thousand-Mile Giant Lake, with Immortal Jade steps stretching directly to Li Xuandao’s feet.

After performing three kneels and nine bows toward the Hidden Spirit Sect, Li Xuandao stepped onto the Immortal Jade steps and entered the Immortal Gate.

In the underground space, Xu Fan watched as endless spirit ore for celestial tools flowed into the large celestial tool furnace.

After the ultimate fusion and forging by divine fire, combined with Sha Diao’s special alloy,

blocks of uniform celestial tool alloy emerged from another outlet of the large celestial tool furnace.

"It’s running smoothly, and the efficiency is slightly better than expected, thanks to the Grand Elder’s superb artifact crafting skills and the arrangement of the Celestial Script Formations," Sha Diao said with a smile.

"It’s good that it’s running well. We also owe it to Brother Sha’s insightful suggestions," Xu Fan replied with a smile.

According to the latest calculations by the grape, the entire refining upgrade of Hidden Spirit Island would be completed in just 480 years.

Xu Fan instructed Grape to retrieve some special spirit ore for celestial tools, as he was preparing to forge a celestial tool furnace for Sha Diao.

In the underground space of the Artifact Hall, Sha Diao watched with excitement as Xu Fan began smelting the spirit ore.

"Brother Sha, any other requests?"

"If not, I’ll start setting the spirit ore for celestial tools," Xu Fan said.

"If it’s possible, could you add a divine fire core to it?" Sha Diao asked, somewhat bashfully.

He already had enough spirit fire for his needs, but as a research-oriented artifact great master, he wanted something that would match his prestige.

"Nothing to be shy about; Song Ming bought two types of divine fire cores from the Spring Blossom Merchant Association."

"The Earth Core Flame and the Divine Fire of the Eastern Departure— which one do you prefer?" Xu Fan asked with a smile.

"I’ll take the Divine Fire of the Eastern Departure. Its properties are quite mild, perfect for researching spirit ore alloys," Sha Diao said, grinning at the thought of having his own celestial tool furnace.

"Alright."

A small teleportation formation appeared next to Xu Fan, and Grape sent over the Divine Fire of the Eastern Departure from the treasury.

"It’ll take eight months to forge the celestial tool furnace. Third senior brother, you might want to go back and rest. I’ll deliver it to you once it’s done," Xu Fan said, continuing to merge the spirit ore for celestial tools.

The Phoenix Divine Fire flowed smoothly in Xu Fan’s hands, like a grandmaster of swordsmanship wielding an iron sword, pushing every technique to the limits of what an iron sword could handle.

"I’d rather stay here and watch the Grand Elder craft the celestial tool and chat with him," Sha Diao insisted, eager to see his celestial tool take shape step by step.

"Up to you!"

So, Xu Fan crafted the celestial tool furnace while chatting with Sha Diao.

"The sect will collectively ascend to the Immortal Realm in just over 400 years. Are you planning to bring your wife and family along?" Xu Fan asked with concern.

"I’ll talk to them. I want them to ascend to the Immortal Realm with the sect, but knowing them as I do, they probably won’t come with me," said Sha Diao.

"Make sure to leave them enough cultivation resources to ensure they can ascend to the Immortal Realm," Xu Fan suggested.

"Thank you for your kindness, Grand Elder. Both my father and Little Sister are alchemists, so they won’t be short on resources," Sha Diao replied.

"That’s good!"

While chatting and crafting, the eight months flew by.

These eight months were the happiest for Sha Diao.

Whenever Xu Fan ran out of topics, he used the scriptures to enhance Sha Diao’s understanding, explaining the art of artifact crafting.

He taught the art from deep to shallow, from crude to fine, from complex to simple, repeatedly explaining it to Sha Diao.

Thus, Sha Diao felt he could control spirit fire to craft celestial tools right away.

After receiving the celestial tool furnace, Sha Diao quickly entered seclusion to digest the insights he gained from artifact crafting during that time.

He aimed to become a genuine artifact great master.

Three months later, Sha Diao looked down at the newly crafted Spiritual Sword with a hint of disappointment.

"Why does it feel different from what I imagined? Crafting this Spiritual Sword was so challenging."

He glanced at the discarded Spiritual Swords around him and let out a deep sigh.

………………

"After finishing work, resting feels so good."

A lonely leaf boat floated on the Ten Thousand-Mile Giant Lake, and Xu Fan lay on the boat, gazing at the clouds shaped like Bear Two in the sky.

"Master, the Universe Ship that went out to scout has returned," Grape’s voice chimed in.

"Did it find anything?"

Xu Fan squinted in the sunlight and replied.

"It discovered a newly formed middle thousand world, where the wide road laws have just been established. The strongest foreign race there only reaches the invincible realm," Grape explained.

"Any special characteristics?"

"The foreign races in that middle thousand world are many and strongly value body refinement," Grape said.

"Aside from mining spirit ore, it holds no other value," he added.

"Assuming everything goes as planned, Ming Kong should be arriving soon," Xu Fan said, sitting up.

"The Grand Elder has a good spirit, floating on this Ten Thousand-Mile Giant Lake with a lonely leaf boat, swayed by the wind, carefree."