Immortal Refiner

Though the cultivation manual was excellent, it was incomplete!

Furthermore, it required the subjugation of heavenly spirit fire to unleash its full potential. Without it, cultivation would be slower than with normal cultivation manuals.

Another crucial point: heavenly spirit fire was inherently yang and unyielding. Subjugating it always carried a degree of danger.

Even with the Crimson Blaze Heaven-Burning Art, absolute safety couldn’t be guaranteed. It might only slightly increase the chances of success. The true outcome would only be revealed through practice.

”Ah, if not for these limitations, I doubt this cultivation manual would be so readily available here,” Li Qing mused, then set down the jade slip, his brow furrowed in deep thought.

His greatest advantage was his longevity. His remaining lifespan was estimated to be longer than that of many core formation realm True Lords, and he could further extend it through artifact refinement.

”My own aptitude is poor. Even with other cultivation manuals, my cultivation speed wouldn’t be particularly fast.”

”If I choose the Crimson Blaze Heaven-Burning Art, my progress might be slightly slower, but it offers a glimmer of hope for the future. If I can gather the complete cultivation manual and multiple heavenly spirit fires, my path to The Dao becomes far more promising!”

A person’s Spirit Root aptitude is predetermined. They are born with it, and it cannot be changed.

However, the Crimson Blaze Heaven-Burning Art uses heavenly spirit fire to enhance cultivation speed, effectively defying fate itself!

”Defying fate,” Li Qing murmured, a resolute look gradually forming in his eyes. He had already made his decision.

Yes, he would choose this cultivation manual!

With his long Lifespan, he didn’t need to worry about his great limit approaching. Instead, he could focus on seeking out heavenly spirit fires.

”Let’s see what other secret techniques are in the Hall of Technique Transmission. If there’s something suitable, I can always exchange for it later!”

With that, Li Qing began scanning the other shelves, which held various inheritances and secret techniques.

The selection was vast, including not only secret techniques but also powerful divine abilities available for foundation establishment realm elders to exchange and cultivate.

”Truly worthy of an Immortal Path sect,” Li Qing marveled. ”Even obscure body refinement secret techniques have three or four copies, all Second-Tier!”

If he could just switch to one of them, he could immediately advance his body refinement cultivation to the Second-Tier.

Besides these, there were several fire-attribute divine abilities that could be cultivated from the foundation establishment realm, which also caught his eye.

”I’ll save those for later!”

His emotions gradually calmed down, no longer so urgent. He had plenty of time in the future to exchange for them one by one.

Now that he had chosen his cultivation manual, the most pressing matter was to convert his true essence to it. Once he did, his strength would increase significantly.

”Junior Brother Li, this jade slip contains the incomplete version of the Crimson Blaze Heaven-Burning Art, covering the cultivation methods from the qi refining realm to the foundation establishment realm.”

”However, before you memorize it, there are some sect rules to observe. I’m sure you’re aware that cultivation manuals exchanged from the Hall of Technique Transmission cannot be shared with outsiders, not even your closest relatives.”

”Therefore, you must take a heart demon oath!”

An elder in the Hall of Technique Transmission smiled warmly at Li Qing, his eyes filled with admiration.

Hearing this, Li Qing naturally understood the rules. He had no objections. Since he was cultivating this manual himself, why would he share it with others for no reason?

”I, Li Qing, swear by my Dao and my life that I will never...”

After the heart demon oath was sworn, the elder in the Hall of Technique Transmission handed the jade slip to Li Qing with a relieved smile.

”Hehe, I shouldn’t meddle, but Junior Brother Li, your words outside the hall earlier resonated deeply with me. I felt compelled to offer a reminder.”

”This Crimson Blaze Heaven-Burning Art lacks subsequent cultivation content, even within our Lingyun Sect’s Hall of Technique Transmission.”

”Furthermore, heavenly spirit fire is an exceptionally rare treasure. Some elders have chosen this cultivation manual in the past, but they all eventually abandoned it, switching to other cultivation manuals in disappointment.”

Li Qing merely smiled at this, saying, ”I wouldn’t dare to hope for subsequent cultivation manuals, Senior Brother. With my aptitude, do you think I could even dream of core formation?”

”My purpose in choosing this cultivation manual is simple: to place my last sliver of hope for core formation on the ethereal heavenly spirit fire. If I’m destined to fail, then so be it.”

The transmission elder shook his head dismissively. ”I believe you are no ordinary person, Junior Brother. Otherwise, how could you have spoken those words outside the hall? Your mindset alone surpasses that of ordinary individuals.”

”Besides, who can say what the future holds?”

”Senior Brother flatters me,” Li Qing replied modestly.

”Hahaha, I’ve been rambling on a bit too much. At my age, cooped up in the Hall of Technique Transmission all day, I just enjoy chatting with anyone who’ll listen. I hope you’ll forgive me, Junior Brother.”

”Alright, go ahead and memorize this cultivation manual. I won’t disturb you any further.”

Li Qing clasped his hands in a respectful bow. ”Thank you, Senior Brother!”

With that, he held the jade slip between his fingertips, then channeled his mana to imprint its contents onto his divine sense.

Soon, the qi refining and foundation establishment realm Chapters of the Crimson Blaze Heaven-Burning Art flooded Li Qing’s mind.

After repeatedly confirming that he hadn’t missed anything, Li Qing returned the jade slip to the transmission elder and left the Hall of Technique Transmission without delay.

As he stepped out, Li Qing noticed a new sign erected at the hall’s entrance, resembling a warning notice.

The sign bore the very line of ancient poetry he had lightly recited earlier:

Black hair unaware of foundation’s difficulty, White hair regrets the years of wasted toil!

Seeing this, Li Qing was slightly stunned. He finally shook his head with a wry smile and quickly left the area, feeling a bit guilty.

Back in his cave abode on Wild Cloud Peak, Li Qing’s mind was calm and natural. Without doing anything else, he immediately began converting his Fire Origin Art into the Crimson Blaze Heaven-Burning Art!

Though both were fire-attribute cultivation manuals, the conversion process still took considerable time. Moreover, Li Qing’s true essence was already slightly denser than that of an average foundation establishment cultivator, which further prolonged the process.

After calming his mind, he began circulating the Crimson Blaze Heaven-Burning Art repeatedly, cycle after cycle, slowly transforming the true essence within his body.

Previously, his true essence had been a pale red. But after the conversion, it became more concentrated, taking on a deeper, more fiery crimson hue.

This was undoubtedly a positive change, indicating that his true essence had become more potent.

Time flies in cultivation. For a foundation establishment cultivator, two or three months passed in the blink of an eye, hardly worth noticing.

Li Qing’s progress in converting his cultivation manual was relatively smooth. Over this period, he had already transformed most of his true essence into the Crimson Blaze Heaven-Burning Art.

In his dantian qi sea, a small pool of liquid mana was clearly divided. Most of it was crimson, while the rest retained a pale red hue.

Once all the mana had fully transformed to crimson, he could begin his foundation establishment realm cultivation.

Just as he was about to continue, the Restriction he had set up outside his cave abode stirred.

Sensing this, Li Qing raised an eyebrow and immediately unleashed his divine sense power, extending it beyond his cave abode to investigate the situation.

He saw a Spirit Bird with pale blue feathers, holding a letter in its beak, place it before his cave abode.

”Hmm? Who sent me a Spirit Bird Transmission?”

Pausing his cultivation, Li Qing raised an eyebrow slightly and, curious, walked outside to retrieve the letter.

He unfolded it and scanned the contents at a glance, finishing in moments.

”A Foundation Establishment Celebration? Ji Bai really loves playing these games.” Li Qing shook his head with a smile. Then, a wisp of crimson Innate True Fire erupted from his hand, incinerating the letter to ashes that scattered in the wind.

Holding a small celebration after successfully achieving foundation establishment was reasonable.

However, Li Qing didn’t know many people in the sect. Besides Wu Chong, he hadn’t befriended any fellow disciples or elders.

So he wasn’t planning to hold a celebration. He couldn’t just secretly invite Wu Chong over for a drink, could he?

With Wu Chong’s appetite, preparing enough food would probably be a major headache.

And Li Qing wasn’t the only one skipping the Foundation Establishment Celebration. Among the others who had successfully established their foundation at the same time, neither Shen Ningbing nor the rough-looking Wu Hong planned to hold one either.

Shen Ningbing disliked crowds, while Wu Hong hadn’t even considered it, preferring to spend all his time cultivating.

Of course, the underlying reason was similar to Li Qing’s: having only recently joined the sect, they hadn’t made many connections with fellow disciples or elders. Whether or not to hold a celebration was simply irrelevant.

This subtle difference in approach already revealed something about the differences between people.

They had all joined the sect recently and had only achieved foundation establishment a few months ago.

Li Qing, Shen Ningbing, and Wu Hong were all immersed in their cultivation, with no thought of socializing with other elders.

Only someone like Ji Bai, skilled at networking, had managed to cultivate connections with a group of elders in just a few months—enough to support a Foundation Establishment Celebration.

”I might as well go and join the festivities. It’ll be a good opportunity to expand my network. Who knows, I might need to gather information and intelligence from these people later on.”

It wouldn’t take much time to mingle with his fellow disciples, and getting to know them better was always a good idea.

With this thought in mind, Li Qing retrieved a small piece of spirit gold from his storage pouch and summoned a ball of intense Innate True Fire in his palm.

Boom!

He channeled the Innate True Fire and began to refine the spirit gold with his bare hands, without even using the Black Furnace.

The small piece of spirit gold hovered between his palms, quickly melting into a liquid state under the scorching heat of the Innate True Fire.

In the past, refining such a material would have required him to place it in the Black Furnace and burn it for days and nights before it reached a suitable state for forging.

But now, with control over the Innate True Fire, he had melted the spirit gold into a liquid in less than half an hour.

He was preparing small gifts for Ji Bai’s Foundation Establishment Celebration. They weren’t particularly valuable, but since he had refined them himself, they represented his sincerity.

Having attended Foundation Establishment Celebrations before, he knew better than to arrive empty-handed.

Refining such trinkets was the perfect solution. Since he wasn’t planning to hold his own Foundation Establishment Celebration, preparing overly extravagant gifts would be a waste of resources.

Li Qing’s hands moved rhythmically, each clap sending a stream of pure, liquid spiritual energy crashing into the small mass of spirit gold liquid.

Any artifact refinement expert witnessing this scene would be astonished. Li Qing’s skill had clearly reached the pinnacle of mastery.

He was simultaneously forging the shape and tempering the spirit gold—two steps usually performed separately—in a single process!

As the spiritual energy continued to seep into the spirit gold liquid, the small piece of metal rapidly transformed. Under Li Qing’s precise control, a tiny bell emerged.

Ting-ting-dang-dang!

With a gentle tremor, a clear, crisp chime echoed through the air, its melody both pleasing and captivating.

But this was far from over. Li Qing’s fingertips danced across the bell’s surface, meticulously engraving spirit patterns.

These patterns were simple and natural, as if born from the very essence of nature itself.

In truth, Li Qing was replicating some of the spirit patterns found on the Soul Nurturing Bell. While this bell wouldn’t possess the Soul Nurturing Bell’s unique ability to nourish the divine soul, after some refinement, it would still produce a chime that brought a sense of mental clarity and ease.

This would make a truly unique and thoughtful gift.

Soon, the spirit patterns gradually etched themselves into the bell, finally emitting a faint spiritual light from within.

Seeing this, Li Qing held the bell in his hand with satisfaction and refined it with his spiritual energy.

Ting-ting-dang-dang!

This time, the bell’s chime was even more melodious and pleasant, subtly carrying a calming effect—truly extraordinary!

After a long moment, Li Qing’s lips twitched slightly. He realized that refining this small trinket had only granted him five days of Lifespan!

”Damn, that’s stingy! Even though it’s not even an Inferior-Grade Magic Tool, it still used spirit gold and the dao patterns from the Soul Nurturing Bell!”

”It may be small, but only five days of Lifespan? That’s just plain cheap!”

Though he grumbled, he hadn’t actually expected refining such a small trinket to grant him much Lifespan.

Otherwise, if he obtained a spirit material in the future, he could intentionally skimp on resources, turning a normal magic artifact into multiple trinkets that wouldn’t even qualify as Inferior-Grade Magic Tools, and rake in Lifespan!

”This will do. It’s a good opportunity to subtly reveal my identity as an artifact refiner.”

”When making connections with people, the most important thing is to showcase your value.”

(End of the Chapter)

📖Read [IR] ahead on Pa.treon@AnubisTL upto c364. [+4/+7.9k].

🎁All [2] Novels can be accessed for just $6/mo.

🔥Translated [1k+] Chapters and [2.17M+] Words.

🎯1 Review = 5 Extra Chapters. Reviews 5/5. Chapter 21/25. (Bonus Chapter)