The Quest for Immortality

Master Chen and a group of artifact refiners gathered, flipping through the refining manuals and discussing how to craft a refining furnace.

The refining furnace was a First Grade spiritual tool, and it was a large item. For these artifact refiners, it was both a challenge and an opportunity.

These artifact refiners were all independent cultivators with years of refining experience. However, without a First Grade refining furnace, they could not craft First Grade spiritual tools.

Naturally, they could not become First Grade artifact refiners.

If they could craft this First Grade refining furnace, and then take the opportunity to practice more, perhaps their refining skills would truly improve, enabling them to become First Grade artifact refiners.

Some of these artifact refiners had graying hair and were half in the grave. They had spent their entire lives refining spiritual tools and had resigned themselves to their fate.

Now, suddenly, there was a chance for them to advance to First Grade artifact refiners. These old refiners were revitalized, their eyes gleaming with a sharp light.

The spirit that life had ground down to nothing was now rekindled.

Mo Hua was also extending his little head, joining in the excitement.

The artifact refiners were discussing what materials to use, what techniques, how to quench, how to forge, and how to shape.

Although he couldn’t understand everything, he had a general sense.

So that if he encountered this in the future, he wouldn’t be at a loss and get taken advantage of.

The artifact refiners passionately discussed for two days and then drafted a basic refining plan.

Most of them were not First Grade artifact refiners, so it was too ambitious to start with a First Grade refining furnace.

So the first step was to refine some ordinary First Grade spiritual tools.

After becoming familiar with the crafting techniques of First Grade spiritual tools, they would select some of the more skilled refiners to formally attempt the First Grade refining furnace.

Mo Hua didn’t spend much time on the specific refining process.

After all, he would never personally refine artifacts in this lifetime. Knowing some theoretical knowledge and having a rough impression of the refining techniques was enough without spending too much effort.

Besides, most of the time in refining was spent repeatedly hammering, quenching, hammering again, quenching again, and hammering again.

If he were the one wielding the hammer, it might be fine. But watching from the side was rather dull, and the constant banging hurt his ears.

Mo Hua spent most of his time studying arrays every day.

He still had to learn a functional Molten Fire Spirit Control Composite Array.

When he was tired of drawing arrays, he would go to the refining shop to check on Master Chen’s progress.

After half a month, Master Chen, with the combined efforts of all the artifact refiners, finally managed to craft a First Grade refining furnace, albeit with some difficulty.

After the refining was complete, Master Chen had Da Zhu invite Mo Hua over.

“See if you can draw arrays on it,” Master Chen said expectantly to Mo Hua.

Mo Hua began to examine the refining furnace.

The furnace was significantly smaller, and the materials used were not particularly good. The luster was rather dull, and there was little space on the furnace wall for drawing arrays, with few reserved positions for arrays.

It seemed that the initial design of this refining furnace was as a small-scale furnace, capable only of accommodating some simple arrays, with no space for complex composite arrays.

It seemed that not all refining furnaces could serve as the medium for a First Grade Molten Fire Spirit Control Composite Array.

Mo Hua felt a bit regretful.

A refining furnace could be used as an array medium to carry an array.

An array required a suitable medium, and the medium also needed to match the array.

In other words, to draw complex and profound arrays, one must forge high-quality spiritual tools; only then could the two complement each other.

The current refining furnace was clearly not suitable as a medium for a First Grade Molten Fire Spirit Control Composite Array.

Mo Hua said regretfully, “I can only draw a First Grade Molten Fire Array; the composite array won’t fit.”

The artifact refiners were somewhat disappointed to hear this.

Master Chen sighed, but then suddenly froze, realizing something.

Why should he feel regretful?

This was a genuine First Grade refining furnace, coupled with a true First Grade array. He had dreamt of owning such a refining furnace.

Master Chen glanced at the large refining furnace in the middle of the courtyard and couldn’t help but lament, “Once you’ve seen the sea, you can no longer settle for a stream.”

Mo Hua had raised their expectations too high.

With the refining furnace ready, Mo Hua could draw arrays on it.

Drawing just a First Grade Molten Fire Array didn’t take much effort.

Mo Hua quickly finished drawing.

Then Master Chen and the others refined two more First Grade refining furnaces.

Practice makes perfect.

With the experience from the first furnace, the materials and craftsmanship for the next two were better.

But no matter how well they were refined, they could still only accommodate a First Grade Molten Fire Array.

This was determined by the structure of the refining furnace.

After the three refining furnaces were ready, Elder Yu no longer let Master Chen and the others continue because they had run out of iron and materials.

They had to save some to refine spiritual tools. Otherwise, having only furnaces without refining materials was like having a pot without rice, leading to starvation.

Mo Hua drew two more First Grade Molten Fire Arrays.

With everything in place, the refining shop now had four refining furnaces: three ordinary First Grade Molten Fire refining furnaces and one large refining furnace with a First Grade Molten Fire Spirit Control Composite Array.

Elder Yu let out a long sigh of relief.

Everything was ready except for the crucial moment.

He had struggled for one or two hundred years without securing a good life for the independent cultivators at the bottom of Tongxian City. But now, in a short time, they had taken a huge step forward.

Next, it was up to them to see how far they could go.

The refining shop was completed, the refining furnaces were ready, and the artifact refiners were assembled.

Elder Yu chose an auspicious day to officially start the operations.

The refining shop was named simply and directly; since it was located in the southern part of the city, it was called “Southern City Refining Shop.”

In Tongxian City, the rich lived in the north, and the poor in the south.

So naming it “Southern City” indicated that this refining shop was not owned by one person but was for all demon hunters, and also for all the independent cultivators in the southern part of the city.

When the refining shop opened, all the demon hunters and the independent cultivators who had participated in its construction gathered together, eating meat and drinking wine to celebrate for a night.

Thanks to Elder Yu and Master Chen’s planning, the artifact refiners in the refining shop began to refine spiritual tools in an orderly manner.

The initial spiritual tools crafted were of three types: rattan armor, broad sabers, and Clear Heart hairpins.

Rattan armor and broad sabers were commonly used by demon hunters.

The Clear Heart hairpin was a versatile spiritual tool, useful for clearing the mind, cultivating, dispelling miasma, and also as an ornament. Though it didn’t excel in any function, it was the most versatile.

After the refining shop opened, Mo Hua also went to take a look.

In the vast refining shop, with numerous artifact refiners and apprentices, categorized refining materials, specialized refining techniques, orderly forging processes, and the surging furnace fires.

And the exquisitely crafted, standardized spiritual tools, quenched in the refining furnaces, forged by the refiners, cooled in water or ash, and then arranged in rows...

All of this left Mo Hua greatly impressed.

For the first time, Mo Hua had a clearer understanding of the Daoist industry.