Divine Level Witch Doctor

When he arrived at the workshop, the Jade Rings and gold bars had already been delivered. Gazing at the thirty-some Jade Rings, Zhao Yuan nodded in satisfaction. He wasn’t disappointed by the quantity, but he did wonder, ’How many of these will be left after I’m done making the Storage Rings?’

Cheng Yunlong pointed to a few artisans in the workshop and said, ”Master Zhao, I’m not sure what you’re planning to make, but my craftsmen here, while I wouldn’t call them the best in the business, are all highly skilled. I guarantee they won’t disappoint you.”

Zhao Yuan politely declined. ”There’s no need to trouble them. The item I need to make is something I must do myself. By the way, how do you use all this equipment? Could you walk me through it?”

Cheng Yunlong was a sharp man. As soon as he heard this, he knew Zhao Yuan was most likely planning to create a Magical Artifact in his workshop. He felt deeply honored and quickly began to explain and demonstrate each piece of equipment.

Once Zhao Yuan had the hang of it, Cheng Yunlong took the initiative to say, ”Well, Master Zhao, we’ll leave you to it then. If you need anything at all, just give us a shout.”

”Alright,” Zhao Yuan nodded.

He really didn’t want anyone watching over his shoulder while he performed Artifact Creation. Cheng Yunlong proactively taking his men and leaving pleased him greatly.

He decided to give Cheng Yunlong a little something for his trouble. ”Have you gathered the Five Elements Coins?” he asked.

Cheng Yunlong’s face lit up. He hastily pulled a handful of Copper Coins from his pocket and carefully placed them on the workbench. ”I just acquired six sets from Old Wang today.”

Zhao Yuan said, ”Fine, leave them here. Once I’m done with my work, I’ll help you create the Exorcism Talismans. But I have to warn you upfront, I can’t guarantee how many of these six sets of Five Elements Coins will result in a successful Talisman.”

”Understood,” Cheng Yunlong said quickly. ”Master Zhao, you just focus on your work. If not a single Exorcism Talisman is produced, it’s just my own bad luck. I’ll simply find more Five Elements Coins. I would never hold it against you, Master Zhao.”

Zhao Yuan nodded and added, ”Go buy some Yellow Paper, vermillion ink, and Wolf Hair Brushes. I’ll need them later to create the Exorcism Talismans.”

”I’ve already prepared all of that,” Cheng Yunlong replied, immediately sending someone to fetch the items.

Zhao Yuan was taken aback for a moment, then chuckled. ”Well now, you certainly came prepared.”

After a bit more lighthearted talk, Cheng Yunlong led Wang Qing and all the artisans out of the workshop, even helping to close the door behind them.

Zhao Yuan pulled over a stool and sat down at the workbench.

He wasn’t in a hurry to make the Storage Rings. He decided to forge the Nine Needles first as a warm-up. The material for the Nine Needles was just regular gold bars, so it wouldn’t be a huge loss if he failed.

He took a gold bar, placed it on the workbench, and ignited the spray gun. With a WHOOSH, a high-temperature flame shot out.

Under the scorching heat of the flame, the gold bar gradually softened. Zhao Yuan broke off a piece, focused the fire to continue heating it, and simultaneously picked up a hammer. He began striking the softened piece of gold again and again, making it longer and thinner with each blow.

After several rounds of cutting and repeated hammering, a Golden Needle with a 10cm handle, a body 4cm long and 0.3cm wide, and a tip that was both broad and sharp took shape under Zhao Yuan’s hands.

It was none other than the Three-Edged Needle, one of the Nine Needles!

Switching off the Guanqiao Spray Gun, Zhao Yuan carefully picked up the Golden Needle and placed it into the cool water nearby.

With a HISS, a large cloud of steam billowed up as the Golden Needle rapidly cooled and solidified. When the quenching was complete, Zhao Yuan picked it up and gave it a test swing, but his brow furrowed.

’Something’s wrong. It doesn’t feel like an extension of my own arm at all.’

He examined it closely, pulling up the information from the needle making technique. After some comparison, he finally pinpointed the problem. He grabbed a file, smoothed out the needle’s body, and then held the Golden Needle in his hand again.

This time, he finally nodded in satisfaction. ”Much better now. It truly feels like an extension of my arm! Holding the Golden Needle, I don’t feel like it’s a foreign object at all. It’s really like a part of my own body.”

Overjoyed, Zhao Yuan pressed on, forging several more Three-Edged Needles. Once he estimated he had enough, he began to craft the other eight types of needles from the set of Nine Needles.

After repeated failures and reforging, the other eight types of needles were also completed one by one. Zhao Yuan made about ten of each type, just to be sure he had enough.

While crafting the Nine Needles, Zhao Yuan was also constantly adjusting his own condition and familiarizing himself with the tools, preparing himself for the creation of the Storage Rings to come.

After finishing the Nine Needles, Zhao Yuan took a short break, then picked up an Acupuncture Needle and held it in his hand.

The Acupuncture Needle is the most common and most frequently used type of needle in Acupuncture.

Zhao Yuan wanted to test these Golden Needles to see if they could truly help the practitioner easily sense the arrival of Qi, just as the needle making technique claimed.

The so-called ’arrival of Qi’ is a technical term in Traditional Chinese Medicine. It refers to the sensation of channel Qi that occurs after a needle is inserted into an acupoint, and it is also known as the ’needle sensation.’

’He had already experienced the feeling of the needles being an extension of his arm. If these Nine Needles can really enhance the perception of Qi’s arrival, then my work will have been a true success! When I treat patients with acupuncture in the future, this set will be an enormous help!’

To test for the arrival of Qi, the needle had to be inserted into an acupoint. Since there was no one else in the workshop, Zhao Yuan had no choice but to test it on himself.

Locating the acupoint, Zhao Yuan inserted the Golden Needle into the He Gu Acupoint, located in the webbing between his thumb and index finger.

”Huh?”

The moment the Golden Needle entered the acupoint, a sharp light glinted in Zhao Yuan’s eyes.

He was astonished to discover that it wasn’t just the sensation of Qi’s arrival; the condition of the meridian connected to the acupoint, and even the blood flow in the nearby vessels, were all transmitted to him through the tiny Golden Needle, forming a clear picture in his mind!

’This feeling is incredible!’

”The needle making technique passed down from Wu Peng is truly something else! For a Traditional Chinese Physician, these needles are basically Divine Artifacts on par with the Heaven-Swaying Sword or the Dragon-Slaying Saber!”

Zhao Yuan was ecstatic.

After reveling in his excitement for a while, he finally calmed down and carefully put away the finished set of Golden Nine Needles. He pushed the unused gold bars and scrap pieces of gold to one side, then took out a Jade Ring and prepared to begin crafting a Storage Ring.

The procedure for creating a Storage Ring seemed less complex than making the Nine Needles; all it required was carving Runes onto the ring with a knife. In reality, however, it was a hundred, even a thousand times more difficult! Even with a stick of Soul-Stabilizing Incense lit to help him focus, his first attempt ended in failure—all because a single Rune was off by the slightest fraction of a millimeter!

CRACK!

With a sharp crack, the Jade Ring shattered, turning directly into a pile of jade dust that scattered across the workbench.

”It shatters into dust on a single failure? Does it have to be this unforgiving!”