149: Refining glass cups

Since he had made his choice, Chen Cuo reported the Materials he needed.

In the second stage, each True Disciple seed had a dedicated Artifact Refining platform with a call sign, which could be used to request Materials from the Sect. Ordinary Materials could be provided up to three sets, but many particularly precious Materials would only be provided once.

However, to refine a second-tier Magical Artifact, a precious Material was almost always required as the main Material, meaning there was essentially only one chance.

However, a one-time temporary Material replacement was allowed if you were not confident in refining the chosen Magical Artifact.

You could settle for a less ambitious option. These specific rules were announced by a voice resembling a Puppet after Old Man Fuyun left, serving as a supplement to the assessment rules.

In less than half an hour, the Materials were delivered to Chen Cuo's Artifact Refining platform.

The most important of these was the Essence of Five Elements, of which there was only one set. When others saw that Chen Cuo had already chosen the artifact he wanted to refine, some could not help but quicken their pace.

Time was pressing. Refining a second-tier Magical Artifact was often time-consuming and labor-intensive, let alone learning a new one. But if one didn't comprehend it clearly and failed in refining, it would be humiliating.

"Hmph, what's the use of being so arrogant and fast? What if he fails to refine it?"

Someone thought with ill intent.

Chen Cuo was unconcerned. He focused solely on caressing the Essence of Five Elements. This little item was not only a crucial consumable in Artifact Refining but also of great use for his Cultivation.

To nurture the Five Elements Spirit, this item could also play a significant catalytic role. If he could buy a few more pieces, it would greatly benefit his Cultivation...

Then, he began to close his eyes and rest. As the saying goes, to do a good job, one must first sharpen one's tools. Fifteen consecutive days of sleeplessly memorizing Magical Artifact Refining methods and Spells, even with the help of the memory image library, was a considerable burden for Chen Cuo.

A day and a night later, Chen Cuo awoke from his semi-sleep. He observed the others, some of whom had already begun to refine Magical Artifacts.

Each person's workbench was over a hundred meters apart, and the assessment rules prohibited malicious interference. If you were passively affected by others, leading to a refining failure, it was due to your insufficient willpower.

Malicious interference was a violation and would lead to disqualification, so they all abided by the rules.

However, there were still some who deliberately showed off their skills to affect others' mindsets.

For example, Zhao Yuan's Three-Stage True Flame Forging Technique made several Qi Refining Disciples envious.

However, judging by the situation, no one was truly affected, as they were all Genius Artifact Refiners after all.

Chen Cuo narrowed his eyes, and the crimson True Flame of his magical power furiously melted the Materials. With his Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivation, his True Flame already possessed the power of Earth Fire, and it was far easier to control than Earth Fire.

However, this consumed a lot of magical power, and with steps that could not afford a single mistake, he dared not be careless. For some of the most important Materials, he could only use his True Flame to melt them personally, while other less important Materials were melted using Earth Fire controlled by his enhanced Fire Spirit Ring.

The Fire Spirit Ring in his hand was a second-tier Medium Grade Magical Artifact, which he had re-refined. Only a small number of them had been circulated, for example, Qingfengzi had one.

Piece by piece, the Materials were melted, and Impurities were removed. Some became extremely viscous liquids, while others solidified again.

As for the Essence of Five Elements, he gave it special attention, spending a full three days to remove all its Impurities and melt it into a fist-sized ball of five-colored thick liquid.

This was the main Material, the most important Five Elements lamp pillar of the Five Elements Glazed Lamp. This lamp would store magical power. When casting Spells, it would use the stored magical power to light up runes and activate the escape effect.

Once the main Material was melted, he could be bolder with the remaining Materials. After another day, he finally processed all the Materials into semi-finished products. At this point, there were still ten days left until the end of the second stage of the assessment.

Without any delay, Chen Cuo's magical power transformed into fine spiritual threads. This was the Puppet Dao's Thread Control Technique. If there were Puppet arms or physical Puppets nearby, he could directly control them.

He used this technique because the refining of the glazed lamp required multitasking, especially the glazed petals on the lamp. Each petal needed to be attached simultaneously; otherwise, the quality of the lamp would be greatly reduced.

In the past, refining this Magical Artifact required multiple Artifact Refiners who were familiar with each other to complete it synchronously.

At this moment, Chen Cuo was alone, needing to multitask and control the spiritual threads without disorder. This placed strict demands on his Divine Soul, but wasn't that always his strong suit?

And fortunately, he had purchased the relevant Cultivation Technique in Tianbo City; otherwise, he would have had to choose another Magical Artifact to refine for this stage.

Outside the Sounding Artifact Stele, Chang Shengzi stood beside Old Man Fuyun, watching Old Man Fuyun grade the Disciples inside. It was visibly clear that on the roster, Chen Cuo and Snowy Mei were marked with two circles.

"They are indeed innately intelligent. Just now, in the first stage, one caused the Saint Artifact Pavilion's myriad blades to hum in unison, and the other gained the approval of the Iridescent Crystal Crown."

Chang Shengzi's eyes were sharp, and he immediately offered his assessment. Old Man Fuyun nodded in agreement, then said, "Chen Cuo chose to refine the Five Elements Glazed Lamp, and Snowy Mei chose the Illusory Heart Bell. Both are second-tier High Grade Magical Artifacts. If they succeed, these two will be first. As for who scores higher, we'll see after evaluating the specific effects of the Magical Artifacts."

"Snowy Mei is from the Xue family of West Saint Lake. Aren't they closer to the Icy River Valley's Ice Palace? How did they come to Lingbao Mountain?"

"Heh, the Icy River Valley suffered greatly this time. The Demonic Path's invasion of the far west was also due to someone from the Icy River Valley secretly providing information. The Beast Controlling Sect, which suffered heavy losses, has been criticizing them for a while. They will probably decline. It's truly a case of 'success also due to the Lower Realm, decline also due to the Lower Realm.'"

"This branch of the Xue family's Icy River Valley Disciples is rich and powerful. Sending Snowy Mei to Lingbao Mountain is just a diversified investment. Now, our Lingbao Mountain is seeking cooperation, I suppose!"

"Anyway, Revered Master has intentions, so we'll just follow the arrangements!"

Old Man Fuyun then focused back on the Disciples' assessment, constantly recording each one's performance.

Artifact Refining is inherently a tedious process, but Lingbao Mountain's philosophy views Artifact Refining as creating life. Old Man Fuyun watched very carefully.

Chang Shengzi also focused his attention on the observation Magical Artifact. The people in the arena were unaware, and his main attention was on Chen Cuo. The Unsharpened Blade had been put away by Chen Cuo, but the moment he emerged from the Saint Artifact Pavilion, he left a very deep impression on Chang Shengzi.

"Even if he fails the True Disciple selection, I must ensure he studies under Pavilion Lord Duan Canghai. In the future, who knows..."

Pavilion Lord Duan Canghai, the Pavilion Revered Master of Huofeng Pavilion, was one of the True Disciples, and a Senior Brother from Chang Shengzi's previous generation!

And Pavilion Lord Duan Canghai's greatest strength was the Dao of the Blade. His Blade Dao was divine. He once killed a Late Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator with a single strike in the Early Stage of Foundation Establishment. Now, he was at the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment Cultivation and was out seeking an Opportunity for Core Formation.

Chen Cuo's Soul was already alert to the attention of others, but there was no need to worry. He was currently focused intently on the glazed lamp petals before him.

Magical power spiritual threads pulled a small corner, making the shaped petal float in the air, followed by the second piece, the third piece...

The five petals were each in a different direction. With one hand, Chen Cuo furiously burned the Essence of Five Elements below with his True Flame of magical power.

Gradually, the Essence of Five Elements transformed from a liquid mass into a pillar shape, becoming the base of the glazed lamp and its core for storing magical power.