185: News, travel plans

When Cultivating, time always flies by; no wonder the world says that Cultivation knows no years.

In a flash, two months had passed since the Tianyan Lamp was refined. During this period, Zhang Zhao had already sent over the Jin Yan Fire and the Soul Refining Method as agreed.

Chen Cuo comprehended the Soul Refining Method, standing in the night. Moonlight spilled onto his face, reflecting the deep thought flickering in his eyes.

He had already comprehended the mysteries of the Soul Refining Method, which was a Cultivation method that used the Soul as a bridge and a hammer, capable of tempering and enhancing a Cultivator’s Soul Power.

This Cultivation method had extremely high requirements for Soul Power; without a sufficiently powerful Soul, even getting started was as difficult as ascending to the heavens.

Zhang Zhao's Soul Power was exceptionally strong, which was the key to his ability to easily master the Soul Refining Method.

Chen Cuo took a deep breath, feeling very fortunate. His own Soul was already Indestructible and Eternal; the long-term scorching of the Undying Source Candle had made his Soul an Undying Soul, possessing an Undying essence.

Coincidentally, his Divine Soul was very powerful, making it very suitable for Cultivating the Soul Refining Method.

And the special effect of this method perfectly matched the Artifact Refining method of Lingbao Mountain, making it easy to nurture the spirituality of Magic Treasures.

In just three days, Chen Cuo Cultivated this method to Perfection, spending 30 points and Awakening the talent “Focused Soul.”

“Focused Soul: When the Soul thinks, it can always maintain an extremely focused and relaxed state. In this state, Soul Power can flow and condense more freely.”

Fate Points: 752

Because the Hua Jian Trading Company’s foundation was already large enough, it had changed the fates of many Cultivators. Some lived because of the Magical Artifacts he sold, and some died because of the Magical Artifacts he sold.

The changes in their fates were all attributed to Chen Cuo, and the Fate Points kept increasing.

The speed was neither fast nor slow, averaging one point per day.

Thus, Chen Cuo also began to try adjusting his Cultivation state. He diligently maintained focus and relaxation, allowing his Soul Power to circulate more freely.

After a period of effort, he found that his mastery of the Soul Refining Method had significantly improved, and his Cultivation speed also became faster.

As time went on, Chen Cuo's grasp of Artifact Refining gradually improved, and he was already eager to refine the Ruyi Staff.

When refining the Ruyi Staff, special attention must be paid to the engraving of rune formations. The combination of runes is the most important. The Divine Ability of changing size at will must at least be matched with a special weak formation.

The runes related to size-changing at will determine the power of this Magic Treasure and further affect the Ruyi Staff's spirituality and Divine Ability. How to combine the runes and how to set up the formations was no small challenge for Chen Cuo.

Chen Cuo thought to himself, “Only formations can cleverly regulate the size changes of the Magic Treasure, allowing the Cultivator to adjust the size of the Ruyi Staff at will during battle.”

“Should I use the Law runes of the Demonic Path’s transformations as a base? This banner pole is already full of Yin Qi, so there might be some hidden troubles.”

“It's better to use the size-changing Divine Ability of the Jade-Swallowing Turtle; its runes seem to be the essence of its Divine Ability.”

The Jade-Swallowing Turtle is a type of Spirit Turtle that can grow to the fourth stage and possesses a Divine Ability to change size.

Its Divine Ability had been comprehended and recorded in books, and through later research, it was drawn as one of the Heaven and Earth Runes for Artifact Refining.

It was quite suitable.

The drawing of this formation was extremely complex, requiring the Artifact Refiner to possess superb skill and profound rune knowledge.

“Since that's the case, let's get to it!”

Chen Cuo's mind stirred, and he took out the Materials he had prepared long ago, immediately beginning the Artifact Refining.

Chen Cuo had already rehearsed the Artifact Refining process countless times in his mind; all he lacked were the Materials.

Now, everything was ready.

The Shi Ming Essence Flame was being nurtured by Little Fire. With his Five Elements Transformation Spirit Dao, Little Fire's growth was quite rapid.

During this time, Chen Cuo had somewhat neglected Little White and Little Spirit, but they were originally in a symbiotic state, growing together, so there was no problem.

Little Green, as always, was sleeping in his body.

The Shi Ming Essence Flame was still being nurtured, but the True Fire within his body could already borrow its power. The third-order True Fire was indeed the flame of the Golden Core Stage; compared to the explosive but uncontrollable Earth Fire, it was much more powerful and convenient.

Under the scorching heat of the flames, the banner pole showed no significant change. It was forged for a full three days before the banner pole gradually softened and could be hammered.

Chen Cuo could only increase the heat, then shape it into a pitch-black staff. During this process, he incorporated Heavy Underworld Iron Stone.

He stared intently at the banner pole in the flames, his eyes filled with a hint of anticipation. Such hard Materials, he really didn't know how they fell into the hands of that Demonic Path Cultivator, who actually forged them into a Hundred Ghost Banner; it was truly a waste of heavenly resources.

The high temperature made the banner pole softer, but also more brittle, requiring extremely precise operation to prevent it from breaking.

The Heavy Underworld Iron Stone further increased its toughness and contained mysterious power.

As time passed, a pitch-black staff gradually took shape in the flames, its surface emitting a faint glow, as if containing endless power.

The final step was to quench it with As-You-Wish Fine Gold while engraving the As-You-Wish runes.

This step was still carried out with extreme care, without any mistakes.

After refining with his essence blood, the Ruyi Staff was complete. This Magic Treasure could become large or small. Chen Cuo put it into his Dantian for nurturing, but there were some imperfections; there was no binding message for a Fated Immortal Artifact, seemingly just an ordinary Magic Treasure.

Also, its spirituality did not seem to be very abundant.

“How could this be? It seems like it's just a semi-finished product. Is it because of the banner pole's Materials? What exactly is this thing?”

In his doubt, Chen Cuo could only nurture it for a while longer to clearly see the specific condition of this Magic Treasure.

After all, many Magic Treasures are not full of spirituality from the start.

If it really doesn't work out, then he'll just use it as a handy weapon.

While he was making his conjectures, a message quickly arrived from Bai Tang.

“Senior Brother, the Mu family has probably agreed to join the Hua Jian Trading Company’s business, but the Mu family head wants to meet you personally.”

“Also, there's a clue about the Spirit Fire you asked for; it's in the hands of the Tianshui Sect. Business there hasn't been going too smoothly recently, so you might have to go there personally, Senior Brother.”