336: Chapter 336 If you can't forge a spiritual weapon that satisfies me, I'll castrate you.

Taihao Clan stared at Xu Ruyu, her gaze extremely complex.

After a long while, she suddenly smiled.

That smile was the first one Xu Ruyu had seen from her that didn't carry any hostility.

"Interesting," she murmured. "Truly interesting."

She walked to the workbench, picked up the rifle, and examined it closely.

Her fingers gently brushed over the Array Pattern, sensing the faint energy fluctuations, her eyes sparkling with a look of obsession.

"These Array Pattern... though simple, they fit the structure of this object perfectly.

Every line, every node is just right, as if they were born to be there," she murmured. "This isn't the 'Spirit Endowment' of traditional Formations, but... but treating the object itself as a whole, integrating the Array Pattern into it, making them a part of it..."

She looked up at Xu Ruyu, and for the first time, admiration—no, astonishment—appeared in her eyes.

"Xu Ruyu, you... are a Genius."

Xu Ruyu felt a bit embarrassed by the praise and scratched his head. "Senior, you overpraise me."

Taihao Clan didn't speak, but continued to study the rifle.

Her eyes grew brighter and more burning, like a gourmet seeing a peerless delicacy.

"These Array Pattern still have room for improvement," she said suddenly. "Here, the speed of energy convergence can be even faster, but it requires more precise trigger Array Pattern to coordinate.

Here, the pressure relief structure of the compression chamber can be optimized. Replacing the current double reflux with a triple reflux would improve stability..."

She spoke incessantly, completely immersed in her own world.

Xu Ruyu's eyes lit up more and more as he listened.

As expected of a Saint Realm Artifact Refiner!

She saw at a glance that his design still had room for optimization!

"Senior! Could you give me some detailed guidance?" he asked excitedly.

Taihao Clan glanced at him, suddenly pulling back her smile and returning to her cold expression.

"Guide you? Why should I guide you?"

Xu Ruyu was stunned.

Taihao Clan gave a cold laugh, placed the rifle on the table, and turned to walk out.

Reaching the door, she suddenly stopped and said without turning back:

"Leave that thing with me for now.

I'm going to study it."

Xu Ruyu grew anxious. "Senior! That's this Junior's..."

"Your what?" Taihao Clan interrupted him, saying coldly, "In my Artifact Refining Room, using my Materials, and spending my time, the thing refined is naturally mine.

What, do you have an objection?"

Xu Ruyu opened his mouth but found himself speechless.

Taihao Clan snorted and was about to step away when she suddenly stopped again.

She turned around and looked at Xu Ruyu, her gaze complex and hard to read.

"One more thing."

Xu Ruyu's heart tightened. "Please speak, Senior."

Taihao Clan stared into his eyes and said word by word:

"If you can't refine a Spiritual Artifact that satisfies me, I'll castrate you."

Xu Ruyu felt a chill between his legs and subconsciously covered himself.

"Senior! You're..."

"These are the rules," Taihao Clan interrupted him coldly. "Since you used my Artifact Refining Room, you must follow my rules.

If you can refine a Spiritual Artifact that satisfies me, our previous accounts can be wiped clean.

If you can't..."

She gave a cold laugh, her gaze meaningfully sweeping toward his lower half.

"I will castrate you."

Having said that, she turned and left, leaving Xu Ruyu alone and bewildered in the Artifact Refining Room.

...

Taihao Clan returned to her Thatched Cottage, closed the door, leaned against it, closed her eyes, and let out a long breath.

Her heart was beating a bit fast.

How many years had it been? How many years since her heart had raced like this?

It wasn't because of hate, but because...

She opened her eyes and looked at the strangely shaped "poqi type i" rifle in her hand.

Those exquisite Array Pattern still shimmered faintly under the light of the Moonstone.

"This youth..." she murmured, "is truly a monster."

The design concepts of those Array Pattern, those unheard-of forging techniques, those strange formulas... everything overturned the understanding of Artifact Refining she had held for ten thousand years.

Yet, inexplicably, these things were effective. And startlingly so.

She had lived for over ten thousand years and believed she had seen every Artifact Refining method in the world, believing she stood at the Peak of the Dao of Artifact Refining.

But today, she realized there was another path, a completely different path leading to another world she had never seen.

Her heart was itching with curiosity.

She wanted to study those Array Pattern, understand those formulas, and see what other miracles this youth could create.

But at the thought of what he had done to her Master...

Taihao Clan's expression turned cold again.

"Bastard..." she gritted her teeth and cursed in a low voice. "The bastard who trifled with my Master..."

Yet, in her mind, the image of Xu Ruyu while he was refining the artifact involuntarily surfaced—his focused gaze, his steady hands, and those Array Pattern that made her heart race.

She suddenly felt conflicted.

Such an excellent man at Artifact Refining... to castrate or not to castrate?

If she castrated him, who would create these miracles for her in the future? Who would teach her those Array Pattern and formulas?

If she didn't, what about her Master's grudge? What about her Master's purity?

Taihao Clan paced back and forth in the Thatched Cottage, her brow furrowed, caught in an agonizing dilemma.

After a long while, she suddenly stopped and walked toward the Artifact Refining Room.

"Xu Ruyu..."

She arrived at the Artifact Refining Room, watched the busy Xu Ruyu, and for the first time, spoke up to ask: "Tell me, if a man is castrated, it won't affect his Artifact Refining, right?"