51: Refining a weapon, Crimson Fire Crocodile Dragon?

"Senior Sister clearly said that ice flames can also be used for Artifact Refining and Alchemy..."

Inside the Pill Refining Room, Su Ling rubbed his chin and paced back and forth.

With Yun Qingluan's experience and knowledge, there was no doubt about this.

The problem must lie with the Materials or the method of use.

"Extreme heat turns into extreme cold. Does that mean extreme cold can also turn into extreme heat?"

Su Ling's eyes flickered, and a ball of ice flame emerged from his palm.

Acting on his thought, Su Ling surged his magic power and attempted to contract the cold energy of the ice flame.

About half an incense stick's time later, the color of the ice flame began to change.

A layer of dark red gradually spread from the deep blue edges, like a red-hot iron rod being thrown into a cold pool; the two extreme attributes intertwined violently within the flame.

At this moment, the spiritual fire no longer emitted bone-chilling cold. Within three feet, one could feel a hint of warmth, yet it was mixed with a lingering coolness that hadn't fully dissipated, creating a unique layering of temperature.

As Su Ling's magic power surged, the deep blue inside the spiritual fire was gradually swallowed by orange-red.

The deep blue flame retracted inward like a receding tide, finally condensing into a single ice-crystal-like speck of light at the core.

Meanwhile, the dark red flame on the periphery became increasingly fierce, expanding to twice its original size. The flickering tongues of fire on the surface carried a scorching aura, causing the surrounding air to warp slightly from the heat.

When the last trace of deep blue faded from the flame, that speck of deep blue ice crystal also vanished.

The Nether Abyss Ice Flame in Su Ling's hand had completely transformed into a Lava Spiritual Fire radiating scorching heat.

However, above the Eye of the Qi Sea, the seed of the Nether Abyss Ice Flame still remained deep blue.

"The essence remains the same, but the form of expression can change."

Su Ling felt a surge of joy. Now, he could focus on Artifact Refining with peace of mind.

Repositioning the Lava Spiritual Fire, he used his magic power to drive a Molten Fire Lizard tooth into the melting process.

After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the Molten Fire Lizard tooth began to melt visibly.

Su Ling then controlled the heat, removing Impurities thread by thread in a slow-simmering manner.

An hour later, the foot-long Molten Fire Lizard tooth was finally refined down to about three inches.

"Three inches... it's only suitable for refining Magical Artifacts like Bone-Piercing Nails."

Su Ling thought for a moment, set the concentrated tooth aside, and took out some Fire Crystal Ore for tempering... "Holy crap!"

Two hours later, a loud explosion echoed from the Pill Refining Room.

Su Ling, who was in the middle of inscribing a Formation, was instantly covered in soot and grime from the blast.

If he hadn't deployed a magic shield beforehand for protection, he might have been disfigured.

"Is it really this difficult?"

Su Ling threw down the Flame Crystal Carving Knife, specifically used for inscribing fire-attribute Formations, feeling somewhat frustrated.

A moment ago, a slight lapse in concentration led him to apply too much pressure, causing the entire Formation to collapse and the artifact embryo, which he had refined and shaped with great effort, to explode.

Previously, Su Ling had only simply inscribed magic conduction patterns to control the Golden Bone Beast tusks and the Fierce-Toothed Crocodile leather armor; it hadn't felt that difficult back then.

After all, he had some achievements in the path of Talismans.

He could produce Vajra Talismans, explosive flame talismans, and Giant Wood Talismans with ease, and had even crafted Medium Grade Vajra Talismans.

But depicting Spell Formation patterns on Talisman paper and inscribing Formation patterns on Magical Artifacts were two completely different things.

Watching Yun Qingluan refine artifacts before, she seemed so practiced and skillful, as if it were very simple.

He hadn't expected it to be so difficult when he tried it himself.

Fortunately, with his experience in studying Talismans, Su Ling didn't get too discouraged. After recovering his magic power, he began a new round of refining.

For the following period, Su Ling stayed holed up in his Immortal Cave, cultivating while continuing to attempt the path of Artifact Refining.

It wasn't until half a month later that Su Ling regained his Middle Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation.

At the same time, he had consumed most of the Foundation Establishment Stage refining Materials in his Storage Pouch to finally forge a not-so-good-looking molten fire shield.

[molten fire shield, mid-grade magical artifact, possesses autonomous defense and shadow cloning functions.]

Using five pieces of Peak Second-tier Molten Fire Turtle shells, two pounds of Fire Crystal Ore, and jade bone armor scales as Materials, he finally managed to refine this molten fire shield.

Su Ling felt a sense of emotion.

First, he was moved that he had finally refined a complete Magical Artifact, and a mid-grade one at that.

Second, he lamented that his Artifact Refining skills were truly poor.

Being able to reach the Medium Grade level was mainly due to the high quality of the refining Materials.

Especially the jade bone armor scales; those were components of a Low Grade Magic Treasure. Embedding them in a molten fire shield was simply a waste of precious resources.

But Su Ling had no choice; currently, besides a mid-grade magical artifact, the Tiger Bone Bow, he had no other Magical Artifacts to use.

"After nourishing it with magic power for half a month, I can go out hunting."

There was still nearly half a month left for the rented Immortal Cave.

Having promoted to the Middle Foundation Establishment Stage, experienced successive battles, and drifted in the spatial turbulence for who knows how long.

Su Ling's magic power condensation had reached a new level, but his Medicinal Pills were almost exhausted.

Looking at the thousand or so Spirit Stones in his pocket, Su Ling felt a secret pang of regret.

If the Immortal Eye of Treasure Appraisal hadn't swallowed the Spirit Stones he originally intended to use for buying Magical Artifacts and Medicinal Pills, why would he have needed to refine them himself!

He could have easily purchased some Medicinal Pills and Magical Artifacts, cultivated to the Late Foundation Establishment Stage, and then gone out.

After tidying up, Su Ling stood up, took down the Immortal Cave token, and walked out... At the Thousand Star Market, Su Ling went straight to the square where Loose Cultivators set up their stalls.

[Water-Dividing Piercer, Low Grade offensive Magical Artifact, possesses water-attribute attack capabilities.]

[Wave-Breaking Boat, Medium Grade flying Magical Artifact, possesses flight, defense, and certain water-attribute attack capabilities.]

[Sea-Suppressing Talisman, Second-tier Medium Grade Talisman, can suppress water-attribute Spells and ocean waves.]

[Tusks of a Peak Second-tier Yao Beast, the Sabertooth Shark, can be used for Artifact Refining.]

[Shell of an Early Third-tier Yao Beast, the Black Water Turtle, can be used for Artifact Refining.]

[Pearl of an Early Third-tier Yao Beast, the Tide-Sound Shell, can be used for Artifact Refining and Alchemy.]

...The Canglang Plane could be considered a water world, and the Yao Beasts produced there were mostly water-based.

As Su Ling looked around, most of the spiritual items he found were water-attribute.

Others combined accounted for at most thirty percent.

There wasn't even a single fire-attribute item.

While he was pondering, someone nearby shouted, "Third-tier Crimson Fire Crocodile Dragon for sale, come and take a look!"

"Crimson Fire Crocodile Dragon?! Hurry, let's go!"

"Go, go, go!"

"It's rare to find someone selling one; we must grab it this time!"

"And it's Third-tier! Hurry, before those big merchants snatch it away!"

Su Ling was stunned by what he heard.

Earth Fire Croc-Dragon—it sounded like a fire-attribute Yao Beast just from the name.

Could it be that this Yao Beast actually contains a thin dragon Bloodline, which is why it can be called a 'Dragon'?

Seeing the Cultivators all around flocking over, even the stallholder Su Ling was just looking at waved his hand to pack up his goods and ran over quickly.

Su Ling's curiosity was also piqued, so he stood up and followed.

After finally squeezing through the crowd, he saw five Peak Foundation Establishment Cultivators standing in a circle, with the corpse of a Yao Beast about thirty feet long lying in the middle.

It looked like a crocodile with two horns on its head, dark red all over, and a faint scorching aura emanating from it.

Its mouth was wide open, and its throat seemed to have been blown open by something, with dried bloodstains remaining at the corners of its mouth.

[Red Fire Crocodile, Middle Third-tier Yao Beast.]

"Liu Tietou, how did you guys kill this Croc-Dragon? The corpse is so well-preserved!"

A Cultivator who knew them spoke up and asked.

"Hehe, don't worry about how we killed it."

One of the large men stood proudly with one hand on his hip, pointing at the Croc-Dragon in the center and shouting, "Middle Third-tier, scales intact, demon core still inside. Selling as a package, starting bid at one hundred thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones. Place your bids if you want it!"