Chapter 553: Artifact Refining (Part 1)

Inside the grand hall, only Shui Miao, Jiao Gong, Lian’er, Fang Zhentian, and Fang Ze, accompanied by several Thunder Guards, were stationed outside the main hall on watch duty.

Shui Miao glanced at the artifact-forging furnace—it was of decent quality, and the materials prepared were also quite sufficient.

“Brother, you’re not seriously planning to forge a Spirit-Communicating Mirror, right?” Shui Miao asked, having long suspected that Jiao Gong’s claim about the mirror being broken was just an excuse.

Jiao Gong smiled awkwardly, “Well, the Spirit-Communicating Mirror is a public matter. Actually, I want to forge a weapon for myself. Here’s the blueprint, hehe…”

Jiao Gong handed Shui Miao a blueprint covered with lines so intricate that an ordinary person would instantly feel dizzy just by looking at it.

“This is the Yang Hammer and Yin Nail!” The moment Shui Miao saw the lines on the blueprint, inspiration surged within him.

In the Realm of Rakshasa, from Luotong and even Buyi, Shui Miao had learned many formations, but never any related to lightning. This blueprint, however, featured two major formations—Yang and Yin. The hammer bore the Tianyang Formation, interwoven with dozens of minor Yang-fire formations, while the nail contained the Yin Supreme Formation, interspersed with dozens of Yin-fire formations. Though these formations were not unfamiliar to Shui Miao, the forging techniques and applications of the Yang Hammer and Yin Nail were entirely new to him.

Glancing at Lian’er, Jiao Gong sent Shui Miao a mental transmission: “Brother, I paid a fortune for this blueprint from the Three Storage Bureau. Please keep it absolutely secret. Once this immortal artifact is forged, I’ll carry it for emergencies. The Immortal-God War is imminent, and when the order of the Immortal and God Realm collapses, I must prepare in advance. It’s a necessary evil!”

“I understand completely. I know how you feel, brother. Don’t worry, I never betray my friends’ secrets. However, among all your materials, the quenching material is missing. Do you have any prepared, brother?” Shui Miao studied the blueprint carefully, imprinting every formation deeply into his mind. Once he finished forging this artifact for Jiao Gong, he could then forge his own lightning-infused immortal artifact. Having experienced the terrifying power of lightning, he added, “Oh, you could also add some more formations into this artifact. Tell me about your Fire-Thunder Division’s most powerful formations, like the Ten Holy Divine Thunder Formation you used against me.”

“This… this…”

Jiao Gong looked at Lian’er again, clearly reluctant to let outsiders hear certain secrets.

Understanding his meaning, Lian’er quickly turned and walked outside.

Once Lian’er was gone, Jiao Gong led Shui Miao to the back hall and showed him many secret scrolls of formations.

Jiao Gong couldn’t really be considered an upright Thunder Guard. Selfish and greedy, he was willing to betray Thunder Division secrets just to obtain a superior immortal artifact. Shui Miao was fortunate to have met Jiao Gong; otherwise, he would never have had the chance to see these rare formation techniques.

Shui Miao had a photographic memory, memorizing all the formations instantly. Putting down the scrolls, he blinked and said, “Brother, the formations are settled. What about the quenching? Surely you won’t forge the artifact without quenching it afterward?”

“Quenching is already prepared. Are you planning to forge it alone? If so, I’ll just give you the materials.” Jiao Gong had already realized that Shui Miao had no intention of forging publicly, so he handed him a Xianyuan Ring artifact, “Brother, inside are ten Lei Niao beasts from the Immortal-Demon Realm. Use their blood to quench the artifact, and it should be sufficient.”

Lei Niao beasts?

Shui Miao’s heart stirred. Scanning the ring with his spiritual sense, he indeed found many giant, bizarre birds inside—resembling ancient winged dragons. He was greatly surprised.

“Great! Everything is ready except the final push. Just get me some crystals, and I can begin forging. The more crystals, the faster I can forge. This forging technique was exclusively created by Immortal Lord Luotong.” Shui Miao was taking this opportunity to enrich himself. Though he called Jiao Gong “brother,” he never truly regarded him as one.

Of course, Shui Miao also knew that Jiao Gong was only using him.

“This…”

At this point, Jiao Gong had already placed full trust in Shui Miao. After a moment’s thought, he asked Shui Miao to wait.

In reality, Jiao Gong had practically no assets left.

After purchasing so many things, he had exhausted all his savings.

His subordinates had also been squeezed dry.

Jiao Gong went outside the main hall and pulled Lian’er aside, “Miss Lian’er, I urgently need a large amount of crystals. May I borrow some from you? Of course, I can use my mansion as collateral. There’s a Huolei Mansion in the Nanshan area of the Immortal Capital—you must know of it, right?”

“I certainly know of the Huolei Mansion!”

Lian’er’s heart stirred, “Mr. Jiao, how about this—I’ll give you all my savings. I don’t want your Huolei Mansion. Since you have good connections, could you help me obtain a high-grade Immortal Mountain Decree instead?”

“An Immortal Mountain Decree!?”

Upon hearing this, Jiao Gong immediately frowned, “That’s a bit difficult, though not impossible. However, a high-grade one is quite challenging to obtain. Also, why do you need an Immortal Mountain Decree? You know, with your identity, it’s extremely difficult for you to obtain one. But if you just want an ordinary one, I can help you get it…”

“No, I only want the best one.” Lian’er was firm, “Mr. Jiao, you know that we Demon Immortals are often looked down upon in the Immortal Realm. I have many sisters who also suffer in the Immortal Realm. We’ve wandered here for years without a home. I really want to establish an immortal sect to gather all my sisters together.”

An Immortal Mountain Decree was a token allowing immortals to purchase a mountain.

In the Immortal Realm, the issuance of Immortal Mountain Decrees was extremely strict.

Generally, Demon Immortals had absolutely no chance of obtaining one.

“This… this…”

Jiao Gong was visibly troubled. Obtaining a high-grade Immortal Mountain Decree was beyond his confidence.

But if he didn’t agree, he had no way to get the crystals he needed, so he was caught in a dilemma.

“My crystals are plenty.”

Seeing Jiao Gong’s hesitation, Lian’er handed her spatial ring to him.

Jiao Gong reached out and was immediately startled—the crystals inside were piled up like small mountains. Instantly, his mind raced—how could she possibly have so many crystals? Even if she worked at the Xiaoyao Palace for ten thousand years, she couldn’t have earned this much! Could she have robbed and killed immortals to get them? If that were the case, he could first accept the crystals, then find evidence of their crimes, report to the authorities, and eliminate them. Problem solved! Even if these crystals were truly earned by her and her sisters, he could just delay things until the Immortal-God War, then eliminate them all!

Jiao Gong’s mind spun with schemes as he quickly devised a plan.

“Fine! I agree!”

Suddenly, Jiao Gong readily accepted, taking the ring to find Shui Miao.

Shui Miao, having obtained what he wanted, immediately entered the Holy Yuan Ring, activated the Time Tower, reversed time, and began heating the artifact-forging furnace. He threw in various forging materials and, under the control of his spiritual energy, started forging the artifact. Shui Miao felt that forging immortal artifacts was both difficult and not difficult. As long as one mastered formations, had strong spiritual energy, and possessed the Purple Fortune Qi, success was assured.

First, Shui Miao forged the rough forms of the Yang Hammer and Yin Nail.

Then, under the influence of spiritual energy and immortal power, he inscribed one formation after another into the forms. Once the design was complete, he directly released the Lei Niao beasts from the Xianyuan Ring and used their blood to quench the artifact. Shui Miao had previously used Evil Dragon blood to quench artifacts and found that the Lei Niao beasts’ blood was significantly inferior.

The cooling process was also very slow, requiring the blood of three Lei Niao beasts to complete the quenching of the Yang Hammer and Yin Nail.

They looked dull and black, without any special luster.

Shui Miao felt a bit uncertain.

But it wasn’t time to take them out yet. Generally, artifacts only revealed their properties when taken outside and exposed to the spiritual energy of the external world.

Now wasn’t the time to take them out, as some forging materials remained.

Shui Miao shifted his thoughts, drew some energy from the Nuwa Stone into the remaining materials, and, using the same Purple Fortune Qi, forged a pair of gloves. These gloves had the exact same structure and formations as the Yang Hammer and Yin Nail. Shui Miao did this mainly to test the difference between artifacts infused with Nuwa Stone energy and those without.

Now, it was time for quenching.

Shui Miao’s mind stirred, and he immediately released four Lei Niao beasts at once.