Sha Yan sighed, "Why not pursue the craft of alchemy and insist on becoming an Artifact Refiner anyway?
In the Cultivation World, Alchemists and Artifact Refiners despised each other.
After finishing their tea, Xu Fan waved goodbye to his beautiful Senior Female Apprentice.
"Freedom is priceless."
While watching his stunning senior sister conjuring a magical artifact in the air, Xu Fan muttered, "No one could endure being stuck at Qi Refining Stage for 150 years."
Back in his room, Xu Fan took out the instructional materials on artifact refining he had purchased, which consisted of more than a hundred jade slips containing Projection Techniques.
Xu Fan picked up the first jade slip, placed it near his forehead, and infused his mental power into it.
In a moment, Xu Fan found himself in a massive refining workshop beside a volcano.
"Refining artifacts involves extracting the essence of myriad materials to create Magical Treasures of Heaven and Earth," said a middle-aged man standing beside the volcano.
"There are three key components to forging a qualified artifact: materials, runes, and arrays."
As the sturdy-looking middle-aged man spoke, he lifted a large piece of Black Iron Ore, suspending it in mid-air.
"At the Qi Refining Stage, you don't have enough power to control the Spiritual Fire required to forge the materials, so you'll need to find a place rich in fire spiritual energy to smelt the ores.", the man explained.
A ball of Spiritual Fire was drawn from the molten lava by the middle-aged man, which enveloped the Black Iron Ore.
As the Spiritual Fire burned, the ore began to soften, and a giant hammer formed from spiritual energy started to pound the ore like a blacksmith would.
"That's the basic process of refining the materials. Even if they've been through an initial processing, we, as Artifact Refiners, must forge them again from scratch."
With every strike, impurities within the ore were gradually filtered out. Within a short time, the Black Iron Ore turned into a black molten metal that floated like liquid in midair.
"Once the materials have been completely forged, it is time for shaping. Details on Artifact Shaping Techniques can be found in the back of the jade slip."
The molten metal in mid-air began to take the shape of a basic longsword under the control of the middle-aged man.
"The next step is to infuse runes into the artifact before it completely solidifies."
"This is also the most crucial part."
As the man explained, he pointed at a brush-like object and drew three runes in the air before fusing them into the sword.
"A basic artifact requires at least three runes."
"The three runes I infused just now are: resilience, armor piercing, and spirit control. As for arrays, you'll learn that later."
"Details on the basic runes can be found in the #11 Jade Slip."
After the longsword had absorbed the three runes, its surface began to shimmer with spiritual light, emitting a sharp aura at the blade and tip.
"Decoration is the final step."
The man explained, sprinkling a handful of silver powder that covered the entire sword. Within a moment, an exquisite artifact longsword came into being.
"This is the process of forging an artifact at the Qi Refining Stage."
Having said that, Xu Fan's surroundings shifted once again, and he found himself in a classroom.
It was the same middle-aged man who held a piece of Black Iron Ore and began to explain, "Now, let me introduce you to more than a thousand types of Spiritual Mines that are commonly found in the Cultivation World."
"As well as their respective characteristics."
Xu Fan felt as if he was back in school.
"It seems like the more I live, the more I'm going backward," Xu Fan grumbled.
As Xu Fan continued to study, his interest in the subject became more and more intense.
Xu Fan decided that he must learn artifact refining quickly since he had a multitude of plans awaiting him in the future.
Three months later, Xu Fan put down the last jade slip in his hand and let out a long sigh.
"Interesting, this is much more interesting than alchemy."
During these three months, Xu Fan binge-read all the artifact refining materials, like an addict in a novel.
Xu Fan stood up and stretched his waist. He felt a bit exhausted from the past three months of hard work, even though he was at the Qi Refining Stage's fourth level.
Walking out of the room, Xu Fan saw the blazing sun shining overhead; it was noon.
"I better take a break and go visit Refining Equipment Peak later."
Just then, Xu Fan's round communication talisman in his hand vibrated. He opened it to see the latest news from Heavenly Gate.
"1. Heavenly Gate will soon open a batch of Qi Refinement Secret Realm, allies are encouraged to seize the opportunity (Secret Realms usually open once every 50 years)."
"2. Murong Qian'er, the number one beauty of our outer sect, became Daoist Couples with a disciple of A-Class Hall recently."
"3. A combined elder from the Illusion Spirit Sect came to visit with their disciples. Our alliance predicts they might be here to rent a warship attached to our Floating Skyship."
"4. This year, the Spirit Pill Hall has recruited far more disciples than previous years. On the contrary, Refining Equipment Peak has recruited only a few. It is predicted that the price of basic magical artifacts for Qi Refining Stage will increase, our alliance brothers should prepare early."
"5. Three days later, Cloud Ascending Peak, possessing the strongest combat power in our sect's Qi Refining Stage, will accept a challenge from the Illusion Spirit Sect. There will be a betting event; don't miss it."
"6. According to insiders, our sect's Floating Skyship returned ahead of schedule the day before yesterday and is suspected to have made a great harvest."
"Trading Area: Looking to buy Medium-grade Spirit Quickening Pill, 1 bottle for 1,500 Spirit Stones. Hoping alliance brothers can sacrifice."
"Seeking advice from brothers who have learned advanced Spiritual Rain Technique, offering 200 Spirit Stones."
"Looking for Spirit Snake Grass, 1,000 Spirit Stones."
"Looking to buy unused Foundation Establishment Pill, negotiate in person."
"Personal messages: Zhao Shiyuan: Alchemist seniors in the alliance, I have 20 sets of Speed Spirit Pill materials. I only want one medium-grade Speed Spirit Pill or one high-quality Quick Spirit Pill."
"Li Shihu: Looking for a high-quality Forging Body Pill."
Xu Fan looked at the news on the communication talisman, and slowly started to smile. This was one of the great joys after joining the alliance's artifact that Pang Fu established - like reading push notifications in his past life.
"Interesting, I wonder if Murong Qian'er's Dao companion is that kid Yu Lun."
As Xu Fan mentioned Wang Yulun, the door's restriction bell rang.
The restriction lifted, and Wang Yulun entered the room with a delicately-featured young girl.
The young girl was wearing a pale blue-long skirt, with waist-length hair that showed off her youthful charm. She leaned on Wang Yulun's arm with a happy expression on her face.
"Yu Lun, is this Senior Brother Xu really as amazing as you said?" The young girl asked curiously, as she couldn't imagine that there could be a cultivator in the outer sect who was more powerful than her lover.
"Of course, all my achievements today are thanks to my Brother Xu." Wang Yulun said with admiration. Even if he had entered A-Class Hall now, he probably wouldn't last even a quarter of an hour if he fought against Xu Fan.
"Qian'er, be polite when you meet Brother Xu later. He might be able to help you with your matter with just a lift of his hand." Wang Yulun said with a slightly serious tone.
"Alright," Murong Qian'er obediently replied.
"I still think that my Sister Sha is more beautiful. The disciples from the outer sect are too young; they don't understand the beauty of maturity." Xu Fan withdrew his gaze from the window and walked towards the door.
Since there were new guests, he needed to greet them personally.
"Brother Xu, how have you been progressing in the Refining Way lately?" Wang Yulun asked with a smile.
"Greetings, Brother Xu." Murong Qian'er greeted, displaying excellent manners.
"Hello, if I'm not mistaken, you must be the number one beauty of the outer sect, Murong Qian'er," Xu Fan said kindly.
"Brother Xu, you already know?" Wang Yulun looked at Xu Fan with astonishment.