Chapter 39: Black Iron Sword
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"In refining, every part of the alchemist's mind and strength must be used at the most crucial point. Therefore, the selection and activation of arrays is a very important step. A good alchemist must also be a master of the array. The fact that Yang Di was able to construct this array formation here proves that his achievements in array far exceed yours."
As he was explaining, the raw materials were thrown one by one into the true fire in the void and began to be calcined. His divine sense was doing two things at the same time, controlling the fire on both sides and the refining degree of various materials.
"Yun...Young Master Yun...God! You are a god!"
Jia Rong was trembling as he watched. "Didn't you say every part of the alchemist's mind is very important? Then why can you still talk to us while refining? This..."
Yunxiao's face darkened as he said angrily, "Fool! Do you think I want to talk? I did this because I'm worried that you idiots won't understand! Fine, I'll stop talking now. Watch and learn yourself."
Jia Rong suddenly felt a chill, which made him suck in a cold breath. Right then, he immediately saw two murderous glances fall on his face. Zhang Qingfan and Xu Han were staring at him with their bloodshot eyes like two wild beasts on the verge of going berserk. The anger on their faces could almost crush him, and their ferocious eyes seemed ready to devour him alive!
Plop!
Terrified, his legs gave up under him and he fell to the ground, covering his mouth and hating himself for saying the wrong thing.
"No, no, Young Master Yun, I was wrong..."
"Hmph!"
Yunxiao snorted coldly and ignored him, instead devoting himself wholeheartedly to refining. With his current soul power, it was indeed very difficult to refine three things at the same time. Fortunately, his physical strength was extremely tough, and he could rely on strong techniques and skills to make up for the lack of soul power.
In fact, this also surprised him a lot. The strength of the body had a much stronger auxiliary effect on refining than he had expected.
Yunxiao's entire set of movements was natural and smooth like floating clouds and flowing water, giving people a sense of extreme aesthetic. The hearts of all three were filled with great shock. "I had no idea that refining could be so artistic..."
As time went by, the movements of his body gradually slowed down, but the speed of his hands performing incantation gestures increased. All of a sudden, a flash of light burst out of his eyes as he said coldly, "Now, it is enough to stabilize the true fire of the cauldron in a certain range, because the pills are in the stage of taking their shape. Next, you will focus on how I refine the mystic weapon!"
His hands were constantly performing various complicated incantation gestures. Under the control of his palms, streams of true fire spat out of the array at the mystic weapon and the cauldron like flaming dragons. It was especially the case on the right side of the array, where the flames wrapped up a brilliant mass of liquid about the size of a football that was suspended in mid-air.
There was a constant sizzling sound coming from the mass of liquid. All three of them knew it was caused by the burning of the impurities. Yunxiao's meticulous control of rhythm and movements had completely captured the eyes of the three; his every move was like a wonderful art, shocking people's hearts.
Before long, the impurities in the mass of liquid seemed to have been almost completely burned off and the sizzling sound became fainter and fainter. Black lines began to flow on the surface of the spherical liquid, and slowly grew larger until the whole thing was completely turned into a mass of ink, constantly changing its form in the void.
"This is...the original state of refined iron!" Zhang Qingfan's pupils constricted rapidly, and he could not help but shout out loud. He realized at once that he had lost his composure and hastily covered his mouth with one hand, but the horror in his eyes could not be concealed.
When the other two heard what he said, their bodies trembled as they stared at the ever-changing mass of ink in the air with disbelief. But, they found it was flowing slower and slower, as if it were about to coagulate.
"A first-tier alchemist should use first-grade materials, so that you can deepen your understanding of the structure of various materials. Even if it is just ordinary refined iron, you can use it to craft a mystic weapon when you can extract its original state!" Yunxiao explained coldly.
He did not dare to talk much now, and his face began to look pale. The exhaustion of his body and spirit was extremely huge! He took out a piece of purple ore and threw it directly into the mass of ink. It was the Purple Sun Stone he had taken away from Meng Bai.
After the piece of Purple Sun Stone was thrown in, a sizzling sound was once again heard coming from the mass of liquid. Soon, clouds of purple mist rose rapidly from it and immediately filled the entire alchemy room. However, all three were alchemists who had strong soul power, so this fog barrier could not affect their eyesight. They opened their eyes wide and stared at the mass of refined iron in its origin state.
Except for Jia Rong, Zhang Qingfan and Xu Han could clearly see the situation of the Purple Sun Stone in the mass of refined iron. Seeing that the mass of liquid was gradually shaping, its surface no longer flowing but gradually coagulating, they could not help but begin to tense up. Their palms and clothes were already wet with cold sweat, and they felt even more tired than when they were refining themselves.
Yunxiao gave his whole attention to the refining process. Soon, he took a deep breath and exhaled a mouthful of filthy air in his body, then shouted, "Condense!"
Primordial Qi burst forth from his hands as the frequency of his palms performing incantation gestures increased several times in an instant. Numerous hand seals seemed to be thrown out by him at the same time into the refined iron as the black mass of liquid began to spin rapidly in the air and gradually lengthened to form the appearance of a heavy sword.
"HA!"
He let out a loud cry, pounding his five fingers like claws at the sword.
Bam!
The sword produced a rumbling noise as it was knocked flying out of the array and inserted slantingly on the wall with a clang. The mystic weapon was black like an iron bar, and it did not have sharp edges!
Just when the three were startled, Yunxiao moved again, striking his palms over and over again on the cauldron.
Bam!
Bam!
Bam!
...
The sound of banging rang endlessly. Under the strong impacts, the cauldron began to shake and then tremble violently while the cover was constantly hitting the body, making a lot of noise.
Bam!
Finally, Yunxiao thrust both palms together and slapped on the cauldron. With a loud rumble, the cover of the cauldron was instantly shattered and sent flying all over the place.
A plume of dense smoke rose from the cauldron. The three men took a deep breath and immediately felt their minds become clear and refreshed. The fatigue caused by nervousness during the whole process of watching was swept away in an instant.
"Phew!"
Yunxiao breathed a sigh of relief. He looked weary as if all his strength was exhausted, and his face was ghastly pale.
Jia Rong was the first to react. He hurried over and held Yunxiao, then took out a pill bottle and passed to him. "Young Master Yun, slow down, slow down!"
Yunxiao took the bottle and pulled out the stopper, then gave it a sniff before throwing it away over his shoulder. He frowned and said, "Is this something humans can eat? Soul Nourishing Pills of this low purity is better to feed the animals with!"
Jia Rong looked at the broken pills on the floor with a sad face, thinking of killing himself. A kind of second-grade medicine, these Soul Nourishing Pills were the alchemists' favorite treasure. He had paid a high price for them, each costing at least a thousand gold coins. But, Yunxiao had thrown them away as rubbish.
"Master Yunxiao, I have high-purity pills!" Zhang Qingfan quickly dug out a lot of pills and handed them over with both hands. His humility was similar to that of those apprentice alchemists outside.
Xu Han also trotted over and quickly produced all the good stuff on him. "I have something too! This is the boundless spirit fruit that can restore Primordial Qi, the flower of the thorn apple that can nourish the soul, and white crane magic pill that can make one get high..." He began to recommend them one by one, as he worried that Yunxiao would not give him face and refuse to eat his pills.
"White crane magic pill? Isn't this an aphrodisiac?" Yunxiao frowned and asked.
"Ah?" Xu Han paused, his old face flushed red. He said awkwardly, "Well, ahem...This is for old Zhang."
Zhang Qingfan's face turned livid instantly as he shouted in a fit of rage, "Xu Han, you better make it clear to me, which old Zhang are you referring to?"
"I'll take this one, the rest are all rubbish. I'll recover faster with a few minutes of meditation than taking them." Under the stunned gaze of the three men, Yunxiao picked up the magic pill, then threw it into his mouth and swallowed it.
"This..." Jia Rong's forehead broke out in a cold sweat. "Young Master Yun, what you just took is a second-grade aphrodisiac! Are you alright..."
Xu Han's face fell as he said hastily, "Help Master Yunxiao to my room quickly. Jia Rong, call all the waitresses in the association to my room and let Master Yunxiao choose!"
Yunxiao's forehead was covered in cold sweat. "This... maybe next time, let's leave the chance for the next time. I've just exhausted my energy and I'm a little weak..."
With his eyes widened, Jia Rong suddenly said, "I get it! It turns out that Young Master Yun has a different taste! I'll call all the waiters immediately!"
Yunxiao gave him a hard slap on the head. "A white crane magic pill is made of the crane snake grass, which is a third-grade supplement. The faint drug effect that fills one's mind with lustful desires is nothing to me!"
He took a deep breath and began rotating the One Qi of Destiny, absorbing the power in the pill.
All three were in a cold sweat, but none dared to disturb him. Instead, they sat around him, recovering their strength while recalling the process of his refining. The impact of his refining on the three of them was undoubtedly subversive. They all seemed to be still in dreams, a little incredulous at what they had witnessed just now.
Just like that, the whole refining room on the fifth floor of the association fell into silence, with only a faint fragrance that wafted out of the cauldron from time to time, and a black iron sword that was inserted slantingly in the wall, waiting for its master.
"Phew!"
After some time, Yunxiao breathed out a long sigh, and his withered skin finally regained some luster. "At last," he lamented, "only one-third of my soul power has been restored. This kind of refining takes too much energy."
Zhang Qingfan and the other two opened their eyes at the same time. "Young Master Yun, one-third of your soul power has been restored!" Jia Rong said in horror.
"Yes. What's so strange about that? I only have the soul power of a first-tier alchemist, and it is normal to recover faster than you."
"But...don't you think it is too fast? My soul power is also at the first-tier, but whenever I finish refining, it would take at least seven days for me to fully recover!"
"What kind of rubbish are you, trying to compare with me?" Yunxiao gave Jia Rong a sharp stare, which scared the latter into bowing his head and not daring to speak a word.
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