Secret Records of the Leader of the Beichen Sword Sect
Chapter 138 - 137: Artifact Refining Magic

Chapter 138: Chapter 137: Artifact Refining Magic

To be honest, with that recent battle against those nine freaks, Tie Dan really suffered quite a loss. You could say that apart from the thrill of the kill, he gained absolutely nothing. Oh, well, not absolutely nothing; he’s got this flute, at least.

Although it’s only on temporary loan from the Liu Family and he’ll have to return it eventually, and Tie Dan knows nothing about music anyway. He certainly doesn’t have enough Primordial Spirit to wield it effectively to show even half of its power.

But no matter what, this is a First-grade treasure of the Divinity Transformation kind.

Just like with the Three Leopards earlier; if he had used a saber to slash or a bow to shoot, who knows how many more rounds it would have taken, and what a sorry state he’d be in before winning.

But with this Divine Flute in hand, even if it only causes minimal damage, used like a stick to poke people, it can still land critical hits, breaking defenses every time. Forget about those Nascent Soul kings; even Divinity Transformation demons would be gutted, their brains spilling out, dying horribly!

Packed with attributes off the charts! This is what you call a Divine Weapon!

Of course, the limitations are clear. With Tie Dan’s current level of power unrecovered, using this thing to poke is really no different from poking with his bare hand. He must avoid direct confrontations with those demons and monsters whose cultivation levels are far above his, and can only rely on sharp swordsmanship to win with skill.

And the most crucial issue is that a certain Lord won’t let him use it that way...

"Clean it! There’s still bits of flesh inside!"

Lord Xiao was furious. He actually stopped Tie Dan from leaving.

Tie Dan was speechless, reluctantly grabbing a handful of snow to wipe the flute clean inside and out.

"Has no one ever used you as a sword before? You actually fit pretty nicely."

Lord Xiao was enraged,

"Vulgar! Vulgar! I play a tune so mournful it breaks hearts! The skies devoid of birds! In my music’s realm, you are invincible! Why risk it with blood and danger? With all this mess, the notes go off! I need to retune it! Annoying!"

Lord Xiao muttered angrily, babbling nonstop, leaving Tie Dan helpless.

That’s why he doesn’t want those magic treasures with grown Artifact Spirits, each acting ancient and long-winded, always picking on this or that, it’s truly a headache...

Anyway, after cleaning the blood off the flute, in this icy land, Tie Dan certainly wouldn’t waste the precious materials nature bestowed upon him, and cleaned up the battlefield.

He pulled out his dagger, skinned the snow leopard pelt to keep, ate the raw flesh with snow, swallowed three Demon Cores, significantly restoring some power, and even rifled through that senior brother’s gear, trying on his snow leopard skin cloak.

Hmm, this vestment robe isn’t bad, keeps the cold out and resists the invasion of Xuanming True Qi. Earlier those senior brother and sister schemers had similar costumes, indicating they were sect-made Magic Artifacts.

And from the gnawed, crushed bones of the massacred corpse brother, Tie Dan found a gold medal inscribed with ’Something Snow Mountain Palace’. He had a sense of things.

Although not a rule, generally Ancient Daoists called themselves something Dao, and now the Mystic Sect is dominated by hidden cultivation sects named something Mountain. Of course, there are also something sect or something faction names.

As for those called something Palace, they’re generally those mingling with the secular officialdom, receiving investiture from the Demon Palace, under the command of the Three Constellations, having official positions, a cave dwelling, and Tribute.

In this icy place, many forces call themselves Snow Mountain Palace, Tie Dan recalled. Perhaps the strongest is the sect of Kan Country’s Tribute, with a Divinity Transformation Ancestor holding its fortune. In the north, they’re slightly renowned, but not worth mentioning across the world.

Tie Dan didn’t focus much on such random small events, thinking it was just the play of Immortal Fate, gifting him three Demon Cores for some Blood Qi, so he continued toward the mountain while cultivating the "Xuanming Xuanji Ice Qi".

Hmm, having reached the Snowy Yin Mountain and Spirit Core Earth Veins, the harsher the cold with icy winds whistling, the more effective cultivating this Ice Qi becomes.

Though slightly less damaging than sword energy, relying on consistent damage, after all, this is his home ground. With enhanced combat power, he trained a bit, filling all his meridians and Qi acupoints, recovering Qi Power to prepare for unforeseeable events.

"Eh? You refine Qi quite swiftly, don’t you? Weren’t you supposed to have the Divine Sword Bone, yet even know the Xuanming Path so well?"

Lord Xiao started babbling again.

Tie Dan couldn’t be bothered with him, why should he? Was he supposed to share the secret of his training in the Three-Turbo Divine Skill, having opened all the proper meridians and Qi Circulation, how if they’re not opened, they would burst? Thus allowing him to refine all forms of Qi?

Then Kun gave Lord Xiao a look.

Lord Xiao hissed, "This skill actually exists!?"

Tie Dan silently watched Kun.

Kun gave him a ’bro, I’ve got your back, trust me’ look.

Lord Xiao pondered for a moment, addressing Kun,

"Indeed, as stated, this skill is truly sharp, worth a look. I should offer something equivalent in exchange with you, Lord."

Tie Dan frowned,

"What do you call Kun?"

Lord Xiao said,

"This is the projection of the Outer Heaven Void Swallowing Star Lord in the three-dimensional world. Because its main body is far away, it looks so small. You shouldn’t call it by name directly, or it would be unhappy."

Kun snorted contentedly.

Tie Dan, "..."

Then Lord Xiao flipped his hand and produced a book,

"This piece contains my and Jingtian’s dual cultivation insights into Artifact Refining, carefully pondered. I’ll read it to you; how much you can learn depends on your Immortal Fate. Are you ready?"

Kun winked at Tie Dan, indicating ’bro, I’m good to you, right?’

Tie Dan, "... go ahead and read."

Immortal Fate is something unpredictable; you can’t always wait until you’re ready for it to descend. At least Tie Dan had received the Mystic Sect Daoist Sutra before, though he wouldn’t claim to have grasped the basics, most terminologies were comprehensible enough, not like hearing the Heavenly Book.

So Lord Xiao began reading like an old gentleman, bobbing his head.

And Tie Dan, breathing in sync, refined Qi climbing the mountain, amidst the biting cold winds, listening to the fate-touched Dao from Mingming.

The path of refining and creating treasures initially was inherited from the Immortal Palace via the Demon Clan, but truly flourished under the Mystic Sect.

The most significant technical breakthrough undoubtedly involved the emergence of Artifact Spirits.

A simple Magic Artifact is just a tool, but with intelligence and Spiritual Sense, it can act independently, cultivate and improve, ultimately becoming powerful like Lord Xiao, to crush Divinity Transformation demons into dust, safeguarding a sect’s fortune for millennia in peaceful rule.

However, what exactly is an Artifact Spirit? This secret is closely guarded even by the Mystic Sect.

According to Lord Xiao, initially, the Mystic Sect predecessors merely replicated the treasures’ inscriptions, captured from Immortal Palace ships, copying Imperial Bureau Divine Weapon blueprints.

Some Mechanical Soldiers could move autonomously per instructions, so those Artifact Refining Masters followed suit, transcribing the Mechanical Soldiers’ talisman inscriptions, reducing them to fit on Magic Artifacts. This was merely conventional cultivation style practice.

Until one day, an Artifact Refining Master visited Xuan Nu Temple seeking enlightenment from the Heavenly Book, only to find that Xuan Nu’s mysterious yet impenetrable Qi Refining Diagram closely resembled the treasure inscriptions lines.

Motivated by curiosity, that master mimicked Xuan Nu’s Scripture, crafting a Magic Artifact.

Who knew that Magic Artifact would produce an Artifact Spirit?

Tie Dan’s gaze sharpened.

Wait a minute, what’s that supposed to mean...

Lord Xiao, aware of Tie Dan gleaning his meaning, nodded,

"Indeed, initially the masters weren’t sure; they suspected possession or demonic trickery, but upon closer inspection, it wasn’t so. It indeed stemmed from the Xuan Nu’s Talisman core, capable of washing with Daoist energy, coalescing True Power, Golden Core forming, evolving consistently, even achieving Spiritual Wisdom."

So later, the Mystic Sect raided the Three Constellations several times, inspected Ancient Immortal Palace and Ancient Demon Clan artifacts, compared them to the Xuan Nu Talisman, finding similar methods yet with key points soldered shut to thwart further evolution, as if knowing what the next steps entailed...

Whereas the Xuan Nu Talisman had no such limit, its core design was to evolve boundlessly, ultimately breaking barriers to the state of innate knowledge, wisdom, and spirit."

Tie Dan stared at him,

"Are you telling me that Xuan Nu is an Artifact Spirit??"

"I didn’t say that."

Lord Xiao pointed at Kun,

"The Lord said it."

Kun nodded its Kun head, officially confirming, as Kun said.