Junior sister, I really need to control you

Mu Xiaoyu, who was sitting next to him eating snacks, stopped what she was doing, stared blankly at her senior brother, and mechanically chewed the snack in her mouth.

I'll do it myself? Do what? Senior brother, you don't mean you want me to forge magical artifacts myself, do you?!

Master Kunjun stroked his beard and said, "That's right. Since only young friend Mu can sense and control this black stone, the only way is to let her learn the art of weapon crafting. After she has mastered it, she can craft it herself."

Mu Xiaoyu froze as she chewed her snack, staring wide-eyed at Kunjun Zhenren.

What are you saying, old man? Do you know how busy I am every day? How could I possibly have time to learn weapon crafting?

You're so old, your hair and beard are all white, how can you speak so rudely!

“Although it is a solution…” Li Yinsheng hesitated greatly, “the art of weapon crafting is profound and requires a great deal of energy. Is it not worth it to learn weapon crafting just to refine this black stone?”

Mu Xiaoyu nodded frantically to the side.

Yes, yes, yes! Senior brother, you're absolutely right!

It's just not worth it! Absolutely not worth it!

“What Fellow Daoist Li says makes sense,” Master Kunjun nodded.

"The art of refining weapons is extremely difficult. The first step alone, which involves repeatedly refining and purifying materials with one's own true fire and divine sense, is already very arduous. The hardships involved are beyond what outsiders can understand."

"However, it is precisely because the practice is difficult that weapon refiners are treated with great respect. It can be said that every bit of hard work brings a corresponding reward."

"Moreover, if weapon crafting is a secondary cultivation, it won't be extremely energy-consuming. Whether or not to have Mu Xiaoyu assist in weapon crafting is up to Fellow Daoist Li to decide..."

Li Yinsheng didn't pay attention to the second half of Kunjun Zhenren's sentence. When Kunjun Zhenren said, "The weapon refiner is quite well treated," he heard the familiar sound of a great bell.

The golden characters for "Cave Heaven" then appeared before their eyes.

[Cultivation Ambition: The Lord of the Grotto-Heaven has entered the right track of cultivation, and it is time to supplement his cultivation with artifacts and expand his methods!]

The Lord of the Grotto-Heaven has already come into contact with the Way of Weapon Forging. Please improve your weapon forging skills as much as possible within ten years, forge higher and higher grade magical artifacts, and become a weapon forging master as soon as possible!

This cultivation journey will last for ten years, and the types of magical artifacts to be crafted are not limited. The entire crafting process must be completed by the master of the cave alone.

Directly transforming naturally occurring spiritual objects or similar items into magical treasures is not considered part of the cultivation outcome.

Refining a semi-finished magical artifact or treasure into a complete magical artifact or treasure is not counted as a result of one's cultivation aspirations.

The creation of magical artifacts whose value is lower than that of the materials themselves is not counted as a result of one's cultivation aspirations.

Cultivation Rewards:

For crafting a substandard magical artifact, the reward is ten years of cultivation.

For successfully crafting a low-grade magic weapon, one will be rewarded with twenty years of cultivation.

Forty years of cultivation will be awarded for successfully crafting a mid-grade magic weapon.

The reward for crafting a superior-grade magic weapon is eighty years of cultivation.

One hundred and twenty years of cultivation will be rewarded for successfully refining a quasi-magical treasure.

[Reward for crafting a magical artifact: 200 years of cultivation]

Li Yinsheng's heart stirred slightly.

This was the most rewarding reward he had ever seen for his dedication to spiritual practice.

The final reward alone is worth two hundred years, the same as the reward for obtaining the Life-Giving and Creation Pill to help my master uncle break through and rebuild his cultivation.

However, the reward for that cultivation ambition is capped at two hundred years of cultivation, and the final tier of this light also requires two hundred years of cultivation.

If you include all the previous levels, that's a total of 470 years of cultivation!

Li Yinsheng's current cultivation level is only a little over three hundred years, and the cultivation level he received as a reward is 50% higher than his total cultivation level!

However, after glancing at the requirements for cultivation, he felt that the reward was reasonable.

The highest level of crafting a magical artifact within ten years is a task that is simply not designed for humans.

Although he didn't know how to refine artifacts, magic weapons are something that only real people can use. If you want to refine them, you should also be a real person, right?

Even if someone's weapon crafting skills are exceptionally high and can compensate for a lack of cultivation, their minimum cultivation level shouldn't be much lower than that of a True Person, right?

This final level is probably more difficult than simply making someone cultivate to become a true immortal within ten years.

As for the slightly less powerful quasi-magic weapons, although he had never heard of them, their meaning was not difficult to understand.

It's estimated that the cultivation level required will be quite high.

Moreover, cultivation level is only a basic requirement; the corresponding skill in weapon crafting is even more difficult to improve.

If you want to improve your cultivation level quickly, you can rely on rare and precious materials. But how can you quickly improve your weapon crafting skills?

Moreover, the last few requirements of this cultivation will completely block any shortcuts or tricks.

If she has to forge it herself, then she can't ask a master craftsman to "co-forge" it with her junior sister.

It also cannot be directly transformed using naturally occurring spiritual objects, just like he forged the Azure Sword.

The last rule, in particular, that one cannot forge magical artifacts whose value is lower than the cost of the materials, is especially malicious.

In this way, Li Yinsheng couldn't just take a bunch of materials for high-grade magic weapons and let his junior sister forge a mid-grade magic weapon first, so she could make do and claim the reward.

Such rigorous training deserves so many rewards.

Li Yinsheng pondered for a few moments, then came to his senses, dismissed the golden characters in front of him, and looked at Mu Xiaoyu, who had been nodding at him.

“Junior Sister has been nodding, it seems she is quite interested in weapon crafting,” Li Yinsheng suggested, “Why don’t we give it a try?”

Mu Xiaoyu, who was nodding, still had some snacks in her mouth, and nearly choked to death when she heard Li Yinsheng's words.

Her face was flushed, and she stared blankly at Li Yinsheng.

Senior brother, you weren't like this just now!

“Alright, since Fellow Daoist Li and Young Friend Mu are both interested, I happen to have a few books on the basics of weapon crafting, so I’ll give them to Fellow Daoist Li.”

Master Kunjun laughed heartily and handed several books to Li Yinsheng.

"Furthermore, both repairing the White Rainbow Sword and forging the Vein-Forging Rope will take some time."

"I would like to invite Fellow Daoist Li and Fellow Daoist Linghuang to stay at the temple for a few days. During this time, I can also arrange for a suitable junior to personally teach Young Friend Mu and help her get started in the art of weapon crafting."

The third True Person, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up, looking at True Person Zhao Xuan.

"Junior brother, is there a junior in your lineage who is quite skilled in weapon crafting and is currently in charge of the Fire Cloud Hall?"

"That's right. I have a grandniece who is not yet fifty years old, but she can already refining high-grade magic weapons steadily, two years earlier than I was at that age."

Master Zhaoxuan laughed and said, "If I didn't want her to be distracted, I would have appointed her as the abbess. Why keep her only in the Fire Cloud Hall?"

"It's right that you didn't become the abbot. You've achieved such skill at such a young age. If you cultivate diligently and refine your weapons well, you might even become a True Person in the future."

Master Kunjun nodded and said, "Junior brother, have that girl put aside what she's doing and personally guide young friend Mu in the basics of weapon crafting."

"Alright, Senior Brother, I'll have someone arrange it right away!" Master Zhaoxuan clapped his hands, and a red light flashed out.

A moment later he said, "It's done. I've already sent that girl to wait in front of Fellow Daoist Li's room."

"Thank you very much, fellow Daoists." Li Yinsheng bowed and expressed his gratitude.

"Haha, Fellow Daoist Li, you're too kind."

"It's just a small favor, a small favor..."

The three masters from the Casting Furnace Temple waved their hands, indicating that there was no need to be polite. For a time, the three of them chatted happily with Li Yinsheng.

Mu Xiaoyu, sitting in the corner, stared wide-eyed at the four people enjoying themselves.

Has any of you ever cared about me?

"Sigh, little girl, you're going to help with weapon crafting again."

A slender, snow-white hand landed on Mu Xiaoyu's head, seemingly to comfort her.

Mu Xiaoyu looked at Shangguan Ling'er, who had spoken up for her, with gratitude.

So there are still people who care about me!

“With such poor talent, and now you’re even having to cultivate artifacts, it’s probably going to be difficult for you to achieve anything. Just treat it as something to do for fun…” Shangguan Ling’er shook her head and said.

Mu Xiaoyu: ……

Chapter 93 Forging the Pulse Cord, True Person Breakthrough

Five days passed in the blink of an eye.

Li Yinsheng, along with Mu Xiaoyu and Shangguan Ling'er, settled down at the Casting Furnace Temple.

The three of them lived in adjacent courtyards. Every day, after Zhao Xuan Zhenren's niece came to find Li Yinsheng, she would go to the neighboring courtyard to teach Mu Xiaoyu how to refine weapons.

With nothing else to do, Li Yinsheng simply went over to eavesdrop every day.

Then Shangguan Ling'er seemed to enjoy joining in the fun, and starting from the second day, she also listened in.

After listening to lectures for several days, Li Yinsheng gained a basic understanding of weapon crafting.

There are three most important factors when it comes to weapon crafting.

The first one is naturally magic power and divine consciousness.

The second is one's own skill and expertise in weapon crafting. Knowledge can be learned, but skills can almost only be acquired through years of practice.

As for the third one, it didn't surprise Li Yinsheng.

There needs to be a fire technique suitable for crafting weapons.

Whether it's alchemy or weapon crafting, fire is indispensable, but the types of fire required for each are different.

Alchemy focuses more on the ease of controlling the flame, while weapon crafting emphasizes the power of the flame.

After all, compared to alchemists who mainly refine herbs and spiritual plants, weapon refiners have to deal with various ores and metals, or the skeletons of monsters and beasts, none of which are easy to refine.

The greater the power of the flames, the more impurities can be removed, allowing for the reforging of materials and facilitating subsequent solidification and the creation of enchantments.

The female deacon who taught Mu Xiaoyu was authorized by Master Zhaoxuan and directly taught her a fire technique that was said to be quite good within the Casting Furnace Temple. Li Yinsheng also learned it.

This technique is nothing fancy; its main feature is its great power.

At least Li Yinsheng felt that this thing was much more powerful than his own Burning Wind Technique.

Shangguan Ling'er, who specializes in the Five Elements, naturally had no interest in this level of fire magic.