To comprehend all laws and attain immortality

Lingxiao Sect, outside Dan Ding Peak.

After Gu Fan and Meng Wei left Dan Ding Peak, they went their separate ways.

Meng Wei said he was going to the Cloud Mist Sea to search for the Shell King's whereabouts and was determined to obtain the shell pearl.

Gu Fan originally wanted him to take him to Chen Suzhen's cave to congratulate her on her successful Foundation Establishment, but he learned that Chen Suzhen was in seclusion to consolidate her realm after successfully establishing her Foundation Establishment and would not come out for a while.

After reaching the Foundation Establishment stage and entering the inner sect, the sect will assign a separate cave with richer spiritual energy, and you will no longer cultivate on Lingxi Peak.

The matter had to be dropped.

Gu Fan did not return to Lingxi Peak, but instead piloted the white jade boat towards Shenji Peak.

Shenji Peak is the place within the Lingxiao Sect responsible for forging magical artifacts.

Like Dan Ding Peak, Shen Ji Peak also introduced Earth Flame, which is of great benefit to cultivators with fire-type spiritual roots.

The white jade boat landed at the foot of Shenji Peak. A stone building came into view, as if it were carved from a single giant rock, with the three large characters "Tiangong Pavilion" engraved on the top.

As Gu Fan stepped inside, the first thing he saw was a plump, middle-aged cultivator who stood out from the others in the Heavenly Craft Pavilion.

The middle-aged cultivator was wearing the same red Taoist robe as Gu Fan, and with his round figure, he looked just like a tomato.

"My name is Tang Yuan. This junior brother is a new face. May I ask your name? Are you here to exchange for a magic weapon?" The middle-aged cultivator greeted him first, his small eyes narrowed into slits as he asked with a smile.

"My name is Gu Fan. I greet you, Senior Brother." Gu Fan first bowed and then asked, "I am not here to exchange for magical artifacts, but to inquire whether this place teaches the art of artifact crafting, and whether there are any sect chores I can do."

Upon hearing that Gu Fan wasn't there to exchange for magical artifacts, Tang Yuan's smile faded slightly. After sizing him up, he asked, "May I ask which peak you cultivate on, Junior Brother?"

"I am a disciple of Lingxi Peak," Gu Fan answered truthfully.

Tang Yuan's smile vanished, and he said coldly, "Only one inner sect master uncle comes to teach each month. The next teaching session won't be until ten days later. There are some miscellaneous tasks, though. Would you like to do them, junior brother?"

Although Gu Fan sensed Tang Yuan's coldness, he didn't pay it any mind and asked, "What kind of chores are they?"

"Since you're interested, junior brother, why don't you come and take a look?"

After speaking, Tang Yuan walked out from behind the counter, reached out and touched the wall, and a large hole appeared in the wall.

Tang Yuan went in first and beckoned Gu Fan to follow.

After Gu Fan entered the cave, there were steps leading down to the bottom of the mountain.

Tang Yuan's round body completely obscured his feet, and as he walked on the steps, Gu Fan worried that he might slip and roll down.

After walking for a while, Gu Fan felt a scorching heat and heard a tinkling sound in his ears.

Until we turned the last bend, the view suddenly opened up, revealing a plaza nestled beneath the mountain.

The plaza was divided into many squares of varying sizes, each containing a stone platform and a dragon head statue. A dozen or so monks were swinging hammers, striking metal ingots on the stone platforms.

The entire square echoed with the sound of hammering, resembling a huge blacksmith's workshop.

Some even went so far as to bare their arms, letting sweat stream down their backs, showing no trace of the demeanor of cultivators.

Tang Yuan turned around and introduced, "This is what I meant by miscellaneous tasks."

"Ordinary ores, even after being refined by the earth's flames, still contain a large number of impurities. Only after initial forging to remove these impurities can they become usable spirit iron."

"Control the earth's flames to smelt iron ore, then forge it to remove impurities. For every 100 pieces of spirit iron successfully forged, one merit point will be awarded."

"Compared to hunting demonic beasts, it is a bit slower, but it is more stable, and it can also be used as an opportunity to become familiar with various spiritual materials."

"Oh, right!" Tang Yuan said, a smile returning to his round face. He asked, "Forging spirit iron requires the art of fire control. If you don't know it, Junior Brother, I can exchange for it here. It only costs six merit points. If you don't have enough merit points, you can get an advance and repay it later when you forge spirit iron."

Gu Fan narrowed his eyes upon hearing this.

If he hadn't exchanged his merit points for the Flame Spirit Technique, but instead used them to buy pills, he would have had to borrow money, and the extra merit point he spent would have been the profit from it.

"Thank you for your kindness, Senior Brother, but I have already exchanged for the Fire Control Technique at Wendao Peak," Gu Fan replied indifferently.

Tang Yuan resumed his indifferent expression and gave a light snort: "So this is the chores. Junior Brother, would you like to do them?"

Gu Fan frowned and said, "I've heard that refining magical artifacts requires inscribing a restriction. I wonder what kind of restriction it is? Senior Brother, could you show me?"

Tang Yuan was taken aback, his face darkened, and he shook his head, saying, "That's not within my scope of responsibility."

Gu Fan fell silent, pondered for a moment, then reached into his storage bag and found a spirit stone in his hand. He handed it to Gu Fan with a smile, hiding it behind his sleeve, and said, "Please give me some pointers, Senior Brother."

Tang Yuan's face immediately lit up with a smile. He subtly took the spirit stone and stuffed it into his sleeve, saying with a grin, "Junior Brother's eyesight is truly excellent. It is indeed a top-quality seed for refining weapons. The restriction is indeed there, but it is not here. Junior Brother, please follow me."

After saying that, Tang Yuan led Gu Fan through a passageway to a quiet room.

After entering the quiet room, Tang Yuan took out a red jade slip and handed it to Gu Fan.

"Junior brother, take a look. This jade slip contains the simplest restriction. The flying sword you received when you entered the sect contains this restriction."

Gu Fan took the jade slip and pressed it to his forehead to examine it.

The jade slip contained symbols he had never seen before, connected by lines to form a circle.

Gu Fan's heart stirred, and he concentrated and activated his Myriad Manifestations Dharma Eye.

To his great surprise, the runes in the jade slip emitted a brilliant light, and a large number of useless lines were removed, leaving only the three most essential runes, which guided the spiritual energy to slowly rotate among them.

Gu Fan suppressed his joy and looked up to ask, "I don't see any Daoist script drawn on it. How can I decipher this restriction?"

Tang Yuan slowly put the jade slip away and smiled, "These are runes. They are different from Daoist script. They are not used to convey the true meaning of Daoist techniques, but are engraved inside magical artifacts so that cultivators can control the artifacts and unleash their power."

"To comprehend the restrictions, one must learn runes. Writing runes on talisman paper creates a spirit talisman. Junior brother, you can think of spirit talismans as limited magical artifacts. There is also a method to seal the power of magical treasures on talisman paper. The finished product is called a talisman treasure."

"The inheritance of talismanic arts can only be obtained by exchanging it at Wendao Peak, Junior Brother. I don't have it here, and no one in the sect teaches it either. In fact, the method of making each kind of talisman is fixed, and it all depends on the talent of the person who draws it."

"As for the methods of forming restrictions with runes, there are all sorts of them, even more mysterious than rune techniques. When the inner sect senior uncles teach each month, they will teach a few common restrictions. Junior brother, don't miss it."

Gu Fan nodded slightly, gaining a basic understanding of the difficulty of weapon forging, and his impression of Tang Yuan improved as well.

Although the fat man was greedy, he at least explained things in great detail and did get things done after receiving the money.

Long Ying's attitude was entirely due to Meng Wei's relationship; Gu Fan did not believe that he could observe alchemy on his own.

While Gu Fan was overjoyed, he was also somewhat worried.

The All-Seeing Eye can help in comprehending restrictions, which is indeed a good thing.

What surprised him even more was that since the Myriad Manifestations Eye could see through restrictions, it could naturally see through talismans as well.

In this way, he can use talismanic arts as a foundation, while simultaneously comprehending the Dao of talismans and the Dao of artifacts, thus earning resources for cultivation.

The difficulty lies in the lack of money; without good deeds, one cannot exchange for rune books, let alone the methods of restriction.

Just as Gu Fan had finished thinking, Tang Yuan asked, "Junior Brother, do you still have chores to do?"

"Do it!" Gu Fan nodded decisively.