To comprehend all laws and attain immortality

Shenji Peak, a quiet room at the heart of the mountain.

Gu Fan was shirtless, letting sweat stream down his neck, cutting through his chiseled muscles.

Before him, eight dragon-head stone sculptures simultaneously spewed forth earth flames, and within the earth flames, copper nails gleaming with golden light were flying up and down.

Gu Fan kept his eyes wide open, not daring to relax for a moment.

Adjusting the rhythm of a musical instrument is difficult to talk about, and even more difficult to do.

Gu Fan had to control the earth flames to burn the refined Dragon-Trapping Stake, allowing it to regain its plasticity. However, he couldn't let the temperature get too high, otherwise, if the restrictions within the artifact were damaged, the entire artifact would be ruined.

After obtaining the "Technique of the Harmony of Instruments and Rhythms," Gu Fan spent seven days before finally mastering its power.

As a result, three of the six dragon-trapping stakes were rendered unusable.

Fortunately, the Bai family provided some surplus raw materials, which was enough to make up for the losses caused by Gu Fan.

Having mastered the knack of merging the essence of the artifacts, Gu Fan began to refine the remaining Dragon-Trapping Stakes.

During the refining process, Gu Fan had a sudden inspiration—if he used the "Art of Merging the Artifacts" during the refining process, would he be able to more clearly feel the process of the creation of the artifact's essence?

Without hesitation, Gu Fan immediately gave it a try.

The difficulty of refining increases dramatically when trying to do two things at once.

After sacrificing two dragon-trapping stakes, he finally felt the birth of the artifact's essence.

That was the fluctuation emanating from the resonance between the restriction and the surrounding spiritual energy after the last rune was inscribed, like the first cry of a baby.

After discovering the source of the artifact's aura, Gu Fan was able to initially sense it when refining the artifact, making it easier to adjust the aura later on—a pleasant surprise indeed.

Not only that, Gu Fan also checked the aura of the other magical artifacts in the storage bag.

After identification, it was found that the aura of a low-grade magic artifact with a restriction was almost imperceptible, but as the number of restrictions increased, the aura became significantly stronger.

What would it be like if the artistic charm were extremely strong?

The author of "The Secret of the Harmony of Instruments and Rhythms" also had a conjecture about this—the spirit of the instrument.

That's something with more than twenty restrictions, surpassing the grade of magic treasures, and only those called spiritual treasures possess.

As the thirty-six Dragon-Trapping Stakes were forged, Gu Fan witnessed the birth of thirty-six unique artifact auras.

The feeling was indescribable, like watching a seed take root and sprout. The magical artifact, though inanimate, made him sense a pulse of life.

For some reason, the words Li Kunyuan once said came to mind.

"The Lingxiao Sect was founded by Ancestor Yunxiao and has inherited the lineage of the Creation Ancestor for more than three thousand years. It should be known that all things can also have spirits, and we should use the power of creation to control the spiritual energy of heaven and earth."

"Creation." Gu Fan murmured, a look of sudden realization flashing in his eyes. Countless insights welled up like a spring, and an inexplicable Daoist charm arose spontaneously.

Following this inspiration, Gu Fan's fingertips, which were controlling the flames, trembled slightly.

The surging earth flames suddenly paused, then exploded, dispersing into wisps and strands, as dazzling as fireworks, or like spirit fish swimming in the air.

Surrounded by the firelight, Gu Fan stood tall and independent, his pupils reflecting the flames.

Although not counted precisely, it was clear that there were at least a thousand flames being manipulated at that moment.

Flame Spirit Technique, perfected!

Five years have passed since I began cultivating the Flame Spirit Technique, and I have finally mastered it!

Gu Fan burst into laughter in the quiet room, the sound echoing for a long time along with the firelight.

With his breakthrough in fire control techniques, Gu Fan became more adept at adjusting the rhythm of his instruments.

It took a month to complete the forging of the thirty-six Dragon-Trapping Stakes, and then they were refined again using the "Instrument Rhythm Convergence Technique".

When the thirty-six sounds of the instrument merged into one, the cacophony that made one's mind tremble vanished instantly, transforming into a harmonious melody that could cure all obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Looking at the thirty-six dragon-trapping stakes churning in the flames, Gu Fan's lips curled up.

......

Qingyun Peak, Bai Family Villa.

A golden talisman pierced through the clouds and fell straight into the courtyard, where it was caught by a slender hand.

Bai Mingxuan stared blankly at the communication talisman in his hand.

"Uncle, is something wrong in the clan?"

Bai Ziming stood behind Bai Mingxuan with a slight bow, a shadow covering his face, making it impossible to see the expression in his eyes.

"It's nothing serious. This communication talisman is the one I left for Gu Fan that day. Now that it's been released, it seems the Dragon-Trapping Stake has been completed." Bai Mingxuan said softly, then casually turned the communication talisman into ashes.

"How is this possible? Even if that traitor had told him, he wouldn't have had enough time to comprehend the method of refining." Bai Ziming looked up, the shadow on his face instantly disappearing, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Bai Mingxuan snorted coldly, "Nothing is impossible. Since he sent the communication talisman, it must have been successfully refined."

Although he knew there was no such thing as a foolproof conspiracy, he still couldn't help but sigh with regret because he had failed at the last moment by showing off in front of his daughter.

Originally, he planned to personally talk to the other party after the plan succeeded, but after it was exposed, he lost interest.

"You can go and retrieve the Dragon-Trapping Stake for me."

Bai Mingxuan took out a jade box from his storage bag, and a faint aura of fire emanated from it.

Bai Ziming immediately looked at the jade box with envy.

He knew that the jade box contained the Crimson Dragon Wood, a spiritual object he had longed for but could not obtain, yet it was now being delivered to Gu Fan. A surge of anger rose in his heart.

In front of Bai Mingxuan, Bai Ziming naturally dared not lash out. He cupped his hands in response, stepped forward to put away the jade box, and then walked towards the door.

"Wait a minute," Bai Mingxuan called out to him.

"Does Uncle have any further instructions?" Bai Ziming asked, turning his head away.

"Don't tell him about that traitor," Bai Mingxuan said expressionlessly.

"Yes." Bai Ziming nodded slightly.

After Bai Ziming's figure disappeared, a middle-aged man dressed in a black scholar's robe walked out from the corner, bowed and said, "Master, the second young master may not listen to you."

"Whether he listens or not is unimportant." Bai Mingxuan picked up his teacup, took a sip, and then asked, "Have those pregnant concubines been examined?"

"It's been checked, and they've all been confirmed to be male infants."

"Very good." Bai Mingxuan nodded.

......

At Lingxi Peak, Gu Fan was also drinking tea alone.

There was still a month left before the agreed delivery date with the Bai family. The reason why the communication talisman was sent immediately after the refining was because Gu Fan felt uneasy.

He hadn't seen Qi Yan for a month.

During the process of refining the Dragon-Trapping Stake, Gu Fan traveled to and from Shenji Peak every day. At first, he thought that reducing their interactions would help them avoid being noticed, but as time went on, Qi Yan did not appear for a month, which was quite abnormal.

Especially today, when he was about to leave the Heavenly Craft Pavilion, he found a stranger in the spot where Qi Yan used to be.

Gu Fan immediately became alert and pretended to chat casually, subtly probing Tang Yuan for information.

"Him? A newly arrived outer disciple, doing odd jobs here to accumulate merits," Tang Yuan replied casually.

Gu Fan calmly said, "The servants at the Heavenly Craft Pavilion are replaced quite frequently."

Tang Yuan shrugged: "Easy jobs are naturally in high demand. I don't know what they were thinking. The person who was in charge of this chores suddenly said that something had happened at home and resigned."

A sense of foreboding immediately arose in Gu Fan's heart.