What does my ancestor's pregnancy have to do with me, a mere servant?

The night was deep and quiet, and the back mountain of the Xuan Yin Sect was silent.

The two transformed into shadows, evading the patrol teams at the outer gate, and stealthily made their way into the deep mountains along the secluded animal trail.

Half an hour later.

The surrounding temperature plummeted. A layer of grayish-black mist filled the air, obscuring the moonlight overhead. All the surrounding plants took on a sickly purplish-black hue.

We've arrived at the entrance to the Mysterious Valley.

Ahead lay an extremely narrow canyon, a narrow sliver of sky. The entrance to the canyon was sealed off by a thick black light barrier, the surface of which flashed with intricate defensive runes from time to time.

In front of the light screen, on the left and right sides, stood two figures, each two zhang tall.

Those were two human puppets.

Its entire body was encased in heavy bronze armor, its exposed skin a bluish-gray, its muscles shriveled. It was not breathing, nor did it have a heartbeat.

Two powerful spiritual pressures, both at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage, emanated from the puppet without any attempt to conceal them.

Lin Yuan and Lin Feilu stopped five zhang away from the entrance of the First Line Sky Canyon.

Suddenly, eerie green soul flames ignited in the eye sockets of the two bronze puppet figures, and they turned to stare at the two men. Heavy weapons fell in a crisscross pattern, sealing off the entrance to the canyon.

Two gray-robed disciples emerged from behind the light curtain. Their hands rested on their magical artifacts at their waists, their gazes warily sweeping over Lin Yuan's black mask.

"This is a forbidden area; unauthorized personnel must leave." The disciple on the left shouted in a low voice.

Lin Feilu didn't waste any words and tossed out the hideous ghost-face token.

The token streaked through the air with a dark light before landing steadily in the gray-robed disciple's hand. The disciple glanced down at the blood-red crystal on the token, then nodded and tossed it back.

"Senior sister, please come in. However, you can only stay inside for a day and a night at most." After reminding him, he cast two spells, and the bronze puppet put away its weapons, and a ten-foot-wide passage was torn open in the light screen.

The two stepped into the light curtain side by side.

The moment the boundary line was crossed, the surrounding temperature plummeted.

A bone-chilling cold seeped into the very marrow of my bones. The ground was covered with a thick layer of dark dust, half-burying countless scattered human and animal bones.

A thick, purplish-black mist flowed through the air, obstructing vision and limiting the range of spiritual sense to a maximum of ten feet.

Lin Feilu flipped her hand and took out a Yang Flame Talisman that emitted a warm light, sticking it on her shoulder to dispel the approaching Yin energy.

"Follow me." Lin Feilu led the way. "I investigated this place yesterday. There's a Yin-Yang Cold Pool in the southwest corner of the valley. The concentration of Yin energy there is extremely high, and the surrounding area is always shrouded in poisonous fog. It's very quiet and extremely suitable for refining magical artifacts."

Lin Yuan nodded and followed.

After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the two passed through a withered purple bamboo forest, and suddenly the view ahead opened up.

A deep, black pool, ten feet in diameter, lay before the two. The water was an eerie inky color, its surface churning with a dense, dark purple aura.

At the edge of the deep pool stood a woman in a bright red silk dress.

She was forming hand seals, channeling crimson runes into the body of a tall figure before her. It was a necromancer covered in dark gold-bronze armor, its skin a dry, dark blue-green, its fingernails half a foot long, jet black and shiny. It was inhaling and exhaling the malevolent energy emanating from the icy pool.

"Jianghuai Moon!" Lin Feilu frowned slightly.

Hearing the noise, Jiang Huaiyue turned her head. Her narrow, almond-shaped eyes swept over Lin Feilu, then paused for a moment on Lin Yuan, who was wearing a faceless wooden mask.

"I wondered who had the leisure to come to this forbidden area to relax. It turns out to be Junior Sister Lin." Jiang Huaiyue's lips curled into a smile, her voice charming. "With the Holy Maiden Selection imminent, Junior Sister Lin, instead of recuperating properly in her cave, you've come to this dangerous place. It would be such a pity if you died here."

"Isn't Senior Sister talking a bit too much?" Lin Feilu said in a cold tone.

A fierce glint flashed in Jiang Huaiyue's eyes. She slightly bent her right index finger and flicked it gently.

The bronze-armored corpse, which was exhaling malevolent energy, suddenly turned its head, its eyes bulging. A dark golden afterimage tore through the mist, bringing with it an extremely violent, foul wind, and pounced straight at Lin Feilu's face. Ten jet-black claws aimed directly for Lin Feilu's throat.

This strike was incredibly fast and powerful.

Lin Feilu did not dodge, but instead acted on her conviction.

Just as the bronze-armored corpse's claws touched a foot in front of her, the Hundred Flowers Ice Silk Dress beneath her plain-colored long dress burst forth with a dazzling icy blue light.

A solid, water-based heavy shield suddenly appeared out of thin air, with hundreds of intricate defensive array patterns flowing wildly across its surface.

The sharp claws slammed heavily onto the shield.

It emitted an extremely dull, loud bang.

The icy blue heavy shield didn't even ripple. A powerful recoil surged from the claws. The bronze-armored corpse let out a grating roar, its massive body sent flying backward, crashing through three thick purple bamboo stalks before finally coming to a stop.

Jiang Huaiyue's charming smile froze on her face.

She stared at the slowly fading icy blue aura emanating from Lin Feilu.

This was a bronze-armored corpse that her master had painstakingly crafted, possessing immense strength and an incredibly hard body. Lin Feilu didn't even need to unleash much of her magic power; she was able to repel it simply with her defensive magic robe.

"A top-grade magical artifact." Jiang Huaiyue's eyes darkened.

Lin Feilu turned her head and looked down at her: "Keep your dog under control. If it crosses the line again, I'll kill it."

Lin Yuan stood at the back, a smile playing on his lips beneath his mask. The combat data of this Hundred Flowers Ice Silk Dress was quite perfect; it had passed the pressure resistance test.

Jiang Huaiyue's gaze swept over the man in black robes; his aura was concealed. Knowing she wouldn't gain any advantage today, she beckoned and recalled the bronze-armored corpse.

"Junior Sister Lin certainly has a lot of hidden cards up her sleeve." Jiang Huaiyue sneered. "Let's meet on the arena."

With a flicker, she transformed into a streak of red light and swiftly disappeared into the purplish-black mist.

The Yin energy in this icy pool had been almost entirely devoured by the bronze-armored corpse, no longer satisfying Lin Yuan's needs for refining weapons.

After pondering for a moment, Lin Feilu said, "I also know of a place not far from here, but it might be a bit dangerous."

Having no other choice, Lin Yuan nodded: "Then please lead the way, Senior Sister!"

Lin Feilu led Lin Yuan forward, past the cold pool, and arrived at a secluded cliff.

At the base of the cliff is a narrow cave, barely wide enough for one person to pass through. Thick, malevolent energy is constantly gushing out from the depths of the cave.

"This is it," Lin Feilu pointed to the cave entrance.

Lin Yuan's eyes lit up. The Yin energy emanating from the cave entrance was extremely dense, much better than the cold pool from before.

Moreover, the weapon forging inside has only one entrance, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.

The two entered the cave one after the other. The cave space became wider and wider as they walked, extending all the way down into the ground. After walking for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, they arrived at a spacious, semi-enclosed cavern.

The malevolent energy here is so dense that it cannot be dispersed. Thick black frost has formed on the surrounding stone walls.

"The environment is nice." Lin Yuan looked around. This level of concentration of malevolent energy is just right for refining the Yin Sha Nine Nether Thunder Pearl.

Lin Feilu retreated to the cave entrance, sat down cross-legged, and drew his long sword, placing it on his lap.

Lin Yuan walked to the center of the cave. He glanced at the small golden characters flickering in his eyes.

[Weapon Master: Rank 8: 0/1000 (Points can be added)]

Remaining attribute points: 1078

With a thought, Lin Yuan deducted one thousand attribute points.

[Artifact Maker: Rank 7 (0/10000) (Points can be added)]

His mind exploded. Higher-level array pattern inscription logic, more extreme spiritual material fusion formulas, and extremely refined divine sense manipulation techniques transformed into a torrent of information, forcibly reshaping his cognition and muscle memory.

Ten breaths later, Lin Yuan opened his eyes. His gaze became deep and focused.

Lin Yuan took out ten smooth, polished copper beads from his storage bag. Immediately afterward, ten pieces of genuine, high-quality lightning-struck wood core, extremely yin water, and heavenly thunder sand were laid out in a row.

He flicked a wisp of crimson spirit fire from his fingertip, which hovered in front of him. The first copper bead was thrown into the flame.

Lin Yuan's hands moved swiftly, forming hand seals that created afterimages that overlapped in the air.

The heartwood struck by lightning is purified and transformed into golden lightning-attribute droplets. The heavenly lightning sand is scorched by spiritual fire, refining it into the most violent lightning-attribute crystal powder.

……

One incense stick later!

"Gather." Lin Yuan shouted in a low voice.

He suddenly reached out with his right hand to grab at the purplish-black mist above the cave.

A surge of spiritual energy erupted within the cavern. Dense Yin energy, drawn in, transformed into a black dragon and surged wildly into the red copper bead. The bead's surface glowed bright red, its temperature rose rapidly, and it began to tremble violently.

Lin Yuan remained expressionless, flicking his left finger to send golden lightning-attribute droplets and lightning powder precisely into the bead hole.

The extremely cold Yin energy and the violent Yang lightning collided violently within a small space.

Lin Yuan cast twelve sealing spells in quick succession. All the violent energy was instantly compressed and sealed away. The red light on the surface of the copper bead faded, returning to a dark metallic luster, and a layer of intricate dark purple lightning patterns appeared on its surface.

The first Yin Sha Nine Nether Thunder Pearl is complete.

Lin Feilu, who was sitting at the entrance of the cave protecting Lin Yuan, widened her beautiful eyes as she watched Lin Yuan forcefully knead two extremely opposing and violent energies into a small metal bead.

The entire process proceeded without the slightest pause, as if it had been rehearsed millions of times.

She touched the close-fitting ice silk dress she was wearing, and her gaze toward Lin Yuan held a deeper level of inquiry.

Lin Yuan did not stop.

The second one, the third one, the fourth one...

His movements became faster and faster, his mental energy was greatly depleted, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

With each bead refined, the purplish-black mist inside the cave would thin out a little. When the tenth thunder bead was infused with the final sealing technique and landed steadily in the jade box, the yin energy within the entire cave had been completely drained.

The previously chilling space had miraculously returned to a normal temperature. The black frost on the walls began to melt.

Lin Yuan wiped away his sweat and put the jade box into his storage bag. Ten top-grade thunder pearls were enough to kill Jiang Huaiyue several times over.

The materials were completely exhausted. Lin Yuan took out a top-grade Qi Condensation Pill and put it in his mouth to quickly restore his spiritual power.

Just as he was about to call Lin Feilu to leave, a very regular vibration suddenly came from the ground beneath his feet.

From the previously dried-up crevices at the bottom of the cave, an even purer form of malevolent energy began to slowly seep out. This energy was pure black, no longer in a misty state, but rather flowing like mercury.

The temperature, which had just recovered, plummeted again.

Lin Yuan keenly sensed this unusual atmosphere.

"Something's not right." Lin Yuan stood up and probed downwards along the crack in the ground with his divine sense.

Lin Feilu walked over, sword in hand, and followed Lin Yuan's gaze to the ground: "Didn't you drain all the baleful energy? How come there's still some?"

"There's something deep underground." Lin Yuan's eyes were serious.