If you die, I will be able to inherit your cultivation.

Without further ado, Zhou Ming placed the longsword flat on his lap, made a hand seal, and with a slight rubbing of his fingertips, a wisp of purplish-gold infant fire silently appeared in his palm.

Guided by his will, the infant fire floated out from his palm and slowly enveloped the entire longsword.

The firelight reflected on the cave walls, turning the dark blue rocks into a flowing purple-gold hue.

The sword blade gradually began to glow slightly red under the scorching heat of the infant fire.

However, Zhou Ming did not deliberately forge the longsword; he simply let the flames warm the blade, keeping it at a just-right temperature.

Engraving does not require melting the sword blank, but it does require the sword body to be in a semi-active state so that magic power can penetrate it.

The preliminary steps and techniques of engraving arrays appeared in his mind one by one.

Zhou Ming held his breath and concentrated his magic power into an extremely fine and resilient strand, which he then extended from his fingertips like a silkworm spinning silk and slowly poured into the sword.

As soon as this wisp of magical power entered the sword embryo, it began to outline the first array pattern: the Solidification Array.

Cultivators at the Qi Refining stage or above will forge magical artifacts for themselves, and the Solidification Array is the cornerstone of all magical artifact arrays. It can prevent the sword from breaking when subjected to the impact of magical power.

To support subsequent attack and flight formations, the sword itself must first be sturdy enough.

The purple-gold array patterns spread silently inside the sword, each stroke extremely heavy and steady.

Where the array patterns pass, a very fine and faint line will light up on the pitch-black sword, and then disappear into the depths of the sword.

After finishing the solid array, he paused to adjust his breathing for a moment before starting to inscribe the second set of arrays: the Light and Agile Array and the Sharp Metal Array.

Both of these formations are auxiliary in nature and can be inscribed simultaneously without conflicting with each other.

The Lightness Array can significantly reduce the weight of the sword, making the flying sword more agile and swift when controlled.

The Sharp Metal Array can transform magical power into sharp energy that adheres to the sword blade, making it as easy to cut through gold and jade as to cut through tofu.

Two array patterns intertwine and run parallel inside the sword, sometimes separating to outline their own patterns, and sometimes entwining and overlapping.

After finishing carving these two sets of auxiliary formations, he let out a long breath.

The basic formation has been fully inscribed; now it's time to truly test your skills.

Attack formations and flight formations.

He found two extremely ingenious formations in Liu Jun's jade slip:

A set called "Splitting Light and Shadow Array" can make flying swords conjure dozens of sword shadows when attacking, making them real and fake, and impossible for the enemy to defend against.

Another set is called "Flowing Light and Shadow Array", which is a flight array specially engraved on flying swords. It can increase the speed of flying on a sword by several times, covering thousands of miles in an instant.

He had been studying these two formations repeatedly in the snowy valley for several months, and this was the first time he had actually put them into practice.

Zhou Ming took a deep breath, focused his mind on the sword, and used his divine sense as a guide and his magic power as ink to begin outlining the complex and profound array patterns at the deepest part of the sword.

The array pattern of the Split Light and Shadow Array is extremely complex. Each pattern needs to simultaneously take into account the mana nodes for the transformation between reality and illusion and the upper limit of the number of sword shadows that can be differentiated.

It took almost an hour to complete the carving. The moment the last array pattern closed, the sword emitted a clear and long hum.

The entire sword floated up from his knees on its own and silently spun once inside the cave.

Wherever it passed, it left behind several purple-gold sword shadows, each of which remained solid and lingered for several breaths.

Zhou Ming suppressed the excitement surging in his heart and focused all his attention on the last set of formations.

The patterns of the Flowing Light and Shadow Array are completely different from those of the Splitting Light and Shadow Array.

It does not require the transformation between the real and the virtual, but it needs to complete the multi-level superposition and instantaneous release of magical power within an extremely short distance.

This is also the most difficult part of this formation; if the rhythm of the magic power accumulation is even slightly off, it will cause problems.

At best, the formation will fail; at worst, the sword will be unable to withstand the impact of the instantly released magic power, and the entire sword will shatter into pieces.

It took Zhou Ming a full hour to finish carving the array pattern.

As the last array pattern closed, the entire sword trembled violently.

The array patterns previously engraved on the sword lit up simultaneously, intertwining layer upon layer.

The purple light of the Solid Array, the silver light of the Light and Agility Array, the golden light of the Sharp Metal Array, the illusory light of the Splitting Light and Shadow Array, and the blue light of the Flowing Light and Shadow Array.

Five-colored array patterns flowed and intertwined on the surface of the sword, eventually merging into an extremely deep dark purple that slowly sank into the interior of the sword.

The longsword fell from mid-air and landed steadily in his hand.

The sword was still the same sword, pitch black and without any patterns or decorations, as plain as the most inconspicuous rough piece in the corner of a blacksmith's shop.

But Zhou Ming could sense that the sword had been completely transformed, inside and out.

He gripped the hilt, channeled a wisp of magic into it, and the sword trembled with a hum. It didn't shatter or chip, but instead quietly emitted a dark purple light.

Satisfied, he stored the longsword in his storage ring.

This sword is finally starting to look like a flying sword.

In fact, Zhou Ming's experience was too limited. The flying swords he forged were already something that disciples of major sects could forge when they were at the Foundation Establishment stage.

After forging the longsword, Zhou Ming took off the emerald green ring from his finger.

This ring was made from that piece of jade that was half a person's height.

It's barely something you can wear on your wrist; the inside is completely empty, with no storage function whatsoever.

Later, he obtained Liu Jun's storage ring, and this jade ring remained unused on his finger, mostly as an ornament.

Now that he has mastered the art of formations, he can refine this ring again.

Zhou Ming held the ring in his palm, and with his fingertips he rubbed out a wisp of purplish-gold infant fire, which slowly enveloped the ring.

The infant fire silently licked the ring face, and the emerald green jade stone quickly transformed back into a ball of emerald green liquid suspended in mid-air.

Zhou Ming probed into the liquid with his divine sense and began to outline the array patterns of the first defensive formation: the Golden Shield.

This is a defensive formation commonly used by Foundation Establishment cultivators. It can be automatically triggered when the wearer suffers a fatal attack.

A golden light shield woven from magic power forms around the body, resisting physical attacks and magical impacts.

The array patterns spread outward from the core of the liquid, each stroke extremely deep and steady, with purple-gold light slowly flowing within the emerald green liquid.

After finishing carving the Golden Shield, Zhou Ming paused to adjust his breathing for a moment before beginning to carve the second defensive formation: the Reflection Formation.

This formation can reflect part of the impact force back the moment the Golden Shield is broken, allowing the attacker to also experience the backlash.

With two defensive formations stacked on top of each other, this ring's protective capabilities far exceed those of ordinary Foundation Establishment level magic artifacts. Even when facing attacks from Golden Core level cultivators, it can withstand at least one blow.

Zhou Ming withdrew the infant fire, and the emerald green liquid quickly cooled and solidified in mid-air, transforming back into a jade-green ring.

The ring face still had that smooth, mirror-like appearance, with faint, silk-like shimmering light slowly moving inside, making it even more vibrant than before.

I put the ring back on my finger, moved my finger a little, and the ring fit perfectly.

Like the flying sword he had just forged, the ring was plain on the surface, but its interior had been completely transformed.