The upstanding Thunder Talisman Daoist finally could not bear to keep watching, and was unable to hold from asking, “Lord Jiang He, I know a little about item refinement even though I am no master—is this the recipe for quenching?”
“I have no idea either.”
Jiang He explained even as he stirred the quenching mixture. “You know, it’s only been less than three months since I studied immortal arts or item refinement, let alone the procedures or secret techniques of master craftsmen. That is why I had to develop it by myself.”
The Thunder Talisman Daoist was left gaping, unsure how to respond to that right then.
Likewise, the Taixu Sect Chieftain was left dumbstruck.
So…
You came up with your so-called item-refinement method entirely on your own, and basically crapped it up?
What about pellet refinement then?
Item refinement was perfectly fine since the Chieftain did not have to fork out his own materials, and it would not matter even if Jiang He failed since Jiang He had helped him survived through his ninth retribution. However, his sect had gathered a lot of spirit medicine as ingredients for item refinement, and if Jiang He’s pellet refinement method was no different…
However, just as he was thinking about how he should retrieve the medicinal ingredients, Jiang He was already done stirring the quenched mixture.
Nonchalantly throwing the tree branch aside, Jiang He took out a small spoon with a flip of his hand, and scooped out the mixture in the bucket for a taste. Then, he said, “It’s a little sour—I must have put in too much vinegar. It’s also a little lacking in salt, but it won’t be a big deal.”
Everyone was dumbstruck.
Then, Jiang He put the scoop away and a flame suddenly shot out of his palm, covering the pile of item crafting materials while a scorching heat rapidly engulfed his surroundings.
Having possessed the ability to control fires in the first place, his fire-type abilities naturally improved as his cultivation and spirit improved as well. Though Jiang He rarely used it, it would not be impossible for him to burn an eight or nine retribution cultivator to death.
Whoosh!
The fire grew bigger.
The pile of item-refinement materials hovered in the air. Engulfed by the searing flame, they started to melt around five minutes later.
“…”
Getting impatient, the Thunder Talisman Daoist exclaimed, “You can’t refine items like that, Lord Jiang He. The melting point of those materials are different and they shouldn’t be melted together.”
Jiang He played dumb and made the fire hotter.
“Lord Jiang He, your item refinement is mistaken!”
The Thunder Talisman Daoist was almost tearing up as he kept exclaiming, “The material would not meld perfectly together if you refine them in this manner! The mystic item produced would certainly be inferior in grade, and it would be an utter waste…”
The Taixu Sect Chieftain promptly put a hand over the Thunder Talisman Daoist’s mouth and said, “What are you doing, Brother Thunder Talisman?”
“Could your Ten Thousand Sword Sect survive Lord Jiang He’s wrath?”
Coming to his senses, there was a look of lingering fear on the Thunder Talisman Daoist’s face, and he offered the Taixu Sect Chieftain a fist-palm salute. “Thanks for your warning, Brother.”
Beside them, however, Wang Hou was scowling.
What the hell.
That could be called item refinement too?
I still have load of stuff to deal with at the Martial Arts Department (MAD), but I’m not doing that just to watch you craft items… only to find you fooling around like a kid.
Meanwhile, Jiang He did not have the time to care about them at all.
Even as he melted the crafting materials, in his head, he was running through the procedures of the Jiang-Style item-refinement method, which he had developed himself.
“The quenching mixture is done, and now, I would melt the materials… after everything is melted, I would use my spirit to mold the materials in the style of the armor shown in the blueprint, and the fourth step is to harden it by quenching.”
“Oh yes, I still have to inscribe arrays and infuse the item with mystic after quenching, although that is not that troublesome since I just have to write two words on it.”
“Since armor is mainly for defense, I just have to write ‘metal’ and ‘earth’ on it to strengthen its hardness and defensive capacity.”
Jiang He could not help praising his own wit at that thought.
Others aside, the step of infusing the mystics and inscribing arrays would take other master craftsmen days to complete… Moreover, there was no room for error, and the slightest of mishaps would ruin all progress up to that point. It was a trifle to start from scratch, but the main problem here was that the item refinement materials would be wasted.
“Reasonably speaking, the item is finished after the infusion is complete. Still, I could add in another step… strengthen by planting.”
“It’s a normal sage item anyway, so it would be done after planting it for two hours. It would both repair any flaws during the crafting, and the most important part is that it improves the quality of the item… Hmm?”
“What the hell!”
Suddenly, Jiang He cried out in surprise.
The Thunder Talisman Daoist, the Taixu Sect Chieftain, Elder Mo, and Wang Hou all turned toward him as he cursed, “Damn it, isn’t there a problem with these crafting materials? I was forging the armor according to the blueprint… so why is it deformed?”
Gasp!
Wang Hou and the others could not help inhaling sharply after getting a clear look at the armor.
What do you even mean, deformed?
It is already ruined, please!
The entire armor… well, there was more or less the silhouette of an armor, but the trousers and sleeves were all twisted and bent. There was even a dent on the chest as if someone had punched it.
The worst part was the coloring.
Other armors would have a lively hue, and even the most average of armor was at least good-looking.
But this set that Jiang He made?
It was as if someone had splashed a bucket of paint on it.
Feeling embarrassed, Jiang He laughed out loud and asked, “What do you think about this armor, Brother? Unconventional fashion is all the rage for us modern folk these days… there’s an abstract aesthetic when you wear it.”
The Taixu Sect Chieftain’s face went green, while Jiang He was sweating bullets.
He really lost face this time.
But it was fine… it would probably be alright after planting it.
He beckoned, drawing the armor to himself, and was about to put it in the water bucket… only to find that the bucket was too small to put in the armor. So, he had to pick up the bucket and splash the mixture he cooked before on the armor.
Right now, the armor was still heated. It sizzled and steamed once the mixture was splashed on it, and there was even a sharp sour scent from the mixture of condiments that struck the nose.
Pinching his nose, Jiang He could not help saying, “It seems that the quenching mixture needs a little improvement. There should be less soy sauce and vinegar, or it really hurts the brain if the smell is too strong during the quenching.”
Holding the armor, he took out a pen from his pocket and inscribed the two words for ‘mystic infusion’ on the chest part of the armor, as well as added ‘metal’ and ‘earth’ underneath.
Oom.
A Dao luster flashed and the words quickly disappeared.
“It’s done.”
Jiang He appeared dejected after he felt out the Dao tones which the armor emanated, and said, “I spent so much effort, but the armor I crafted is only a superior-grade sage item… sigh, it seems that I need to practice more in the future.”
He turned towards Wang Hou and the others who were gaping and said, “My control of the flame heat is quite good when I refined the items. How about this? We’ll return inside my house, and I’ll put the finishing touches on this set of armor before we proceed to pellet refinement.”
Leaping up, he then flew back to his house.
Wang Hou and the others followed right behind him.
Slap!
The Taixu Sect chieftain suddenly raised his palm and slapped himself, his eyes losing all spirit as he muttered, “I do feel pain, so I’m not dreaming… is this not an illusion?”
The Thunder Talisman Daoist was dumbstruck as well.
It… it was done?
Jiang He’s rubbish method had actually crafted the mystic treasure?
Most importantly…
Don’t you have to inscribe arrays or infuse mystics?
All you did was use your pen to scrawl a little something on it, and it’s done?
Even so, the Dao aura emanating from the combat armor could fool no one—the armor was crafted suceesfully.
After a long while, the Taixu Sect Chieftain and the Thunder Talisman Daoist traded glances. When they came to their senses, there was overflowing astonishment in their eyes.
Such an item refinement technique that was never heard of, observed, or even imagined was actually developed by Jiang He—someone who had never learned a thing about item refinement before this.
It was plenty sufficient to overturn the discipline of item refinement.
As the others quickly gave chase and reached the gates of Jiang He’s house, Jiang He had already planted the armor and returned outside the gates, ready to refine pellets now.
Taking out the pellet recipe, Jiang He roughly studied and asked, “Brother, your grand-master wants me to help cook up a grade-eight soul pellet called the Soul Mold Pellet, right?”
The Taixu Sect Chieftain nodded, while the Thunder Talisman Daoist cried out in surprise and exclaimed, “Soul Mold Pellet? Lord Jiang He, you know how to prepare pellets too?”
Jiang He was taken aback. It was just a grade-eight soul pellet—did the Thunder Talisman Daoist need to be so dramatic?
The Thunder Talisman Daoist hence explained, “The main function of the Soul Mold Pellet is to mold spirit and soul. Even if those aspects of a person were maimed, one could use the Soul Mold Pellet to recover as long as they aren’t completely destroyed.”
“This medicinal pellet is extremely rare. Even if it is just grade-eight, it is rare and harder to make than more grade-eight soul pellets. Sufferance cultivators who have one of these pellets would have a shot at remolding their spirit and soul even if they fail to weather their retribution and have their physique and spiritual aspect maimed.”
“Right now, among the many immortal sects, demonic sects, and daemon cultivators, there is only one rank-nine pellet refinement grandmaster. He resides at the Valley of Potions Lords, but even he had a hard time brewing Soul Mold Pellets, which is why for all cultivators now, the value of any Soul Mold Pellets is equal to a superior-grade sage item!”
“Oh?”
Jiang He’s eyes lit up and he laughed out loud. “It would be better since it’s harder to make. With this, I could test if my self-made pellet-refinement method is good.”
“…”
Stunned, the Taixu Sect Chieftain promptly exclaimed, “Lord Jiang He… you made this pellet refinement method too? You wouldn’t fail, right?”
“Didn’t the Taixu Sect prepare two portions of ingredients for the Soul Mold Pellets? So that there is one more cauldron even if the other fails… Moreover, I have poured my heart and soul into developing this item refinement method, since it took me over an hour to write it… though I’ve only recently developed it, I personally find it more perfect than the item refinement method, and there definitely would not be a mistake.”
The Taixu Sect Chieftain was bleeding in his heart right then!
A Soul Mold Pellet could match a superior-grade sage item in value.
However, the ingredients needed to cook one Soul Mold Pellet would be equal to five superior-grade sage items. If successful, one could cook a batch of ten Soul Mold Pellets, while it would be a major loss if one failed.
“I just hope that Jiang He could successfully brew the pellet…”
Inwardly, he was actually praying.
But even before he was done praying, he heard Jiang He asked, “Brother, do you know what each of these medicinal ingredients are? You gave me so much that I can’t find the stuff I need for my pellet recipes.”
There was a huge pile of medicine ingredients placed in front of Jiang He, as the Taixu Sect had really invested a major portion of their resources here.
Aside from the ingredients for the two portions of Soul Mold Pellets, Jiang He was also given medicine ingredients to refine other eight-grade pellets.
And right now, Jiang He had just thrown every last of those medicinal ingredients into a single pile.
Noting the weird look on the Taixu Sect chieftain’s face, Jiang He braced himself and explained, “Like I said, I had only started to study the immortal arts recently. How would I have the chance of learning a profound job like refining pellets?”
“I don’t know these spirit medicine because I have never seen them, and therefore can’t differentiate them. Isn’t that just common sense?”
What the f*ck!
The Taixu Sect chieftain was crying.
Who gave you the guts to refine pellets if you can’t even recognize the medicinal ingredients?
