Chapter 228

Chapter 228: Repairing the Top-Grade Magical Artifact

A familiar voice sounded in the quiet room, causing Zhou Luo, who was immersed in surprise, to freeze for a moment before revealing a happy smile.

On the jade stone, Little White, who was curled up, opened its crystal blue eyes, emanating a powerful aura throughout its body.

It shook its head, showing a hint of confusion in its eyes, then stood up, its soft fur emitting a faint glow.

Meow—

It lazily meowed at Zhou Luo, then leaped up and skillfully jumped onto Zhou Luo’s shoulder.

His shoulder sank; this little fellow was completely transformed now and much heavier than before.

Zhou Luo stretched out his right hand and gently stroked the soft fur, while a stream of spiritual energy surged from his palm.

The spiritual energy entered Little White’s body without encountering any obstruction.

Generally, after becoming mounts or pets of beast tamers, Spirit Beasts would still retain their own personalities; some proud-natured Spirit Beasts might even ignore their tamers after surrendering.

But Little White was gifted by the system; no matter what Zhou Luo said, even if it meant ordering it to die, it wouldn’t hesitate for a moment.

This absolute submission and trust were something most beast tamers couldn’t achieve.

Inside Little White, the "lake" had disappeared, replaced by a big river.

The big river surged mightily, with solidified Illusionary Power roaring through it, flowing to every part of its body.

This meant that Little White had completed its transformation and entered adulthood.

Zhou Luo was extremely ecstatic.

Originally, judging by Little White’s absorption rate, it might not have entered adulthood without several decades.

Unexpectedly, after consuming the egg of a Deep Sea Illusion Turtle, it was able to grow so quickly.

Thinking about it, that was natural; after all, it was the egg of a Third Level Spirit Beast, and its power shared the same source as Little White’s, so that’s why the effect was so obvious.

In the future, there probably wouldn’t be another chance like this to get such a bargain.

"Little White, try out your ability," Zhou Luo said with an expectant expression.

After entering adulthood, its strength was unknown.

Little White on his shoulder lay there and gave a soft meow.

The next moment, Zhou Luo felt the scene before him begin to distort; the Spirit Xiyu at his chest suddenly emitted a spiritual light, and he swiftly focused his mental strength.

But in just a short time, various illusions appeared before him, those illusions seeming as real as existence, letting him vividly experience all sorts of sensations.

Zhou Luo’s mind became alert.

With just a meow, it easily made me enter an illusion?

You must realize that with my mental strength and the help of Spirit Xiyu, even the Illusionary Forest couldn’t affect me.

In the span of a breath, the illusions faded away, and Little White maintained its lazy appearance; Zhou Luo, however, was utterly astonished inside.

He looked at the little fellow on his shoulder in surprise and took a deep breath.

This strength was clearly beyond that of an ordinary Second Level early-stage beast, wasn’t it?!

With just this illusion skill, even a Second Level mid-stage beast would be no different…

A Second Level Spirit Beast, that was equivalent to a human at the Foundation Establishment stage!

Zhou Luo felt his heart surge with exhilaration and excitement.

From this day forward, Little White would become his greatest hidden trump card.

He then took out some spirit plants and placed them on the table, hoping it would absorb some more Illusionary Power.

However, Little White showed no interest whatsoever in the spirit plants.

Though absolutely loyal to Zhou Luo, it still possessed its own independent will and would express its dislike when something displeased it.

Of course, if Zhou Luo forced it to eat, it would still comply.

Seeing this, Zhou Luo remembered that this little one was a meat-eater.

It seemed he would need to take it to the Illusionary Forest to hunt some other Spirit Beasts when the opportunity arose.

He didn’t force the issue, putting away the spirit plants and instead taking out several pellets meant for Spirit Beasts.

Little White did like these pellets. It nimbly leaped up, deftly scooped the pellets from his palm, then settled onto the table and began carefully licking them.

Zhou Luo then went into the adjacent room, intending to repair those three top-grade magical artifacts.

This trip to the Qinyuan Immortal City had truly yielded abundant rewards.

Not only had he purchased a large batch of rare materials, but he had also succeeded in advancing Little White’s level.

He assumed a cross-legged position on the jade platform and took out the first top-grade magical artifact, the Xuanying Tower.

This small tower possessed defense far more formidable than the Golden Bell. If successfully repaired, it could withstand even a full-force strike from a half-step Foundation Establishment cultivator, and it could even hold its ground against a genuine Foundation Establishment cultivator for a while.

Magical artifacts, serving as the primary weapons for cultivators, were extremely common in the cultivation world, but that didn’t mean their construction was simple.

The more powerful the magical artifact, the rarer the materials used to forge it.

Essentially, a magical artifact was an object created by assembling these weapon-refining materials, enabling it to withstand the flow of spiritual energy and unleash its maximum power.

Therefore, forging a magical artifact also required inscribing a formation array onto the object itself.

The art of formation arrays dictated that only a Second Level Formation Master possessed the ability to inscribe arrays onto objects. However, the formation arrays within magical artifacts served only to facilitate the communication of spiritual energy and stabilize the flow of power, so they weren’t particularly complex.

Even a First Level Formation Master had the ability to inscribe such arrays.

Thus, after forging a magical artifact, every weapon refiner would commission a formation master to apply the array, maintaining the artifact’s power flow.

Fortunately, Zhou Luo was not only a weapon refiner but also a formation master.

Therefore, he had no need to seek out another formation master separately.

He extended his right hand and gently stroked the small tower. The pads of his fingers glowed faintly as wisps of subtle spiritual energy emanated, flowing into the artifact.

Though the Xuanying Tower only bore a single scratch, this scratch severely impaired the entire artifact’s formation array, preventing it from unleashing the full might of this top-grade magical artifact.

Moreover, if used too frequently, the formation array could collapse entirely, reducing this top-grade magical artifact to a pile of scrap iron.

Thus, the immediate priority was to first repair the artifact’s internal formation array, then fill the gap with materials to prevent the artifact’s power from leaking away.

Being a top-level First Level formation master, repairing the artifact’s formation array wasn’t difficult; it just required applying some specific materials.

Within a quarter of an hour, Zhou Luo had repaired the formation array inside the artifact.

Next came the step of reinfusing power.

Because the Xuanying Tower itself was damaged, its power would still be significantly diminished, even with the stabilizing array fixed; it couldn’t operate at 100% capacity.

At times like this, additional materials needed to be incorporated to infuse fresh energy.

Zhou Luo took out the Spiritual Soil he had acquired at the auction and walked over to the copper cauldron.

Weapon refining comprised seven primary steps: Material Selection, Design, Smelting, Shaping, Consecration, Lighting, and Tempering.

For simply repairing an artifact, one could begin directly from the Smelting stage.

Zhou Luo placed the Xuanying Tower into the alchemical furnace and attached a Flame Talisman onto it.

Whoosh—

The talisman’s power activated, jets of flame erupting and engulfing the entire top-grade magical artifact.

Smelting was the core step of weapon refining. It required melting down the selected materials at high temperatures to remove impurities, followed by precisely blending and combining them according to the design requirements.

Mastering this step demanded exceptional skill from the weapon refiner in controlling fire intensity and smelting techniques.

Focused intently, Zhou Luo watched the copper cauldron and began adding materials including the Spiritual Soil.

Aided by the intense flames, the Spiritual Soil radiated a faint glow. Zhou Luo extended his mental strength, pressing and releasing the energy from these materials, guiding it into the artifact.

After a quarter of an hour, the materials had fully melted under the intense heat. Under the guidance of Zhou Luo’s mental strength, they fused seamlessly with the artifact itself.

Repairing an artifact was naturally faster than crafting one from scratch.

During the melting process, the steps of Shaping and Consecration were also completed by Zhou Luo concurrently.

The sixth step, Lighting, could be skipped entirely, as the artifact inherently retained its spirituality.

He proceeded directly to the final step.

Tempering!

Tempering was the last procedure. Through tempering, the artifact’s attributes and quality could be further enhanced, making it tougher and more durable.

Having acquired proficient weapon refining techniques, Zhou Luo’s movements felt natural and fluid, without the slightest trace of unfamiliarity.

Hiss… Hiss… Hiss—

Amidst plumes of white steam, the tempering concluded. The entire Xuanying Tower emerged looking brand new.

Zhou Luo inspected the top-grade magical artifact. The damaged area was fully repaired. Encased once more by the formation array, the flow of power was unimpeded. It had been thoroughly reborn.

He nodded slightly, then took out the remaining two top-grade magical artifacts to commence their repairs.