Immortality Through Array Formations

The Refining Furnace is a First-grade Spiritual Artifact, and since it is a large item, it posed both a challenge and an opportunity to these Artifact Refiners.

As Loose Cultivators by origin, these Artifact Refiners, who had been refining year after year, had accumulated enough experience, yet, due to the lack of a First-grade Refining Furnace, they were unable to forge First-grade Spiritual Artifacts.

Consequently, they were also unable to become First-grade Artifact Refiners.

If they could refine this First-grade Refining Furnace and then take the opportunity to practice more, perhaps their artifact refining techniques could truly make a breakthrough, enabling them to become First-grade Artifact Refiners.

Some of these Artifact Refiners had gray hair, almost one foot in the grave, and had been refining Spiritual Artifacts all their lives, fundamentally resigned to their fate.

Now suddenly presented with an opportunity that could allow them to possibly rise to the rank of First-grade Artifact Refiners, these old Artifact Refiners were more invigorated than ever, their eyes sparkling with a resilient gleam.

The aspirations that life had worn down to nearly nothing were now all lifted.

Mo Hua was also there, sticking his little head to join in the excitement.

The Artifact Refiners were discussing what materials to use, which techniques to employ, how to quench the metal, how to forge it, and how to shape it.

Although he couldn’t understand it, he had a rough idea in his mind.

Just in case he encountered it in the future, he wouldn’t be completely confused and clueless if someone tried to cheat him.

The Artifact Refiners passionately discussed for two days and then devised a basic forging plan.

Most of them were not First-grade Artifact Refiners, and to start forging a First-grade Refining Furnace right off the bat was still too forced.

Therefore, the first step was to refine some ordinary First-grade Spiritual Artifacts.

After getting familiar with the forging process of First-grade Spiritual Artifacts, they would select some Artifact Refiners with better refining skills to formally attempt to refine a First-grade Refining Furnace.

Mo Hua didn’t spend too much time observing the specific refining process.

After all, in this lifetime, he would probably never personally refine artifacts; it was sufficient to know some of the theoretical knowledge and to have a general impression of some refining techniques, without needing to invest so much effort.

Moreover, most of the time in artifact refining was spent swinging a large hammer over and over, quenching the metal, swinging the hammer again, quenching again, and swinging the hammer yet again.

If he were the one swinging the hammer, it might be fine, but watching from the side could get somewhat dull, and after a while, the continuous pounding became a bit painful to the ears.

Mo Hua’s time each day was mostly spent studying Formation methods.

He still had a different effect First-grade Melting Fire Compound Formation to learn.

Only when tired from Drawing Formation would he visit the Refinery Shop to check on Master Chen and their progress.

After half a month went by, Master Chen, gathering the strength of all the Artifact Refiners, finally managed to clumsily refine a First-grade Refining Furnace.

After the refinement was complete, Master Chen asked Dazhu to call Mo Hua over.

“See if you can draw the Formation,” Master Chen said to Mo Hua, somewhat hopefully.

Mo Hua then scrutinized the Refining Furnace.

The Refining Furnace was noticeably smaller, the materials not particularly good, with a rather dull luster, and there were few places on the furnace walls suitable for Drawing Formation, with not many other spots reserved for Formation methods.

It seemed that this Refining Furnace was designed from the start only as a small-scale artifact furnace, capable only of drawing some small Formations, without reserving spaces for complex Formations like the Compound Formation.

It looked like even if he wanted to draw a First-grade Melting Fire and Controlling Spirit Compound Formation, not every Refining Furnace would suffice.

Mo Hua felt a bit disappointed.

A Refining Furnace can be seen as Formation media, used to carry the Formation.

A Formation needs suitable Formation media, and the media likewise need an appropriate Formation.

In other words, to draw complex and profound Formations, one must also forge an exquisitely made and high-quality Spiritual Artifact, so that the two can match each other and complement each other.

The current Refining Furnace, obviously, was not sufficient to serve as the media for a First-grade Melting Fire Compound Formation.

Mo Hua then said regretfully, “I can only draw a First-grade Melting Fire Formation, the Compound Formation is not possible to draw.”

Upon hearing this, the group of Artifact Refiners also felt somewhat disappointed.

Master Chen let out a sigh, but upon another thought, he suddenly froze.

What was there for him to regret?

This was a genuine first-grade refining furnace, combined with a true first-grade formation. He’d dreamed of having a furnace like this.

Master Chen glanced at the large refining furnace in the center of the yard and couldn’t help but lament that “the vast sea could not be turned into water again.”

Mo Hua, the child, had raised their expectations.

Once the refining furnace was completed, Mo Hua would be able to paint the formations on it.

It was only a single first-grade Melting Fire Formation, which wasn’t much effort.

Mo Hua completed the drawing quite quickly.

Afterward, Master Chen and everyone else crafted two more first-grade refining furnaces.

The first time is birth, the second familiarity.

With the experience of the first furnace, both the materials used and the craftsmanship were better for the subsequent two.

But however well they were made, they could still only draw the first-grade Melting Fire Formation.

This was determined by the shape and structure of the refining furnace.

After the three refining furnaces were completed, Elder Yu wouldn’t allow Master Chen and the others to craft anymore because there was no more fine iron or materials left.

He had to save some to craft spiritual artifacts; otherwise, having a furnace with no materials was like having a pot with no rice—it would be a recipe for starvation.

Mo Hua then painted two more sets of the first-grade Melting Fire Formation.

Once everything was ready, the refinery shop had four artifact furnaces at their disposal: three ordinary first-grade Melting Fire refining furnaces and one large refining furnace with a drawn first-grade Melting Fire and Controlling Spirit Compound Formation.

Elder Yu took a long breath of relief.

Everything was in place, except for the east wind.

He had toiled for a hundred or two hundred years, unable to win a better life for the loose cultivators at the bottom of Tongxian City, but now, in a short period of time, they had taken a huge step forward.

What remained to be seen was how far they could go.

The refinery shop was built, the refining furnaces were completed, and the artifact refiners were all assembled.

Elder Yu chose an auspicious day to officially commence the operation with great fortune.

The name of the refinery shop was simple and straightforward. Located in the south of the city, it was called “Southern City Refinery Shop.”

In Tongxian City, the wealthy lived in the north, while the poor lived in the south.

Therefore, naming it “Southern City” signified that this refinery shop was not just a single person’s shop, but a shop for all Monster Hunters and a shop for all the loose cultivators in the Southern City.

Upon opening the refinery shop, all Monster Hunters, as well as those loose cultivators who had helped with the construction, gathered together to eat meat, drink wine, and celebrate throughout the night.

Thanks to the overall planning by Elder Yu and Master Chen, the artifact refiners in the refinery shop soon began to craft spiritual artifacts in an orderly and disciplined manner.

The initial spiritual artifacts crafted were of three kinds: Rattan Armor, Pu Blades, and Clear Heart Hairpins.

Rattan Armor and Pu Blades were common spiritual artifacts used by Monster Hunters.

The Clear Heart Hairpin was a versatile spiritual artifact, useful for focusing and meditation during cultivation, warding off evil spirits, and also as an accessory. It didn’t excel in any particular function, but was broadly applicable.

After the refinery shop commenced operation, Mo Hua went to take a look.

The vast refinery shop, numerous artifact refiners and refinery apprentices, categorically sorted materials for artifacts, the unique techniques of artifact craft, the well-ordered forging process, and the surging flames from the artifact furnaces.

And the exquisitely crafted, uniformly sized, standardized spiritual artifacts lined up in rows after being tempered in the furnaces, forged by the artifact refiners, and cooled and shaped by immersion in water or ash…

All of this greatly shocked Mo Hua.

For the first time, Mo Hua had a clear understanding of the Tao cultivation industry.