Early morning.

The mountain mist had yet to disperse.

The town was already showing signs of life. Amidst the curling wisps of cooking smoke, people ambled in twos and threes toward the outskirts.

The door opened, revealing Chu Mu dressed in a clean and tidy green robe.

In the past, months of secluded, bitter study would have inevitably left him looking disheveled. But this time, under living conditions so different from before, he too was markedly different.

His clothes were neat, and his interactions with people had increased.

’What rare tranquility!’

This wasn’t the kind of peace found under the protection of the Array Restriction in the Marketplace. It was the tranquility that came from human interaction and harmonious coexistence.

As usual, after opening his door, Chu Mu cleaned up any filth.

Old Chen was already pushing his night-soil cart, cleaning up filth from door to door. When he reached Chu Mu’s entrance, a bit of idle chatter was unavoidable.

The Courtyard Lady Cultivator from across the way, her door having opened at some point, joined in the idle chat.

Chu Mu didn’t look at them with any prejudice. Old Chen’s foolishness was a product of his hopes for the continuation of his own bloodline.

Perhaps it was also born from his unwillingness to accept that he had wasted his own life, so he placed his unrealistic hopes on the next generation.

Whatever the relationship between father and son, an outsider ultimately had no right to comment.

As for the Female Cultivator named Miaoyu, Chu Mu had learned over this period that she was a wretched soul—even more so than he could have imagined.

She was said to have been a mortal girl, but was suddenly conscripted by the County Magistrate’s Office for Forced Labor. Nearly ten thousand men and women from the entire county were designated for this labor.

If that were all, it wouldn’t have been much—just ordinary mortal labor.

But as it turned out, it wasn’t mortal labor at all.

It stemmed from the will of the Cultivation Immortal Realm.

The cause was simply that a Golden Core True Master who ruled the region needed to refine a Magical Treasure, the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, and lacked enough souls to use as nourishing consumables.

The souls of ordinary mortals are not manifest before they undergo Divine Appearance, making them difficult to use. But for the Cultivation Immortal Realm, causing a mortal to undergo Divine Appearance... is that difficult?

Obviously not. It couldn’t be easier!

Compared to capturing Cultivators to harvest their Divine Souls, cultivating mortals until they underwent Divine Appearance was clearly far easier and had a much smaller impact.

For a Golden Core True Master, it was as easy as could be. A single word from them, and countless people below would immediately spring into action.

So, what was called Forced Labor was, in reality, the gathering of Refining Materials.

A single decree from a master at the Golden Core Realm meant the conscription of hundreds of thousands of mortals.

According to Miaoyu, these hundreds of thousands of people were each fed one Qi and Blood Pill every day. And these so-called Qi and Blood Pills were, in fact, refined from other mortals.

Stimulated by the residual spiritual essence and the seven emotions and six desires within these mortal Qi and Blood Pills, achieving Divine Appearance was easy.

However, it was even easier to become a raving lunatic.

But for Artifact Refining consumables—especially for a demonic Magical Artifact like the Ten Thousand Souls Banner—it obviously didn’t matter whether the Divine Soul was lucid or not.

Miaoyu’s entire family, old and young, became Refining Materials. The hundreds of thousands conscripted for Forced Labor also became consumables.

As for her, she was considered lucky. She was taken by a guard, a Cultivator, as a slave to vent his desires on, and by that luck, she survived.

After being passed around, she eventually settled here in Jade Emperor Valley, where she has lived ever since.

In a sense, this Courtyard Lady Cultivator clearly bore a blood feud.

But after learning of this situation, Chu Mu realized, ’It seems I... also bear a blood feud?’

If he remembered correctly, the original owner of this body’s father also seemed to have died because of Forced Labor.

Although his predecessor’s father was escorting the laborers, he, like all the conscripted workers, had vanished without a trace under extremely bizarre circumstances.

Back in Nanshan Town, he had specifically asked around. The laborers conscripted from several counties around Qinghe County had also mysteriously vanished without a trace.

At the time, he had been puzzled for a long while. After all, for tens of thousands of laborers to all disappear without a trace... not even a ghost would believe there wasn’t a hidden story behind it!

But looking at it from the perspective of Miaoyu’s experience, it seemed to make sense.

’Not mortal Forced Labor, but the will of the Cultivation Immortal Realm...’

’Treating people as consumables... given the nature of that Li Family Cultivator who didn’t see mortals as human, it’s not impossible...’

’So, I’ve inexplicably shouldered a blood feud?’

He wasn’t sure if his speculation was accurate.

But even if his guess was correct, given the reality of his situation, Chu Mu found it hard to feel anything about it.

’After all, am I really going to avenge my predecessor’s father over this bizarre feud?’

That was obviously impossible. The only psychological ripple he felt was shock at this cruel reality.

Beyond that, there was nothing else, nor could there be.

’On second thought, in this Cultivation Immortal Realm, such things aren’t exactly rare.’

After all, in the Great Chu Cultivation Immortal World, the so-called division between the righteous and demonic paths was based merely on interests, not principles.

Absolute power, coupled with the monopoly on resources and knowledge that it brought, as well as the long life granted by that power.

Anything that happened under such an order could not be understood using the logic from his past life.

Because... it simply didn’t apply!

After some conversation, Chu Mu returned to his room, pushing the so-called blood feud to the back of his mind.

He paused before his desk, gazing at the mountain of manuscripts piled upon it. After a moment of contemplation, his eyes shifted and focused on the Light Curtain Panel.

[Name: Chu Mu.]

[Skill: Basic Blade Technique (Peak of Perfection) 9999/10000.

Fireball Skill (Returning to the Essence) 5380/10000.

Flame Barrier (Returning to the Essence) 2380/10000

Fire Snake Skill (Peak of Perfection) 3589/10000

Cleaning Skill (Beginner’s Practice) 356/1000]

[Blazing Fire Technique Eighth Layer (2563/3000)]

[Wild Bull Technique Second Layer (530/2000)]

[Alchemy: Grain Avoidance Pill: Peak of Perfection (8953/10000) 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Vein Nourishing Pill: Peak of Perfection (7325/10000)]

[Artifact Refining: Long Rainbow Sword: Beginner’s Practice: 99/100]

[Spiritual Radiance Value: 5320.6%]

Months of bitter study were reflected on the Light Curtain Panel by only one thing: the Long Rainbow Sword, stuck at the cusp of Beginner’s Practice.

The so-called Long Rainbow Sword was the only Artifact Refining Formula recorded in the Artifact Refining Manual—a Lower Grade Spiritual Artifact in the form of a Long Sword.

Months of hard study, from recognizing and understanding the entire Artifact Refining System, had all culminated in this single Artifact Refining Formula.

Practice makes perfect.

And for the vast knowledge system of Artifact Refining, the first step of practice was this Lower Grade Spiritual Artifact, the Long Rainbow Sword.

He had already prepared all the materials, which were worth no more than a few dozen Spirit Stones in total.

But the variety involved was greater than he had imagined.

Three types of Tier One Lower Grade Ore Materials, one type of Tier One Middle Grade Spirit Ore, and one piece of Tier One Middle Grade Spirit Wood.

And these five were just the materials needed for the main body of the sword.

The most important parts of a Magical Artifact are the Artifact Patterns and Array Prohibitions engraved upon it.

The so-called Artifact Patterns are actually channels for transporting Spiritual Power.

The Array Prohibitions share the same origin as the art of Arrays. Their function is to use the Spiritual Power supplied through the Artifact Patterns to grant the Magical Artifact its final, wondrous properties.

For example, the Small Three Talents Array Prohibition on the Bright Moon Battle Armor originates from the Little Three Talents Formation in the art of Arrays.

It has just been adapted for the art of Artifact Refining.

By engraving the Little Three Talents Formation onto the Puppet Battle Armor, the armor is imbued with the defensive power of the formation.

The Artifact Patterns, then, are the pathways that supply Spiritual Power. They connect to the Small Three Talents Array Prohibition, continuously transmitting Spiritual Power to keep it operational and maintain its defensive capabilities.

Engraving these Artifact Patterns and Array Prohibitions naturally requires a variety of corresponding Spiritual Materials.

And these Spiritual Materials were an eclectic and numerous assortment.

Compared to Alchemy, Artifact Refining was clearly no simpler. In fact, due to its incredibly vast knowledge system, its difficulty was evidently much higher.

After understanding this knowledge system, the countless brilliant ideas Chu Mu had at the beginning were undoubtedly doused with a bucket of ice-cold water.

To truly realize those fantastic ideas of his, the Artifact Refining knowledge he had currently come into contact with and understood was far from sufficient.

Not to mention, the knowledge of Puppetry Skill he had obtained was merely foundational.

If he were to truly bury himself in this path, the road ahead of him was clearly very, very long.

It was foreseeable that, for a long time to come, the path of the Artifact Refining Puppet would be just like Alchemy.

He would have to keep copying the model, and for a very long time at that...

He would have to copy until his experience was abundant and his knowledge system was complete...

...