Chapter 241: Chapter 227: Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact 2

First, he could now make much better use of Spiritual Materials when refining Lower Grade Spiritual Artifacts. Some combinations that previously seemed only capable of producing an artifact with two Spirit Patterns could now, in his hands, be refined into one with three.

Of course, a six-star Artifact Refining Talent didn’t grant this ability directly. It still required a vast accumulation of experience as a foundation. You can’t build a skyscraper without a solid base, after all. Before his talent was upgraded to six-star, he had already amassed a great deal of experience refining Lower Grade Spiritual Artifacts.

Beyond making better use of materials, he was also capable of refining Lower Grade Spiritual Artifacts specifically designed to counter Demons. However, these required extremely high-quality Spiritual Materials.

Only when the finest Spiritual Materials provided him with enough leeway could he refine such an artifact, and the cost of these materials was even higher than for a typical Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact.

"I can do this!"

After swapping out some of the auxiliary components, Fang Yun made a judgment call based on his experience.

These auxiliary materials were originally ones he had set aside for refining Middle Grade Spiritual Artifacts.

At first, he had only wanted to refine a pair of Half-Hidden Spirit Boots with a single Spirit Pattern. After obtaining the hide of the Weaving Concealment Demon Bat King, he had aimed for three Spirit Patterns.

Now, with the boost from his six-star Artifact Refining Talent and some better auxiliary Spiritual Materials, he wanted to refine a pair of Half-Hidden Spirit Boots with four Spirit Patterns.

An increase in ability always makes one strive for something better.

Fang Yun felt this was perfectly reasonable. In fact, he felt it was exactly what he should be doing.

He had a six-star Artifact Refining Talent now. If he only refined a Lower Grade Spiritual Artifact with three Spirit Patterns, he would feel like he was shortchanging himself.

He was not a reckless person. He had already planned a fallback route for refining these Half-Hidden Spirit Boots.

’If a problem arises during the refining process, I can still adjust in time and produce a pair of Half-Hidden Spirit Boots with two Spirit Patterns.’

There was a thirty percent chance it would turn out that way.

After repeatedly simulating the refining process in his mind, Fang Yun finally concluded that he had a seventy percent chance of success.

After more than an hour of preparation, Fang Yun officially began refining the Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact-level Half-Hidden Spirit Boots.

He pushed the Spiritual Materials to their absolute limit. The entire process was conducted with extreme caution, fearing even the slightest mistake.

This was his longest refinement session yet.

It took him more than three days to complete the process.

Refining most Middle Grade Spiritual Artifacts took three to five days.

A Qi Refining Stage Cultivator might be able to refine a Lower Grade Spiritual Artifact, but they could absolutely not refine a Middle Grade one. The extended refining time was simply too taxing for a Qi Refining Cultivator, whose life essence had not yet broken through to a higher level. Not even a six-star, or even a seven-star, Artifact Refining Talent would help.

"Success!"

Fang Yun’s face lit up with joy as he gently stroked the first Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact he had ever refined.

He still hadn’t gathered all the Spiritual Materials needed to refine the Earth Yellow Sword and the Profound Crystal Shield to the Middle Grade level.

The process of refining the Half-Hidden Spirit Boots had been incredibly difficult, but the moment he succeeded, Fang Yun felt it was all worth it.

Not only did this provide him with experience for his future refinement of Middle Grade Spiritual Artifacts, but it also gave him a deeper understanding of his six-star Artifact Refining Talent.

After his excitement passed and he calmed down, Fang Yun first bound the Half-Hidden Spirit Boots to himself.

Then, he conducted a simple test of the Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact.

He had not yet tested a Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact with the boost from his four-star Combat Talent.

"Just as I thought. Compared to Lower Grade Spiritual Artifacts, the Spiritual Power consumption reduction for using a Middle Grade one is a bit lower," Fang Yun said aloud.

This was the easiest result to test for.

His four-star Combat Talent provided a consumption reduction of up to eighty percent for Lower Grade Spiritual Artifacts, but for Middle Grade ones, it was less than seventy percent.

A four-star talent was more than enough for the Foundation Establishment Stage. Fang Yun speculated that a four-star Combat Talent would probably provide around a fifty percent Spiritual Power reduction for Upper Grade Spiritual Artifacts.

He most likely wouldn’t be able to verify this speculation.

By the time he obtained an Upper Grade Spiritual Artifact, his Combat Talent would have likely already reached five stars.

This didn’t matter much to Fang Yun. The important thing was that his talents could continuously and rapidly improve.

’With the four-pattern Half-Hidden Spirit Boots, I won’t have to linger on the border between the inner and outer regions of the Supreme Profound Mountain Range anymore. I can venture deeper into the inner region, but it’s best not to go too far in...’

With the Middle Grade Half-Hidden Spirit Boots in his possession, his main targets in the Supreme Profound Mountain Range would now be Demon Beasts at the early Foundation Establishment Stage.

Once they entered the Second Tier, Demon Beasts had a chance of forming a Demon Core. After the Third Tier, they were guaranteed to have one.

When refining a Foundation Establishment Pill, a Second Tier Demon Core could be used as a substitute for the main Spirit Medicine. This was considered a variation of the Foundation Establishment Pill Formula.

Fang Yun knew that their Celestial Cloud Sect currently possessed three different Pill Formulas for the Foundation Establishment Pill.

The body of the early Second Tier Weaving Concealment Demon Bat King had not contained a Demon Core.

The stronger a Second Tier Demon Beast was, the greater the likelihood of it possessing a Demon Core.

After the simple test, Fang Yun put away the Middle Grade Half-Hidden Spirit Boots. He could slowly analyze their other effects later.

「Seven days later.」

Having just finished refining a batch of Spirit Ascension Pills, Fang Yun walked out of the Alchemy Room and sent a small stream of Spiritual Power into a stone slab on the rock wall.

At this point, the message displayed outside the stone gate of his cave abode would change.

Whether he was performing Alchemy or Artifact Refining, it was a form of seclusion, just like breaking through to a new Realm, and he could not be easily disturbed.

At that very moment, he heard a knock on the outer gate of his cave abode.

’What a coincidence.’

Under Fang Yun’s control, the stone gate of the cave abode slowly opened.

"Brother Fang Yun!"

"Oh, it’s you, kiddo."

"Brother Fang Yun, you can’t call me that! I’m already eighteen," Huang Mengzhu said unhappily as she walked in, hearing Fang Yun’s nickname for her.

"I am a Foundation Establishment Elder now. As long as you haven’t broken through to the Foundation Establishment Stage, I’m technically a full generation above you in seniority."

As he said this, the seated Fang Yun watched Huang Mengzhu’s reaction with a smile and even used a Spiritual Power voice transmission.

"If you want to get rid of that nickname, you’ll have to work hard and cultivate to the Foundation Establishment Stage."

"Ever since you became an Elder, Brother Fang Yun, you always have a whole spiel ready." Huang Mengzhu uncovered her ears. As a mere Qi Refining Cultivator, she stood no chance of blocking out the sound from a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

"By the way, Mengzhu, how long were you waiting outside?"

"Not long, only about an hour or so. I was going to leave if I had to wait more than a two-hour period," Huang Mengzhu said, her eyes fixed on Fang Yun.

In reality, she had been waiting for six hours.

She had set a limit for herself of six hours. If Fang Yun was still in seclusion after that, she would have left.

Huang Mengzhu felt her luck was good. Thankfully, she hadn’t left immediately when the six hours were up, but had waited a little longer. Otherwise, she would have missed him.

After telling her lie, she looked back at Fang Yun.

"Brother Fang Yun, I’ve reached the Qi Refining Seventh Layer!" As she spoke, Huang Mengzhu revealed her aura.

She was still wearing the robes of an Outer Sect Disciple, which meant she had come here shortly after breaking through to the late Qi Refining Stage.

She hadn’t even gone to the Celestial Cloud Pavilion yet.

"Not bad, not bad at all. From now on, Mengzhu will be an Inner Sect Disciple of the sect," Fang Yun said, quite satisfied with her progress.

He had helped Huang Mengzhu, but not a great deal.

For Huang Mengzhu to reach the late Qi Refining Stage at eighteen with her Three Spirit Roots aptitude was already quite impressive.

"This is a gift from this Elder to congratulate you on becoming an Inner Sect Disciple." A small porcelain vial landed in front of Huang Mengzhu as Fang Yun spoke with an intentionally formal and aged tone.

The small porcelain vial contained Upper Grade Qi Enhancement Pills.

Upper Grade Qi Enhancement Pills had long been useless to him, but Fang Yun had kept them specifically for this moment.

You could say he had prepared this gift for Huang Mengzhu a long time ago.

"Thank you, Elder!"

Seeing Fang Yun’s act, Huang Mengzhu thanked him in a prim and proper manner.

Faced with the girl playing along, Fang Yun smiled, shook his head, and felt quite happy.

For Huang Mengzhu, breaking through to the late Qi Refining Stage meant she would face an important test.

A test from Xu Qingxuan, the Management Elder of Smoke Cloud Peak.

If she could pass this test, she would become Xu Qingxuan’s Direct Disciple.

At that point, her backing would be even stronger.