Ren Xingzhou sat across from Yang Jing, looking at the gourd in Yang Jing’s hand with great anticipation.

Because the True Spirit Lineage sold a wide variety of Gourd Spiritual Artifacts, it had earned the nickname "the Gourd Trading House" within Celestial Square Marketplace. Ren Xingzhou didn’t mind in the slightest. It was precisely because of these Gourd Spiritual Artifacts that the True Spirit Lineage had established a firm foothold in Celestial Square Marketplace, becoming a Great Trading House known far and wide.

"This gourd is named the Five-Thunder Gourd. When activated with Magical Power, it can blast out Five Elements True Thunder."

Yang Jing’s explanation was brief.

The gourd in his hand shimmered faintly with Spiritual Light. It was every bit a Tier Two Spiritual Artifact.

Five Elements True Thunder was different from the Nine Great Celestial Thunders because it was formed from the clash of Yin Yang Five Elements Qi. Before Yang Jing, there was no such Restriction as the Five Elements Thunder Prohibition.

Even Yang Jing had only inscribed twelve Restrictions into this Five-Thunder Gourd. He used a miniature Five Elements Array to control them, jointly activating the Five Elements Qi within the gourd to unleash true Five Elements True Thunder.

If not for his mastery of the two Divine Techniques of the Five Thunders and the Five Elements Great Escape, on top of his proficiency in the Array Dao and the Artifact Refining Skill, he truly would not have been able to achieve such a feat.

"I’ve already given the Artifact Refining Atlas for this gourd to Ji Feng. I’ll be entering seclusion to focus on Artifact Refining next, so if you need anything, just find him."

Yang Jing told Ren Xingzhou.

After six months of cooperation, Ren Xingzhou no longer dared to underestimate Yang Jing’s five disciples in the slightest. He bowed respectfully and took his leave.

Watching Ren Xingzhou depart, Yang Jing sealed the Quiet Chamber’s Array to prevent anyone from disturbing him, then took the cumbersome Profound Celestial Furnace from his Inner World and placed it before him.

He did not immediately begin Artifact Refining. Instead, he first closed his eyes to meditate, adjusting his Essence, Qi, and Spirit to a state of Perfection before he began.

The cheapest material for this Artifact Refining session was the Thunder Marsh Divine Sand, which had to be gathered by a Nascent Soul Cultivator from above the Nine Heavens. If he failed, given Yang Jing’s greedy nature, his heart would ache for a long time. He could not afford to be anything but cautious.

Yang Jing took a deep breath and poured out five grains of Thunder Marsh Divine Sand from a gourd. As expected of a Tier Three Spiritual Object, the moment the sand left the gourd, electric arcs began to crackle incessantly within the grains, exuding an extraordinary power.

With a surge of his Magical Power, Yang Jing drew the five grains of Thunder Marsh Divine Sand into the Profound Celestial Furnace, then shot in a stream of Sun True Fire.

With the help of the Five Ding Divine Craftsmanship within the Profound Celestial Furnace, the Great Sun True Fire evenly Refined the five grains of Thunder Marsh Divine Sand. The Divine Sand’s composition was extraordinary; even under the heat of the Sun True Fire, it took nearly an hour before it showed the faintest signs of melting.

Yang Jing formed a hand seal, and without using any Spirit Liquid or Spiritual Gold, he used purely his own Magical Power to inscribe the Bing Fire True Prohibition onto the five grains of Thunder Marsh Divine Sand.

This Prohibition was also recorded in the Five Elements Refining Technique, but Yang Jing had modified many of the Talismanic Scripts on the True Prohibition to suit the needs of the refinement process.

After inscribing the Bing Fire True Prohibition, the aura of the Thunder Marsh Divine Sand changed. Streaks of crimson fire-qi stirred faintly upon the Divine Sand.

Storing away the five Refined grains of Thunder Marsh Divine Sand, Yang Jing then methodically inscribed the Bing Fire True Prohibition onto the remaining grains. In one go, he Refined one hundred and twenty-five grains of Divine Sand, each imbued with the Bing Fire True Prohibition.

After finishing the refining, Yang Jing decisively extinguished the furnace’s fire. He used the Five Dragons Hibernation Scripture to recover his depleted Magical Power before restarting the Artifact Refining process.

He used Sun True Fire to refine the Bing Fire Divine Sand and Ding Fire Divine Sand; Nine Flames True Fire for the Jia Wood Divine Sand and Yi Wood Divine Sand; Kunli Earth Fire for the Wu Earth Divine Sand and Ji Earth Divine Sand; Ice Soul Cold Flame for the Ren Water Divine Sand and Gui Water Divine Sand; and Profound Plain True Fire for the Geng Metal Divine Sand and Xin Metal Divine Sand.

He Refined the one thousand two hundred and fifty grains of Thunder Marsh Divine Sand into ten groups, categorized by the Yin Yang Five Elements.

By the time he had completely finished refining all the Divine Sand, Yang Jing had grown a full beard and long hair. He calculated the time and realized he had been in the Quiet Chamber for nearly three months.

After grooming his beard and hair, he glanced with satisfaction at the Divine Sand, which was now stored separately in ten gourds.

With the help of the Five Ding Divine Craftsmanship, all one thousand two hundred and fifty grains of Thunder Marsh Divine Sand had been refined without a single error. The Restriction on each grain of Divine Sand was flawless.

Yang Jing let out a long breath. The next step was the refining of the Immortal Vine Gourd, and this was the greatest challenge yet.

Given how precious this gourd was, Yang Jing knew he would likely only ever obtain one in his lifetime.

He had once looked through records to see what kinds of artifacts previous Artifact Refiners had created from Immortal Vine Gourds. He discovered that the vast majority of them were extremely conservative, choosing Restrictions that prioritized stability above all else.

These Gourd Treasures were only able to advance to Tier Four later on entirely because of the Immortal Vine Gourd’s innate properties.

Despite his boldness born from immense skill, Yang Jing still rested and meditated for a full seven days before starting the refining of the Immortal Vine Gourd.

The Restriction he chose to inscribe into the Immortal Vine Gourd was one of his own creation. He had referenced the Divine Fire Technique Prohibition from the Divine Fire Gourd and named it the Five Elements Divine Fire Prohibition. This Restriction, unlike the Divine Fire Technique Prohibition, couldn’t nurture all kinds of Spiritual Fires and True Fires in the world, but it possessed a much stronger ability to control and enhance Five Elements True Fire.

In addition to this prohibition, Yang Jing also chose a Five Elements Technique Prohibition to harmonize the Five Elements within the gourd; a Thunder Detention Technique Prohibition to confine True Thunder; and an Evil-Slaying and Demon-Vanquishing True Prohibition, which he comprehended from the True Martial Demon-Vanquishing Divine Techniques, to empower the Thunder Technique. Finally, he would use the Five Fire Divine Thunder Prohibition, which he comprehended from the Five Fire Divine Thunder, to unify them all.

He had experimented with each of these Magic Prohibitions on various gourds before, creating items like the Five Elements Gourd, the Evil-Dispelling Gourd, and the Thunder-Sealing Gourd. But this was the first time he had ever attempted to inscribe all of them into a single gourd.

If any other Artifact Refiner were to learn of his plan, they would surely call him a madman.

Yang Jing took out the Immortal Vine Gourd, which was brimming with Spiritual Qi. Both of his current Magical Treasures, the Celestial Waterfall Sword and the Demon-Catching Tripod, had a high chance of breaking through to Tier Four. A mediocre Tier Four Magical Treasure was of little significance to him.

Though normally prudent, he decided to take this gamble.

His resolve firm, he sent the Immortal Vine Gourd into the Profound Celestial Furnace with a surge of Magical Power.

Astonishingly powerful, the five-colored Five Elements True Fire blazed fiercely within the furnace’s core.

As a rare Tier Five Spiritual Material from the Nine Heavens World, the Immortal Vine Gourd was extremely difficult to Refine with ordinary Spiritual Fire. Yang Jing drew upon the Magical Power within his Golden Core, driving the Five Elements True Fire to its absolute limit.

Aided by the Five Ding Divine Craftsmanship, the blazing Five Elements True Fire smelted the gourd for a full seventy-two days. The terrifying heat even penetrated the Profound Celestial Furnace and radiated outwards.

The heat was so astonishing that the temperature inside the Quiet Chamber rose to an extreme. A nearby bookshelf spontaneously burst into flames.

If not for Yang Jing’s successful Body Refinement, he himself would have been burned by the astonishing heat.

It wasn’t until this day that the Immortal Vine Gourd finally began to show signs of being Refined.

Yang Jing’s heart steadied. ’I didn’t expect the Immortal Vine Gourd to be this difficult to Refine,’ he thought. ’If this keeps up, the Profound Celestial Furnace might melt first.’

He carefully manipulated the Five Elements True Fire, inscribing one intricate Restriction after another inside the Immortal Vine Gourd.

’On a Spiritual Material of this caliber, ordinary Spiritual Objects can no longer leave a mark. Even if a Restriction were forcefully carved on, it would flake off at the slightest impact. With my resources, I could gather some alternatives, but what Spiritual Object could possibly compare to the Five Elements True Fire?’

A Restriction refined from this True Fire could push the power of the Five Fire Divine Thunder to its absolute limit.

After manipulating the Five Elements True Fire for seventy-two days without a moment’s rest, even with his Golden Core Cultivation, Yang Jing felt his Magical Power and Divine Sense beginning to fail.

He forced himself to stay focused, transforming the Five Elements True Fire into Restrictions and refining them into the Immortal Vine Gourd.

He spent another seven days on the task. Just as Yang Jing felt he was on the verge of complete exhaustion, he finally succeeded in inscribing all the Restrictions into the Immortal Vine Gourd.

The moment the Restrictions took shape, Spiritual Qi surged like a tidal wave and was devoured by the Immortal Vine Gourd. The power with which it drew in Spiritual Qi was in no way inferior to Yang Jing’s own.