Chapter 922

"This is Elder Wei, one of the two master artifact refiners of our Three Sovereigns Temple. From now on, you will temporarily act as Elder Wei's assistant and learn the art of artifact refining along the way. Rest assured, I won't truly make you an artifact refiner. Our temple does not have the financial resources to cultivate another full-time artifact refiner. It is only because we are currently refining a heavy treasure that we need some extra hands to help out temporarily. However, as long as you perform well during this period, after two or three years, I will bestow upon you spirit pills and personally provide you with some guidance in your cultivation. I will certainly not go back on the promise I made to you earlier!"

Immortal Aunt Lady Hualian, who was speaking to Han Li, was currently standing in the middle of a secret chamber piled high with all sorts of miscellaneous materials. Standing to one side was another red-faced old man, about fifty years of age, who appeared to be at the early stage of Foundation Establishment. He was looking Han Li up and down with a deep frown.

As for Han Li, what could he say at this moment? He could only nod repeatedly and agree.

"Fellow Daoist Lady Hualian, does this martial nephew truly understand the art of artifact refining? Isn't his age and cultivation base a bit too low? Didn't you say you were going to the White Dew Academy to find a suitable helper for me?" The old man said this with clear displeasure.

"The treasure being refined this time is of great importance, so it is best not to let other sects participate in this matter. Perhaps Martial Nephew Han's cultivation and experience are still shallow, but if Elder Wei provides a little guidance, doing some work in refining materials should be no problem at all." Immortal Aunt Lady Hualian said with a light laugh.

"But even refining some materials requires a certain amount of talent. Otherwise, the raw materials will be wasted for nothing. However, since Fellow Daoist Lady Hualian has said so, let this kid stay and try for now." The old man had no choice but to say this with clear reluctance.

"Rest assured, my judgment is not that poor. Although Martial Nephew Han's cultivation is not high, the magic power in his body is exceptionally pure; he will certainly not be too bad at controlling magic power and refining artifacts." The Daoist aunt pursed her lips slightly and broke into a charming smile.

"Eh! So that's how it is; he does indeed have some potential. It seems Fellow Daoist Lady Hualian didn't just grab someone at random." Upon hearing this, the old man surnamed Wei looked at Han Li again with surprise, a trace of astonishment flashing across his face.

"I have already brought the person Elder Wei needed. The refining progress below must be tightened up. Compared to the other two temples, our progress is already a bit behind. In the end, you must not delay the important matter. Otherwise, neither of us will be able to bear the blame. Now, this poor Daoist will take her leave." Immortal Aunt Lady Hualian finally stood up to leave, and before she went, she gave one more instruction.

"Rest assured, as long as this kid is usable, the progress will not be delayed." The red-faced old man stood up to see her off and promised with a single word.

Hearing this, the Daoist aunt was finally satisfied and truly left.

Thus, in the secret chamber, only Han Li and the old man remained.

"You heard what was just said. Regardless of whether you have interest or talent in artifact refining, I will teach you the way of artifact refining with all my heart for one month. Then, I will arrange tasks for you. As long as you can complete my tasks on time every month, you can handle the rest of the time as you please. If you cannot complete the tasks, then get out immediately; I will find someone else suitable to enter the Artifact Refining Hall." The old man surnamed Wei did not leave any room for sentiment and spoke without the slightest politeness.

"Yes, this disciple will do his best!" Han Li replied with a calm expression.

"Of course, being a disciple in our Artifact Refining Hall is not without its benefits. Not only can you use some of the magic tools and Earth Fire Pools in the hall for free, but the spirit stones issued every month are also much more than those of the disciples in the other halls. Now, come with me to meet the other disciples of the Artifact Refining Hall. In the future, you may need to work together to complete some materials." Seeing that he seemed satisfied with Han Li's attitude, the old man's expression softened as he spoke.

Afterward, he led Han Li out of the secret chamber.

Thus, after meeting the other three low-tier disciples at the Qi Condensation stage and having a place to stay arranged for him, Han Li's cultivation career at the Imperial Clarity Temple began.

The so-called Artifact Refining Hall was actually a separate courtyard built in the middle of the mountain peak where the Imperial Clarity Temple was located.

There were not many buildings; apart from an Earth Fire Hall and a few artifact refining pavilions, there were no other buildings worth mentioning. The disciples in the hall even had to live in caves built against the mountain.

As for the people in the hall, apart from the red-haired old man, who was the full-time artifact refiner, there were two other middle-aged cultivators at the eighth or ninth layer of Qi Condensation who acted as the old man's assistants during refining. The rest were the four disciples of the Artifact Refining Hall, including Han Li.

Therefore, although the place was not large, it was naturally more than enough for these people.

However, there were quite a few male and female disciples of the Imperial Clarity Temple who came to the Artifact Refining Hall every day to rent artifact refining pavilions or directly request the refining of various objects.

Since it was a nunnery, naturally eight or nine out of ten were female disciples. These female cultivators were not all Daoist nuns; many were young women practicing in the secular world, all of them possessing extraordinary appearance and speech, much like young ladies from noble families.

Watching from the sidelines with cold eyes, Han Li discovered that although the three male disciples of the Artifact Refining Hall were exhausted every day, they had long been infatuated by these female cultivators coming and going. Apart from knowing only how to please these female disciples and refining artifacts desperately, their own cultivation had long been stagnant for many years.

The small number of male disciples who came here were mostly outer-temple disciples who did odd jobs, just like those in the Artifact Refining Hall. Some were responsible for researching arrays, some for refining pills, and so on. As for those female disciples, they only needed to focus on their cultivation.

After Han Li shook his head secretly at these things, he did not meddle in other people's business.

Moreover, receiving these male and female disciples was the business of the other three; Han Li was designated to first focus on learning the refining and purification of materials. The red-faced old man would set aside one hour every day to specifically explain some basic knowledge of the way of artifact refining to Han Li, and sometimes he would even personally demonstrate and provide guidance.

Given Han Li's original cultivation and knowledge, he naturally did not think he could truly learn anything from a Foundation Establishment artifact refiner. He was just holding an attitude of going through the motions.

As a result, only a few days later, Han Li was greatly astonished.

Although the old man's cultivation was not high, his attainments in the way of artifact refining were absolutely extraordinary. Just looking at the purification of materials, this person was proficient in all kinds of artifact refining techniques and seemed to have some research into the artifact refining secret arts of many sects. He had not even heard of some of the artifact refining skills and knowledge among them.

After just over ten days, Han Li, who had benefited greatly, could not help but be pleasantly surprised.

It seems that the Great Jin's claim to be the cultivation holy land of the mortal world was truly not an empty boast.

Just an artifact refiner in such an inconspicuous Daoist temple could master so many artifact refining techniques, which included both well-preserved ancient artifact refining techniques and new artifact refining arts summarized and researched by generations of artifact refining masters through long-term accumulation and precipitation. These added together were far from comparable to the simple artifact refining techniques in the Heavenly South and the Chaotic Star Sea. This truly opened his eyes.

Speaking of which, Han Li's artifact refining skills were also quite ordinary. The artifact refining techniques he obtained from Qi Qi Yunxiao back then already appeared shallow compared to his current cultivation and knowledge. After he joined the Fallen Cloud Sect in the Chaotic Star Sea, he had read quite a few books on artifact refining techniques, but there were not many things that were truly useful to him.

Now that he had encountered this rare opportunity, Han Li naturally would not let it go easily.

Apart from calming his mind to cultivate the Bright King Art at other times, he was extremely attentive to the teachings of the old man surnamed Wei. The artifact refining talent and serious attitude he displayed made the old man very satisfied. Sometimes, some of Han Li's questions even scratched the old man's itch, and he would unknowingly explain many more things.

As a result, the old man's attitude toward Han Li gradually changed greatly within just one month. From the initial stern and cold face to the later amiable expression, the other three disciples of the Artifact Refining Hall, who knew the old man's temper well, could not help but be dumbfounded.

Out of jealousy, these three naturally did not have a good attitude toward Han Li. However, Han Li was currently favored, so these three would not lose their heads and cause trouble for Han Li. But when they met in daily life, extreme indifference was naturally unavoidable.

Han Li was happy with this. He was just hoping to be alone so he could cultivate with peace of mind. Having no one to disturb him was naturally the best thing.

One month later, the old man surnamed Wei had not only explained many techniques for refining various materials to Han Li, but even mentioned quite a few unique artifact refining techniques to Han Li, which Han Li kept firmly in his heart.

He prepared to collect these artifact refining techniques from all over the Great Jin as soon as his magic power recovered. This would also allow the subsequent refining of the Seven Flames Fan and the puppet of Elder Elder Dayan to be more perfect, and their power would be raised to a higher level.

But just as the old man said, once the one-month period was up, Han Li was immediately assigned a series of tasks for refining materials.

However, given the cultivation he displayed, there naturally would not be any high-difficulty tasks for him to do.

As a result, Han Li completed them with extreme ease and did not need to take them to heart at all. He used the rest of his time to cultivate the Bright King Art.

After three or four months passed like this, everything went very smoothly, and Han Li felt that choosing to join the Imperial Clarity Temple seemed to be a good thing.

During this period, the old man surnamed Wei suddenly became extremely busy. Usually, apart from assigning some artifact refining tasks to the four of them a few times a month, he would disappear into the secret chamber of the Earth Fire Hall, not knowing what he was refining.

And that Immortal Aunt Lady Hualian also came several times during this period. Each time, she would hide in the secret chamber with the old man, not knowing what they were discussing.

Because these two were cautious enough, they would release warning barriers every time they talked. Although Han Li was a bit curious in his heart, he was now focused only on cultivating the Bright King Art and did not risk letting his spiritual sense penetrate inside to eavesdrop on anything.

On this day, in the secret chamber of the cave, Han Li sat cross-legged with his body tilted, his upper body twisted into a strange posture, his hands forming seals on the prayer mat without moving, and his body was shrouded in a layer of faint golden light, trembling slightly without stopping.

But looking closely, one could see that Han Li's skin was currently covered with dense blood streaks and thick blue veins, and bumps the size of eggs were moving on the surface of his body like living things, appearing extremely strange.

And with every tremor of his body, Han Li's face could not help but twitch, showing an expression of extreme pain. Beads of sweat the size of soybeans kept emerging from his forehead, as if he were undergoing extremely intense exercise, and even most of his clothes were soaked through.

I do not know how much time passed, but the golden light on Han Li's body gradually faded away.

After letting out a long breath, he withdrew the magic seals in his hands and finally returned to a normal sitting posture.

Almost at the same time, all the abnormal phenomena on his body surface quickly disappeared, and his body returned to normal in the blink of an eye.

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