Chapter 22

Boom!

Wang Ping's cultivation surged, and all 203 strands of his spiritual power erupted from his body; in an instant, azure light burst forth within the artifact refining room.

His spiritual power came from the Spirit Realm, and naturally it also contained the aura of the Spirit Realm.

He didn't know how to force it out, but he had a clumsy method; with a gesture of his right hand, the Spirit Realm stone block that already bore the semblance of an imperial seal was summoned to his hand.

Gazing at the Spirit Realm stone block hovering above his hand, Wang Ping's eyes flashed with ruthlessness and resolve.

Smack!

His right hand, without hesitation, grasped the Spirit Realm stone block whose temperature had not yet fully dropped.

Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!

The moment he pinched it, Wang Ping's palm turned crimson, his face twitched, and a hint of pain appeared in his eyes.

Even though his body-refining cultivation had reached the peak of Iron Body, he still could not withstand the residual heat within the stone block.

At this point his right hand was a bloody mess, with strands of blood not falling to the ground but instead being absorbed by the stone block.

Wang Ping whispered: "I cannot separate the Spirit Realm's aura, so it's up to your fortune."

Having said that, he poured his spiritual power into the stone block in a near-frenzied manner.

At this moment the Spirit Realm stone block seemed to have gained a hint of sentience; as spiritual power flowed into it, it shuddered again, releasing strand after strand of Spirit Realm aura.

Above, the Heaven and Earth's mighty power, which had originally been about to depart, sensed the aura of the Spirit Realm and actually paused slightly.

The stone block shuddered again, and more Spirit Realm aura was shaken out.

Whoosh!

This time, the Heaven and Earth's mighty power did not hesitate, descending in great amounts from the unseen, endless void.

The Spirit Realm stone block, held in Wang Ping's hand, felt as if it shared a bloodline connection; as the Heaven and Earth's mighty power poured in, he actually felt a sense of joy.

Perhaps it had truly given birth to a hint of sentience!

Although this seems unbelievable, after all it is merely an ordinary stone from the Spirit Realm.

After half a cup of tea, the Heaven and Earth's mighty power within the stone block had been infused to ninety-nine percent; Wang Ping originally thought it would stop there, but to his surprise the Heaven and Earth's mighty power continued to pour in.

At this point Wang Ping's complexion finally changed; he realized that the stone block he had brought back from the Spirit Realm was certainly not an ordinary stone.

Under Wang Ping's gaze, the stone block finally completed a hundred percent infusion.

Wang Ping opened his palm, and the stone block flew into the air, taking with it a layer of skin from his hand.

The instant pain almost made him faint, but he knew he couldn't pass out now; he immediately raised his bloody right hand, pressed his index and middle fingers together in a sword-finger gesture, pointed at the stone block to draw it into the furnace, and then reignited the furnace's ground fire.

Having reached this stage, his work was done; all that remained was to wait.

This artifact refining had already taken a day and a night.

Finally nearing completion, the curing time would be a little longer; during this time, the Heaven and Earth's mighty power within the artifact would draw out and enhance its inherent traits.

Wang Ping's artifact used only the Spirit Realm stone block, so there was no need to consider the problem of merging the characteristics of different spiritual materials.

So he simply sat cross-legged on the ground to recover.

Two days passed in a flash; inside the artifact refining workshop, Wang Ping stood inside and outside the artifact furnace, excitedly gazing at the now-formed Spirit Realm stone block.

The ground fire within the black-gold furnace had been shut off; the stone block, originally gray-brown, had now become a square, crystal-colored great seal.

Its appearance was basically the same as the emperor's imperial seal.

Wang Ping gestured with both hands, and the crystal great seal vanished with a whoosh, reappearing to hover silently above his palm.

Although it was merely a three-inch great seal, it gave Wang Ping a feeling of weight as heavy as a mountain.

Yet when he held it in his hand, he felt no weight at all.

After being infused with the Heaven and Earth's mighty power, it had undergone an essential change compared to mundane weapons.

As long as he poured spiritual power into it, this great seal would become as heavy as a mountain.

Wang Ping had wanted to test the great seal's power, but upon seeing his surroundings he abandoned the idea.

A lowest-standard artifact refining room must have a floor capable of withstanding mid-stage Qi Refining attacks without damage; even Wang Ping could not smash a large pit into the ground.

Merely the Spirit Realm stone block as material could, by its weight, press a one-meter-deep pit into the artifact refining workshop's floor, let alone the great seal already refined into an artifact.

If he were to test his artifact here, he feared he would shatter the entire floor.

Gazing at the lustrous, translucent crystal great seal, Wang Ping wondered what grade of artifact it actually was.

Ninety-five percent infusion of Heaven and Earth's magical power already makes it a supreme artifact; what would a hundred percent infusion be?

The elementary treatise on artifact refining didn't mention it either, Chiyanzi never brought it up, and Wang Ping also didn't know what rank to assign it.

Or perhaps he should simply place it in the perfect rank?

Wang Ping felt it was acceptable, after all, a hundred percent infusion truly deserved to be called perfect.

The lustrous, translucent crystal great seal in Wang Ping's hand emitted a glazed-like hue.

Looking at it, it is pleasing to the eye.

"From now on, I'll call you the Heaven-Reversing Seal!"

Wang Ping suddenly spoke, saying that the inspiration for refining this artifact came from the Heaven-Reversing Seal.

Now, seeing it exude a domineering aura even in silence, he couldn't help but think of the Heaven-Reversing Seal from myth and legend.

After six days and five nights, his artifact, the Heaven-Reversing Seal, was finally successfully refined; he finally possessed a life-saving treasure.

This finally gave him a sense of security.

Wielding the Heaven-Reversing Seal, which surpasses supreme artifacts, he can now find a place to silently cultivate.

Body tempering, qi refining, Azure Light Sword Technique — all must now be cultivated.

If he can cultivate to the late stage of qi refining, he can once again cultivate nine hundred thirty-six strands of spiritual power.

He is now twenty-one; there are thirty-nine years left until sixty, and he is still one thousand one hundred ninety-five strands of spiritual power short of completing the late stage of qi refining.

Afterwards there is still the great perfection of qi refining, and only then foundation establishment.

Even though he cultivates using the Spirit Realm's spiritual energy, his future is not optimistic, and he still needs to refine his body.

Fortunately, he still has pure spiritual liquid, which can quickly boost his cultivation whether used for body refinement or qi refinement.

However, the path of cultivation is inherently rugged; even with such fortune, one must be cautious, for among a thousand Qi Refining cultivators only one may achieve Foundation Establishment, showing how low the odds are.

Of course, this is related to the lack of Foundation Establishment objects.

Currently, there are two ways to achieve Foundation Establishment in the cultivation world: Foundation Establishment Pills and Foundation Establishment Spiritual Objects.

Compared to other methods, taking a Foundation Establishment Pill carries relatively low risk; unfortunately, such pills are rare.

The herbs for refining Foundation Establishment Pills are even scarcer; even though the Green Moon Sect monopolizes Zhao State, they can only produce one batch every ten years, yielding only five or six pills, far from enough for the thousands of Outer Sect cultivators at Qi Refining Great Completion.

As for Foundation Establishment Spiritual Objects, they are even harder to find, either located in some secret realm or in a dangerous forbidden land.

Suppressing these thoughts, Wang Ping put away his formation and then left by pushing the door open.

As he stepped out of the courtyard gate, Tian Min was already standing outside.

"Fellow Daoist, may your wish be fulfilled?"

Wang Ping nodded and then handed over a hundred spirit stones.

Tian Min glanced, saw the amount was wrong, and before he could speak, Wang Ping said:

"The remainder is for the repair costs of the Artifact Forging Room?"

"Repair costs?" Tian Min looked at Wang Ping with suspicion.

Wang Ping gave an embarrassed laugh and said nothing more.

Seeing this, Tian Min also did not inquire further; if the Artifact Forging Room's core were truly damaged, he would be able to sense it, and since nothing has happened, it indicates the situation is not serious.

Returning to the front courtyard once more, Wang Ping suddenly asked:

"Fellow Daoist Tian, I wonder if your pavilion has any cultivation-enhancing pills for sale?"

Tian Min shook his head, and Wang Ping, surprised, asked:

"Could it be that the Treasure Gathering Pavilion does not sell medicinal pills?"

Tian Min let out a bitter laugh and said:

"Cultivation-enhancing pills are in high demand in the cultivation world; you surely know this, I'm not exaggerating—now the Treasure Gathering Pavilion is watched by countless people, and as soon as such pills go on sale, they are snapped up immediately."

Wang Ping remained silent; in the end, it's because Zhao State's cultivation world lacks resources and cannot produce many pill masters.

Not to mention pill masters, even formation masters, talisman masters, and artifact forging masters are severely lacking.

It is said that, in the cultivation world, nearly half of Foundation Establishment cultivators lack a usable Dharma treasure.

Some still use supreme Dharma instruments.

Therefore, most cultivators, after achieving Foundation Establishment, leave the Xichu Three Kingdoms to train in the broader cultivation world.

Even the Blue Cloud Sect, which has over a hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators, actually has only fifty or so remaining within the sect; the rest have gone out to seek opportunities.