Chapter 637: Semi-Artifact—The Fire Phoenix Crown (First update, requesting all)

A damaged tail feather of a Fire Phoenix, a Fusang Tree Branch over half a meter long, blocks of Nine Luminaries Sun Wood, the feathers and claws of a Great Sun Fire Crow, Fire Radiance Origin Crystal, and a pile of fire crystals.

Except for the fire crystals, every other item was either Heaven and Earth Essence or fire-elemental treasure materials that had reached the Heaven and Earth Rare Treasure grade.

The materials this time were absolutely no worse than those used to refine the Nine Heavens Clear Qi Ruler last time; they were even two points superior. It was hard to say what kind of finished product would be refined in the end.

Unlike the previous refining of the Nine Heavens Clear Qi Ruler, Li Zhangsheng was no longer a Fifth-tier Beastmaster, but a Pseudo-King. At the same time, he had initially studied the Artifact Refining Canon, and the Crowned Flame Bird had also reached the Demon King level. Logically, he could refine a higher-quality work.

However, in matters of artifact refining, besides personal ability, luck was also indispensable. After all, even an artifact refiner could not predict the specific effects of a Treasure.

"Crowned Flame Bird, breathe fire!"

Following Li Zhangsheng's order, a mass of red and white flames erupted from the Crowned Flame Bird's sharp Bird Beak and fell into the Jade Dragon Mist Cauldron.

The Jade Dragon Mist Cauldron began to operate rapidly, and a jade dragon about a zhang long emerged, slowly circling the cauldron.

At this moment, Li Zhangsheng tossed the initially processed Fire Phoenix tail feather and Fusang Tree Branch into the cauldron.

Even though they had undergone some preliminary processing, their melting points remained the highest among this pile of fire-elemental treasure materials.

Unlike the Three-Legged Fire Crow, the Crowned Flame Bird had grasped the true meaning of the Undying Fire and the Endless Wood; its endurance in this regard far exceeded that of the Three-Legged Fire Crow.

After a quarter of an hour passed, the two treasure materials still showed no signs of melting.

Chirp~

Just at this moment, the Brightness Heavy-Pupil Bird added a Light Blessing to the Crowned Flame Bird.

Although the Light Blessing was greatly discounted due to the gap in cultivation realms, it still strengthened the Crowned Flame Bird's power to a greater or lesser extent.

Almost at the same time, Li Zhangsheng tossed a fire crystal into the Jade Dragon Mist Cauldron.

In an instant, the red and white flames suddenly burst forth.

Additionally, Li Zhangsheng cast the Burnout Secret Technique to temporarily increase the temperature of the Crowned Flame Bird's flames.

This Advanced Secret Technique was something Li Zhangsheng had exchanged for from the Academy not long ago. It wasn't just the Burnout Secret Technique; there was also a secret technique for temporarily increasing long-range attack power.

Because the Crowned Flame Bird's realm was above Li Zhangsheng's, casting the Burnout Secret Technique for the Crowned Flame Bird consumed a vast amount of Li Zhangsheng's Mental Power.

Li Zhangsheng hurriedly swallowed an Alchemical Pill, gripped a Superior Soul Crystal in his hand, and without wasting time, recovered his Mental Power at the fastest possible speed.

Inside the Jade Dragon Mist Cauldron, the flame temperature soared by a large margin, burning the two treasure materials even more frantically.

The Crowned Flame Bird spat out masses of flames from time to time to maintain the temperature in the cauldron. Its consumption could be said to be negligible; it could even maintain it for a whole day.

After three minutes passed, the Fire Phoenix tail feather was the first to show signs of melting, turning into a crystal-clear, fire-red liquid.

The Fusang Tree Branch lasted only one more minute before it also turned into fire-red liquid.

Once both treasure materials had completely melted, Li Zhangsheng then tossed the Great Sun Fire Crow's feathers and claws into the Jade Dragon Mist Cauldron.

The Great Sun Fire Crow was, after all, a Demi-God Beast. Although it could not survive on the sun like the Three-Legged Golden Crow, it possessed extremely strong flame resistance, and its melting point was higher than the remaining materials.

However, under the burning of the soaring flames, the Great Sun Fire Crow's feathers and claws only lasted for half a minute before showing signs of melting.

In the time that followed, according to the different melting points of the materials, Li Zhangsheng successively tossed in the Fire Radiance Origin Crystal and the blocks of Nine Luminaries Sun Wood—the latter being the material left over after Li Zhangsheng made the wheels.

After two minutes, all six materials had completely melted, turning into a pool of fire-red liquid.

Li Zhangsheng once again cast the Burnout Secret Technique on the Crowned Flame Bird, then immediately tossed a fire crystal into the cauldron to enhance the firepower while accelerating the refining of impurities.

Soon, wisps of five-colored impurities were gradually eliminated, and the volume of the liquid was also gradually decreasing.

After the second casting of the Burnout Secret Technique, Li Zhangsheng's Mental Power was more than half depleted, and his face had grown somewhat pale. He immediately sat cross-legged on the ground to recover his Mental Power as quickly as possible.

Once the effect of the Burnout Secret Technique ended, the Crowned Flame Bird immediately retreated, and the Three-Legged Fire Crow, which had been waiting for a long time, took over the Crowned Flame Bird's shift, spitting out masses of red and gold flames.

Ning Bizhen likewise cast the Burnout Secret Technique for the Three-Legged Fire Crow, beginning to maintain the cauldron's temperature and refine the impurities.

In the time that followed, Li Zhangsheng and Ning Bizhen took turns presiding and recovering, while the Crowned Flame Bird and the Three-Legged Fire Crow also constantly alternated to rapidly refine the impurities.

The process of refining impurities took a total of half an hour, finally refining away more than half of the impurities in the materials, leaving a small mass of glass-like, fire-red liquid, only the size of a soccer ball.

It was not that it could not be refined further; it was just that the remaining impurities were like bone-attached gangrene, requiring higher temperatures to be refined out.

After replacing Ning Bizhen once again, Li Zhangsheng no longer cast the Burnout Secret Technique; his Mental Power had already recovered by more than half.

Until this moment, Li Zhangsheng's ten fingers flew, condensing countless twisted and complex Silver Seal Scripts that surged frantically into the fire-red liquid.

In just a short moment, Li Zhangsheng cast over three hundred Seal Techniques, which consumed a portion of his Mental Power.

Compared to the last time he refined the Nine Heavens Clear Qi Ruler, he now appeared even more at ease.

While the Silver Seal Scripts and the liquid were merging, Li Zhangsheng took advantage of this gap to continue recovering his depleted Mental Power at the fastest speed.

In just over a minute, the Silver Seal Scripts and the fire-red liquid had completely merged.

Just at this moment, Li Zhangsheng cast hundreds more Seal Techniques, constantly strengthening the intensity of the fire-red liquid to prepare for the final condensation.

Li Zhangsheng maintained this process a total of four times before his strength failed him. This was exactly double the amount compared to when he refined the Nine Heavens Clear Qi Ruler. As long as no accidents occurred, a Semi-Artifact would surely be born, and there was a not-insignificant possibility of it surpassing the Nine Heavens Clear Qi Ruler.

Li Zhangsheng's face was somewhat pale; this was the external manifestation caused by excessive depletion of Mental Power, but it was still within his expectations.

The next moment, Li Zhangsheng continued to pinch out Seal Techniques.

"Condense!"

Li Zhangsheng gave a light shout, the Seal Technique in his hand changed, and a ray of brilliance shot straight into the fire-red liquid.

Inside the Jade Dragon Mist Cauldron, the fire-red liquid rolled violently, and thousands of Silver Seal Scripts emerged upon it.

In just two or three minutes, the fire-red liquid completely solidified. Under Li Zhangsheng's control, it finally turned into a crystal-clear, fire-red crown, looking as if it had been carved from a single piece of fire crystal.

Similar to the scene of the last time he refined the Nine Heavens Clear Qi Ruler, the moment the fire-red crown took shape, a muffled thunder sounded out of thin air in the sky, the rumbling thunder echoed continuously, and the entire earth seemed to tremble once.

At the same time, the fire-red crown suddenly radiated an extremely rich fire-red brilliance, accompanied by an exceptionally clear phantom of a Fire Phoenix.

Li Zhangsheng had prepared in advance and masked all the strange phenomena.

"It's stable!"

Li Zhangsheng revealed a smile; the appearance of such a phenomenon meant that this was a Semi-Artifact.

Furthermore, the momentum this time was absolutely no less than that of the Nine Heavens Clear Qi Ruler, and it even faintly exceeded it, yet it did not produce the phenomena of flowers falling from the sky or golden lotuses springing from the ground—if the latter appeared, it would be the omen of a Divine Artifact being born.

Li Zhangsheng did not recover his Mental Power; the fire-red crown automatically flew into his hand.

The fire-red crown was only two or three feet in diameter, with a lifelike Fire Phoenix carved upon it, as if it were about to spread its wings and fly; it looked quite magnificent.

"Let's call you the Fire Phoenix Crown!"

Li Changsheng gave it a name offhandedly, then couldn't wait to examine its effects.

During this process, Li Changsheng's smile grew increasingly Rich, and he became more and more satisfied in his heart.

Fire Phoenix Crown: Semi-Artifact, crafted from Fire Phoenix tail feathers, Fusang Tree Branch, Nine Luminaries Sun Wood, Fire Radiance Origin Crystal, fire crystals, as well as the feathers and talons of a Great Sun Fire Crow; increases the power of Fire Element skills by 80%, comes with burning and explosive effects, and automatically activates the Scorching Aura upon being worn.

Scorching Aura: Significantly raises the surrounding temperature, increases the power of Fire Element skills, reduces the power of Water Element skills, and deals a certain amount of damage to enemies within range every short interval. Note: The range depends on the wearer's realm.

Just like the Nine Heavens Clear Qi Ruler, the Fire Phoenix Crown's amplification is also 80%, and it possesses three additional special effects.

However, due to the inclusion of the Scorching Aura, the value of the Fire Phoenix Crown is greatly enhanced, and the Fire Phoenix Crown has completely reached the category of a top-tier Semi-Artifact.

Whether in single combat or group brawls, the Scorching Aura is an aura-type skill with a rather high cost-performance ratio.

"As expected, refining with Bizhen brings good luck!"

Without hesitation, Li Changsheng gave the Fire Phoenix Crown to the Crowned Blazing Bird to wear, then gave the removed Red Luan Feather to Ning Bizhen, which was then given by Ning Bizhen to the Three-Legged Fire Crow to carry.

Li Changsheng had the Crowned Blazing Bird test it out; the burning effect goes without saying, as it can cause secondary damage upon hitting the target. The explosive effect detonates with a boom after hitting the target, dealing greater damage to the enemy without affecting the performance of the burning effect.

With this Fire Phoenix Crown, the Crowned Blazing Bird's strength has seen a significant boost, once again possessing the ability to rival Aixi.

After spending some time together with Ning Bizhen, the two left the Number One Courtyard together and began visiting the 'patrons' who possessed large amounts of Academic Credit one by one.

During these five days, Ning Bizhen had not left the Number One Courtyard, so naturally, she had not gone to borrow Academic Credit.

This time, the two of them went to borrow Academic Credit together, and their influence was extraordinary.

Although Li Changsheng is not a high-level official of the Yuanling Academy, in terms of prestige, he is even higher than Xu Wenhua.

There is no helping it; who told him to turn the tide and single-handedly bring the Yuanling Academy to the position of the number one Academy, making everyone in the Yuanling Academy a beneficiary.

Because of this, the people visited by the two opened their purses generously, allowing the two to gather the Academic Credit needed to exchange for the Hunyuan Golden Lamp in less than two days.

Today's goal: Three, Pigs, Proof!

(End of this chapter)