Chapter 216: with translation of chapter title

After reaching the eighth Lianqi layer, Yan Buji could feel his surging magical power and Lianqi peak were already close, and advancing two more steps would likely be about the same as the Foundation Establishment Stage.

But after exhausting all resources, Yan Buji thought it was time to leave Qingfeng Temple and continue gathering resources to hasten his Foundation Establishment.

However, before that, he needs to make some preparations.

"The Heart‑Protecting Mirror has been refined into an Accumulation Device over many years, and finally the forging succeeded. So an Accumulation Device constructed according to the Shura Blood Sea diagram is feasible. However, forging another set of Accumulation Armor would be rather difficult....."

Yan Buji thought that having Accumulation Armor would greatly boost his survivability. Although he knows many defensive techniques and speed arts, if he were directly hit in a vital spot, even an immortal would be badly maimed.

Thus, there is still much room for his own improvement.

For example, in Magical Cultivation he can use earth‑vein demonic Qi to condense a Demonic Qi armor; likewise, Martial Dao Profound Skill can be deepened by spending some time, to raise his combat power.

But the most direct offensive means are still lacking for Yan Buji.

In terms of techniques, Yan Buji only has some basic offensive spells; they work well enough, but are insufficient to decide a battle.

Fortunately, his master gave him an Accumulation Diagram, and Yan Buji plans to use this time to start forging.

"Refine Demon Gourd."

Yan Buji squinted his eyes and pondered for a moment.

Obviously, Ming Zhong gave him this Accumulation Diagram, and the meaning was quite clear.

The Kanda region is likely about to undergo a dramatic change.

This Accumulation Diagram is mounted on beast hide; its center depicts the shape of the Accumulation Device, and several lines extend from the side, each illustrating a component that needs to be forged.

"The gourd serves as the body, gold rope coils around the middle, a jade ring seals the gourd, then spiritual blood is inscribed inside and out, and finally the earth‑demonic Qi is collected for murky refinement?"

Looking at the forging methods for the Accumulation Device components above, Yan Buji felt a bit puzzled.

It seems to be a murky‑type Accumulation Device, right?

However, according to the description, if the Demon Gourd is forged, it can capture uncontrollable demonic beings inside. Over time it will dissolve the demons, producing a precious elixir called 'Spiritual Demon Jade Liquid', which can directly restore magical power.

But the Demon Gourd has a limit; it is explicitly marked that it can only absorb demonic beings of the Great Demon realm. The final product's quality depends on the superiority of the Spiritual Material components refined into Accumulation, and when combined with the murky earth‑demonic refinement, it is at most a Threefold Transformation Accumulation Device.

"But a Threefold Transformation Accumulation Device isn't weak; if used for attack or defense, ordinary Lianqi Phase cultivators can't even wield it. Even if I truly forge a Threefold Transformation Accumulation Device, with my current magical power strength it would probably be hard to activate."

However, if it is made into his personal Accumulation Device, it could reduce magical power consumption.

But how to put it, after all it is forged using someone else's Accumulation Diagram; if he follows the described method to the letter, Yan Buji doesn't have the confidence to produce a fully matched Demon Gourd.

With a slight functional difference, the value of this Demon Gourd is far less than building his own personal Accumulation Device.

Moreover, the Nan Ting Mountain Region is vast, and considering that he may not have a major grudge against the demon race later, the Demon Gourd could not occupy a slot for his personal Accumulation Device in Yan Buji's mind.

He also wishes to use the Shura Armor from the Shura Blood Sea diagram as his personal Accumulation Device.

After clarifying the forging requirements of the Demon Gourd, Yan Buji went straight to find his master Ming Zhong and told him about it.

"You broke through to the eighth Lianqi layer? Good, good, good," Ming Zhong said, looking satisfied.

Yan Buji clasped his hands and said, "All thanks to the master's teachings. I now wish to forge an Accumulation Device; may I borrow the sect's fire vein?"

Ming Zhong nodded, "You may, take this token and go."

"Thank you, master!"

Yan Buji received the token and went straight into the underground fire vein.

Normally ordinary disciples cannot enter here; after all, although the fire vein area contains earth‑demonic fire, it is also a place for refining spiritual pills.

Moreover, the fire jade and fire sand produced by the eighth‑rank fire vein are themselves cultivation resources, and even Qingfeng Temple, despite its laxity, knows that sect assets cannot be shown casually.

"Stop, who are you?"

"Senior brother, please. I am a disciple of Elder Ming Zhong, named Yuejin. This is the token my master gave me; I hope to borrow the fire vein for a use."

Yan Buji looked at the two Lianqi peaks guarding the entrance, smiled, clasped his hands, and produced the token.

The two Taoist guards glanced, nodded, and said, "So it's junior brother Yuejin, please enter."

"The fire vein area is heavily fiery; if the junior brother cannot endure, please exit promptly."

"Yes, thank you both, senior brothers," Yan Buji said with a smile, passing through the narrow tunnel into the fire vein.

In the underground fire vein, the flowing magma emitted an extremely foul smoky odor. This magma was not ordinary; after passing through the earth vein and absorbing earth‑demonic fire, it became a terrifying fire‑demonic magma.

Fortunately, Qingfeng Temple also knows that people must not face the fire vein directly, so the fire vein's power is drawn via formation into a side‑opened cave dwelling.

Yan Buji also saw many disciples of the Spiritual Medicine Garden attempting alchemy, and he found a cave dwelling to enter.

"With the aid of this earth‑vein fire, it is much faster than expending magical power."

Yan Buji thought that if he later needs to replace an Accumulation Device or component, it would be best to master a kind of exotic fire spirit fire.

With Spiritual Material refined into Accumulation, Yan Buji's current magical power combined with the earth‑vein fire can simultaneously support the forging of three or four Accumulation Device components.

However, this process is still lengthy.

It took a full month before Yan Buji could refine all the Spiritual Material, ingest it into his dantian to be eroded by essence, spirit, and qi, and slowly shape it.

All the Spiritual Material for the Demon Gourd was provided by Master Ming Zhong; although none were high‑quality, the gourd body itself is a Fourfold Transformation Spiritual Material called 'Gathering Water Gourd', which is said to be able to absorb the water of an entire lake when taken alone, and is itself a prime Spiritual Material for forging water‑type Accumulation Devices.

"However, this gourd cannot be fully refined; it must retain its shape, and then be eroded with essence, spirit, and qi... Therefore it cannot be placed inside the dantian; it must be slowly cultivated on its own."

Yan Buji simultaneously eroded the other Accumulation Device components in his dantian while placing the Gathering Water Gourd in his palm, tempering it with Spiritual Fire and earth fire.

In the blink of an eye, another half‑year passed.

After the gourd body and other Accumulation Device components were forged, it entered the crucial recombination stage.

This time Yan Buji could not use his own magical power to accelerate tempering; he could only draw earth fire and seal it with demonic Qi.

In this process, Yan Buji mainly had to control the degree of demonic Qi's erosion.

Although the Demon Gourd is murky‑refined with demonic Qi, he is not a murky cultivator and certainly would not dare to fully forge it into a murky Accumulation Device.

Thus maintaining this degree depends on Yan Buji's own control.

Watching the Demon Gourd's components gradually combine within the demonic Qi, Yan Buji began to inscribe the markings inside and out.

It was originally a technical task, but Yan Buji chose to take a shortcut, directly following the method on the Accumulation Diagram and drawing part of the markings before the components formed, so the remaining work was merely a simple replication.

Another three months passed.

Yan Buji's eyes lit up, he stopped the erosion of the killing qi, and reached out to take down the demon-refining gourd.

"Success!"