First, kill the Black Dragon Fish.

The Black Dragon Fish would bring trouble, so it was best to kill the fish promptly to avoid future problems. Just after its transformation, the Black Dragon Fish had no time to feel joy before the merciless blade fell.

High-end ingredients often only require the simplest cooking methods. Jia Ren was skilled in slaughtering the fish, turning it into sashimi. Sashimi demands high-quality flesh, and the Black Dragon Fish was more than suitable.

He picked up a slice of sashimi as thin as a cicada's wing and savored it slowly in his mouth. Such a delicacy, truly a delicacy of the mortal realm, he thought. He quickly finished all the sashimi, feeling the medicinal power of the Black Dragon Fish stir within him, circulating to every corner of his body.

"Mixed Refining Vajra Body!"

The fourth layer of the Cultivation Technique operated, absorbing the medicinal power. His organs, at that moment, became like a long-starving beast, opening its abyss-like maw to siphon the Black Dragon Fish's unique Spiritual Power.

It's working! Jia Ren clearly felt his internal organs growing rapidly, supplementing his weaknesses at a considerable pace. The Proficiency Level of his Mixed Refining Vajra Body was slowly increasing.

The Black Dragon Fish truly is a sacred fish for Body Refinement! It can actually replace the Medicinal Bath Ingredients for the fourth level of Body Refinement.

Half an Hour later, Jia Ren's pores exuded a foul, nauseating odor. Even Elixirs produced at the Master Level contained faint elixir toxicity; the poorer the quality of the Elixir, the more toxicity it held. After years of taking them, the elixir toxicity inevitably accumulated in the organs. Once the amount of elixir toxicity reached a certain level, it would affect one's progress in Cultivation Level, and more seriously, it could reduce one's lifespan. Jia Ren took Elixirs from the Pill Cauldron Pavilion, which contained very little toxicity, but given the sheer quantity he consumed, an outbreak was inevitable in the future. When breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Stage, a life-and-death threshold, elixir toxicity could affect the success rate of the breakthrough.

Achieving the fourth level of Mixed Refined Vajra Body could also somewhat increase the probability of breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Stage. Thinking of this, Jia Ren's enthusiasm grew even higher.

A Cleaning Talisman swept away the dirt from his body, and the filth was cleared out. He also picked another Black Dragon Loach and fed it Spirit Attracting Bait, preparing for lunch in advance.

After everything was done, Jia Ren went straight to the Insect Breeding Room. The Swift Wind Mantis King had been born. Benefitting from ingesting the Resurrection Pill, its severed limbs had regenerated, and it was in an unprecedentedly good state.

We can start now!

The mortality rate of mixedly refining Spirit Insects is far higher than co-refining. Even following the recorded methods for the Black Wind Mantis, the success rate would not exceed thirty percent.

Jia Ren took out the completed Mixed Refining Liquid and then dozens of Black Demon Insects, injecting his spell into both them and the Swift Wind Mantis King. The two different types of Spirit Insects produced an inexplicable attraction; the Black Demon Insects crawled onto the Swift Wind Mantis King, enveloping it in a black fog. The black fog formed by the Black Demon Insects surged into the Swift Wind Mantis King's body in a bizarre manner, as if merging into one. Whether the mixed refining would be successful was now up to luck.

During the waiting time, Jia Ren didn't idle and entered the Refining Workshop. He took out Double Profound Primal Heavy Water, a few Obsidian Ores, and other materials, attempting to craft a Magic Artifact. With the Profound Water in hand, he could refine artifacts. Unlike Alchemy, which required the use of Earth Fire and the rental of a Cave, Water Refinement of Magic Artifacts could rely simply on True Water. The only problem was the relatively slow speed of the process.

The Double Profound Primal Heavy Water kept changing shape, from its initial droplet state to the size of a fist, completely enveloping the Obsidian Ore. Numerous streams of water, under Jia Ren's control, washed over the Obsidian Ore, removing impurities and slowly altering its shape, subtly molding it into the desired form. Jia Ren had used Xuan Yuan Heavy Water to purify materials before, and its effectiveness was far less than that of Double Profound Primal Heavy Water.

The True Water Refinement Technique's method for Water Refinement required high-quality True Water and Profound Water. The better the quality of the Profound Water, the more efficient the purification and artifact crafting would be. The reason he only now attempted artifact crafting with Double Profound Primal Heavy Water was that artifact crafting with Xuan Yuan Heavy Water was too slow. Even the simplest Low-Quality Magical Artifact required three days to craft. Higher-grade artifacts could take several months to finish. The most complex Superior Defensive Artifact recorded in the True Water Refinement Technique would take years to craft.

What could be completed in a mere month or so with Earthfire Artifact Refining demanded years with the True Water Refinement Technique. Cultivators' time wasn't so worthless, which was why the True Water Refinement Technique gradually became a niche practice.

There were solutions, and the answer lay in high-quality Profound Water and True Water. Profound Water could reduce the crafting time, the difference in quality being comparable to that between Sunfire Wood and Earth Fire. Double Profound Primal Heavy Water had already halved the time required for crafting, yet the efficiency was still low. Where could one find high-quality Profound Water so easily? It was far less convenient than Earthfire Artifact Refining.

After four Hours, the sword embryo cast from the Obsidian Ore had taken shape. This could not be considered a Magic Artifact. The sword embryo was merely a semi-finished product that needed materials like gold silk and rock steel to be integrated into it. Water Refinement is a slow process, much slower in speed and efficiency compared to Forge Refining. Without patience, one truly could not withstand the tribulations of water-refining artifacts.

Before he knew it, the night had passed. The unadorned sword embryo had gained many intricate patterns, with specks of gold adorning it. By now, the sword embryo had taken preliminary shape.

Next came the Inscription of Magical Instruments, which varied depending on the type of artifact. One certainly couldn't inscribe sharp, tearing attack Inscriptions on a Defense Artifact, and different artifact embryos suited different Inscriptions. Artifact Refiners would consider the special materials of the artifact, striving to bring out its inherent abilities and achieve synergy. Those who could do the latter were few and far between, worthy of being called Refining Masters. The vast majority simply copied the standardized artifacts passed down by their predecessors, pairing them with common Inscriptions. The less one meddled, the less likely the refining process was to fail. Artifacts circulated in the Market seemed to come in a wide variety, but closer inspection would reveal a trend towards homogeneity, and this was why.

Jia Ren was far from being able to customize artifacts and could only follow existing examples. A Low-Quality Magical Artifact can only be inscribed with one type of Inscription. The most suitable ones for an obsidian sword embryo are basic Inscriptions like sharpness, armor-piercing, sturdiness, and agility. Let's go with the Sharpness Insignia.

The Inscriptions of Magical Instruments each had different effects, enhancing the artifact's power. An initial attempt at refining a sword embryo typically produced an average result, capable of enduring three to four Sharpness Insignias at most, which could enhance the flying sword's own sharpness by approximately fifteen to twenty percent.

With his Talisman Crafting Grandmaster proficiency, Jia Ren found it relatively easy to inscribe Inscriptions of Magical Instruments. Novices in artifact refining were most prone to failure during inscription, resulting in the artifact carrying fewer Inscriptions or even being downgraded to a semi-artifact.

He made no mistakes and smoothly completed the creation of his first Magic Artifact. After an entire day and night, his eyes showed fatigue as a palm-sized, gold-patterned short sword danced nimbly around him. The blade was slightly cold, its sharpness evident.

Using Double Profound Primal Heavy Water to refine the simplest Low-Quality Magical Artifact still took a day and a night.

If it were a more complex Low-Quality Magical Artifact, like a Defense Artifact, it would probably take at least five days. Water Refinement is indeed inefficient.

Jia Ren set aside the idea of continuing to refine artifacts, planning to upgrade to Triple Profound Primal Heavy Water, or even a higher level, before starting again. By then, the efficiency of refining artifacts would be double what it was now. He still had several High-Grade Magical Artifacts, and since he disliked fighting and killing, there was no rush in refining artifacts. He decided to put artifact refining aside and prioritize Alchemy. The higher his Proficiency Level in Alchemy, the better the effect of the refined Spirit Enhancement Pills, and the faster his Cultivation Level would improve.

Everything must center around cultivation!

I wonder if the Black Wind Mantis has successfully undergone mixed refinement? Unable to wait, Jia Ren immediately entered the Insect Breeding Room and saw from a distance a three-foot-tall, pitch-black mantis still sleeping. Has it completed its metamorphosis?

"Come here!"

At the command, the Black Wind Mantis's eyes gleamed with a dim light as it flashed before him. Jia Ren checked its abilities one by one. The abilities of the Black Wind Mantis were exactly as recorded. It was naturally endowed with astonishing speed. After mutation, its speed had not only increased significantly but also exceeded twice the flying speed of a Cultivator at the Ninth Level of Qi Refinement.

Its core ability was Vaporization, allowing it to temporarily enter a vaporized state where it was immune to ninety-nine percent of Magic Artifact and Spell attacks. Its body and mantis blades had also become stronger through mutation, no less durable than a High-Grade Magical Artifact. Speed, destructive power, and survivability combined to create a powerful assassin of the night.

"Good. You will become another formidable asset in my hands."

Against enemies he wished to eliminate, there would be no need to slowly dig tunnels or have insects poison and stealthily assassinate the targets. The Corner Worm could only dig tunnels to attack Loose Cultivators without ample resources. Wealthy Cultivators usually had Formations guarding their dwellings, making infiltration the biggest issue. The Black Wind Mantis needed no such caution and could directly bulldoze through to execute beheading plans.

Jia Ren fed the Black Wind Mantis and put it into the Spirit Beast Bag.

Time to do some Alchemy. Jia Ren left his abode and went to the Cave he rented for Alchemy, as usual.

With the Earth Fire ignited, Jia Ren's Alchemy technique was quite skilled. With some good luck, he successfully refined five furnaces of Spirit Enhancement Pills without a single failure. The least productive furnace yielded seven pills, and the most productive yielded nine.

Jia Ren looked at a furnace of Spirit Enhancement Pills that yielded seven, his gaze landing on a pill adorned with fine lines. Elixir Patterns! he exclaimed internally. Did I refine a Spirit Enhancement Pill with Elixir Patterns?

Elixir Patterns signified that the medicinal ingredients had been used to their utmost potential, a feat typically within the reach of Grandmaster Alchemists only. A single Elixir Pattern indicated that this Spirit Enhancement Pill was devoid of impurities and, beyond reaching its utmost potential, possessed an additional ten percent medicinal efficacy. Every Spirit Pill marked with Elixir Patterns was highly sought after by Cultivators. Although his proficiency in Alchemy had not reached the Grandmaster Level, Jia Ren had managed to refine an Elixir-Patterned Spirit Enhancement Pill by sacrificing the number of pills produced.

If I persist for a few more days, I can raise my Spirit Enhancement Pill refining to the Grandmaster Level.

Jia Ren left the Cave and saw several people approaching him from afar. The familiar scent of Elixirs reached him first.

Are they here again?

"Fellow Daoist, please consider joining the Pill Alliance. This time, the best performer in Alchemy will be rewarded with a Second-order Pill Recipe."

"Not interested."

Before they could continue persuading, everyone was startled to find that the sky had changed color at some point. A huge dark cloud was gathering above the Great Wilderness Market, enveloping it. Instead of the expected thunder and lightning, numerous Malevolent Ghosts rushed out from the dark cloud one after another, charging into the Great Wilderness Market.

It was as if countless ghosts had burst from their nest.

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