"Southern Border? No, that's not possible. The style of Artifact Refining for this magic artifact leans more towards the style of the Eastern Sea Islands; it must be the work of an Artifact Refining Master from an overseas sect. The gemstones as well should originate from the Eastern Sea; as for what kind of spiritual materials they are, I need to study further. Regarding whether it can be restored or not, I cannot guarantee that," Xu Xinyang said with a slight frown, shaking his head.

"No matter, please do as you see fit, Master," Yuan Ming said.

Xu Xinyang nodded, no longer speaking much, and took both the Black Needle and the White Jade Belt with him.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming took the initiative to stand up and take his leave, and Song Huichong also left with him.

Outside the teahouse, Yuan Ming thanked Song Huichong for her help before saying goodbye to her and heading to Qingmu Building.

In a private room on the third floor, Yuan Ming completed the transaction of the Heavy Armor with Di Yue for a thousand Spirit Stones and once again declined Di Chen's request for a spar.

After all of this, he left Little Lake City, riding the Flying Shuttle into Rain Ruins Swamp, and released Hua Zhi back into it.

He had already learned where Sha Hao might be located and now had even more urgency to strengthen his powers every minute, every second. Moreover, Hua Zhi had been feeling restless in the Spiritual Beast Bag, always clamoring to return to the swamp to continue its cultivation, so Yuan Ming obliged.

Aside from the True Water Ring he had given Hua Zhi earlier, Yuan Ming had wanted to equip it with more magic artifacts, but considering Hua Zhi's ever-changing form and its ability to condense blades, it was not suited for wearing armor. He thus abandoned this idea, thinking to prepare some supportive magic artifacts for it in the future instead.

After giving Hua Zhi some instructions, Yuan Ming quickly returned to his accommodation in the city, lit a stick of Purple Dark Incense, and swallowed an elixir, continuing his cultivation.

...

Five days later.

In a certain courtyard, an old emperor in a yellow robe stood with his hands hanging down, looking up at the sun high in the sky. Then, suddenly, he twisted his fingers and struck a Magic Formula.

The Mana inside his body revolved rapidly, and soon, under his urging, dark clouds appeared in the sky, filling it within dozens of miles and shielding him from the blazing sun.

Then, a drop of rain fell, plunking just half an inch from the tip of his foot.

As if it were a signal to charge, countless raindrops followed suit, competing to leap out from the dark clouds and crash to the ground below the old emperor's feet.

The light drizzle quickly turned into a downpour.

At this moment, having already erected a Mana Shield to insulate himself from the rain, the old emperor turned around and directed his gaze to Liu Tianming not far behind him, and said,

"Do you understand this rain praying technique? The environment this Spell creates not only greatly enhances the power of your Water Magic but also significantly weakens the Fire Magic cast by your opponents. It depends on how you employ it in combat. If there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask."

"Thank you for your guidance, Grandfather Emperor. I have remembered it and will work hard to practice and comprehend it," Liu Tianming said respectfully.

Meanwhile, many miles away in the northern part of Da Jin, in Little Lake City, Yuan Ming also opened his eyes, carefully recalling the details of the old emperor's Mana circulation that he had just witnessed, and nodded slightly to himself.

The Black Incense, after being mixed with thousand-year-old spiritual wood, had a duration more than twice the original, allowing him to do much more. This confirmed that spiritual incense made from ancient spiritual wood does indeed have a corresponding benefit in terms of duration.

When Yuan Ming had initially possessed the old emperor, he was teaching Liu Tianming about cultivation insights, starting with some important points about the Nine Elements Technique, then went on to teach Liu Tianming the Water attribute Spell, the rain praying technique, and even demonstrated it himself.

During this period, Yuan Ming watched the entire process through possession and not only gained a deeper understanding of the Nine Elements Technique but also successfully learned this secret rain praying technique, thanks in part to the long duration of the Black Incense made from the ancient spiritual wood; otherwise, he wouldn't have had enough time to witness the whole process.

However, just one such understanding might not be enough to fully master this secret technique. He will have to continue possessing the old emperor and Liu Tianming in the future. If he were to try to comprehend it on his own, it would not only be time-consuming and laborious, but the results might not be ideal either.

Yuan Ming tried to cast the technique and, upon failing to succeed, was not discouraged. Instead, he planned to continue cultivating while also preparing for his upcoming journey to Zhao Country.

Given Sha Hao's formidable strength, even if Xu Xinyang was able to refine all three magic artifacts as desired, Yuan Ming wasn't sure he would win in a direct confrontation, although he felt secure about his own protection.

A few days later, he used the finest materials, along with Hua Zhi's Poisonous Flowers, and tried to incorporate the potent poison from He Wendao's Green Flying Sword into a new batch of Seven-step Immovable.

The tremendous power of the Green Flying Sword's poison, augmented by the catalyzing effect of the Stealing Heaven Tripod, resulted in a rather formidable new batch of Seven-step Immovable.

The intense poison, mingling with the mist and directly inhaled into the body, acts faster than when penetrating through a wound. Yuan Ming tested it on several Second-level Demon Beasts in Rain Ruins Swamp, and they simply couldn't resist, immediately collapsing as their internal organs were eroded by the poison, quickly leading to death.

In addition, Yuan Ming purchased a batch of talismans from the workshop, mainly focusing on Middle-level attack talismans, totaling thirty to forty pieces.

His previous successful surprise attack with a talisman on Sha Hao had left him with a taste for more,

Little Lake City was a large workshop, and even First-Level Upper-Stage talismans were available, which Yuan Ming bought more than a dozen of judiciously.

Upper-Stage talismans were expensive, costing twenty to thirty Spirit Stones each, which made him, now more financially conscious, rather pained.

As for Second-level Talismans, firstly, they were not sold in Little Lake City, and the vast power they nestled meant that whether from Sect talisman masters or Loose Cultivators' talisman masters, any they made were quickly hoarded rather than brought out for open sale. And secondly, even if they were available, he couldn't afford them in the short term anyway.

Time flew, and when the agreed deadline arrived, Yuan Ming only then received the belated message from Xu Xinyang, who didn't mention any results but merely asked him to go to the Yuhe City shop to pick up his items.

Yuan Ming, upon hearing this, immediately left Little Lake City and headed to Rain Ruins Swamp to meet Hua Zhi.

As soon as he entered the Rain Ruins Swamp, the sky turned black with thick leaden clouds, from which torrential rain poured down, accompanied by deafening peals of thunder. Streaks of blinding lightning tore through the heavens as if to pierce the sky, more terrifying than any previous storm.

He quickly lowered his tunneling light and stayed close to the ground, advancing to avoid being struck by lightning.

The thunderstorm in the sky grew increasingly fierce, and even standing on the ground, Yuan Ming felt his hair stand on end and his body go numb.

"Such dense power of thunder and lightning, this is actually a good opportunity for Lei Yu to stretch its wings," he murmured to himself, then with a wave of his hand, he summoned the Winged Bird Lei Yu.

By now, Lei Yu had absorbed all the power of thunder and lightning from the Bronze Broken Sword, and its aura had grown significantly stronger.

Feeling the omnipresent thunder and lightning, Lei Yu let out an excited cry. After circling above Yuan Ming's head, it spread its wings and soared up, disappearing into the thunderclouds.

As the Winged Bird had the ability to control thunder and lightning, Yuan Ming was not worried about Lei Yu's safety and continued forward, soon arriving near Hua Zhi's nest.

"Master, are we going to teach Sha Hao a lesson?" Hua Zhi sensed Yuan Ming's approach from afar, coming up to meet him with a crowd of Little Demons.

When Hua Zhi was returned to the Rain Ruins Swamp, its injuries were almost healed. Now, about a month later, its wounds had completely recovered, and its body, damaged by the Bronze Thunder Pattern Array, had also regrown.

"Do you want to take these subordinates with you as well?" Yuan Ming nodded, looking at the crowd of Little Demons behind Hua Zhi, which numbered more than forty or fifty.

These Little Demons were all First-level Demon Beasts: there were birds, beasts, and two vine-type demon beasts like Hua Zhi.

The crowd of Little Demons, whose spiritual intelligence had not yet awakened, were not very afraid of Yuan Ming, several of them even curiously staring at him.

"Master, have you not yet determined the location of Sha Hao's Cave Mansion? The subordinates I've selected all have some scouting abilities, and I believe they could help you find Sha Hao," Hua Zhi communicated psychically.

"That will do." Yuan Ming pondered briefly, then waved his sleeve, casting a cyan glow that enveloped Hua Zhi and the Little Demons, sweeping them all into the Spiritual Beast Bag.

Hua Zhi, once it stretched out, was quite large. He had specially bought a large Spiritual Beast Bag for it, which was enough to contain these Little Demons.

At this moment, the previously wild and rampant storm began to subside. Seeing this, Yuan Ming used his mind to communicate with Lei Yu, telling it to come back quickly. However, he received no response.

Yuan Ming was startled and quickly leapt onto the White Jade Shuttle, flying towards the location of Lei Yu.

By the time he arrived, Lei Yu was still in mid-air, surrounded by dark clouds, which periodically shot out dazzling arcs of electricity, all pouring into the clouds and being absorbed by Lei Yu.

Lei Yu showed a hint of pain in its eyes, and its aura fluctuated wildly.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming felt a surge of joy in his heart. It seemed that Lei Yu was about to break through to the Second Level, and his careful cultivation these past days had not been in vain.

He immediately refrained from disturbing it and instead maneuvered the White Jade Shuttle to maintain a certain distance, intending to personally protect it and prevent any mishaps.

Time ticked by, and as Lei Yu continued to absorb the thunder and lightning from mid-air, its aura kept soaring, inching closer and closer to the Second Level.

However, the rain in the heavens had stopped and the dark clouds in the sky were quickly dissipating, leaving less and less thunder and lightning for absorption, slowing the growth of Lei Yu's aura.

Yuan Ming's brow furrowed. If the clouds completely cleared, Lei Yu's breakthrough would surely end in failure, possibly even causing it injury from backlash, which would affect its next attempt at a breakthrough.

Anxious, he took out the three High-Grade Thunder Attribute Spirit Stones, just about to throw them to Lei Yu, when suddenly another idea came to his mind.

He stood upright on the Flying Shuttle, hands hanging by his side, and began to channel his mana, attempting to cast the rain praying technique.

Over the past twenty days, Yuan Ming had taken possession of the old emperor and Liu Tianming again, subtly suggesting that they perform the Praying for Rain Secret Technique. By now, he had basically mastered the technique, though he had never performed it by himself. But with the situation pressing, there was no time for hesitation.

The moisture nearby rapidly thickened, and dense rain clouds began to appear in the sky, covering a few miles. Raindrops started falling sparsely.

Yuan Ming's Magic Power Cultivation was far from that of the old emperor, so the rain clouds created by his rain praying technique were only so big and relatively weak in power.

However, the thick water vapor in the Rain Ruins Swamp quickly gathered, causing the rain clouds in the sky to rapidly expand, and thunder and lightning once again appeared in mid-air, converging toward Lei Yu.

"Just as I thought," Yuan Ming nodded to himself.

His rain praying technique could only cover a ten-mile radius, which wasn't particularly useful, but the water vapor inside the Rain Ruins Swamp was too dense, accumulating in the sky. With just a little external force, it could easily form a wide-scale downpour.

With the help of this renewed power of thunder and lightning, Lei Yu's aura continued to rise sharply.

Accompanied by a resounding, piercing cry from among the clouds, the dark clouds in the sky churned violently, as if a dragon governing the clouds and rain was at work. Thunderous roars erupted, with silver lightning streaking through the clouds.

In an instant, the world was filled with an ominous atmosphere, and fierce winds raged!

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