"Congratulations, Master! Boundless congratulations!"
Inside the cave dwelling, Black King lavished flattery with genuine fervor.
His response, however, was a sharp, "Quiet down. I'm thinking!"
Black King flicked his serpent tongue, looking thoroughly deflated. He slunk off to the side in low spirits, though his slit pupils kept darting toward Luo Chen, whose brow remained tightly furrowed.
He clearly succeeded, so why is he still unhappy?
Indeed, he had succeeded!
"This makes no sense..."
Luo Chen stared at the scale plate in his hand with uncertainty and disbelief, converting his magic power to activate it.
In an instant, the blue scale plate transformed into a beam of light that enveloped Luo Chen. Its archaic patterns rippled like running water.
From the crown of his head to the soles of his feet, encompassing his limbs, torso, and even his most vulnerable eyes, a layer of qi armor emerged.
Summoning the Flowing Fire Hammer, he struck his own chest.
*Boom!*
A muffled blast echoed, yet Luo Chen remained completely motionless. While a powerful shockwave reverberated against his internal organs, his remarkably sturdy physique rendered it virtually negligible.
His gaze shifted to Black King.
"Fire a water arrow at me."
Black King squirmed, hesitating. "Master, isn't that a bit improper? How could a lowly servant dare commit such insubordination? That would be utterly disrespectful..."
"Cut the chatter. If I tell you to shoot, shoot. Keep the attack power around the early third rank."
As Luo Chen's tone hardened, Black King dared not delay any further. He immediately coalesced demon power and spat out a jet-black water arrow.
The water arrow flew with ferocious speed and biting demonic chill. A Foundation Establishment cultivator would perish upon contact, and even an early Golden Core cultivator would need to mount a serious defense.
Yet as the water arrow hurtled forward, Luo Chen neither ducked nor dodged, merely pushing the Nether Blue Profound Armor to its absolute limit.
*Pfft!*
A soft hiss sounded. The azure radiance rippled several times before settling back into stillness.
"It truly inherited the traits of that defensive magic treasure. Beyond the physical armor itself, it generates a shield of qi. It can defend against physical strikes from tangible magic treasures while absorbing energy attacks from cultivators' magic power and demon beasts' demon power."
"In other words, I genuinely succeeded on my very first try!"
Having verified it both ways, the shock in Luo Chen's heart surged even higher.
"This really makes no sense!"
He was accustomed to failure; any success usually came naturally only after countless iterations of practice.
Yet this time, it had happened so effortlessly!
Luo Chen had a crystal-clear understanding of his own artifact-crafting skill.
Even though he had never heard the Moyun Cave Master's assessment of him, had he heard it, he would only have agreed.
At present, Luo Chen's artifact-crafting skill remained strictly at the level of forging spirit tools.
His success rate was highest with low- and mid-grade spirit tools. For high-grade spirit tools, he could occasionally succeed after several failed attempts.
When it came to magic treasures, however, he had never succeeded a single time.
Even when his prior attempts to forge magic treasures failed and yielded several peak-grade spirit tools instead, that was merely because the raw materials were exceptional, preserving a fraction of their latent might.
Luo Chen had lost a substantial sum of spirit stones over those failures, and he had been forced to sell some spirit tools to recoup his costs at the risk of offending the local artifact crafters of the Myriad Immortals Association.
Back then, Luo Chen had realized that achieving mastery on the path of artifact crafting would be a long, arduous journey.
He had also analyzed why he struggled so much.
There were several reasons.
First, he had spent too little time immersed in artifact crafting. Second, he lacked guidance from a renowned master; even though Duan Feng had laid his foundations in the early days, Duan Feng's own skill had never reached an exalted level.
Finally, it had to do with his crafting style.
When other artifact crafters forged equipment, an earth-fire furnace was indispensable, array masters and stoker disciples worked day and night without pause, and they regularly applied secret arts and rare elixirs to adjust the smelting state of the weapon.
His own process, however, was exceedingly simple: he relied on nothing more than the Hunyuan Cauldron!
As for the flame, the most critical element of artifact crafting, he simply used his magic power to drive the Wither-Bloom True Fire for the sake of convenience.
The better he understood himself, the lower he set his expectations for refining the Demon Emperor molt.
He held no illusions of reaching the level of an artifact-crafting master before tackling the Demon Emperor molt; instead, he planned to begin once all six sets of profound armor reached the peak-grade spirit tool level.
Yet now, the unexpected had occurred!
On his first attempt at crafting the Nether Blue Profound Armor—one of the six sets of profound armor—he had succeeded straightaway.
"Could it be that I'm an unprecedented artifact-crafting prodigy? Can I forge magic treasures at the drop of a hat?"
Luo Chen muttered under his breath, only to discard the notion immediately.
If he were truly a prodigy, his earlier attempts to forge low-grade offensive magic treasures would not have ended in failure.
He cast a glance at the system panel.
[Second-Rank Artifact Crafter]
Sure enough, his artifact-crafting skill remained at the second rank, nowhere near the level required to forge low-grade magic treasures.
The system judged it the exact same way!
Yet right now, he had unmistakably forged a low-grade magic treasure—and a defensive one at that, the most precious category of magic treasure, virtually never circulated on the open market.
He had succeeded, yet his artifact crafter rank had not risen.
This meant that under the system's evaluation, his actual craftsmanship had not reached that level.
"Why did this happen?"
Luo Chen fell into deep thought.
A heavy silence descended over the cave dwelling.
Even the naturally restless Black King dared not make a sound, terrified of disturbing Luo Chen's contemplation.
After a long while.
Luo Chen slowly lifted his head, his gaze settling on the grand cauldron standing in the cavern.
"Could it be... the cauldron?"
Thinking it over again and again, the only variable seemed to lie with the Hunyuan Cauldron.
Luo Chen remembered vividly that during his earlier attempts to forge low-grade magic treasures, he had followed conventional methods. He had processed the ores, fused and smelted them, molded them into shape using magic power or casts, and finally engraved the arrays. His failures had mostly occurred during the fusion or array-engraving stages.
This time, however, the process of forging the Nether Blue Profound Armor had differed.
Because of Huangfu Song's provocation at his doorstep, he had been forced to interrupt the forging process, leaving the raw materials idle inside the Hunyuan Cauldron.
The subsequent fusion and smelting, and even the acclimatization phase after engraving the arrays, had all taken place within the cauldron.
In particular, during these past six months on Quyang Island, he had been absorbed in cultivating the Dragon Slaying Art with soul essence, unconsciously leaving the embryo of the Nether Blue Profound Armor to be nurtured inside the Hunyuan Cauldron for half a year.
Torn between belief and doubt, Luo Chen took to the air.
Under Black King's wide-eyed gaze, he flew directly into the Hunyuan Cauldron.
The blazing fire beneath the cauldron had not even been extinguished!
*Is Master trying to stew himself in a big cauldron?*
Inside the cauldron.
Ignoring the blistering heat, Luo Chen reached out and touched the solid surface of the cauldron.
To the touch, it felt like metal yet was not metal, possessing the gentle warmth of wood, and upon closer inspection, the chaotic power of wind and lightning surged restlessly within.
All along, he had kept this life-bound magic treasure nurtured inside his qi sea, usually inspecting it with sweeping divine sense.
This time, he observed it from a different perspective.
From the outside, experiencing it through physical touch.
The moment skin met surface, a profound sensation of bloodline kinship washed over him.
As a life-bound magic treasure nurtured through dual cultivation of body and spirit, such a connection was only natural.
Through continuous sensation, Luo Chen gradually gained a glimmer of insight.
Since the day this cauldron was forged, he had nurtured it for nearly thirty years!
When first completed, though it had reached the high grade, that was solely due to the exceptional materials; its innate power was not particularly outstanding.
Under constant nurturing, the impurities within had grown fewer and fewer, and its various marvelous functions had begun to reveal themselves.
During past battles, nine crimson chains had often manifested around Luo Chen—a major ability derived from the cauldron, possessing immense binding power. Centered on the Hunyuan Cauldron, they even possessed a faint ability to seek out targets automatically.
This was one of the reasons Luo Chen had instantly detected the sneak attack by the white-robed cultivator Yan Zhixian during his Demon Hunter assessment mission.
Furthermore, the cauldron's suppressive power had also begun to shine.
Driven by Luo Chen's full power, the Hunyuan Cauldron had forcibly suppressed the seventh-layer Golden Core Qian Ting, and later suppressed a Golden Core ghost king comparable to the late Golden Core stage—both vivid testaments to its strength.
Yet clearly, the Hunyuan Cauldron's utility as a life-bound magic treasure went far beyond this.
It possessed five core functions:
Suppress, Trap, Lock, Nurture, and Refine!
As shown earlier, it had only begun to flex its might in Suppress and Lock.
Black King's usual dwelling inside was an application of "Trap," made possible by the space formed within.
Yet as one of the three sect-guarding cauldrons of Azure Pill Valley, its primary functions were obviously the latter two:
Nurture and Refine!
To nurture was to nourish; to refine was to craft.
Luo Chen had used it to concoct pills for years with effortless proficiency. On occasion, during pill refinement, it would even exceed its grade and produce pills of superior quality.
Yet he had never truly tested its efficacy in "nurturing."
If he had to find a reason why this magic treasure had succeeded on the very first try, the most probable explanation was that the Hunyuan Cauldron's "nurturing" ability had come into play.
"But why didn't I notice this function was so powerful before?"
By Luo Chen's estimate, scouring the impurities from the Hunyuan Cauldron would take at least several centuries to reach perfection.
Only then would the treasure become completely unified and harmonious. After all, when it was first forged, it had swallowed far too many unrefined raw materials.
Suddenly.
Luo Chen opened his mouth and spat out a small basin, which settled into his hand.
"It's because of this Dragon Nurturing Basin!"
He spoke with absolute certainty.
Obtained from Qian Ting, the Dragon Nurturing Basin's primary function was to nurture magic treasures.
Over the past five or six years, he had been using it inside his qi sea to nurture treasures like the Hunyuan Cauldron and the Poyue Wings.
Without him realizing, the Poyue Wings, backed by years of prior accumulation, had already advanced to a mid-grade magic treasure.
The Hunyuan Cauldron appeared unchanged, but beneath the surface, its accelerated nurturing had quietly enhanced it as well.
And the greatest enhancement was precisely the power of "nurturing," which shared the same origin as the Dragon Nurturing Basin!
"If that's the case, it explains why I could forge the Nether Blue Profound Armor as a low-grade magic treasure while the system still doesn't consider me a third-rank artifact crafter."
"Because I didn't forge it—the Hunyuan Cauldron nurtured it into being for me!"
Once he grasped this, Luo Chen's mind cleared instantly.
All his confusion vanished without a trace.
In fact, a flood of new thoughts surged into his mind.
"If it can nurture the Nether Blue Profound Armor, that means it can nurture the other five sets of profound armor as well!"
"It might even work for that Demon Emperor molt!"
"No, more than that. I can completely rely on the Hunyuan Cauldron to forge other magic treasures on a large scale. Even if the system doesn't count it toward my crafting rank, as long as I succeed enough times, I will eventually discover the secrets to success!"
Failure was the mother of success.
Yet those who succeeded remained successful forever!
The two concepts were not mutually exclusive, and the latter could bring Luo Chen unimaginable gains.
Take defensive magic treasures alone!
Their value far outstripped ordinary offensive magic treasures.
A typical low-grade offensive magic treasure cost under a hundred thousand spirit stones. Even with the flames of war raging across the Northern Sea and weapon prices climbing steadily, the markup barely pushed past that hundred-thousand mark.
Defensive magic treasures, on the other hand, were naturally twice or thrice the price of offensive treasures of the same grade.
Under the current climate in the Northern Sea, a decent defensive magic treasure could easily fetch three to four hundred thousand spirit stones.
In truth, they were virtually impossible to buy even if one had the money.
At a major auction, if one caught someone's eye or matched their spiritual root affinity, it would not be out of the question for a buyer to bankrupt themselves to secure it.
Amidst these racing thoughts, Luo Chen vaguely saw a sky full of golden light—an endless river of wealth!
With a swift leap, Luo Chen exited the Hunyuan Cauldron.
Looking down at the grand cauldron beneath him, his expression brimmed with excitement.
"Having this cauldron is truly like giving wings to a tiger!"
From the corner, Black King instantly straightened his neck and bellowed, "Congratulations, Master! Boundless congratulations!"
"Haha, you beast, you've finally learned how to read the room."
Truth be told, Black King's flattery had hit the mark at just the right time.
In his high spirits, Luo Chen casually tossed the blue scale plate toward Black King.
Black King's eyes went wide. Could it be...?
He had already opened his maw wide. "Thank you, Master, for the rewa—"
Abruptly, the scale plate halted midair.
Luo Chen laughed and called it back.
"Although this item doesn't suit my magic power, it is still a low-grade defensive magic treasure of immense value. Selling it outside will help build my reputation as the artifact-crafting master Qingyangzi. Giving it to you would be a dreadful waste."
Black King's wild joy was doused like cold water, and he instantly drooped in dejection.
Luo Chen chuckled and shook his head.
"Forget it. Seeing as you've guarded the home and watched over the furnace, you have your share of hard work even without glorious achievements. Quyang Island has an abundance of intact water-attribute demon beast carcasses. In a couple of days, I'll fire up the cauldron and brew you a batch of peak-grade Emperor Flowing Liquid!"
Hearing this, Black King perked right back up!
Peak-grade Emperor Flowing Liquid!
He had not tasted that in years.
Though it seemed modest in grade, consuming it in large quantities continuously unearthed the deepest powers latent in his bloodline.
The reason Black King had risen step by step from a low-bloodline black-scaled serpent to where he was today, even surpassing the once-superior Tianxuan Battle Gull, was that he had consumed far more Emperor Flowing Liquid than Tianxuan.
Compared to external objects, he valued the growth of his own physical body far more.
"Head outside for now. I need to map out my upcoming cultivation plan."
Once Black King had departed in high spirits, Luo Chen put away his treasures and allowed his thoughts to settle into tranquility.
Now that another function of the Hunyuan Cauldron had been unlocked, he had to consider how to maximize its utility.
This was no idle exercise.
It could broaden his revenue, elevate his artifact crafting, and ultimately feed back into his own cultivation and strength.
Therefore, he needed to plan everything meticulously, leaving no room for carelessness.
***
Three months later.
Along the sandy seashore, a female Daoist nun and a red-robed Daoist walked side by side.
A simple, elegant ink-and-white bamboo robe trailed behind her, completely untouched by grit or dust.
The Daoist nun's gaze rested on a colossal silhouette in the ocean that was inhaling and exhaling boundless spiritual qi, whipping the sea into turbulent waves.
Her voice held both admiration and envy.
"Fellow Daoist Qingyangzi, that spirit pet of yours is truly formidable! Judging by its realm, it surpasses both of us, and it even gives me the impression of limitless potential. Is it truly just an ordinary black-scaled python?"
Luo Chen gave an easy smile. "My luck has been somewhat decent, that is all. Black King's origins may be humble, but he cultivates diligently. Only through that could a python transform into a flood dragon, commanding the tides of the sea."
As he spoke, his gaze occasionally drifted toward the portions of Black King's body exposed above the water.
Unlike the pitch-black exterior he had first seen, the serpent's scales had grown deeper in luster, and the white underbelly was patterned with concentric rings resembling vines, foliage, or natural stone veins.
Most striking of all was the crown of its head!
The original single horn remained ferocious, but beside it, a fleshy mound had swelled, as though a second dragon horn was about to sprout.
An imposing, majestic aura flickered faintly about him!
The only slight surprise was that despite years of cultivation, he had not grown four dragon claws.
According to Black King's explanation, this was due partly to his innate bloodline and partly to the transformation brought about by devouring the carcass of the Cliff Snake.
The desolate beast Cliff Snake was naturally legless.
While Luo Chen was lost in thought, Lord Lushan beside him suddenly spoke up: "There are only three months left until your tour of duty ends, correct?"
The corners of Luo Chen's lips curved upward. "Indeed. In three months, I can return to the Dragon Taming Mountain Range, and I'll have another five years of leisure."
Lord Lushan blinked. "Aren't you the least bit worried about the exorbitant rent for Eight-Hundred-Li Penghu? Don't you want to raise your star rank to secure greater discounts?"
"Thank you for your concern, Lord Lushan." Luo Chen waved a hand with an easy smile, speaking with measured confidence. "I have my own ways of generating wealth; a bit of rent won't pose an issue."
At this, Lord Lushan sighed in admiration.
"To possess immense strength, a fierce reputation abroad, a Golden Core servant, a Demon King spirit pet, and a mastery over wealth generation—you are truly an anomaly among loose cultivators! I imagine even the Supreme Elders of major Golden Core sects might barely rival you, yet when it comes to freedom, none can match your carefree ease."
Luo Chen raised an eyebrow, shifting his gaze to her delicate, refined face.
"Fellow Daoist, if you have something on your mind, you might as well speak plainly."
Having her intentions seen through, Lord Lushan looked slightly unnatural. She gave a soft cough before speaking:
"This humble Daoist has a business proposal I would like to discuss with you."
Chapter 613