Spirit Nurturing

Inside the main control space of the Void Disk. "How does it feel?" Yaoguang looked at Li Hanqiu, who was piloting the Dao artifact. "Very good," Li Hanqiu said with a smile. "It takes almost no effort to operate. Moreover, when piloting this Dao artifact, my mind harmonizes with it to a remarkable degree. My comprehension of spatial power even feels a fraction clearer and brighter, which helps me maintain better control over the state of my primal cavern." With that, he could not help but sigh with emotion. "It truly lives up to being a Dao artifact that even mighty experts of the Void Refining Realm would try every means to obtain." "It is good as long as it helps," Yaoguang said, glancing at Li Hanqiu. He could sense just how difficult it was for Li Hanqiu to control the primal cavern inside his body. It was a peril where the slightest slip could trigger a total loss of control, causing the primal cavern to collapse and resulting in instant death. "Right, where is your Convergence-Dispersion Ring?" "Here." Li Hanqiu took out the Convergence-Dispersion Ring, which had been resealed with formations. At the same time, he remarked with some lament, "Originally, I intended to use this treasure to unite every Golden Core cultivator who could be united, and thereby accomplish the unification of the Cangwu Great World. Now, though..." "Even if we unified the Cangwu Great World, it would be meaningless," Yaoguang said. "With how the situation on Beihai Star has developed, even if we did unify Cangwu, this world would inevitably become Jiang Tianzun's domain. I imagine the Cangwu League is already discussing the feasibility of renaming the Cangwu Great World to the Tianzun Great World." Li Hanqiu listened and nodded. "True enough." No matter how hard they schemed and labored to unify the Cangwu Great World, they would only be making bridal clothes for Jiang Tianzun on Beihai Star. After all... The strong dictated everything. And compared to the so-called Six Great Immortal Sects of the Cangwu Great World, those figures on Beihai Star were the truly powerful. Yaoguang took the Convergence-Dispersion Ring. The grade of this spirit treasure was somewhat on the lower side. Yet the materials used in it were actually not bad. Of course, "not bad" depended on what spirit treasure it was compared against; it was still a cut below treasures like the Heaven Disrupting Ruler or the Sky Cleaving Plate. He intended to experiment with this spirit treasure to see if he could upgrade it again. If it could be upgraded into a Realm Stabilizing Ring capable of stabilizing a primal cavern, Li Hanqiu's condition would improve dramatically. "All right, go attend to your own business. Leave piloting the Void Disk and shuttling through the void to me," Li Hanqiu said with a chuckle. "Don't worry. For three to five years, I guarantee nothing will go wrong with my primal cavern. In fact, by using this Dao artifact to deepen my understanding of spatial power, keeping it stable for another three to five years after that isn't entirely out of the question." Yaoguang nodded. Beihai Star was not close to the Cangwu Great World. Otherwise, Cangwu would not have gone over thirty thousand years without a single record concerning Beihai Star. Never mind relying on cultivators to fly across the starry sky; even using the Void Disk to warp through space, reaching Beihai Star smoothly would take three to five months. Of course, this was partly due to Li Hanqiu's limited mastery as a newly ascended Void Piercing cultivator. Yet even with the Void Disk, other Void Piercing cultivators whose primal caverns were more stable might not be much faster than him. Naturally, Yaoguang could not let three to five months go to waste. Especially after a massive transaction worth forty billion spirit stones, his isolated workshop was piled high with mountains of spirit treasures and crafting materials. Even his Merchant experience had overflowed so violently that it pushed the branch into its second stage of transformation—the level corresponding to Foundation Establishment in cultivation. This shift made him eager to put this experience to use as quickly as possible. *** "Strength." Inside the workshop, Yaoguang focused his gaze on Immortal Path: Void Piercing. After a moment, however, he turned toward the Artifact Refining branch. Li Hanqiu made it sound easy, but even he likely had no certainty that he could truly keep his primal cavern stable for three to five years. He had only said that so Yaoguang would not worry too much. Therefore, Yaoguang had to find a method to resolve the instability of Li Hanqiu's primal cavern as soon as possible. At this thought, the branch—already equivalent to a thirteenth-level artifact refiner—began to grow rapidly, and a boundless stream of information flooded his mind. First-generation Dao artifacts, second-generation Dao artifacts, third-generation Dao artifacts. High-grade first-generation Dao artifacts, high-grade second-generation Dao artifacts, high-grade third-generation Dao artifacts. Peak first-generation Dao artifacts... All manner of data, alongside various refining methods and techniques for Dao artifacts, rapidly flashed across his mind. Yet even though the methods for refining many of these Dao artifacts were presented flawlessly in his thoughts, Yaoguang was acutely aware that he could not craft them. Leave aside high-grade Dao artifacts—he could not even craft a low-grade Dao artifact. Wan Liugui had spoken the truth: without reaching Void Piercing, one simply could not forge a qualified Dao artifact. His previous Void Disk had been brought into being entirely through the divine ability Dao Attunement. After consuming a large amount of experience, Yaoguang abruptly halted. "My direction is wrong." He looked at the Artifact Refining branch, which had almost stepped into the domain of a fifteenth-level artifact refiner, his expression grave. "My goal is not to refine higher-level Dao artifacts, but to resolve True Person Li's unstable primal cavern. In fact, I already had an idea: using the Dao Attunement divine ability to upgrade the Convergence-Dispersion Ring into a Realm Stabilizing Ring. Yet here I am, obstinately dead set on the path of artifact refining..." So what if he ground his way to a sixteenth-level artifact refiner? Without reaching Void Piercing, he could not touch the profound mysteries of the true Great Dao, and he truly could not forge a Dao artifact. Of course, he could gamble on the innate divine ability that would emerge when advancing from level fifteen to sixteen, but... If he really did that, the trading experience gained from forty billion spirit stones would likely be entirely exhausted. He would be unable to make any further progress in either Immortal Path: Void Piercing or Formations. "The foundation of my High-Dimensional Cognition is myself. As my strength increases, I gain more 'keywords' to search for and comprehend more relevant information..." He looked at the ancient tree. Without breaking through to the Void Piercing Realm, he seemingly could not generate new keywords. In other words, no new branches could sprout. Then... "A Realm Stabilizing Ring isn't anything overly exalted. Could the information I've already received contain it, but because the volume of data was too vast and chaotic, I ended up overlooking it?" Yaoguang pondered. Ceasing to push his artifact refining rank higher, he concentrated his mind on searching for methods to upgrade the Convergence-Dispersion Ring into a Realm Stabilizing Ring. There were many methods. Most, however, were beyond his current capability. "The rank was raised too high. There is a great deal of information I can't use at all right now, yet it clutters my mind..." Yaoguang focused his attention and patiently searched through his memories one by one. A full day passed in searching, the sheer volume of information making his head swell with an ache. "I need to change my approach," Yaoguang thought. If judged by the standard of Artifact Refining belonging to the fifteenth level, his Formations was at level ten, and his most crucial path of cultivation, Immortal Path: Void Piercing, was likewise at level ten. Meanwhile, Demon Hunting had reached level three, and Merchant, thanks to the overflow of experience just now, had risen to level four. "It's gotten a bit muddled. A level-ten formation certainly cannot stop a Void Piercing expert, and Void Piercing experts wouldn't spare a second glance at items forged by a tenth-level artifact refiner..." He rubbed the bridge of his nose. Against a Void Piercing War Immortal, the match was roughly comparable. But a true Void Piercing cultivator was two levels above a Void Piercing War Immortal. In other words, a level-ten Void Piercing matched a twelfth-level artifact refiner and an eleventh-level formation master. This aligned with how an eleventh-level Void Refining cultivator typically wielded Dao artifacts that only a thirteenth-level artifact refiner could forge. Calculating along these lines, if he wanted to find a solution to a Void Piercing War Immortal's unstable primal cavern, he should primarily search the range of information spanning twelfth- and thirteenth-level artifact refiners. With a clear approach, he began concentrating his search within that range. And with that search... A pathway truly opened. "An artifact spirit?! A spiritual lifeform that can cultivate on its own and evolve a spirit treasure into a Dao artifact, or even an Immortal artifact?!" Yaoguang looked deeper, and gradually, the path became clear and bright. Artifact spirits. The reason spirit treasures were called spirit treasures was that such treasures possessed the foundation to nurture spirituality. Once spirituality was conceived, the treasure could modify, enhance, and elevate itself step by step to break through into higher realms. "Spirit treasure lifeforms... Imbuing a spirit treasure with spirituality so that it functions like a living being, and then using refining materials to upgrade, modify, and nurture it until it reaches a certain stage to trigger a metamorphosis..." Spending a day digesting all the information, Yaoguang found that the fog before his eyes cleared completely. So... "Is this the correct way to use the Bestow Sentience divine ability? Combining Bestow Sentience with the Treasure Refining Technique and Spirit Nurturing Technique mentioned here—much like raising a pet—to let the spirit treasure grow on its own, without requiring the refiner to laboriously forge and hammer it out?" Once he grasped the underlying principle, Yaoguang let out a soft breath of relief. The higher the grade of a spirit treasure, the harder it was to forge. Take the Convergence-Dispersion Ring: even with his artifact refining attainment back then, it had still taken nearly ten years to successfully craft. For a top-grade spirit treasure, spending decades forging was entirely normal. Dao artifacts routinely took centuries or more. Yet if a spirit treasure could grow on its own... Refining efficiency would increase exponentially. As he pondered, he swiftly fetched a spirit treasure named the Swimming Dragon Sword to conduct an experiment. Under Bestow Sentience, the Swimming Dragon Sword was soon endowed with spirituality, gaining "life." Yet the moment it possessed life, the thought *"The Swimming Dragon Sword will never be a slave!"* immediately sprouted within the spirit treasure, and it tried to break free of his grasp... Yaoguang paid its rebellion no mind, applying the Treasure Refining Technique to modify it. With his artifact refining expertise, he quickly analyzed the flaws in this spirit treasure and determined what materials were needed to modify and upgrade it. It so happened that having just scavenged the entire Cangwu Great World, he possessed no shortage of diverse materials. Thus, he used the Spirit Nurturing Technique to plant his own will into these materials, and then used the Treasure Refining Technique to refine them into the spirit treasure... The effect was surprisingly splendid. The Swimming Dragon Sword, which had initially declared it would "never be a slave," seemed to realize how beneficial these materials were to its own evolution. It spontaneously cooperated with Yaoguang's Treasure Refining Technique, fusing harmoniously with the crafting materials. The tedious refining process was streamlined in an instant. Furthermore, because the materials had been refined through his Spirit Nurturing Technique, the spirit treasure flying sword was quietly imbued with his aura, growing increasingly affectionate toward him. "It truly works." After nurturing the Swimming Dragon Sword for a time, Yaoguang soon shifted his gaze onto the Convergence-Dispersion Ring. As he cast the Bestow Sentience divine ability, the spiritual consciousness of this spirit treasure gradually awakened. And then... It exhibited that same rebellious streak. With a direct thought of *"The world is so big, I want to go see it,"* it immediately attempted to pull away and fly off. Yaoguang reined in the spirit treasure and performed a thorough analysis. Soon, he brought out the materials associated with the Realm Stabilizing Ring, nourished them with the Spirit Nurturing Technique, and had the Convergence-Dispersion Ring assimilate them. In this manner, over just three months and through an investment of materials worth several billion, the Convergence-Dispersion Ring grew to a state bordering on a top-grade spirit treasure. The reason it was only bordering on that peak was that the Convergence-Dispersion Ring had been fed too much, leaving it with a sense of spiritual indigestion. No matter, though. "Next comes the most crucial step..." Yaoguang glanced at the diverse materials used in the modified Convergence-Dispersion Ring... The corners of his mouth twitched. What a reckless waste of good things. He seemed to have turned into one of those artifact refiners from the Cangwu Great World. Purely piling on materials? Still, he was different from those refiners who deserved to be shot a hundred times. Because... Guns couldn't kill him. Glancing at the Dao Attunement talent, Yaoguang took a deep breath. "The critical moment has arrived." As brilliant radiance swirled around his hands, he seemed on the verge of activating the Convergence-Dispersion Ring's potential to propel it toward a Dao artifact. A moment later, a thought struck him, and he retrieved three other spirit treasures... Dao Attunement! Dao Attunement! Dao Attunement! Then, true to expectations... Failure! Failure! Failure! "Mm? Just about right!" The instant Yaoguang sensed that elusive flash of inspiration from the unseen, he hesitated no longer and snapped Dao Attunement onto the Convergence-Dispersion Ring. "You must succeed!" *Buzz! Buzz!* Dao charm barely inferior to what had been triggered during the Sky Cleaving Plate's metamorphosis burst forth. Ripples spread outward, and countless spatial laws leaning toward "stabilization" manifested within Yaoguang's perception. Throughout this process, the entire Convergence-Dispersion Ring underwent a drastic transformation. The azure ring of light gradually deepened into a profound darkness. The surrounding space was impacted so heavily that it nearly knocked the Void Disk out of its warping transit. However... Piling on so many materials had not been in vain. As the Dao charm dissipated completely, an item... An item that had just barely stepped into the realm of Dao artifacts, possessing an exceptionally singular function, appeared before Yaoguang. "It succeeded!" At this moment, even though this was already the second Dao artifact Yaoguang had produced through Dao Attunement, his heart still surged with emotion, difficult to calm. With this Dao artifact, Li Hanqiu's primal cavern would no longer face the danger of collapsing. In fact, so long as he did not push the power of his primal cavern to its absolute limit, even in a life-or-death struggle against other Void Piercing War Immortals, he could grind them to death. This had practically reached the standard of a true Void Piercing cultivator. Just as Yaoguang was inspecting the performance of this newly upgraded Dao artifact that had only narrowly succeeded, Li Hanqiu's divine sense surfaced within his awareness. Faintly, it carried a tremor of excitement. "Beihai Star... We're almost there."