Upon hearing this, Zi Liao finally breathed a sigh of relief. For a whole month, he had been persistently and steadily providing the cauldron with a continuous supply of immortal energy.
Although his cultivation was profound, each breath of immortal energy consumed a great deal of his energy, and it had to be continuous without interruption or replacement.
Therefore, at this point, he was indeed at his limit and had no strength left.
They watched eagerly as Xiao Wenbing took the small sword out of the cauldron. He held the sword between his fingers and gestured with his other hand.
Seeing this, Zi Liao couldn't help but gasp. Sitting beside the furnace, he naturally understood how high the temperature of the fire was. This immortal sword had just been taken out of the fire; if it were him, he wouldn't dare to touch it.
But seeing Xiao Wenbing's unconcerned attitude, it was clear that he didn't care about the temperature at all. Such a supernatural ability immediately convinced him.
This Xiao Wenbing is definitely not an ordinary person.
After a long while, Xiao Wenbing finally let out a long breath and inscribed the pre-arranged formation into the immortal sword.
He reached out and ran his hand across the immortal sword. A stream of dark water swept across the blade, making a strange "swoosh" sound, and a thick white mist rose into the air.
Looking at the immortal sword in his hand, Xiao Wenbing laughed loudly, "Brother Ziliao, I have successfully completed my mission and have not failed you."
Volume 18, Chapter 7: Extraordinary Phenomena and Immortal Elixir
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It was faint, without any unusual color, as calm and still as the surface of a well.
Looking at the newly forged immortal sword in Xiao Wenbing's hand, Zi Liao's eyes revealed a hint of suspicion.
He participated in the entire forging process this time, even handling the impressive fire-starting activity himself. He clearly saw how much effort Xiao Wenbing had put into this sword.
What surprised him even more was that he couldn't recognize what kind of rare treasure the main material Xiao Wenbing had taken out was. However, judging from its incredibly hard texture, he knew it was definitely not an ordinary item.
With such materials, forged in the cauldron with immortal fire for a whole month, how come the finished product is so unremarkable?
Seemingly sensing Zi Liao's suspicion, Xiao Wenbing smiled slightly, offered no explanation, and directly handed the immortal sword to Zi Liao.
Is there a voice more authoritative than the world's best salesman?
Yes, that is the quality of the product itself.
The moment Zi Liao's hand touched the immortal sword, he was overwhelmed by a powerful emotion emanating from the depths of his heart. His hand gently caressed the slender blade, as if he were touching his most beloved. He even felt a supreme state of oneness with the sword.
After a long while, Zi Liao finally raised his head and looked at Xiao Wenbing with a gaze that was no longer filled with doubt, but with boundless admiration.
This was merely a celestial sword that had not yet been imbued with spirit. Yet, even before it was imbued with his spirit, it had already resonated with his very being. This feeling was incredibly profound; in other words, it was as if the sword and Zi Liao were born as one.
If Zi Liao uses this weapon in the future, he will be able to unleash more than 200% of his full strength.
The combined power of a skilled user and a powerful magical artifact is definitely greater than the sum of its parts. However, if a magical artifact and a user are inherently in sync, then their combination is far more than just the sum of its parts. Their synergy can be calculated through multiplication.
If this immortal sword were in someone else's hands, it would just be a weapon with relatively hard material, but in Zi Liao's hands, it can unleash great power, even capable of challenging opponents of higher levels.
At this point, Zi Liao was completely in awe of Xiao Wenbing's weapon-refining skills.
The ability to create a weapon specifically for a particular person, perfectly matching that person's spirit and characteristics, is not something everyone can master.
Seeing Zi Liao's grateful gaze, Xiao Wenbing smiled and said, "How about it? Why not give it a try?"
"Ah...yes, yes."
Zi Liao responded with a delighted sound, and a surge of celestial energy flowed into the immortal sword.
Suddenly, the sword surface, which had been as calm as a still well, burst forth with an incomparably dazzling light.
The sharp sword energy spread in all directions. Zi Liao manipulated each sword energy, and he could feel the use of every bit of energy, as well as grasp the direction and size of each sword energy.
This feeling of complete freedom was something he had never experienced before, not even with the immortal sword that had followed him for nearly ten thousand years.
A surge of heroic ambition rose in his heart, and the sword in his hand shone with dazzling light.
The sword's surface remained as smooth as water. Whether it was lying quietly in the cauldron just now, or now being fueled by the boundless sword energy of Zi Liao, the surface of this immortal sword remained unchanged.
However, water has no fixed form.
It can be a calm well or a turbulent sea.
An endless stream of sharp sword energy surged forth like waves, relentlessly impacting the surrounding area. In an instant, everything within a radius of several dozen feet was reduced to dust.
"Excellent, excellent sword!" Zi Liao exclaimed involuntarily, his eyes shining.
Xiao Wenbing cursed inwardly, "This madman."
Just as Zi Liao was engrossed in testing his sword, the first thing Xiao Wenbing did was to protect the cauldron he had used to forge the sword. Otherwise, under such a backlash of sword energy, this commemorative cauldron would have long since turned to ashes.
Zi Liao brandished the sword for a long time, oblivious to everyone around him, still reeling from his surprise. His loss of composure stemmed from sheer joy. In truth, even if he were given a pig's nail, Zi Liao wouldn't be this excited. But this sword was painstakingly crafted by Xiao Wenbing specifically for him, and using it felt as if it had been intertwined with his life for tens of thousands of years. This strange feeling was the real reason he was so carried away.
He gave a wry smile, realizing he had encountered a sword fanatic. He said helplessly, "Immortal Fellow Zi Liao, are you satisfied?"
"Of course, of course." Zi Liao was slightly taken aback. Only then did he remember that there was another person beside him. His old face flushed red, and he quickly sheathed the sword. He bowed deeply to Xiao Wenbing and said, "Thank you very much, Fellow Immortal Xiao, for the great kindness of gifting me this sword. I will never forget it."
"Hmm, I'm tired," Xiao Wenbing said, yawning as he looked up at the sky.
Zi Liao smiled awkwardly and quickly led him into a luxuriously decorated room. He beckoned to the servants to serve him fragrant tea.
In his view, Xiao Wenbing must have expended a great deal of effort in the past month to refine this treasure for him, and must be exhausted and needing to circulate his energy to recover.
Seeing Xiao Wenbing's exhausted expression, he felt bad and reached out to find a porcelain bottle. He respectfully handed it to Xiao Wenbing, saying, "This humble immortal has some pills on him. Please accept them, fellow immortal."
Xiao Wenbing casually took it and asked, "What is this?"
"This is an extraordinary elixir, made by gathering the spiritual energy of heaven. Taking just one pill is equivalent to a hundred years of arduous cultivation. However..."
Seeing that Zi Liao seemed hesitant to speak, Xiao Wenbing asked curiously, "Senior, please speak frankly."
Zi Liao nodded and said, "This elixir is extremely potent. If you intend to take it, it's best to prepare a safe and appropriate prescription."
"Why?"
"To allow the full effects of the medicine to be released, one must immediately enter seclusion for cultivation upon ingestion."
"Ah, approximately how long?"
"At the fastest, a year."
Xiao Wenbing glanced at him strangely, but seeing that he didn't seem inclined to continue, he couldn't help but ask, "What if it's that slow?"
Zi Liao smiled slightly and said, "At most a hundred years."
Xiao Wenbing drank half of his tea and almost spat it out on the spot.
What kind of elixir is this? It can increase one's cultivation by a hundred years, but one needs to be in seclusion for a hundred years to absorb its effects. Hmm, judging from Zi Liao's tone, even a hundred years might not be enough. Who would take something like this?
"Fellow Immortal Zi Liao, are you perhaps making fun of this humble immortal?"
"No, no," Zi Liao quickly explained, "Fellow Immortal Xiao, you may not know, but this pill has truly unique medicinal properties, which is why it is called the Extraordinary Phenomenon Immortal Pill."
Seeing the questioning look in Xiao Wenbing's eyes, he smiled and said, "Actually, once this medicine is taken, the resulting Earth Immortal spiritual power is indeed extraordinary, equivalent to a hundred years of arduous cultivation by an ordinary immortal. However, the characteristic of this medicine is that all the Earth Immortal spiritual energy is stored within the body of the user, and it will not dissipate unless it is completely absorbed."
Xiao Wenbing said "Oh," indicating he understood somewhat, and said, "What you mean, fellow immortal, is that it depends on the absorber's physique. Those who absorb quickly will absorb quickly, while those who absorb slowly will just be going through a lot of time."
“That’s right,” Zi Liao said with a smile, “That’s exactly right, and this pill is perfect for you, fellow immortal.”
Why?
"Because the vast majority of those who consume this elixir are at the eighth or ninth tribulation level."
Xiao Wenbing's eyes lit up, and he asked, "You mean, the more tribulations one undergoes, the faster one absorbs the earth?"
Zi Liao hesitated for a moment, then said, "Logically speaking, that should be the case, but a body capable of ten tribulations is absolutely unique in the entire Immortal Realm, so..."
Xiao Wenbing laughed loudly and said, "I understand, thank you, fellow immortal."
After happily seeing Zi Liao off, Xiao Wenbing held the porcelain bottle in his hand, and the extreme fatigue on his face instantly disappeared.
Everyone in the Xuanji Sect thought he was exhausted and about to collapse, but little did they know that the one who had truly exhausted all his energy and spirit during this month was the one who was kept in the dark, standing dumbfounded on the sidelines, futilely blowing on the fire.
As for Xiao Wenbing, apart from his improved acting skills, he suffered no other losses. For the past month, he had done absolutely nothing and hadn't expended any energy at all.
However, his hard work was not in vain. Looking at the porcelain bottle in his hand, he was secretly delighted. Receiving such a generous reward was indeed something to be very happy about.
With the Void Cauldron as backup, Xiao Wenbing didn't need to open a furnace to forge weapons at all. As long as he hid in the Heavenly Void Ring, he could definitely make a Celestial Immortal Sword of this level in ten days or so.
However, to show his sincerity, he dragged Zi Liao along to work by the furnace for a month.
In reality, the immortal sword in the cauldron wasn't forged; rather, he secretly instructed a hidden infant to create it out of thin air over twenty days. Then, finding a spare moment, he used a substitution technique to secretly send the sword into the cauldron.
As for the materials in the cauldron, he had already stuffed them into his Heavenly Void Ring.
The "treasure" he presented to fool people was actually just a small replica copied from a tortoise shell. Although the immortal fire was powerful, it was simply impossible for it to melt a tortoise shell.
His act not only immediately won him the favor of everyone in the Xuanji Sect, but also earned him several elixirs.
What he needed most at this moment was an elixir. Although he had only obtained one of countless elixirs so far, it was already enough to make him extremely gratified.
Volume 18, Chapter 8: New Elixir
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With a flick of his wrist, a small green pill appeared in the void.
"Great! It's a success!" Mirror God's joyful voice rang out in the room.
"Is that so?" Xiao Wenbing stared at the strangely shaped pill in his hand and asked in confusion.
After obtaining the first elixir from Zi Liao, the Mirror God became eager to experiment. Following its advice, since the exact absorption time of this extraordinary elixir was uncertain, it was best not to take it for the time being. However, it would be a great pity to discard the first elixir obtained.
Thus, with the joint efforts of Mirror God and Xiao Wenbing, they finally designed five new types of Earth Immortal Pills.
As for the Immortal Realm, not only was Xiao Wenbing completely ignorant, but even the Mirror God's memories were blank. It had come directly from the God Realm to the Cultivation Realm for some unspeakable reason, and thus had no recollection of the Immortal Realm either.
Therefore, it only knew what things existed in the immortal realm from hearsay, and had no concrete reference points.
Under such circumstances, it would be absolutely impossible to refine a perfect elixir with 100% accuracy.