Using his mind, he directed the incredible source of earth vein fire back into the cauldron, where it gained new strength, and all the raw materials in the cauldron quickly fused together.
Volume 4: The Divine Artifacts Chapter 158: Super Runes
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"One point, two points..." Xiao Wenbing gathered his strength, his forehead covered in sweat.
It wasn't that he wanted to make things difficult for himself, but rather that he wanted to try it out for himself. Although he had understood the principles and specific operating steps last time, understanding was one thing, and doing it himself was another.
Just like watching someone else cook a dish and it looks so simple, but when you actually try it yourself, you immediately start to panic.
Whether in terms of skillful technique or judgment in shaping materials, Xiao Wenbing was far inferior to his Mirror God teacher. The difference between the two was not just a slight difference in skill level.
So far, all his achievements have been only one: failure.
However, he was not discouraged and persevered in trying again and again.
In any case, his ring contained a large number of top-grade spirit stones of the five elements, and the earth vein fire source in the cauldron had reached an unimaginable strength.
At such a scorching temperature, the refining speed increased significantly, so he no longer needed to worry about the Samadhi Fire and could concentrate on dealing with the molten steel in the furnace.
Several days passed, and after countless failures, a relieved smile finally appeared on Xiao Wenbing's face.
Today, this incredibly complex super magic weapon has finally been successfully designed. Moreover, it was crafted by his own hands, without any interference from the Mirror God.
Well, of course, a little pointers from the sidelines don't count...
For the past few days, no one has entered his quiet room to disturb his weapon crafting, which has brought him great convenience.
The two elders, Hui and his companion, were both master craftsmen and naturally knew that crafting high-level magical artifacts would take a considerable amount of time. It wouldn't be surprising if it took a year or two, let alone just a few days. Therefore, they not only issued a ban on crying, but they also dissuaded Feng and Zhang from entering.
However, this is something the two women understand. If they were to force their way in, it remains to be seen whether the two elders of the Hui family would be willing to offend the Heavenly Thunder Palace for it.
"Is it done?" Mirror God asked listlessly.
"All done," Xiao Wenbing said excitedly.
"What a waste of time. If I were to do it, why would I have to wait so long?" Mirror God showed no sign of happiness, instead constantly complaining.
Xiao Wenbing smiled and said softly, "It's better to have what you have yourself than what your father and mother have."
"What?" Aren't you an orphan?
"yes."
"Then how come you have parents?"
…………
After giving the Mirror God a fierce glare, Xiao Wenbing finally decided to be magnanimous and let it go. Who says orphans are necessarily without parents? Did it spring from a stone or something?
Hmm. Although there is such a thing as in-vitro fertilization (IVF), a baby's birth is not as noble as some people think!
Holding the new magical artifact in his hand, Xiao Wenbing sighed inwardly and said, "The artifact is finished, but, Mirror God, should I forge a few magical artifacts for myself?"
"Why?" the Mirror God asked in surprise. How come you haven't refined enough after so long?
“Look at Baiyi and Yaqi, their cultivation levels are not much higher than mine. But when they encountered the Wolf King, they were able to fight back, while I could only wait to die.”
"So what? Didn't they both come to save you?"
Xiao Wenbing said dejectedly, "That's right, being protected by two women is really unpleasant."
"I don't think they're complaining about you." Mirror God was getting more and more puzzled. Was there something wrong with the more skilled taking care of the less skilled?
"Hmm?" Xiao Wenbing opened his mouth helplessly, but no matter how eloquent he was, he couldn't explain the strange feelings between men and women to the Mirror God. After a long while, he shook his head. Rather than relying on this guy, he might as well find a way himself.
His thoughts drifted back to the time since he became an apprentice, wondering if there were any special skills he had learned but had forgotten.
Well, so far, the most powerful attack he knows is still the Fiery Talisman. It's not that he doesn't want to learn more advanced talisman techniques, but because he rushed to Tianding Star, he simply hasn't had the time.
However, for him at this moment, the Fiery Talisman is no longer sufficient to meet his increasingly powerful needs.
All his thoughts swirled in his mind, and suddenly, his thoughts stopped, pausing on a strange image.
What is that?
He recalled that when he first met the Mirror God, he was asked to recreate a treasure from the celestial realm—a life-saving golden talisman. In fact, the Mirror God did recreate it, but lacking the power of the immortal spirit, he was unable to replicate it.
However, it was at that time that he saw a new rune, a super rune personally drawn by the White Crane Ancestor of the Immortal Realm.
Although he couldn't use the power of immortal spirits, he still remembered the rune. After all, something so advanced was unlikely to be forgotten even if he wanted to.
Without hesitation, he took out a pen and a blank rune from his Heavenly Void Ring and mentally reviewed how to draw and the order of the rune.
This is the key to the talisman technique. If even one step or sequence goes wrong, the final effect of the talisman will often be completely different from what was expected.
Then, he spread out blank runes, wielded the wolf-hair brush, and completed the task in one go.
Strangely, after drawing the rune, Xiao Wenbing felt the expected exhaustion, but his spirit did not weaken in the slightest, and even his spiritual energy was extremely abundant.
Although this rune is incredibly complex, to be precise, the amount of spiritual energy it consumes is negligible.
What's going on? Based on past experience, the greater the spiritual energy consumed during the drawing process, the greater the power of the rune. The reason why the Fiery Rune is his strongest offensive rune is precisely because the spiritual energy consumed during its drawing far exceeds that of other runes.
So, does this strange talisman from the celestial realm hold any other secrets?
"Huh..."
Xiao Wenbing's expression shifted. That exclamation came from the Mirror God; could it be that the old fellow sensed something again?
"What's wrong? Have you discovered anything strange?" Xiao Wenbing asked hopefully.
"Hmm. The rune you drew seems to be actively absorbing energy."
"Actively absorb energy?"
"That's right, it's absorbing the vital energy of heaven and earth in the space."
Xiao Wenbing was overjoyed. As expected of a talisman from the immortal realm, it was indeed quite effective. He focused his divine sense and carefully observed it.
After a while, he frowned with mixed feelings. It was clear that Xiao Wenbing was far less sensitive than the Mirror God in terms of energy utilization, which was why the Mirror God was able to discover the strange changes in the rune earlier.
However, Xiao Wenbing was, after all, a minor expert who had been in the world of cultivation for some time. He had certainly been exposed to energy changes for quite some time. This rune could automatically absorb energy while also deceiving his spiritual senses.
Therefore, the only explanation is that the fluctuation of this energy is so small that it cannot be detected without careful attention.
This rune is indeed, as the Mirror God said, constantly absorbing the floating energy in space, but... the speed is surprisingly slow.
Xiao Wenbing made a preliminary estimate: if this speed continued, the explosive power of this rune would be comparable to that of the Fiery Rune after a short while. If the rune could continue to hold even more energy, then in ten or twenty years, it would eventually reach a terrifying level.
But that's the problem. One year, ten years, twenty years is just too long, so long that it's unbearable.
This is drawing a talisman. Talismans are for self-defense and fighting, not for having children; besides, you're responsible for raising them. Twenty years is a long time; even an infant would grow up in that time. If things go wrong, you might even end up with a child as a burden.
Xiao Wenbing wondered to himself, why would the White Crane Ancestor create such a strange rune? Could it be that he was unhappy in the upper realm and had gone to work as a nanny in a kindergarten in the Immortal Realm?
Looking at the strange rune before him, Xiao Wenbing was truly torn. However, if he were to keep this rune for several years before using it, it would be too late.
"So slow..." Even the illusory Mirror God began to imitate Xiao Wenbing's boredom, resting his chin on his hand and complaining.
“Yes, it’s so slow…” Xiao Wenbing agreed with this statement, “Now I understand why I begged countless times, but the White Crane Ancestor and the others refused to bestow a second life-saving talisman.”
"Why?"
“Because of speed.” Xiao Wenbing pointed to the talisman and said matter-of-factly, “Look, if this talisman were to accumulate the same transaction volume as the Life-Saving Golden Talisman, it would take at least a hundred or two hundred years to achieve it fundamentally. Since it’s that troublesome, the ancestors probably had a very limited stock on hand. As the saying goes, scarcity makes things valuable, so of course they wouldn’t be willing to bestow it away.”
The Mirror God rolled his eyes at him and said, "Nonsense. This rune is supposed to absorb immortal spiritual energy, but in this realm, there isn't much immortal spiritual energy at all, so of course it's as slow as a snail. However, in the Immortal Realm, it will reach saturation in less than an hour."
"Uh..." Xiao Wenbing suddenly realized, so it was absorbing immortal spiritual energy. It truly was a celestial treasure, different from humans, even its diet was quite selective. However, he asked suspiciously, "Is there immortal spiritual energy in this realm as well?"
"Of course it exists. Celestial energy is everywhere, but its quantity is extremely faint. Do you know why we can't see immortals in this realm?"
"I don't know?" Xiao Wenbing answered honestly.
Volume Four: The Divine Artifacts Chapter 159: Immortal Spirit Talisman
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Because the immortal energy is so scarce, if an immortal were to arrive in this realm, their path of cultivation would become incredibly difficult. Once the immortal energy accumulated within their body is exhausted and cannot be replenished in time, their fate would be utterly tragic.
The Mirror God paused for a moment, then said, "No matter the reason, once you come to this realm, it won't be so easy to go back up." The Mirror God stopped abruptly, as if remembering something, and frowned in silence.
"What's wrong?" Such an expression was extremely rare for the Mirror God, and Xiao Wenbing found it amusing and immediately asked.
"I remember now," the Mirror God exclaimed suddenly after pondering for a long time.
"What's up?"
"Do you remember the end of the fire source in the ley line cave?"
Xiao Wenbing's face flushed red, a rare occurrence for him. How could he forget such an embarrassing incident? It was right there that he bumped into the Earth Spirit, passing out on the spot. He rolled his eyes at the Mirror God and complained, "Hey, why are you bringing this up? It's been so long."
"Long time ago?" Mirror God asked curiously, "Wasn't it just a few days ago?"
"Hmph." Chongde snorted angrily, but Xiao Wenbing turned his head away, pretending not to hear.
However, the Mirror God clearly had no intention of arguing with him about this trivial matter, and instead said directly, "Didn't I tell you? In the end, an old monster appeared."
"That strange creature!"
"I don't know if it's a hybrid or not. But I do know one thing: in this realm, no creature can simultaneously possess the aura of a human, a demon, and a monster, and also absorb the powerful energy of heaven and earth. That's absolutely impossible."
Xiao Wenbing's expression changed slightly; what the Mirror God had said was rather frightening: "Then..."
"Unless, this guy wasn't originally from this world."
"The Immortal Realm?" Xiao Wenbing immediately understood its meaning and asked hesitantly.
The Mirror God remained silent for a long time, then softly uttered two words: "Perhaps."
Xiao Wenbing was also shocked; the Mirror God's deduction should be correct. However, if that guy was originally an immortal, why would he risk such great danger to return to this realm? And even stranger, why did he become that kind of thing? Was all his life's cultivation in vain?