"Squeak...squeak..."
“Squeak... squeak…” Xiao Wenbing repeated, rolled his eyes, and said, “What squeak squeak squeak… I’m chirping chirping.”
The butterfly fairy flapped its large wings, as if it were thinking about how to communicate with him.
Xiao Wenbing grew impatient and said, "What exactly do you want to say? Stop dawdling. If you keep chattering away, I'll skin you alive and roast you like a butterfly."
Butterfly Fairy's movements suddenly froze, and even more beads of sweat appeared on her round head.
It was filled with deep regret. It had only wanted to please its master, but it had backfired and angered him instead. This was truly a case of losing more than it gained.
However, this master's temperament was clearly very different from Zhang Daoren's; he was by no means so easy to talk to. To actually skin him alive and eat him would be a truly humiliating injustice.
In its anxiety, it disregarded asking for instructions and jumped directly to the side of the jade cauldron, opened its mouth wide, and spat out a golden elixir ball.
Golden Core? Xiao Wenbing's eyes lit up; this was the first time he had ever seen a demon's Golden Core.
However, this thing looks almost identical to Zhang Yaqi's. It seems that whether it's a human or a demon, this golden core is exactly the same.
But why would it spit out the golden pill? Was it going to eat it itself?
Sensing his rather peculiar idea, Butterfly Fairy shuddered and forcefully exhaled, causing the golden core to instantly sink into the earth vein fire beneath the jade cauldron.
"Roasting Golden Elixir?" Xiao Wenbing looked at Die Xian curiously and asked, "What are you doing?"
Butterfly Fairy stretched her round head straight toward the jade cauldron. Xiao Wenbing looked in that direction and suddenly exclaimed in surprise.
Suddenly, a strange change occurred inside the jade cauldron; the materials inside were melting at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Although this speed is not very fast, it is a world of difference compared to before.
It seems that there's no need for ten days or half a month; it can all be dissolved in just a few hours.
"Good heavens, I never knew you had such a skill. You truly are a monster..." Xiao Wenbing exclaimed sincerely.
Volume 4, The Divine Artifact Chapter 108: A Failed First Work
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Little did he know that the Butterfly Fairy belonged to the Wood element, and its Golden Core was also purely of the Wood element. As the saying goes, Wood generates Fire. When the powerful Wood element contained within the Butterfly Fairy's Golden Core encountered the Earth's vein fire, the heat generated suddenly increased a hundredfold, which is why such a miraculous effect occurred.
The Butterfly Fairy squatted in front of the jade cauldron, the small golden pill spinning continuously, providing energy to the earth's vein fire while absorbing the fire energy within it.
Although wood ignites when exposed to fire, the Butterfly Fairy's golden core, cultivated for over a thousand years, contained far more energy than the heat contained in that tiny flame. The difference in energy between the two was so vast that the Butterfly Fairy was not afraid at all; on the contrary, she found joy in it.
Of course, this is also because the flame is just a residual power of the earth vein fire. If it were to enter the earth and encounter the source of the earth vein fire, the Butterfly Fairy would avoid it like the plague and would not dare to have any further thoughts of showing herself.
Xiao Wenbing's smile grew wider and wider. Seeing that the steel mother and celestial sand had completely melted into a lump of molten steel, he couldn't help but burst into laughter. With the help of the Butterfly Fairy, it would be impossible for him not to refine something good.
He casually deactivated the consecration below, and the restriction activated, causing the remaining embers of the earth vein fire to shrink back immediately. Seeing that there was no more earth fire energy to collect, Butterfly Fairy transformed into a caterpillar and burrowed into the Heavenly Void Ring to continue her cultivation.
Xiao Wenbing calmed his mind and, following the method recorded in the classic texts, concentrated his divine sense and gradually extended it into the jade cauldron.
Under his divine command, the molten steel inside gradually became round. He kept adjusting the thickness of the molten steel in various places, and before the molten steel solidified, he would add Arctic cold water into the molten steel. Each dot of Arctic cold water was an array point. Once all the dots were added, it would be an ordinary defensive array.
This is also one of the few formations that Xiao Wenbing has mastered.
After an unknown amount of time, Xiao Wenbing, covered in sweat, withdrew his divine sense, and his first creation, the magnificent little round shield, was finally born.
Touching the sweat stains on his forehead, Xiao Wenbing let out a long sigh of relief. At this moment, he deeply understood the suffering that Lu Jun had endured when he was forging swords.
This was before he even used the Samadhi Fire. If he were to slowly simmer everything himself, then...
Xiao Wenbing shook his head; it was absolutely impossible for him to do that at his current level.
Xiao Wenbing's gaze finally settled on the object in his hand, which was neither square nor round. After a long while, he finally let out a low wail: "Heavens... what kind of monster is this?"
He cautiously glanced around, and thankfully no one saw him. Even Butterfly Fairy wisely entered the Heavenly Void Ring.
Thank goodness, thank goodness, no one was there. If someone had seen this thing, he probably wouldn't have been able to face anyone again.
At this point, Xiao Wenbing deeply understood one thing: weapon crafting also requires talent. And, in fact, artistic talent is also quite important.
When I was at the Heavenly Dao Sect, I saw so many strange and wonderful magical artifacts in the sky. It turns out that the real reason was that the craftsmen were too bad at design, which is why they created so many magical artifacts that looked like they were crippled.
I read in a book that as long as you put the raw materials into the furnace and provide enough heat, you can get ready-made ritual implements after opening the furnace.
Only after trying it himself today did he realize that all those words were just for fooling children...
In fact, after the basic materials for refining are melted into a liquid state, their final form is formed under the control of the refiner's consciousness.
In that final step, the refiner not only had to shape the liquid into the form they envisioned in their mind within a very short time, but also had to carefully imprint the pre-arranged array onto the magical artifact.
The power of a magical artifact is determined by many factors, but the most crucial factors are the raw materials and the array formations contained within them.
The higher the quality of the raw materials used to refine the magical artifact, the more unique its characteristics will be. Similarly, not just any raw material can withstand the power of a truly advanced formation. Only when a raw material with certain extreme characteristics is combined with a suitable advanced formation can it unleash its maximum, or even exceed, power.
Of course, the steel mothers that Xiao Wenbing had at this time were inferior goods mixed with many impurities. With the addition of some celestial sand, they could only be used to forge some of the most basic magical artifacts. Similarly, the formations within these magical artifacts could only be the most basic and least powerful small formations.
However, no matter what, the strange-looking thing in his hand is definitely, absolutely, and without any controversy, one of those failed items.
If people found out that he had created such a thing, then his lifelong reputation would be ruined.
He felt relieved once again; there was no one here. Hmm… wait, there was a demon inside his ring, and it had seen everything. So, should he kill… no, kill the demon to silence it?
Inside the Heavenly Void Ring, Butterfly Fairy was refining the earth vein fire she had just absorbed when suddenly, without warning, a strangely shaped object, seemingly both square and round, fell from the sky.
It hit it squarely on the head. It was shocked. This was its master's mustard seed space. Could someone really attack the mustard seed space directly?
It stared intently at the object, which seemed rather familiar. However, before it could recognize it, a chilling cold suddenly washed over it.
Instinctively, it curled up and didn't dare to move, as if that would allow it to avoid the impending disaster.
Xiao Wenbing pondered the matter for a long time outside, and finally gave up the idea. The Butterfly Fairy was quite useful, and it would be a waste to kill her now. Moreover, under the current circumstances, she was an invaluable helper.
"Come out, come out," Xiao Wenbing called out to the ring. Butterfly Fairy dared not disobey and obediently crawled out.
A new batch of ingredients was placed into the jade cauldron, but this time, Xiao Wenbing learned from his previous mistake and only put in one-tenth of the ingredients.
"Hush...shh..." Xiao Wenbing uttered two sounds that he himself did not understand. However, the butterfly fairy, who had lived for over a thousand years, understood perfectly and spat out the golden pill. The earth vein fire once again emitted unparalleled heat.
Volume 4, The Divine Artifact Chapter 109: A Successful First Work
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Soon, the materials melted into a liquid, the valve was shut off, and the fire was extinguished. Safety first! If a gas explosion—no, a spiritual energy explosion—had occurred, it would be a huge joke.
He glanced at the Butterfly Fairy. If the spiritual energy really exploded, perhaps its chances of survival would be greater than his own.
After all, although it was a demon, it was still a top-tier Golden Core demon, far more powerful than his own Core Formation stage...
Xiao Wenbing's consciousness re-entered the jade cauldron, and the liquid gradually took shape under his guidance. This process was not fast, and it required his complete concentration; he could not afford to be distracted in the slightest.
…………
An hour later, it was finally done.
Xiao Wenbing opened his eyes, glanced at the finished product in front of him, and thought, "Hmm, hard work pays off; it seems to be a little rounder than before."
However, this time, there was a slight mishap: it leaned more towards an ellipse.
Without saying a word, he threw the oval object directly into the Heavenly Void Ring.
The butterfly fairy suddenly realized that the strange, neither-square nor-round thing inside was a piece of junk that her master had made.
Xiao Wenbing threw down another batch of raw materials with a grim expression, opened the gate, and turned his head to see Die Xian's big eyes turning as if she understood something.
He suddenly became enraged and shouted, "What the hell are you looking at? If you keep looking, I'll roast the butterflies!"
The Butterfly Fairy was terrified and quickly spat out her inner core, obediently serving as the fire-blowing boy. Alas… a demon who had cultivated for over a thousand years and achieved great things had fallen to this state. Its two beautiful, bright eyes glistened with tears, lamenting its destined, arduous fate.
The liquid in the jade cauldron solidified for the third time. Looking left and right, Xiao Wenbing's face was no longer red, but ashen.
He was momentarily distracted and actually created something that made no sense.
It's round and long—what is this thing? If it were smooth, it would look a bit like Sun Wukong's golden cudgel, but it has all sorts of wrinkles on it. Hmm… if it could change size, it would be a good choice as a massage stick.
Xiao Wenbing casually tossed the thing into the Heavenly Void Ring and got back to work.
It's too flat, no...
It's too narrow, no...
It's too big, no...
That's too, too strange, no...
Too soft, not firm enough, no stamina, no...
After several attempts, the raw materials were exhausted. Xiao Wenbing used his special ability to create another batch of raw materials. This was the first time that Die Xian had witnessed such a miraculous ability, and her eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
Xiao Wenbing glared at it. If this wasn't his monster, if they hadn't signed a master-servant contract, if he couldn't decide its life or death with a mere thought, hmph…
As if sensing Xiao Wenbing's anger, Butterfly Fairy quickly shrank back, no longer daring to look around.
If Zhang Yaqi is incredibly stubborn, then Xiao Wenbing is just as headstrong; once he sets his mind on something, he will not give up until he achieves his goal.
And so, Xiao Wenbing persevered through countless failures, until finally, to his great gratitude—perhaps by divine intervention—he successfully forged a small round shield.
The small shield is perfectly round, with uniform thickness and beautiful, soft lines. What's even more remarkable is that the defensive array inside is perfectly integrated with the round shield, and every drop of Arctic cold water is like a beautiful star, deeply embedded in the round shield.
"Failure is the mother of success," Xiao Wenbing exclaimed deeply.
Counting on his fingers, he realized he had spent a full ten days inside, without sleep or rest. During those ten days, he had failed at least a hundred times before achieving this brilliant result. Yes, it truly was a brilliant result.
For a newcomer, someone practicing with magical artifacts for the first time, this is an incredible achievement.
Of course, in Xiao Wenbing's subconscious, he naturally excluded the hundreds of oddly shaped junk items in the Heavenly Void Ring.