Chapter 1686: He Is Refining Artifacts?

The congenital fetal toxin, which had troubled him for over a year, was gone from where it had been. In its place was a cluster of dark, black gas. This substance wasn't large; it was a single stream, about a finger's length, lying quietly and motionless within his meridians.

"Burn!"

He continued to channel the Skyflame into it, burning it for a while. However, the black gas showed no change, as if the Skyflame, which could incinerate anything, had no effect on it.

"What exactly is this?"

His spiritual energy and True Qi spread out, attempting to force the gas out of his body, but he found that it was rooted in place, completely immobile.

"Could it be... this is what Master Kong mentioned, the thing hidden within the toxin?" His heart stirred, and his brows furrowed. When he refined the Hall Master Token, he had seen Master Kong's lingering consciousness within it. Master Kong had said that the congenital fetal toxin was easy to resolve, but the substance hidden within the toxin was not so easy to expel. Now that the fetal toxin was gone, yet this dark current of gas remained, could it be exactly what Master Kong had spoken of? If even Master Kong called it troublesome, this substance was likely extraordinary.

"This black gas is in a meridian too small for my soul body to enter, and it doesn't move wildly like the previous fetal toxin. The Library cannot investigate it..." A moment later, he frowned. He had just used the Eye of Insight and the Library of Heaven's Path, but neither could identify what this thing was.

"Never mind. It seems different from the fetal toxin and appears harmless for now. I'll ask Master Kong next time I see him..." After studying it for a while, he found that it was not poisonous and should not harm him. Zhang Xuan then breathed a sigh of relief and stopped worrying about it. He still didn't know what it was, but for him, the disappearance of the congenital fetal toxin had removed a major burden from his mind, and he felt much lighter.

Whoosh! At this moment, the ominous clouds in the sky were also gradually showing signs of dispersing, as if they could scatter at any moment.

"The Skyflame currently poses no threat to me..." Even at its fiercest, it couldn't harm him. Now that it was about to dissipate, he naturally wouldn't suffer any damage.

"The Skyflame can incinerate anything; it shouldn't be wasted... Otherwise, who knows when I'll be able to summon it again!" A thought struck him. With a flick of his wrist, a circular platform about three meters in diameter appeared before him: the Gold Essence Spirit Stone!

This artifact, given to him by the Dragon Bone Divine Spear in the Ancient Sage Ran Qiu's ruins, had remained unused because he lacked suitable flames to melt it. Now, seeing that some Skyflame remained in the sky, and knowing it no longer posed a threat to him, he decided to seize the opportunity to melt this substance and re-forge the Gold Origin Cauldron. The Cauldron had followed him for a long time, but with his rapid cultivation advancements, its utility had diminished, leaving it idle. Since there was an opportunity to upgrade it, he naturally had to help.

As soon as the Gold Essence Spirit Stone touched the Skyflame, this precious metal, said to be unyielding even to Earthflame, gradually began to soften, turning into a liquid in less than ten breaths.

"Gold Origin Cauldron, out!" Zhang Xuan flicked his wrist again.

The Gold Origin Cauldron appeared abruptly. The moment it emerged, it cheered excitedly, "Master, what made you think of me? Has someone been bullying you? Watch me refine them into slag in minutes..." Before it finished yelling, it sensed something amiss, and its voice changed in fright: "What is this? Why is it so hot? Master, are you displeased with me? Are you going to melt me? Don't kill me! I can warm your bed..."

Zhang Xuan's face darkened: "Shut up! I'm helping you improve your strength. If you dare to talk nonsense again, I'll throw you in here and burn you alive!"

"Yes..." Hearing that its young master was going to help it improve its strength, the Gold Origin Cauldron finally breathed a sigh of relief. It wanted to say more, but then felt the intense heat rushing towards it from all sides. The entire cauldron began to distort and gradually melt. With a flick of his palm, the recently melted Gold Essence Spirit Stone flew over and began to merge with the cauldron.

"Wait... the Gold Essence Spirit Stone is too advanced. The forging techniques I learned previously didn't involve it. How much should I fuse for maximum power?" Zhang Xuan suddenly paused. His understanding of forging had only reached the peak of 8-star. He hadn't even tested for 9-star artifact forger, yet he held the title of a 9-star master teacher. In forging, the proportions of various ores and metals are fixed; the more precise they are, the greater the power. He had never encountered a Gold Essence Spirit Stone before. This substance was exceedingly rare; he had only heard its name and knew nothing about how to proportion it with other metals or how to forge it for better results.

"A miscalculation..." Zhang Xuan's face twitched, feeling a bit awkward. If the proportions were wrong, even with abundant good materials, the artifact's quality might not be high. Just now, he was only thinking that the Skyflame was ending and he had to forge quickly, not considering this aspect. Now, half the forging was done, and the Gold Origin Cauldron and Gold Essence Spirit Stone had begun to merge. Would it be too reckless to consider it now?

"Never mind. The Gold Essence Spirit Stone is good stuff, so more is definitely better. The Gold Origin Cauldron's previous material was too poor; fusing and replacing it will surely greatly increase its level..." He hesitated for a moment, then immediately dismissed the thought. Anyway, they were both good materials, so he would fuse as much as he could!

Sizzle sizzle! The two melted substances began to merge. After absorbing the three-meter-diameter platform, the Gold Origin Cauldron no longer looked like itself, turning into a shapeless blob.

Just then, the ominous clouds reached their limit, and the surrounding Skyflame extinguished with a "whoosh!"

"Oh no, the Skyflame disappeared too quickly, and I haven't hammered it yet..." His mouth twitched. The two had merged, but before he could hammer it, the Skyflame was gone. He was supposed to be upgrading the Gold Origin Cauldron; this form was simply too ugly! With a flick of his wrist, a hammer instantly appeared in his palm. He rushed forward and began to strike.

Ding, ding, dong! Ding, ding, dong! The sound of hammering echoed.

Outside Master Kong's Ancestral Temple, Ren Qingyuan and the others looked at the vast ominous clouds, their faces filled with worry.

"The Supreme Skyflame Tribulation is difficult even for true Golden Body Realm experts to withstand; even I would have to evade it... Master Zhang has just broken through, can he succeed?"

"I don't know, but... can't he control lightning tribulations? Perhaps he has a way for the Skyflame Tribulation too!"

"Lightning tribulations and Skyflame Tribulations are different... Hmm, look, he's rushed into the ominous clouds!" Seeing the Skyflame descend for a while, Zhang Xuan, just like before, rushed into the ominous clouds. Instead of feeling relieved, everyone grew even more worried.

"Rushing into lightning might still allow him to resist, but how can he withstand such intense flames within the Skyflame Tribulation?"

"I'm not sure. Let's just hope he's alright..." Amidst their discussions, the ominous clouds swayed a few times and began to dissipate.

"The Skyflame Tribulation is dispersing..."

"Dispersing so quickly, he should be fine..." Everyone looked up at the sky in unison, wanting to see if this super genius, encountered once in tens of thousands of years, could survive such a powerful Skyflame. They then saw a silhouette, holding a hammer, continuously striking.

Ding, ding, dong! Ding, ding, dong! The sound had a rhythm, pleasant to the ear.

"He... he's forging artifacts?" Silence fell all around.