Cultivation Begins From The Desert-Chapter 661 - 645: The 2nd Lifebound Spiritual Artifact! [Request for Monthly Pass!]
FD, look at it after three thirty)
Time flies.
In the blink of an eye, Zhouyang had been overseeing Haoyang Cave for three years.
During these three years, he hardly left Haoyang Cave. Besides his daily cultivation, he either studied the artifact refining heritage he obtained from Elder Zhou Minghan, or accompanied his mother, Lin Yuting, to experience the life of ordinary people in mortal cities.
Lin Yuting was only a few years younger than Zhou Xuanhao. After Zhou Xuanhao established his foundation, it was impossible for the couple to grow old together. Therefore, in the last twenty years of her life, she chose not to stay beside her husband at Baisha River Oasis but came to Haoyang Cave to accompany Zhouyang, her only son.
Zhouyang actually understood his mother Lin Yuting's thoughts very well. He knew that besides trying to make up for the mother-son separation over the past few decades, her accompanying him was also because she didn't want her husband, still in his middle age, to watch her grow old day by day.
He had fantasized about helping his mother Lin Yuting step into the Foundation Establishment Stage, but unfortunately, every time he had such a fantasy, it was shattered by bloody reality.
Not to mention that Lin Yuting, now almost a hundred years old, was only at the Eighth-layer Qi Cultivation. Even her gentle and weak will might not be able to pass the "Divine Sense Barrier".
If it were his foster mother, Zhou Xuan Yu, Zhouyang wouldn't worry about this at all.
It's not impossible to change a person's will, but given Lin Yuting's current situation, it's clear there's no time to work on this, not to mention Zhouyang doesn't have a second Foundation Establishment Pill.
So what he could do was to accompany his mother more in the next twenty years, helping her through the final phase of her life and ensuring she had no regrets.
On this day, Zhouyang was helping Eighth Aunt Zhou Xuanyan create an oasis alongside his mother Lin Yuting when he suddenly received a distress sound transmission talisman from the Red Flame Iron Ore Vein.
After reading the transmission, his expression initially sank but quickly returned to normal.
He smiled slightly and nodded gently to his mother, Lin Yuting, and Eighth Aunt Zhou Xuanyan, who was watching him. "It's nothing major, just a few foolish demon beasts breaking into the mine and injuring people. I'll handle it and be right back."
Of course, the situation wasn't as simple as he said.
If it were really just ordinary demon beasts breaking into the mine and injuring people, Thirteenth Aunt Zhou Xuanying, stationed there, would have taken them out long ago.
Knowing that the Red Flame Iron Ore Vein had been yielding significant income for the Zhou Family, reaching a net income of seven hundred spirit stones annually, Zhouyang, stationed in the Haoyang Cave spirit vein, appointed Thirteenth Aunt Zhou Xuanying of the Seventh-layer Qi Cultivation to closely guard the miners.
Now even Thirteenth Aunt Zhou Xuanying, a Seventh-layer Qi Cultivator, needed to send a sound transmission talisman for help, indicating that the demon beasts in the mine were indeed as formidable as the Tier Two Top Grade demon beast "Gold-Eating Rat" he had encountered at the Refined Iron Ore Vein.
"It's Tier Two Top Grade demon beasts, the 'Flame-devouring Spiders', and there are at least five of them. Miners accidentally dug into their nest, resulting in two or three dozen miners being wrapped in spider silk and dragged away. I've temporarily sealed the mine, waiting for you, the clan leader, to handle it."
When Zhouyang arrived on his flying sword, Zhou Xuanying, who sent the distress talisman, immediately reported the situation to him.
Hearing the words "Flame-devouring Spider," Zhouyang raised an eyebrow, and understanding flickered in his eyes.
"Flame-devouring Spiders," as their names suggest, love to devour flames and fire attribute celestial spirits, often appearing in volcanic hot areas. It was no surprise that such demon beasts appeared beneath the Red Flame Iron Ore.
Being adept at hiding, these spiders, concealed dozens of meters deep in the ore vein, were difficult to detect even by Zhouyang's Foundation Establishment stage divine sense scanning the earth.
With a clear understanding, he nodded seriously and said sternly, "I understand the situation well, Thirteenth Aunt, you did the right thing. Now, please continue to reassure the frightened miners while I personally go down to assess the situation and decide what to do."
With that said, he released his flying sword to break open the entrance, sealed by Zhou Xuanying with a Dragon-breaking Stone, and entered the mine.
Zhouyang's formidable divine sense swept through the relatively shallow, newly excavated mine tunnels and quickly located where the "Flame-devouring Spiders" were killing miners.
However, his unrestrained divine sense waves also alerted the "Flame-devouring Spider" group hiding underground. These subterranean killers, sensing his powerful presence, immediately released their full auras as a warning.
There were eight "Flame-devouring Spiders" in total, each the size of a calf, with their shells a bright crimson, and their eight fist-sized eyes filled with ferocity and brutality. Despite sensing Zhouyang's Foundation Establishment stage aura, they showed no fear, instead emitting intense hostility with their warnings.
"Scram!"
Zhouyang shouted, his divine sense suddenly pressing down, instantly shattering the ferocious, violent will emanating from the "Fire-Eating Spiders" into pieces.
Chirp, chirp, chirp—
A series of sharp and furious screeches echoed from the depths of the mine tunnel. The swarm of "Fire-Eating Spiders" had been infuriated by Zhouyang's attitude, and they actually emerged from their lairs, appearing in the tunnel.
"Hmph, it's often said that insect-type demon beasts have the lowest intelligence among demon beasts, and now it's proven true. These lowly Tier Two High-Grade Demon Beasts dare to attack a Foundation Establishment Cultivator; they truly don't know their place!"
Zhouyang snorted coldly, disdainful of the "Fire-Eating Spiders'" overconfident behavior.
With a pinch of his fingers forming a sword technique and a guiding pull of his divine sense, the Tier Three Lower Grade Flying Sword "Red Profound Golden Light Sword" slashed toward the emerging "Fire-Eating Spiders" with brilliant sword light.
As the sword light attacked, the "Fire-Eating Spiders" naturally didn't wait to be slaughtered; they opened their mouths, shooting out spider silk towards the sword light, attempting to block it.
The silk of the "Fire-Eating Spiders" was crimson, harder than refined iron, and incredibly tough. Any ordinary Tier Two Flying Sword entangled by this silk would quickly be wrapped up and lose contact with its cultivator.
Moreover, due to the "Fire-Eating Spiders'" preference for consuming flames and fire attribute spiritual objects, their silk didn't fear fire like other spider and silkworm silk. It even had the ability to weaken the power of fire magic spells when resisting them.
In the Cultivation Realm, a magic robe woven from "Fire-Eating Spider" silk was more expensive than a typical Tier Two Mid-grade Spiritual Artifact and extremely sought after.
However, these "Fire-Eating Spiders" were clearly wrong today.
Under Zhouyang's blazing, sun-like red-gold sword light, their silk shot out was ground into nothingness like snow in the mountains by the blazing sword light.
The sword light circled around several of the "Fire-Eating Spiders" but didn't kill any; it merely severed half of their spider legs, temporarily incapacitating them.
The remaining "Fire-Eating Spiders," witnessing this scene, became both terrified and furious. Their eight fist-sized eyes beneath their abdomens were filled with fear and rage as they shrieked nonstop at Zhouyang, involuntarily retreating in the direction they had come from.
No matter how low their intelligence, seeing this scene, they already knew that the bipedal creature walking upright was an existence they couldn't afford to provoke.
And animal instinct told them that only by staying away from that upright-walking creature could they survive.
"Only now deciding to run? Don't you think it's a bit too late?"
Zhouyang smiled coldly, not intending to spare the remaining "Fire-Eating Spiders."
With another sword technique, the "Red Profound Golden Light Sword" once again transformed into a red-gold sword light, pursuing the remaining few "Fire-Eating Spiders."
These "Fire-Eating Spiders" were agile in the mine, moving several meters laterally with a single swipe of their eight legs, far beyond what a human could chase.
Unfortunately, no matter how fast they ran, they couldn't outrun Zhouyang's flying sword.
With Zhouyang's divine sense controlling the sword, in a flash, all the escaping "Fire-Eating Spiders" followed their companions' fate, having half of their legs severed, collapsing in the mine tunnel.
"You dared to eat the members of the Zhou family; you should have been slaughtered entirely, but killing you outright would be too lenient. Instead, I'll spare your lives so you can spend an eternity spinning silk to atone for your sins against the Zhou family!"
In the mine tunnel, Zhouyang withdrew his flying sword, gazing at the struggling and furiously hissing "Fire-Eating Spiders," a cold glint flashing in his eyes. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢
As he had mentioned, if not for the use of the silk spun by the "Fire-Eating Spiders," these beasts wouldn't have been spared just for their man-eating deeds.
All these "Fire-Eating Spiders" were adult demon beasts, beyond taming and domestication; Zhouyang spared their lives only to exploit their remaining value. When they could no longer produce silk, it would be their end.
Coincidentally, in his Haoyang Cave, there were two unused Spirit Beast Chambers. The eight "Fire-Eating Spiders" here could be divided into two groups and locked up for domestication. With the Tier Three Lower Grade Array "Earth and Metal Spear Array," even if he left Haoyang Cave one day, he wouldn't fear these beasts causing trouble.
The life force of spider-type demon beasts was exceedingly robust, possessing the ability to regenerate severed limbs. Zhouyang wasn't worried about the "Fire-Eating Spiders" dying from their leg injuries. In fact, he intended to punish these man-eating beasts, not immediately knocking them unconscious for treatment. Instead, he used the "Earth Escape Technique" to bypass these beasts and burrowed into their lair.
As Zhouyang expected, besides the demon beast bones previously left over in the "Flame-devouring Spider" nest, there were also the bodies of the Zhou Family miners that had been taken by the spiders earlier. Most of these bodies were wrapped in spider silk and hung on the cave walls, with only four or five bodies being eaten down to skeletons with just clothes falling on the ground.
He looked at the hanging corpses in silence for a moment, then waved his sleeve, releasing a flying sword to cut open the silken cocoons, letting the dried bodies fall to the ground, and then packed all the spider silk from the "Flame-devouring Spider" nest into his storage bag. These were excellent materials for artifact refining.
Suddenly, Zhouyang's face showed delight, as if he had discovered something valuable, and he quickly walked to a corner of the nest.
In the corner, on a clump of crimson spider silk, were unexpectedly piled over a dozen fist-sized spider silk egg sacs, each containing a white spider egg the size of a chicken egg.
Discovering the unhatched eggs of the "Flame-devouring Spider" was undoubtedly a significant gain.
The adult "Flame-devouring Spiders" that had eaten humans were wild and difficult to tame. In the future, when they grew old and could no longer spin webs, or couldn't withstand the captivity and committed suicide, their fate was to be killed for their web to be refined into magical artifacts, a one-time transaction.
However, if the "Flame-devouring Spiders" could be tamed from a young age, there was a high possibility that this demon beast could be domesticated into a spirit beast. This would provide the Zhou Family with a stable revenue source of spider silk sales, further enhancing the clan's foundation.
Moreover, the "Flame-devouring Spiders" were not only capable of spinning webs for money but also possessed considerable combat strength, serving as the clan's fighting force at critical moments.
Do not be fooled by how Zhouyang easily dealt with those eight "Flame-devouring Spiders" to think these demon beasts had weak combat power. In fact, that was entirely due to his cultivation and magical artifacts overpowering them.
Had it been a Qi Cultivation Stage cultivator, even when he was at the Ninth Layer Qi Cultivation, encountering such eight Tier Two High-Grade demon beasts, they would have to thank their luck to escape alive.
As Tier Two High-Grade demon beasts, the "Flame-devouring Spiders" were capable of more than just spinning webs. Their poisonous fangs contained a terrifying fire poison that quickly dehydrated and killed living organisms when injected into them, and their eight long spider legs, reaching four to five feet, could completely serve as short spears, with power comparable to a Tier Two High-grade Flying Sword.
For Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators encountering "Flame-devouring Spiders" in a cramped underground cave, even maintaining an undefeated status one-on-one was already impressive. Facing eight "Flame-devouring Spiders," even a standard five-member adventure team would only have the option to flee for their lives.
Beast taming should be left to professionals. After the passing of Elder Zhou Quan, the Zhou Family no longer had a Tier Two Beast Tamer; only Zhou Xuanzhao was a Tier One Top Grade Beast Tamer.
Zhouyang carefully wrapped the dozen or so spider eggs in spider silk and hung them at his waist, planning to hand them over to his Seventeenth Uncle Zhou Xuanzhao for handling once he returned, hoping that this Seventeenth Uncle might find his opportunity to advance to a Tier Two Beast Tamer with these "Flame-devouring Spiders."
After securing the spider eggs, Zhouyang returned to the mine shaft, using force to knock out the adult "Flame-devouring Spiders" whose legs he had severed. He then tied them up with the spider silk they had spun themselves, and dragged the eight "Flame-devouring Spiders" out of the mine.
Outside the mine, Zhouyang explained the situation to Thirteenth Aunt Zhou Xuanying, asking her to organize the miners to clear the corpses of miners slain by the "Flame-devouring Spiders," while he found dozens of camels, set up sand sleds, and used them to pull the eight "Flame-devouring Spiders" back to Haoyang Cave.
Upon returning to Haoyang Cave, Zhouyang divided the eight "Flame-devouring Spiders" into two groups and threw them into the remaining two Spirit Beast Chambers. He tossed a dozen "Essence Pills" refined from the essence of demon beast blood and flesh onto the ground, then sealed the iron door of the Spirit Beast Chambers, leaving the creatures unattended.
Although he lacked beast taming skills himself, he knew that there was no way to communicate with these freshly captured demon beasts. Only by confining them for a year or so to wear down their ferocity could he consider harvesting silk from them later.
In the meantime, to prevent the demon beasts from harming others, he would have to personally handle feeding them.
Afterward, he flew back to the Yuquan Lake Oasis by sword, handing over the "Flame-devouring Spider" eggs to his Seventeenth Uncle Zhou Xuanzhao, and consulted the old Clan Leader Zhou Minghan about problems encountered in artifact refining.
The difficulty in breaking through from a Tier Two High-grade Refiner to a Tier Three Refiner was exceptionally high. Despite Zhouyang's success rate exceeding fifty percent for refining Tier Two High-grade Spiritual Artifacts, he still lacked confidence in refining Tier Three spiritual artifacts.
The spiritual objects needed for refining Tier Three artifacts were all costly, each worth at least one Tier Two High-grade Spiritual Artifact. Without ample confidence, he dared not rashly refine a Tier Three artifact.
In the Hundred Skills of Cultivation at the entry-level—Tier One and Tier Two—materials could be amassed for development. However, at the Tier Three and Tier Four stage, even major sects like the Yellow Sand Sect, with a Golden Core Stage ancestor overseeing matters, dared not extravagantly force cultivation like this.
Thus, the further one progressed, the more these skills relied on talent, and those lacking such talent would never achieve any major achievements in this area.
"No need for urgency. Given your age, becoming a Tier Three Refiner is only a matter of time. In my experience, don't hesitate to try creating your own magical artifacts. If you can develop a new method of artifact refining, even if it's just for a Tier One Spiritual Artifact, it will significantly aid in breaking through to a Tier Three Refiner."
On the top of Jade Spring Peak, under the "Dragon Scale Tree," Zhouyang and Zhou Minghan, the grandfather and grandson duo, sat beneath the tree, brewing tea and discussing Dao, sharing and exchanging insights on artifact refining.
"Creating magical artifacts? Isn't that supposed to start when a Tier Four Refiner breaks through to a Tier Five Refiner? Can I really create magical artifacts now?"
Zhouyang was moved, looking at the old Clan Leader with some uncertainty, murmuring to himself, full of self-doubt.
Creating magical artifacts sounded simple, but was incredibly difficult in practice. Artifact refining wasn't like mundane blacksmithing, where one could forge an oddly shaped weapon and claim they had invented a new sort of weapon.
For an artifact refiner, the shape of a magical artifact is not the important part; the key lies in the magic bans within it. Only when the magic bans successfully embed themselves and form within the artifact can it be considered truly complete.
For example, when Zhouyang was refining the Tier One Spiritual Artifact "Cyan Blade," he could only embed it with the "Sharpness" magic ban. If he attempted the "Fiery Flame" magic ban instead, there would be a ten out of ten chance that the sword embryo would explode on the spot.
However, if he could successfully embed the "Fiery Flame" magic ban within the sword embryo, thus crafting it into a sword capable of releasing flames to harm enemies, then he would have succeeded in creating an original magical artifact.
But achieving this step is easier said than done!
The sword embryo of the "Cyan Blade" is originally a design crafted by predecessors after countless trials and is deemed most suitable for embedding the "Sharpness" magic ban. Even if it were shorter or wider by a millimeter, it could lead to the failure of embedding the magic ban, let alone a "Fiery Flame" magic ban that is completely incompatible with the "Sharpness" ban.
Consequently, any artifact refiner aspiring to create an original magical artifact has only one path to tread: endless spending! Whittling away money relentlessly!
Only through repeated failures and modifications can one hope to successfully embed the "Fiery Flame" magic ban into the sword embryo of the "Cyan Blade," thus refining a "Flame Sword."
But do you think this means the success of creating an original magical artifact?
No!
This is merely the beginning!
One success does not signify true success; it might just be luck.
Only through consistent and repeated success can it truly be deemed authentic success.
Therefore, after Zhouyang successfully refines a "Flame Sword," there are two major steps he must undertake. The first step is to elevate his success rate in refining the "Flame Sword" to a perfect ten out of ten.
The second is to document the refining method of the "Flame Sword" and teach it to other artifact refiners. Only when other refiners can successfully craft a "Flame Sword" using his method can it be considered a genuine success.
If he can achieve these, then it can truly be deemed a successful creation of an original magical artifact.
If he succeeds in creating an original magical artifact, he will gain the legendary "Celestial Favor" and enter a state of serendipitous enlightenment.
It should be noted that the creation of an original magical artifact by an artifact refiner does not require uniqueness.
Take Zhouyang, for example: As long as he hasn't studied the "Flame Sword" refining methods left by predecessors or accessed related information, and manages to invent and refine the "Flame Sword" through his independent exploration, he can achieve the state of enlightenment.
Once in the state of enlightenment, his comprehension and knowledge of artifact refining skills would improve significantly, and breaking through to a Tier Three Refiner would essentially become a certainty.
But the Heavenly Dao is impartial. An artifact refiner can only enter an enlightenment state for the first time by creating a Tier One Spiritual Artifact. To achieve another enlightenment through artifact creation, one must create a Tier Two Spiritual Artifact.
Generally, Tier Four Refiners attempting to break through to Tier Five Refiners need to create a Tier Two Spiritual Artifact and experience two rounds of enlightenment to ensure success.
The difficulty in creating an original magical artifact is precisely why Zhouyang, fully aware of its challenges, feels so lacking in confidence right now.
Facing Zhouyang's lack of confidence, Zhou Minghan merely smiles and says, "Tier Four Refiners breaking through to Tier Five need to create an original artifact because Tier Five artifacts are complex in structure, involving the mysteries of spiritual flesh transformation. Without outstanding talent, it's difficult for a refiner to comprehend them fully, so they need Celestial Favor to help themselves in understanding."
"Whether you succeed in creating an original artifact now or not, you will accumulate experience. Perhaps by analogy, you can break through your current bottleneck in refining skills."
"Back when I broke through to being a Tier Three Refiner, it was while studying the repair of an artifact crafted by another refiner that, in a moment of inspiration, I accidentally achieved enlightenment and succeeded."
"I see, Grandson understands what to do now." Zhouyang nodded in sudden understanding, a hint of light flashing in his eyes.
The old clan leader Zhou Minghan has already pointed out the path. Whether he can traverse it depends on Zhouyang's own comprehension and ability.
As the saying goes: A master leads you to the threshold, but cultivation relies on the individual.
Though having a good master can undoubtedly reduce the number of detours a disciple takes, reaching the journey's end and how far one walks depends critically on the disciple's own insight and talent.
