The No.1 Undercover in the Immortal World-Chapter 439 - 429: Is This Artifact Refining?

Lin Yun was unaware that he had once again spoiled some demon’s plans.

"To think that a mere Heart Guarding Realm could resist my enticements, Elder Yuxuan!"

The demon gnashed her teeth in frustration, yet she was helpless to do anything about it.

After nearly ten thousand years of dormancy, it was under her leadership that the Demon Race began to see some signs of recovery. She was the Demon Race’s last hope, and it was her responsibility to carry on the legacy of her ancestors, leading them on the path back to power.

Of course, after the Four Spirits Barrier was broken, what they sought was no longer just a return. That’s why she set her sights on the Taiqing Daoist Temple ahead of time.

Among them, Zhenren was the most valuable target.

Lin Yun thought she was a demon skilled in illusory magic. In reality, she was the most terrifying Heart Demon.

Seeing the person one most wished to see was merely the superficial aspect of the Heart Demon. The Heart Demon’s greatest ability lay in penetrating people’s hearts.

Moreover, no matter how far apart they were, as long as someone had once been seen by the Heart Demon, it could hide within them.

Unbeknownst to them, it would eat away at their hearts, and gradually, one could no longer tell whether the person was a Heart Demon or still their original self.

The number one peculiar Gu worm, the Heart Demon Gu Worm, was actually the embodiment of the Heart Demon. The worm was merely a cover.

The Heart Demon had not disappeared; it had merely hidden itself.

Now, when it made its move again, it had not expected to fail even against a lowly Heart Guarding Realm cultivator.

How humiliating!

Although powerful and difficult to guard against, the Heart Demon was still bound by a balance within all things. With great power also came restrictions.

For example, even someone as powerful as the Heart Demon could not forcibly seize the heart of a cultivator far inferior to herself.

She could seduce, but not conquer.

As long as one could steadfastly guard their own heart, the Heart Demon was powerless against them.

Of course, she could resort to physical conquest, but she did not dare to be too arrogant in front of Yuxuan.

She had never clashed with Yuxuan before, but the old Taoist inspired great wariness in her. Without absolute certainty of victory, she wouldn’t rashly confront Yuxuan head-on.

Her original plot concerning Zhenren was only a casual move, but with the appearance of the Heavenly Demon Instrument, the situation changed.

After seizing the Demon Summoning Well and abandoning Mount Heavenly Dragon, she realized that although the artifact was truly powerful, among the three heavenly demon instruments, only the Demon Summoning Well couldn’t break the Four Spirits Barrier...

Perhaps it was fate’s cruel joke.

The Demon Summoning Well was the strongest and most sentient of the three heavenly demon instruments.

Of course, this might just be the well boasting about itself, and not necessarily trustworthy. In any case, the leader of the Demon Race had still obtained a lot of useful information from it.

Such as, what exactly the three Heavenly Demon Instruments were.

One was the Demon Summoning Well, one was the Remnant Heart Sword, and one was the Heavenly Demon Hand.

The Remnant Heart Sword was a sword refined from the heart of a Heavenly Demon. It was a divine weapon that perfectly suited the Heart Demon, capable of stirring up the desires within a person’s heart, making it nearly irresistible. The Remnant Heart Sword was not yet fully formed; it needed to consume the blood essence of many living beings to reach completion.

If she could seize the Remnant Heart Sword and fully refine it, breaking the Four Spirits Barrier wouldn’t just be a dream.

The Heavenly Demon Hand, on the other hand, was made from the right hand of a Heavenly Demon.

It was already complete and, despite years of being sealed, its power had not diminished much.

It was the most powerful in terms of offensive capabilities among the three heavenly demon instruments. Possessing the Heavenly Demon Hand, punching a hole through the sky wouldn’t be difficult.

Knowing this information almost made the leader spit blood.

Out of the three heavenly demon instruments, she had snatched the most useless one.

The greatest use of the Demon Summoning Well was to provide Demonic Qi and summon demon creatures.

It was useful for large-scale sieges, but in one-on-one duels or when it came to breaking barriers, the Demon Summoning Well could only offer moral support.

As for its ability to provide Demonic Qi to aid in cultivation, that was even less useful to her.

Merely absorbing Demonic Qi wouldn’t enable her to break through. For a demon to advance in rank, they needed more than just powerful Demonic Qi—they required the seed of power from an Upper Ranked Demon.

It was not difficult for a common demon to reach the rank of a Great Demon, but for a Great Demon to become a Heavenly Demon, it had to obtain the power of another Heavenly Demon.

This could be done through force or as a gift.

The leader eagerly anticipated the Flower Fairy’s return to the Demon Race as a Heavenly Demon partly because she coveted her body.

Only such an ignorant Heavenly Demon was vulnerable to being plundered by a Great Demon.

Other Heavenly Demons...

A Great Demon was nothing but fodder in the presence of a Heavenly Demon; they could only wait for a gift, unable to take by force.

Returning to the main point, the leader originally thought that possessing the Demon Summoning Well meant she could avoid a direct confrontation with Yuxuan. She was quite pleased with herself, only to now realize that she had grabbed a great treasure that turned out to be of little use. To break the barrier, she would still have to visit the Taiqing Daoist Temple again.

She had considered planting an insider traitor, but Zhenren had unexpectedly resisted her Heart Demon’s devouring attack.

"If Zhenren won’t do, then I’ll just switch to another!"

Yuxuan doesn’t have only Zhenren as a disciple, right? Isn’t there also Zhen Li?

Meanwhile, the little Daoist nun had already arrived at Mountain and Sea Pass.

It was time to open the brocade pouch Yuxuan had given her.

Zhen Li placed her hand into the pouch and drew out a piece of paper.

She had thought it was a letter for the Snow Maiden, but unexpectedly, upon taking it out, the paper ignited without flame and burned up.

Zhen Li smelled a fragrant scent, felt drowsiness wash over her, closed her eyes, and fainted.

The leader would never have guessed that Yuxuan would use this method to confront her.

Making a person lose consciousness and tightly locking their heart was indeed an effective way to prevent the Heart Demon’s influence!

And at Mountain and Sea Pass were four elders of Taiqing Daoist Temple who surely wouldn’t let Zhen Li come to harm.

Yuxuan had long since arranged for people to take care of Zhen Li. After she fainted, Elder Yuheng and the others settled her in comfortably.

In just one more day, the matter would be settled.

The technique Yuxuan used could keep Zhen Li asleep for two days.

The exchanges between masters were not merely about showing off power; the real match was in the subtle strategies, revealing the opposing sides’ calculations.

Yuxuan had not anticipated that Zhenren could resist the guile of the Heart Demon. As fate would have it, who would have thought Lin Yun, simply in an attempt to steal some materials, ended up saving Zhenren!

Yuxuan watched all of this silently, watching Lin Yun happily "borrow" items from the storehouse of Taiqing Daoist Temple; he did not stop him.

Fate, wonderfully ineffable.

In the Sword Pavilion of the Taiqing Daoist Temple, Lin Yun quickly gathered the items he wanted, all auxiliary materials, none particularly precious.

But Lin Yun still left behind a message.

"The borrower, Lin Yun, shall return these in the future."

Yuxuan: "..."

You’re borrowing things, but why engrave on my home’s floor!

Yuxuan’s gaze followed Lin Yun until he left the Taiqing Daoist Temple, beyond which Yuxuan could no longer peep.

Even when he used his divine skills, Lin Yun’s surroundings were just a fog, nothing could be seen, and staring too long would even be irritating to the eyes.

"Perhaps this child is a Divine Reincarnation!"

Yuxuan also speculated about Lin Yun’s identity.

But in the end, he merely felt that Lin Yun was likely related to some divine spirit, and not an ordinary one at that.

There are too many secrets in this world, even for a genius like him, who had cultivated to such a realm, clarity evaded him.

Moreover, the higher one stands, the more one sees, the more one realizes how insignificant they are.

Yuxuan’s current strength claimed to be the world’s finest, uncontested by anyone, but he himself knew that even with his cultivation level, there were still many places he could not go.

The Sky-Piercing Tower of Mount Heavenly Dragon, the bottom of the East Sea, the very end of the Land of Death, the core of Flame Mountain, and north of Great Snow Mountain.

Cultivation is like ants trying to ascend to the heavens.

"It’s almost time to have that discussion with him."

Yuxuan once promised Lin Yun a chance to discuss the Dao together, and now, it seemed the time was nearly right.

However, Lin Yun was currently busy with artifact refining, so it could wait!

Suddenly, Yuxuan found himself with an abundance of free time; when everything was arranged and there were no other tasks to be done, people relaxed.

So, Yuxuan flew into the mountains and found Lin Yun.

If he couldn’t observe from afar, couldn’t he watch up close?

With Yuxuan’s cultivation level, Lin Yun couldn’t possibly detect him.

Besides, Lin Yun was fully engrossed in artifact refining.

The sword was to be given to Fang Yu, so it had to be assuredly safe.

Although it had already been forged, Lin Yun felt it wasn’t thorough enough.

Thus, he used his own fire to bake the Sword Embryo for half an hour.

Now, the Sword Embryo didn’t even resemble a sword anymore; it had become heart-shaped, and this heart even had several holes in it.

This was a remnant heart of a Heavenly Demon.

Exposed to Lin Yun’s fire, the heart became much more sacred.

"It should be fine now, time to add the seasonings."

Yuxuan: "..."

Are you cooking or what?

Lin Yun tossed a bunch of materials into the fire: all types of attributes, purified by Lin Yun’s fire, leaving no impurities behind.

Yuxuan watched, face in hands.

Who did you learn this artifact refining technique from?

This is totally haphazard, mixing materials of all attributes together so carelessly. With the Five Elements and Thunder and Wind present, this should be chaos!

Refining an artifact is no different from cultivating. One can only control a limited number of attributes, as the Five Elements, Generation and Restraint, cannot coexist fundamentally.

Thus, refining requires accepting imperfection to achieve the best result.

However...

The materials of differing attributes were thrown into the pot by Lin Yun in a seemingly chaotic manner, yet without losing any essence. In the golden flames, they formed distinct groups, the attributes clearly separated.

Lin Yun refined the materials and then used his Divine Sense to control their fusion.

Yuxuan was stunned on the spot.

Isn’t this guy afraid of dying?

Normally, artifact refining doesn’t explode, but the way Lin Yun was operating, it definitely would.

Where did he learn such a technique?

Lin Yun stated he learned it from novels.

Artifact refining is a complex art, and Lin Yun had only grasped the surface— the rest was up to his imagination.

But he found it quite logical: to refine the materials first, then combine the powers.

Eventually, bring them together, and isn’t that basically it?

It’s no different from cooking, after all!

Yuxuan was now waiting for an explosion to happen, but as time ticked by, a cluster of seven-colored light emerged.

This clearly represented the powers of Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, Wind, and Thunder, miraculously fused together forcibly by Lin Yun. Then, he embedded them into the heart-shaped mass, fully integrating them. Lin Yun molded the now much larger heart into the shape of a sword, and as the sword was about to be completed...

Suddenly, a mass of dark clouds gathered above, leaving Yuxuan completely dumbfounded.

A heavenly tribulation signified that this must be at least an Immortal Artifact.

How many years had it been since anyone had refined an Immortal Artifact?

And it could be accomplished in this way?

Yuxuan felt his world view had taken a massive blow...