After seeing Lin Maoshan off, Li Mu's Divine Sense entered his storage ring, and his mind stirred as he 'looked' at the various high-grade spiritual items within.
With a 'whoosh,' thousands of Artifact Refining Materials and rare Ores were drawn forth by an invisible force, appearing around Li Mu. As his gaze swept over them, the attributes of numerous spiritual items were displayed one by one.
【Profound Frost Ice Soul】
【Rank: Seven-rank Spiritual Item】
【Characteristics: Profound Frost Congeals, Ice Soul is Deeply Cold, Freezing to the Bone, Myriad Things Silenced.】
【State: Ice Soul Crystallized, Chill is Piercing】
【The Profound Frost Ice Soul, deeply hidden beneath ten thousand years of cold ice, is formed from the purest essence of cold ice in the extreme north. It contains an extreme power of deep cold, capable of freezing time and plunging Myriad Things into eternal silence. Its holder can comprehend the mysteries of Ice Law through it, mastering the supreme Divine Ability of freezing Myriad Things and controlling ice and snow.】
【golden flame divine sand】
【Rank: Seven-rank Spiritual Material】
【Characteristics: Golden Flame Intertwined, Unparalleled Heat, Body Tempering and Soul Refining, Divine Item Hard to Find.】
【State: Sand Grains Flow, Fire Unceasing】
【Originating from the depths of the earth's core, a wondrous item where golden metal and raging flames coexist, the golden flame divine sand contains the ultimate sharpness of gold and the extreme heat of fire. It is a supreme Spiritual Material for forging Divine Artifacts, tempering the Physical Body, and strengthening the Soul. One can comprehend the Dao of Fire Fusion through it, mastering the most rigid and violent power of Heaven and Earth.】
【Profound Wood Spirit Vine】
【Rank: Six-rank Spiritual Plant】
【Characteristics: Profound Wood Ever-Green, Endless Life, Entangling Myriad Things, Binding Divine Soul.】
【State: Vines Spreading, Lush Green】
【The Profound Wood Spirit Vine, a Profound Wood Spirit Vine parasitic on a Seven-rank Dark Profound Wood, is ten thousand years old. Its vines stretch endlessly, lush and green, containing powerful vitality and binding power. Its tendrils can entangle Myriad Things; even a powerful Divine Soul would find it difficult to escape its binding.】
...
Many high-grade spiritual items were of no low quality; however, their quantity was much lower than before.
Li Mu stretched out his hand, and with a thought of his Divine Sense, spiritual items were categorized and stored into the tianxuan ring, disappearing without a trace.
Finally, a Yao Beast hide remained, falling before Li Mu.
Under Talent Divine Power - Identify Myriad Spirits, the attributes of the terrifyingly cold Yao Beast hide appeared in Li Mu's eyes.
【Nether Abyss Ice Beast Hide】
【Rank: Seven-rank True Spirit Hide】
【Characteristics: Nether Profound Extreme Cold, Ice Seals the Universe, Nether Abyss Ice Soul, Myriad Beams of Cold Light, Frost Freezes the Universe, Coldness Invades Bones.】
【State: Frost Locked, Cold Radiance Shimmering】
【The Nether Abyss Ice Beast, deeply submerged in the deepest part of the perpetually frozen extreme northern ice Domain, is the supreme Dominator of the ice Domain. Its body is covered in ice Soul scales condensed from the purest cold essence from the depths of the Nine Nether, containing terrifying cold power sufficient to freeze Myriad Things in the world. The Nether Abyss Ice Beast Hide is not only the ultimate in Material but also the Peak of cold power. The trace of Nine Nether Cold Ice Origin contained within it is a rare Material for forging supreme ice-type Dao Artifacts and cold-attribute Talismans.】
Looking at this top-grade Artifact Refining and Talisman Crafting Spiritual Material, Li Mu couldn't help but feel eager. This Seven-rank True Spirit hide was quite large; after refining a Dao Artifact, there would still be a good amount left. The remainder could be made into Talisman hides, capable of drawing many high-grade Talismans.
Li Mu quickly got to work, taking a peeling knife from his tianxuan ring to trim it. The blade shimmered in the cold light, each cut precise, echoing the beast patterns on the Nether Abyss Ice Beast Hide.
As the peeling knife slowly advanced, the Nether Abyss Ice Beast Hide gradually revealed its purer and more flawless side. The cold radiance became even more dazzling, and the surrounding air seemed to be solidified by this cold Qi, making even breathing heavy.
After completing the initial trimming, he divided it into two pieces of hide, one large and one small. Li Mu did not rush to the next step of refining; instead, he first carefully probed it with spiritual power to ensure every inch of the hide was intact, while also sensing the Ice Origin contained within it.
He put away the large piece of hide, saving it for refining Dao Artifacts. Then, Li Mu gently stroked the small piece of Nether Abyss Ice Beast Hide with Chaos Power, suppressing the overflow of cold Qi to avoid unnecessary damage during the peeling process.
Subsequently, Li Mu carefully guided the peeling knife along the delicate Texture of the ice beast hide, as if performing a meticulous carving art. One by one, thin Talisman hides emitting icy mist gradually came into being under his nimble hands.
Before long, Li Mu took out a Talisman pen Dao Artifact from his tianxuan ring. This Talisman pen Dao Artifact was named "Profound Wolf Talisman Pen."
This Talisman pen was a masterpiece forged from Li Mu's many years of painstaking effort and Opportunity. It was not a unique item, but one of a series of ten Talisman pens meticulously crafted by Li Mu to meet different attribute requirements. Each pen embodied his deep understanding of the Dao of Artifact Refining.
For a hundred years, apart from occasional cultivation and attempts to Breakthrough to the Combined Body Realm, Li Mu spent most of his time tending to various spiritual plants, Artifact Refining, Talisman Drawing, and Puppet crafting. At the same time, he also refined many 'professional' Dao Artifacts for himself, such as Dao Artifact-grade Pill Furnaces, peeling knives, Talisman pens, and so on.
"To do good work, one must first sharpen one's tools" — this saying was deeply imprinted in Li Mu's heart, becoming his motto for constantly pursuing excellence.
On the path of cultivation, in addition to one's personal cultivation and Realm, possessing a handy and excellent Dao Artifact often plays a decisive role at critical moments. Therefore, Li Mu invested great effort in various crafting tools, striving to make every piece of work perfect.
The bristles of the "Profound Wolf Talisman Pen" were taken from the incomparably precious hairs of a Seven-rank Ice Wolf Yao Emperor, each strand containing the ice-cold power and spirituality of a Yao Emperor level.
The pen body, on the other hand, was meticulously refined by Li Mu's unique secret method from the Yao Emperor's Yao bone, retaining its original toughness and coldness while cleverly integrating the extreme cold Dao rhyme, allowing the entire pen to naturally guide the ice power of Heaven and Earth when writing, imbuing the runes with even greater might and spirituality.
The entire pen seemed to be carved from a thousand-year-old ice crystal, with pure texture and crystal-clear luster. Intricate ice runes coiled around the pen body, winding like thin streams, as if alive, gently swaying with the fluctuations of the surrounding cold Qi, releasing bursts of chilling coldness and profound Dao rhyme.
As Li Mu held the Profound Wolf Talisman Pen and gently wielded it, Chaos Power surged in. The cold Qi on the bristles and the ice power in the pen body intertwined, forming delicate ice crystal trajectories, like elves dancing in the snow, guiding the flow of spiritual power and outlining the intricate structure of the runes.
When Li Mu used the pen, the tip would release wisps of cold Qi, which would fuse with the icy mist on the Talisman hide, making the drawn Talismans purer and their power doubled.
The pen moved with his mind, and his intention reached the pen. Using Chaos Power as ink, he condensed it at the pen tip, gradually outlining a complex and mysterious pattern on the cold Qi-rich Talisman hide.
The Talisman pattern resembled neither a Dragon nor a Phoenix, with its head and tail connected, gradually emitting a mysterious aura. Divine Runes manifested, and pure and powerful ice-cold Qi instantly surged into them, intimately merging with the Talisman paper.
These Talisman patterns, nourished by the ice-cold Qi, seemed to gain substance, emitting a faint blue light, revealing an ineffable majesty and mystery.
Every stroke of Li Mu's pen was like a dialogue with Heaven and Earth, as the ice Dao rhyme transformed by Divine Runes continuously fused into it.
The runes drawn by the "Profound Wolf Talisman Pen" not only possessed great power but also contained Li Mu's unique understanding of Dao and Artifact, allowing them to exert extraordinary effects.
As the pattern gradually took shape, a powerful spiritual power fluctuation rapidly arose within the Talisman paper. This spiritual power fluctuation was like a sudden cold snap in winter, instantly sweeping across the entire space.
Li Mu waved his hand, activating the surrounding protective Formation, preventing the ice power from raging further.
The next moment, the spiritual power of Heaven and Earth surged violently, as if responding to the mysterious pattern about to form under Li Mu's pen. The surrounding space began to tremble, the cold Qi permeating the air suddenly intensified, condensing into visible frost that slowly drifted down.
Above the sky, the originally calm clouds were stirred by an inexplicable force, forming a vortex. Faint rumbling sounds of thunder seemed to whisper, portending something extraordinary about to happen.
As if it was a crucial moment, Li Mu's expression became even more focused. The hand holding the Talisman pen steadily continued to output spiritual power.
As the final stroke fell, the entire Talisman pattern suddenly lit up, like the brightest star in the night sky, illuminating the surrounding icy mist clearly. The mysterious pattern, resembling neither a Dragon nor a Phoenix, seemed to come alive at this moment. The faint sounds of Dragon roars and Phoenix cries could be heard, yet they quickly dissipated into nothingness, leaving only a heart-palpitating pressure to permeate the air.
"Boom!" With a loud bang, the spiritual power of Heaven and Earth seemed to find an outlet, frantically surging into that Talisman. Countless Divine Runes appeared, as if alive, wildly moving and converging on the Talisman's surface, frantically absorbing the spiritual power of Heaven and Earth. A powerful cold Qi emerged, forming a shocking scene.
At the same time, above his head, thunderclouds quickly gathered, and the Will of Heaven and Earth enveloped the area.
Seeing this, Li Mu smiled faintly, as if he had expected it. He directly activated the surrounding Formations and then put away the 'Talisman,' completely cutting off the Heavenly Dao's lock.
Whenever a Heaven-Defying Artifact is born, or a Magical Artifact is promoted to an extremely high rank, the Heavenly Dao will send down this tribulation to test whether it can withstand the might of Heaven and Earth and whether it truly deserves to exist in the world.
However, the number of Dao Artifacts, Talismans, and Puppets refined by Li Mu was simply too many, and the probability of producing Artifact Tribulations was extremely high. If he had to 'cross' an Artifact Tribulation every time, wouldn't he be exhausted?
Therefore, Li Mu had long mastered a clever method to avoid Artifact Tribulations, utilizing his deep understanding of the Law of Heaven and Earth, and his unique achievements in Artifact Refining and Talisman Drawing over the years, to create a Formation called "Heavenly Evolution Stealth Formation."
The "Heavenly Evolution Stealth Formation" can cleverly guide the spiritual power of Heaven and Earth, causing the newly born Heaven-Defying object to instantly merge with the surrounding Heaven and Earth upon its birth, blurring its existence boundary, thereby avoiding the direct perception of the Heavenly Dao's Will.
Facing the impending thunderclouds and the Will of Heaven and Earth, Li Mu's mind stirred, and the "Heavenly Evolution Stealth Formation" he had already set up instantly activated. The surrounding space seemed to be distorted, with countless light and shadow interweaving, completely concealing the Talisman's existence within Heaven and Earth. Although the thunderclouds arrived, they seemed to have lost their target, hovering in the air for a moment before finally dispersing helplessly.
Lin Maoshan, who had just left, sensed the thunderclouds that came and went, and looked up with a face full of question marks.
"This is...? Did Master refine a Dao Artifact? There was clearly an Artifact Tribulation forming? Why is it gone again?" Lin Maoshan was full of doubts, his gaze involuntarily turning towards Li Mu's direction, where peace had been restored, as if everything that had just happened had never occurred.
However, after confirming that no Artifact Tribulation had descended, Lin Maoshan was about to leave when something that surprised him quickly happened again. The sky changed dramatically once more, and thunderclouds, as if pulled by an invisible force, quickly gathered again, covering half the sky.
However, this Lightning Tribulation came and went quickly. Just as Lin Maoshan thought he was about to experience a thrilling Artifact Tribulation, the thunderclouds, as if playing a trick, merely churned a few times in the sky before being gently pushed aside by an invisible hand, gradually dissipating into the sky. The sky once again returned to its usual tranquility.
Lin Maoshan couldn't help but stop, filled with curiosity as he gazed into the distance.
Soon, something unexpected happened to Lin Maoshan. Not long after, another cluster of thunderclouds was attracted. However, before it could truly form, the thunderclouds quickly disappeared again.
"This... what exactly is going on? What is Master doing?! Why are these thunderclouds so erratic?"
Lin Maoshan did not leave for a long time, looking at the frequently gathering and dispersing thunderclouds in the sky, muttering to himself in confusion.
At this moment, in about a quarter of an hour, Li Mu successfully refined a Thousand Frost Cold Domain Talisman. When the Artifact Tribulation descended, he would activate the "Heavenly Evolution Stealth Formation" to resolve the Lightning Tribulation's lock, put away the Talisman, and continue refining the next one.
The thunderclouds of the Artifact Tribulation, under Li Mu's control, seemed to become a unique accompaniment to his Artifact Refining process. Whenever a new Talisman was born, a drama of thundercloud gathering and dispersing would unfold in the sky.
However, all of this was just a normal part of the process in Li Mu's eyes; he focused on the refining in his hands, without distractions.
As one high-grade Talisman after another was refined and concealed within the "Heavenly Evolution Stealth Formation," the thunderclouds also gathered and dispersed repeatedly, like a meticulously choreographed dance. Although it appeared thrilling to outsiders, it was all under Li Mu's control.
Lin Maoshan left the back mountain with a head full of questions.
While Li Mu was crafting Talismans and refining Artifacts, little Mingyue was sitting cross-legged on the ground, tempering herself with the Heavenly Puppet power of the eight-faced suppressing puppet token.
As a Seven-rank Puppet Spirit, little Mingyue, though born recently, had already displayed extraordinary spirituality. She closed her eyes in concentration, her body surrounded by powerful Puppet power fluctuations, echoing the Heavenly Puppet power on the eight-faced suppressing puppet token, forming a subtle resonance.
As time passed, little Mingyue's Puppet Spirit power gradually strengthened, and her eyes occasionally flickered with the light of wisdom. Under her guidance, the eight-faced suppressing puppet token slowly released purer and more powerful Heavenly Puppet power. These powers, like trickling streams, flowed into the sea of Puppet Spirit within her, causing her cultivation to steadily increase without her realizing it.
During a break from refining a Talisman, Li Mu noticed little Mingyue's changes, and a satisfied smile curled on his lips, full of praise. (End of Chapter)
