Ascending the Jade Palace Chapter 33: Damned Scoundrel, That Bastard Actually Watered

Spirit fire was essential for artifact refining. Yu Lou expertly added peachwood spirit charcoal to the refining furnace.

Nearby, Hongi sat in a chair, silently watching the two brothers work together.

When not refining bead-type magic tools, transforming the shape of ink jade required the assistance of spirit water. Yu An swiftly went outside to the bank of the Clear Stream of Qin Rhy behind the backyard and fetched a basin of spirit water.

"Let us begin. The spirit fire's temperature is just right," Yu Lou reminded him.

Yu An took a deep breath and tossed the ink jade into the refining furnace. He then used his spirit energy to draw up so spirit water, placing it into the furnace's water trough for later use.

Following the artifact refining thods he had learned over the past three years, he skillfully manipulated the spirit fire step by step, beginning the refinent of the ink jade.

However, it did not take long before Yu An's expression turned peculiar.

"Master, sothing is wrong." Yu Lou had also noticed the issue.

The way the spirit water was stimulating the ink jade's spiritual nature did not match their past experiences. There seed to be a problem with the piece of ink jade Yu An was refining.

Hongi stood up, took control of the refining furnace and the spirit fire, and inspected the ink jade with his divine sense.

"There is nothing wrong with it... No, wait! It is not a problem with the ink jade!

Damned scoundrel! Jiang Bao is gone, but this newcor is even worse. That bastard actually watered down the water!"

Just how much of a bastard could a Town Guardian Cultivator sent by Hongdengzhao be?

Hongi's answer was: do not insult bastards!

"What do we do now?"

Let alone Yu An, even Yu Lou was sowhat dumbfounded.

The disciples of Hongdengzhao were truly disgusting in their greed. Huafeng Residence paid everything it was supposed to every year. After handing over several hundred spirit stones, the Town Guardian Cultivator still insisted on generating extra revenue.

Too much of a bastard!

"We do nothing!" Hongi snorted coldly. He manipulated his spirit energy to strike the water Yu An had brought, causing the mixed-in ordinary water to separate completely.

"Continue. Co, take back control."

Sweating profusely, Yu An continued his refinent. Yu Lou looked at his master and asked, "With them doing things this way, are they not afraid soone will report them to the higher-ups?"

Hongi's face darkened as he replied, "Hmph. The Jiang family's ancestor was a disciple of a Golden Core True Person, possessing a Purple Mansion cultivation base.

As for this current Mu Chunze, his master is also at the Purple Mansion realm.

Do you think it is just the Town Guardian Cultivators pocketing spirit stones?

No, these people co out here with tasks to complete. Who would dare to stick their neck out?

Moreover, Hongdengzhao's rit Hall has drained the remaining wealth of the cultivators within its territory over the years. This man nad Mu naturally has to scrape the land even harder."

At this point, the two said no more, silently watching Yu An refine the artifact.

Seven or eight minutes later, a sweat-drenched Yu An finally finished refining the ink jade axe.

Refined into the palm-sized axe blade were three basic layers of restrictions: Durability, Control, and Power Enhancent. It was already a low-grade magic tool.

"Passable. Although it only leaves six layers of space for further refinent, it can be considered to have entered the threshold of a mid-grade magic tool."

Hongi looked at the ink jade axe Yu An had refined and gave his judgnt.

The restriction layers for a mid-grade magic tool ranged from nine to seventeen layers, so the ink jade axe was indeed just a basic entry.

But Yu An was only at the fifth layer of Qi Induction, so this result was already quite good.

Then, Hongi looked at Yu Lou and reminded him, "Yu Lou, it is your turn. This blood-soaked purple copper uses the spiritual blood of a Renwater Poison Frog, imbuing it with water attributes, while possessing both tal and water properties. How confident are you?"

Toying with the blood-soaked purple copper in his hand, Yu Lou gave a modest reply, "I will do my best."

Beside him, Yu An had already fetched another basin of spirit water from the Clear Stream of Qin Rhy for his elder brother. He looked at his master expectantly, implying that his master should hurry up and fix the water so his elder brother could begin refining.

"Good, I look forward to it," Hongi replied with a smile.

Yu Lou remained very calm. After studying the blood-soaked purple copper in his hands for a long ti, he finally tossed it into the refining furnace.

The peachwood spirit fire burned vigorously. Yu An's face was completely smudged with charcoal ash. The blazing flas licked the purple copper in the furnace, and under the stimulation of the spirit fire and spirit water, its spiritual nature quickly reached its most active state.

Yu Lou selected several other auxiliary materials from the material rack and tossed them into the furnace one by one.

Yu An recognized the pattern. This was the recipe for a Purple Copper Dharma Sword!

"You want to refine a flying sword?!" he exclaid.

"Silence!" Hongi scolded.

Yu An pouted. 'When I was refining, you two chatted plenty. Now that he is refining, I am not allowed to say a word.

'Master, I am your disciple too!'

Sensing the change in the purple copper, cold sweat began to bead on Yu Lou's forehead.

The formidable nature of purple copper was different from Cold Refined Iron. Cold Refined Iron belonged to the rare type of base material among rank-nine spiritual materials that relied on sheer force, producing magic tools with excellent offensive capabilities.

However, purple copper excelled in its high spirit energy conversion rate. The Purple Copper Beads that Zhong Ningyao had given the two brothers could be used as remote artillery platforms to cast spells during combat.

Yet the form of a Purple Copper Dharma Sword dictated that it could not just serve as an artillery platform. If that were the case, there would be no need to shape it into a dharma sword; it could just be refined directly into a Purple Copper Bead.

A Purple Copper Dharma Sword was ant for breaking spells!

When an enemy's spell flew over, one could directly sacrifice the Purple Copper Dharma Sword to slash through it. By expending only three parts of spirit energy, one could shatter a spell activated by ten parts of the opponent's spirit energy.

An advantage in a minor exchange would thus be established!

But refining a spell-breaking purple copper flying sword was exceptionally difficult. Halfway through the refinent, Yu Lou realized he had overestimated himself.

He activated the Jade Ruyi in his mind. Within the Jade Ruyi, another small stream of golden light had accumulated.

Looking at the sweat-drenched Yu Lou, Hongi also grew sowhat tense.

He knew Yu Lou was on the verge of losing control over the surging spiritual nature of the purple copper. Behind the high spirit energy conversion rate lay its volatile nature. Purple copper was far more difficult to master than ink jade, and it could easily explode during refinent.

At this mont, Hongi's emotions were complex. He hoped Yu Lou could successfully refine the Purple Copper Dharma Sword; after all, he had taught Yu Lou for several years.

But in the shadows of his mind, a part of him also hoped Yu Lou would fail. After all, if Yu Lou could refine a mid-grade flying sword at the age of sixteen, how should Hongi, who had only refined his first mid-grade flying sword in his forties, view himself?

Therefore, the state of mind where a disciple does not necessarily have to be inferior to the master, and the master is not necessarily wiser than the disciple, was not sothing just anyone could easily attain.

In front of the refining furnace, Yu Lou gritted his teeth and made a dangerous decision. It was definitely impossible to refine the Purple Copper Dharma Sword now, and even using the golden light from the Jade Ruyi would be futile.

He mobilized his spirit energy, directly discarding one-third of the liquid purple copper, leaving the remaining two-thirds to continue the refinent.

With the quantity reduced, Yu Lou successfully suppressed the surging spiritual nature within the purple copper!

The golden light of the Jade Ruyi consud rapidly, and Yu Lou's refining technique beca steady and swift.

The speed and accuracy of embedding the restrictions also increased trendously.

Hongi let out a breath, his tense nerves relaxing.

He did not believe that two-thirds of a piece of purple copper could be used to refine a mid-grade magic tool. A mid-grade magic tool required at least nine layers of restrictions. If the base material was too small, it was impossible to fit nine layers into it.

Yet Hongi did not feel happy either; instead, he felt a bit of regret.

Refining a mid-grade flying sword at sixteen—if Yu Lou could have achieved it, it would actually have been a wonderful thing.

But soon, his expression turned grave once more.

Because under Yu Lou's control, the 'flying sword' in the furnace was rapidly taking shape.

However, as the shape of the magic tool beca clearer, it looked less and less like a flying sword.

Is he... trying to refine a copper awl?

No, it is not an awl either!

What is that?

Why is it flat?

Don't tell he wants to refine a copper mirror?

Under the sa mass, excessively pursuing surface area during artifact refining would result in a severe lack of durability for the finished tool.

But if the surface area was insufficient, the number of restriction layers could not be increased.

Yu Lou chose to refine the remaining purple copper into a flat copper mirror, abandoning durability entirely!

He was taking an extre path to achieve maximum functionality!

A thin purple copper mirror could maximize the number of restriction layers while sacrificing the tool's durability.

From a flying sword to a copper awl, and from a copper awl spreading out to beco a copper mirror, Yu Lou had left Hongi utterly exasperated.

Finally, when Yu Lou presented the purple copper mirror to Hongi, Hongi did not even know what to say.

"This... forget it. A water-and-tal dual-attributed Renwater Purple Copper Mirror. Yu Lou, you certainly have unique ideas."

Examining the copper mirror in his hand, Hongi was sowhat tongue-tied.

Three layers of restrictions were likewise embedded within it, but with his exquisite level in the artificing path, Yu Lou had left behind at least ten layers of space for further refinent. This was already an excellent quality prototype for a mid-grade magic tool.

Looking at the copper mirror his elder brother had refined, Yu An comforted himself. He was only lacking a fire spirit root, that was all. In the future, when he used the Earth Nurturing thod to refine artifacts, he would definitely do even better than Yu Lou.

"This is the first mid-grade magic tool you have refined. A half-step mid-grade is still mid-grade. Yu Lou, give it a na," Hongi said.

Yu Lou thought for a mont and said, "Calling it the Renwater Law Mirror will suffice. It is just... its current state is far too awkward and completely useless. Could I trouble Master to take action and refine it a little further?"

This mirror focused heavily on functionality, but currently possessing only three layers of restrictions, its functionality could not be highlighted at all. In other words, it was currently a piece of junk.

"Very well. Yu An, give your ink jade axe as well. I will refine them both together.

"Being able to refine a mid-grade magic tool ans your level in the artificing path is already sufficient. Next, you must learn refinent and power enhancent."

Taking the ink jade axe, Hongi looked at the two young n.

"Co earlier tomorrow morning. I will take you out of Clear Stream Market to learn how to use the spirit energy of heaven and earth to amplify the power of your magic tools."