Chapter 6: Awakening Spirit, Changing Formation

  The earth was in turmoil, but it was all swallowed up by a short sword. This scene was indeed eerie.

  "How could this be?" Kong Fang muttered to himself, he had even forgotten to use his formation technique to control the earth fire.

  If Sun Hao were here, he would definitely exclaim in surprise. This kind of thing is what every artifact refiner yearns for, because this situation represents a realm of artifact refinement, and this realm has a name, called 'Fire Refining Golden Body'.

  It is only when the removal of impurities and the creation of the ingot are done to near perfection that this rare situation occurs, at which time all the materials in the weapon blend together in a nearly perfect manner, and a power will be produced that will attract flames, causing the flames to temper the weapon itself even more perfectly. This is an embodiment of skill approaching the Way.

  As long as 'Fire Refining Body' appears, even if the subsequent Quenching and Enlightenment are not done well, the weapon's grade will absolutely not be bad.

  Generally, only those who have cultivated the Refining Body Technique to a high level can achieve this, but now it has appeared on Kong Fang, an entry-level disciple. It's hard not to say that this is a very strange thing.

  However, all this is due to Kong Fang's choice of earth refining method instead of normal fire refining method when removing impurities and making the blank.

  The earth element is thick and heavy, broad and large, unlike the fire element which is violent and difficult to control. When removing impurities, Kong Fang uses the power of the earth element to merge with various materials, carefully removing all unnecessary things, and this process is completely under Kong Fang's control.

  However, using the earth fire to refine is difficult to achieve such a delicate operation. The power of the fire element is violent and goes from outside in, refining. The power of the earth element, on the other hand, is completely inclusive, both inside and out at the same time, and has an advantage over the fire element when it comes to removing impurities within materials.

  Therefore, the appearance of Huo Lian Jin Shen is not because Kong Fang's refining equipment and control over fire are so high, but it is caused by the fundamental difference between the power of Huo Xing and the power of Tu Xing.

  It's like using a wooden sword and an iron sword to chop a stone, with the same force, but the damage caused is worlds apart. The reason is that an iron sword is more suitable than a wooden one.

  However, in order to use the power of the earth element to remove impurities, there is an unavoidable prerequisite, that is, the power of the earth element must be fully integrated into the material being refined. Kong Fang's knowledge is insufficient, and he doesn't even know what he has achieved. Otherwise, not all the equipment repairers in this world would have the fire element talent, but rather those with the earth element talent would be more suitable.

  Kong Fang still stared blankly at the short sword that had swallowed the earth fire, his face full of confusion and incomprehension, even with a hint of horror.

  People tend to be more fearful of unknown things.

  But if others were to see Kong Fang's expression at this moment, they would have to drown him in saliva. Encountering the rare good fortune of refining his body with fire, even if he wasn't excited to the point of madness, he wouldn't be stupid enough to feel fear instead.

  A loud cry, the earth fire suddenly jumped up, and then returned to normal immediately.

  The short sword no longer swallowed the earth fire.

  It wasn't until then that Kong Fang finally came back to his senses, seeing that nothing bad had happened. Kong Fang's heart suddenly felt at ease, with a sense of relief after the ordeal.

  "It's okay, nothing terrible happened." Kong Fang let out a sigh of relief. "This equipment is really petty, it's already lucky to have the worst yellow-grade refining room, yet there's still an unstable earth fire situation. If the earth fire suddenly erupts and breaks through the array, wouldn't my little life be over?" Kong Fang had some complaints in his heart.

  However, at this time, the apprentices in the dozens of nearby refining rooms had even more resentment in their hearts. Kong Fang encountered 'Fire Refining Golden Body', so his weapon not only didn't suffer any damage but also gained a great benefit. But because of 'Fire Refining Golden Body', many underground flames were attracted to come up, causing everyone in the surrounding refining rooms to be unlucky, and every single person's weapons all turned into flying ash.

  Kong Fang manipulated the Array Method, and a short sword that was floating in the midst of the Earth Fire suddenly flew out and quickly drilled into a nearby Quenching Fire Liquid.

  A white mist suddenly appeared on the surface of the quenching liquid.

  Kong Fang used the formation method to re-seal the earth fire, and then came to the edge of the Quenching Fire Liquid Pool, looking at the short sword in the Quenching Fire Liquid. Kong Fang was both curious and apprehensive, fearing that the strange situation earlier would cause this short sword to be ruined.

  Once this short sword is scrapped, he will have no new materials to refine equipment, and at that time, he will naturally not be able to pass the assessment of the Equipment Sect.

  "I hope the result won't be too bad, I'm not greedy. Neither Lingbao nor accurate Lingbao is needed, just give me a weapon that can pass the assessment and it's enough. This requirement is not high, all the great gods and immortals must bless me." Kong Fang muttered to himself.

  However, they all mentioned Lingbao and actually said that they were not greedy. To know that Sun Hao, this inner disciple of the sect, refined a low-grade Lingbao, which shocked the sect master for a moment, and his reputation was extremely prominent for a time. This is like someone saying he doesn't want 1 billion or 100 million, but just give him 1 million and it's enough. Even if it's 1 million, that's not a small amount either.

  After a while, Kong Fang inserted his hand into the quenching liquid.

  "May the great gods and immortals protect me, I hope it's not too bad." As he pulled out his short sword, Kong Fang was also praying. But those great gods and immortals in Kong Fang's mouth didn't know which corner they were hiding in now, who had time to bother with him?

  Holding the short sword in his hand, Kong Fang examined it carefully.

  The more Kong Fang looked at him, the brighter the light in his eyes became, and the nervousness on his face quickly turned into an excited smile.

  "Even without the final step of enlightenment, this short sword of mine shouldn't have been ranked in the last 200, right?" The massive boulder that had been weighing on Kong Fang's heart was finally reduced by half, allowing him to catch his breath.

  Although Kong Fang has already set foot on the path of cultivation, this world is full of strong existences in the Lingtong realm or even stronger. Kong Fang is just a small cultivator who hasn't fully entered the Yīnghún realm, and he doesn't understand this world very well. If he rashly runs to the outside world, his chances of death are absolutely over 80%.

  Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, Kong Fang did not want to leave the Temple of the Instrument, at least for a short time. Now that Kong Fang had another enemy in Zhao Yong, it made him even more reluctant to leave the temple lightly, lest he suffer revenge from Zhao Yong.

  Kong Fang's eyes widened as he carefully examined the short sword's grade, his face suddenly turning a bit red with excitement. "It... it actually reached third-grade, am I dreaming?" Kong Fang couldn't help but pinch himself hard, although it hurt and made him grit his teeth, but his face was filled with uncontrollable excitement.

  "Haha, a third-grade weapon, this is enough for me to pass the assessment." Kong Fang couldn't help but burst out laughing. "A third-grade weapon, perhaps... I have hope of entering the inner hall." Kong Fang's heart suddenly felt a surge of excitement. Once he became an inner hall disciple, his identity and status would undergo a drastic change.

  "Next should be the very important awakening, if the awakening can be done well, the grade of this short sword may even be upgraded again, and it's possible to reach second-rate. Once promoted to a second-rate weapon, my chances of becoming an inner disciple will increase to over 90%. Seeing the hope of becoming an inner disciple, Kong Fang attached more importance to the final awakening."

  In fact, under the Lingbao, apart from the quasi-Lingbao, there is no further subdivision of grades for weapons. Those that are not Lingbao can only be considered as not being among the best. However, since the Qizong emphasizes equipment refinement, in order to help each disciple better understand their own situation, the Qizong has added six more grades below the quasi-Lingbao, from sixth grade to first grade, and after the first grade comes the quasi-Lingbao.

  In fact, considering the previous emergence of Huo Lian Jin Shen, this short sword directly reaching one product or even quasi-lingbao is not surprising. However, the materials obtained by Kong Fang are really too poor, and it's already a terrifying thing to reach the current three products.

  Other disciples generally lingered in the sixth and fifth ranks, and those who reached the fourth rank were extremely rare. As for the third rank, there were even fewer. As for the second rank, unless they had special refining materials, it was almost impossible for new disciples to refine them. This was also why Zhao Yong had tried to snatch Kong Fang's Qingming Stone in the first place. After all, special materials could enhance the quality of a weapon, which would be extremely beneficial for this assessment.

  "To awaken the spirit, an array must be infused into this short sword. However, I only remember a simple array from my memories. Even if I infuse this array into the short sword, its grade shouldn't increase by much." As he thought about the array in his memories, Kong Fang couldn't help but feel some regret.

  Without a good formation, the effect of Qilong will naturally not be very good, which made Kong Fang quickly calm down from his excitement.

  The threshold for entering the inner hall was to have a weapon ranking in the top thirty. Kong Fang had never expected to enter the inner hall, and was already satisfied with being able to maintain his status as an outer sect disciple without being stripped of it. However, when he discovered that this short sword had actually reached third-grade, he couldn't help but produce the idea of becoming an inner sect disciple in his heart.

  Becoming an inner disciple is a shortcut to heaven, and from then on, one can cultivate the Tao. Although Kong Fang has also started cultivating now, he is holding onto a very high-level soul-refining method, but lacks good cultivation techniques to match it, which makes his strength progress extremely slowly.

  As a result, he had the opportunity to become an inner disciple, and Kong Fang absolutely did not want to let it go. Unfortunately, the formation in his memory was too simple, and the idea of becoming an inner disciple turned into a bubble again.

  "Never mind, I should be satisfied with being able to keep my current status. At worst, I'll try harder to become an inner disciple two years later."

  Kong Fang immediately eliminated his distractions, took out a small piece of peak gold from his bosom, and engraved the simple formation method on the short sword according to his memory. The fragments of peak gold stuck to the short sword, with a different kind of beauty.

  The formation drawn by Kong Fang has only one simple effect, which is to disperse the force it bears. When attacked, this formation will disperse the concentrated attacking force across the entire sword, equivalent to letting the entire handle of the sword bear the attack.

  This ability looks very powerful, but it's actually completely useless. The reason is that this formation is too simple and doesn't have much power. As long as the attacker has a bit more strength, this formation will lose its effect and can't disperse the attack force.

  But now it's better than nothing, and Kong Fang has no choice but to use this formation. Of course, other entry-level disciples usually only have such a simple formation. Only those who have been entry-level disciples for several years and have made contributions to the sect can exchange for a slightly better formation.

  To infuse a weapon with spiritual energy, it must be integrated into an array. The best way to do this is by using magical power to construct the array, but novice disciples have not yet embarked on the path of cultivation and therefore lack magical power, so they can only use this simple and crude method to infuse their weapons with spiritual energy.

  Kong Fang's consciousness, fully immersed in the activation of Ling, gradually entered the Purple Mansion and appeared under the vast starry sky. However, Kong Fang's hand holding the Golden Peak did not slow down at all, and he continued to draw the array pattern with a nearly instinctual movement.

  Staring blankly at the short sword in his hand, his mind gazed out at the vast starry sky, and Kong Fang's heart was filled with emptiness. Gradually, the array pattern drawn by Kong Fang's hands became somewhat different from the one in his memory, with some subtle changes already made.

  After a while, when he finished drawing the formation, Kong Fang suddenly came back to his senses with a start.

  "Huh? What just happened to me? My mind seems to have been dazed for a moment." Kong Fang's eyes were somewhat bewildered.

  When he lowered his head and saw that the formation had been drawn, Kong Fang was overjoyed in his heart. He immediately forgot the daze just now and didn't carefully observe the formation on the sword body. He turned around and reopened the formation that sealed the earth fire, letting the earth fire rush out. Then Kong Fang threw the short sword into the earth fire.

  Under the calcination of the earth fire, the formation method drawn by Feng Jin slowly merged into the short sword. At the moment when the formation method and the short sword were completely integrated, a faint purple light suddenly appeared on the short sword, but the purple light quickly merged into the short sword again.

  Under the reflection of the earth fire, Kong Fang did not see this strange scene.

  PS: Looking for recommendations, collection support, thank you.