Chapter Eighty-six Only Take the Second Step

  The person who spoke was the first one to come out of the underground refining room, Kong Fang. Suddenly, Qingmu's heart had a glimmer of hope again.

  "Since fellow daoist asked, I'll say it. Our elder Qingmu nodded slightly and said: "This time we're going to refine a special treasure. If all of you can achieve the Golden Body during the refining process, the power of this treasure will be greatly enhanced after its completion. We're selecting refiners precisely because we want to find those with exceptional refining abilities."

  Through the simple explanation of Qingmu Elder, everyone understood in their hearts. However, although they understood Qingmu Elder's purpose, they still had no way to deal with this refining process. Refining a Golden Body is not something that can be achieved by luck; it requires real and practical refining skills.

  Kong Fang was silent and didn't speak, lost in thought.

  "Qingmu Elder, since you need the appearance of Huo Lian Jin Shen when refining treasures, why not directly find those 'equipment demons'?" A person who sat at the same table as Wang Wei suddenly asked.

  The "Qí Mó" mentioned by this person is a very special group in the Qí Zōng. Although people in this group all have an inner disciple identity, they can no longer be considered pure inner disciples.

  Qizong cultivates inner disciples not just to cultivate their equipment refining abilities, but more importantly, it's about enhancing their actual strength. However, in this world, it's impossible for everyone to have exceptional innate talents, just like the three people who survived with Kong Fang in the secret mansion back then - they had two or even three types of innate talents, but they were too weak and couldn't even support their cultivation.

  Although there are no people with poor talent that cannot be cultivated in the Instrumental Magic, most of them do not have good talent either. If they work hard to cultivate, they may also achieve something, but it is difficult to say how great their achievements will be. Maybe they will be stuck at the bottleneck from entering the Spiritual Realm to advancing to the Spiritual Realm and never break through, or maybe they will be stuck at the bottleneck from advancing to the Spiritual Realm to transforming into the Spiritual Realm and cannot break through.

  Therefore, some people who find it difficult to make great achievements in their cultivation will choose to take another path, that is, alchemy.

  Of course, there are people with great talent in the world of artifact refinement, but these people are so obsessed with refining artifacts that they focus all their energy on studying the methods of artifact refinement and strive to improve their own artifact refinement skills.

  These people are infatuated with refining equipment to the point of being crazy, and it's not an exaggeration to say that they're possessed by the fire. As a result, this group of people has earned the title of "Equipment Devils". Being able to be called Equipment Devils, their equipment refinement abilities are naturally not low, and even the worst among them can refine mid-grade postnatal spiritual treasures.

  Of course, this is also related to the length of time they spent studying and practicing. The latest among these people to become an inner disciple was over ten years ago, some have been holding onto their identity as an inner disciple for tens or even hundreds of years.

  This is a group of special people, they all have the identity of inner disciples, but they are no longer considered inner disciples. If this group of people were still considered as inner disciples, someone like Pang Tiānshēng who hasn't even broken through to the Yǐnghún realm wouldn't be able to rank in the top ten among the inner disciples, let alone the top thousand.

  Hearing the question from the person beside Wang Yun, Qingmu Elder shook his head and let out a bitter laugh, but didn't say anything.

  The people around, including Wang Wei, looked at the speaker with a gaze as if they were looking at an idiot. Wang Wei's eyebrows furrowed slightly, but he still explained to the speaker: "This time, Muxing Sect is going to refine a low-grade post-heavenly spiritual treasure. You want them to find those instrument demons that can at least refine mid-grade post-heavenly spiritual treasures, and then what standard will you use to pay those people? Don't forget that those instrument demons don't care what they're refining, their remuneration is calculated based on their refining ability."

  "Ah?" The man exclaimed, only then realizing what a stupid question he had just asked, his face suddenly turned red.

  Wang Wei shook his head and stopped paying attention to that person, instead shifting his gaze towards Kong Fang. He wanted to know why Kong Fang had asked such a question earlier. If the refining process couldn't involve fire tempering the Golden Body, then bringing up the previous question would likely displease Elder Qingmu and others, after all, this was an inquiry into the other party's secrets.

  Mr. Aoki also understood this truth, so he looked at Kong Fang who was lowering his head and not speaking. The others were influenced by Mr. Aoki and Wang Wei, and they all looked at Kong Fang. For a moment, Kong Fang became the most concerned person.

  Just as everyone thought Kong Fang was nodding off to sleep, he suddenly spoke up: "I'm more skilled at making equipment blanks. If Qingmu Elder can give me double the pay, I can take care of this step."

  Kong Fang looked up at the elder Qingmu, a faint smile on his face, but his eyes were very calm, as if what he had just said was a very ordinary thing, and not a request that made Wang Wei and others feel somewhat unbelievable.

  Wang Wei and twelve other disciples of Qi Gong, including Zi Feng and a middle-aged man, all stared at Kong Fang with their eyes wide open.

  Double pay is required when refining equipment, there is a 1% chance of encountering the Fire Refining Golden Body, but Kong Fang only said that he is good at making equipment blanks and did not mention whether the Fire Refining Golden Body will appear or not. Moreover, there is another very important condition - that is, the probability of encountering the Fire Refining Golden Body must be at least 1%.

  Is it crazy to think of getting double pay just because you are good at making molds?

  "It's all over, daring to make such an outrageous request, Elder Qingmu might cancel his alchemy qualification in a fit of rage and send him back to the sect." People who didn't know Kong Fang whispered.

  "Revoking the qualification for refining equipment is still a gentle measure. If someone dares to make such a request, I wouldn't be surprised if they were directly thrown out of the Wooden Path Sect."

  At this moment, not only did those who didn't know Kong Fang think that his request was too unbelievable and unacceptable, but even Wang Wei and others who had just come to understand Kong Fang also thought that his request was really too exaggerated. Just relying on manufacturing equipment blanks, he wanted to get twice the reward, they all admired Kong Fang's audacity a little.

  Facing a strong man in the realm of demonization, dare to make such a request, how can you do it without courage.

  "What we want is to have the fire-refining golden body appear when refining equipment, not just manufacturing equipment blanks. Moreover, relying solely on manufacturing equipment blanks will never result in the appearance of a fire-refined golden body. Although I don't know how to refine equipment, I do know that to achieve this, one must be nearly flawless in both removing impurities and manufacturing equipment blanks." Zi Feng's voice turned somewhat chilly, feeling that Kong Fang was truly unappreciative.

  But Zifeng's words were still polite, and he didn't directly drive them away. At this time, even if they were directly driven away, Wang Wei and others would not feel surprised. Because Kong Fang's request was unreasonable from the start, and it seemed more like a deliberate attempt to stir up trouble.

  The middle-aged men didn't say a word, but their expressions also turned unfriendly. Although they couldn't hurt the disciples of the Zangmen Sect, it was no big deal to throw them out directly from the Zangmen Sect. Moreover, even if the sect master of the Zangmen Sect came in person at that time, there was no reason to say that this was their fault.

  Mr. Aoki looked at Kong Fang, who was smiling but had a calm gaze. Suddenly, Mr. Aoki's face revealed a strange smile, and what he said next made the dozen or so people present feel like they had misheard him.

  "I agree with your request."

  "Cháng lǎo......" The middle-aged man and Zi Feng turned their heads in surprise to look at Qingmu Elder.

  Wang Wei and others also had a dull expression, feeling their thoughts were all confused.

  Mr. Aoki nodded and said, "Let's just follow what this Taoist friend has said for now, and let's not talk about other things for the time being."