Mu Fan first examined the blueprints for the hundred refinements sword. He needed to process the Materials first, purifying three types of metals to remove Impurities and then fusing them together in a specific ratio.
Afterward, he would shape it into a longsword and then use his spiritual power to precisely control and temper the blade and edge repeatedly, making it tough and sharp!
This was the most basic method for refining a hundred refinements sword.
The refining methods for the other two Magical Artifacts, the Hundred-Refined Shield and the Hundred-Refined Bead, were largely similar.
For higher-tier Magical Artifacts, the difficulty of refining increased drastically.
After Mu Fan finished reviewing the three blueprints and simulated the process in his mind with his eyes closed, he stood up and walked toward the small stone house in the backyard.
This detached courtyard was equipped with an Earth Fire Chamber and a Fire Control Formation, allowing for the use of Earth Fire.
However, once it was activated, an extra fee would be added to Mu Fan's original rent.
Inside the Earth Fire Chamber, the center of the floor was paved with black stone carved with Formation patterns. The very center was left empty, and it was from there that the Earth Fire would surge upward.
A standard large cauldron, half the height of a person, stood to one side; that was the Alchemy Cauldron used for Alchemy.
He released his spiritual power, swirling the dust in the room and casting it out of the Earth Fire Chamber.
Mu Fan first placed Spirit Stones in the four directions of the Fire Control Formation, activated the Formation Token, and urged it with his spiritual power.
Poof!
A fireball leaped out, burning as it expanded and contracted intermittently.
He waited patiently for a while. Since it hadn't been used for a long time, he needed to let the Earth Fire surge and burn for a bit until it stabilized before it could be easily controlled.
Sitting cross-legged, he first performed fire control training, injecting different amounts of spiritual power to determine the corresponding flame intensity.
Precise fire control was required throughout the refining process, switching between large, medium, and small flames. The more skilled and smooth the switching, the better the refined Magical Artifact was likely to be.
Having finalized the fire control…
Mu Fan quickly recalled the Basic Artifact Refining Technique rewarded by the System and took out a piece of black iron from his Storage Pouch; this was the base material for the hundred refinements sword.
He controlled the Earth Fire to a medium intensity and slowly began smelting the black iron…
Two hours later, he instantly switched to a high flame for intense roasting to force out the Impurities in the black iron. After fifteen minutes of high flame, he switched back to medium.
After repeating this three times, the black iron had shrunk significantly.
Mu Fan controlled the Formation to split off a portion of the flame as a secondary fire, maintaining the temperature and state of the black iron with a small-to-medium flame.
He then took out several pieces of copper Ore. After estimating the weight, he selected eight pieces and threw them into the main fire at the center of the Formation, switching the flame intensity to remove Impurities and purify them.
The amount of Copper Essence that could be extracted from each piece of copper Ore varied, and in the end, Mu Fan obtained slightly more Copper Essence than expected…
He frowned slightly. "The Technique says not to leave the fire midway… but the blueprints allow cooling and reheating."
A brief pause.
"I'll trust the System."
"This excess Copper Essence… it shouldn't matter much. Keep it warm, use it to train Divine Sense control."
Mu Fan divided his attention three ways, splitting off another secondary flame to temporarily keep the Copper Essence warm.
He took out the third material, which was also the most important: baleful gold.
Black Fiend Island was permeated with Demonic Qi. Over the years, the Qi had seeped into the mountain rocks, resulting in this dark yellow metal.
Mu Fan purified the baleful gold into a liquid.
With three clusters of flames nurturing the three Materials, he estimated the amount needed for a hundred refinements sword and shook his head secretly.
"As expected… first attempt, and already inefficient."
"A bit too much of everything… but not worth cooling and restarting."
"A little waste is acceptable."
Mu Fan took out the required amount of black iron and tossed the remainder into a corner to let it cool naturally. He then took out the Copper Essence according to the ratio, tossed the excess into the corner, and did the same with the baleful gold.
Once the three Materials were mixed together, Mu Fan maintained a small flame while wrapping each material in his spiritual power. He extended his Divine Sense over them and began the delicate operation.
Guided by his Divine Sense, he used his spiritual power to open a small gap, allowing the three Materials to make contact in a small area. He then controlled the fire to increase the temperature and waited for the fusion of the Materials.
This step lasted for six hours!
The Materials turned into a single mass with a black-gold color.
Mu Fan let out a long sigh of relief and checked his spiritual power consumption; he had less than a thousand points left.
"The rest won't consume as much… enough to finish."
If he weren't at the Late Stage or even the Peak of Qi Refining, he wouldn't have been able to use the Basic Artifact Refining Technique rewarded by the System. With insufficient spiritual power, he would have had to pause midway.
Mu Fan began the shaping process…
Once the shape of the longsword was formed, all that remained was to maintain it at a certain temperature and temper it multiple times with spiritual power.
Mundane weapons undergo the "Hundred Refinements" through a hundred hammer strikes, while Magical Artifacts undergo the "Hundred Refinements" through spiritual power tempering.
Based on his spiritual power consumption, Mu Fan ended the process after only fifty temperings. Finally, after nurturing it with a small flame for twelve hours, the hundred refinements sword was complete.
He turned off the Fire Control Formation.
Mu Fan held the three-foot longsword and looked at his left hand, resisting the urge to test its sharpness on himself. Instead, he beckoned over the black iron that had cooled and hardened in the corner.
With a single strike, it was easily split in two without any felt resistance.
He then tried the baleful gold; there was some resistance, but it was still sliced through smoothly.
There was no need to test the Copper Essence, as its hardness was not high.
Mu Fan ran his hand over the blade, a faint smile forming. "Two tiers above the blueprint standard… not bad."
"This should sell for…"
His voice trailed off as he suddenly remembered that this Hundred-Refined series was just for practice; basically, no one would buy these things to use as Magical Artifacts.
They were the most basic of the basics, not even qualifying as Low-grade Magical Artifacts
Mu Fan was confident that the hundred refinements sword he refined had reached the threshold of a Low-grade Magical Artifact, but as for the price…
"Excluding blueprints, cost is thirty Spirit Stones."
"After losses… about twenty-seven pieces."
"At two Spirit Stones each… no one would buy. Add a little more, and they could get a proper Low-grade artifact."
A pause.
"Refine them all first."
Twenty days later.
Mu Fan had refined twenty-eight Magical Artifacts and had become roughly familiar with the process. He determined that his proficiency in Artifact Refining was sufficient to refine Low-grade Magical Artifacts, and he could even attempt Intermediate ones, though the success rate wouldn't be very high.
At the same time, he roughly deduced the principle behind Magical Artifacts: various Materials are fused into one, with spiritual power involved in the process, which is equivalent to injecting Spiritual Qi. This Spiritual Qi is the essential difference between a Magical Artifact and a mundane weapon
"Spiritual Qi integrates at a microscopic level… like embedding particles."
"The higher the concentration and the better the fusion… the stronger the artifact, and the smoother the control."
A brief pause.
"Expansion and contraction… possibly changes in particle spacing."
It seemed that cultivation wasn't entirely unscientific.
Mu Fan only dabbled in the theoretical principles; whether he was right or not didn't matter, as long as the artifacts could be refined.
Next was the matter of selling them.
He went to the Exotic Treasure Pavilion, and as expected, there was no market for these basic Magical Artifacts. It was only due to the quality of the hundred refinements artifacts and his status as a Named Disciple that he was able to sell them all at a unit price of one Spirit Stone.
He had made a loss.
After selling these practice pieces, Mu Fan bought a genuine blueprint for a Low-grade Magical Artifact and thirty sets of Materials, spending a total of one hundred and twenty Spirit Stones.
Before he left, a goateed Manager from the Exotic Treasure Pavilion appeared and said, "Junior Brother Mu, after this batch of Low-grade Magical Artifacts is refined, you can continue to sell them at the Exotic Treasure Pavilion. We can offer you a satisfactory price, and there's also a business matter to discuss."
Mu Fan nodded and left.
Having a skill would make the probability of being killed by a high-level Cultivator on Extreme Yin Island slightly lower.
After all, while a Living Incarnation could maintain its Spiritual Root Aptitude to continue cultivating, it couldn't retain talents such as Artifact Refining or Alchemy.
Mu Fan studied the Artifact Refining Technique partly because his cultivation was rising quickly enough for now, and partly because he wanted to become an Artifact Refiner so that he wouldn't be so easily killed.
Returning to his detached courtyard, Mu Fan sat cross-legged and meditated for a day, and on the next day, he entered the Earth Fire Chamber once again.