Mortal Cultivator: Lin Tianzun

Chapter 85: The Beginning of Refining, the Trip to Yuelu (Part )
Just when the sword was about to take shape, an accident happened again without any warning.

"Swish--" A sharp and piercing strange sound suddenly came out from the furnace. The sound was like a sharp blade cutting through thick silk, and like the crazy friction between metals. It went straight into Lin Fan's eardrums, and it seemed particularly abrupt in this quiet refining room, instantly breaking his calmness as he focused on refining.

Lin Fan's heart suddenly trembled, as if struck by lightning. He was originally immersed in the state of concentration on refining the weapon, but he was instantly brought back to his senses. Looking up, he saw that within the furnace, the sword body, which had been gradually taking shape under the careful control of spiritual power, was now showing strange black lines.

These lines, like evil creatures crawling out of the Nine Netherworlds, spread madly at a speed visible to the naked eye. Initially, they were just a few fine lines along the edge of the blade, but in the blink of an eye, they covered every corner of the blade, as if wrapping the soon-to-be-born spiritual sword in a cloak of death.

Lin Fan's pupils shrank sharply, and through his divine sense, he keenly sensed that the spiritual energy within the cauldron was in serious disarray. The spiritual energy that had been tamed and circulated docilely along a predetermined path was now like a wild horse running wildly and darting around in the cauldron.

The once orderly flow of spiritual energy became chaotic, some colliding with each other, emitting subtle yet distinct explosions; others rushed around like headless flies, constantly impacting the furnace walls. As a result, the flames became extremely unstable, fluctuating in size and brightness.

The stable high-temperature environment was completely broken. At high temperatures, the molten iron was burned to a point where it was almost boiling, with bubbles constantly bubbling out. At low temperatures, the molten iron actually showed some tendency to solidify, with a dull luster appearing on the surface.

Even worse, the impurities in the iron liquid had once again merged with the pure iron liquid in this chaos. The impurities that had been successfully separated and about to be discharged now seemed to have found a refuge and frantically drilled into the sword's body, wreaking havoc on its internal structure.

Impurities, like invading enemy forces, moved recklessly through the molten iron, disrupting the once tightly packed atomic structure of the metal. The once pure molten iron had now become turbid, its internal lattice structure severely damaged, and the quality of the spirit sword plummeted.

Lin Fan was terribly anxious, his hands rapidly forming hand seals in front of him, attempting to regain control of his spiritual energy and stabilize the flames. His hands moved so quickly that they left afterimages, and streams of spiritual energy shot out from his fingertips, attempting to guide the chaotic spiritual energy back on track.

He constantly adjusted the output of his spiritual power, sometimes increasing the intensity of the spiritual power, trying to suppress the chaotic situation with powerful force; sometimes he carefully fine-tuned the frequency of the spiritual power, trying to resonate with the spiritual power in the furnace and thus appease them.

But every attempt was like a stone falling on a stone, with no effect. The chaotic spiritual energy was indifferent to his efforts and continued to rush around as usual.

Just as he was about to risk everything and increase his spiritual power output, a dull sound emanated from the furnace, like a mountain collapsing. Immediately afterwards, the sword's body completely collapsed, transforming into a shapeless pool of molten iron, signaling another failure in its refining efforts.

Lin Fan's eyes were filled with resentment. It had almost taken shape just now, and he couldn't understand why such a sudden change had occurred when everything was clearly under control. His eyes revealed confusion and loss, and he stared blankly at the cauldron, as if his soul had been pulled out of him.

After a long time, he slowly stood up, looked at the molten iron in the furnace, and secretly vowed to find out the reason for his failure and never repeat the same mistake next time.

In the days that followed, the refining room became Lin Fan's battlefield. He immersed himself in the world of refining, repeating the same steps day after day. With each failure, he meticulously reviewed the process, analyzing everything from the details of controlling his spiritual power, to the subtle changes in flame temperature, to the timing of the fusion of the materials, leaving no room for error.

The flames within the cauldron burned tirelessly, witnessing countless attempts and setbacks. The black iron melted and shaped repeatedly under the intense heat, only to repeatedly fail at the crucial moment of success. But Lin Fan didn't flinch, the determination in his eyes growing ever more intense.

Dozens of failures were like heavy shackles, yet they also became the cornerstone of his growth. Finally, during another round of refining with his whole heart and soul, a turning point quietly emerged.

Lin Fan's hands formed a steady hand seal, and his spiritual energy flowed like a flowing stream, precisely pouring into the furnace. Under his control, the flames became as docile as a tamed beast, evenly enveloping the materials within. Impurities separated smoothly, and the molten iron, guided by his spiritual energy, slowly condensed into the shape of the sword.

This time, there was no disturbance of spiritual energy, no interference from impurities; everything proceeded smoothly and methodically. With the final infusion of spiritual energy, a magical instrument emitting a faint glow was born within the cauldron.

Lin Fan gently lifted the magical weapon. It was a longsword radiating a faint metallic sheen, its blade slender and sharp. Though only a low-level magical weapon, in Lin Fan's eyes, it was inestimably precious. After countless failures and persistent attempts, he had finally succeeded in taking the first step in weapon refining. The joy and pride he felt was enough to offset all the fatigue and hardship. Lin Fan examined the newly refined magical weapon in his hands. While the spiritual patterns on the blade shone faintly, they were still somewhat dimmed compared to the ordinary low-level magical weapons sold in the market, and the texture seemed thinner, indicating a slight inferiority in quality.

But far from being discouraged, his lips curled up unconsciously, his eyes filled with satisfaction. After all, this was the result of countless failures, and it was the beginning of his journey towards the pinnacle of weapon refining.

He gently placed the magical instrument aside, slowly closed his eyes, and sat cross-legged, letting his spiritual energy slowly circulate throughout his body. He began several hours of meditation and breathing exercises. In the quiet refining room, the only sound was his steady breathing. Spiritual energy flowed like a trickle through his meridians, nourishing his exhausted body and soul.

After his energy and spirit were fully restored, Lin Fan opened his eyes and his gaze once again fell on the magical instrument. He fell into deep reflection, his mind constantly reviewing every detail of the refining process.

From the initial selection of materials, to the technique and timing of injecting spiritual power, and even every fine-tuning of the flame temperature, they were all repeatedly analyzed in his memories.

He tried to identify the subtle errors that had led to the subpar quality of his magical weapon, pondering how to improve it, how to elevate the next iteration to a higher level. Every time he came up with an idea, he silently noted it down in his mind, his eyes gleaming with anticipation and determination for the next iteration.

Since the first time he successfully refined a low-level magic weapon, Lin Fan seemed to have found the secret of refining weapons. He immersed himself in the world of refining weapons and became more and more obsessed.

In the days that followed, he spent the entire day in the refining room, accompanied by the furnace and materials. Every time he refined something, he was completely focused, applying all the experience and insights he had accumulated without reservation.

With repeated attempts, he became more and more proficient in controlling spiritual power, and he could also control the temperature of the flame just right. Those originally difficult materials gradually became docile and obedient in his hands.

Gradually, the success rate of refining artifacts increased significantly. It was no longer like before, where it took dozens of attempts to succeed once. Now, a magic weapon could be successfully refined every few times.

Furthermore, the quality of his magical instruments had also seen a qualitative leap. Initially, his instruments were of inferior quality, but now, the instruments he refined not only had clear and smooth spiritual patterns, but also contained richer spiritual energy, making them considered superior among low-level instruments.

Time flew by like a fleeting arrow, and three years flew by in a flash. During these three years, the fire in the refining room burned brightly, never extinguished for a moment. The dancing flames, like Lin Fan's fiery dedication to refining, silently witnessed his growth and transformation.

Looking back on his early days of refining weapons, Lin Fan could only manage to create low-grade magical instruments of poor quality. The spiritual patterns on the blades were dim and the flow of spiritual energy was not smooth. But the unyielding spirit in his bones supported him to rise again and again from failure, constantly studying and trying.

After only about half a year, he had mastered the secrets of refining mid-level magical instruments. When the first mid-level magical instrument was born in his hands, the spiritual energy fluctuations and clear spiritual patterns emitted by it made him see his progress and strengthened his determination to continue on the path of instrument refining.

As the number of refining times exceeded a hundred, a large amount of practical experience and theoretical knowledge in refining books continued to collide and merge in his mind.

He no longer blindly explored, but instead learned to draw inferences from one instance, flexibly adjusting his refining techniques and the use of his spiritual power according to the properties of different materials. This led to a rapid improvement in his refining skills, and in the second year, he was able to successfully refine a top-level magical weapon.

Now, after three years of precipitation and tempering, he has reached a new height in the field of weapon refining and can easily refine high-quality top-level magic weapons.

(End of this chapter)