Mortal: I have a gathering technique

Chapter 36 could be called a spiritual artifact.

"Haven't you broken through yet? —"

On the Qingfeng Boat, Fang Qing gazed into the distance, lost in thought.

Having just completed the transaction with Senior Brother Lin, he casually inquired about the other party's progress in cultivating the [Great Evolution Technique].

Senior Brother Lin didn't hide anything, saying frankly that he had already achieved the second level of mastery many years ago, but there was still no sign of a breakthrough to this day.

Could it be another effect caused by me?

Fang Qing scratched his head, his face showing some surprise.

In fact, you could say it was his influence, but the real reason came from Han Li.

In the original story, Han Li's decisive decision to give up the Foundation Establishment Pill deeply provoked Senior Brother Lin, who was obsessed with revenge.

This incident allowed Senior Brother Lin to temporarily let go of his obsession, which enabled him to make breakthroughs in the following years.

Currently, Han Li entered Huangfeng Valley through Fang Qing's connection, and since he no longer had to give up the Foundation Establishment Pill, Senior Brother Lin missed out on a "Questioning the Heart" opportunity.

However, every cloud has a silver lining.

Senior Brother Lin did not break through, but instead escaped a fatal disaster.

Now that I have obtained two more bottles of Spirit Gathering Pills, perhaps in the future I will have the opportunity to glimpse the wonders of Core Formation, just as Fang Qing said.

A moment later, Green Wave Cave came into view.

In front of the waterfall, Fang Qing cast a sound transmission talisman, and soon the water curtain parted—

About half an hour later, Fang Qing strolled out, playing with a crimson jade slip.

This jade slip was precisely the purpose of Fang Qing's trip; it contained Li Huayuan's insights into weapon crafting.

To obtain this item, Fang Qing paid with materials worth several thousand low-grade spirit stones.

However, the money was well spent.

According to his master, Linghu Laozu, Li Huayuan's weapon-refining skills were the most advanced in the entire Huangfeng Valley.

He truly deserves the title of having the Three Yangs Body!

Next, it's time to go see Han Li!

Remembering his promise to Han Li, Fang Qing released the Azure Wind Boat and quickly disappeared in front of the waterfall.

Half a day later.

Fang Qing returned to his own cave dwelling.

The secret room of the spiritual eye.

Fang Qing held a blue jade slip in his hand, his eyes deep in thought.

The contents of this jade slip are the Azure Origin Sword Manual that he just obtained from Han Li.

Fang Qing only glanced at the main cultivation techniques; what truly interested him was the "Three Revolutions Rejuvenation Technique."

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After witnessing this feat, Fang Qing could only say:

With some modifications, this auxiliary cultivation technique should be able to be practiced by any Foundation Establishment cultivator.

As is well known, one of the biggest challenges in forming the Golden Core is how to solidify the liquid magical power within the Dantian.

The Three Revolutions of Rejuvenation Technique involves three periods of dispersal and three periods of retraining, which is essentially a process of compressing and condensing true essence in advance.

And this is something any Foundation Establishment cultivator can do.

The only difficulty is whether we have the time, or rather, the resources, to retake the course three times!

If a Foundation Establishment cultivator can successfully achieve this, and then use some auxiliary elixirs when forming the Core, the success rate will be at least 70-80%, if not 100%.

This probability is astonishing!

However, given my qualifications, I have absolutely no use for it.

Fang Qing smiled slightly and put away the jade slip.

Then, with a flick of his wrist, he took out the jade slip containing the [Great Evolution Technique].

As for the "True Explanation of Puppetry," Fang Qing just flipped through it casually, without any intention of cultivating it.

With his resources and qualifications, he could form a Core Formation within one or two decades. Spending time making those Foundation Establishment level puppets is putting the cart before the horse.

The Great Evolution Technique is different. Whether it's enhancing spiritual awareness or differentiating spiritual thoughts, Fang Qing values ​​this technique highly.

The benefits of having a strong divine sense are self-evident, and the ability to divide one's divine sense is also extremely advantageous in combat.

Taking Foundation Establishment cultivators as an example, ordinary people can only control three to five magical artifacts at most when fighting. It's not impossible to control more, but they can't do it as easily as using their own arms, and it will only hinder them.

However, according to the Great Evolution Technique, once the first level of the technique is mastered, the primordial spirit can divide into more than ten divine thoughts, which is equivalent to multitasking.

Upon mastering the second level, the number of divine thoughts that can be divided increases to over a hundred, and the third level is even more remarkable, capable of dividing into hundreds.

At that time, the problem will not be a lack of concentration and control, but rather whether there are enough magical artifacts and treasures, and whether the magical power is sufficient.

Therefore, after reading the Great Evolution Manual, Fang Qing immediately decided that he would focus on cultivating this technique in the days to come.

Time flies, and more than half a year has passed in the blink of an eye.

That day, inside the secret chamber of the Spirit Eye, "Whoosh!"

Fang Qing awoke from his meditation, let out a long sigh, and looked both pleased and troubled.

To his delight, he finally mastered the first level of the Great Evolution Technique.

The frustrating thing is that the dizziness and headache during the spiritual cultivation process is really torturous.

"Fortunately, I finally mastered it, and the time it took was acceptable."

Fang Qing calculated the time with his fingers, a hint of satisfaction flashing in his eyes. He then pondered, "In a few months, my gathering skill will be refreshed. It's time to go check out that ancient teleportation array—"

"However, we need to forge that thing before we go out."

Several days later, at the Earth Fire Stone House.

Fang Qing held a purple jade slip in his hand, carefully studying the words inside.

He found this jade slip in Nangong Wan's storage bag; it contained information about an item called the "Purple Cloud Banner."

The method of crafting top-tier magical artifacts.

Fang Qing had also heard of the Purple Cloud Banner. It was said to be a replica of the ancient treasure "Water Control Banner," and similar to the Azure Condensation Mirror.

Moreover, this flag combines offense and defense. If a Foundation Establishment cultivator who practices water-attribute techniques holds it, they can barely protect themselves from attacks by early Core Formation cultivators for a period of time.

Although Fang Qing does not cultivate water-attribute techniques, he possesses a rare artifact. If this artifact can be successfully integrated into the Purple Cloud Banner according to his plan, the banner's power will undoubtedly increase further.

Thinking of this, Fang Qing flipped his hand, and a small black bottle appeared in his palm.

The black bottle was only the size of a fist, but if you listened carefully, you could faintly hear the roars of dragons coming from inside the bottle.

The black bottle contained none other than the soul of the Ink Dragon from the forbidden underground swamp world.

Fang Qing took out this item because he intended to refine the dragon's soul into the Purple Cloud Banner.

As everyone knows, every magical artifact has one chance to be infused with a demon's soul.

Magical artifacts are acceptable, but there's no reason why magical implements are necessarily unacceptable.

For this reason, Fang Qing specifically consulted Li Huayuan. According to Li Huayuan, there were two reasons why the magic artifact was ineffective:

First, ordinary magical artifacts are not strong enough to bear the soul of a demon beast.

Secondly, the souls of low-level demonic beasts are not strong enough and are prone to collapse during the smelting process.

High-level demonic beasts are extremely rare. Even if a cultivator obtains such demonic souls, they usually melt them into magic treasures, so how could they waste them on magic tools?

Because of these two problems, no one in the cultivation world has ever done this.

But neither of these two issues were problems for Fang Qing.

Ordinary magical artifacts are not strong enough because they do not incorporate materials of the level of magical treasures.

Fang Qing didn't have many spirit stones, but he had no shortage of materials.

As for the demon soul, although the Mo Jiao is only a level two demon beast, it possesses the bloodline of a true dragon. In terms of soul strength, it is in no way inferior to some ordinary level four or five demon beasts.

As a "spirit," that's more than enough!

More importantly, Fang Qing planned to use the body of the Ink Dragon to refine the Purple Cloud Banner.

In this way, when refining the dragon soul, rejection can be reduced and the success rate can be increased.

Thinking of this, Fang Qing waved his hand, and three things appeared on the ground.

A complete dragon spine, a roll of dragon scales, and a large box of gleaming golden sand.

At that moment, Fang Qing pointed his finger, and the dragon's spine slowly flew into the fire cauldron. Eight purple flames shot out and enveloped the entire spine.

Under the tempering of the earth fire, the pale spine gradually revealed a metallic luster. Fang Qing made hand seals repeatedly, and the spiritual light he released turned into runes that drilled into the spine.

During this period, every now and then, Fang Qing would sprinkle out a handful of golden essence and refine it into his spine.

In a flash, several days passed, and the spine, which was originally three or four zhang long, had been shortened to seven chi. The shape of the spine had also changed to a round rod as thick as an egg, with a dark gold color and cloud-like patterns covering its surface.

Seeing that the flagpole had been forged, Fang Qing pointed again, and the cut black dragon scales quickly unfolded and flew into the fire cauldron.

Then, Fang Qing patted the storage bag, and a blue box flew out. With a wave of his hand, the lid opened, revealing a patch of light blue fine sand.

This fine sand is called "Water Spirit Sand," and it is an indispensable ingredient in the refining of the Purple Cloud Banner.

At this moment, Fang Qing waved his hand, and half a box of water spirit sand transformed into a blue cloth, which flew into the purple sea of ​​fire and adhered to the scales of the black dragon.

Then, under the melting of the purple earth fire, they gradually merged into one.

Three days later, a pale purple flag slowly took shape.

Seeing that the flag was complete, Fang Qing immediately threw the flagpole into it, and the two combined to quickly become a deep purple flag.

At this point, the Purple Cloud Banner in a broad sense had been mastered, but the Purple Cloud Banner in Fang Qing's mind was only just beginning.

He reached out and took the black bottle containing the soul of the Ink Dragon.

Next, he removed the seal, uncorked the bottle, took out the dragon soul, opened his mouth and spat out a wisp of golden-red true fire, which completely enveloped the dragon soul.

Under the tempering of Fang Qing's True Fire, wisps of dark black mist were peeled off from the dragon soul and dissipated into the air.

This black mist is the demonic energy of the Ink Dragon; it must be thoroughly refined before it can be integrated into a magical artifact.

After being calcined for three consecutive days, the dragon's soul, which was originally shrouded in demonic energy, finally became clear and pure.

Seeing this, Fang Qing withdrew his true fire.

With all preparations complete, success or failure now depends on the next step!

"go!"

As Fang Qing raised his hand and pointed, the dragon soul transformed into a stream of light, and with a "whoosh," flew into the fire cauldron and burrowed into the flag.

In an instant, the Purple Cloud Banner began to tremble rapidly, its surface flashing with a purplish-black spiritual light.

Fang Qing's eyes widened, and he flicked his fingers rapidly, casting a series of spells that merged into the Purple Cloud Banner.

After a few breaths, the trembling gradually subsided, a purplish-black halo flashed suddenly, and then stabilized.

A small flag, about a foot long, floated above the fire cauldron. The flag was entirely purple, and on its surface, a thumb-sized black dragon swam up and down, lifelike and vivid!

"It's done! It's done!"

Fang Qing was overjoyed to see this.

He suppressed his excitement, reached out and took the flag in his hand. After examining it for a while, he burst into laughter.

After laughing for a while, he rubbed his hands together, and the Purple Cloud Banner silently expanded, instantly transforming into a banner over ten feet long.

The flags fluttered, rising even without wind, and a pale purple halo shimmered. Clusters of purple mist appeared out of thin air and spread throughout the entire Earthfire Stone House in just a few breaths.

Amidst the mist, the roars of dragons echoed, and a long, dark dragon appeared and disappeared.

"Its imposing presence is impressive, but I wonder how much its power has increased—"

Fang Qing examined the flag for a while and then began to test its power.

After an incense stick had burned, his eyes shone brightly, and his face beamed with an unstoppable smile.

In terms of power alone, this flag is several times stronger than the original Purple Cloud Flag, and is almost equivalent to a talisman.

This is because Fang Qing cultivates a fire-attribute technique; if it were in the hands of someone who cultivates a water-attribute technique...

Fang Qing speculated that it was likely comparable to a "true treasure".

In other words, when this flag is fully activated, it already possesses one-third the power of an ordinary magic weapon.

"I guess I've set a precedent in the world of cultivation!"

Fang Qing looked smug. He withdrew his spiritual power, put the Purple Cloud Banner back into his hand, and played with it while talking to himself with a smile.

A moment later, as if he had thought of something, he suddenly raised his hand and once again sent a beam of light towards the small flag.

The purple flag shrank again, eventually becoming a miniature flag the size of a finger, which Fang Qing swallowed whole.

Then, Fang Qing closed his eyes and looked inward. He saw a tiny purple flag floating on the True Essence Lake within his Dantian Qi Sea.

A wisp of true fire swirled around the small flag, tempering its quality.

"Indeed, it can be stored in my dantian like a magical treasure, and nurtured further with my magical power!"

In this way, given enough time, it can definitely transform into a powerful weapon in the future.

Fang Qing's eyes lit up with joy.

The mere fact that it can be stored in the dantian would likely cause a sensation throughout the entire cultivation world if word got out.

This means that the difficulty of crafting magical artifacts, especially natal magical artifacts, will be greatly reduced.

This new Purple Cloud Banner can not only be stored within the body, but its power is also far greater than that of a top-tier magic weapon. Calling it a magic weapon is clearly no longer appropriate.

Fang Qing stroked his chin, looking thoughtful.

This flag possesses a black dragon as its spirit, making it incredibly agile to wield, comparable to some magical treasures and spiritual artifacts.

"It could be called a [spiritual artifact]!"

As soon as the word "spiritual artifact" came to mind, Fang Qing clapped his hands, feeling that no other word was more suitable.

After a moment of reflection, he suddenly smacked his lips, a hint of regret flashing across his face.

Unfortunately, the creature born in that underground swamp world was a black dragon, not a red fire dragon. Otherwise, if I had melted it into the Fire Gold Spear, I would have been invincible after reaching the Core Formation stage!

After sighing for a while, Fang Qing composed himself and began to meditate and regulate his breathing.

After his mental and magical powers were fully restored, he took out all the remaining materials for the Ink Dragon and began refining it again.

Fang Qing used the dragon's tail and fins, just like the weapon refiner Han Li hired in the original story, to forge them into a flying magic weapon.

The pair of front claws were also refined into the Black Dragon Claw. Because Fang Qing was willing to add magic weapon-grade materials, the new Black Dragon Claw is much more powerful than the one in the original story.

As for the two dragon eyes, Fang Qing refined them into an invisibility artifact called the "Lip Spirit Pearl".

The method for refining this Mirage Spirit Pearl originated from Li Huayuan's experience in weapon crafting.

Fang Qing crafted it with a level-two dragon eye, and its stealth effect far surpasses that of ordinary top-tier magic artifacts, almost enough to deceive even early-stage Core Formation cultivators.

The last of the black dragon's fledgling horns and fangs were also refined by Fang Qing into disposable magical artifacts.

Its name, "Drill Nail," comes from Qi Yunxiao's family's secret recipe.

After exhausting all the materials for the Black Dragon, Fang Qing returned to his cave and fell into a deep sleep.

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