Lord of the Rending Stars

Just as Qingyang was about to get up, the mysterious ancient scroll, the Primordial Refining Treasure Scroll, deep within his soul suddenly trembled, and several lines of light appeared:

[Yuanshi Refining Treasure Urn]

[The host has successfully crafted the ordinary palace-type treasure, 'Time Palace']

[Quality: Top Grade]

[Task Completed]

[Rewards being distributed...]

[Reward: Top-tier palace-type treasure, 'Sumeru Palace']

[Reward: "Thirteen Chapters of Sky-Chopping: The Treasure Chapter"]

Qingyang was slightly taken aback. He knew that the Primordial Refining Treasure Scroll would have rewards, but he did not expect that the reward would be a top-level palace treasure.

"The reward for refining a high-quality treasure will increase by one level, and the reward for refining a top-quality treasure will increase by two levels. Is the 'Primordial Treasure Refining Scroll' encouraging me to refine a top-quality treasure?" Qingyang had already guessed most of it.

While the Time Realm Palace is excellent, it is ultimately just an ordinary treasure, whereas the Sumeru Palace...

Qingyang's consciousness touched the golden ball of light that surged from the ancient scroll. The ball of light dissipated, and a palace made entirely of dark gold quietly floated in the depths of his soul, in an independent space opened up by the Primordial Refining Treasure Scroll.

Its surface is engraved with dense, intricate patterns, each one exquisite and far beyond Qingyang's current capabilities.

"A top-tier treasure palace... if it were to advance one more step, it would be a supreme treasure. But I still made a profit. If the Sumeru Palace were placed in the clan's treasury, it would require 3 to 8 supreme treasure points to exchange for it," Qingyang said with a smile, the fatigue of hundreds of years of weapon forging swept away.

Qingyang did not rush to comprehend the secret runes on the Sumeru Palace, but instead temporarily placed them in the Primordial Refining Treasure Talisman space deep within his soul. This treasure was too precious; with his current strength, rashly revealing it would only attract covetousness.

The second reward was an ancient jade slip with the inscription "Thirteen Chapters of Emptying the Sky: The Treasure Chapter".

As Qingyang's consciousness probed in, a massive amount of information surged forth like a tidal wave.

The Thirteen Chapters of Void Refining is divided into two parts: Major Treasures and Supreme Treasures. Qingyang only obtained the first volume, yet it already contains all the methods for refining treasures, from ordinary major treasures to top-tier major treasures. It covers everything from material selection and secret pattern construction to law resonance and core nurturing, leaving no detail unattended.

Even more precious is that this volume of "Treasures" also contains exclusive refining techniques for countless rare materials, including materials that Qingyang had just used, such as Time-Space Gold and Void Divine Crystal.

"I see... My method of refining the Time-Space Gold was still too crude."

Comparing the "Nine Refinements of Time and Space" method recorded in the "Thirteen Chapters of Sky-Chopping," Qingyang realized that he had made a clear mistake. "Qingyang tried to 'soften' the Time-Space Gold, but the correct approach should have been to 'awaken' it."

"If I had obtained this method earlier, the Time Realm Palace might have reached the highest level." Qingyang sighed, but without regret. Refining weapons is like cultivating oneself; sometimes, the detours are more valuable than the straight path.

Just as Qingyang was immersed in the mysteries of the Thirteen Chapters of Sky-Chopping, a deep and gentle voice came from outside the hall.

"Disciple, may I come in?"

Qingyang stood up, and the palace doors opened automatically.

The ancient god stood outside the hall with his hands behind his back, his aura perfectly harmonious and restrained.

"Master, please come in."

The Ancient God Venerable stepped into the hall, his gaze first falling on the Zhuochen Cauldron, nodding slightly, and then looking at Qingyang.

"I saw the commotion of refining the precious palace outside. Qingyang, your progress is very fast. You will be able to refine a high-quality palace in less than ten thousand years."

Qingyang nodded in agreement, "It's all thanks to Master's excellent teaching. I'm still far from Master's level."

"My skill lies in perseverance; the path of weapon forging ultimately depends on you," the Ancient God Venerable said, ignoring Qingyang's modesty. He simply looked around, his gaze sweeping over the densely packed labels of failed fragments on the east wall of the workshop. From the first to the last, there were over 30,000 of them, each recording a complete failure.

The Ancient God Venerable was silent for a moment, then said softly, "You experienced over 37,400 failures before?"

"I didn't expect Master to pay attention to this," Qingyang was taken aback.

"Failure is not terrible; what is terrible is not learning from experience," the Ancient God Venerable walked to the wall, reached out and gently stroked the labels, his fingertips tracing over each fragment of record. "The way of weapon crafting is never in success; you have grasped it."

The Ancient God Venerable turned around and looked at Qingyang. "I have seen the Time Realm Palace. It has an eight-gate structure, two real and six illusory elements, with lightning as its blood and fire as its soul. This work is even better than mine back then."

"Master, you flatter me. This disciple is merely..."

"No need to be modest," the Ancient God Venerable waved his hand, interrupting Qingyang's words, "I have been refining artifacts for countless epochs and have crafted palace treasures hundreds of times. At first, they were only of medium quality. Your first piece is of high quality. This is not luck, but talent, and even more so, the cultivation you have built up from those thirty-seven thousand failures."

Qingyang remained silent for a moment, offering no further explanation. He knew that in the presence of a true powerhouse, humility was sometimes more impolite than arrogance.

The Ancient God Venerable walked to the Zhuochen Cauldron, reached out and gently touched the cauldron, feeling the residual law fluctuations in the dense, star-like chopping marks.

"The Zhuochen Cauldron... a fine cauldron." He looked at Qingyang. "Did you obtain this from the Kunwu Secret Realm as well?"

Qingyang was taken aback, then nodded, "I obtained it by chance in some ruins, and it has greatly helped me in refining weapons."

The Ancient God Venerable did not press further, but merely nodded slightly. Every powerful being has their own secrets, and he never probed his disciple's hidden strengths; that was Qingyang's own path.

"Since you have achieved success in refining weapons, I also have a newly refined item to show you," the Ancient God Venerable said, flipping his hand to take out an item.

It was a set of armor, entirely dark yellow and shaped like a suit of armor, with layers upon layers of plates, each engraved with dense, earthy yellow patterns, exuding an aura as heavy as the earth itself.

The armor floated in the hall, naturally causing the surrounding earth laws to resonate, and even the space inside the hall became more solid.

"This is the 'Mysterious Yellow Armor,' an ordinary treasure armor that I have been refining for nearly a thousand years."

Qingyang was slightly taken aback. The value of an ordinary supreme treasure armor far exceeded that of an ordinary supreme treasure weapon. The human race's treasury contained no more than two hundred ordinary supreme treasure armors, each costing between 2 and 10 supreme treasure points.

"Master, what is the quality of this Xuanhuang Armor you crafted?" Qingyang inquired.

"Superior quality," the Ancient God Venerable said calmly, his tone carrying a rare hint of satisfaction. "Over the past thousand years, I have crafted more than a dozen artifacts, and this is the third superior quality ordinary treasure armor I have crafted."

Just as Qingyang was about to offer his congratulations, the Primordial Refining Treasure Scroll deep within his soul suddenly trembled, and a line of light appeared:

[Detected that the host's master, the Ancient God Venerable, has crafted a superior-grade common treasure armor, the 'Mysterious Yellow Armor']

[Triggering the associated reward mechanism]

[The host is rewarded with the supreme-grade treasure armor, the 'Thunder Armor']

[The rewards have been stored in the Primordial Refining Treasure Record's built-in space, and the host can access them at any time.]

Qingyang was shocked and almost lost his composure.

Top-grade, high-level treasure armor!

Above ordinary treasures lies high-grade treasures. There are only a few dozen high-grade treasure armors in the entire human treasury. And as far as Qingyang knows, the number of top-quality high-grade treasure armors in the entire inventory is even smaller.

"This reward is... absolutely amazing!"

"If my master's weapon forging is linked to this, then will the disciples he takes in also be implicated?"

Qingyang was overjoyed, but also full of doubts.

A golden ball of light, several times more concentrated than before, surged out from the ancient scroll and entered the independent space of the Primordial Refining Treasure Scroll deep within Qingyang's soul, floating side by side with the Sumeru Palace.

As the light dissipated, a suit of armor, entirely deep purple with layers of scales as thick as an abyss, floated silently in the air. The entire suit of armor exuded a powerful aura that caused spacetime to tremble, as if it were draped over a world of thunder.

"Qingyang?"

The voice of the Ancient God Venerable rang out, tinged with a hint of doubt. Qingyang snapped out of his reverie and found his master looking at him.

Qingyang took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in his heart, and forced himself to remain calm, saying, "Master, this Xuanhuang Armor is of such high quality that I have never seen anything like it in my life."

The Ancient God Venerable stared at Qingyang for a moment, not questioning his momentary loss of composure, then smiled faintly, "I didn't come here to listen to your flattery. Now that you have successfully refined it, I am relieved."

The Ancient God Venerable turned and walked out of the hall. He paused at the doorway, saying, "Refining weapons is like cultivation; it requires a balance of work and rest."

"Disciple understands," Qingyang nodded and watched the Ancient God Venerable leave.

Qingyang waved his hand and hung the last label on the top of the wall. The label had only one line written on it: "Time Realm Palace, Superior Grade, Eight Gates Structure, Two Real and Six Illusory".

Qingyang took out the jade slip containing the "Thirteen Chapters of Zhuan Kong: The Treasure Chapter" and began to study it carefully.

Behind him were over 30,000 labels representing failed fragments, densely covering the entire wall. They shimmered silently in the eerie blue light, like a galaxy forged from failures, silently telling the story of a weapon refiner's journey to mastery.