Chapter 185: Chapter 184: Completely Different
After a moment of contemplation, Chu Mu suppressed the thought.
Right now, he needed to turn his gains into true Combat Power.
Especially these two Magical Artifacts. In the past, he would have never had access to such things.
All Magical Artifacts needed to be refined and imprinted with a Divine Soul Seal. Only after completing these two steps would a Magical Artifact truly belong to him.
These two Magical Artifacts were, of course, no exception.
Furthermore, to truly understand a Magical Artifact’s effects and power, one needed sufficient practice and experimentation. Only then could it be wielded as an extension of one’s own arm.
As his thoughts churned, Chu Mu closed his eyes slightly, enveloping the Magical Artifacts with his Divine Sense and slowly beginning to penetrate their interiors.
Based on its function, a Magical Artifact would naturally be made from different Spiritual Materials and have different Artifact Patterns and Restrictions.
Take his Minghong Saber for example. It was a Fire Attribute Attacking Spiritual Artifact. The blade’s own sharpness and the infusion of Fire Attribute Spiritual Power were both indispensable.
Therefore, its surface was densely engraved with Artifact Patterns and Restrictions.
Each Artifact Pattern and every Restriction had a different function. Some provided sharpness, others gathered energy...
All these different elements, much like the combination of medicinal properties in Alchemy, were ultimately combined with precision.
They are then imbued into the Magical Artifact’s body, which is itself refined from Spiritual Materials. Thus, a Magical Artifact is formed.
This process was, of course, fundamentally the same as the principles behind refining Puppets.
From what Chu Mu understood, Puppets were perhaps far more complex than simple Magical Artifacts.
It took nearly ten days for Chu Mu to finally refine the two Magical Artifacts. The instant the Divine Soul Seals were set, an indescribably wondrous sensation washed over him.
That Divine Sense could be used to move objects was common knowledge in the Cultivation Immortal Realm. Even a cultivator at the Qi Cultivation First Layer possessed this ability.
However, that method involved completely enveloping the desired object with one’s Divine Sense and then using sheer force of will to move it.
It was a pure case of brute force, which was extremely draining on one’s Divine Sense and involved no skill or mystique whatsoever.
But now, with the saber and the boots, a marvelous feeling emerged. It was as if... they were extensions of his own limbs!
They moved as he willed. With a single thought, he could influence the Minghong Saber and the Divine Wind Boots.
Chu Mu stood up, and in an instant, he appeared several meters away. With another thought, the levitating Minghong Saber circled him, its blade grazing past, inches from his skin. An inexplicable sense of intimacy welled up within him.
His five-meter-wide room was quite spacious. Moreover, its isolation Restriction could block Spiritual Qi fluctuations to a certain degree.
He used the Divine Wind Boots to dash and weave, his Divine Sense acting as his hand, grasping the Minghong Saber and executing various forms.
Within the confined space, the saber’s light flashed, and his figure moved like a phantom.
This practice continued for a full quarter of an hour before he finally stopped.
The Minghong Saber hovered before him as Chu Mu fell into a contemplative silence, mulling over his recent experience.
Magical Artifacts had numerous advantages, too many to fully describe.
But they had one drawback: Magical Power consumption.
Using both Magical Artifacts at full power, his Magical Power as a Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer cultivator could last for a quarter of an hour at most.
From his recent Alchemy sessions, he had accumulated about ten Rejuvenating Pills for restoring Magical Power. A single Rejuvenating Pill could restore two-thirds of his current Magical Power as a Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer cultivator within a quarter of an hour.
In other words, if he were to fight someone, it would be best to settle the outcome within half a quarter-hour. If not, regardless of the result, his best option would be to flee.
Otherwise, once a Cultivator’s Magical Power was depleted, they were nothing more than a lamb to the slaughter.
’Body Refining!’
The thought led Chu Mu’s mind back to the path of Body Refining.
The path of Body Refining, while lacking the myriad techniques and methods of Qi Cultivation, had one advantage that Qi Cultivation could simply not match.
Endurance!
In Qi Cultivation, one’s entire Cultivation and Combat Power were fundamentally dependent on Magical Power. If one’s Magical Power was depleted and couldn’t be restored in time, they would be completely at the mercy of a Cultivator of the same level.
In Body Refining, however, one’s Cultivation was housed entirely in the physical body. It was the principle of ’one force to break ten thousand laws,’ and physical stamina was clearly far more enduring than Magical Power.
It was also unaffected by the environment. Whether the ambient Spiritual Qi was sparse or dense had no bearing on a Body Refining Cultivator in battle.
Clearly, compared to Qi Cultivation, Body Refining seemed more suitable for a destitute Loose Cultivator.
But it was equally obvious that for a Cultivator to survive in the Cultivation Immortal Realm, their first priority was to earn Spirit Stones and establish a foothold.
And for low-level Cultivators to earn Spirit Stones, they needed Magical Power. Only then could they find a place within the societal structure built upon the Hundred Skills of Cultivation Immortal and earn Spirit Stones.
If not, their only options were to resort to murder and robbery, or to perform purely physical labor like mining.
Clearly, these concerns didn’t affect him at the moment. All he lacked now was a Body Refining Technique that he considered worthy.
As his thoughts churned, the names of several Black Markets surfaced in his mind.
The Jade Emperor Black Market, the Fengming Mountain Black Market, and the Dragon Mansion Black Market, located Southwest of East Lake.
This was all information he had gleaned from Wang Mazi.
He raised his hand, and the Blood Killing Order, which he had kept hidden for a long time, appeared in his palm.
His gaze fixed on the two words "Blood Kill." After a moment of contemplation, Chu Mu ultimately suppressed his impulse.
’At least, it hasn’t come to the point where I have no other way out.’
’The things I need can be bought with Spirit Stones and a bit of effort.’
’There’s no need to risk my life.’
With his mind made up, he put the Blood Killing Order away. The Minghong Saber hovering before him then shot forward abruptly.
His practice of dashing and weaving within the confined space began once more.
