Chapter 247 - 145: Flying Spirit Shield
The Yang Family excelled at Alchemy, not Artifact Refining, so this Turtle Shell had always remained in the family’s secret vault. When they heard Yang Jing was studying the Artifact Refining Skill, the Shangshui Yang Family simply removed some Armor Plates from the Turtle Shell and sent them over for him to practice with.
Although they were just Armor Plates, they were still over five feet wide, a testament to the Turtle Demon’s astonishing size when it was alive. The Armor Plates were a deep, dark color, and tapping them with a finger produced the sound of metal.
Slashing the Armor Plate with an ordinary Flying Sword would only leave a faint, nearly imperceptible white mark.
Using these Armor Plates as the primary material, it was entirely possible to refine a Spiritual Artifact.
Yang Jing thought for a moment and decided to refine the Armor Plates according to a diagram for something called a Flying Spirit Shield.
The diagram for the Flying Spirit Shield required refining Spiritual Materials into a small, palm-sized shield. After being ritually refined, it could fly around the user’s body, and when activated, it would automatically intercept incoming Magic and Magical Artifacts. If the Spiritual Materials were exceptional enough, it could even be directly refined into a Magical Treasure.
Yang Jing first used his Grotto Dark Dharma Eye to examine the Armor Plates in his hands, peering into their internal structure.
Materials from Demons were a greater test of an Artifact Refiner’s skill than various Spiritual Golds. A Demon’s age, Cultivation, and living environment could all cause Spiritual Materials from the same species to possess vastly different qualities.
If one followed a standard refining process, at best, the quality of the Magical Artifact would be greatly reduced; at worst, the refining process would fail outright.
With his Mastery of the Five Elements Refining Technique and the aid of his Grotto Dark Dharma Eye, Yang Jing easily saw many things in this Turtle Shell that others could not.
’These Armor Plates are from a Cyan Jade Turtle. It’s just that the turtle was over five thousand years old and fond of eating Black-Scaled Marlin, which is why the color of the plates changed from cyan jade to a deep purple.’
Even after being sealed in the secret vault for a hundred years, Yang Jing could still sense the astonishing Water Element Demon Power contained within the Armor Plates.
If he used an ordinary Spiritual Fire for the Refining, ninety percent of the Water Element Demon Power in the plates would be lost, resulting in a great waste.
However, Yang Jing had just happened to refine the Ice Soul Cold Flame, which was the perfect fire for refining the Turtle Shell.
Yang Jing sat cross-legged in the Quiet Chamber and channeled his Magical Power to produce a wisp of Ice Soul Cold Flame. Over the past month, thanks to his Five Elements True Fire Talent, he had already refined the Ice Soul Cold Flame to the limit of his own Magical Power.
The Ice Soul Cold Flame he produced already possessed one-tenth of the original flame’s chill.
The deep blue True Fire burned gently in the Profound Celestial Furnace, and the inside of the furnace immediately began to frost over.
Under the continuous infusion of Yang Jing’s Magical Power, the temperature inside the furnace dropped to an extreme low.
Fortunately, the Profound Celestial Furnace was a Top Tier Spiritual Artifact and easily contained the appalling chill within it.
Yang Jing took out the three pieces of Turtle Shell and drew them into the furnace.
The fiercely burning Ice Soul Cold Flame enveloped the Turtle Shells.
The three pieces of Turtle Shell endured for more than an hour before they slowly began to turn to powder under the frigid burn of the Ice Soul Cold Flame. Even the Demon Power hidden deep within was burned out by the Ice Soul Cold Flame, precipitating and taking the form of a Cyan Jade Turtle.
With the help of the Profound Celestial Furnace, Yang Jing extracted the impurities from the three Turtle Shells and cast them aside. He then took out a piece of Profound Essence Gang Silver, shaved off a small chunk, and blended it with various other Spiritual Golds. Inside the Profound Celestial Furnace, he used Sun True Fire to melt the mixture into a Spirit Liquid.
His hands formed a Spell, and he injected the Spirit Liquid with the required Restrictions for the Flying Spirit Shield: the Flying Escape Restriction for flight, the Profound Light Restriction to activate its Protective Spirit Light, the Divine Control Restriction to attach his Divine Sense, and the Profound Spirit Restriction to identify incoming Magic and Magical Artifacts.
As the Restrictions were embedded, the Spirit Liquid condensed within the furnace into a series of complex True Registers, which combined to form three round, shield-shaped Talismanic Scripts.
Yang Jing blasted it with the Ice Soul Cold Flame, and the three masses of Spirit Liquid that had formed the Talismanic Scripts solidified instantly.
He carefully took the three masses of Green Jade Turtle Demon Power, which had been purified by the Ice Soul Cold Flame and had their original consciousness wiped, and injected them into the Profound Spirit Restriction of the Talismanic Scripts. The once-lifeless Talismanic Scripts suddenly gained a trace of liveliness, faintly taking the shape of a mystic turtle.
At this point, the Flying Spirit Shield was more than halfway complete.
Yang Jing drew out the frozen Turtle Shell Powder, wrapped it around the three Talismanic Scripts, compressed it with his Magical Power, and formed it within the Profound Celestial Furnace into three small, palm-sized shields, each intaglio-carved with the pattern of a mystic turtle.
The next moment, the roaring Nine Flames True Fire ignited to calcine the Flying Spirit Shields. Yang Jing kept his Grotto Dark Dharma Eye fixed on them for a full hour. Only when he caught the exact instant the Turtle Shell Powder in the Flying Spirit Shields completely sintered did he swiftly withdraw the Nine Flames True Fire and switch back to the Ice Soul Cold Flame.
BOOM!
With the extreme shift between hot and cold, billowing white steam instantly filled the Profound Celestial Furnace.
Yang Jing activated the Restrictions of the Profound Celestial Furnace to vent the white steam. He saw three small, exquisite, and adorable shields, as if carved from Cyan Jade, floating quietly inside the furnace chamber.
He held his breath and waited.
A few breaths later, three faint strands of Spiritual Essence emerged from the Flying Spirit Shields.
Yang Jing could sense that as the Spiritual Essence of the Flying Spirit Shields emerged, the Spiritual Essence of the Profound Celestial Furnace also increased by a sliver, due to some mysterious connection.
’Not bad!’
Artifact Refining Furnaces and Alchemy Furnaces were significant Artifacts that were extremely difficult to refine directly into Magical Treasures in one go. They needed to be improved through continuous Alchemy and Artifact Refining, eventually advancing into Magical Treasures through fortuitous opportunities.
After successfully refining the artifacts, Yang Jing stretched his stiff muscles.
Among mortals, there were the three bitter labors: poling a boat, forging iron, and selling tofu. For a Cultivator, Alchemy and Artifact Refining were no less demanding. They required extreme concentration and placed a huge strain on one’s Magical Power, making them hardly any easier than forging iron.
He called Yang Jingxu in.
"I’ve successfully refined the Turtle Shells. It’s a set of three Spiritual Artifact shields. Take them back to the family. Just have the Spirit Stones sent over later."
Yang Jingxu reached out and took the three Flying Spirit Shields. Sensing the vigorous Spiritual Essence within them, she was inwardly startled.
She knew Senior Brother Yang’s Artifact Refining Technique was extremely high, but she hadn’t expected it to have reached such a Realm. The difficulty of refining a set of Spiritual Artifacts was far greater than that of a single one.
Although she was both shocked and impressed, she didn’t let it show on her face and simply put the Spiritual Artifacts away in silence.
「The next day.」 These three Flying Spirit Shields appeared in the hands of the Shangshui Yang Family’s ancestor, Yang Hufu.
"What fine skill! Even I can’t discern the Refining Technique used for these three Flying Spirit Shields. Truly a work of genius!"
At Yang Hufu’s command, the three Flying Shields released a Cyan Jade Spiritual Light and began to fly continuously around him.
"Use your Magical Artifact and try attacking me."
He said to Yang Jingyang, the direct heir of the Yang Family, who was standing to the side.
Yang Jingyang bowed, then activated his own Spiritual Artifact.
His was a Golden Seal. The seal was named the Mountain-Suppressing Seal, and when fully activated, it weighed hundreds of thousands of pounds and was exceptionally sturdy. Relying on it, Yang Jingyang had few rivals among his peers.
A single smash from the activated Mountain-Suppressing Seal could shatter the Spiritual Light of an ordinary Defensive Spiritual Artifact.
The Mountain-Suppressing Seal flew about nimbly, completely lacking the clumsiness of a typical Suppressing Artifact. It suddenly let out a sharp whistle and smashed toward the ancestor, Yang Hufu.
One of the Flying Spirit Shields circling Yang Hufu suddenly activated, condensing a Protective Spirit Light in the shape of a Cyan Jade Turtle to block the Mountain-Suppressing Seal.
With a dull thud, the Flying Spirit Shield easily blocked the momentum of the Mountain-Suppressing Seal.
The Golden Seal weighed hundreds of thousands of pounds, and its high-speed strike carried the Power of tens of millions of pounds. Yet, when the Flying Spirit Shield took the hit, its Spiritual Light merely flickered slightly before stabilizing completely. It had clearly handled the blow with ease.
Yang Jingyang’s eyes widened, not expecting his all-out attack to be completely useless.
Then, the Flying Spirit Shield’s Spiritual Light suddenly released a soul-chilling cold, freezing the Mountain-Suppressing Seal solid.
Yang Jingyang was shocked and tried to recall his Mountain-Suppressing Seal, but to no avail.
It was only when the ancestor, Yang Hufu, activated the Flying Spirit Shield to disperse the chill that he managed to successfully recall the Mountain-Suppressing Seal.
"What a powerful Spiritual Artifact," Yang Hufu remarked with admiration. He had only used the Magical Power of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator to activate this Flying Spirit Shield.
"Jingxu, take 30,000 Spirit Stones from the family’s funds as payment and give them to Secretary Yang."
For an ordinary Spiritual Artifact, the service fee paid to an Artifact Refiner was typically between 3,000 and 5,000. But these three Flying Spirit Shields were clearly no ordinary Spiritual Artifacts, and Yang Jing was no ordinary Artifact Refiner.
"Ancestor, do you think Yang Jing might have hired another Artifact Refiner to do the work for him?"
Yang Jingyang found it hard to believe that Yang Jing, who was only half his age, could possess such profound skill in Artifact Refining.
"Cousin, watch your words!"
Yang Jingxu, who had been calmly serving by the ancestor’s side, bristled, her slender eyebrows shooting up as she shouted angrily.