My Artifacts Can Upgrade Infinitely

Zhao Zuo recalled the high-reward mission he had seen in the Mission Hall. The traces of the Demon Cultivator were a lure to draw someone out of the Moyun Sect for an assassination.

"That doesn’t add up," Shen Yunjiao said, refuting Zhao Zuo’s guess. "If the Blood Stream Sect sent a True Disciple to lead the team, the target must be far more valuable than a True Disciple. No one in the Moyun Sect’s Inner Sect should have that kind of status."

"You’re right. They wouldn’t go to such lengths for an Inner Sect Disciple." Zhao Zuo shook his head. "Forget it. I’m not going to think about it. I won’t be leaving the Moyun Sect anytime soon. No matter where the wind blows this fire, it definitely won’t burn me." He wasn’t good at this kind of scheming and intrigue.

Even if he did manage to guess their target, what could he do about it?

Zhao Zuo knew he didn’t have the ability to foil the enemy’s plan. There was no point in dwelling on it.

"Oh, right. You still haven’t paid me May’s rent," Shen Yunjiao said, changing the subject.

"Let me owe you for a few months. I definitely won’t forget." Zhao Zuo was honestly a little baffled by her words. She had unhesitatingly refused thirty thousand Spirit Stones, yet here she was, hounding him for five Spirit Stones in rent.

"Alright," Shen Yunjiao’s voice was flat, betraying no emotion.

The two chatted for a few more moments. Zhao Zuo reminded Shen Yunjiao to be careful, then took the two little ones out of his Spirit Beast pouch and fed them some Spiritual Objects.

The Spirit Beast pouch only had one cubic meter of space inside. Once the Fire Spirit Snake grew a bit more, he would probably have to get a larger one. Fortunately, Spirit Beast pouches weren’t too expensive.

About half an hour later, Zhao Zuo put away the Communication Jade, a complex look on his face. In the past, Shen Yunjiao wouldn’t have even wasted half a sentence on small talk with him, but now she was like this...

’She doesn’t like me, does she?’ Zhao Zuo wondered. He wasn’t an idiot; he had noticed the change in Shen Yunjiao’s attitude toward him long ago. It was only because of the three rules they had agreed upon before cohabitating that he had never considered this possibility.

But now, Zhao Zuo had no choice but to consider it.

"Sigh... what a pity."

A few minutes later, Zhao Zuo sighed softly. He was now certain that Shen Yunjiao liked him. Her change in attitude had been sparked by two things: him saving her life, and her proactively offering him the Taotie Secret Technique.

Unfortunately, her affection was not returned.

Zhao Zuo was sure he had no romantic feelings for Shen Yunjiao. He was someone who trusted his gut; if he didn’t feel it, then it wasn’t love.

And since he didn’t love her, he would have to keep his distance.

In his past life, Zhao Zuo had loved reading novels where the protagonist had a harem, complete with all the love, hate, and drama that came with it. He had even enjoyed the "battle royales" between the fiercely competitive heroines. But now that transmigration had actually happened to him, he realized he just wasn’t cut out to be a playboy.

’So it’s true. I’m a one-true-love kind of guy.’

For the next few days, Zhao Zuo stopped forging Lower Grade Magical Artifacts. He holed up in his home, transcribing everything Elder Wang had taught him about the Melt Casting Technique onto a scroll. He broke down every sentence, mulling it over repeatedly, and in doing so, gained many new insights and formed his own interpretations.

At the very least, he had figured out how to slow the flow of his Mana.

During battle, the body moves at high speed and the mind becomes active and excited. This naturally causes one’s Mana to accelerate, flowing endlessly through the body to aid in combat.

Therefore, if motion accelerated the flow, then stillness must be the way to slow it down. Not only did the body have to be still, but the mind and Soul also had to enter a state of tranquility.

Having formed his theory, Zhao Zuo quickly controlled his Qi Blood to lower the speed and intensity of his heartbeat. The aura emanating from his body rapidly converged and grew silent. Then, he began to enter a state of meditation to quiet his mind.

This time, he did not circulate his Mana to absorb Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power. He simply allowed his Mana to operate almost instinctively within his body. Just as he had predicted, the speed of his Mana’s flow began to slow.

Next, Zhao Zuo began to move. He had to learn to maintain this stillness while in motion before he could apply the state to the Refining of Magical Artifacts.

But the moment he took a step, the dormant Qi Blood in his body immediately became active, and his heartbeat grew more powerful.

Influenced by his Qi Blood, the flow of Mana in his Meridians instinctively increased, even though Zhao Zuo’s Soul and mind... were still in a state of profound quiet.

But his body had already lost its stillness.

’So, stillness itself is simple. The challenge must be to move while in a state of meditation, to achieve a union of motion and stillness.’

Zhao Zuo was not discouraged. Instead, his eyes grew brighter. The truly terrifying thing was not having a path forward. But now, he had found a way to slow his Mana flow; all that was left was practice and mastery.

Over the next several days, Zhao Zuo continuously practiced uniting motion and stillness, though he spent most of his time on his Cultivation of the Golden Body Technique.

He hoped that by further strengthening his physical body and his degree of control over it, he could make his state of stillness even more profound.

It would also increase his control over his Qi Blood.

Before long, however, Zhao Zuo discovered that as his body’s Qi Blood grew stronger, it actually interfered with maintaining stillness. It was like an uncontrollable wild beast becoming even stronger and more difficult to tame.

The Golden Body Technique followed a path of grand, sweeping movements, emphasizing the amplification of physical strength. As for its effect on controlling one’s power, that was merely a side benefit.

Zhao Zuo knew he needed a skill or a Dharma Method to control his Qi Blood, so after half a month in seclusion, he finally left his Cave Mansion.

He headed for the Scripture Pavilion, a place where he might find an answer.

Before a shelf of miscellaneous books on the third floor of the Scripture Pavilion, Zhao Zuo searched patiently. Most of the techniques recorded here were martial arts from the Mortal World.

Dharma Methods that Martial Path Grandmasters had spent decades of their lives creating could be seen everywhere on the shelves... one could even browse them freely without spending any Contribution Points.

This alone showed just how weak the Martial Path was in this world.

Zhao Zuo had come here thanks to an idea from One Slash. After all, that Martial Path secret manual was a Dharma Method for controlling the body’s power.

Unfortunately, it focused more on control when using a blade, enhancing one’s control during combat.

What Zhao Zuo needed was a "quieter" Cultivation Technique, one for controlling his Qi Blood during daily life.

Soft Bone Technique

Clothes-Sticking Technique

Immortal Slaughter Technique

Zhao Zuo found one Cultivation Technique that was brimming with killing intent. But since it was displayed so openly here, the fate of its creator was self-evident.

He casually flipped through it, and within minutes, he understood the Cultivation Technique’s core concept. It worked by stimulating acupressure points to, in turn, boost the explosive power of one’s Qi Blood.

It allowed one to gain stronger attacks at the cost of harming their own body.

At most, it could unleash five times one’s normal attack power. At the end of the Cultivation Technique, someone had added an annotation in different handwriting.

"A Martial Path Grandmaster cultivating this technique, by staking their life, can fight someone at the Late Period of Qi Cultivation. However, they can only sustain it for half a quarter-hour before dying of blood deprivation."

"Evaluation: Lowest of the low."

Decades of ascetic cultivation, only to risk one’s life for the combat prowess of a Late Period Qi Cultivation practitioner. Still... the creator of this method was talented. After all, he had touched upon an extraordinary Domain that was unreachable for a Mortal.

Zhao Zuo casually placed the Cultivation Technique back on the shelf and continued his search, but unfortunately, he couldn’t find the kind of technique he needed.

After all, Martial Artists lived under the pressure of Cultivators. What they pursued was powerful offensive strength, so naturally, they had no time to research perfect control over their Qi Blood.

With no other choice, he could only head up to the fifth floor and begin searching in the section for Body Refining Techniques.

Since the Mortal World’s Martial Path techniques didn’t provide the effect he wanted, perhaps Body Refining Techniques—the very origin of the mortal Martial Path—could offer him a pleasant surprise.

He flipped through one book after another, but the Body Refining Techniques he found were almost all related to combat.

Even the Dharma Methods for controlling Qi Blood aimed for greater explosive power. They appeared tranquil on the surface... but in reality, they concealed an extremely potent, explosive force.

"You’ve been here for several days. It seems you haven’t found a Cultivation Technique to your liking. Why don’t you tell this old man what you’re looking for?"

... ...