Chapter 74: Level 3 Spirit Fire! Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios “There are even higher realms above Void Reversion where one would be able to form rain and clouds with every flip of their hands; any thought could cause rivers to reverse, bring about enough heat to burn the oceans and shift stars from their rotations. Every single step would of theirs would cross thousands of meters!” Those words rattled Su Zimo and the other disciples. It was as though they were already envisioning themselves ruling over the desolates while looking down at the world with disdain. Who would not look forward to power as such? Even though many of the inner sect disciples had heard those descriptions many times, it still sent ardor and zeal coursing through their blood. Sect Master Ling Yun continued with a deep voice, “Head back and work hard on your cultivation. Every end of the year, our sect will organize a face-off between the five peaks and the rewards will be generous. Even though the seven of you have just joined the sect, be it in terms of spirit root or potential, you are exceptional. I hope that there can be some amongst you that will obtain good results in our five peaks face-off.” ... On the way back to Weapon Peak, Su Zimo asked Xue Yi, “What’s with this five peaks face-off?” Xue Yi chuckled. “Simply put, it’s to choose the best out of the five peaks. For example, for the Weapon Peak face-off, the disciples of Weapon Peak would have a competition with their skills of refining weapons. The disciple that comes out top will get to choose an inferior-grade spirit weapon of his desire from the Spirit Weapon Chamber. As for Elixir Peak, they would compete in refining elixirs. The first disciple would be able to get a Grade 1 elixir such as the Spirit Gathering Pill.” Frowning, Su Zimo asked, “What if there are multiple disciples who can craft an inferior-grade spirit weapon? How would they differentiate between the best then?” “Haha!” Xue Yi burst out laughing. “If any disciple could craft an inferior-grade spirit weapon, they would definitely be the best of Weapon Peak! Junior brother, you’ve yet to experience any weapon refinement techniques yet and so you do not know how difficult it is to craft an inferior-grade spirit weapon. There has never been any disciples who could craft an inferior-grade spirit weapon during the annual Weapon Peak face-off. Everyone could only manage to create pseudo spirit weapons and our master will then judge who has the best quality.” Su Zimo nodded. Xue Yi continued, “Actually, for the five peaks face-off, all the other peaks are merely there for show. Everyone’s actually more focused on Spirit Peak’s face-off. After all, the disciples would be competing in terms of battling techniques and pure strength – that’s way more exciting. The rewards are even better as well. Not only do they get an inferior-grade spirit weapon, a Grade 1 elixir, there would also be a Grade 1 talisman as well as a number of spirit stones.” “Junior brother, don’t fixate yourself on it. After all, both refining of elixirs and weapons would require a large amount of energy and time. Rather than dreaming of other things, the most important task on hand is to steady yourself and focus on your cultivation.” Even though Su Zimo did not rebut Xue Yi, he did not agree with it in his heart. As an Elixir Refinement Master, one could create elixirs which would be helpful for boosting their cultivations. As a Weapon Refinement Master, one could create weapons and that was a clear benefit for raising one’s strength as well. Most importantly, Su Zimo possessed a Fire spirit root and that would enhance his cultivation speed, saving time. Within the five peaks, there would be inner sect disciples arriving daily to help the disciples with their queries and doubts. Upon returning to Weapon Peak, Su Zimo listened carefully to an inner sect disciple’s explanation of the techniques of refining weapons before returning to his cave abode. The fundamental of refining weapons was to first be able to cultivate a spirit fire. Spirit fire was created by igniting spirit qi into flames. There were three levels to spirit fires with their difference shown through their colors – faint red, dark red and scarlet. The deeper the shade, the higher the temperature of the flame and the more the impurities that could be purged. Above spirit fires came true fires which were faint, dark and pure gold in color. The first step of creating weapons was material selection. Be it for refinement of elixirs or weapons, the materials used were spirit items of the universe that contained spirit qi within them. The second step was the smelting process. For elixirs, special Elixir Furnaces were required while for weapons, it was Weapon Tripods. Be it Elixir Furnaces or Weapon Tripods, they were all created using special materials that could endure through heat and not melt. By placing the spirit materials they chose into the Weapon Tripod and using a spirit fire to smelt it, the materials would be melted into liquid form with initial impurities preliminary purged so that it is suitable for refinement. Third step, forging. This step would require controlling the temperature to dip while forging out the shape one wanted for the spirit weapon before the liquid solidified. Of course, one would require much more effort at this step if they wanted to create something special. However, if it was just a normal flying sword, things would be much simpler. Fourth step, tempering. By increasing the temperature within the Weapon Tripod once more, one would then use spirit qi and the flames to strike at the weapon, conducting a secondary round of impurities elimination to ensure that the spirit weapon turns sturdier. Five step, spirit gathering. Spirit gathering was the crux and most difficult step of the entire weapon refinement process. Within the Weapon Tripod, a large amount of spirit qi would be released by the melted materials and they would turn extremely pure under the repeated scorching of the spirit fire. By gathering the spirit qi and fusing it into the spirit weapon, lines of spirit patterns would form on it. And that was exactly the history of spirit weapon grades as well. If a single spirit pattern was created, it would be an inferior-grade spirit weapon. If four spirit patterns could be created, it would be a supreme-grade spirit weapon! The reason why the spirit gathering stage was difficult was because if it failed, the spirit weapon would explode within the tripod, causing all their previous efforts to go to waste. At the same time, there was a high rate of failure for spirit gathering; the more the patterns being tempered, the higher the rate of failure. Sixth step, quenching. This was a simple step – simply placing the highly heated spirit weapon into cold water would finish the forging process. Extending his left hand, Su Zimo activated the stream of spirit qi from his dantian as a weak flame formed in the middle of his palm. It was a faint red color and emanated a scorching heat. However, his palm did not feel the heat at all. Level 1 Spirit Fire! Su Zimo let out a smile. As the spirit qi dispersed, the spirit fire disappeared as well. But once he channeled spirit qi, a flame appeared in his palm once more. With that, Su Zimo continued practicing merrily. Suddenly, he recalled something. Back in Ping Yang Town, Perfected Cang Lang had shot out a scarlet flame from his fingertips, burning Zhui Feng to nothingness. Now, Su Zimo finally realized – that flame was a Level 3 Spirit Fire! The thought of Zhui Feng’s death caused Su Zimo’s eyes to dim as his mood was damped. On his immortality cultivation, he had just obtained Level 1 Qi Condensation. On his demonic cultivation, he was stuck on the progress of the Marrow Cleansing section even after such a long time. He wondered how long more he would have to wait to take revenge for Zhui Feng. Die Yue had mentioned that The Mystic Classic of the Twelve Demon Kings of the Great Wilderness would get more difficult towards the end and without her around, Su Zimo would not be able to complete it. And now, he was already stuck after the Bones Strengthening at the Marrow Cleansing section. What about Organs Refinement and Orifice Clearing later on? As he fell deep into thought, Su Zimo’s right palm gathered a ball of spirit fire subconsciously. Swoosh! A ball of flames rose and the scarlet color was rather striking. Shocked, Su Zimo swung his hand and the spirit qi dispersed along with the spirit fire. “That flame earlier on did not seem like it was faint red?” Frowning, Su Zimo glared at his right palm before channeling spirit qi to create the spirit fire once more. Swoosh! Flames started rising. A bright light shone across Su Zimo’s shocked face. Scarlet... Level 3 Spirit Fire!