Chapter Forty-Four: The Function of Artifact Refining

Mysterious Gold was considered a mid-tier material for crafting artifacts in the primordial world. For most wandering cultivators, even those at the Celestial Immortal stage, it was an excellent resource. However, it failed to impress Qingxu. After all, as a disciple of a sage, his knowledge and experience were extraordinary. Not to mention mere Mysterious Gold, even Supreme Mysterious Gold barely caught his eye.

A vast vein of Mysterious Gold stretched for dozens, even over a hundred miles, yet even with the refining power of true fire, one might not extract a single fist-sized piece of Supreme Mysterious Gold. Thus, to Qingxu, it was of little real value. However, a sudden thought struck him: besides completing the mission triggered by the Investiture of the Gods system, he could also seize some of the human race’s fate for himself. In that case, this mine was not to be overlooked. Moreover, it was an opportunity to test whether the system’s artifact-refining techniques were truly effective. This would kill two birds with one stone.

“The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors enlightened the human race and earned great merit, their fate interlinked with humanity’s. As long as the human race endures, so do they; their status is supreme, not to be underestimated even by Hunyuan sages. If I could obtain some of the human race’s fate, the benefits would be considerable. In any case, it would only take a flick of the wrist—why let such an opportunity slip by?” Qingxu mused. The Mysterious Gold vein was enough to forge thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of divine weapons. Although these were far inferior to even the simplest postnatal forbidden immortal artifacts, for the human race they would be treasures beyond compare!

It had only been about a hundred years since Nuwa created humanity. Human intelligence had yet to blossom fully; they still lived by eating raw meat and drinking blood, wielding little more than stone implements—barely the dawn of the Stone Age. Fire, clothing, and houses had yet to be invented, nor were there ethics, morals, or social order. If Qingxu bestowed thousands or tens of thousands of divine weapons upon them, the help would be immense, enough to multiply the overall strength of the human race several times. Of course, he dared not interfere too deeply in their natural development; mundane skills like artifact-forging, alchemy, food, shelter, and clothing still needed to be taught by the Human Sovereign, lest Heaven punish him for overstepping.

To know that he possessed countless ways to propel the human race to greatness, yet was forbidden from using any of them, forced to forgo immense merit and fate, left Qingxu deeply frustrated. At this moment, he keenly sensed his own limitations. Even with memories of a past life and a deep understanding of the primordial world’s history and its many familiar tales, the true workings of fate remained unfathomable. Now, he could not determine what consequences might arise if he aided the development of humanity.

“But if I only bestow some divine weapons and caution them not to misuse them, this is not too great an interference. It would at least give the human race more means to defend themselves against wild beasts and other dangers, reducing casualties. Regardless of the merit, the benefits in fate and faith would be substantial.”

Collecting the Mysterious Gold vein required no avatar; even with just his true form at the mid-stage Earth Immortal level, Qingxu found it effortless. He tore open the earth, wrapped his power around the entire vein, and used the Sumeru Mustard Seed technique. In an instant, the vein that had stretched for dozens, even over a hundred miles, was compressed into a lump of irregular metal a few meters across, with at least a third of it mere impurities.

Qingxu stored this Mysterious Gold in the first level of the Qingxu Tower’s Sumeru space. At once, he felt an immense weight of karma settle upon him, a direct result of damaging the geomantic veins of the Red Rock Hills. This karmic burden was significant, not even a sage could ignore it, but as soon as it entered his Niwan Palace—before it could reach his soul—the ancient Daoskill of Great Causality, sensing a tonic, activated of its own accord. Like a whale swallowing water, it devoured all the karma in just a few breaths.

[Great Causality Art, Layer One: 1%...]
Karmic force is dreaded by all beings, but it is the perfect nourishment for the Great Causality Art, enhancing its power.
[Great Causality Art, Layer One: 55%]

One surge took it to 55%, still less than halfway to the second layer!

“My, what an incredible ancient Daoskill! Even raising the first layer to the second is so difficult—I can’t even imagine how much karma would be needed to reach the pinnacle!” Qingxu sighed, somewhat disheartened. Even if he were to destroy the entire primordial world and amass catastrophic karma, it might not be enough to perfect the Great Causality Art.

[Causal Heart-Demon Technique: Causes backlash in beings whose cultivation is lower than your own and whose karmic burden is less than ten, forming heart demons that harm their soul and spirit.]
[Causal Mind-Seizing Technique: Causes backlash in beings whose cultivation is lower than your own and whose karmic burden is less than ten, confusing their minds and compelling them to obey you.]
[Causal Blood-Reversal Technique: Causes backlash in beings whose cultivation is lower than your own and whose karmic burden is less than ten, causing their vital blood to flow in reverse, damaging their meridians, and inflicting severe internal injuries.]

Three consecutive system notifications echoed in Qingxu’s mind, leaving him momentarily stunned. He had never expected that raising the Great Causality Art to 55% would grant him three new secret arts at once. Yet the restrictions were stifling—if their cultivation was lower than his, he could destroy them with a gesture. If their karmic burden was less than ten—well, how many beings in the primordial world would that include?

“Of course! The ‘Three Thousand Daos’ is not a literal count; three is a virtual number, representing infinity. So among the three thousand ancient Daoskills, there must be countless techniques. The current three secret arts may not seem impressive, but that’s only because my Great Causality Art is at the first layer, able to affect only single-digit karma. Once it reaches the second layer, it can affect double digits; the third layer, triple digits. In the future, its power may well be terrifying!” In a flash, Qingxu grasped the key.

As he pondered, the prohibitions set by the successive Giant Spirit Kings rapidly crumbled, and the underground space was on the verge of collapse. Qingxu immediately tried to escape via earth-traversing magic, but soon realized it was impossible. For reasons unknown, the ground had been rendered impervious to such spells—even with his talent and cultivation, he could burrow only a few dozen meters.

With a sigh, he used the Golden Light Ground-Penetrating movement technique, retracing the route he recalled from the guidance of the two brothers, Da Feng and Xiao Feng.

For an Earth Immortal, things like photographic memory and swift deduction were simple; even without deliberate effort, their soul could accomplish such feats. It was well known that the soul of an Earth Immortal, though perhaps not as precise as a modern computer, was not far behind.

Twisting and turning, in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he exited the cavern. Meanwhile, one after another, the caverns collapsed, leaving the vast Red Rock Hills pockmarked and devastated.

“Dust to dust, earth to earth—let these Giant Spirits and Fire Witches return to the soil.” Upon emerging, Qingxu was again confronted by the countless corpses strewn across the land. The influence of his previous life ran deep, and he performed a magical art to bury them all—it took but a few casual gestures.

This time, the gains were enormous, though his true form’s cultivation declined somewhat due to the loss of a mouthful of vital blood. With the help of spirit pills, however, a few months of quiet recuperation would suffice for full recovery. Besides, he had an early-stage Supreme True Immortal avatar now, so there was no rush regarding his main body’s cultivation.

With all matters settled, Qingxu continued his journey toward the Eastern Sea. As he traveled, he idly practiced artifact forging—he paid little attention to the finer points, ignoring prohibitions and arrays, focusing only on making the weapons hard and sharp. This ensured a one hundred percent success rate, and the process was simple. In just a few days, he had produced three thousand identical Mysterious Gold war sabers. At last, the Investiture of the Gods system granted him the artifact-forging skill, which functioned identically to his pill-refining technique.

“Given that, it seems talisman crafting will be no exception.”

“But something is off! Why has the weather gotten so much hotter? And why are there so few creatures of the hundred races along the way, especially those of higher cultivation? What could be the reason for this?” In a few days, Qingxu had traversed tens of thousands of miles of the Red Rock Hills. This journey was entirely different from his earlier departure from Kunlun Mountain. Logically, the further he got from Kunlun, the more abundant and powerful the myriad races of the primordial world should become. Yet since leaving the Red Rock Hills, he had encountered only a handful of creatures over thousands of miles. He could not help but feel anxious and bewildered.