Little Struggle Peak.
Inside Cave Mansion No. 281.
Ning Zhuo held a small hammer, repeatedly striking the surface of the White-Faced Vajra.
That metal was extremely hard, and its surface gleamed white under the light.
While hammering, Ning Zhuo also executed the Refinement Technique, allowing his Mana to continuously seep into the metal, softening the White-Faced Vajra a bit, facilitating the hammering and shaping process.
After the hammering was finished, Ning Zhuo's Divine Sense took control, and three to five Mechanical Floating Hands stretched out their palms, aiming at the White-Faced Vajra.
Whoosh whoosh!
Five streams of flame were sprayed onto the White-Faced Vajra, heating it until it turned red-hot and quickly softened.
Rune after rune, small as fingertips, shimmered silver-gray, flickering hidden within the White-Faced Vajra.
Ning Zhuo stimulated his Mana, embedding a piece of scripture into the White-Faced Vajra, successfully turning it into a Prohibition.
He activated the Floating Ice Jade Hands.
The White Jade Hand slowly flew above the White-Faced Vajra, while the other five Mechanical Floating Hands stopped spewing flames and retreated to the sides.
The Floating Ice Jade Hand's delicate fingers maneuvered the Finger Technique, releasing streams of frosty mist.
The mist was exceedingly fine, causing the White-Faced Vajra to cool down gradually.
If he had resorted to the usual rapid cooling methods, the White-Faced Vajra would have developed countless cracks upon the surface due to rapid contraction when suddenly immersed in cold water. If such a thing occurred, it would have to be melted down and refined again.
Once the White-Faced Vajra had completely cooled, it floated in mid-air, forming a rectangular and flat shape.
Ning Zhuo took out the Tea Copper.
Three Mechanical Floating Hands appeared, emitting an invisible lifting force, holding the Tea Copper in mid-air.
Then, the palms of the Mechanical Floating Hands burst into flames once more, scorching the Tea Copper.
The Tea Copper slowly melted into a puddle of molten copper.
Ning Zhuo spurred on the Artifact Refining Technique, removing impurities from the molten copper and purifying it.
After this step, he used his Divine Sense to directly shape the molten copper.
He shaped the molten Tea Copper into a straight line, step by step.
Taking advantage of the Tea Copper not being fully cooled, Ning Zhuo immediately took the previously hammered White-Faced Vajra and wrapped the Tea Copper around it in a circle, creating a hoop with ends meeting.
Finally, he continued to exercise the spell, enveloping the Tea Copper with the Prohibition.
"Another Vajra Mirror." After inspecting it, Ning Zhuo was satisfied and stored it away in his Storage Waist Belt.
The refining technique of the Vajra Mirror came from the Dharma Transmission Bell, taught by elder cultivators of the Three Superior Sect Techniques during the Foundation Establishment Stage of the Mirror Stand Spirit Communication Technique.
The cultivation of the Mirror Stand Spirit Communication Technique required external aids. The details included the methods for crafting eight different types of magic mirror artifacts, with the Vajra Mirror being one among them.
Back on Mist Hidden Mountain, Ning Zhuo had competed with Sun Lingtong in Divine Sense, and had been defeated.
The gap between them was still large.
Ning Zhuo also revealed the truth to Sun Lingtong—that he needed Mechanical Artifacts to assist him if he was to unleash the full potential of the Mirror Stand Spirit Communication Technique, which would greatly extend the range of his Divine Sense.
During his time on Mist Hidden Mountain, other than being constantly on the move, Ning Zhuo had been pondering over the methods of refining these magic mirrors.
After analyzing, he realized that the Vajra Mirror was relatively easy to craft, with simple steps and materials that were the easiest to acquire.
Therefore, after coming to Little Struggle Peak and having some time, he began refining the Vajra Mirror.
This was already the third Vajra Mirror he had crafted.
"The Vajra Mirror is manageable; it doesn't require much from the refining environment. But the next mirrors, if crafted solely by my hands, just won't do."
Ning Zhuo needed a smelting furnace for Artifact Refining.
The Refining Cabin inside the Ten-Thousand-Li Travelling Dragon could be used, but it was far too costly for what it was worth—a waste of resources.
Nor did Ning Zhuo wish to rent an outside Artifact Refining Room for use.
In a strange place, he did not feel very at ease.
Do not think that the Ten Thousand Medicine Sect is a large sect with good ethics; after all, it is made up of people.
Since they are people, they all conform to human nature.
The sect disciples in charge of positions are actually the ones most likely to bully an outsider cultivator like Ning Zhuo.
This could be seen from the sect disciple responsible for arranging the cave mansion. The disciple took bribes and never showed any hesitation.
This itself was a form of oppression from the local snakes!
The Artifact Refining Rooms in the outside world could potentially leak information about the artifact refining process.
Inside the Lava Fairy Palace, although the Dharma Transmission Bell rang through the whole place, only Ning Zhuo received the Foundation Establishment Level Three Superior Sect Techniques.
Until Meng Kui had deciphered the Dharma Transmission Bell, only Ning Zhuo mastered these Cultivation Techniques, so he always tried to keep them secret!
Ning Zhuo did not indulge in Artifact Refining.
Once refining came to an end, he began his daily cultivation practices.
The Three Superior Sect Techniques, the Buddha, Dao, and Demon methods, were alternated in succession, steadily advancing Ning Zhuo's cultivation level.
At the moment, the rate at which Ning Zhuo's cultivation level was increasing was still considerable.
On one hand, he had innate talent and good comprehension. On the other hand, he never skimped on investing resources in his own cultivation.
Even within his cave mansion, Ning Zhuo would add many additional spirit stones to help maintain a high concentration of Spiritual Energy throughout his cultivation process.
While Ning Zhuo was halfway through his cultivation, the mechanical bird suddenly started to chirp.
Knowing the time had arrived, Ning Zhuo opened a gap in the cave mansion's array and let Sun Lingtong in.
In the days since entering the cave, Sun Lingtong had gone out every day, either hiding his presence or disguising himself, constantly gathering intelligence from various places.
This intelligence, personally collected, was much more detailed and reliable compared to what could be bought.
With such intelligence, Sun Ning and the other had gained a deeper understanding of Ten Thousand Medicine Valley over these few days.
Surrounded by mountains on all sides, Ten Thousand Medicine Valley had a valley at its center.
The four surrounding mountains were Medicine Field Mountain, Little Struggle Peak, Great Struggle Peak, and Yuanlai Mountain.
Medicine Field Mountain was almost entirely terraced fields, each tier planted with different medicinal herbs. It could be said that the whole land was covered with medicinal herbs.
Little Struggle Peak was inhabited by a large number of outsider cultivators, each with their own pursuits.
Great Struggle Peak housed the Myriad Demons Cave where many battles had taken place, staining the green mountains red with blood. However, it had been many years since any demon trouble had occurred.
The last of these, Yuanlai Mountain, was not originally one of the mountains in Ten Thousand Medicine Valley but had been moved here along with the relocation of the Ten Thousand Medicine Sect from elsewhere.
The mover of this mountain was the Mountain God of Yuanlai Mountain, possessing formidable strength! Through innate methods, he reached the level capable of moving mountains. However, due to overusing his strength, he fell into a deep slumber after the move and rarely responded to the calls of his worshippers.
The Ten Thousand Medicine Sect relocated here at great cost because Ten Thousand Medicine Valley is blessed with abundant Spiritual Energy.
Underneath it lies a broad subterranean river.
This underground river contains a rich concentration of Spiritual Energy and is a Water Element Spirit Vein.
The waters of the valley springs are also all Spiritual Springs. The reason the Ten Thousand Medicine Sect produces such a huge volume of medicinal herbs is precisely because of the ample irrigation provided by the Spirit Spring Water.
Thus, Yuanlai Mountain belongs to the mountain gate of the Ten Thousand Medicine Sect, with various palaces, pavilions, and buildings standing in great numbers, where the sect cultivators reside.
The defenses here are the most stringent.
Great Struggle Peak has the weakest defenses because too many wars have occurred there; nearly every inch of the soil has been stained with the blood of demon cultivators and human cultivators. Hence, Great Struggle Peak is considered an acquired land of treachery with an overbearing aura of slaughter, unsuitable for the cultivation of medicinal herbs.
Little Struggle Peak is the place where the Ten Thousand Medicine Sect specifically settles outsider cultivators. These cultivators are naturally a mixed bag, each with their own schemes.
The central valley surrounded by the four mountains is Ten Thousand Medicine Valley.
The terrain in the valley is flat, the soil fertile, with springs of Spiritual Energy as numerous as stars intertwining and forming numerous Spiritual Spring channels.
Here is placed the Six Harmonies Longevity Array, where the most valuable and rare medicinal herbs of the Ten Thousand Medicine Sect are planted.
By comparison, the medicinal herbs on Medicine Field Mountain are mainly for generating volume, serving as merchandise for external sales.