30: Refining inheritance

He put down the Medicinal Pills, then picked up the Jade Slips and began to examine them one by one.

The front ones recorded a lot of miscellaneous things, such as various studies, travelogues, and so on.

The Jade Slips containing Cultivation Techniques almost covered all Five Elements attributes.

'Fire Source Art', 'Golden Wind Technique', 'Thick Earth Incantation'...

Unfortunately, like the 'Water Yuan Art' before, they were common goods, even inferior to the 'Five Elements Qi Refining Art' Lu Ming used to Cultivate.

At this moment, Lu Ming already possessed the Devouring Spirit Blood Demon Art, and he certainly didn't care for these items.

"Only this last one remains."

Lu Ming picked up the last Jade Slip.

This Jade Slip was not only much thicker than the others, but its texture was also quite extraordinary; it was like mutton-fat white jade, warm and lustrous, with faint ripples of light within it.

One look and it was clear this was a High Grade item among Jade Slips.

And when Lu Ming's spiritual consciousness delved into it, countless dense pieces of information instantly appeared, led by a line of golden text.

[Introduction to Artifact Refining]

This was actually a first-tier Artifact Refining Legacy!

Among the four arts of immortal Cultivation—Alchemy, Artifact Refining, Talismans, and Formations—Lu Ming only had a Talisman crafting skill, and that too only a few methods for drawing Talismans.

He never expected an Artifact Refining Legacy to fall into his hands.

However, Lu Ming looked it over, and it truly was an 'Introduction', only suitable for beginners.

The highest-grade Magical Artifacts that could be refined within it were High Grade first-tier Magical Artifacts.

But this was already enough; if he were to sell it, it would surely bring in money faster than Talismans.

However, the prerequisite was to be able to learn it!

"It's a pity it's not an Alchemy Legacy..."

Lu Ming thought, somewhat discontentedly. While Artifact Refining was good and more popular than Talisman Masters, its help to Lu Ming at present was actually very limited.

He possessed the golden book, so unless he encountered rogue Cultivators like Yang Hong and Yu Xia who ambushed him.

Otherwise, he would essentially have no opportunity for direct combat, and the use of Magical Artifacts for him, while not entirely useless, was quite limited.

Moreover, learning it would be quite expensive and time-consuming, and he didn't believe he was a Qi Refining Genius who would master it instantly.

But Alchemy was different; if he failed, he could eat the Medicinal Pills himself, and if he succeeded, he could sell them. Self-production and self-consumption, not a bit was wasted.

Unfortunately, this was merely Lu Ming's beautiful vision.

If others knew of Lu Ming's thoughts, they would surely curse him for being ungrateful behind his back.

Lu Ming had also examined the remaining seven Magical Artifacts, and only two of them interested him.

One was a 'Green Scale Shield', and the other was a black gourd.

However, at this moment, the Green Scale Shield had a deep saber mark on it, and a chilling Evil Qi permeated it.

And the culprit responsible for all this was Lu Ming.

The Green Scale Shield was merely a Medium Grade first-tier Magical Artifact. Under Lu Ming's activation of the Blood Burning Secret Technique and the Blood Transformation Demonic Saber, its power was comparable to a full-force strike from a seventh-layer Qi Refining Cultivator.

It was inevitable that a Medium Grade first-tier spirit shield would be damaged.

However, Lu Ming then thought of the [Introduction to Artifact Refining] he had just acquired.

This old fellow really is...

He damaged his item, yet also gave him an Artifact Refining Legacy.

"He wouldn't expect me to repair it myself, would he!"

Without dwelling on the issue further, Lu Ming picked up the black gourd that interested him the most.

His spiritual consciousness surged in, and eight spiritual pattern Restrictions manifested within.

The grading of Magical Artifacts is determined by the number of Restrictions.

First-tier Magical Artifacts of Low, Medium, High, and Excellent Grades correspond to three, six, nine, and twelve Restrictions, respectively.

The 'dark light blade' on Lu Ming's person only had six Restrictions, making it a Medium Grade Magical Artifact.

And this black gourd was surprisingly a High Grade Magical Artifact!

"In the market, even the cheapest High Grade Magical Artifacts cost five hundred Spirit Stones!"

Lu Ming had not yet refined the gourd and could not use it, but a spiritual consciousness scan revealed its effect.

Activating the black gourd could release a cloud of black Evil Qi, which had a strong corrosive effect. Cultivators enveloped by it would be reduced to skin and bones and die within moments.

However, Lu Ming didn't care about this; rather, this black gourd could be used as a flying Magical Artifact, and its speed was much faster than the Azure Spirit Boat.

"Unfortunately, this is stolen goods, it cannot be exposed to light, and cannot be used openly."

Normally, he could only use Yu Xia's Azure Spirit Boat for travel. The Azure Spirit Boat's appearance was not as distinctive as the black gourd.

However, in necessary situations, the black gourd would still have to be used.

"Thus, counting my own 'dark light blade', I now have a complete set of Magical Artifacts for attack, defense, and travel."

And finally, there was a small booklet...

Lu Ming took one look and felt a sense of meeting a kindred spirit.

Indeed, proper people all keep diaries...

However, he wasn't really one of them; his were notes, but this was a [True Diary].

It recorded Yang Hong's history of murder and robbery over the years, his experience in choosing Fellow Daoists, and some methods for tracking and ambushing.

It even mentioned how to clean up after a killing and methods for fencing stolen goods.

"What a talent!"

Lu Ming exclaimed sincerely.

The thin booklet was almost a 'Beginner's Handbook for Rogue Cultivators in the Immortal Realm'.

Lu Ming was reading it with great interest until he saw the series of events after Yang Hong encountered him.

It detailed how he had targeted him, then investigated his physical abnormalities, then found clues to pinpoint the target, and finally, his speculations about Lu Ming's abilities.

The content described between the lines made Lu Ming break out in a cold sweat.

He never expected that, without an omniscient perspective, someone could find him through subtle clues.

If it weren't for the golden book's unfathomable abilities, he might have truly fallen victim under a calculated ambush!

He had underestimated the Cultivators of the world too much, Lu Ming began to reflect on himself.

Since activating the golden book, he had indeed become a bit dismissive of everyone.

"They say the older the person, the wiser they are; if this Yang Hong hadn't had poor Aptitude, his achievements probably wouldn't have been low."

Lu Ming let out a long breath, relieved that all the outcomes were good.

Yang Hong had not told anyone else about this matter except Yu Xia.

He hadn't even told his several descendants.

"No wonder this old man carried so many Spirit Stones in his pocket; it turns out they were for his descendants. It was a good deal for me!"

Putting down the diary, Lu Ming found a half-burnt piece of fragrant wood among the clutter on the ground.

He pinched his fingers, and a small, eerie green flame appeared. Lu Ming lit the fragrant wood.

The fragrant wood burned without a unique smell, and there wasn't even any smoke wafting.

'So this is 'spirit luring incense', it truly is profound.'

"No wonder I didn't notice..."

This was the record of 'spirit luring incense' he had seen in the diary, and he finally understood how he had fallen victim without realizing it.

"This 'spirit luring incense' is quite a good item; it has no Spiritual Qi fluctuations at all, and is even more concealed than some tracking Spells."

Lu Ming extinguished the fragrant wood, deciding to keep it, as it might come in handy in the future.

The harvest this time was quite substantial; the Spirit Stones alone elevated him to the status of a 'thousand-yuan household'.

Although there were no particularly suitable items for him among the spoils this time.

Its value was still considerable; as long as he sold off those useless low-tier Magical Artifacts and Medicinal Pills, there would be another large sum of Spirit Stones coming in.

And with the starting capital, he could indeed consider learning the [Introduction to Artifact Refining].