My Artifacts Can Upgrade Infinitely

The conversation in front of the Black Stone didn’t last long. It seemed Chen Xiaorong had made a point of explaining things, her reason being she didn’t want Zhao Zuo to worry too much.

A faint smile appeared on Zhao Zuo’s face. Chen Xiaorong’s habit of always considering others was an extremely rare trait in this world, which was why it might seem foolish to most.

To Zhao Zuo, however, it was something precious.

The gate to the Cave Mansion had just opened when a red shadow slithered out from a corner of the wall. It was the Fire Spirit Snake named Xiaohei. After just one day, its length had already reached two meters, and the thickest part of its body was about three centimeters in diameter.

It climbed up from Zhao Zuo’s ankle. Zhao Zuo could feel a warm energy spreading upward, and soon most of its body was coiled around his right arm. It extended its pink tongue and flicked it against Zhao Zuo’s palm again and again... in a very fawning manner.

"Hungry?" Zhao Zuo gently stroked its triangular head with his left index finger.

Xiaohei immediately nodded and began licking his palm with even more vigor. Zhao Zuo walked over to the corner where he kept the Fire Element Seeds, only to find that the three-day supply he had set aside had been completely devoured by Xiaohei in a single day.

"You sure are greedy."

Circulating his Mana, Zhao Zuo carefully sensed the condition inside Xiaohei’s body. Its bones and muscles were full of vitality, and its Demonic Power flowed naturally without any signs of stagnation or indigestion.

The Fire Spirit Snake’s appetite had greatly increased, which was a good thing. It meant it could advance to a usable level faster and provide some assistance in battle.

Zhao Zuo once again took out three Fire Element Seeds that had advanced to Middle Grade Spiritual Objects from his wrist and placed them in the Fire Spirit Snake’s feeding corner. Xiaohei instantly shot off of Zhao Zuo’s arm, leaving behind a long, red afterimage as it sped to its usual eating spot.

It opened its mouth wide and swallowed the three Fire Element Seeds in quick succession. Then, it coiled its body into a disc. Faint golden sparks began to emerge from the gaps between its scales, continuously appearing and then naturally extinguishing.

Beneath the already complete scales, new ones were growing in. They interlocked with each other, making its defense even more perfect. Faint sparks even emerged from its nostrils.

Zhao Zuo then took out the Tracking Insect from his Spirit Beast Pouch and fed it some Spirit Stone powder as usual.

After taking care of these matters, Zhao Zuo returned to his cultivation room, sat cross-legged, and began practicing the Soul-Forging Technique. Soul Energy coalesced into an iron hammer, repeatedly striking his calm Heart Lake and stirring up waves.

Compared to when he first started the cultivation, Zhao Zuo could now manage over three hundred hammer strikes a day, which was a decent bit of progress.

Half an hour later, Zhao Zuo took out the Ghost Slayer Shield to start grinding for experience. Plumes of Evil Qi filled the quiet room, causing the ambient temperature to drop significantly and a layer of white frost to form on the surrounding walls.

Zhao Zuo took the Artifact Refining Secret Record from his Storage Bag and began to read. At the same time, he steadily infused Mana into the Ghost Slayer Shield, making it continuously release Evil Qi to gain experience points.

As for the Heavy Mountain Spirit Pattern, Zhao Zuo had tried inscribing it a few times, but his success rate was even lower than with the Controlling Objects Spirit Pattern. Therefore, he had recently been focusing on practicing the Thick Earth Spirit Pattern.

Heavy Mountain enhances hardness and increases Defense Power.

The effect of the Thick Earth Spirit Pattern, in addition to increasing Defense Power, was to concuss enemies. It was somewhat similar to the effect of Thorn Armor in League of Legends. When the Controlling Objects, Heavy Mountain, and Thick Earth Spirit Patterns were combined and layered, one could refine the Upper Grade Magical Artifact, the Cyan Mountain Shield.

Zhao Zuo read page after page until he ran out of Mana and had to stop. The Thick Earth Spirit Pattern had sixty strokes, making it more complex than the Controlling Objects Spirit Pattern, but not as complex as the Heavy Mountain one. He was confident he could master the spirit pattern within three months.

’Still... there’s only so much time in a day.’

Zhao Zuo sighed softly and decided to change his daily cultivation plan. He would reduce the time spent on learning the Path of Artifact Refining and reallocate it to absorbing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power to raise his Cultivation.

After a moment of thought, he took out the Spring and Autumn Cicada he kept on his person. The night before last, it had blocked a fatal blow for him. The Jade Cicada had already lost its Spiritual Light. Although the verdant specks of light inside it were still flickering, they had grown dim.

[Level: Lower Grade Magical Treasure +3 · Spring and Autumn Cicada] (Damaged)

[Experience: 1028/1000]

[Status: Can Be Advanced]

[Spirit Seal: Substitution]

The material required for the Spring and Autumn Cicada to advance was the Qi of Time. After its previous advancement, Zhao Zuo had absorbed the Qi of Time from Shen Yunjiao twice more, which was just enough to meet the material requirement for the next advancement.

"Advance."

The familiar gray light spread out. About half an hour later, the advanced Spring and Autumn Cicada fell back into his palm.

[Level: Middle Grade Magical Treasure · Spring and Autumn Cicada]

[Experience: 28/2000]

[Status: Not Upgradeable]

[Spirit Seal: Substitution]

Acquiring the Qi of Time was extremely difficult, and Zhao Zuo couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret. After advancing again, only two verdant specks of light remained inside the Spring and Autumn Cicada. He figured that must be the remaining amount of Qi of Time.

For the next period of time, Zhao Zuo focused primarily on raising his Cultivation. By the tenth day after returning to the sect, the Ghost Slayer Shield was fully repaired. He planned to go down the mountain in a little while to give it to Shen Yunjiao.

Meanwhile, Shen Yunjiao had been in seclusion this entire time, breaking through to a higher level of Cultivation, and had not yet emerged.

This continued until mid-July, when Liu Heng paid a sudden visit after dinner.

The gate to the Cave Mansion slowly slid open, and the tall Liu Heng strode inside. He wore a coarse, short-sleeved shirt that faintly revealed two thick pectoral muscles. He carried a food box in his right hand, his curious gaze sweeping over the furnishings within the Cave Mansion.