"Patriarch, you flatter me."
"With this life-bound immortal sword, Uncle Qinghao's future path will be smoother, and I am satisfied," Elian said with a smile. The life-bound immortal sword would brighten Chen Qinghao's future significantly, making his strength among the top in the same Foundation Establishment stage.
After refining his life-bound immortal sword, the third elder left Pingyang City that very day. There was much to handle at Qingyuan Mountain, along with the guarding duties at Spirit Apricot Mountain that required his attention.
Elian, however, stayed behind. While the third elder's sword was complete, there was another important task left to accomplish: refining formation flags.
The three catties and four taels of golden silk from silkworms purchased from the Liu family were specifically for crafting sets of formation flags for the six towns surrounding Pingyang City.
"Formation flag artifacts are refined from silkworm threads and must be carefully woven."
"Moreover, this type of artifact cannot be recklessly tempered with true fire directly, or it risks being burned."
"Watch closely."
The elder patriarch personally demonstrated to Elian, guiding him in weaving. Under the influence of his spiritual sense, threads of silkworm silk gathered and were slowly woven into a formation flag following a specific pattern.
Once a single flag was completed, he used true fire to temper elemental essence into it, gradually integrating the essence into the flag.
After the essence was infused, he first inscribed fire-resistant formations on the flag, only then beginning to temper it further with true fire.
The body of a formation flag artifact is fragile. Even with fire-resistant formations, it cannot withstand prolonged tempering. The elder patriarch meticulously infused elemental essence into the flag while protecting it with his true essence and inscribing additional formations.
After seven days, the elder patriarch finally completed the first set of formation flags.
This set of five-element formation flags comprised five flags, with each bearing a defensive formation. When activated simultaneously, they could power the Five-Element City-Protection Formation.
Looking at the completed flags, the elder patriarch smiled and said:
"This set of five-element flags contains our family's second-grade low-tier formation. Because I omitted offensive formations, its defensive power is among the best in its grade."
"Relying on a high-tier spiritual vein, once activated, even mid-to-late Foundation Establishment cultivators would require over three hours to break through."
Elian took the five-element flags and nodded.
"With these flags, the safety of the six towns surrounding Pingyang City is assured."
The two wasted no time and continued refining the remaining sets of formation flags. With Elian assisting, the elder patriarch moved quickly.
In just over a month, the elder patriarch refined four more sets of flags. However, when they began crafting the final set, they discovered they had run out of golden silkworm silk.
Fortunately, the demonic banner obtained from slaying Old Demon Zhang was also crafted from second-grade silkworm silk. The elder patriarch dismantled the banner, extracting five taels of second-grade silk.
As the elder patriarch was about to start refining, Elian's eyes flickered, and he spoke, "Let me try refining the last set."
"You?" The elder patriarch hesitated, worried.
"This second-grade silk is extremely delicate. If it burns, we'll lose…"
"No matter," Elian said calmly.
"I'm confident."
Seeing this, the elder patriarch handed the final set of formation flags to Elian.
After observing and assisting the elder patriarch in refining flags for many days, Elian's understanding of artifact refining had advanced rapidly.
When it was his turn, he wove the formation flags without any significant issues. In just two days, the weaving was complete.
"This set of flags is nearly flawless," the elder patriarch remarked in astonishment.
"It's hard to believe this is your first time refining a second-grade artifact."
Elian said nothing. For formation flag artifacts, the true challenge lay in infusing the elemental essence.
He methodically infused the essence, tempering and inscribing formations until the set of flags was complete.
"Hiss—"
The elder patriarch took a deep breath as he examined the finished flags, scrutinizing Elian closely.
"Your talent may be even more astonishing than I thought."
"It's a shame that, over the years, without a renowned mentor, our family has failed to fully cultivate your potential."
"No matter," Elian replied calmly.
"Exploring the path step by step may yield a steadier foundation and a unique brilliance."
Refining this set of flags marked Elian's breakthrough into the second-grade in both artifact refining and formation techniques. The elder patriarch was both thrilled and wistful—thrilled at Elian's exceptional comprehension, but wistful that comparisons between people can often be disheartening.
After a moment, the elder patriarch produced two books and handed them to Elian.
"These are ancient books on artifact refining and formation techniques, preserved by our family for centuries. I've reorganized them and included my own insights. They should be helpful to you."
…
Leaving the artifact refining room, the two visited each of the six towns surrounding Pingyang City, setting up the formations one by one.
By the time they finished, three months had passed since the group returned from Qing Ink Mountain.
"Finally done."
As they completed the last town's formation, the elder patriarch breathed a sigh of relief.
He glanced at Elian with a smile.
"Thanks to your spiritual peach, along with this recent battle, I feel my foundation has finally solidified."
"You're breaking through?" Elian asked, unable to hide his joy.
Chen Changxuan breaking through to the eighth level of Foundation Establishment was no small matter. Once he took this step, his true essence would increase by twenty percent, greatly enhancing the power of both the Blazing Fire Divine Formation and the second-grade artifacts.
"Indeed." Chen Changxuan nodded.
"I'll enter seclusion to advance my cultivation soon. In the meantime, I need you to oversee Pingyang City."
"Very well, leave it to me."
While Chen Changxuan entered seclusion to break through, Elian stayed in Pingyang City, repairing damaged artifacts and studying the divine thunder of sharp metal.
Two months passed in the blink of an eye. One day, a powerful aura surged from the spiritual spring of Pingyang City—Chen Changxuan had advanced to the eighth level of Foundation Establishment.
"It's done."
Elian smiled faintly, but since the elder patriarch was consolidating his cultivation, he didn't disturb him.
Three to five days later, before the elder patriarch could emerge, an unexpected visitor arrived outside Pingyang City.
Several figures streaked through the sky, led by a striking man in a green robe. His presence was commanding, exuding an intimidating sharpness.
The man glanced at Pingyang City's protective formation, his calm eyes narrowing slightly as he snorted coldly.
"Where is Chen Changxuan? Come out and face me."
"Not good."
Elian's expression darkened, growing serious.
The visitor was a Purple Mansion cultivator. Although not as fearsome as Lin Qianshu of Tianxu Mountain, his aura was still alarming.
Before Elian could respond, the elder patriarch broke out of seclusion, stepping forward to intercept him. Bowing to the man in green, he greeted him.
"May I ask if you are Lin Mohe of the Qingyang Sect?"
...
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