Chapter 261: Chapter 261
After twenty days of relentless practice, Zhao Letian's alchemy skill had successfully reached the level of a second-grade alchemist, allowing him to refine Life Extension Pills as he wished.
During this process, he refined a large quantity of first-grade elixirs, many of which could enhance the cultivation of demon beasts. Leveraging these elixirs, he managed to boost the Fiery Flame Mantis's cultivation in one fell swoop to the ninth level of True Martial Realm.
Now, the power of the Fiery Flame Mantis had become extremely terrifying. Ordinary martial artists at the ninth level of True Martial Realm were simply no match for it. Even for Zhao Letian, defeating it proved to be a very difficult task.
Besides that, during the idle moments of alchemy, Zhao Letian also improved his array formation proficiency to that of a second-level Array Master. The arrays he set up now were so formidable that even powerhouses of the Sect Martial Realm found it challenging to break through.
However, a second-level array was incredibly intricate and large-scale, making it difficult for him to complete in a short time. Hence, using them in actual combat was challenging.
Yet, the advancement in his array formation proficiency inspired Zhao Letian to try his hand at artifact refining. Theoretically speaking, having mastered second-level arrays, he should be able to refine a mid-grade spiritual artifact, which seemed like a very enticing prospect.
He frequently went outside during this time period to purchase various artifact refining materials.
Possessing the Twin Martial Soul and the Dragon Clan's inheritance memories, Zhao Letian's talent in the path of artifact refining was also far superior to ordinary people. After twenty days of continuous practice, he became capable of refining high-level lower-grade spirit devices of seven stars and above, progressing at a terrifyingly rapid pace.
However, there are pros and cons to everything. Given that Zhao Letian spent most of these twenty days on alchemy and the remaining time on studying arrays and artifact refining, he had no time for cultivation. His cultivation level hadn't improved much and remained at the peak of the True Martial Sixth Realm.
Nevertheless, due to being located in Kuxiu Mountain, he was able to constantly comprehend the grand momentum of the heavens and the earth. Thus, the power of the forces he understood, such as sword force, had also improved quite a lot, especially the sword force which had reached the ninth level, while the levels of other forces had all advanced to the eighth level.
Merely in terms of the realm of the Path, he had become capable of looking down upon many strong practitioners at the ninth level of True Martial Realm.
"But this is still not enough. Among the ten great young masters of the Royal Capital, many have likely grasped the power of the Nine-layered Formation. Moreover, their cultivation levels are higher than mine, and their cultivation techniques and martial techniques are no less exceptional than mine, especially the strength of people like Meng Yi and Hua Qianyang, which is extraordinarily terrifying. Compared to them, I probably still have a considerable gap."
In the artifact refining room, Zhao Letian, with his muscular upper body bare, pondered while swinging a massive hammer, continuously striking a spiritual artifact part that was nearing completion on the smelting platform. He was sweating profusely, showing no signs of weariness.
Not far from where he stood, nine tall, black puppets were neatly arranged, along with a black puppet that was close to completion.
These puppets, all personally refined by him, although only equivalent to a seven-star lower-grade spiritual device, were considerably more powerful than the two he had commissioned others to make before. They were powerful enough to contend with individuals at the ninth level of True Martial Realm.
What's more, the materials he used to refine these puppets this time were all intended for creating mid-grade spiritual artifacts, making the puppet bodies extraordinarily sturdy. Ordinary nine-star lower-grade spirit devices would find it difficult to destroy them.
Nonetheless, to acquire these valuable refining materials, Zhao Letian had paid a steep price, spending hundreds of thousands of mid-grade primordial stones.
"The artifact core is ready; now to imprint the array."
Before long, Zhao Letian perfectly formed the smelting platform's puppet part into its final shape, his eyes flashed with brilliance, and with fingers like a sword, a sharp sword glow burst forth from his fingertips. Immediately, he began to imprint one after another intricate array rune on the still-hot, yet-to-solidify artifact core.
Moments later, the array imprinting was completed. The puppet part emitted a flash of light and exuded a powerful aura, solidifying into its final form.
"It's done. The tenth puppet is finally complete."
Zhao Letian placed the part in his hands onto the body of the tenth puppet, revealing a satisfied smile on his face.
With the assistance of these ten puppets, coupled with the Fiery Flame Mantis, he was finally ready to embark on the next step of his plan.
"Only ten days remain, success or failure hinges on this one move."
Zhao Letian made a sweeping gesture with his hand, gathering all the puppets, then with a shake of his body, he transformed into a tall and burly man, and finally turned into a sword light, directly breaking out of the cultivation retreat.
After leaving Kuxiu Mountain, Zhao Letian headed straight for the outskirts of the city.
To the north of Gray Wolf Kingdom lay a vast and boundless expanse of ice plains, with steep, sword-like ice peaks stretching endlessly and towering over the endless ice plains.
Within Gray Wolf Kingdom, few knew what lay within that vast expanse, and even fewer knew about the world on the other side of the ice plain.
The only thing people knew was that this ice plain was extremely dangerous, and it was best not to approach it without good reason, as the outermost areas of the ice plain were frequently the haunts of powerful Sect Martial Realm demon beasts.
Yet today, Zhao Letian resolutely arrived at a huge ice river on the outskirts of the ice plain.
Near this ice river, there were no traces of human presence, only the piercing, bone-chilling winds and the endless ice and snow.
"The Ice River Mystical Turtle mentioned in rumors should be here."
Dressed in a white robe, Zhao Letian rode his sword through the wind and snow, gazing at the ice river ahead, with a contemplative glint in his eyes.
Just as he had anticipated, the materials required to refine the Life Extension Pill were exceedingly rare, and even within the Gray Wolf Kingdom Capital, they were difficult to procure.
Especially one of the main ingredients, not a single person in all the pharmacies in the entire Gray Wolf Capital had ever heard of it.
Left with no other choice, Zhao Letian had to consult a large number of texts and finally deduced that the Demon Core of the Ice River Mystical Turtle could possibly substitute for that main ingredient.
However, the Ice River Mystical Turtle was a demon beast of the Sect Martial Realm and even among beasts of the same rank, it was incredibly powerful. With Zhao Letian's current strength, he was not yet able to contend with human powerhouses of the Sect Martial Realm, not to mention hunting an Ice River Xuan Turtle of the Sect Martial level. Keep us going by reading on *.
This was precisely why he refined ten rugged and tough puppets.
"A second-level array, the Flame Dragon Array, is a fine example of a fire attribute array. It's perfectly suited to deal with ice-attribute demon beasts like the Ice River Mystical Turtle."
Zhao Letian landed on the banks of the ice river, murmuring to himself as he took a Spiritual Weapon Longsword out of thin air. His figure swiftly moved, beginning to engrave a massive array onto the ground.
Zhao Letian had never encountered a Sect Martial Realm demon beast before and had no idea how terrifying the capabilities of such a beast could be. Just to be safe, he felt it was necessary to rely on the power of an array to hunt the Ice River Mystical Turtle.
After an hour had passed, Zhao Letian finally finished engraving the Array Rune. Immediately after, a flash of Spirit Light appeared in his hand, and he took out several huge Primordial Stones the size of fists, placing them at each Array Eye.