Chapter 15

Immediately after stepping into the central flow region, Yan Zhaoge became aware of an abnormality.

Ye Jing, Sikong Qing, and the others stood to the side and watched Yan Zhaoge's actions with curiosity.

Yan Zhaoge waved his hands as Ah Hu pulled a small incense burner out of his bag and quickly sprang into action.

Ah Hu took off the lid of the incense burner, and quickly added in many incenses and spices of varied shapes and sizes.

From the looks of some of the materials, they were not uncommon or rare materials, while others were dark and dilapidated and looked unimpressive.

After placing all the materials into the burner, Ah Hu lit the contents and gingerly placed the lid back onto the incense burner before carefully setting the lit burner onto the ground. Very quickly, several thin streams of smoke emerged from the burner.

The Broad Creed Mountain disciples watched the scene unfold with great curiosity. Purple smoke slowly rose up into the air and spread out before dispersing into the chaotic streams of qi.

As soon as the purple smoke came in contact with the chaotic streams of baleful qi, it was as though the black qi had been agitated as its motions become even more frightening and violent.

In this central flow region of the Sealing Dragon Abyss, the density was normally much thinner when compared to other regions of the abyss.

However, at this moment the agitated black qi in this central region was surging in waves that seemed to be denser and more violent than anything the other disciples had previously witnessed.

At first, the crowd was very startled, but quickly regained their cool. They all knew that for Yan Zhaoge to take these actions, he was sure to have a plan in mind.

Indeed, even though the black mist seemed violent and ferocious, it did not try to attack any of the disciples and instead seemed to have concentrated into whirlpools.

A smiling expression could be seen on Yan Zhaoge's face at this time as he saw the whirlpools of black mist extend outwards into nine enormous rivers of black qi. In the middle of the nine enormous rivers, the faint outline of a roiling golden liquid could be seen.

The nine enormous whirlpools formed into beads, each of which was violently pulsating.

As soon as Yan Zhaoge slapped the Internal Crystal Furnace and removed its cover, the Internal Crystal Furnace instantly began to vibrate as it started to exert an incredible attractive force.

The bizarre golden liquid within the whirlpools was pulled out of the whirlpools by this force, and was quickly sucked into the body of the furnace.

All of the clan's disciples, upon witnessing this scene, felt that even though they didn't really understand what was going on, it still seemed very impressive.

Yan Zhaoge's expression at this time became very serious. Compared to when he was battling Chao Yuanlong, he was even more serious now.

Even ignoring the fact that this Internal Crystal Furnace had been created with blood and sweat, making a mistake would truly be too catastrophic.

In this area of the Sealing Dragon Abyss, if one little mistake led to the furnace exploding, it would lead to a chain explosion of all the surrounding chaotic streams of black qi. In such a scenario, none of the disciples present would have a good ending.

However, Yan Zhaoge had enacted this exact situation countless times in his mind and was immeasurably prepared for any of the multitude of issues that might arise.

The golden liquid kept pouring into the Internal Crystal Furnace with no end in sight. Gradually, it began to emit a bright light and became more and more dazzling.

The radiance poured off of the crystal furnace, to such an extent that it seemed as if even the clouds and the heavens above were being dazzled. Even the dark and clouded Sealing Dragon Abyss seemed to be illuminated.

At the side, Ah Hu immediately retrieved a long knife from his pouch and handed it over to Yan Zhaoge.

It was just a common knife, not a magical treasure of any sort. Far from even the most common treasure, it wouldn't have looked out of place in a butcher's shop. Yan Zhaoge grasped the knife in his right hand and crisply flicked the tip of it with his finger, causing a reverberating sound to ring out.

Muttering to himself, Yan Zhaoge then threw the blade into the Internal Crystal Furnace.

Upon being cast into the furnace, the blade became suspended in the middle of the furnace by some invisible force field as the luster of the blade visibly increased. Also cast into the furnace with the blade were a bunch of miscellaneous items that Ye Jing and others could only faintly distinguish. The few that they were able to recognize were all materials for crafting artifacts.

The blade was suspended in midair, while the other materials orbited around it, causing rapid transformations.

Some of them melted into liquid, while others seemed to twist and deform. Others even shattered into pieces, while many others would spontaneously vaporize and turn into clouds of gas.

The Internal Crystal Furnace continued to become more and more dazzling, to the point where it was impossible to look at directly. At last, resplendent tongues of fire burst from the furnace and engulfed the suspended blade in a wave of flames.

Outside of the furnace, the nine enormous whirlpools continued to supply an endless stream of the golden liquid, which was greedily absorbed by the furnace.

Seeing the events unfolding in front of him, the smile on Yan Zhaoge's face became increasingly radiant.

Time slowly elapsed, but Sikong Qing and the other viewers did not feel the least bit of boredom. All of them were concentrated on the Internal Crystal Furnace. For many of the disciples present, this was their first time witnessing weapon forging firsthand, let alone with the Internal Crystal Furnace that existed only in legends.

An unknown amount of time passed, before finally the Internal Crystal Furnace let out a resounding boom and the fire suddenly dissipated.

Following this, an intense wave of spiritual qi came from the inside of the furnace, after which a clear black blade slowly rose up from within.

The blade's spiritual qi and suppressive might far surpassed that of the artifacts belonging to Ye Jing and the other disciples.

Sikong Qing gazed at the blade: "A genuine mid-grade artifact…"

The other Broad Creed Mountain disciples were also able to understand what had happened and gasped with admiration.

"How much time did this refinement take in total?" One of the disciples suddenly asked. Many of the other disciples exchanged looks of dismay as they mentally calculated the time that had elapsed, before they all breathed in a breath of cold air.

At this moment, each and everyone one of them believed that Yan Zhaoge possessed the ability to refine sixteen magical artifacts within a month's time. Even more so, within that month, it was only during times when he had free time from cultivating—so the refinement was completed during his breaks.

Looking at Yan Zhaoge, and then at the crystal furnace, the other disciples' gazes erupted with an unprecedented fervor.

"It truly is the Internal Crystal Furnace from the legends! How formidable!"

"Yan Zhaoge is modest and doesn't speak of his achievements, yet is constantly striving towards the peak. This Internal Crystal Furnace is getting stronger and stronger, and is stepping closer and closer to the legends themselves! Earlier, it was low-grade artifacts, now it's mid-grade artifacts, in the future high-grade artifacts—anything related to artifacts, is a possibility!"

"As long as senior apprentice-brother Yan is given sufficient time, and our Broad Creed Mountain is given enough time, how will the future turn out? What Sacred Sun Clan? In the future, our Broad Creed Mountain will stand foremost amongst the eight Sacred Grounds!"

"Even supposing senior apprentice-brother Yan's cultivation never improves again, just this Internal Crystal Furnace is enough for him to be remembered as a pivotal figure in the history of our Broad Creed Mountain!"

"No, how could senior apprentice-brother Yan's cultivation not progress? With his achievements in the martial dao, he was able to make the Sacred Sun Clan's Chao Yuanlong eat dirt!"

"Trampling other-so called geniuses and monsters underfoot; senior apprentice-brother Yan can be counted as a genius among geniuses, a monster among monsters!"

Yan Zhaoge gestured with his hands, causing the pitch black blade to fly into his hands. After carefully examining it, he lightly nodded his head: "Mhm. My previous deduction was right; this trip to the Sealing Dragon Abyss was truly not wasted. The more preparations I make now, the easier it will be for me to set out in the future.

He drew a flower with his sword strokes, causing streaks of glistening sword-qi to surge through the air, causing the onlookers to subconsciously tremble.

With a wave of his hand, Ah Hu instantly took hold of the mid-grade artifact and stowed it away in his bag.

The enormous black whirlpools suspended in midair continued to spin without any signs of stopping. The golden liquid within also continued to be sucked out into the Internal Crystal Furnace.

"Artifact forging requires one to persist for some time. All of you can explore freely," Yan Zhaoge spoke out. The disciples inclined their heads, but the majority of them continued to gaze at the Internal Crystal Furnace, unable to avert their stares.

Yan Zhaoge did not obstruct them, continuing to monitor the Internal Crystal Furnace on one side while addressing Ah Hu on the other: "Chao Yuanlong just returned from elsewhere, and is likely to have come to complete some other task."

"The Sacred Sun Clan must also have sent its disciples to come check on the abnormalities that have recently surface in the Sealing Dragon Abyss. Go confirm their reason for coming here."

Ah Hu nodded his head: "Of course, Young Master."