Spirit Core Imbedding

"Hahh."

Lei Mingxing sat down on the stool next to the break table with an exhausted sigh, slumping her shoulders before straightening her back again to stretch.

Running around the whole day forging and refining until she didn't have any inner Qi left, after that she completed some of the nescessary manual labor like refilling the coals in Jing Jiang's furnace, carving wooden parts, finishing up several items... all this while waiting for her Qi to recover enough for her to start the cycle a new.

This was probably the most exhausting thing Lei Mingxing had ever done in her entire life.

But she liked it.

She liked seeing the fruits of her labor, she liked giving her all for something she enjoyed and she liked that people were happy with what she created.

Unfortunately, they would soon have to leave.

Everyday Chang Liuyun and Lei Mingxing's unease grew, despite nothing having happened so far.

But that could change any moment.

So, they had to move.

Maybe much earlier if she was able to win first place in the Bi-Yearly Competition.

Leaving Dark Spirit Town and Unyielding Branch Forge behind.

Lei Mingxing felt a touch of sadness rising in her heart.

Despite the constant worry of something happening, this were by far the most relaxing few weeks in both of Lei Mingxing's life times...

Regardless, she still had a mission.

But maybe after everything was over, she would be able to return to this life, alongside her friend who was still waiting for her...

Just thinking about her friend with unknown whereabouts helped wipe out any doubts or hesitance in Lei Mingxing mind.

She stood up with a determined expression on her face, stretching for one last time before setting out to continue working.

The forge was already near its closing time, so instead of returning to her furnace to start refining again, Lei Mingxing began tiding up and sorting any materials that were still lying around.

This took a while but she was already mostly done when Jing Jiang entered the forge again after spending most of the day in the front selling their merchandise.

There was a tired but satisfied smile on his face as he went to help Lei Mingxing clean the forge.

After there was nothing left, Jing Jiang pulled out a bag with coins as usual and handed it to Lei Mingxing who received it happily.

Jing Jiang was just about to turn around and ascend the stairs to eat a well-deserved dinner, when he saw Lei Mingxing walk into the storage room once more.

"You really want to continue working? Aren't you tired? Taking breaks is very important!", Jing Jiang exclaimed in disbelief.

But Lei Mingxing already returned with sack in hand, a small clunking sound following her every step.

" I want to finish it today."

Hearing this straight forward reply from his apprentice, Jing Jiang had no choice but to follow her.

They came to a halt, standing in front of Lei Mingxing's furnace.

The latter started emptying the sack in her hand, one piece at a time on the working bench, laying them down carefully as to not accidentally bend them.

Eight different pieces in total all delicately created with a mysterious metal that had a slight violet sheen to it.

Jing Jiang almost sighed in awe looking at the still unfinished cauldron in front of him.

As always, Lei Mingxing's work was nothing but flawless.

He had really not been wrong in his first impression of Lei Mingxing and this only became clearer with every day they worked together. Most Qi Condensation Cultivators would have already collapsed from exhaustion even before finishing Lei Mingxing daily workload.

And it wasn't like Jing Jiang forced her to do this much, she chose her work herself. But despite the wide variety of tasks she completed everyday, each one of them was perfect, especially her refined metals and equipments.

She was simply an unparalleled genius in artifact creation.

At least he didn't think that there had ever existed an artificer who had created an alchemy cauldron when he was still an Assistant, not to mention that she had only been forging for about a month.

Although Jing Jiang was slightly worried about her plans for today.

"Are you really sure that you want to complete the cauldron today? You have never imbedded a Spirit Core before and it takes a lot of energy as well as concentration..."

"Yes, I'm sure," Lei Mingxing nodded with a determined expression.

"Fine," Jing Jiang finally relented, "in that case you have to choose a Spirit Core."

With these words, Jing Jiang went to his furnace and pulled out the box with Spirit Cores from beneath his work bench.

The gem-like Spirit Cores glittered beautifully in a variety of colors under the light.

Lei Mingxing began to examine the different cores, searching for one of a suitable element and rank. After all, there was no benefit in choosing a Spirit Core that had too much Qi inside it for her to handle, dooming her imbedding to fail even before she started.

Ultimately, Lei Mingxing choice fell onto an amber orb roughly the size of a cherry.

She gently picked up the amber Spirit Core.

Seeing that Lei Mingxing had already decided, Jing Jiang took a look at the Spirit Core in her hand.

"A metal core? Why not a fire core for easier heat manipulation? Or a wood core for increased medical effect retention?", Jing Jiang asked in suprise.

Lei Mingxing just shook her head.

"He doesn't need it."

She said this with so much conviction that Jing Jiang didn't dare to ask any further.

"In that case, we will continue."

"First, you need to have a clear idea if what you want the Spirit Core to do after it's imbedded into the cauldron. Also, you need to decide on the spot where you imbed it."

Lei Mingxing nodded seriously, looking carefully at all the different parts of the cauldron.

Finally she touched the center of the lid, where a small, simple grip produded from the smooth surface.

"Is here alright?"

Jing Jiang frowned slightly.

"Only if it's alright that the effect of the Spirit Stone only works when the lid is closed."

This didn't discourage Lei Mingxing in the slightest, she just replied with a casual 'That's fine.'

Jing Jiang became even more clueless as to what Lei Mingxing intended on creating.

"Now, you have to combine all the parts and you can't retrieve your Qi at anytime, this has to be a constant process. You start with heating the main body and adding the feet, then you add the two handles and finally the lid," Jing Jiang paused to look at Lei Mingxing with a serious expression and give his next words the nescessary weight, "That was the easy part, for the last step, you need to imbed the Spirit Core on the exact spot you want it to be, before you slowly start fusing and spreading the Qi inside the Spirit Core over the entire cauldron. You can't let any of the Qi disperse while doing this or leave out even the tiniest spot on the cauldron."

"You will fail if you do, and the cauldron as well as the Spirit Core become useless. All while envisioning the desired effect of the Spirit Core."

Jing Jiang finished his monologue and carefully examined Lei Mingxing's face for the slightest trace of doubt. But there was only deep focus.

"Are you ready?", Jing Jiang asked.

Lei Mingxing responded with a single, wordless nod in turn, before she grabbed the main body of the cauldron with her tongs and stood with it in front of the furnace.

The ruby coals inside were already glowing brightly, as if in anticipation.

Taking a deep breath, she went through the entire process inside her mind again. With each step the look in her eyes becoming sharper and sharper, until finally, Lei Mingxing held the cauldron into the furnace.

Her Qi entered the metal as easily as breathing and Lei Mingxing quickly attached the four smooth feet without any promblems, only after adding the handles did she gradually notice the strain of keeping up the Qi concentration in every piece equally.

But compared to the time with her dagger, who still hadn't received a name, her control and Qi manipulation had improved by leaps and bounds.

Still, according to Jing Jiang the hardest part was yet to come.

Lei Mingxing lightly motioned for Jing Jiang to set the lid on the cauldron.

As soon as the lid touched the edge of the cauldron, Lei Mingxing channeled some of her Qi into it, careful not to accidentally fuse the two pieces and make the cauldron unusable even if she succeeded in imbedding the Spirit Core.

Under her meticulous control the tip of the grip sunk, creating a shallow pit to put the Spirit Core into.

Once again, Jing Jiang picked up the next and final piece of the cauldron and carefully placed it on top at Lei Mingxing's 'ok'.

Immediately, the Qi around and inside the cauldron began to surge.

However, Lei Mingxing didn't mind it, entirely focused on following Jing Jiang's instructions with her eyes closed in absolute concentration.

She slowly spread the Spirit Core Qi throughout the entire cauldron.

5 minutes passed. 10 minutes passed. 20 minutes passed.

Sweat was dripping down Lei Mingxing's face and caused her faceveil to stick to her cheeks and chin. Her clothes were also soaked in sweat, clinging to her body.

But she had finally succeeded.

The Spirit Stone began to gradually sink into metal.

Jing Jiang watched this extremely slow process with utmost glee.

Just then a flash of gold sprang out of the Spirit Core, dancing around it for a moment, trickling with pure energy.

Immediately, Jing Jiang's face turned ashen.

How could this happen? Everything was fine up till now!

There hadn't even been a hint of rejection by the Spirit Core!

Just as he thought this, the golden flash stopped circling around the Spirit Core, changing its course to attack Lei Mingxing, aiming directly for her dantian.

No, he can't have another person lose their future because of an adverse rejection!

Jing Jiang desperatedly conjured a line of Qi himself to intercept the golden energy and protect Lei Mingxing, even if it meant that he would suffer the consequences instead.

When a silent bang deafened his ears.

Jing Jiang couldn't help closing his eyes in discomfort.

But he quickly opened them again, only to catch brief sight of what could only be described as a minature lightning bolt, entangling the golden energy before they both vanished into the Spirit Core.

As soon as they had disappeared, the Qi inside the forge began to converge around the cauldron and Lei Mingxing, circling faster and faster. Even Lei Mingxing's and Jing Jiang's hair and clothes were affected by the surging Qi, fluttering softly.

Jing Jiang watched with his mouth agape.

But this storm ebbed as quickly as it had appeared.

The Spirit Core gave one last amber flash.

And Lei Mingxing finally opened her eyes.

Small theater:

Spirit Core: You will pay for messing with me!

Golden-Violet Light:... heh.