Wang Lei. Lei Dong remembered his name with absolute clarity; this man was in no way inferior to the Artifact Refinement Grandmasters painstakingly cultivated by the Yinsha Sect. However, Lei Dong was also acutely aware that Wang Lei was eccentric; were it not for owing a debt to Tian Mo, he wouldn't have even consented to refine the Asura Wings. To move such a talent, only something utterly staggering and compelling could suffice.

Lei Dong had profited greatly from his encounter with the Great Desolate Giant tribe, now possessing a cache of precious artifact refinement materials, including top-tier substances like Star Radiance Stone and Fire Thunder Essence Gold. But Lei Dong knew this alone would not sway the Refinement Grandmaster Wang Lei. After long deliberation, he concluded that only the single piece of Innate-grade material in his possession—Chaos Essence Iron—would be worthy of drawing Wang Lei’s desire, given that Innate materials, after such vast epochs of mining, were now rarer than existing Innate Spiritual Treasures. This inverted reality was enough to make any Grandmaster obsessed with refinement drool over Innate materials.

No Refinement Grandmaster ever wished to go through life without forging an Innate Spiritual Treasure with their own hands, yet so few ever received such an honor.

In a state of tranquil readiness, Lei Dong took his beloved wife and headed east toward the Eastern Sea. Since the situation wasn't overly urgent, he let the flying boat drift at an unhurried pace, using the journey to enjoy the scenery with Ding Wanyan, whom he hadn't seen in years, while beginning a rudimentary study of the artifact refinement basics he had acquired from the Yinsha Sect.

Before advancing to the Golden Core stage, Lei Dong had been so pressured by his limited lifespan that he cultivated desperately, leaving almost no room to learn auxiliary professions. However, upon reaching the Golden Core stage, with a lifespan stretching to three or four hundred years, many cultivators chose to study and advance in one or two auxiliary skills. Naturally, if they still harbored ambitions for the Nascent Soul stage, they would exercise a degree of restraint, avoiding any overly deep specialization lest it impede their primary cultivation.

Of course, this applied to the talented, promising cultivators within major sects.

Considering his own situation, Lei Dong, being a transmigrator with a background in science and engineering, possessed a degree of understanding regarding mechanics. Learning the Way of Artifact Refinement seemed like a complementary pursuit. Moreover, Lei Dong had often relied on superior equipment to dominate others over the years. Naturally, he felt it necessary to research this field, wondering if he might develop some unique insights.

Prior to this journey, Lei Dong's knowledge of artifact refinement was superficial. Yet, after systematically studying the fundamentals during the month-long voyage to the Eastern Sea, he discovered he was becoming quite captivated by the allure of this path.

As expected, Lei Dong found he possessed a rather extraordinary aptitude for artifact refinement. In truth, most of this so-called talent stemmed from his past life’s knowledge system—a scientific framework that was, at least conceptually, vastly advanced and logically meticulous. Everything, in that system, demanded a clear principle and traceable origin.

The artifact refinement knowledge of this world was equally profound and vast; in certain applications, it already surpassed some of the technology from Lei Dong's past life. However, the biggest obstacle was the lack of a truly mature, logical, and detailed knowledge system. The foundational theories were rife with ambiguities and unknowns, which gave Lei Dong quite a headache. Most cultivators of this era relied on application rather than theoretical structure.

This necessitated that while absorbing the basic knowledge of refinement, Lei Dong constantly summarized and synthesized the disparate fragments of knowledge and varying personal experiences. Finally, he compiled a relatively clear compendium, granting him a conceptually clear understanding of refinement from a logical standpoint. This level of clarity already surpassed that of cultivators who had studied refinement for several years.

It was a subtle merging of two entirely different civilizational systems, and countless wondrous ideas began to bloom in Lei Dong's mind. Simply put, flying boats often retained shapes derived from mortal vessels. If their design shapes were optimized to better conform to aerodynamics, drastically reducing drag, wouldn't that increase the boat's speed and agility? It would also cut down on the massive consumption of spirit stones during flight.

Of course, this was just one minor example. While newly learning refinement without a mentor, Lei Dong began experimenting on the flying boat, attempting to forge all sorts of strange and bizarre items. Unsurprisingly, every attempt ended in failure.

The Way of Artifact Refinement was a profound and encompassing discipline in this world. In fact, what one studied in refinement was not limited to metallurgy; it required learning auxiliary knowledge in formations, talismans, and various other arts.

This continued until they reached the Seventy-Six Islands of the Eastern Sea, the island where Wang Lei lived in seclusion.

The flying boat slowly descended onto the island. Upon seeing both Lei Dong and Ding Wanyan arrive, Wang Lei, whose reclusive peace had been disturbed, wore an expression as dark as if Lei Dong owed him tens of millions of spirit stones. However, when Lei Dong casually presented a massive slab of Chaos Essence Iron ore, Wang Lei’s eyes bulged. He carefully cradled the ore, holding it as if it were the woman he loved most in his life. His gaze held a hint of obsession, but overwhelmingly, it flared with madness.

Seizing the opportunity, Lei Dong began to ask about refinement knowledge. Initially, Lei Dong inquired about basic refinement concepts, questions so rudimentary they bordered on idiotic. Wang Lei’s expression was filled with disdain and impatience, as if answering the novice questions of someone not even at the doorstep of mastery was a direct insult to him as a Grandmaster. It was only thanks to the immense effect of that Chaos Essence Iron ore that he reluctantly deigned to address Lei Dong’s queries.

After the time it takes for one stick of incense to burn, Wang Lei began to show interest. An hour later, Wang Lei started observing Lei Dong as if he were an alien visitor. After a full day, Wang Lei placed Lei Dong on an equal footing, contemplating every one of Lei Dong’s seemingly bizarre, yet profoundly esoteric questions with intense seriousness.

By the third day, Wang Lei was even seriously urging Lei Dong to inherit his refinement knowledge, stating that the title of Master was irrelevant. If Lei Dong would only follow him to study the art of refinement for a few decades, Wang Lei guaranteed Lei Dong could achieve the strength of a Refinement Grandmaster.

However, Lei Dong refused without hesitation. While young and with a long lifespan ahead, dabbling occasionally was fine, but making it a primary profession did not align with Lei Dong’s expectations for himself. Simultaneously, leveraging Wang Lei’s sharply increased goodwill, Lei Dong proposed commissioning the refinement of a Supreme-grade Dharma Treasure: the Ten Thousand Ghosts Banner.

As soon as Lei Dong mentioned this, Wang Lei’s eyes widened, and he snapped back irritably, "What do you think a Supreme-grade Dharma Treasure is? Something you can just summon into existence? First, the materials must be exceptional, absolutely the finest of the finest. Second, during the refinement process, not only can there be no slip-up, but a Refinement Grandmaster must perform beyond their usual capacity. Many Refinement Grandmasters, even those at the Golden Core level with centuries of lifespan, die without ever refining a single Supreme-grade Dharma Treasure."

Although Lei Dong had anticipated the difficulty of Supreme-grade Dharma Treasures, he hadn't expected even a Grandmaster to lack certainty. Yet, on reflection, it seemed normal; the Yinsha Sect, such a massive organization, likely possessed fewer than ten Supreme-grade Dharma Treasures spanning its entire history. Each one was priceless, and not every disciple was worthy of owning one.

Originally, Lei Dong considered suggesting they settle for an Upper-grade Dharma Treasure version of the Ten Thousand Ghosts Banner for the time being. But then Wang Lei started listing the materials. With every item that left his mouth, Lei Dong couldn't help but tremble slightly. Was this man trying to refine a Supreme-grade Dharma Treasure, or a Celestial Spirit Treasure?

It was understandable; every Supreme-grade Dharma Treasure was so precious it never entered the market. Furthermore, Wang Lei’s extremely solemn attitude made it clear that these treasures represented the culmination of a great Refinement Grandmaster’s entire life's effort, symbolizing their peak state. Although Wang Lei lived in isolation, the pride and dignity befitting a Refinement Grandmaster had not been extinguished. The opportunity to forge a Supreme-grade Dharma Treasure was, for him, a tremendous challenge.

However, those materials presented an equally monumental challenge to Lei Dong. Especially one of the primary components: ten catties of silk from the Profound Nether Ice Silkworm. That part, at least, was manageable; with Lei Dong’s current means, and the sect housing two high-level Golden Core Profound Nether Ice Silkworms, obtaining it was feasible. But Wang Lei demanded ten catties of silk from a Nascent Soul-level Profound Nether Ice Silkworm.

For such a supreme rarity, even the Yinsha Sect's vaults would likely not hold a large stock.

Profound Nether Ice Silkworms typically inhabit the depths of cold, dark Nether Ghost Realms, and they cannot survive in ordinary ghost realms; they appear only rarely in locations of extreme cold and highly concentrated nether energy. Wild, Nascent Soul-level Profound Nether Ice Silkworms were almost unheard of. Even if they existed, they would have long been captured by powerful entities within the Nether Ghost Realms and repurposed as high-priced material producers.

One had to admit that the Profound Nether Ice Silkworm was somewhat tragic; much of its rarity was due to the exorbitant value of the ice-silk it spun.

Of course, Nascent Soul-level ice-silk wasn't the only exorbitant material. Some of the other materials Wang Lei listed, Lei Dong had never even heard of, while others were reputed to be extinct in the market. Finally, when Wang Lei estimated the cost, acquiring everything would exceed one hundred Supreme-grade Pills. Moreover, Wang Lei firmly believed that even if all materials were utilized to their fullest, the success rate would not exceed thirty percent.

Lei Dong sucked in a cold breath.

(I left home at six this morning and only returned at 9:30. After a quick shower, I started writing straight away until now. It's very late; please forgive me. I have nothing scheduled tomorrow, so I can focus on writing.)

(Damn, after finishing, I spent an hour trying to log into the author's section without success. Finally, feeling resigned, I tried an agent connection and surprisingly managed to log in…)RO