Once Gu Xiechen understood Dukat's resolve, he immediately made him swallow three Two Energies Heaven-Seizing Pills, transforming his physique to be suitable for cultivation. Afterward, he tossed the Great Scarlet Heaven Refining Fire Scripture to Dukat, instructing him to commit it to memory. As for Lily, her body strangely transformed into an Innate Wood Body, requiring no wasteful Two Energies Heaven-Suppressing Pills at all; while Dukat was having diarrhea in the restroom next to the hangar, she had already begun cultivating the Wood Source Scripture.

Inside the Spirit Gathering Formation, the spiritual energy raged and churned. Ru Hua and Lily were like two black holes fiercely competing for the spiritual energy within. However, it was clearly evident that Lily’s rate of plundering spiritual energy was at least ten times that of Ru Hua—the advantage of the Innate Wood Body was indeed well-deserved.

Gu Xiechen’s focus then shifted entirely to Dukat. Dukat was cultivating the Nine Yang True Gang inherited from his mother’s agricultural association. This was a pure Yang, fire-attribute cultivation method, meaning, theoretically, he too could absorb the essence and blood of the Solar True God to enhance his power and cultivation. However, the Nine Yang True Gang was merely a martial art; even if Dukat cultivated it to the highest level, he wouldn't qualify to absorb the innate sacred blood teeming with immense energy. After all, the paths of a martial artist and a cultivator are like the difference between an ant and an elephant—they simply cannot be compared.

Therefore, in Gu Xiechen's plan, he intended to expend significant energy guarding Dukat while the latter absorbed trace amounts of the innate sacred blood to modify his own aptitude, before subsequently cultivating the Great Scarlet Heaven Refining Fire Scripture. With his physical body reformed by the innate sacred blood, his cultivation aptitude would naturally take a massive leap forward, making his future cultivation much smoother and faster.

What left Gu Xiechen utterly dumbfounded and speechless, however, was that he had still underestimated Dukat's innate potential. Truly worthy of being the anomaly who could lift several tons at the age of three or five, Dukat's physical body was extraordinarily formidable. Not only was his current physique incredibly powerful, but the physical potential he possessed was even more shocking. Under Gu Xiechen’s mystical scrutiny, Dukat’s physical potential had only been tapped to less than one percent of its capacity.

The violent energy derived from over a dozen drops of innate sacred blood caused absolutely no burden to Dukat’s body. His freakishly powerful physique easily absorbed all the power, further igniting his anomalous potential and increasing his physical strength by several times on top of its original level.

“As expected, geniuses are never lonely! I thought my aptitude was good enough, but I never expected to find such a pure anomaly here! A formidable physique, electronic control, metal control—is this guy... still human?” Gu Xiechen resentfully tossed Dukat a mass of innate sacred blood several cubic meters in size, then shook his head and settled down in his own spot.

The innate sacred blood had no effect whatsoever on Gu Xiechen. He cultivated the Solar True Scripture; the effect of the innate sacred blood on him would be comparable to an ordinary person, tired of life, deliberately tasting arsenic for a new sensation. While Ru Hua and the others were deep in seclusion, striving to improve their strength, Gu Xiechen also had matters of his own to attend to.

The Tome of Heavenly Artifacts contained the methods for forging one's natal magic treasures, and the forging techniques invented by the Great Clumsy Hermit were simply divine. These natal magic treasures would accompany Gu Xiechen for his entire life! They could continuously upgrade their rank as Gu Xiechen’s cultivation advanced. If forged properly and with sufficient materials, these treasures could eventually grow into Innate Supreme Treasures—provided Gu Xiechen could break through to the Heaven Scroll of the Grand Yin True Scripture and attain the corresponding power!

Materials were not lacking for Gu Xiechen; he had plundered more than enough innate materials in the subspace. What Gu Xiechen lacked, however, were powerful innate flames. There was nothing better for forging magic treasures than the Grand Yin Brilliant Flame.

After carefully reviewing some particularly distinctive artifacts in the Tome of Heavenly Artifacts and assessing his own assets, Gu Xiechen was overjoyed to discover that he had enough resources to forge hundreds of natal magic treasures that would grow alongside him. However, his personal energy was limited, and having too many natal magic treasures was not necessarily better; the key was suitability.

After deep contemplation and preparing all the necessary materials, Gu Xiechen very reverently removed the Ruyi Gloves from his hands.

These Ruyi Gloves had aided Gu Xiechen immensely and saved his life countless times; he held deep affection for this magic treasure. But judging by both the forging methods and the materials used, the Ruyi Gloves were no longer something Gu Xiechen could value highly. He intended to keep this strange treasure with him as a memento, a reminder of all the experiences he had endured, lest he become intoxicated by the current strength and influence he possessed.

With a flick of his finger, the Ruyi Gloves reverted to their original form—a droplet of mercury-like liquid. Gu Xiechen tucked it into his bosom and then retrieved a pile of materials from his Brocade Pouch.

The Minor Universe Brocade Pouch had also lost much of its significance to the current Gu Xiechen. Its capacity now seemed insufficient, and its offensive power couldn't even match a casual strike from Gu Xiechen’s Waterfall Sleeves. Therefore, Gu Xiechen was determined to replace it.

The Tome of Heavenly Artifacts described a magic treasure called the 'Three Thousand Minor and Major Green Lotus Ring,' its concept derived from the Buddhist worlds of the Three Thousand Minor and Major Realms, embodying the meaning of a blossoming, inherent Buddha Kingdom. This ring contained a marvelous internal space; as long as the master’s power was sufficient, its capacity trended toward infinity. If the master could advance to the level of a Primordial-rank ancient immortal like the Grand Yin True Person, the inside of the ring could even evolve space, forming a true world, capable of nurturing life.

Simultaneously, the offensive power of this ring was far from negligible. Using the force of a world, whether for smashing opponents or restraining them, was exceptionally formidable.

The various celestial treasures needed to forge this Three Thousand Minor and Major Green Lotus Ring went without saying—the foundational materials were precious and vast in quantity. Fortunately, Gu Xiechen had his fortuitous encounter in the subspace.

The most crucial material for its forging was a green lotus containing the profound magical ability of the 'One Flower Contains Three Thousand Worlds' technique, which would grant the small ring the miraculous power to cleave open the void.

Gu Xiechen did not possess this type of green lotus. Fortunately, the Great Clumsy Hermit had once helped several high-ranking Buddhist masters forge many Buddhist artifacts. These masters were exceedingly generous, gifting the Great Clumsy Hermit an entire pond of Buddhist Green Lotuses, and moreover, they had imbued these lotuses with various Buddhist divine powers, making them the perfect material for forging the Green Lotus Ring. This pond of green lotuses was located deep within the Green Nurturing Palace cluster, just east of the Celestial Craft Hall. Gu Xiechen had already claimed the Celestial Craft Hall; with a mere thought, a green lotus, roughly three feet in diameter on a flower tray, gently sprayed from his mouth, instantly filling the hangar with a fragrance like a fairyland.

The Grand Yin Brilliant Flame roared out. The countless innate-grade materials he had pre-selected were promptly tossed into the pale ice flame. The impurities in all the materials were condensed by the Solar Brilliant Flame, transforming into ice crystals that fell away, leaving only the purest essence floating above Gu Xiechen’s palm. After a round of refining with the Taiyin Xuan Yan, the mountain-like pile of innate materials slowly shrank to the size of a fist, radiating an intense light that was impossible to gaze upon directly.

Array formations and spiritual talismans were continuously imprinted by Gu Xiechen into this viscous mass of material. Since this was not a forging method he had created himself, Gu Xiechen merely had to follow the diagrams recorded in the Tome of Heavenly Artifacts, making the forging process quite smooth. As the final hand seal was cast onto the nearly formed Green Lotus Ring, Gu Xiechen hastily expelled a drop of his core essence blood and placed it upon the green lotus, merging the lotus into a continuous green mist that flowed into the ring.

Instantly, thousands of phantom lotus petals swirled and danced around the small, exquisite green ring. A celestial tune drifted out from within the Green Lotus Ring. A ring, perfectly translucent and colored like the clear sky, lay squarely in Gu Xiechen’s palm. With Gu Xiechen’s current cultivation, the aura emitted by this Green Lotus Ring was only that of an ordinary spirit artifact, attracting no attention whatsoever.

He probed into the Green Lotus Ring with his divine sense and discovered that the space within was at least ten times larger than that of the Minor Universe Brocade Pouch. Gu Xiechen smiled in satisfaction.

Quickly transferring all the items from the Brocade Pouch into the Green Lotus Ring, Gu Xiechen slipped the ring onto his finger. This was the advantage of a natal magic treasure: the Green Lotus Ring adhered to Gu Xiechen’s finger as if it were a part of his own body. Where his thoughts reached, the object followed—that feeling of spiritual connection was something the other treasures he possessed currently lacked.

He glanced at the Minor Universe Brocade Pouch, intending indifferently to refine it with the Grand Yin Brilliant Flame, as he held no particular attachment to it.

However, after a moment's thought, Gu Xiechen kept the pouch. Although it was useless to him now, it would be excellent for trading favors. Even if he didn't give it away, selling it at auction seemed like a decent idea. How much would a smuggler like Boluobolu be willing to pay for such a treasure capable of storing vast quantities of supplies? Boluobolu was clearly not a wealthy smuggler, but there were plenty of rich people in the Star Alliance.

“The principle of a merchant is maximum profit; even from a handful of sand, one must try to squeeze out the oil!” Gu Xiechen weighed the pouch in his hand and tucked it into his robes.

With the storage artifact settled, the most crucial next step was to forge a set of loose robes and sleeves capable of unleashing the full power of his Flying Waterfall Sleeves. The method for refining a cultivator’s personal garment differed greatly from that of ordinary people. The Tome of Heavenly Artifacts detailed the Grand Yin Flowing Robe, crafted from various innate Yin-attribute materials, which greatly amplified the Grand Yin Qi that Gu Xiechen excelled at using.

The Grand Yin Robe was composed of six pieces: inner garment, middle garment, outer robe, lining socks, cloud boots, and silk sash, all condensed from various pure Yin-attribute materials. The Solar Qi was dense and adhesive; the Solar Robe inherited the Yin Qi, resulting in a seamless integration throughout, achieving the realm of absolute perfection. Gu Xiechen’s favored Grand Yin Brilliant Flame, when used to forge the Solar Robe, could grant it a fraction of extra power out of thin air.

Pure Yin-attribute materials were easy to source; Gu Xiechen possessed more than enough. However, the core requirement for forging the Grand Yin Robe was a drop of Innate Grand Yin True Water, necessary to refine the pure Yin Qi from all materials into the Innate Grand Yin Qi, the coldest and most potent Yin energy in existence.

During the chaotic surge in the subspace, Gu Xiechen had not collected Innate Solar True Water. But the Great Clumsy Hermit had left behind the vast Celestial Craft Hall, which contained a mass of Innate Grand Yin True Water—not an enormous amount, but enough to fill a basin the size of a human head, sufficient for Gu Xiechen to forge nearly a thousand sets of Grand Yin Robes.

Very smoothly, Gu Xiechen succeeded in forging the Grand Yin Robe. The entire robe was pure white, but the longer one looked at it, the more its color seemed to deepen to black, eventually appearing like a pitch-black hole capable of drawing in one's line of sight and spirit. Just as clear water is colorless, but the vortex within white waves appears dark and murky, Gu Xiechen deliberately enlarged the two long sleeves of the Grand Yin Robe to better utilize the Flying Waterfall Sleeves. He tucked his hands at his waist, the sleeves nearly brushing the ground, moving without wind, with water vapor rising around him, truly possessing the bearing of an immortal.

The power of the Soaring Fan was formidable, but it was not a natal magic treasure. Gu Xiechen’s current cultivation was insufficient to control it easily, giving him a feeling of being stretched thin during use. However, Gu Xiechen greatly favored the elegance of having feathered fan and scholar’s attire; a handy fan was an excellent prop for putting on airs.

Most importantly, it seemed Fuya Ming was quite fond of Gu Xiechen’s majestic appearance in long robes holding a feathered fan!

After some deliberation, Gu Xiechen rummaged through the tens of thousands of exotic treasure fans cataloged in the Tome of Heavenly Artifacts and finally selected the 'Five Waters Dragon Whisker Fan' to forge as his natal magic treasure.

The Five Waters Dragon Whisker Fan, as its name implied, was refined using materials sourced from a divine dragon. It was inscribed with the Grand Yin Secret Spell; a single sweep could unleash five types of rare spiritual waters, both innate and acquired, to annihilate enemies, accompanied by countless Grand Yin True Thunders that injured foes. It was exceptionally adept at destroying physical bodies and eroding others' magic treasures—a top-tier, venomous magic artifact.

The Great Clumsy Hermit had left behind a plethora of materials in the Celestial Craft Hall. Combined with the innate materials Gu Xiechen had collected himself, the Five Waters Dragon Whisker Fan was forged in little time.

While refining this feathered fan, Gu Xiechen had an inspired idea: he substituted the Grand Yin Secret Spell obtained from the Great Clumsy Hermit with the Grand Yin Talisman Craft recorded in the Grand Yin True Scripture. The cultivation of the Solar True Lord surpassed that of the Great Clumsy Hermit by countless magnitudes; his Grand Yin Talisman Craft was infinitely superior to the Great Clumsy Hermit's secret spell. The resulting Five Waters Dragon Whisker Fan was entirely pearly white and semi-transparent. The dragon whiskers, harvested from a divine dragon, were refined into thin, feather-like vanes, light as nothing, yet capable of immense power with a single sweep. The more he forged, the more proficient Gu Xiechen became; the subsequent artifacts were refined with increasing ease.

Besides the Green Lotus Ring, the Grand Yin Robe, and the Five Waters Dragon Whisker Fan, Gu Xiechen forged three 'Grand Yin Thorns' for himself, each possessing the power to pierce starlight, inserting them into his hair bun. These three Grand Yin Thorns were also of extreme Yin attribute; once launched, they summoned overwhelming waves that swept forth with vast glaciers. Even heroes with bronze bones and iron bodies, enveloped by these invincible spikes of ice condensed from the supreme Yin Qi, would only meet the fate of being ground into paste.

Magic treasures are valued for quality, not quantity. With these four natal magic treasures, Gu Xiechen was equipped for both offense and retreat—it was more than sufficient. In the event of unforeseen circumstances requiring a large number of artifacts, he still possessed the Qilin Seal at his waist and the countless immortal artifacts left by the Great Clumsy Hermit, capable of handling any situation. Coupled with the Haotian Pagoda in his spiritual sea and the Grand Yin Profound Pearl in his dantian, he could handle any scenario. Furthermore, with his external incarnation being nurtured and refined beside the Soul Treasure Pearl, once Gu Xiechen had sufficient time to mature, who in this world could truly be his match?

The cultivation method he possessed was a Primordial-grade canonical text, the most supreme within the Three Realms and the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths. The magic treasures he wielded were all exquisitely wondrous, evolving natal treasures or Innate Supreme Treasures. His own aptitude was the finest Innate Physique. All Gu Xiechen currently lacked was time!

“Hah!”

Gu Xiechen felt a sudden expansion of his chest, a liberating sense that the world's affairs were nothing to concern himself with. He opened his eyes, and two beams of white light shot far into the distance. He felt his internal True Essence surging, making every bone and sinew in his body crackle, a cool breeze stirring beneath his arms, causing him to float upward as if ready to ascend into the heavens.

Continuously forging four natal magic treasures, all utilizing innate materials, consumed a vast amount of Gu Xiechen’s True Essence. When his True Essence ran low, the giant reserves of Primordial Qi stored within his body naturally erupted, continuously replenishing his dantian, absorbed by the Grand Yin Profound Pearl and converted into Grand Yin Profound Gang circulating through his body. In this manner, although Gu Xiechen was engaged in artifact forging, he was simultaneously cultivating.

Especially after these four natal magic treasures were forged, Gu Xiechen was suddenly imbued with a feeling of boundless exhilaration, a sense that the world was vast but held no more challenges for him. A thread of spiritual consciousness stirred within his spiritual body, and his own realm abruptly ascended.

Moreover, the insights from the dozens of golden stars he had received previously converged now into a single, brilliant jewel, suspended above his spiritual platform. Gu Xiechen felt his entire body become transparent, as if infinite radiance was shooting forth from every pore, as if all the myriad changes of heaven and earth were held within the grasp of his single hand.

The various incantations of the Human Scroll of the Solar True Scripture slowly flowed through his mind. Numerous cells within Gu Xiechen’s body simultaneously released vast amounts of Primordial Qi.

At this very moment, Gu Xiechen’s essence, vital energy, and spirit had reached a peak state. He stood up naturally, and five streams of colored light suddenly shot up from the crown of his head. With a series of crackling sounds, Gu Xiechen felt dozens of bolts of lightning strike down upon his head, shaking his entire body. The massive quantity of Primordial Qi within him surged into the Grand Yin Profound Pearl, instantly transforming into his own True Essence.

His cultivation soared like bamboo shoots on a spring night: early Nascent Soul, mid-Nascent Soul, late Nascent Soul—it continued to break through, his internal True Essence undergoing marvelous changes. In an instant, he rose in a straight line to the extreme peak of the Spirit Transformation stage.

Just as Gu Xiechen was about to forcefully break through to the Void Realm’s Transformation Stage, his body suddenly trembled. Under his spiritual sense scan, it seemed as if a shackle, existing since ancient times, was firmly binding his surging True Essence, abruptly halting his swift ascent.

Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack, crack—a layer of fine, small ice shards appeared on Gu Xiechen’s skin. With a slight movement, the countless ice fragments shed from his body. With a sweep of his voluminous sleeves, all the ice chips were blown far away. A divine light flickered in Gu Xiechen’s eyes, and he nodded thoughtfully.

“Inconceivable, this Grand Yin True Scripture is truly a stairway to the Great Dao!” Walking a few circles on the ground with his hands behind his back, Gu Xiechen laughed happily, “Truly beyond description, marvelous, marvelous! This method, this method, is truly unparalleled.”

The sudden appearance of the shackles inside his body had allowed Gu Xiechen to grasp a sliver of the profound mysteries of the Grand Yin True Scripture. This sudden discovery excited Gu Xiechen immensely, almost causing him to jump up.

The Grand Yin True Scripture was truly a priceless treasure for a cultivator!