The tenacity of the Nine Nether Iron exceeded Yuan Ming's expectations, and the refining process was incredibly lengthy. Fortunately, Yuan Ming had made ample preparations and even had a good supply of mid-grade spirit stones on hand to replenish the spiritual power consumed by releasing the Pill Fire.

After ten days, the Nether Iron Gourd was finally completely melted, its impurities fully expelled by Yuan Ming, leaving behind only a fist-sized blob of pitch-black iron slurry.

Besides the Nether Iron slurry, the fragment of jade that was in the gourd also continued to float. After such a long time being scorched by Pill Fire, the Nine Nether Iron itself had melted into a liquid, yet the piece of jade remained unchanged, with its surface lustre even becoming brighter.

Yuan Ming remotely opened the refining furnace and removed the jade fragment, setting it aside for the time being. Then, he raised his hand and pointed, sending the Soul Destroying Sword, which had been sitting off to the side, into the furnace.

The number of runes a magic treasure can withstand is determined by the main material of the treasure but is also greatly related to the quantity of that material.

Although the Soul Destroying Sword was made from Nine Nether Iron as the main material, there wasn't much of it inside the blade. It likely couldn't bear seven runes, but it should be just right after merging with the Nether Iron Gourd.

He had learned numerous refining techniques through the Black Incense possession, including a unique secret technique called the "Same Material Compression Method."

This technique involves mixing the same spiritual materials into the object to be refined and compressing it through a special technique, subsequently and indirectly enhancing the might of the magic treasure.

This secret technique was incredibly useful, capable of increasing the power of a magic treasure without damaging the existing runes.

Time quickly passed, and ten more days went by.

Yuan Ming melted the form of the Soul Destroying Sword, then combined it with the previously refined Nether Iron slurry, beginning the compression and condensation process.

This step took much longer than Yuan Ming had imagined, costing him nearly half a year to barely complete.

The Soul Destroying Sword, post-condensation, was slightly larger in size than before, its color deeper and more profound, and the sensation of holding it was considerably heavier than before.

After reshaping the Soul Destroying Sword, Yuan Ming did not immediately begin the next step of the refining, but sat down on the Lotus Platform and silently rested.

Throughout this half-year, he had assisted the artifact refining with his Divine Sense, feeling little fatigue.

However, the exhaustion accumulated in his physical body from the prolonged activation of Pill Fire was not easily dispelled, so despite feeling mentally refreshed, he had no choice but to pause and rest.

Yuan Ming increasingly felt the weakness of his body and couldn't help envying Vajra during his rest.

If he could cultivate his physical body to the strength of the Innate Body, his power would greatly increase.

Yuan Ming's thoughts wandered, and he suddenly remembered that years ago in the Southern Border, he had done a favour for a body cultivator named Long Hao. Previously, he had been unable to possess Long Hao with the Black Incense, and gradually he forgot about it. Now that he remembered, he wondered if, after entering the Core Formation stage, he would be able to possess the man and take the opportunity to learn a body refinement technique.

Of course, he was now practicing both magic and soul cultivation. Whether it was in terms of energy or time, he had to invest several times more than others. If not for the continuous supply of elixirs and Desire Power, along with the smooth cultivation provided by top-tier techniques like the Nine Elements Technique, he wouldn't have been able to reach his current state.

As far as body cultivation is concerned, he had no significant advantage at the moment. Unless there was a special opportunity, blindly toughening up would probably not yield much harvest despite a lot of effort, and it would also occupy his time for other aspects of cultivation, which might not be worth the loss.

Half a month later, Yuan Ming's body completely recovered. After adjusting his state, he began the refining once more.

The next step was drawing runes.

Although he had entered the Core Formation Stage, due to the unparalleled hardness of the Nether Iron and its recent compression and refinement, Yuan Ming still had to take out his purchased high-quality engraving knife and carefully engrave runes onto the Soul Destroying Sword one stroke at a time.

The first rune he engraved was the one with the "Curse" effect.

This rune was far more complex than any other Yuan Ming had mastered. Even though he was confident after sufficient practice and his Divine Soul was far stronger than before, he dared not be careless while actually drawing it.

But as soon as his engraving knife touched down for the first stroke, an unexpected event occurred.

As the knife traced its path, a faint dark mark immediately appeared on the Soul Destroying Sword. At the same time, Yuan Ming saw the blade suddenly light up, and a mysterious sucking force emerged at the mark, spreading through the knife and into Yuan Ming's body.

Yuan Ming felt the mana in his body being pulled into the dark mark. His mana slowly filled the newly engraved lines bit by bit, but the dark mark seemed unsatisfied, and its sucking force surged again.

An unknown force rushed towards Yuan Ming's Sea of Consciousness, drawing his Soul Power towards the freshly engraved mark.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming was shocked, yet he knew that once he started engraving a rune, he must complete it in one go. Since he had already made the first stroke, he had to finish the subsequent lines without pause; otherwise, all his efforts would be wasted.

He didn't hesitate. After taking a deep breath, he forcefully stabilized his mind and continued with the engraving.

With each stroke, the soul-sucking force of the Soul Destroying Sword increased slightly, making Yuan Ming's engraving even more difficult. Having engraved less than one-fifth, he felt as if there were thousands of mountains obstructing him, and a simple vertical line required a great deal of time to carve out.

Meanwhile, on the Soul Destroying Sword, the lines already engraved began to light up with a faint spirit light, always shining a bit slower than Yuan Ming's engraving knife.

It was only now that Yuan Ming realized the runes he was engraving were anything but ordinary, their Spiritual Charm potent enough to break convention, mixing the separate processes of engraving and Enriching into one.

However, be it Magic Artifacts or Magic Treasures, the step of Enriching typically requires an enormous amount of Spiritual Power. Ordinary Artifact Refiners choose to deposit Spirit Stones into the refining furnace during the process to provide the necessary Spiritual Power.

Yet Yuan Ming could only use his own Mana, and even his Soul Power, to complete this hugely consuming step of Enriching.

Although he was now seated on the Lotus Platform, his Divine Soul Power greatly increased, and he had a continuous supply of Desire Power replenishing his Soul Power. In terms of Mana, however, he gradually felt a sense of depletion emerging from within his body.

Yuan Ming dared not pause; he could only temporarily divert a sliver of Mana to draw the previously prepared Spirit Stones closer by his side, continuously absorbing their Spiritual Power to fill the needs of Enriching.

Gradually, the situation eased.

Yuan Ming's carving knife slowly yet firmly continued to trace the runes, while his Mana and Soul Power flowed like a trickle, filling in the gaps in the runes steadily. Everything was progressing smoothly until seven days later.

There were only a few more strokes left for the "Curse" rune to take shape on the Soul Destroying Sword, but at that moment, the blade suddenly began to tremble. At first, the movements were minuscule, but as the engraving progressed, the trembling grew more violent to the point where Yuan Ming had to forcefully press it down with his hand.

In the face of this situation, Yuan Ming appeared expressionless, but an urge to hurry surged within him.

With his current skill in Artifact Refining, he could see at a glance that this was a sign that the Soul Destroying Sword couldn't withstand the imprinting of the runes. But he had already refined and compressed the Soul Destroying Sword beforehand; it should not be unable to bear even the fifth rune.

The problem could only lie within that particular rune.

Yuan Ming had anticipated that the Soul Destroying Sword might not fully withstand the three Divine Runes, but he never imagined that the refined and compressed Soul Destroying Sword wouldn't even bear one.

However, things had already reached this point, and Yuan Ming had no room for regret. Clenching his teeth, he held the engraving knife and poured all his Mana and Soul Power into the sword, in an attempt to hasten the process of engraving and Enriching.

Time slipped away little by little, and another day quickly passed.

Under Yuan Ming's forceful suppression, the Soul Destroying Sword's tremors were kept from affecting the engraving process, but its blade was now covered with cracks, as if it might shatter at any moment.

Yuan Ming's engraving knife was just a hair's breadth away from completing the engraving, nearly invisible to the naked eye, yet as insurmountable as a chasm, separating success from failure.

At this point, Yuan Ming's eyes were bloodshot, his forehead vein throbbing, and his fingers, gripping the engraving knife, had turned white from exertion, signifying his readiness for a final desperate attempt.

Suddenly, Yuan Ming felt the engraving knife in his hand loosen, the immense force hindering him a moment ago dissipating like a breeze. His heart skipped a beat, and he quickly lifted the knife to prevent leaving any additional marks.

But at that moment, the absorbent power—once subsided—on the cracked blade surged violently once again. Yuan Ming's left hand, pressing down on the Soul Destroying Sword, seemed to be glued to the blade, immovable no matter how hard he tried.

However, this time the Soul Destroying Sword was not absorbing his Mana but was devouring his Soul Power like a giant whale. His Divine Soul Power in the Sea of Consciousness rapidly dried up, only to be filled madly with Pure Will Power the next instant.

This cycle of absorbing and releasing affected Yuan Ming's Divine Soul, causing him to experience waves of dizziness and stabbing pain, like the ebb and flow of the tide.

He felt like a conduit for Soul Power, caught between the Soul Destroying Sword and the Lotus Platform.

After what seemed like an eternity, the Soul Destroying Sword seemed to have had its fill of Soul Power and slowly lessened its absorbing force. Yuan Ming finally managed to pull his hand away from the blade.

As he took a slight breather, he looked down and saw that the cracks that had formed during the refining process had all dissipated. In their place were smooth, dark purple lines, crisscrossing like a dragon etched onto the Soul Destroying Sword, extraordinary and divine.

The fifth rune was a success!

All five runes on the sword glowed brightly, but the light from the last one representing "Curse" was quickly fading as though it would completely vanish the next instant.

Yuan Ming's heart raced; he took out the Soul Destroying Sword immediately, bit his tongue, and sprayed a mouthful of Essence Blood onto the blade. He then wrapped it in Pill Fire once more to merge his Essence Blood with it.

Slowly, Yuan Ming felt a tenuous connection form with the Soul Destroying Sword and without any hesitation, cast a spell to draw the Soul Destroying Sword into his body, using the internal Pill Fire to envelop and nurture it.

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