"Calm and focused, concentrating on the elixir field, heart-guided spirit, using magic to drive objects, and mind and spirit merged, the soul concentrated in one place, where the heart goes, the artifact follows," Yuan Ming closed his eyes, while he channeled mana into the stone in his hand, he recited the refining formula in his heart.

A moment later, he only felt a slight warmth in his palm. The stone he held was enveloped in a faint green glow, and the surface faintly exhibited tiny streaming lights.

"Rise!" Yuan Ming suddenly opened his eyes and let out a soft shout.

The mana within him also unconsciously surged out, flowing into the stone through his palm, but the stone in his hand only swelled with a burst of green glow and then the light receded, becoming still again.

Yuan Ming's gaze sharpened, but he was not discouraged, knowing well that no magic could succeed on the first attempt.

He closed his eyes again and tried several more times, but made no progress.

"Why is this happening… Could it be due to insufficient infusion of mana? When it comes to mind and spirit merging, is it that my focus is not sharp enough, or is my understanding not adequate…" Yuan Ming pondered to himself.

Thinking this, he sat down and practiced breathing control for a moment before trying again.

Unaware of the purpose, Huo Chan'er saw him holding a stone that emitted green light now and then and couldn't help but approach and touched it with its small paw. Seeing no danger, the creature became bolder and began to fiddle with it.

After several attempts by Yuan Ming, he once again ended in failure.

"Perhaps, as the books describe, such ordinary objects without spiritual essence are difficult to connect with and control," he sighed lightly, tossing the stone casually, which startled the happily playing Huo Chan'er.

Yuan Ming thought deeply for a while, then raised his hand to wipe on the storage bag at his waist—suddenly, a silver light flashed, and the Green Fish Sword materialized and fell in front of him.

He reached out and grabbed the Green Fish Sword, gently stroking the blade with his other hand while channeling the mana from his Dantian into the sword; immediately, a vague green glow flowed along the surface of the blade, faintly exhibiting a hint of vivacity.

When the mana dissipated, the blade's glow vanished, making it appear no different from an ordinary bronze longsword.

"If we're talking about objects with spiritual essence, this half-magical artifact in my possession is somewhat qualified," Yuan Ming murmured to himself. Visit Мy Virtuаl Librаry Еmpirе (М_VLЕМРYR) fоr mоrе.

Immediately afterward, he closed his eyes slightly, holding the longsword with both hands while concentrating all his attention on it.

"Heart-guided spirit, using magic to drive objects, mind and spirit merged, the soul concentrated in one place..." While he channeled mana into the Green Fish Sword, he recited the refining formula in his heart.

Soon, the Green Fish Sword lit up with green light again and, as the mana continued to pour in, displayed a hint of sharp aura.

Yuan Ming's thoughts stirred, this time without even vocalizing a sound.

At that moment, Huo Chan'er cautiously approached, stretching its paw to fiddle with the Green Fish Sword again.

However, just as it neared, a bizarre scene unfolded—the Green Fish Sword suddenly leaped from Yuan Ming's palm, floating three inches above it, swinging from side to side as if it might fall at any moment.

Huo Chan'er instantly shivered, leaping up and landing on a nearby old tree.

"It's up..."

The moment Yuan Ming felt elation, his concentration wavered, and the Green Fish Sword shook violently a few times and then plunged downward into the ground, burying itself partially.

Despite this, Yuan Ming was still overjoyed; he immediately pulled out the sword to try again.

Activating the Green Fish Sword was entirely different from activating the stone, much smoother than he had anticipated; however, after several attempts, he started noticing some issues.

Although the Green Fish Sword would rise and fly as he wished, it was always a beat slower than his intention, feeling somewhat unsmooth, a bit… sluggish.

"Move!" Yuan Ming pointed forward, issuing a low shout.

The Green Fish Sword immediately wobbled as it charged forward, but before it had flown even ten yards, the connecting mana abruptly cut off.

The Green Fish Sword then fell straight to the ground with a clang.

"Although it's a bit difficult to control, the method of activation must be correct. With more practice, I should perform better. It seems that the Exorcism Technique used on this half-magical artifact is still much more convenient than on utterly spiritless objects. Oh right, I also have this…" Yuan Ming mused to himself, a new idea surfacing in his mind.

He stood up to check his surroundings and found no one else around; then with a thought, he summoned the blue incense burner from his sleeve.

Next, Yuan Ming channeled his mana into the incense burner and started to perform the Exorcism Technique again.

This time, just as the thought arose and even before he issued any commands, the incense burner was already leisurely floating up, suspended in front of Yuan Ming.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming was delighted; with a thought and a wave of his hand, the incense burner unsteadily flew out, heading far into the distance.

Unlike the Green Fish Sword, which could only fly ten yards, the incense burner amazingly flew nearly thirty yards before the connection with Yuan Ming almost broke off.

Yuan Ming quickly stood up, ran over, and picked up the incense burner just a step ahead of the curious Fire Mink.

The Fire Mink was quite curious about the flying incense burner and climbed up, wanting to snatch it from Yuan Ming.

"You little rascal, don't mess around. Find something else to do. Keep causing trouble, and you'll go hungry for your next meal," Yuan Ming said as he tossed the Fire Mink away and then held the incense burner up, examining it closely.

From the initial response of performing the Exorcism Technique, he was now convinced that the incense burner was at least a Magic Artifact-level treasure, which excited him greatly.

Yuan Ming thought for a moment, then once again cast the Exorcism Technique, manipulating the incense burner to fly up and trying to increase the mana influx to see if any divine skills could be activated.

However, after several attempts, he still achieved nothing, as the incense burner remained like a stubborn rock, revealing no other powers whatsoever.

"Could it be because I haven't refined it yet?"

After slight consideration, Yuan Ming made a decision to refine the incense burner using the refining mnemonic taught by the Three Cave Masters.

As soon as he had mastered the refining formula that very day, he had already tried to refine the Green Fish Sword, only to find it was merely a Half-magical Artifact, completely lacking the conditions for refinement, and he had to give up.

No sooner said than done, Yuan Ming held the incense burner in his hands and chanted the refining formula, trying to refine the treasure.

The next instant, a strong repulsive force emanated from within, and layers upon layers of golden rune prohibitions emerged. Before Yuan Ming could even get a clear look, he was sent flying by a burst of golden light.

He was propelled from his spot, smashing into an old tree seven or eight zhang away, where he finally came to a stop.

The Fire Mink perched in the tree watched this scene, its neck extended in shock, completely clueless about what had just occurred.

"Ah, such a powerful force of prohibition..." Yuan Ming mused, rubbing his chest.

Although he hadn't managed to refine the incense burner, Yuan Ming felt strangely happy.

From the layers of rune prohibitions, he could tell that the incense burner was definitely a rare Magic Artifact, and possibly even one of those legendary treasures.

Realizing this, he no longer applied a disproportionate amount of effort to refining it and instead continued practicing the Exorcism Technique.

...

In the blink of an eye, more than half a month had passed.

In a certain part of the Ten Thousand Mountains, a leopard Fierce Beast, as tall as half a man, cautiously made its way through the forest, keeping a vigilant watch around and seeking prey to fill its stomach.

Ahead, a small creature entirely red like a fox darted out of the jungle and joyfully ran forward.

The leopard's eyes lit up with joy, and it immediately pounced, stirring up a whirlwind of wild wind within a distance of several zhang.

The little red creature showed panic, opened its mouth, and spewed a jet of red flames towards the leopard, but the flames were too weak; before reaching the leopard, they were torn apart by the fierce wind.

The leopard's steel-clawed hand appeared above the small creature's head in a flash and struck down fiercely.

Just at that moment, a green longsword shot out from the jungle ahead, piercing toward the leopard's chest with the swiftness of thunder.

The leopard roared, stomping fiercely on the ground with its hooves and shifted its massive body to the side, narrowly avoiding the strike of the green longsword.

However, the direction of the flying green longsword suddenly shifted, continuing to target the leopard as if an invisible hand held the blade.

With a soft "puff," the green longsword pierced through the leopard's chest, going in up to the hilt.

The leopard let out a mournful cry and fell obliquely to the ground, struggling for a moment before becoming motionless.

From the jungle came the rustling sound, and Yuan Ming's figure appeared.

"You little one, I've told you before, this place is very dangerous. If something happens because you run around, I can't take responsibility," he said, picking up the little red creature and tapping its head.

The little red creature hung its head, showing a contrite expression.

"Don't pull that act again! If you don't behave, I'll lock you in the bag!" Seeing this, Yuan Ming felt both annoyed and amused, rolled his eyes at it, but still placed it on his shoulder.

As his contact with Huo Chan'er deepened, he finally understood why Lei Gong had mentioned that Fire Minks were troublemakers; this little one might not be very brave, but it was curious about everything and couldn't stay still. A moment of inattention and it would scamper everywhere, causing endless headaches.

There were too many places forbidden by the Sect, and not a few rules and regulations, making Yuan Ming feel somewhat uncomfortable from staying there too long. So one day, he simply took Huo Chan'er to the Ten Thousand Mountains, to this place where he'd once lived as a Fur Beast Slave for a while, to relax his mind.

Yuan Ming gently stroked the furry little guy on his shoulder, then performed the hand seals for the Exorcism Technique and gestured into the void.

With a "swoosh,"

the Green Fish Sword that had been embedded in the leopard's chest flew back, floating in front of him and gently vibrating.

Seeing this, a satisfied look appeared on Yuan Ming's face.

In this period, he had become increasingly skilled in controlling the Green Fish Sword through persistent practice of the Exorcism Technique, not only improving greatly in terms of stability and precision but also extending the managing distance from the previous three zhang to now seven or eight zhang, and he felt he could still make further progress.

Unfortunately, The Green Fish Sword was, after all, only a Half-magical Artifact, not the same as a true Magic Artifact, and coupled with his inadequate cultivation and mana, simple direct manipulations were no problem, but it faltered with any complex moves.

With this thought, his desire to possess a real Magic Artifact grew even more urgent.

(Fellow Daoists, first month after launch, four more chapters in exchange for your votes^^)