Book 9 - Chapter 6 – Nine Holes

Xin Zhaolun shook his head. “There’s limits to one person’s power. The distribution of resources is too spread out. Some places aren’t suitable for the presence of a Monarch, so we go instead. When one becomes a Monarch, competition is extremely fierce. We can’t even imagine it.”

Lei Xinfeng nodded. “I wish I could be of use to Master as well.” He was grateful to Gu Qixin. Without him, he’d never have known about the existence of secret sects and Hidden Spaces.

Xin Zhaolun said, “To be honest, it’s a good thing when Master orders us to gather materials. You don’t know where the resource rich locations are, so only by asking Master will you know. I spent thirty years running around, and went to all sorts of locations. Master will only want a certain amount of the resources; we can keep the rest.”

“Elder brother, does Master still order you to gather materials?”

“No. I’ve long repaid everything he’s given me. Now, as a Ninth Ring Sage and aiming for Monarch, all the resource I gather are my own, kind this Biyasi. Of course, I never thought I’d get Purple Crystals as well. Haha, even Master wants this.”

“I understand. I will treasure these chances. To tell the truth, I enjoy mining and gathering,” Lei Xinfeng said.

“I find you have a talent for it. Like those Purple Crystals: the rest of us combined still gathered less. I thought it was strange. We can fly directly above the lava flow, yet we can’t beat you,” XIn Zhaolun said.

Lei Xinfeng laughed to himself. He didn’t know why himself, but he can see things others couldn’t, like the violet light that the Purple Crystals in the magma flow emitted. Except for him, no one else could see it. “I guess I’m just lucky.”

He couldn’t explain it himself. He’d even asked Fengying and Shihu in private, but they didn’t see any purple glow either. After thinking about it, he decided to not say anything more. It will be beneficial for him in the future, and it might help him obtain a large advantage.

After getting the materials, Lei Xinfeng didn’t want to waste time talking. “Elder brother, I’m going to process and combine the materials now.”

“Don’t worry about me. You do your things. I’ll keep guard for you.”

Lei Xinfeng was grateful. “Won’t I be wasting you time?”

“I won’t miss these few days of training,” Xin Zhaolun said.

“Then I’ll leave it to you, elder brother.” Lei Xinfeng sat in a corner and began to work the materials. The required materials for the Lightning Stamp was largely metallic, with some bone, and one type of liquid. No matter the form, they all needed to be extracted before they could be used.

Lei Xinfeng only knew one way to extract the essence, and that was with lightning. He took out some Red Gold. Even if he used all of it, he could still go dig more, but the other materials were different, so he used the Red Gold to test. Using lightning to extract is a method used by many Lightning practitioners, and the only method available before reaching Monarch.

He placed the Red Gold in a wooden pan and held out two hands. A long current of lightning shot from his hands, striking the gold.

Instantly, a crackling sound came from the pan. Green smoke began to rise. Keeping his concentration, Lei Xinfeng began working the Red Gold.

Xin Zhaolun sat not too far away, and he was surprised when he saw the current coming from Lei Xinfeng’s hands. He had his own way to purify materials, but this was the first time he’d seen such a method. It was new, and he was curious about how successful it’ll be.

The current jumped and Lei Xinfeng realized with a start that the Red Gold was melting. The metal was sticking together, separating from the impurities, but the wooden plate had a charred smell. He stopped immediately and sighed. “Wooden plates can’t be used. I can’t increase the current; the wooden plate will burn up.”

But metal conducts electricity, so he couldn’t use metal plates. He felt a bit helpless.

“Elder brother, do you have any suggestions? I don’t have a suitable plate…”

“That’s easy. Find a Thunder Beast’s bone and create a bowl from that.”

Lei Xinfeng smacked his head. How could he have been so muddleheaded? He had some Thunder Beast bones, but he’d always considered them useless, so he threw them in a corner of his Hidden Lun space. He’d never thought that he would find a use for them here. “I have some Thunder Beast bones, and they’re not bad either.”

He took out a large bone, and then ran into another wall. How can he make a plate?

“Let me help you. Even I can do something like that,” Xin Zhaolun suggested, smiling.

“Thank you, elder brother,” Lei Xinfeng said. He was curious about how exactly Xin Zhaolun would go about making the plate.

Then he saw him take out a big carving knife, carving out the shape of a large plate in the general contour of the bone. Lei Xinfeng was stunned. “Will that work?”

“As long as it’s a plate. If you can put materials in it, and it resists electricity…those are the only requirements, right?”

Lei Xinfeng was speechless. “Yeah…you’re right.”

Putting the bone plate on top of the wooden one, and then adding the Red Gold, Lei Xinfeng continued to extract. This time he could output his full power and the current glowed with eye piercing light. In the span of a few seconds, the metal was completely melted, and the impurities burned away.

Xin Zhao was surprised that there was such a way of purifying materials. It was much more direct and violent than his method. It was the first time he’d seen such a thing. Then again, among the disciples, Lei Xinfeng was the only one with the Lightning attribute.

Soon, he was done with the Red Gold, and Lei Xinfeng started on the second kind of material.

Just then, Fengying and Shihu came in. Xin Zhaolun bid them to sit down, whispering. “Ah Feng is purifying materials. Don’t distract him.”

“With lightning currents?” Fengying asked, shocked.

“Whoa. To use lightning. How’s the results?” Shihu asked.

Xin Zhaolun, who saw Lei Xinfeng purify the material, answered. “It seems to be fine. I haven’t looked carefully at the product, but right after the purification, I felt that the quality is decent at least.”

Lei Xinfeng had grasped the trick to controlling his purifying current, and began to change it up, varying the strength, searching for the perfect method.

It took Lei Xinfeng two days to process all of the materials, numbering over a dozen. Of course, it was worth it, since he’d gotten an excellent grasp on the method of lightning purification. And through this process of purification, he gain extensive knowledge about the property of each of these materials. It will be very helpful for his next step of processing.

When Lei Xinfeng finished processing the materials, Xin Zhaolun left to cultivate in his own room, replaced by Fengying and Shihu.

Lei Xinfeng took out the Star Python Records again, looking over it carefully. He’d memorized the whole thing, but he was worried that he’d get something wrong, so he decided to refresh his memory to prevent mistakes.

Lightning Stamps are made of condensed Yin energy, created through crystallization of a core. Using the Stamp, the body can completely convert Lun Yin energy to Yin energy. This was one of the ways of ascension. The way depicted in the Records was similar. After creating the Stamp and absorbing it, converting the Lun Yin energy to Yin will turn the Stamp into a powerful weapon with power incomparable to that of a normal Stamp.

No steps of the process was allowed to be wrong, or was failure tolerated. If it failed, then Lei Xinfeng will only be able to condense an ordinary Stamp. The different between the two types was too large to accept. He must succeed no matter what.

According to the Star Python Records, after creation, the Stamp will ascend alongside its owner. It will have three forms of attacks, each with terrifying power; that was the might that Lei Xinfeng seeked. He had the Chaos Wheel, of course, but it was a outside weapon, while the Stamp was internal and will grow with him.

One of the materials in the core was the bone that Lei Xinfeng found in that Ancient Hidden Space. After purification, it turned into a silver-white bone around the size of an egg. Everything else was reliant on this bone. Lei Xinfeng had confidence, because this bone was extremely high quality. Even a Monarch would be impressed by it.

After processing the bone, Lei Xinfeng must open nine holes in the bone, and then merge the materials after putting them in.

The details of the nine holes were extremely strict, from the positioning to the size. And it was only the first step.

Three big holes, six little holes. The three big holes were positioned like a person’s eyes and mouth, while the six small ones and split throughout the surface. Using lightning current, he carefully gouged out the holes.

With extreme concentration, Lei Xinfeng stared at the silver-white ball, processing it slowly.

Fengying and Shihu both stared as if mesmerized. It was the first time either of them had seen the creation of such an item. They’ve heard, but never witnessed.

Half a day later, the crackling finally stopped. It felt as if their ears were suddenly clear, and the violent sounds of the blizzard outside finally entered.

Lei Xinfeng held up the bone, and after studying the nine holes, he finally laughed. “Haha! I got it right! I succeeded! The first step is complete, haha!”

Fengying and Shihu both rushed to his side, both curious. They wanted to see what the Lightning Stamp looked like.

Lei Xinfeng held the round bone and examined it closely.