“I am Heifeng Jiansui, a Prince of the Black Phoenix Empire controlling the Black Phoenix Great World. I accept you as my master.” Saying this, Heifeng Jiansui kowtowed thrice to the puppet Skytemper.

“Hmm… You have pride, but of course, it isn’t baseless. I hereby state this, you are my only true successor and thus, are allowed complete control over this Skytemper World. You have access to all resources within this world, be it the Skytemper Refining Gate’s entire cultivation library that has been stocked here, the peerless refining facilities and the ingredients and materials for refining. Other than that, I have left no equipments, pills or formations for you. All you need, create it for yourself.” Skytemper had a imperious expression as he said this.

“…Even if you had left me any treasures, they would find it hard to surpass the Skytemper World. Packing off a entire dimension which can sustain life and radiate Life Qi… How audacious…” Hearing Heifeng Jiansui’s soft mutterings, Skytemper could help but feel flattered that his disciple understood his genius.

“Well then, my prodigious disciple. Let me show you around my greatest creation…” Saying this, the puppet seemed to be of the mood to take Heifeng Jiansui around to tour the world.

“Can you teach me your refinement arts before that? I can explore the world at my leisure, but you have only a week or so before the soul shards crumble.” Heifeng Jiansui seemed to be in a hurry to learn.

Hearing this, Skytemper nodded his head. “I suppose you are a pretty perceptive disciple! While my legacy is my creation and something that will continue after my death, my teachings are something that will disappear. Thus, I must transmit them to you at the earliest!” Originally, he thought that this kid would be unenthusiastic to learn from him and thus decided to show him around this wondrous world to make him more receptive to learning. Fortunately, it was unnecessary!

Saying this, Skytemper took out a spatial ring and handed it to Heifeng Jiansui. “This ring has the map of this world and the foundation manuals of my arts. Quickly memorize them.”

At this, Heifeng Jiansui nodded while accepting, before giving away a single scripture to the man. “This scripture has a technique that will be useful to you, and thus me. Please read it.”

Hearing his disciple’s words, the puppet glanced through the manual before nodding. “Soulrest Art. It is a foundation technique, but the most useful for the current me. It has techniques that seal the dissipation of the soul while rendering the body incapable of movement. So, do you want to me go to sleep while you pick this body us and carry me to the Auxiliary Refining Palaces? What a considerate disciple.” Saying this, the man smiled before he immediately closed his eyes and stilled his breath, turning from an existence that could have passed as a human to a statue.

Not minding this, Heifeng Jiansui immediately began memorizing the map and the manuals. The Ice-Fire Divine Forging Art, despite how profound it seemed, was only the first book of the five Skytemper Refining Sutras. Ice-Fire, Five Phase, Thunderwind and Darklight, these four manuals had to be mastered to the Earth Rank. Only after building a solid foundation in them will the cultivator be capable of training in Skytemper Ninephases, the true Heaven Rank supreme refining art!

Picking up the puppet’s body carefully to avoid disturbing it, Heifeng Jiansui carried it to the Auxiliary Refining Palaces. His footsteps were like shadows as he exerted himself to not inconvenience the rock-still sleeper out of his rest.

+++

After reaching the Auxiliary Refining Palaces, Heifeng Jiansui immediately entered the largest one, as Skytemper had instructed.  Here, he left the puppet without awaking him, and began earnestly reading the foundation manuals left for him.

The manuals weren’t simply restricted to forging: they also extended to alchemy, formations, talisman refining. After Heifeng Jiansui felt confident enough to comprehend their essence, he also understood all the possible mistakes he could make while refining. In essence, they boiled down to nine.

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The Soulrest art reduced dissipation of the soul by freezing the movements of the body. However, the eyes were commonly termed as the windows to the soul, thus they were an exemption. It was possible to open and move the eyes while using the Soulrest technique, though this would increase the dissipation of the soul by a small margin. Heifeng Jiansui assigned nine different eye movements for the nine mistakes, allowing Skytemper to observe him while forging and correct his mistakes while he forged!

Heifeng Jiansui placed Skytemper’s body so that they both could observe each other even while he was forging. After this, Heifeng Jiansui awakened the puppet Skytemper and handed him the eye movements. Reading them, the puppet nodded. “Seems like you really value my guidance! Truly every master would long for a disciple like you. Like this, I can guide you for an entire month! Training you to enter the very limits of the Earth Rank Auxiliary Master should be easy! Thus, the real challenge is to comprehend the essence of the four manuals!”

+++

Like this, day after day passed by. Beginning with the Ice-Fire Divine Forging Art, Heifeng Jiansui trained all the four arts under Skytemper’s supervision. Every mistake was immediately corrected due to Heifeng Jiansui’s mastery of the theoretical basis of the arts. In no time, Heifeng Jiansui had mastered the art of forging a low-grade Earth Rank items.

According to Skytemper all Spiritual and Quasi-Earth weapons were in the end, Mortal Rank weapons as they could be used by only cultivators who had yet to transcend their lifespan, Body Transformation cultivators. Earth Rank items were graded low, mid, high and top from bottom-up, just like Common and Mortal Rank items.

If he comprehended the essence of the four foundation arts, he would have the ability to consistently refine high-grade Earth Rank items. If he mastered them, it would apply to top-grade Earth Rank items!

With Skytemper pointing out his mistakes, Heifeng Jiansui steadily mastered the four foundational arts. The Earth-Rank items he churned out reached mid-grade and eventually high grade. But he couldn’t refine them at will.

So he tried harder.

Without eating, drinking or sleeping, he unrelentingly slogged on. For any other mortal without cultivation, it would be impossible, but Heifeng Jiansui was a pureblooded Phoenix cultivator who had training the nine layers within his body to the limits. While it was neither easy nor tolerable for him, he would survive it.

And thus, time went on. Skytemper slowly lost the soul essence sustaining him, but he continued to advise Heifeng Jiansui. The eyes were incomparably mysterious, the windows to the soul. And sky temper’s soul was on the verge of fading, like the sunset and thus seemed incomparably brighter as it battled against the night.

His eyes communicated intent and emotion, approval, disapproval, praise, faith, regret… And Heifeng Jiansui always understood their intentions.

Heifeng Jiansui had taken many masters in his previous life and Skytemper was his first one in this life. He never spoke, but he was ever willing to advise him. If not for the matter of his soul dispersing, Skytemper would have certainly advised him step by step.

At the third week of the month, Heifeng Jiansui finally comprehended the essence of the four arts and gained the ability to freely display them in all auxiliary professions, be it forging, alchemy, formations or talisman refining. At this moment, Skytemper finally dispelled the Soulrest Art and began speaking with Heifeng Jiansui.

“Jiansui, you are a true genius. Even with my supreme talent, I would have taken a week to reach this realm. For you to do this in thrice the time, you are quite the talent as well.” This might have seemed to be a jab at Heifeng Jiansui’s talent, but it wasn’t. Skytemper was simply being blunt.

“I thank master for your kind praise.” Heifeng Jiansui taciturnly replied.

“Do you know the Nine Transcensions of Cultivation of this era? They are Body Transformation, Life Desolation, Death Reversion, Samsara Revelation, Fate Separation, Pathway Divination, Dao Condensation, Mandate Consolidation and Stellar Ascension. Above them are the Three Steps of Immortality, undying and unchanging: Perennial Lord, Immortal King and Perpetual Emperor.” Heifeng Jiansui had known the Nine Steps from the manuals he had read, but he was surprised to know that the three steps stayed the same!

Cultivation Stage

Lifespan

Body Transformation

300

Life Desolation

600

Death Reversion

900

Samsara Revelation

3,000

Fate Separation

60,000

Pathway Divination

900,000

Dao Condensation

3,000,000

Mandate Consolidation

6,000,000

Stellar Ascension

9,000,000

“Hmph. While my talent in refining may be at the apex, my cultivation talent couldn’t match.  I reached the peak of Fate Separation but could not breakthrough no matter what, so I devoted my entirety to cultivation. My lifespan of 60,000 years near came to the end and I still couldn’t break through despite all the techniques I learnt and all the pills I swallowed. At the end, I studied all the Longevity-based techniques I could get my hands on, transfused blood and essence of various divine beasts, did all I could to live more… Fortunately, fate sided with me and I… I comprehended the Dao of Creation. I used it to modify the cultivation technique I used, I shattered my foundation and reverted to a mortal and cultivated to my previous realm… Unfortunately, I still couldn’t breakthrough.” The words of his seemed gleeful and proud, despite his defeat.

Suddenly, Heifeng Jiansui realized something. “You should have lived for 64,800 years… but nearly a million years have passed. That new cultivation method you created… allowed you more than 900,000 years of longevity?!” Hearing Heifeng Jiansui’s revelation, a proud smile was on Skytemper’s face.