After cleaning Rihai and dressing her in a fresh set of his own clothes—since he couldn't access the spare outfits in her storage pouch or ring—Aotian frowned, concerned.
'Hai'er has no external injuries, so it must be something internal. But what's happening? Why is she so severely injured inside?'
He observed her face, twisted in an expression of pain, and his heart tightened.
'It doesn't matter. First, I'll make a medicine to treat internal injuries.'
Making his decision, he left her to rest and moved to a corner of the room.
'I need sound isolation if I want to forge in silence in the middle of the night. That way, I won't disturb Rihai's rest and can avoid unwanted attention.'
Aotian opened his storage pouch and began separating the necessary materials.
'Formations... Though they seem like something extremely profound, they're not that complicated. They are simply ways to manipulate spiritual energy without a cultivator. Everything a formation can do, a cultivator can do as well.'
He recalled the lessons he had learned with his avatars.
'The difference is that while a cultivator is limited by flesh, blood, and spiritual roots, a formation is restricted by materials and arrangement. Thus, a formation can be far stronger than its creator, provided it's crafted with mastery, quality materials, and has a sufficient energy source.'
He took four yellow stones rich in earth element and placed them at the four corners of the area where he would work.
'The limitations of a formation lie in the materials and the master's knowledge. For example, creating a formation that executes a Golden Core-level attack requires materials and an understanding of a spell at that level. If the cultivator is only a Qi Refiner, even with the right materials, how could he form a power manipulation he doesn't comprehend?'
At the center of the formation, Aotian placed a shimmering pearl beside a mid-grade spirit stone. Manipulating his spiritual energy, he created tiny runes connecting the two objects.
'The Cloud Pearl is an excellent conductor of spiritual energy. By linking it to an energy source, like this spirit stone, we can use it as the formation's core.'
He examined the stones at the four corners and rechecked their placement.
'Four fragments of a stone golem should be enough to convert elemental earth energy for such a basic spell.'
Further manipulating the pearl's formations, Aotian touched his forehead and drew out a ray of light—his spiritual energy charged with intentions about how the energy flow should behave.
As soon as his finger touched the pearl, it absorbed the energy. A faint glow illuminated the room, fully activating the formation.
Four beams of light shot from the pearl toward the corner stones. As soon as the energy touched them, formation runes emerged around them. Slowly, earth-elemental energy began pulsing from within the stones.
The runes on the pearl flickered, and the elemental energy gained direction, forming a square barrier of earth around Aotian, blocking all sound from leaving.
'This inverted barrier is simple—it prevents sound from escaping but doesn't block incoming noise. I based its principle on a Qi Refiner-tier sound barrier technique I synthesized. Perfect for private conversations without losing awareness of the surroundings. Also, it will prevent the firelight from leaking out and drawing attention. A mid-grade spirit stone will sustain this barrier for a long time since it doesn't need to withstand attacks.'
Satisfied with the barrier, Aotian began preparing the materials to forge his alchemy cauldron. Fortunately, he had already purchased a hammer, an anvil, and materials for a furnace, as he had planned to do this back then.
Setting up an improvised furnace made of spiritual bricks, he built a sturdy structure, perfect for withstanding high temperatures.
These bricks were ordinary stones from spiritual mines that had been exposed to raw spiritual energy over the years. Though they hadn't transformed into spirit stones, they had become extremely hard, making them ideal for construction.
With the furnace ready, he lit spiritual wood logs, taken from trees whose roots had reached spiritual mines and, as a result, had absorbed spiritual energy, becoming valuable materials.
This reminded Aotian of something Rihai had once said:
'Spiritual mines are primarily discovered by finding spiritual wood.'
Seeing these materials, he couldn't help but think:
'Spiritual mines are true treasures. Even ordinary stones and trees can be sold for a few coins.'
Shaking his head to dismiss these random thoughts, Aotian refocused.
With the strong flames of the spiritual firewood burning, Aotian enveloped the materials he would use in his own fire-element spiritual energy, making them float above the flames.
Since the spiritual energy holding the materials was also attuned to fire, it did not prevent the flames from reaching the metal, while at the same time, the flames did not consume his spiritual energy. This allowed him to keep the materials there effortlessly.
It didn't take long for the metals to turn a glowing red.
Guiding them out of the fire, he levitated them onto the anvil, grabbed his hammer, and began striking fiercely.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The flames cast an orange glow across the room. Aotian's sweat-slicked, shirtless body trembled slightly with each hammer strike, showcasing his effort in the forging process.
His serious expression showed no hesitation. Every hammer strike was precise, and in his eyes, only the metal existed.
The process followed the principles of ordinary forging, with the only difference being the use of spiritual energy in every strike—refining the metal both physically and spiritually.
Before long, under Aotian's hands and spiritual energy, a simple alchemy cauldron took shape. It was black, supported by four legs, without ornamentation or engravings.
'I need quality and efficiency. Aesthetics can wait until Rihai is well.'
Before finishing, he channeled his spiritual energy, forming and engraving crimson runes onto the cauldron. These cooled and fused into the structure, giving it a more mystical appearance.
At the bottom of the cauldron, where the runes converged, there was a slot designed to hold a spirit stone, serving as a power source for the runes.
The runes Aotian inscribed were simple, focusing on self-cleaning and energy control.
Then, he dropped the cauldron into a basin filled with water he had condensed. The searing hot metal let out a loud hiss, releasing a thick cloud of steam.
'The smoke might attract attention… and it's suffocating the room. I need to deal with it.'
Aotian thought, seeing the spreading mist.
Without hesitation, he clasped his hands into claw shapes, rotating his spiritual energy within his core, directing it to his hands, where a non-elemental energy vortex formed between his fingers—sucking the smoke in like a cyclone.
With a subtle movement, he manipulated a jade bottle from his spiritual pouch, making it float before him.
Channeling the smoke's flow, he guided it inside the bottle. Fortunately, the bottle's resistance—designed for storing spirit pills—was sufficient to withstand the vapor's pressure. In no time, the mist condensed, forming water inside the bottle.
Only when the seventh jade bottle filled with water did the cauldron completely cool.
'Done!'
Aotian let out a relieved sigh and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Sitting down, he grabbed a spirit stone to replenish his energy and prepared to begin refining pills.