The cool and gentle stream of air was faint, but to Zhao Zuo, it felt like sweet rain after a long drought. Since the stream was still somewhat thin, it only affected his right arm. Still, this was several times better than the barely perceptible wisp of air he felt before the Clear Heart Jade Pendant was upgraded.
It was like going from the thickness of a single strand of hair to that of ten.
While still not particularly significant, it was a several-fold increase compared to its previous effect.
In any case, Zhao Zuo was very satisfied.
With a simple thought, a new interface appeared.
[Upgrade Description: Slightly improves the restorative effect on meridians.]
The next upgrade required four hundred experience points. He currently had one hundred, so he estimated he could gather the rest by tomorrow.
For the rest of the day, Zhao Zuo began his Cultivation according to plan. First, he farmed experience from the shuttle-shaped Magical Artifact twice. Then, once his meridians began to ache, he took out the *Artifact Refining Introduction*. With each reading, he discovered new insights, growing more and more familiar with the art of Artifact Refining.
Of course, his biggest problem at the moment was drawing the Controlling Objects Spirit Patterns. Even though he was quite familiar with them, he still couldn't complete the drawing in under five seconds. He figured it was because his Cultivation was too low. After all, the barrier to entry for the Artifact Refining Technique was a bit higher than for Alchemy or Talismans.
Although he had hit a bottleneck, he didn't get discouraged. He continued to practice drawing the Controlling Objects Spirit Patterns repeatedly. He wasn't hoping for a qualitative leap from this quantitative effort, but he did hope that when he officially started practicing for real, he would fail less and save a few more Spirit Stones.
Three hours passed. Zhao Zuo had a new insight and put down the *Artifact Refining Introduction*.
He discovered something quite interesting. After upgrading the Clear Heart Jade Pendant, the time it took for the stinging pain in his meridians to subside between Cultivation sessions had been reduced by about fifteen minutes.
Now, it took less than two hours for his meridians to fully recover, the stinging sensation completely gone.
Zhao Zuo closed his eyes again, began to meditate to replenish his Mana, and farmed experience from the shuttle-shaped Magical Artifact twice more. He was forced to stop only when the stinging pain returned to his meridians.
That night, Zhao Zuo made do with the woodpile again. In his dreams, he seemed to return to his past life, sleeping on a large, soft, and comfortable bed. Even knowing it was a dream, he was unwilling to wake up.
He didn't get up to wash until the sunlight hit his cheeks. Seeing that his Mana was full, he immediately took out the shuttle-shaped Magical Artifact and started farming experience, not daring to waste a single moment. He only stopped when his meridians began to ache again.
"I think I've gotten used to this tedious life."
Zhao Zuo sighed. The current situation seemed stable, but danger was hidden beneath the surface. He had no means to protect himself right now, so he absolutely had to avoid revealing anything unusual that might attract attention and greed.
He had a profound understanding of how dangerous the world of Cultivation was; it was as if a hand was pushing him to improve.
[Level: Lower Grade Magical Artifact +1 · Clear Heart Jade Pendant]
[Experience: 500/400]
[Status: Upgradeable]
[Creation Points: 6]
The way the Clear Heart Jade Pendant gained experience was becoming harder for Zhao Zuo to understand. Yesterday, it had gained three hundred points, but today it gained four hundred. What on earth was the logic behind its experience acquisition?
Zhao Zuo hoped that through research, he could master the optimal way to use his Golden Finger, thereby gaining the maximum benefit without wasting time or Mana.
Clearly, reaching that stage would still take a very long time.
"Well, time to upgrade."
Just like before, a denser gray light appeared and was absorbed by the Clear Heart Jade Pendant. A cool stream of air, about the thickness of a chopstick, quickly circulated through his body, calming Zhao Zuo's mind and nurturing his slightly aching meridians.
[Upgrade Description: Moderately improves the restorative effect on meridians, slightly improves the Calm Mind and Gather Qi effect.]
Zhao Zuo let the cool energy repair his body while he toyed with the jade pendant in his hand. Its overall color was still an inky green, only now it was deeper. Without close inspection, one would surely think it was a jet-black jade tablet.
Only occasionally could a hint of green be seen. It greatly resembled black-green jadeite, yet there were slight differences. Zhao Zuo noticed that the Evil Beast carved on the Clear Heart Jade Pendant seemed to have come to life.
The next upgrade for the Clear Heart Jade Pendant required eight hundred experience points, which would probably take about two days to collect. Zhao Zuo played with it for a little longer before putting the pendant back around his neck.
Two days can be a long time or a short one. For Zhao Zuo, they passed without incident, with one exception: Shen Yunjiao, on her way back from the Market, passed by his door and knocked to remind him to repay the Spirit Stones soon.
Zhao Zuo couldn't help but gain a new appreciation for the extent of Shen Yunjiao's obsession with money. He silently altered his plans, deciding to first repair the last Willow Leaf Token. With that, he could exchange it for another Purifying Spirit Pill.
He didn't plan on using the Purifying Spirit Pill at home. For one, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power wasn't dense enough here, and he might waste the pill's efficacy. For another, he was worried about another Tribulation Cultivator showing up. After all, taking a Purifying Spirit Pill required one's full concentration on the Refinement of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power to avoid wasting its potency.
Over the past two days, Zhao Zuo had frequently opened the Clear Heart Jade Pendant's interface, anticipating its third upgrade. This was mainly because he was curious if a change would occur after three upgrades, such as advancing from a Lower Grade to a Middle Grade Magical Artifact.
'It can't just keep upgrading to Lower Grade Magical Artifact +10998 forever.'
Zhao Zuo believed that continuing to upgrade it would surely trigger the conditions for a rank-up.
Finally, after finishing a Cultivation session, he had gathered enough experience points to upgrade the Clear Heart Jade Pendant. Without a moment's hesitation, Zhao Zuo chose to upgrade.
A gray light, far denser than ever before, spread out and was continuously absorbed by the Clear Heart Jade Pendant. It broke free from gravity, floating about a foot in front of Zhao Zuo. The entire surface of the pendant suddenly animated, rippling like the surface of water.
Zhao Zuo could feel impurities being expelled from within the Clear Heart Jade, making its material purer. At the same time, the Evil Beast relief on the pendant's surface seemed to be shedding its crude exterior. It was no longer ferocious; the scales on its body became clearly visible, and the sharp horn on its head rapidly changed shape.
'Is that a Qilin?' Zhao Zuo suddenly realized the ferocious Evil Beast's appearance had completely changed. It now somewhat resembled the auspicious beast from mythology, the Qilin, though there were still slight differences in its form.
He quickly dismissed the thought and refocused his attention on the Clear Heart Jade Pendant's transformation. After the Quenching by the gray light had expelled the impurities, the jade tablet's volume had shrunk slightly. Of course, what Zhao Zuo cared about most was what kind of attributes it would have after the upgrade.
'A Middle Grade Magical Artifact increasing the efficiency of absorbing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power by about ten percent shouldn't be too much to ask for, right?'
Zhao Zuo watched the Clear Heart Jade Pendant enveloped in gray light with anticipation. The impurities had been almost completely removed, but the gray light was now changing the relief on the pendant's surface, completely stripping away its original ferocity and transforming the Evil Beast's image into that of an auspicious beast.
On second thought, it made sense. Since the jade was meant to nurture a person, it should naturally be carved with the relief of an auspicious beast, borrowing its good fortune to achieve that goal. Evil Beasts, with their ferocious appearance and potent Evil Qi, should be carved onto offensive Magical Artifacts.
As Zhao Zuo watched with hopeful eyes, the gray light gradually dissipated, and the Clear Heart Jade Pendant fell back into his palm.
....