The Demonic Cultivator In Zombie World

Chapter 243: Merit has no use, after all. Isn’t it all about my artifact-refining talent?

With Four-Arms, a Ghost King wielding four lifebound ghost artifacts, attacking a major city of the Slaughter Faction was simply unstoppable.

Chu Xuan had imparted to Four-Arms a soul technique called the "Hidden Soul Method" to conceal his aura. This technique, a skill from the Husbandry Faction, could slightly alter the soul's form.

Four-Arms' arms were thus disguised to look indistinguishable from those of the Husbandry Faction's specters.

Chu Xuan had also instructed Four-Arms to deliberately let a few Slaughter Faction specters escape. This way, the news would spread. The minds of the Slaughter Faction's specters were more single-minded compared to those of the Husbandry Faction. They believed their only significant enemy was the Husbandry Faction, thinking that if they could eliminate them, Soul Star would be theirs.

Now, with a major city of their faction destroyed, they would undoubtedly blame the Husbandry Faction, further intensifying the conflict.

Days later, Chu Xuan was by the Ice Soul Formation, continuing his cultivation of soul techniques. He received a message from Soul One.

"Master, the Slaughter Faction's specters have learned that a major city has been destroyed, and they are all furious. Only a few advocate for investigation; most are claiming they will immediately launch a massive attack on the Husbandry Faction. Some have already started taking action without a second word."

Chu Xuan nodded slightly. The situation was unfolding exactly as he had planned. Next, he only needed to watch as the Slaughter and Husbandry factions fought each other to the death. If the Ghost Kings from both sides died in direct conflict, the situation would escalate even further.

Eventually, the Slaughter Faction's Slaughter King and the Husbandry Faction's Greedy King would have to step in to clean up the mess.

By then, Chu Xuan would truly understand the strengths of these two Kings. His own accumulated power would be considerably formidable by that point, and striking like thunder at that moment would not be too late.

"I've been on Soul Star for some time now; the Spirit Mechanism Formation should have yielded some results, right?" Chu Xuan didn't recall that part of his soul. Instead, he immediately rose, steering the Imperial Sky Mirror towards the Spirit Mechanism Formation.

Before long, he hovered over the Spirit Mechanism Formation, looking down at the array filled with shriveled heads. The Spirit Mechanism Formation only refined the heads; other parts of the body were not needed. The parts below the heads were put to full use. These torsos were transported by corpse puppets to other formations and transformed into large blood pearls.

At this moment, Chu Xuan fixed his gaze and discovered that among the layers of heads in the formation, some were now emitting a jade-like radiance, the fluid slowly solidifying into shape.

Stretching out his hand, he used his spiritual consciousness to retrieve a piece of Spirit Mechanism Jade, gripping it tightly in his hand. At a glance, the Spirit Mechanism Jade was a piece of translucent stone, exuding a faint fragrance. Sniffing it closely, it even seemed to make one's thoughts sharper and more focused.

Chu Xuan recalled from the archives of the Myriad Souls Sect that carrying this item over time could significantly speed up a cultivator's comprehension of various techniques and scriptures—a truly rare treasure.

However, the method of its creation was deemed excessively cruel and thus shunned by righteous cultivators. Of course, while they might verbally reject it, whether they used it or not was another matter entirely. The cruelty of its creation was the creator's burden, not the user's.

"The materials needed to refine the Acquired Miraculous Jade are now complete," Chu Xuan thought. "I could begin the refining process now, but given the high grade of this item and True Master Tianqing's specific mention that it has a substantial chance of success, I prefer to be patient. I will wait until there is more Spirit Mechanism Jade before I proceed with the refining."

Chu Xuan was not one to rush for quick success. The Spirit Mechanism Formation was set and unthreatened by others' interference. He decided to calm his mind and prepare the materials needed for upgrading other magic treasures.

His lifebound magic treasures like the Evil Soul Chain, Blood Beehive, and Sky-Shielding Umbrella all required enhancements, particularly the Evil Soul Chain, which had been with him for a long time and was extremely handy.

Currently residing in the Myriad Souls Sect, apart from completing tasks assigned by the Elder of Myriad Souls, Chu Xuan had little else to distract him. The Elder's tasks typically involved capturing living souls, demanding at least two hundred thousand at a time.

To be safe, Chu Xuan often sourced these souls from zombies on Blue Star to fulfill these tasks. Each completion left him with considerable free time, which he now intended to use to upgrade his magic treasures.

Originally, the Evil Soul Chain was a mid-grade magic tool. Over time, after integrating substantial amounts of Ghost Evil Steel, it evolved into a top-tier magic tool.

Now, Chu Xuan aimed to elevate it straight to the ranks of high-grade magic treasures. The materials required for this were extensive, most of which could be purchased, except for the rare Blood Resentment Black Steel.

Blood Resentment Black Steel could only be created by watering fine steel with the blood of mortals who died violently—a process necessitating slaughter. Such violent deaths imbued the metal with deep resentment.

While such acts accumulated significant karmic debts, even if high-level cultivators commanded lower-level ones to perform these deeds, the karma would still affect the higher-level cultivators. Thus, the production of Blood Resentment Black Steel had long been lost to time, with few daring to defy the world's censure to craft it.

However, Chu Xuan relied solely on his own efforts. Fortunately, he still held a small advantage: the vast Blue Star was overrun with zombies. Producing Blood Resentment Black Steel was merely a matter of time.

Two years later, Chu Xuan had managed to acquire ten jin of Blood Resentment Black Steel, successfully upgrading the Evil Soul Chain to a high-grade magic treasure.

The spirit within the chain, Huikong, had also made significant advancements. Previously, although Huikong possessed some intelligence, it wasn't particularly bright, requiring Chu Xuan to divide some of his mental energy to control it.

But now, it could fight autonomously, freeing Chu Xuan from the need to manage it directly. This meant that Chu Xuan could control yet another magic treasure simultaneously—bringing the total to five.

When Chu Xuan returned to the Spirit Mechanism Formation, he was pleased to nod in satisfaction. The formation had accumulated four pieces of Spirit Mechanism Jade.

This quantity was sufficient. Even if the success rate was low, a one in four chance should be enough to succeed. If it didn't work out, he could always blame it on merit—how could so much accumulated merit not pay off? Surely, a bit of complaining would make it effective.

After a day of calming his mind and steadying his emotions, Chu Xuan began the process of refining the Acquired Miraculous Jade. Following the attempt, he immediately discovered that the success rate was not just low—it was terrifyingly low!

True Master Tianqing's comments about the low success rate were an understatement. True Master Tianqing must have had an extraordinary talent in artifact refining to succeed at making it. Chu Xuan's own talent in artifact crafting, he realized, simply couldn't compare to that of Master Tianqing.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Chu Xuan, Chu Xuan, use your invincible merit to find a way!" he muttered to himself after failing twice consecutively. Taking a few deep breaths, he started the process again. This time, he succeeded.

Moments later, Chu Xuan looked at the pure white Acquired Miraculous Jade in front of him and flashed a confident smile.

"Merit has no use, after all. Isn't it all about my artifact-refining talent?"