"Focus all of your mana without distraction," Xi Ying reminded him again.
Although Yuan Ming was puzzled, he sensed the urgency in the emotional shift and knew something unexpected must have arisen.
He immediately steadied his mind and concentrated on funneling his mana into the casting furnace little by little.
The Extreme Cold Rune on the Green Fish Sword gradually illuminated as it was permeated by both spiritual power and mana, and finally lit up completely.
But just then, an abrupt change occurred.
The enriching of the Extreme Cold Rune, now completed, seemed to spiral out of control. Its snowy light grew increasingly bright, and a wave of bitter cold spread instantaneously, suppressing the Gathering Spirit Formation and causing the temperature in the casting furnace to plummet.
If it hadn't been for the timely addition of spirit stones just before, the entire Gathering Spirit Formation would likely have failed in that instant.
"Damn," Yuan Ming cursed to himself.
At that moment, he had no time for any other reaction but to operate the Nine Elements Technique with all his might, transferring his mana into the Green Fish Sword in an effort to keep the enriching process from halting.
If interrupted now, not only would the Green Fish Sword fail to advance to a magic artifact, but the unconnected runes could also cause an imbalance of spiritual power within the sword, leading to a catastrophic loss of control and shattering of the weapon.
Just then, Yuan Ming felt a warm current rise behind him, quickly turning searing hot.
Before he could turn around, he saw a line of fire surge forth, grazing past him and plunging into the casting furnace.
The intense flames brought a scorching heat, clashing against the wintry aura emitted by the runes, instantly stabilizing the temperature of the casting furnace and preserving the teetering Gathering Spirit Formation.
Seeing that it was Huo Chan'er blowing her cheeks to continuously spew flames into the furnace, Yuan Ming was overjoyed.
He had only brought the little creature along to look after it and had not expected it to play such a crucial role at a critical moment.
Yuan Ming didn't dare to be distracted and seized the opportunity with Huo Chan'er's help to hasten the completion of the enriching process.
Fortunately, the enriching of the Gale Rune was much faster than the Extreme Cold Rune, and before Yuan Ming's mana was exhausted and Huo Chan'er ran out of strength, they finally achieved their goal.
At the instant of completing the enriching, the two linked runes lit up together, yet no anomalies occurred; in fact, the once emanating cold aura was now entirely retracted.
The entire Green Fish Sword seemed to have been instantly subdued, receding all its sharpness.
By that point, Yuan Ming's whole body was drenched in sweat, and he collapsed on the ground, completely drained.
A short distance behind him, Huo Chan'er also lay on the ground, tilting its head, panting with its tongue out, its abdomen inflating and deflating dramatically—obviously, it too was greatly spent and weary.
Barely managing to get up, Yuan Ming took out three or four Fire Crystal Stones and a piece of Fire Jade; after a moment's thought, he also produced a Fire Jade Marrow and placed it at Huo Chan'er's mouth.
The little creature's eyes lit up, but it didn't eat immediately, instead continuing to catch its breath to recover its strength.
Seeing this, Yuan Ming felt a bit embarrassed, patted Huo Chan'er's head, and then stood up to go to the casting furnace, taking out the now-renewed Green Fish Sword.
His eyes fixed on the runes of the Green Fish Sword, he poured his thoughts into it, and his vision suddenly blurred, giving him the fleeting illusion of a white whirlwind sweeping past.
Yuan Ming was delighted. He had heard from his senior brother Mu He about such occurrences before.
A magical tool rune that had undergone enriching now had the basic attribute of channeling nature's spiritual energy when invested with a divine soul and enough concentrated divine thought, allowing one to see the respective elemental phenomena.
"Give it a try," Xi Ying's voice came through.
Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming nodded, then suddenly realized with a start, "You can talk?"
Previously, his mind was preoccupied with enriching the sword, and he had assumed the voice was coming from his Sea of Consciousness. It wasn't until that moment that he realized it was actually coming from the silver cat's mouth.
"I've been able to talk for a while now, what's so surprising about that?" Xi Ying gave him an unimpressed look.
"Then why didn't you speak before?" Yuan Ming asked, puzzled.
"Wouldn't it be troublesome if others heard my voice? Are you always this slow-witted? There's no one else around here anyway," Xi Ying replied.
"No big deal, it's just that your spoken voice sounds different from what I heard in my Sea of Consciousness," Yuan Ming said with a smile.
"Different how?" Xi Ying immediately asked, clearly concerned about the response to this question.
"The voice that comes out is more real, pleasant, and nicer to listen to," Yuan Ming thought for a moment before responding.
Xi Ying seemed very pleased with Yuan Ming's answer.
"I feel like the way you talk has become nicer recently too," after saying so, Xi Ying realized Yuan Ming had already lowered his head to study the newly refined Green Fish Sword and mumbled to itself in a voice only it could hear, "Horrible sounding, speaking with Guoguo's mouth, how can it sound nice with a miaowing tone?"
The newly refined artifact naturally did not require further refining; Yuan Ming grasped the hilt in one hand, with mana flowing through the sword handle.
The runes on the blade lit up, and, simultaneously, the Yin Jade embedded along the blade began to gleam as well, like solitary cold stars reflected upon green river waters.
An aura of cold instantly spread, causing the temperature inside the entire cave to rapidly decrease, as if stepping into deep winter.
Yuan Ming casually swung a sword flourish, lifted the blade, and slashed towards the cliff face ahead.
A streak of white Sword Qi shot out from the edge of the blade in an instant, striking the cliff three zhang away in the blink of an eye.
The sound of rocks breaking echoed as a white fissure appeared on the steadfast cliff.
Yuan Ming stepped forward to inspect the damage and saw that the fissure was a good three feet long and a foot deep, with a layer of white ice crystals that showed no sign of melting even after a long while.
"Judging solely by the state of the stone wall, it's hard to say for certain, but your magic sword's power probably approaches that of a top-grade magical tool. Even if it falls short, it's by a very thin margin," Xi Ying's voice came from behind him.
"A top-grade magical tool? But it only has two runes, doesn't it?" Yuan Ming said, surprised.
"That's why I said it's infinitely close, not that it is one," Xi Ying replied.
Yuan Ming glanced at the long sword in his hand, then back at the mark on the wall, a pleased smile appearing on his face.
When he had been enriching the sword earlier, he had used up a lot of Mana, and he hadn't even used his full strength during the sword testing; the Green Fish Sword's true power hadn't been fully unleashed yet.
"The quality of the materials used for the sword is one reason for its power; the amplification brought on by the Extreme Cold Rune is another. And of course, there's its contribution," Xi Ying said, glancing at Huo Chan'er nearby.
The little one had regained some strength and was immediately back to eating voraciously, crunching on the Fire Crystal Stone as sparks flew in all directions.
Seeing this brought a deeper smile to Yuan Ming's face, though he felt a tinge of regret knowing that Huo Chan'er belonged to the Three Cave Masters and would have to be returned at any time.
He held the sword horizontally in front of him, looking at the scattering of starlight on its surface, and furrowed his eyebrows.
"Now that it's a magical tool, I feel like the name 'Green Fish Sword' doesn't sound right. Xi Ying, why don't you come up with a name for the sword?" Yuan Ming turned to look at Xi Ying and asked. This соntеnt оriginаtеs frоm М1VLЕМРYR, Мy Virtuаl Librаry Еmpirе.
He actually already had a name in mind, but to show his appreciation for the silver cat's help, he wanted it to name the sword.
"The sword's cold gleam shimmers like a frost-covered star, call it the Cold Star Sword," Xi Ying said after a brief pause.
Yuan Ming responded, "What a coincidence; we're on the same wavelength. I was thinking the same thing."
In truth, the name he had thought of was the two characters for 'Frost.'
But the name Xi Ying had chosen, even without the poetic phrasing, conjured an image of a 'lonely cold star in the night' that fit his sword perfectly.
"Lying through your teeth, you're just humoring me," Xi Ying leaped onto the casting furnace and looked at Yuan Ming, remarking.
"Not at all, we really did think alike. Xi Ying, which country's poem did that line come from?" Yuan Ming quickly shook his head and asked.
At his words, Xi Ying's striking eyes closed slightly, and their gaze grew dim.
Seeing this, Yuan Ming knew he had spoken out of turn and upset Xi Ying, and without the ability to voice his comfort, he fell silent beside her.
Fortunately, the silver cat's mood soon lifted, though it no longer paid attention to Yuan Ming.
After sheathing the Cold Star Sword, Yuan Ming sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes in meditation, circulating the Nine Elements Technique to recover his Mana.
The next day, at dawn.
With his Mana restored, Yuan Ming rose feeling refreshed to find Silver Cat Xi Ying sprawled on the casting furnace, though Huo Chan'er was nowhere to be seen; he immediately inquired about it.
"The little thing took off after it had its fill," Xi Ying said, sounding disinterested.
"We need to return to the Sect soon. In a few days, I'll have to go out again," Yuan Ming said.
Xi Ying looked at him, her gaze showing curiosity.
"It's just a brief outing; I shouldn't be gone for more than a few days, and I'll be back soon," Yuan Ming explained.
He estimated that participating in a Scatter Alliance mission wouldn't take too much time.
"What will you be doing?" To his surprise, Xi Ying pressed for details.
Yuan Ming thought it over and decided to share the details of the Scatter Alliance mission with her.
After listening, Xi Ying remarked, "Killing the Snake King, huh? Sounds fun. That creature is full of treasures, what a pity. I'm at a critical point in my cultivation and can't join you."
Actually, Yuan Ming didn't feel disappointed that Xi Ying wasn't going.
Deep down, he couldn't fully trust those in the Scatter Alliance, but if he constantly needed others' help, how would he ever make his mark in the Cultivation World?
After a short period of rest, Yuan Ming prepared to leave, his gaze falling once more on the casting furnace.
He had wanted to take the casting furnace with him last time as well, but he hadn't managed to do so due to the Array on the ground.
This time, knowing that there was a Gathering Spirit Formation on the casting furnace, Yuan Ming was even less willing to give it up.
"If you destroy the Array on the ground, you can move the casting furnace," Xi Ying immediately saw through his intention and said.
"A man, long trapped, upon finding a treasure mountain, often wishes to scrape it bare to the ground," Xi Ying glanced at Yuan Ming, her words a precise tease.
Yuan Ming continued to examine the Rune Array on the floor, ignoring Xi Ying's mocking tone.
He studied the Rune Array meticulously, memorizing the curvature and connections of every line until he flicked his wrist and pulled out the Cold Star Sword.
The next moment, cold air surged from the Cold Star Sword, and as its blade sliced across the ground, the Array crumbled instantaneously.
Then, with a gentle wave of his hand over the casting furnace, Yuan Ming swallowed it up whole into his bag.