Chapter 11: Crafting Efficiency

Huo Zun emerged from his cultivation space and immediately saw eight people waiting for him in the cave—those he had met when he first arrived at Chuqi Pavilion.
Zhen Nantian, the leader of Peak Absolute Fire, even raised two fists, ready to strike Huo Zun.
Huo Zun quickly dodged by stepping aside, then said with a smile, “Fatty, why do you want to hit me out of nowhere?”
The other seven people burst into laughter, teasing Zhen Nantian with mocking looks.
Just as before at Chuqi Pavilion, Huo Zun once again ignored the dignity of this Peak Absolute Fire’s leader in front of everyone, calling him “Fatty” outright.
Zhen Nantian clenched his fists again, ready to attack, but suddenly widened his eyes in shock and exclaimed, “Huo Zun, are you already a Four-Star Human Soul Immortal?”
This statement immediately caught everyone’s attention.
“A Four-Star Human Soul Immortal…”
They all knew that when Huo Zun arrived at Tongzhou Hall a year ago, he was already a genuine One-Star Human Soul Immortal. In just one year, he had reached Four-Star status—was this even human?
Even with a cultivation space that helped him rapidly master the primal forces, it shouldn’t be possible to rise three stars at once.
Tongzhou Hall had had talented disciples before, but even they could only rise from One-Star to Three-Star Human Soul Immortals in a year within the cultivation space. For someone like Huo Zun to leap straight to Four-Star status was unprecedented across entire Zhu Yan Star, and even rare in the entire Immortal Realm.
Thus, the eight of them stared at Huo Zun as if he were a monster.
Winking, shaking their heads, tilting their bodies, pinching their thighs…
After a while, they finally sighed and admitted that Huo Zun was indeed a Four-Star Human Soul Immortal.
Huo Zun remained smiling. Once the eight calmed down, he said, “Everyone, why didn’t you craft weapons on your own peaks? Why did you all come to this cave to welcome me?”
Their expressions varied.
Zhen Nantian was overjoyed. The Huo Zun he had personally brought back was truly gifted—reaching Four-Star status in just one year. Looking ahead, he would surely break through to Human Soul Immortal soon, and then Peak Absolute Fire’s strength would naturally increase.
As for Leng Gu and the other five peak leaders, they were all extremely upset. Knowing Huo Zun’s potential, they knew he would never give it to Zhen Nantian easily.
Xiao Qiang’s eyes shone, showing his joy, but due to his master Leng Gu being present, he kept a cold expression.

“Fire Lord, I came specially to pick you up and take you back to Extreme Fire Peak. The disciples there really want to see you,” said Zhen Nantian with a smile.

Of course, Zhen Nantian’s purpose wasn’t just that. He originally wanted to see how far Fire Lord had progressed in his cultivation over a year and also inquire about his progress in learning formations.

Upon hearing Zhen Nantian’s words, the leaders of the other peaks all showed grim expressions. They had intended to lure Zhen Nantian along to mock and belittle him, only to find that Fire Lord had progressed so rapidly, which instead filled Zhen Nantian with pride.

“Fire Lord, all the disciples of Tongzhou Hall are talking about you right now. They want to see if you, a disciple who called the peak leader fat as soon as you joined the sect, will visit our peaks so that our underperforming disciples can get a glimpse of you,” said Leng Gu with a smile.

Hearing this, Fire Lord smiled faintly before saying directly, “Six peak leaders, I just came out of my cultivation space. All I want is to return to Extreme Fire Peak. I will visit your peaks in the future.”

Zhen Nantian laughed heartily, then took Fire Lord by the hand and flew away.

Leng Gu and the others watched as Zhen Nantian and Fire Lord left. Not wanting to stop them, they remained silent and flew back to their own peaks.

……

At Extreme Fire Peak, Zhen Nantian had already landed with Fire Lord.

Instead of letting Fire Lord meet the disciples, Zhen Nantian led him to his residence, where they sat down.

“Fire Lord, you’ve raised your cultivation level to Four-Star Human Soul Immortal in just one year. How did you do it?” Zhen Nantian asked anxiously.

Undoubtedly, such an astonishing speed of cultivation had always surprised Zhen Nantian.

Fire Lord smiled briefly before sighing deeply and saying gloomily, “Fat guy, I was lucky enough to find a cave dwelling that contained a space ring. Besides a large amount of Origin Stones, there were also two Immortal Stones—Warmth Stone and Sprout Stone. The reason I came to Tongzhou Hall was to use its cultivation space to rapidly advance my cultivation level.”

The Immortal Realm also contained various treasures of the world. Stones like the Warmth Stone and Sprout Stone could help one quickly comprehend the powers of warmth and growth.

Fire Lord deliberately revealed this information to cover up his abnormal cultivation speed and prevent the people of Tongzhou Hall from suspecting anything.

Upon hearing this, Zhen Nantian thought for a moment before nodding and smiling. “I see. In your cultivation space, with the help of the Wenhan Stone and Tengya Stone, you quickly grasped the power of warmth and momentum. Then, relying on your own strength, you mastered the power of ascent, which allowed you to raise your cultivation to a Four-Star Eight-Soul Immortal.”
The Fire Venerable nodded with a smile.
Whether Zhen Nantian believed it or not, since no one else had any evidence, the Fire Venerable planned to use this excuse to brush others off.
Zhen Nantian smiled, unsure whether he believed the Fire Venerable’s explanation. Suddenly, he asked again, “Fire Venerable, did you learn all the formation spells in that year in your cultivation space?”
This was what Zhen Nantian really wanted to know.
Hearing this, the Fire Venerable immediately took out the twenty formation jade slips and threw them all at Zhen Nantian, saying with a smile, “Fatty, to be honest, these formation spells in the jade slips are way too simple. I learned them all after just one look.”
Zhen Nantian was shocked. He stared at the Fire Venerable carefully and saw no sign of lying, so he began to believe it.
“Fire Venerable, did you really learn all these formation spells in just one year? You’re not lying to me, are you?” Zhen Nantian shouted.
It was impossible for an ordinary disciple to master these twenty formation spells in less than a hundred years. Even if the Fire Venerable were exceptionally talented and could learn them in a year, Zhen Nantian still found it hard to believe.
The Fire Venerable only smiled and didn’t respond.
Zhen Nantian was puzzled, not sure what the lack of response meant.
“Fire Venerable, say something! Did you learn these formation spells or not? If not, it’s okay. I won’t blame you. I can give you another year,” Zhen Nantian said with a determined expression.
Sighing, the Fire Venerable looked at Zhen Nantian with disdain and suddenly shouted, “Fatty, will you ever stop? I already said I learned them all. Why don’t you believe me?”
Zhen Nantian was stunned for a while, his mind in chaos. He now had no idea how this Fire Venerable, who was only a Four-Star Human Soul Immortal, dared to shout at him, a higher-ranking Soul Immortal. What did he have to back himself on?
“Hmph! Just because you say you learned them, I’ll believe you? Do you think I’m stupid? Fine, I’ll pick one of the formation spells at random. Explain to me everything about it—its patterns, core points, material structure, and so on. If you can’t explain it, I’ll lock you up for ten or even a hundred years!” Zhen Nantian retorted angrily.

Fire Lord spread his hands, smiled, and said directly, “There’s no need for a test. I’ll tell you right now how to boost the crafting efficiency of our Juehuo Peak, so that we can rank among the top three in Tongzhou Hall for our crafting tasks.”
During the year spent in the cultivation space, the God of Tools not only helped Qu Yi explain all the formations in the twenty formation jade slips but also assisted him in devising a method to greatly improve Juehuo Peak’s crafting efficiency. Naturally, Fire Lord was also aware of these methods.
When Zhen Nantian heard this, he was even more astonished. Could it be that Fire Lord had not only learned the formations but also evolved to the point of being able to develop new ones on his own? He had struck gold. At this moment, Zhen Nantian felt extremely lucky, his heart filled with warmth.
“Fire Lord, what method can you use to help our Juehuo Peak improve its crafting efficiency?” Zhen Nantian asked immediately.
Of course, Zhen Nantian’s purpose in approaching Fire Lord was to hope that one day Fire Lord could help Juehuo Peak greatly improve its performance in sect tasks. Now that he had heard Fire Lord’s words, he no longer cared whether Fire Lord had learned the formations and quickly pressed for specific methods to boost efficiency.
Fire Lord then smiled and said, “Fat guy, right now, for crafting at Juehuo Peak, one person is in charge of the entire process, which is a huge waste. Crafting involves first tempering the materials, then shaping them, followed by forming the formation, and finally quenching them. Fat guy, tell me, which of these stages takes the longest time?”
Zhen Nantian replied immediately, “Need I say? It’s obviously the stage of forming the formation. It’s difficult to insert the formation at the right time while ensuring it’s fully embedded in the artifact core. If it fails, the entire artifact core is wasted.”
Fire Lord nodded. For tempering materials, Juehuo Peak already had a Ziye Tianhu Cave, so it was easy to temper the materials. Shaping the materials into artifact cores was also simple—just by continuously providing immortal energy, an artifact core could be formed. Quenching was easy as well; just good spiritual water was needed.
Only forming the formation was the most troublesome part for craftsmen.
Fire Lord smiled and said to Zhen Nantian, “Fat guy, this is the key. As long as we can make forming the formation easy, our Juehuo Peak’s crafting efficiency will naturally improve greatly.”
Zhen Nantian looked at Fire Lord excitedly, eyes wide, eager for further explanation, and urged, “Fire Lord, stop keeping me in suspense. Tell me quickly.”

Fire Venerable chuckled.