Free Web NovelChapter 272: Chapter 223: Artifact Refining Skill Becomes Proficient, News of the High-Energy Particle Melting Furnace
He was curious to see just how far Han Feng could go.
Han Feng ignored Zhao Yu, who was watching from the side. His entire focus was now on the "practice" ahead.
He tossed a piece of heat-resistant alloy from a "Judge" missile and a piece of Tier One "Lapis Lazuli" into the furnace.
"Activate!"
Blinding arcs of electricity flared to life again.
The two materials rapidly melted, forming two pools of differently colored liquid.
"Fuse."
Guided by Han Feng’s Divine Sense, the two liquids slowly made contact, swirling as they attempted to fuse.
HISS!
A puff of green smoke emerged. The fusion had failed.
The Lapis Lazuli’s Spiritual Power structure had been destroyed by the high temperature, reducing it to a pool of useless slag.
[Ding! Artifact Refining Proficiency +3]
Han Feng, his face expressionless, ejected the slag and tossed a new piece of material inside.
[Ding! Artifact Refining Proficiency +8]
On his third try, the materials fused successfully. However, while he was inscribing the Rune, one of the nodes had an unstable energy output, causing the entire array to collapse instantly.
[Ding! Artifact Refining Proficiency +10]
...
Zhao Yu went from feeling a pang of pain for the waste, to becoming numb, and finally, he just grabbed a chair to sit and watch the show.
He realized that Han Feng was an absolute fanatic.
Even when a finished piece looked perfectly fine to him, meeting the standards of a military-issue weapon, in Han Feng’s eyes, it was still "scrap."
The pile of "trash" in the scrap bin grew higher and higher.
Zhao Yu quietly did the math. The cost of the materials and electricity burned through in just these past few hours was probably enough to buy a used Hovercar.
’Is this the financial might of an A Level Student?’
’Absolutely terrifying.’
...
By the time Han Feng reached his tenth attempt, his forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat, the drain on his Spiritual Power immense.
’Almost there...’
He gritted his teeth, his Divine Sense focused with extreme intensity as he guided the last wisp of Sword Essence. Inside the partially-formed dagger, he began to trace the final node of the [Sharpness] Rune.
Just at the moment of imminent success, his concentration lapsed, and the output of his Sword Essence paused for a hundredth of a second.
VMMM!
The entire Rune structure instantly destabilized, and the just-stabilized flow of energy erupted.
The tenth attempt.
[Rune Construction (Proficient) Skill Proficiency +10]
[Ding! Artifact Refining Proficiency +15]
’Eleventh time.’
He mobilized his Divine Sense again. This time, his movements were as fluid as flowing water, possessing an indescribable rhythm.
As the final stroke fell into place, the liquid metal in the furnace trembled and emitted a soft, jade-like glow.
At that exact moment...
[Ding! Host’s Skill [Artifact Refining] Skill Proficiency has reached (100/100). Level has increased to: Proficient (1/1000)]
[Skill Implantation beginning...]
A vast and pure stream of information instantly flooded into his Sea of Consciousness.
It was no longer the basic, individual Rune knowledge from [Rune Initial Understanding], but the principles of how to combine and nest different Runes to form small Rune Arrays.
The Runes, which had once been mere independent symbols in his eyes, now seemed like building blocks that could be combined at will.
The [Solid] Rune could be combined with the [Light Spirit] Rune to form the "tenacity" Trait.
The [Sharpness] Rune could be nested with the [Armor-Piercing] Rune to unleash even greater Penetration Power.
There were even some auxiliary Runes he had never seen before, such as [Silence], [Concealing Breath], and [Refraction]...
This knowledge wasn’t the result of rote memorization. Instead, it was like an innate instinct, branded deep within his very soul.
Han Feng’s eyes snapped open, a flash of understanding passing through them.
’So that’s how it works!’
He looked at the re-melted pool of liquid in the furnace. This time, he had a completely new approach.
He took out two more items from his Void Stone.
One was a fragment from the shell of a captured "Ghost" drone, which had a special coating that could absorb radar waves.
The other was a piece of Profound Iron Essence he had obtained from a Secret Realm.
A rare ore that was naturally highly attuned to Energy.
’You’re the ones.’
Han Feng tossed both items into the furnace.
This time, he didn’t try to crudely force them to fuse as he had before.
He used his Divine Sense to guide the Energy of the Profound Iron Essence, transforming it into countless gentle streams that slowly enveloped the "Ghost" drone’s coating material, penetrating and merging with it on a molecular level.
Soon, Han Feng’s brow furrowed.
The Superconducting Arc Furnace’s power was already proving insufficient for smelting the Tier Three Top Grade Profound Iron Essence.
The furnace’s internal temperature was barely reaching the material’s melting point. The molten metal was as viscous as a bog, making it extremely difficult to control with his Divine Sense. The consumption was more than three times higher than he had anticipated.
’I have to finish this quickly!’
Han Feng’s gaze sharpened. With unprecedented precision, the Spiritual Power in his Sea of Consciousness guided his Sword Essence deep into the scorching liquid.
A [Solid] Rune was the first to form.
Immediately following that, a more structurally complex [Sharpness] Rune was superimposed on top of it.
Finally, Han Feng cleverly embedded the [Silence] Rune he had just mastered into the gaps between the Energy nodes of the first two Runes.
As the final node closed...
"Solidify!"
Han Feng abruptly cut the power while simultaneously pushing the cooling system to its maximum output.
PSSSHHH—!
A thick cloud of white mist instantly erupted, completely engulfing the observation window.
When the white mist cleared, a uniformly dark gray dagger hovered silently in the air.
It didn’t reflect any light, like a miniature black hole that devoured all light around it.
Its design was minimalist to the extreme, yet it exuded a chilling killing intent capable of freezing one’s very soul.
Zhao Yu, watching from the side, felt his own carotid artery begin to throb just from a single glance.
