Successfully refined?

After receiving Brother Chu’s commission the other day, I dared not neglect it in the slightest. I’ve been working overtime these past few days and have finally completed the crafting of the artifact,” Wen Yulong said, his expression tinged with excitement, though exhaustion was evident on his face.

For a cultivator who has reached the Realm of Divine Intention, even going several days without sleep only results in mild discomfort—unless one is constantly expending spiritual and physical energy while awake. Chu Liang suspected that Wen Yulong might not have slept at all these past days. The young man was truly a workaholic.

He smiled and said, “You’ve worked hard, Junior Brother Wen. Judging by your look, it must have been a success?”

“Mm!” Wen Yulong nodded emphatically, then lifted a palm-sized green leaf. “This is the very first artifact I’ve successfully crafted.”

Chu Liang took it and examined it closely.

This life-bound green leaf was already rather sturdy; now, after refinement, it was even thicker. The patterns on its surface had completely transformed, intricate arrays of complex lines carved into the blade. The arrangement and combination of these patterns were far more profound and obscure than ordinary runes, and the engravings were a hundred times more precise. Chu Liang, who had been studying talismanic scripts lately, looked upon it with genuine respect.

“Senior Brother Chu, you may test it,” Wen Yulong said.

“All right.” Chu Liang nodded.

He slowly poured true energy into the green leaf, sensing the arrays within with his spiritual consciousness, then activated them.

Whoosh—

The green leaf suddenly soared into the air, spreading flat and hovering, transforming into a large leaf a full ten feet long, resembling a floating flying carpet.

This was the first array inscribed upon it—Flight.

Chu Liang floated up and stepped onto it, feeling the firm solidity beneath his feet, as if standing on a ceramic tile.

It didn’t feel all that comfortable.

For cultivators in the same realm, using an ordinary flying artifact, the speed was typically somewhere between Wind Riding and Sword Riding. Though a bit slower than sword flight, it was much more comfortable—especially for long journeys. Having a flying artifact made travel far more pleasant.

He had imagined it would feel as soft as a sofa, but Wen Yulong had refined it to be even harder than a flying sword. Still, lacking experience was understandable in someone so young, and Chu Liang didn’t intend to nitpick over such minor flaws.

He flicked his finger, giving it a gentle command.

In the next instant, an unexpected change occurred!

Swish—

Without warning, a green radiance like a half-moon shot forth at blinding speed.

“Whoa—” Chu Liang exclaimed, tumbling head over heels and landing awkwardly.

He hadn’t jumped down of his own accord; the green leaf had shot off with such speed that he was caught completely off guard and unprepared for such a sudden burst. Unable to hold on with his true energy, he was thrown off midair.

If not for his quick reflexes, he might have made a fool of himself.

“Senior Brother Chu!” Wen Yulong cried out in alarm.

“Don’t look at me—look at it!” Chu Liang said.

That blur of green light, swift as a phantom, had already flown out of sight in an instant, slicing clean through several sturdy trees on the hillside, leaving their cross-sections smooth as glass.

The two of them hurried in pursuit, running for several miles until they reached the edge of Silver Sword Peak, where they finally spotted the massive green leaf embedded in the mountainside, still glowing faintly.

Whew, at least Chu Liang had been cautious and infused only a sliver of true energy at first. Had he poured in any more, who knows how far it might have flown? If it had crashed into something along the way, it could have spelled disaster.

Normally, one could control a flying artifact mid-flight with spiritual intent, but this green leaf moved so fast that by the time Chu Liang had been thrown to the ground, it was already beyond the range of his consciousness.

In short, its power was simply overwhelming.

It was like being given a sports car with a supercharged engine—Chu Liang had barely touched the accelerator, and suddenly his fate was left to chance.

Once he retrieved the green leaf and had it hovering before him again, Chu Liang finally breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Wen Yulong.

“Junior Brother Wen, this is…”

“Well, are you satisfied?” Wen Yulong’s eyes burned with anticipation. “I pushed the materials to their limits to maximize the power, and the array combination is the very best I could devise after much thought! You must have experienced its speed just now?”

“…” Chu Liang pursed his lips.

How exactly was he supposed to phrase this?

He couldn’t bear to dampen Wen Yulong’s enthusiasm, so he said gently, “You’re right, it’s truly impressive. I think there’s just one small issue…”

“This flying artifact… can’t actually be flown.”

“Why not?” Wen Yulong looked puzzled.

“As you just saw, I simply can’t control it…” Chu Liang tried to be as tactful as possible.

He doubted anyone at the Divine Intention realm could manage it—perhaps even those at the Golden Core realm would struggle.

“But isn’t that your problem?” Wen Yulong asked, genuinely confused.

Looking at his earnest face, Chu Liang almost felt as if the young man had a point.

But still…

This was something he’d commissioned—yet it was made so he couldn’t control it himself. No matter how you looked at it, something about that was off…

Yet there was no denying Wen Yulong’s abilities as a craftsman; the artifact’s quality far exceeded anything Chu Liang had expected. Such a level of workmanship was not typical of a commission for seventy Sword Coins.

After a moment’s thought, Wen Yulong said calmly, “With sufficient true energy cultivation at the Divine Intention stage, controlling it shouldn’t be a problem. The key is that your spiritual intent isn’t flexible enough—an important but often overlooked aspect of artifact control. If you keep up your training, Senior Brother, I’m sure you’ll soon master it.”

Well, now.

He was even encouraging him.

Chu Liang felt as if he’d tried to buy a bicycle and had been handed a helicopter instead, and told, “Just study hard, get your pilot’s license, and you’ll be able to handle it.”

Well, thanks a lot.

He could only smile and say, “Let’s try testing its defensive capabilities now.”

Fortunately, he’d requested two sets of arrays. Even if the flight function was useless, at least it had defense.

“Very well.” Wen Yulong nodded, full of expectation. “Activate the defensive array, Senior Brother Chu, and I’ll attack so you can feel its strength.”

Composing himself, Chu Liang poured his true energy into the green leaf again, activating the defensive array.

Whoosh—

A wave of green light surged forth.

His vision was filled with deep green, above, below, before, behind—he was entirely surrounded. The enormous green leaf had wrapped itself completely around him.

He tried to move, but found he was utterly immobilized unless he canceled the defense with his spiritual intent. Once enveloped, the green leaf was so hard that even with the strength of ten tigers, he could not break free.

Well, wasn’t this just wrapping himself up like a festival dumpling?

Outside, Wen Yulong seemed to be casting spells to attack, but only faint ripples of true energy could be felt within. After a moment, Chu Liang withdrew his spiritual intent, and the green leaf instantly returned to its original form.

Wen Yulong smiled. “Just now, I attacked with all my strength. I assume you didn’t feel a thing? According to my array combinations, ordinary cultivators at the fourth realm can’t even scratch it!”

Chu Liang nodded.

Indeed, the green leaf had absorbed every attack, leaving him completely unscathed inside.

However…

He hesitated and said, “Junior Brother Wen, the defense is indeed impressive. But being completely wrapped up like that… I can’t move at all.”

Wen Yulong scratched his head. “But only with total coverage can you achieve maximum defense, leaving not the slightest gap.”

“That might be a bit… too comprehensive,” Chu Liang replied, his expression complicated.

If defense was the goal, it was certainly strong.

After all, if he weren’t the artifact’s owner, he couldn’t break out from inside, much less from outside.

But he couldn’t very well wrap himself up like a dumpling every time he got into a fight, could he?

Wouldn’t that be like locking himself into a prison?

“And…” Wen Yulong added with a mysterious smile, “perhaps you haven’t realized, but these two arrays can be combined. If you ever face mortal peril, you can activate both at once and escape with ease…”

Chu Liang pictured it.

If he was wrapped up inside, he definitely couldn’t steer—he could only pour in true energy.

So, in a life-or-death situation, he’d first wrap himself up, then launch into the sky like a speeding dumpling, rocketing off in an unknown direction… like being loaded into a cannon and fired away.

Hmm.

What a novel form of execution device.