Translator: AnubisTL
Jieming temporarily suppressed the myriad thoughts swirling in his mind and turned his attention to another matter.
During the final moments of refining the Profound Astral Red Dust Barrier, the dazzling light that shattered the boundary between reality and illusion had presented him with an opportunity to reforge his lifebound magical treasure.
The Light of Creation—the last core material needed to reforge the Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror.
The materials required for reforging the Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror were not complicated, consisting of various other conceptual materials of light.
Jieming had long since gathered all the other materials, but he had remained completely clueless about the most crucial one: the Light of Creation.
It wasn't until the moment the Profound Astral Red Dust Barrier erupted in light upon its completion that Jieming finally gained insight.
The so-called "Light of Creation" represented the instant of transition from nothingness to existence—the primordial light of life's first sprout. It could only be perceived and captured during moments of extreme energy convergence.
Though the Profound Astral Red Dust Barrier had a simple manufacturing process, its materials were far from common. This was precisely why it could erupt in the Light of Creation upon its formation.
With a thought, the Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror, which had been quietly suspended deep within his dantian, immediately responded and emerged.
After years of meticulous refining, the magic artifact had shed its initial ostentatious appearance. It now resembled an ordinary, antique bronze mirror, appearing utterly unremarkable.
"The Light of Creation has been obtained. It seems this is your destined opportunity," Jieming murmured, gazing at the bronze mirror.
The ancient bronze mirror responded with a faint glow, as if also expressing its delight.
Due to the unique conceptual materials used in its creation, the Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror inherently possessed a duality of existence, bridging the realms of the tangible and the ethereal.
Its true core was a cohesive aggregate of light-based concepts.
This peculiar composition allowed it to be continuously refined through a special artifact refinement technique known as "revolution."
Each "revolution" resulted in a significant enhancement of the artifact's quality and power.
One refinement was considered one "revolution," two refinements made it two "revolutions," and the higher the number of revolutions, the more formidable the artifact became.
Throughout the years, Jieming had never relaxed his efforts in refining the Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror.
Every day, Jieming nourished the magic artifact with his pure true essence. Periodically, he carefully manipulated the Mortal Dust Qi to repeatedly refine its spirituality.
These years of effort not only made the Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror more compatible with his soul but also raised its spirituality to the standard required for bearing higher-level concepts and undergoing its first "revolution."
Immortal cultivation relies on opportunity. Seeing that the moment was ripe, Jieming, after recovering some true essence, sat cross-legged again, suspending the Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror before him.
He took a deep breath, calmed his mind, and entered a transcendent state of artifact forging.
Mental power surged like a tide, completely enveloping the magic artifact.
"Disperse!"
He shouted softly, his fingers tracing complex talisman seal arrays in the void.
These talisman seals, directly etched into the void, shimmered with light and resonated with the Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror.
Guided by the mental power and talisman seals, the Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror began to hum and vibrate. The bronze mirror's form gradually blurred and distorted.
Finally, with a soft pop, the bronze mirror's outer form completely dissolved into the air, leaving only the five core strands of pure rainbow light floating before Jieming.
This was the first step: shedding the physical form to retain only its essence.
Next came the reshaping.
Jieming produced various light concepts he had prepared in advance and cast them toward the rainbow-colored streams of light.
Under the control of the artifact refinement incantation, the core of the Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror began to split and reassemble.
Soon, the new materials were absorbed by the core's rainbow light, and the entire mass of light rapidly condensed into the shape of a mirror under Jieming's manipulation.
Yet no matter how he condensed it, the light stubbornly refused to regain its form and substance.
Now came the most crucial step.
Jieming carefully guided the Light of Creation—accidentally captured during the refining of the Profound Astral Red Dust Barrier—to the center of the mirror-like mass of light.
The Light of Creation, carrying the miraculous essence of bringing something from nothing, began to fuse with the core's light concepts.
However, the fusion process was far from smooth.
Each light concept possessed its own unique properties, creating both attraction and repulsion between them.
The original Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror had contained five light concepts. Now, with Jieming's additions, the number of concepts had doubled, intensifying their mutual conflicts.
As the Light of Creation merged, the five clusters of light concepts began to tremble violently, their radiance flickering as if on the verge of collapse.
Jieming's true essence and mental power were being consumed at a frantic pace. He continuously adjusted the rune array, maintaining energy balance and using his will to resolve the conceptual conflicts, guiding them toward fusion.
Fortunately, having successfully refined it once before, the process wasn't overly difficult.
"Fuse!" Jieming roared, pressing the last trace of the Light of Creation inward.
In an instant, the five light concepts violently contracted, then, drawing on the central point of the Light of Creation, erupted in an unprecedentedly brilliant radiance!
Jieming's eyes lit up as he freed one hand to perform a magic incantation toward the radiant light.
Guided by the incantation, another cluster of the same Light of Creation quickly condensed in his hand.
This was the terrifying power of conceptual material—it could fully self-produce and even grow from nothing.
With this cluster of the Light of Creation, gathering materials for the second revolution became significantly easier.
As the light gradually faded, the ancient bronze mirror slowly reappeared.
Jieming felt a wave of exhaustion. Though the refining process hadn't been particularly long, the mental toll was immense.
Looking at the Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror floating in his palm, a smile of pure joy spread across his face.
"First revolution... success!"
He recalled the mirror, and it once again merged into his body, perfectly aligning with his soul.
He could clearly sense a qualitative transformation within the magic artifact.
The most significant enhancement after the first revolution was a dramatic improvement in its escape capabilities.
After briefly playing with the Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror, Jieming eagerly set off for the Purgatory Sulfur Plane.
"This... this will do..."
After studying the survey maps provided by the "construction team" for a long time, Jieming finally selected a location near a lava lake as his testing site.
The vast, creature-free area made it ideal for testing.
Closing his eyes, Jieming communed with the Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror, sensing more specific information.
Beyond the basic enhancements to his abilities, the Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror gained a crucial new advantage after its first revolution: a vital safeguard!
Jieming received information through the mirror indicating that he could now create an energy shield around himself using other methods before initiating Light Transformation.
Though these shields would also undergo Light Transformation during the process, merging into the light that transformed his body, they would reform and remain intact after his physical form solidified.
This meant that when he needed to use Light Transformation to escape in the future, he would no longer be completely vulnerable. Instead, he would have an extra layer of protection during the fragile period immediately following the transformation.
At critical moments, this shield could buy him precious time, preventing enemies from exploiting his weakened state.
This was undoubtedly a monumental improvement!
Without hesitation, Jieming pulled out a fourth-tier magical artifact and cast a shield around himself. He then condensed his true essence and activated the mirror's Light Transformation ability.
"Light Transformation!"
His body instantly dissolved into pure light, crossing the lava lake at a speed far exceeding human perception.
Jieming could sense that his current Light Transformation state was more stable, meaning he could maintain it for longer while consuming the same amount of true essence.
Boom!
The Light Transformation ended in an instant, and Jieming plummeted straight into a volcano, shattering its cliff face and plunging into the molten lava below.
Rumble...
The extreme stimulation caused the already volatile volcano to erupt without surprise.
Billowing black smoke and searing lava surged from the fissure Jieming had created, adding more dust to the already polluted air of the Purgatory Sulfur Plane.
After a moment of submersion, a hand emerged from the lava lake and gripped the nearby rock face.
Jieming slowly climbed out of the lava, leaning against the rock face. His energy shield flickered intermittently, with molten rock dripping down its surface.
"Sigh... I celebrated too soon."
Ignoring the intense heat radiating from below, Jieming sat down on the volcano's rim and sighed at his flickering energy shield.
He should have realized earlier that Light Transformation, a function of the Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror, must have a "power output" like any other ability.
As his lifebound magical treasure, and one that had only just undergone its first revolution as a foundation establishment realm cultivator, maintaining a fourth-tier shield was indeed pushing it too far.
During the Light Transformation process, the energy of Jieming's fourth-tier shield dissipated almost completely. When it reformed, it barely managed to maintain its structural integrity.
"It seems the maximum shield level I can maintain during Light Transformation is two. Anything higher not only compromises the shield's stability but also reduces the duration of the Light Transformation itself."
Feeling a pang of greed, Jieming couldn't help but shake his head. "Never mind. When I need to use the Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror to escape, it's usually a life-or-death situation. I can't afford to be picky. The priority is to flee as far as possible, and in that regard, the improvement is significant."
According to Jieming's calculations, if the energy interference from the fourth-tier shield hadn't occurred, his Light Transformation could have lasted a fraction of a second longer.
Compared to before its refinement, the first-revolution Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror doubled the duration of Light Transformation for the same amount of true essence and mental power. This meant Jieming's escape distance had also doubled.
Normally, a cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Realm could use Light Transformation to instantly leap a thousand li. Doubling that distance meant even a third-tier creature would be unable to catch up.
"I never expected body cultivation to have such a surprising benefit. As expected of a method specialized in offense, a body cultivator's resilience to negative status effects is truly extraordinary."
Jieming felt the hollow emptiness of his depleted true essence and the throbbing pain in his brain from his drained mental power. He clenched his fist, a flicker of astonishment in his eyes.
Suddenly, he turned toward the rock face he was leaning against and struck it with his fist.
Boom!!
The slightly calmed volcano erupted again, its power exploding from the mountain's core. A figure burst through the molten rock and rock face.
Splash...
The figure landed, scattering the dense lava like water.
Without any defenses, standing bare-bodied in the flowing lava, Jieming gazed at his body with exhilaration.
Jieming never imagined that body cultivation would offer such a benefit.
His formidable physique prevented him from collapsing after the Light Transformation, unlike in previous tests where his limbs would go limp and leave him defenseless.
Though his mental power and true essence were depleted, his robust physical constitution allowed him to remain standing and even engage in basic self-defense. This effectively provided him with a dual layer of protection.
As Jieming landed, he felt his mental power rapidly recovering. The satisfaction in his eyes deepened. "A good body is truly a blessing. Not only does it allow me to protect myself after using Light Transformation, but my enhanced physique also accelerates the recovery of my mental power... It seems I should focus more on body refinement in the future."
After satisfyingly testing the improvements gained from the first revolution of the Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror, Jieming waited for his mental power to recover slightly before activating the teleportation device to return to his laboratory.
Over the next few days, he focused entirely on refining the Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror.
While stabilizing its current state, he also further enhanced its already considerable spirituality.
Seated in his chair, Jieming watched the Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror float around his body, circling him as if it were a playful pet.
Observing the mirror's behavior, he stroked his chin in thought. "The first revolution has also pushed the mirror's spirituality to a new level... At this level, its spirituality could almost be considered intelligence. Perhaps it's time to test that old idea of mine."
After its first revolution, the Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror radiated an unprecedented liveliness within Jieming's body.
It was no longer merely a medium or a tool, but rather a "living being" with its own independent consciousness.
Though this entity's "intelligence" was rudimentary—only slightly surpassing creatures driven by pure instinct—as a magic artifact, it possessed formidable computational capabilities.
After developing basic "intelligence," the Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror could now make its own judgments and execute them according to Jieming's intentions.
This discovery suddenly brought to mind a long-held idea: if the mirror could independently control other rune-imbued magical artifacts, could he entrust it with managing his own collection? This would free up some of his energy and even achieve a degree of automated combat assistance.
Achieving automated combat presented three major challenges:
First, the mirror's level of spirituality. This was already met after its first revolution.
Second, how to connect the mirror to the rune-imbued artifacts to allow direct manipulation. Jieming had already overcome this difficulty while researching the scouting-type artifacts.
The final challenge was how to "activate" the rune-imbued artifacts. These artifacts required slightly more mental power to activate than standard spell artifacts. While the difference wasn't significant, the problem lay in the source of mental power: the soul. At this stage, the Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror had no soul of its own!
Fortunately, upon arriving at the Elosia Plane, Jieming encountered the key to overcoming this final obstacle: the Divine Power Faith Network.
With this, the final piece of the puzzle regarding the technical challenges was assembled. All that remained was to piece it all together.
Jieming immediately retrieved an offensive rune-imbued magical artifact from his internal space. He suspended it before him and wove a "network" with his mental power, extending it like a probe toward the Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror.
"Since the Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror lacks mental power, I'll simulate the Divine Power Faith Network's energy transfer structure to grant it permission to draw upon my mental power, thereby manipulating this offensive rune-imbued magical artifact."
Jieming repurposed the energy transfer structure of the Divine Power Faith Network into a mental power transmission network, allowing the Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror, already intimately connected to his will, to directly draw upon his mental power when needed.
The Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror responded immediately. The five clusters of light within it flickered faintly, and an invisible wave spread from it, connecting to Jieming's mental sea and drawing a wisp of pure mental power.
This drawn mental power did not flow directly into the rune-imbued magical artifact. Instead, it first underwent transformation and guidance by the Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror before connecting to the crystal-shaped offensive rune-imbued magical artifact.
"Test: Attack target," Jieming commanded the Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror.
The crystalline rune-imbued magical artifact trembled slightly, and then a dazzling elemental ray shot from its tip, striking the pre-set target on the laboratory wall with perfect accuracy.
"Success!" Triumph gleamed in Jieming's eyes.
This wasn't his direct manipulation. The Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror, after receiving his intent, had autonomously mobilized his authorized mental power and, through its unique spirituality, activated the rune-imbued magical artifact.
This meant the mirror possessed the ability to "think" and "execute," capable of independently handling some combat functions even when Jieming was engaged in other complex spells.
Having proven the feasibility of his idea, he immediately threw himself into the next stage of creation without pause.
Jieming gathered a pile of metallic materials, found relevant knowledge on the magic network, and began refining platforms that could automatically float and follow him.
He designed these platforms with extreme precision, shaping them into slender, rhomboid pillars with streamlined designs to minimize air resistance.
Within them, he etched complex flight and gravity formations.
The flight formations provided continuous lift and thrust, allowing the platforms to hover and maneuver with agility in the air.
The gravity formation allowed the platforms to remain perfectly stable while suspended, unaffected by external air currents.
Furthermore, by equipping himself with corresponding gravity components, Jieming could exert a weak gravitational pull on the platforms, ensuring they followed his movements closely.
To provide the platforms with independent energy sources, Jieming embedded several high-quality energy crystals, purchased from the magic network, at their cores.
These artificial energy crystals served as highly simplified versions of small elemental pools. They could steadily supply energy to the magic formations within the metal platforms, allowing them to operate in the air for extended periods without requiring Jieming to provide additional power.
Next, Jieming retrieved various types of offensive rune-imbued magical artifacts from his internal space.
These artifacts were all mass-produced during his recent practice of the artifact refinement technique.
Jieming now realized that with his internal space serving as a logistical hub, he could "have it all"—there was no need to restrict himself to a single offensive strategy.
Whether it was pure energy bullets, elemental rays, or traditional spells like fireballs and lightning, he could create and stockpile them.
Considering firing speed and ease of control, Jieming chose several rune-imbued magical artifacts capable of firing elemental rays.
Each rune-imbued magical artifact was meticulously embedded onto the four faces of a diamond-shaped metal pillar, with one artifact per face. This arrangement allowed each pillar to simultaneously wield four offensive rune-imbued magical artifacts.
Jieming refined a total of six such diamond-shaped metal pillars, each representing an independent firepower point.
Once all the pillars were refined and the rune-imbued magical artifacts were embedded, he used the scouting eye as an intermediary to establish a deep connection between these newly created "armed platforms" and the Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror.
This not only enabled the mirror to directly control the rune-imbued magical artifacts but also gave the auxiliary combat system "eyes" through the scouting eye.
The mirror's spirituality flickered once more.
It began skillfully processing the massive influx of information, constructing a three-dimensional model of its surroundings.
With its enhanced spirituality, it simultaneously analyzed potential threats while building the 3D map. Following Jieming's pre-set combat logic, it began coordinating the six diamond-shaped metal pillars into a synchronized combat formation.
When Jieming stood at the center of the laboratory and activated the system, the six slender, diamond-shaped metal pillars silently rose from behind him, hovering automatically behind his back.
The six metal pillars were arranged in a stable formation, like six swords pointing in all directions. At the tip of each pillar was embedded a crystal-like offensive rune-imbued magical artifact, studded with four faintly glowing crystals.
On the surface of the metal pillars, one could faintly see the glow of energy circulating within, a testament to the efficient operation of the flight formation and gravity formation, powered by the energy crystals.
Jieming turned to observe this entirely new auxiliary combat system.
He took a few tentative steps forward, and the six metal pillars immediately followed silently, maintaining their relative position to his body, perfectly demonstrating automatic levitation and tracking.
"Attack all moving targets."
After issuing the command, Jieming conjured several small targets made of elemental energy within the laboratory and launched them from a distance.
The moment the targets were launched, the six metal pillars behind him reacted.
The crystal rune-imbued magical artifacts at their tips lit up simultaneously, firing dozens of laser-like beams that crisscrossed into a net of light. The beams struck the targets with pinpoint accuracy, vaporizing them instantly.
The entire process was fluid and swift, with no noticeable lag.
Watching the scene before him, Jieming smiled in satisfaction. "This system's reaction speed is actually faster than my own... Could it be because the essence of the Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror inherently encompasses the concept of swiftness?"
After walking a few more steps around the laboratory, observing the six metal pillars hovering alertly behind him, Jieming muttered to himself.
"This system can now be properly called autonomous floating turrets."
(End of the Chapter)
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