Chapter 3207 — Refinement Complete!

After all, this was his first attempt at refinement, so Wei Zhao still operated on the principle that caution could do no great harm — one step at a time, solid and sure! The jade pendant itself was unlikely to be ruined, but if the refinement failed, all those materials would be wasted!

And Wei Zhao had gathered these materials through bitter effort; naturally he could not stand by and watch them go to waste!

Following the instructions for the refinement method, Wei Zhao placed the proper proportions of colored steel, pure yellow jade, and blue crystal powder on the ground. As for the environment required for artifact-forging, there were no special demands — unlike alchemists, who needed a medicinal cauldron before they could forge.

An artifact-forger relied on his own forging fire to refine and reshape the form and shape of materials; so long as the ground could withstand the heat of Wei Zhao's forging fire, the refinement of the jade pendant space could proceed smoothly!

Once everything was prepared, Wei Zhao slowly took the jade pendant from around his neck. This pendant had been his reliance every step of the way, so he had to be careful beyond careful, fearful of damaging it by some careless move!

"Elder Jiao, can you still hear me?" Wei Zhao asked instinctively once the pendant was off.

No answer! It seemed the connection to the jade pendant space was established only while it was in contact with his body; once the pendant left his body, there was no more exchange of thought between them.

At that thought, Wei Zhao gripped the pendant in his hand again and asked tentatively, "Elder Jiao, can you hear me now?"

"I can now." Elder Jiao's voice rang out. "Wei Zhao, are you about to begin refining the jade pendant space?"

"Yes!" Wei Zhao nodded. "After the forging, I've already gained skilled control over it, and now I intend to begin refining the jade pendant space. Elder Jiao, is there anything you would instruct me to do?"

"No — these things, I don't know them either," Jiao Yazi said. "Refine it according to the methods described in the instructions, and you shouldn't fail!"

"Good!" Wei Zhao gritted his teeth, placed the jade pendant among the three materials, and then began to refine his forging fire. Following the instructions for refining the jade pendant space, he began crafting it...

The method described looked simple, but every step had to be repeated a number of times over a number of periods; had Wei Zhao not possessed extraordinary patience, anyone else would long since have given up in the face of such dull, flavorless repetition!

For artifact-forging took far longer than alchemy, and its steps were more complex besides! Not only must both hands refine the forging fire, but one hand also had to assist in reshaping the materials' form and shape, merging them with the jade pendant.

Yet Wei Zhao, who had accomplished little in alchemy, possessed no small talent in artifact-forging! Or rather, the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art had altered Wei Zhao's talent! Though refining the jade pendant space was incomparably complex and tedious, under Wei Zhao's methodical approach it proceeded in orderly fashion!

Three days passed in dull, flavorless refinement, and Wei Zhao was in no hurry, merely following the instructions step by step. At last, in the early hours of the fourth day, all the steps were complete. Watching the colored steel, pure yellow jade, and blue crystal powder all merge into the jade pendant, Wei Zhao then began, according to the method in the instructions, to raise the temperature of his forging fire and carry out the final step of the pendant's refinement — reinforcement and consolidation!

Three hours later, seeing the luster on the pendant draw ever closer to its appearance before refinement, Wei Zhao slowly withdrew his forging fire. The jade pendant space had finally been refined successfully!

Looking at the pendant in his hand, Wei Zhao was thrilled. Was this the refined jade pendant? But there was nothing particularly special about it! At least from its outward appearance, it was exactly the same.

"Elder Jiao, the jade pendant space has been refined successfully, but it doesn't look special at all?" Wei Zhao could not help asking.

"This pendant is of course nothing special, but the jade pendant space has been formed," Elder Jiao said calmly. "Held in your hand as it is now, you can't see the space you use for cultivation either!"

"That... that's true enough." Wei Zhao nodded. "So what should I do?"

"Still the same — wear the jade pendant space on your body, then sense it with your mind, and you'll discover that within the pendant, beside the cultivation space, there is now an additional small storage space. You can put items into it," Elder Jiao explained.

"Oh?" Wei Zhao hastily put the pendant on, then began sensing the jade pendant space with his mind. Sure enough, beside the jade pendant space used for normal cultivation, a small space had separated out on its own. Though not large, it had truly formed, thrilling Wei Zhao. "So this counts as success?"

"Yes. Whether it succeeded or not — wouldn't you know if you tried it?" Elder Jiao replied.

"Try it? How should I try it?" Wei Zhao said quickly.

"Still with your mind. For example, this teacup on the table — you can use your mind to take it into your jade pendant space," Elder Jiao said.

"I'll try." Wei Zhao looked at the teacup on the table with some impatience, then began to direct his mind to make the teacup enter his jade pendant space.

Sure enough, the teacup on the table vanished with a whoosh into thin air. The next moment, in the newly formed jade pendant space, Wei Zhao saw that teacup, resting intact and motionless within the space. Wei Zhao tried shaking his body, and the teacup still sat perfectly steady in the jade pendant space, not swaying along with him.

By that logic, even if Wei Zhao took a cup of water into the space, he could guarantee it would not spill.

"Well? Not bad, is it?" Jiao Yazi asked.

"Not bad — very good indeed, truly marvelous!" Wei Zhao said with some excitement. With a space like this, Wei Zhao could carry all sorts of important things on his person without worrying about losing them!

At once, Wei Zhao placed into the jade pendant space the fragmentary map from the drawer, the used energy stones, the spirit beast essence cores and inner pellets, the leftover materials from refining the jade pendant space, and those several heaven-tier divine weapons and sharp blades — all the useful things.

Yet the weight of the pendant had not increased at all! This left Wei Zhao marveling in admiration.

"Since you're so excited, I'll let you in on one more piece of news!" Elder Jiao suddenly said. RS