Qi Ping was not surprised by this mystical scene. This was one of the traits of the Ghost-Iron Tree, and it was the key to allowing the tree to continuously temper and nurture the armor. Once the armor merged with the tree, he summoned the Tree-Spirit Imprint and etched all his insights from the Ghost-Stone Forging Art into it.
'I want to forge the hardest body! I want to be indestructible!'
'A tree must be hard!'
As Qi Ping's consciousness neared the tree spirit, he felt a masculine, unyielding intent. Truly, every spirit tree had its own personality. After merging the imprint, he received an incredibly joyful emotional response. He knew he had chosen the right spell. He had done enough; as the tree studied and practiced over a long period, the spell would naturally be perfected into something immensely powerful.
With this done, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. The prolonged period of technique creation and forging had been exhausting, but the results were gratifying.
"My first set of spirit tools depends on you!"
He was full of anticipation. With the Ghost-Iron Tree continuously nurturing his armor, supplemented by the Stone Spirit's companion ores, and his own Plant Growth skill to accelerate the tree's development, his first set of spirit tools had an incredible foundation and growth potential. It was a "god-tier" start.
After finishing the Ghost-Iron Tree, Qi Ping slept for two days and nights, restoring his soul and mind to their peak. The constant creation of spells was simply too draining.
'Only the Sun-Blaze Wood is left. This hasn't been easy!'
'The exhaustion was worth it; the successes are heartening!'
Through his observations during this time, he found that the Moon-Glow Tree and Star-Dust Wood had increased their absorption of lunar and stellar forces by more than three times! And this speed was still increasing. As the trees themselves learned and perfected the spells he had etched into them, the overall effect would continue to grow. He could predict that in the future, he would not only have a significant amount of Moon and Star Essences to sell but could also spare quite a bit to nurture his spirit vein. He hadn't forgotten his plan to integrate the five elements and the sun, moon, and stars into his spirit vein.
As for the Ghost-Iron Tree, he believed that with the Tree-Spirit Imprint and the Stone Spirit present, the surprise it would give him would likely exceed the previous two.
'Now, I shall create the final spell suitable for the Sun-Blaze Wood!'
Once this was done, he could finally take a break. He didn't want the spell for the Sun-Blaze Wood to be too simple. While something like the Star-Dust Refinement Method was good, it would be a waste of the Solar True Fire in his body and Yaya's deep comprehension of the sun. With these two conditions, he naturally wanted to create a more powerful spell to accelerate both his and Yaya's growth. Solar Essence was beneficial to both of them.
'First, an absorption-type art is a must.'
Absorbing and refining more solar power was the foundation of everything; without it, the tree wouldn't have enough energy to do anything interesting.
'I will even draw upon Yaya's experience in refining solar power to create a set of arts whose efficiency far exceeds the Moon and Star refinement methods!'
With Yaya's help, he was confident. In the Qingtian Domain, few understood how to refine solar power better than his crow. This was the first part! Secondly, he wanted to add a tempering method. While helping the tree improve its own quality, it would also refine higher-quality Solar Essence to accelerate his own cultivation and Yaya's progress toward Rank 2 Great Perfection and bloodline transformation. This, too, relied on Yaya's experience. Only with its help did he have the confidence to achieve this.
Because this was his first time merging two spells, he had to ensure they shared the same root and had no conflicts. Otherwise, the integration might fail. If possible, he wanted the two spells to complement each other: the first to absorb vast amounts of solar power, and the second to purify and temper that power. For the sake of harmony, he didn't mind if the refinement effect was slightly weakened. As long as there was a manual with great potential, it would grow stronger as the tree matured—eventually far exceeding his own comprehension!
Due to the tree's pure and specialized constitution, plus its wholehearted, daily practice of a single art, the improvement it could achieve was something Qi Ping could not hope to match. Once he determined the direction, he and Yaya got to work. This time, his path of technique creation faced unprecedented difficulties!
Comprehending the power of the sun was simply too hard! If the Star-Dust Refinement Method was a common spell, what he wanted to create now was a "Secret-grade" manual! The former only required him to use some Star Essence to find the optimal way to attract it. The latter required a deep understanding and realization of the power itself. Even with his current comprehension, the difficulty was immense—this was the hallmark of a Secret-grade art!
Fortunately, he possessed the Solar Fire Physique. After two full months, he finally created the prototype.
'It wasn't easy!'
Creating a spell of this level almost made him tear his hair out; his eyes were bloodshot from the effort. But he had succeeded! Creating a spell of this caliber was a qualitative leap! If he spent a few more years polishing his Qi Refining level spells, arts of this grade would hold no more secrets for him. That would be the time he could rapidly learn and create Rank 2 spells!
This meant that from now on, he never had to worry about being stuck or controlled by special techniques. Every art he practiced would be of his own making!
"The advanced Great Sun Refinement Method and the accompanying Great Sun Body Tempering Art... I've done it!"