Among the Nine Heavens Divine Skills was a technique called Jun Tian Yin, specifically a soul art used to control others through Divine Sense. Though the Nine Heavens Divine Skills were merely something native to the Profound Mystery Continent, Yang Kai's Divine Sense was formidable enough that he feared no backlash from the Artifact Spirit when deploying it.
Before long, everything was arranged. Yang Kai extracted a wisp of the Artifact Spirit's original soul essence from its shell and sealed it within his own Sea of Consciousness.
With this, he could monitor the Artifact Spirit's life and death at any moment. Should the creature harbor any treacherous thoughts, Yang Kai could make it vanish in an instant.
Having lost a wisp of original soul essence, the Artifact Spirit seemed quite displeased. It fluttered its wings and chirped ceaselessly at Yang Kai. Knowing the spirit was in a foul mood, Yang Kai chose not to bicker with it. He waved his hand and withdrew the layers of cold flames from atop the Artifact Refining Furnace. Now that he had subdued the Artifact Spirit, there was no need to keep its vessel frozen anymore. Freezing the furnace wouldn't cause the spirit serious harm, but it still had some effect.
Seeing that its vessel was now unharmed, the Artifact Spirit's irritation and anger subsided considerably, though it still carried a somewhat defiant air.
Yang Kai thought for a moment, then extended a finger and forced out a single drop of Golden Blood from the tip. He looked at the Artifact Spirit and said, "Want this?"
Last time, the Divine Tree had consumed two drops of his Golden Blood and immediately fallen into a dormant state of evolution, still asleep to this day. Golden Blood was beneficial to the Divine Tree — Yang Kai could understand that easily enough, as each drop contained an impossibly vast amount of vital energy.
Whether it would hold any appeal for an Artifact Spirit, however, he had no idea. If it did, commanding the spirit in the future would certainly become much easier.
To Yang Kai's surprise — he had assumed the vital-energy-rich Golden Blood would be of little use to an Artifact Spirit — the moment the creature laid eyes on the drop, its eyes immediately blazed with a sharp gleam. It transformed into a streak of fire and shot right up to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai's Holy Yuan stirred instinctively, but upon sensing not a trace of malice, he relaxed his guard.
The streak of fire simply swept over Yang Kai's hand, and the drop of Golden Blood vanished without a trace. Moments later, the Artifact Spirit's form reappeared not far away. Its body, which had previously looked dim and severely drained of Yuan Qi, was visibly recovering at a speed the naked eye could perceive. Within a short while, it had regained a great deal.
Yang Kai watched, stunned.
He had forced out a drop of Golden Blood because it was the most precious thing he possessed at present, and partly to test the waters. He never expected it would actually prove beneficial to the Artifact Spirit.
After a moment of thought, Yang Kai suddenly understood. Although the Artifact Spirit lacked a physical body and the vessel that gave birth to it was merely an inert object, the fact that it had developed sentience meant it was no longer an ordinary artifact spirit. Once the bond between it and its vessel was severed and it found a suitable body to possess, it could become a truly unique existence.
It possessed its own life force, so Golden Blood naturally would have an effect on it.
After consuming the drop of Golden Blood, the Artifact Spirit recovered some of its Yuan Qi, but beyond that there weren't many changes — no signs of growing more powerful. Moreover, it tilted its head and circled around Yang Kai, wearing an ingratiating expression, clearly angling to get another drop of Golden Blood from him.
Yang Kai couldn't help but laugh. He was only now realizing that the Artifact Spirit he had subdued this time possessed truly remarkable intelligence. Then again, the spirit had existed for tens of thousands of years at the very least — such cunning was hardly surprising. If it hadn't possessed it, he would never have gone through so much trouble fighting it.
"I don't have more Golden Blood, but I have this," Yang Kai said casually, tossing something over — a fire crystal stone the size of a broad bean.
Golden Blood was far too precious for Yang Kai to lavish on the Artifact Spirit's appetite without restraint. This particular fire crystal stone had likely been obtained from a sixth-rank Fire Spirit Beast at some point. His space ring was full of such things now, so he didn't feel particularly reluctant to part with it.
The moment the Artifact Spirit spotted the fire crystal stone, it transformed into a streak of fire once more, sweeping the stone up. When it reappeared, the crystal stone had vanished without a trace.
The spirit smacked its lips, seeming somewhat unsatisfied.
Anyone who had just enjoyed a feast of rare delicacies and was then offered plain porridge would react the same way.
"Alright, get back into your vessel. I should be leaving," Yang Kai said. He had no intention of offering it further rewards. He had not yet truly subdued this Artifact Spirit — the only reason it obeyed him was the soul restriction forcing its compliance. It was nothing like the Divine Tree, toward which Yang Kai had been endlessly generous.
Hearing Yang Kai's command, the Artifact Spirit did not immediately comply. Instead, it began chirping rapidly, then transformed into a streak of fire and flew around the four stone pillars inside the chamber.
Yang Kai frowned. Through the peculiar connection he shared with the Artifact Spirit, he finally grasped its meaning and asked hesitantly, "Extract more Earth Core Fire?"
The Artifact Spirit circled once and landed — clearly, Yang Kai had guessed correctly.
"Very well." Yang Kai didn't hesitate. He extended his hand and channeled Holy Yuan into the four stone pillars, activating the grand formation within the stone chamber. In an instant, a ceaseless stream of Earth Core Fire was drawn up from the subterranean fire pool and channeled into the Artifact Refining Furnace.
The Artifact Spirit, meanwhile, flickered and plunged directly underground as a streak of fire, off to do something of its own. Yang Kai wasn't worried about it escaping — setting aside the Divine Sense restriction, its vessel was still right here.
A moment later, Yang Kai's expression changed. He fixed his gaze on the Artifact Refining Furnace. Something had shifted underground — the Earth Core Fire being drawn up had suddenly surged several times more ferocious than before, straining the chamber's restrictions to the point where they seemed on the verge of breaking.
All of that Earth Core Fire poured into the Artifact Refining Furnace, causing it to tremble violently, as though it might explode at any moment.
And at the same time, lines of runic script flowed across the furnace's surface while energy bands resembling chains appeared, drifting lazily into the air.