"Thank you for your help, Brother Zhagu!" Yang Kai clasped his fists.
Zhagu waved dismissively. "You're too polite, Brother Yang. That spirit fruit was yours by right."
Yang Kai said, "My Small Universe has been fully repaired now, so it's the perfect time to forge a suit of treasure armor for you, Brother Zhagu. Have you made your preparations?"
Zhagu replied, "I've gathered some materials, though I'm not sure if they'll be enough. Take a look."
As he spoke, he handed over a spatial ring. Yang Kai accepted it and probed it with his divine sense, discovering quite a collection of good items inside — rare materials and minerals of various kinds.
"Is it enough? If not, I'll go find more," Zhagu asked earnestly.
"That's more than enough." Yang Kai stored the spatial ring away. "I'll begin forging the treasure armor for you right away. Please don't disturb me during this period. I'll notify you once it's complete."
Zhagu readily agreed and quickly took his leave.
While studying the art of artifact crafting at Biluo Pass, Yang Kai had forged several suits of treasure armor. However, in Chai Hao's eyes, none of them were of much use — their grades simply weren't high enough. Having human warriors take to the battlefield wearing such armor would be irresponsible.
But what was useless among the humans was considered a fine treasure among the Mo.
So Yang Kai didn't need to produce anything extraordinary — he merely had to ensure the armor's quality was on par with that great halberd. Given his current level of mastery in artifact crafting, that much was well within his reach.
Refining that great halberd had taken a full three months, but forging a new suit of treasure armor took Yang Kai only two months to complete.
There were two reasons it took less time. First, with his Small Universe fully repaired, he could channel his own power far more smoothly and efficiently, achieving twice the result with half the effort. Second, through the constant practice of artifact crafting, his own skills had been growing rapidly.
Though he had spent ten years honing his craft at Biluo Pass, for an artifact refiner, ten years was still far too short — not nearly enough time for one to fully mature.
During those ten years, Chai Hao had passed on everything he knew about artifact crafting to Yang Kai, until in the end, there was nothing left to teach.
This did not mean that Yang Kai's skill had already reached Chai Hao's level. Achieving mastery on par with a grandmaster like him would require several hundred years of dedicated study — an impossibility for the time being.
It was simply that Chai Hao had nothing more to teach Yang Kai. Everything he knew, Yang Kai already understood. As for how much of that knowledge Yang Kai could actually put into practice, that would depend on his own continued growth.
And such growth could only be tempered through the constant practice of artifact forging.
Thus, when forging the treasure armor, Yang Kai's skill was already somewhat higher than before, and after completing the armor, it had grown even further.
The finished treasure armor was noticeably superior to the great halberd in quality, its entire surface suffused with a faint, precious glow that immediately marked it as something extraordinary.
Yang Kai called Zhagu over with his divine sense, and Zhagu could hardly wait to don the armor. He found that it fit him perfectly, protecting his chest, abdomen, back, and other vital areas, making his already imposing frame appear even more formidable.
The more Zhagu looked at himself, the more satisfied he became, his face alight with unconcealed delight.
With this armor complementing the great halberd, Zhagu felt that his Lord-level strength had been boosted by a full thirty to forty percent.
Before, when facing a Seventh-Order Open Heaven human expert in single combat, he never stood a chance. Now, with two treasures in hand, Zhagu felt that no Seventh-Order Open Heaven cultivator could withstand a single thrust of his halberd.
So the power boost that human artifacts could provide was this enormous! Zhagu couldn't help feeling a surge of emotion. On the battlefield, one could generally only see the humans unleashing the might of their artifacts, while the Mo mostly fought bare-handed. No wonder the Mo had lost battle after battle — they had been suffering from a catastrophic lack of artifacts.
If the Mo army could be equipped with artifacts as well, how could the humans possibly stand against them?
"Are you satisfied, Brother Zhagu?" Yang Kai suddenly asked.
"More than satisfied!" Zhagu nodded repeatedly, his grin threatening to split his face.
"Then I've managed not to disappoint!" Yang Kai rose slowly to his feet. "With matters here concluded, I'll be taking my leave."
Zhagu started in surprise. "Where are you going, Brother Yang?"
Yang Kai replied, "Back to the Domain Lord's ancient castle, of course. I've been away for quite some time now. I came here originally for the Xuanpin Spirit Fruit, and now that I've gotten what I wanted — and also forged a set of artifacts for you, Brother Zhagu — it's time to head back."
"No rush, no rush!" Zhagu hurriedly stopped him.
Yang Kai looked at him in puzzlement. "Is there something else, Brother Zhagu?"
Zhagu hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Brother Yang, when you came to me before, you asked me to teach you a way to make money. I've thought it over carefully, and there happens to be an excellent opportunity right now."
Yang Kai chuckled. "You're talking about crafting artifacts for the Mo, aren't you?"
"Exactly!" Zhagu nodded solemnly. "Your skills are beyond question, Brother Yang. If you could craft artifacts for the Mo, you'd earn a fortune in Mo coins. Wasn't that your original purpose in coming here?"