His body and mind recovered well, and his life quickly got back on track. The infuriating little pink paper crane did not appear again, and Brian Carter was quite relieved.

On the table were all sorts of odds and ends: deep red flame iron ore, a bronze ingot, a pine wood rod about seven feet long...

These were the complete set of materials he had bought from Yvonne Fisher to make the [Spirit-Shaking Hoe].

Artifact forging was a required skill for every cultivator—almost everyone knew at least a little, and it was the most popular course among outer sect disciples. For them, a cultivator skilled in artifact forging could easily find a stable job.

But for inner sect disciples, especially in sword cultivation sects, only a handful were truly proficient in artifact forging.

Sword cultivators were used to conquering the world with their swords, using them to obtain whatever they wanted or needed.

In this sect, only the lineage of Uncle Turner was skilled in artifact forging, and Mr. Clark was Uncle Turner's prized disciple. However, whether it was Mr. Turner among the elders, or Mr. Clark among the second-generation disciples, their status was not particularly high.

None of this had anything to do with Brian Carter.

At this moment, he was a bit excited—his first attempt at artifact forging was about to begin.

Section Nine: Artifact Forging

Mr. Clark had explained things in great detail, and the Spirit-Shaking Hoe was also the simplest of magical tools. To even call it a magical tool was a bit of an overstatement; it didn’t even qualify as a first-grade artifact. But for Brian Carter, who had never forged anything before, problems kept cropping up.

For example, the bronze ingot needed to be hammered into the shape of a hoe, which was quite a test of Brian Carter's ability. Fortunately, bronze was soft, and after hammering away for two hours, he barely managed to shape it into a hoe.

Next, he had to engrave an array onto the bronze hoe. The array for the Spirit-Shaking Hoe was very simple—[Shake], one of the eight basic arrays, and absolutely familiar to any cultivator. The array itself was familiar, but how to engrave it was another matter.

Brian Carter held a carving knife in his right hand and carefully carved out [Shake]. He had never used a carving knife before and made frequent mistakes. Each time he messed up, he had to smooth it out and start over.

After seven or eight failed attempts, Brian Carter finally managed to finish carving the array, though it was extremely difficult.

Looking at the array patterns covering the surface of the bronze hoe, Brian Carter felt a strong sense of accomplishment. His cultivation was too low now, so he could only use the most basic tools like a carving knife. If his cultivation were higher, he could forge with heart-fire, shaping things as he pleased. Likewise, with higher cultivation, even the simplest array would only take up a tiny part of a flying sword, which could hold hundreds of layers of restrictions, capable of destroying the heavens and earth, doing anything!

But for Brian Carter, this was already his limit.

With a pained expression, he took out a second-grade spirit stone and embedded it in the center of the array.

The bronze hoe suddenly lit up, a clear, water-like glow rippling along its body. The surface, which had just been covered in crisscrossing carvings, became smooth as new. Only then did Brian Carter finally breathe a sigh of relief—this Spirit-Shaking Hoe was more than halfway done. So far, it was quite a success.

The bronze hoe was too soft and easily deformed, which could damage the array structure, so the next step was to use flame iron ore to reinforce it and increase its hardness. Holding the crimson flame iron ore in his hand, he could clearly feel its warmth.

Placing the flame iron ore on the bronze hoe, Brian Carter recalled the artifact forging incantation that Mr. Clark had taught him. The key to this step was to fuse the molten iron from the flame iron ore into the bronze hoe. If he had heart-fire, this step would be a breeze. But for Brian Carter, he had to rely on some special incantations.

Brian Carter's spiritual power circulated within him, his hands blossoming like flowers, the spiritual power shifting with the movement of his fingers, both hands enveloped in a layer of red light.

"Go!"

With a flip of his hands, the red light shot out, striking the bronze hoe and the flame iron ore.

The flame iron ore turned red-hot, and molten iron flowed onto the bronze hoe. The hoe absorbed the molten iron like a sponge, not a drop left behind. The color and texture of the bronze hoe subtly changed, the bronze now tinged with a dark red.

Picking up the hoe, he found it heavier than before. Tapping it lightly with his finger, the sound was crisp, and he could clearly feel that its quality had improved by several levels—it was exceptionally hard.

He took the pine wood rod he had prepared earlier and inserted it into the hoe. The Spirit-Shaking Hoe was now complete.

Excited, Brian Carter immediately rushed to the spiritual field in the courtyard to test out the Spirit-Shaking Hoe.

With one swing, the hoe vibrated slightly, and a strong tremor was transmitted from the front end. Brian Carter bent down to inspect the spiritual field, and a look of delight appeared on his face.

The Spirit-Shaking Hoe truly lived up to its reputation as an essential tool for planting!

The distribution of spiritual energy in the spot he had just hoed was clearly different from the surrounding area. In the other parts of the field, the spiritual energy was uneven, clumped together here and there. But in the patch he had just hoed, the spiritual energy had been dispersed and was now evenly distributed. This kind of free-floating spiritual energy was the easiest for spiritual grains to absorb!

What a great tool!

Brian Carter was instantly energized, swinging the hoe like the wind, and in one go, he hoed all five acres of spiritual fields in the courtyard!

Leaning on the Spirit-Shaking Hoe, he was gasping for breath, his face pale. He had gotten too excited and forgotten that the hoe was actually quite heavy. With his small frame, it was a real struggle.

But even though he was exhausted, he couldn’t hide his excitement. Successfully forging his first magical tool—this kind of thrill was truly beyond words.