With William Thompson's current early Lingji cultivation, he still couldn't fully unleash the power of the artifact refining technique taught by Guide Messenger. He could barely remember and perform the entire set of artifact refining methods.

Awkwardly casting those artifact refining incantations, William Thompson felt like he was repeating an extremely tedious task. He hadn't realized it before, but as he began to perform the incantations, William Thompson didn't feel much at first. However, as he continued, he found his spiritual power draining rapidly. Each incantation required his full effort, and before long, William Thompson was panting heavily, already struggling to keep going. Glancing at his unscrupulous master, who was still stroking his beard and smiling at him from the side, showing no intention of helping at all.

William Thompson gritted his teeth and persevered, cursing Guide Messenger in his heart, but his hands couldn't stop; otherwise, the spiritual energy would definitely backlash, and then it would be more than just painful.

His spiritual power was already drained, his meridians felt empty, and William Thompson felt more wretched than ever before. Fortunately, there was only the last part of the artifact refining technique left. He swallowed a pill, barely managed to finish the final steps, and was just about to relax and rest when suddenly he felt a jolt in his mind. Then, a surge of powerful spiritual energy erupted from his dantian, instantly flooding his meridians and filling his body with an indescribable comfort.

William Thompson had experienced this feeling several times before. He didn't even have time to enjoy the comfort that almost made him cry out before he stiffly turned his head, his face flushed as if he'd let out a silent but deadly fart, and muttered, "Damn it, I've broken through again."

Guide Messenger stood there with a frosty expression, the corner of his mouth twitching.

Chapter 7: The Slumbering Immortal Forest

Although refining the sword had caused William Thompson to unintentionally break through another level, reaching mid-stage Lingji, the result was still very satisfying.

The originally mid-grade magic weapon from the mortal realm, this nameless flying sword, after being refined by William Thompson, was about to surpass the mid-grade category, and in some aspects, its performance was even superior to high-grade flying swords. In addition, William Thompson had added many attack formations inside the sword using new artifact refining techniques, making it even more lethal in his hands.

Wielding the newly named "Cold Light" flying sword, and with his long hair that hadn't been cut for half a year fluttering in the wind, William Thompson truly felt a sense of "with a sword in hand, the world is mine."

With the help of the flying sword, William Thompson no longer needed to use transformation techniques when hunting low-level spirit beasts in the forest. Whenever he saw one, he would form a hand seal and remotely control Cold Light from a distance—straight to the kill!

Because of this, for a long time, there was not a sound of birds or beasts within a ten-mile radius of Immortal Lake.

In the blink of an eye, another half year passed, and it had been exactly two years since arriving in the Immortal Realm. Even without deliberately cultivating the "Gathering Spirit Canon," William Thompson had already reached the Nascent Soul stage. His once unremarkable appearance had also become handsome and elegant, extraordinary in every way.

The flying sword Cold Light could now be stored inside his body, and after multiple improvements by William Thompson, its performance was greatly enhanced. Cold Light was kept by the Nascent Soul and could be summoned at any time during battle or when needed, which was quite convenient.

Although Guide Messenger felt a bit uneasy about William Thompson reaching the Nascent Soul stage so quickly, seeing how excited William Thompson was, he couldn't bear to lecture him. Besides, over the past six months, William Thompson had indeed worked hard—practicing swordsmanship, mastering the flying sword, and spending the rest of his time learning artifact refining, alchemy, and formations from Guide Messenger.

One day, after Guide Messenger had finished teaching all his knowledge of artifact refining, alchemy, and formations, he stroked his beard and said, "Disciple, you've learned everything your master can teach. What are your plans for the future?"

William Thompson straightened his back, took a step forward, raised Cold Light, and declared loudly, "I want to cultivate to immortality, unify the Immortal Realm, and maintain peace in the Immortal Realm!"

Guide Messenger coughed dryly. "Uh, that's a bit too ambitious. Try another one."

William Thompson looked at his master and continued loudly, "Then I want to become the most handsome man in the Immortal Realm, woo all the beauties, and establish three palaces and six courts!"

Guide Messenger glanced at William Thompson's earnest yet lecherous expression, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said, "Let's just stick to maintaining peace in the Immortal Realm!"

……

Half a month later, while William Thompson was experimenting with refining a new flying sword, Guide Messenger walked over with a cold face.

"Master, what's wrong?" William Thompson asked nervously.

"You little rascal, you dare ask me after what you've done!" Guide Messenger was furious.

William Thompson chuckled, "Master, don't be angry. Look, this is my newly refined flying sword. It may not be as good as Cold Light, but it's the only successful one. Not bad, right?"

Guide Messenger lunged forward, snatched the sword from William Thompson's hand, and after a close look, his expression instantly aged by hundreds of years. With a mournful face, he wailed, "Ah, my amethyst, my ice soul, ah, my mithril—these were imported materials, and you used them to make this piece of junk! You unfilial disciple, don't run! Today I'm going to clean house!"