Use first and repay later: Advance the future cultivation fruits

"It seems... his bloodline genes are very powerful?"

Each of the high-ranking council members was somewhat surprised.

But the girl in black was much calmer.

She was the only one present who knew the other party was a genius from the Holy Land, cultivated by the transcendent 2.9-level civilization, so possessing this skill was quite normal.

Then, the tall, gray-haired woman 'Caslock' suddenly said, "He is very confident and has the assurance to use just a hundred materials to refine an artifact."

"Why does the teacher say this?" the white-haired boy behind her asked in confusion.

"He maintains such a vast divine fire with ease, which clearly is not his limit."

Caslock slowly explained, "When refining an artifact, to avoid trouble, it's common to maintain the maximum level of divine fire to extract more essence, in order to refine more artifacts. However, he seems to think that a hundred materials are enough for success, which is why he only prepared a hundred pieces?"

The white-haired boy was dumbfounded and said, "The success rate exceeding one percent? Is that real...?"

A success rate of even one or two per thousand is considered excellent, but one or two percent truly warrants the title of an Artifact Refining Master.

"Watch and you'll know." Caslock said softly.

In the blink of an eye, five years had passed.

In the Divine Artifact Workshop, these hundred pieces of void materials had been reduced to streams of essence like colorful light, flowing gently in the void, crystal clear.

"It's done."

Lin Qing let out a small sigh of relief, withdrew the divine fire, and immediately began to activate his Divine State. Through his mastery of Void Essence, he tapped into the mysteries of space, integrating traces of spatial power into these essences, beginning to shape the appearance of the artifact.

This process required total concentration, so he could only focus on one at a time.

The remaining ninety-nine units of Life Origin Essence were immediately stored deep in the frozen void of this Divine Artifact Workshop.

Fortunately, the shaping step mainly relied on experience and consumed very little time.

In just a few days, a rudimentary embryo of the artifact had taken form, but it was still just an artifact embryo, unable to resonate with the universe, possessing no special properties except for self-repair.

Outside the workshop.

"Ms. Caslock." the girl in black couldn't help but ask, "With the artifact embryo formed, what do you think of his skill level?"

Caslock was silent for a moment before saying, "Where did you find this person? Such skill could only have been honed through countless refinings... If I'm not mistaken, he must be a genius from the Holy Land, right?"

"You guessed it." The girl in black smiled, "That's indeed the case."

"I've at least heard of the Star Gods adept in artifact refining in the Void Sea."

Caslock shook her head slightly and said, "I've never even heard of this Jing Guang, yet his skill is so profound. Clearly, he hails from one of those transcendent Three Great Holy Lands, which we scarcely hear about."

She looked at Lin Qing, and softly praised, "What pure and skillful artistry; no wonder he hasn't transformed into a void creature yet. He must be focusing all his mind on artifact refining."

Inside the workshop.

"The final step."

Lin Qing exhaled lightly, looked at this artifact embryo, and immediately began to leverage his Divine State to connect this artifact embryo with the universe.

This step was the simplest, yet it had the highest failure rate.

Success depended heavily on luck.

"The first two steps I completed perfectly; this last step is purely up to luck..."

Lin Qing felt anxious at heart.

Even though this was his first time refining a divine artifact, in his precognitive memories, he had refined countless times, which is why his skill was so thoroughly honed.

You could say, on a personal level, he had done his utmost.

The rest was left to luck.

Based on his precognitive memories, the success rate of this final step—connecting with the universe—was approximately 1.1%.

This success rate was calculated only after countless successful attempts.

The success rate of connecting with the universe was somewhat akin to a guaranteed prize draw; as long as the first two steps were perfect, once failures accumulated to a certain success point, it would inevitably succeed.

—This was Lin Qing's unique discovery.

"Ninety times."

Lin Qing took a deep breath, "After failing ninety consecutive times, the 91st time will inevitably succeed!"

He immediately began to activate his Divine State to connect this artifact embryo with the universe.

"Buzz..."

One could see specks of light emerging in the void, circling the artifact embryo's surface, waiting for the great Cosmic Will to descend, to immediately fuse into the embryo, transforming it into a true artifact.

This step was quick; success was success, and failure was failure.

After only a few minutes—

Those specks of light circling the artifact embryo's surface suddenly trembled slightly, then vanished without a trace.

The embryo seemed to suffer a backlash, shattering into nothingness.

"Failed."

Lin Qing remained calm, proceeding to take out the second piece of Life Origin Essence, merging it once again with space power for shaping, connecting with the universe.

The second attempt also failed.

He continued refining.

The third, fourth, fifth, sixth time... each attempt resulted in failure.

Until the 91st attempt—

"Boom!"

In the void, a vast, infinite will seemed to awaken as if noticing the artifact embryo Lin Qing was refining, quietly scanning over it.

Afterward, the surrounding specks of light began swiftly integrating into the embryo, causing it to grow increasingly radiant, its aura growing stronger to the point of resembling the embodiment of the Cosmic Origin, dazzling and brilliant.

Finally, all light and aura completely drew back.

Revealing a great two-handed sword quietly floating in mid-air, exuding an inherent pressure strong enough to turn every head.

"It's done." Lin Qing had expected this, his face naturally without much of a smile.

One could only say his luck was truly average.

Even with the first two steps perfect, the success rate was only 1.1%; if it were someone like Qi Lingxiao with outrageous luck, maybe they would succeed on the first try?

"In the future, I must find a way to improve my luck..." Lin Qing thought to himself in frustration.

At this moment, the Stars Group council members also entered.

"Haha, it succeeded."

"The success rate is remarkably high?"

"Truly an artifact refining genius."

The high council members were extremely delighted, their gazes towards Lin Qing filled with a completely different light.

With this kind of artifact refining skill, as long as the Divine State evolves, he could continue to improve, refining three-colored and four-colored divine artifacts without issue. The higher the Divine Rank, the higher the level of the artifact refined!

Should he be able to refine a seven-colored divine artifact, he would undoubtedly be titled an 'Artisan God'!

An existence of that level not only possesses unparalleled strength but also the ability to craft fearsome seven-colored divine artifacts. Throughout the entire Void Sea, even a Secret Realm Master of a 2.8-level civilization would have to respectfully face such a being!

Now Lin Qing stood among this group of executives of the Stars Group, their perspective on him completely transformed.

Possessing strong artifact refining skills is one thing.

But having the talent to craft a seven-colored divine artifact is another thing entirely.

Few Star Gods with a Seven-Colored Divine State can create seven-colored divine artifacts.

It is only fair to say that possessing a Divine State allows for the ability to refine artifacts, but one must also have the talent for it.

"Your artifact refining skills are truly remarkable."

The tall gray-haired woman approached and softly said, "You don't look too old, and yet, your skills are superb. You must have refined countless times before... I'm guessing you are indeed a genius from the Holy Land?"

Lin Qing gave a slight nod.

He wanted to improve too, but he needed to find a person favored by the universe's fate to seize such an opportunity.

The good news is, with a baseline success after 91 tries, while cumbersome, it is still acceptable.

"Mr Jing Guang."

The black-clad girl asked, "With the artifact embryo completed, how do you assess his level of skill?"

The gray-haired, tall woman approached with a soft voice: "Looking at you, you don't seem very old. Your skills are outstanding."

Lin Qing gave a slight nod.

He also wanted to, but he had to find something worthy of seizing the universe's favor.

And the resources that the Star God obtained were difficult to let go.

"Indeed, the refining success rate is secured at 91 attempts, a bit of a hassle, but acceptable."

"Mr Jing Guang."

"I am very pleased to offer you a cooperative contract with the Stars Group. Feel free to review it."

Feeling the unique aura emanating from the contract, Lin Qing responded with a bit of surprise: "A five-star contract?"

"Yes," nodded the black-clad girl. "A five-star contract is only issued within the relics of third-level civilizations, but since you are a Star God, you've earned the privilege for the Stars Group to offer this contract."

"Okay, I'll sign it."

After reading through the contract, Lin Qing found the terms to be lenient, mandating only the crafting of 'ten single-colored divine artifacts every ten thousand years', while leaving everything else quite free.

With nothing more to consider, he agreed on the spot.