Five? That was neither many nor few. Wei Zhao, counting the one the great fire lion had given him, had exactly three. And from the greedy look in Tagan Long's eyes when he saw the spirit beast's essence inner core, Wei Zhao guessed such things were hardly common. Even the Tagan clan, who roamed the Wulonghaote Mountains constantly, likely had few in stock—and at most no more than three. Otherwise, when he had proposed one core apiece, they would never have refused so flatly. They must have desperately needed those two spirit beast essence inner cores to be willing to turn hostile.

There were notes further on: five was the minimum number; the more, the better; and the higher the tier of the spirit beast, the better the effect. But the explanation set no upper limit, which left Wei Zhao somewhat puzzled.

The more the better? A jade pendant's size was limited. If there were too many essence inner cores, could the pendant still hold them all? Would he need an enormous jade pendant?

Carrying his doubts, Wei Zhao read on to the next page of refining instructions.

"Auxiliary materials required for refining—pure yellow jade, blue crystal powder, colored steel!"

"Pfft... my god!" The moment Wei Zhao saw that page, he could not help but swear. What a crock! This was way too much of a crock. These auxiliary materials were actually these same three things? He currently possessed only a small quantity of pure yellow jade and colored steel; of blue crystal powder there was still no sign. And refining this essence necklace also required these three materials?

Wei Zhao's voice had been rather loud, and it woke Sun Jingyan. She blinked her eyes open in a daze and glanced at him, saw that he was merely talking to himself, and then groggily drifted back to sleep.

With a wry smile, Wei Zhao read on. Below came the explanation of these auxiliary materials: for each additional spirit beast essence inner core, a corresponding proportion of pure yellow jade, blue crystal powder, and colored steel had to be added. So it seemed the more essence inner cores, the more auxiliary materials were needed.

That, however, puzzled Wei Zhao anew. These explanations were all very detailed, yet regarding the jade pendant—the main base material that would carry all these things—there was no explanation at all; it merely said "one fine jade pendant," with no word on the pendant's size. It seemed as though a pendant of any size would do.

Could it be that the pendant's size was not limited... Huh?

Suddenly, something occurred to Wei Zhao! Blue crystal powder, pure yellow jade, and colored steel—were these not the indispensable materials for refining the jade pendant space? These materials could refine a virtual four-dimensional space within a jade pendant. If so, then were these spirit beast essence inner cores also relying on this same principle—using these three auxiliary materials to generate a virtual four-dimensional space within the pendant's space, which would serve to embed the spirit beast essence inner cores?

The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed! This would also explain his earlier confusion: why the pendant's size was not specified, while the quantities of spirit beast essence inner cores and auxiliary materials were.

"So that's how it is..." Wei Zhao nodded in sudden understanding. He guessed his conjecture was probably close to the mark. Even if the space for embedding the spirit beast essence inner cores was not a four-dimensional space, the principle should be the same.

Sure enough, as Wei Zhao flipped further back, there followed the specific method for condensing the essence necklace. Yet to Wei Zhao these steps seemed simplicity itself—far simpler than condensing the jade pendant space. The steps had been greatly streamlined, and the method much simplified...

Had Wei Zhao not previously studied the method for condensing the jade pendant space so carefully, he would not have noticed anything amiss now. But he had greatly looked forward to condensing the jade pendant's storage space, so he had naturally paid close attention to the refining method; now, seeing the condensing method for this essence necklace, he found it much simpler...

No, wait! Was it not said that smiths were rare, and that only those with the metal, wood, and fire triple-attribute constitutions could become smiths? If one followed the condensing method described here, and if Wei Zhao could successfully condense the jade pendant's storage space, then condensing this essence necklace would be a piece of cake!

Could he himself become a smith? If not, then what was the point of that secret manual for condensing a jade pendant's storage space, taken from the cave? Surely the cave would not have played him false?

At this thought, Wei Zhao entered the jade pendant space and sought Elder Jiao's guidance: "Elder Jiao, if I gather all the pure yellow jade, blue crystal powder, and colored steel, will I be able to condense a jade pendant and craft a storage space?"

This was the first time in a long while that Wei Zhao had found the leisure to converse with Jiao Yazi. Previously he had either been injured or under intense mental strain; even when he was inside the jade pendant space, his divine sense and mental power had been perceiving the outside world. Now at last he had settled down.

"That's right," Elder Jiao said with a confirming nod.

"Then that means... I can become a smith?" Wei Zhao asked after a moment's hesitation.

"Whether you can become a smith, I do not know. But you can certainly condense and craft a jade pendant's storage space. I am not well informed about the mental cultivation method you practice, and I have never verified the claims made in the cultivation world; I do not know whether being able to condense a jade pendant's storage space makes one a smith," Jiao Yazi explained.

"I obtained a secret manual on the condensing method for the essence necklace. The method described for condensing the essence necklace looks like a simplified version of condensing a jade pendant's storage space—many steps omitted, and much simpler." Wei Zhao told Jiao Yazi of his discovery: "According to what it says, only a smith can condense an essence necklace."

"If that is so, then you ought to be able to become a smith," Jiao Yazi said. "Provided you have practiced the mental cultivation method and oral formulas used for condensing a jade pendant's storage space to full proficiency. Whether you can actually condense an essence necklace, though, I dare not say for certain. You may give it a try."

"Then... can I use this jade pendant I carry as the base material? It won't damage the pendant's original functions, will it—say, refine you out of existence, Elder?" Wei Zhao asked hesitantly. Truth be told, if he had to wear another jade pendant necklace, it would seem rather cumbersome and unwieldy; if the two could be combined into one, that would naturally be best.

"Whether it can be condensed properly using this pendant as the base material, I do not know. But it certainly will not be ruined," Jiao Yazi said. "If this pendant could be ruined so easily, I would have vanished long ago—no need to wait until now."

"That's good, then." Wei Zhao set his mind at ease, though in his heart he felt somewhat excited and somewhat puzzled. He could not become an alchemist, yet it seemed he might become a smith? But smithing encompassed the two basic prerequisites for becoming an alchemist!

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