"Those people are enemies, not friends. If you ran into them, Master Leo, would you have a chance?" After watching the group disappear into the ruins, Hann lowered his voice and asked.

  "Too many of them. These aren't the powerless miners from the caverns. At best, I could defend myself." Leo frowned.

  "Then we'll have to take a detour." Hann said. "I wonder how they learned about the treasure here. Seems the world outside changed while I was trapped in the mine for twenty years. But I know a shortcut. Follow me, Master Leo."

  With that, Hann led Leo through the rubble, weaving between collapsed walls. Soon, they reached a fallen stone pillar. Hann strained to move it, revealing a man-sized hole with cyan stone steps leading down—a hidden underground passage.

  They entered one after another, and Hann carefully replaced the pillar, sealing the entrance.

  "Perfect. The Blood Spirit Ground Fire is in the underground palace. Once we have it, I can forge the Demon Binding Rope for you, Master Leo. After you refine it, that artifact will be yours. No matter how many of those ants come, they'll be no match for you." Hann dusted off his hands, looking pleased.

  "Let's hope so. No time to waste. Let's go." Leo nodded, a rare smile crossing his face as he followed Hann.

  "Right away." Hann bounded down the dusty cyan steps, covering several meters in an instant.

  The underground palace was vast, filled with chambers and altars. Dried, coagulated blood stained the areas around the altars. Clearly, this place had seen violence.

  After more than an hour of winding through narrow passages, a wave of bloody, scorching heat washed over them. Rounding a corner, they found another altar, different from the others. Upon it stood a massive three-legged cauldron. Its white surface bore lifelike, ferocious tiger heads, stained blood-red.

  Within the cauldron, a mass of blood-colored flame burned continuously, as if eternal. The bloody heat radiated from it.

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  "The Blood Spirit Ground Fire—it's still here." Hann's face showed a hint of intoxication. He turned. "Master Leo, I'll need a large number of spirit stones to replenish my spiritual power, including at least ten mid-grade stones. Give me all the forging materials. And absolutely no interruptions during the process, or everything will be ruined. This place is hidden, but if that group from before finds us, you'll have to hold them off until the artifact is complete."

  "Everything's ready. Forge without worry." Leo nodded, tossing Hann a storage pouch containing the materials. Decisive by nature, he handed it over, then sat cross-legged to guard the process. The Blood Spirit Ground Fire was a rare spiritual flame, on par with Earth Vein Fire. Ordinary cultivators couldn't carry it. Some powerful ancient must have used this cauldron to contain it here. The cauldron itself was no ordinary item.

  Hann took out the materials one by one. He tossed a section of Bloodvine into the cauldron. Under the Blood Spirit Ground Fire's scorching, impurities burned away rapidly. Soon, only a thin, thorny filament remained.

  That was the Bloodvine's outer layer. After the fire's purification, only the tough part remained. But this was just the first step. More refining lay ahead. One filament was far from enough to weave a rope.

  Leo had prepared a large quantity of Bloodvine. All of it needed this treatment.

  Forging was long and tedious. Extraordinary spirit swords required countless hammerings.

  The Demon Binding Rope skipped the forging, but required extracting countless filaments from the Bloodvine, each exposed to the fire for precisely the same duration. Otherwise, the rope's quality would suffer.

  Ten days and nights. Each day, Hann rested only an hour before plunging back into work. After ten days, all the Bloodvine was reduced to filaments.

  Hann then mixed a spiritual liquid from the herbs Leo provided. He soaked the ice silk and Bloodvine filaments in it for three days. Finally, he rested, collapsing onto the bare floor and sleeping soundly.

  After three days, he repeatedly baked the filaments in the Blood Spirit Ground Fire and soaked them again. A dozen cycles. Then he began weaving them into a rope. The fine thorns from the Bloodvine pierced his hands, leaving them bloody. Without the nourishing pills Leo supplied, Hann, even as a late-stage cultivator, would have died from blood loss.

  Weaving took another ten days. Then came the final refinement in the Blood Spirit Ground Fire.

  Nearly three months passed. During this time, Leo secretly erased the black-robed old man's residual aura from the small black sword and refined it, making it his own.

  "Today's the last day. In a few hours, the Demon Binding Rope will be complete."

  Hann's face was ashen from exhaustion, but his spirit soared. This artifact, soon to be born, was his creation.

  "Damn it, this underground palace is a maze! We've searched forever and found nothing."

  Hours later, faint footsteps and cursing echoed from the passage leading outside. Leo frowned. They had found the way.

  So that was their game. Leo's face turned cold. He looked at the cauldron. The Demon Binding Rope, tempered by the Blood Spirit Ground Fire, already emanated a powerful artifact aura. But it wasn't quite finished.

  "Master Leo, at least another incense stick's worth of time. The artifact must not be interrupted, or everything is lost!"

  Hann struggled to speak. Exhausted and too close to the fire, he was drenched in sweat, his clothes plastered to his body. The disturbance outside made his face twist with anxiety.

  "I'll hold them off." Leo's eyes narrowed. He rose and left the chamber.