Please Touch Me, Master

"All done!"

Once Bi Chen finished gathering up all the Crafting Stone shards, he tore a large chunk of his skin and used it as a large pouch to carry the load. Since he felt no pain and was already used to skinning himself, the process was rather swift and straightforward.

After using his hair to tie up the ends of the skin pouch, he was good to go.

'This is only a temporary solution. I'll need to craft a Rank 1 Skin Sack Artifact to hold all of these Crafting Stone shards…' He thought to himself as he climbed back up from the depths of the hideout.

Once he reached the surface, he took in a deep breath and smiled.

"I only spent a few hours in there, but it felt like an eternity!' He smiled. "I need to get much stronger so that I won't be spending so much time on Rank 2 Abominations."

Bi Chen walked forward, traversing the vast expanse around him rather calmly.

Before long, he spotted Ash a distance from him.

She was laying on the ground, her body curled up to a ball. She was in deep sleep, completely oblivious of her surroundings as her body healed all of her injuries.

'How cute…' He noticed just how harmless Ash looked when she slept. If not for her very sultry and feminine adult body, he would have compared it to that of an innocent child.

Bi Chen was tempted to let her keep sleeping, but he needed her to wake up.

'For this Refinement Procedure, I need the materials in her [Pocket World]. In the future, when I want to refine even more complex things, I might need her assistance in tossing in materials or with other things.' He also imagined a future where she would be able to Craft, Refine, and Deconstruct on her own.

But such a time was still very far from the present.

"Wake up, Ash."

The moment his voice echoed in the space, Ash's eyes flashed open and she jumped to sit upright.

Afterwards, she stretched her body and yawned, causing her already voluptuous chest to inflate like a balloon. Bi Chen noticed the shadows that clung to her body stretch to their limits, almost like they would snap at a moment's notice.

But, shockingly, they held firm.

Bi Chen instantly grew interested in the sturdiness of the attire and wondered if he could use it as a material to Refine Rank 2 or higher Artifacts. 

"L-Lord Bi! You're finally back! I had no idea when I fell asleep and—"

"It's fine." He raised his hand and casually shook his head. "What matters is that I succeeded in killing the Abomination and I got its Essence Core."

Bi Chen presented the Essence Core to her, revealing its lustrous but dull blue color.

'Rank 1 Essence Cores are White, and Rank 2 Essence Cores are blue. Rank 3 is yellow… they match the types of fires that exist in Crafting, Refinement and Deconstruction.' As was trite, higher ranked fires were the most effective in breaking down lesser ranked Essence Cores and materials.

This was common sense to Bi Chen at this point.

"It's so pretty!" Ash beamed innocently like a child, nearly grabbing the core with the energy of a greedy little baby. 

She restrained herself, though, much to Bi Chen's pleasure.

He clasped the Essence Core in his palm, feeling the qualitative difference in weight and size compared to its Rank 1 counterpart. Rank 1 Essence Cores were as large as an eyeball, but this Rank 2 Essence Core was slightly larger. 

It was like an egg.

"Bring out all the materials in your [Pocket World]. I want to refine something right now."

"R-really? Now?! But you just finished fighting!"

"I'm fine. Now do as you're told and bring me the materials." Bi Chen responded very coldly, his eyes flashing with determination. He had also considered waiting a while before starting Refinement, but he felt a certain restlessness within him.

'I need to grow stronger quickly! I'm a Zombie, what do I need rest for?'

These thoughts constantly played in his mind, and even though he sat on the ground, he could feel his 7 feet tall body bouncing steadily.

He quelled his impatience and soothed his foggy mind.

The Crafting Stone was placed right in front of him, among the other things that were stored in Ash's [Pocket World]. Ash stood a distance from him per his instruction, but her eyes remained fixed on him in observation.

She was ordered not to take her attention from him—not even for a moment.

This was Refinement.

The process was naturally more complicated than Crafting.

Why?

Because, unlike Crafting—which required combining many raw materials to create an item—Refinement involved one or more already-made Artifacts as well as other materials in order to produce a greater Artifact.

It had more variables to consider, and the losses were also more severe.

However, as long as the one Refining had sufficient skills and ample materials, the Success Rate was higher!

"Let us begin…" Bi Chen murmured and started with the basics.

He sorted out all the materials he would need for the Refinement: precious stones, pieces of metal from weapons, Rank 1 Essence Cores, and the main materials for Refinement—Rank 1 Thread Ropes.

Once he was done sorting out all the necessary materials, he set them to the left side of the Crafting Stone and placed the Rank 2 Essence Stone to the right.

Then, he lit the Crafting Stone ablaze with his blood, watching as the white, and then blue flames rose and reflected on his expressionless face. His eyes especially held their glow, watching silently as even more blood left his wrist.

From white flames… to blue flames… 

For now, this would do.

Bi Chen then began to process the materials, tossing them into the flames one after the other according to how dense they were and how long it would take for them to be completely melted by the fires.

His eyes were wide open as he watched in silence—ensuring all of the impurities were eradicated without any complication whatsoever.

The Essences melted slowly, and as the flames subsided, he added more blood to increase the tempo. Once this process reached completion, he tossed the two Rank 1 Thread Ropes into the flames, watching as the fires surged a dozen feet into the air.

The air was getting hotter, and smoke was filling the surroundings.

But thankfully, Ash was present. 

She was helping him get rid of the smoke in his immediate surroundings, so he could fully concentrate on his task. Not only was she Level 5, two Levels higher than him when he made his first attempt at Crafting, the area he was currently using had a lot more space than the last one.

As a result, all the smoke could spread out and become slowly diffused with the passage of time.

Bi Chen ignored all of these distractions and focused solely on Refinement.

"Now that I have put all the materials, including the Rank 1 Artifacts, the last thing to do is put in the Essence Cores and start the fusion." His body moved according to the words that were uttered and he gently tossed in the Rank 2 Essence Core without hesitation.

The flames soared and roared, and Bi Chen added even more blood, turning the fires from blue to yellow. This was the only way he could properly purify this Rank 2 Essence Core without taking up too much time.

If he used the blue flames, it would take too long and the materials that had already been tossed in would be ruined. 

He couldn't have that.

'But since this Basic Crafting Stone can Craft a Rank 2 Artifact, it should be able to take yellow flames without a problem. It's going well so far…'

He was very close to the finish line.

The Rank 2 Essence Core was nearly purified and the flames dropped back to blue, but Bi Chen didn't elevate the fire's quality again. Instead, he tossed two Rank 1 Essence Core and began to purify them as well.

While this was happening, the Rank 2 Essence Core's purification slowed down, but it was still progressing.

'At this rate, they'll finish at nearly the same time.'

He wasn't wrong!

Bi Chen had actually calculated how long each process would take and made sure the timing was right. So far, he was yet to make any mistakes.

The purification succeeded.

And then fusion began.

'This is the most intricate part. I can't mess up at this point…' 

Bi Chen began fusing, letting the now liquid Essence Cores perfectly melt into the Rank 1 Artifacts, which had already fused with the materials he had tossed in earlier.

Everything had turned to mush… and slowly began to become one.

In the fire, the entire thing looked like sticky glue, constantly taking shape and alternating colors, dancing in the fires as they slowly grew thinner and started sizzling like fats burning on a pan.

Eventually… it all coalesced and let out a bright spark that sent energy erupting into the air.

The flames were put out in an instant, and every leftover energy scattered around in a powerful gust of wind, leaving only one thing floating in the air.

Rank 2 Thread Rope Artifact!

Bi Chen stretched out his hand, and the glowing Artifact went into it. 

His smile was unmistakable as his eyes exposed brilliance while his curled up lips let out two powerful words with shaky breath.

"Refinement Successful!"