The spiritual imprint of the Ding of Barbarian God disappeared. Lu Li put the body away in one hand and let Little White went down his other arm to stay under Rui the Iron's heart.
He had let Little White in because it was not afraid of thunderbolts. Even if Rui the Iron were to attack Little White with thunderbolts, it could stand those and crush Rui the Iron's heart.
What was more, Lu Li would be staying nearby and kept his psychic power locked on him. If Rui the Iron were to up to something, Lu Li could kill him at once.
Rui the Iron behaved. He took a pellet to stop his wounds from bleeding more before he grabbed the lid and followed Lu Li to the distance.
They were too close to the base camp of the Barbarian Race. Lu Li was still concerned that Rui the Iron might have some scheme so he wanted to stay a bit further away from the base camp. He asked Rui the Iron to walk in the front while he kept his psychic power on Rui the Iron at all times.
After they walked on for three miles, they came across a team of barbarians. Rui the Iron already told them to step back before Lu Li could say anything. There was a small beast near Rui the Iron's heart to stop him from misbehaving, a little beast that could bite through the lid of the Ding of Barbarian God and one that Rui the Iron was terrified of at the present moment.
They went to a small valley where Lu Li found to be a good location. He told Rui the Iron to start working on repairs. Rui the Iron listened. He took out some strange black ores from his Interspatial Ring and then released thunderbolts to work on the lid.
"Um?"
While Rui the Iron released the thunderbolts, Lu Li was nervous. After all, Little White was inside Rui the Iron's body. What if he used some methods to attack Little White?
Luckily, Rui the Iron didn't take any ill-considered actions. He concentrated on repairing the lid. He used thunderbolts to melt some ore and used them to fill up the hole little by little.
Time moved on. Lu Li never let his guard down. He kept his psychic power on Rui the Iron and was ready to attack his Soul Pond at any moment.
After half a day, half of the hole was filled up. Rui the Iron didn't show any signs of misbehavior and continued his work. It was quiet around here. No barbarian dared to come close.
After one day!
The hole on the lid was completely filled up. But Rui the Iron didn't stop there. He kept generating thunderbolts to refine the lid. After several hours, the lid began to glow constantly. Rui the Iron opened his eyes and said, "Okay, the lid is repaired. You only have to build a spiritual connection of the lid and the body to make the Quasi Relic yours."
Lu Li nodded and said, "Throw the lid to me!"
Rui the Iron shook his head and replied, "You must take the oath first. Or I'd rather destroy the lid."
Taking an oath was not hard. Per the instruction of Rui the Iron, Lu Li made a solemn Heaven Reverse blood oath. He was careful on his wording, trying to imply that he would let Rui the Iron off the hook only at the small battlefield, which was not to say that he would never try to kill Rui the Iron. Rui the Iron was relieved after Lu Li took the oath and threw the lid over.
Picking the lid up, Lu Li inspected it with psychic power to make sure that it had no spiritual connection with Rui the Iron anymore. Lu Li nodded with satisfaction and said, "Okay, off you go. I am a man of my words. I can spare your life this time! Little White, come on out!"
"Whoosh!"
Rui the Iron's back had already scabbed but Little White once again gave him a hole. Little White flew back. Rui the Iron grimaced in pain while said, "Human, I admit my defeat this time. When I go back, I will work hard to cultivate. Next time, when we meet again at the Demon-slaying Grounds, I will kill you!"
"Ha, ha, ha!"
Lu Li laughed while he took out his Fate Wheel. On his way out, he said, "Little barbarian, next time, bring me another piece of Quasi Relic and I will spare your life again!"
Lu Li was getting further and further away. Rui the Iron's expressions looked awful. He swung his fist in rage and smashed a nearby hill into the ground.
However, after a while, he snorted, "Stupid human, this Ding of Barbarian God was manufactured by our ancestor. What if you have it? You are not one of us and you can never build a connection. It will be a pile of stupid iron to you."
"Phew, phew!"
Lu Li flew away quickly with Little White. They ran into several barbarians on route who all fled on the sight of him, daring not to engage in a fight with Lu Li.
Lu Li didn't stop to fight them, either. He flew for an hour before he entered a cave and exhaled. He was both excited and tired. He felt had taken a tour to hell during the past couple of days.
He was under extreme stress during the seven days and nights that he was kept. He almost lost his mind. Unexpectedly, Little White helped him get out and he got a Quasi Relic, the Ding of Barbarian God.
"Little White, thank you so much!"
Lu Li took Little White from his shoulder and held it in his hands. Looking at its burnt skin, he exclaimed, "Little White, you are awesome. You can bite through Quasi Relic!"
"Squeak, squeak!"
Little White raised its little head in pride. Its eyes were filled with deride as if trying to say that this was nothing, not worth mentioning.
Lu Li thought for a while and asked, "Little White, is it because you have absorbed divine energy that you can be so strong? Does it have anything to do with divine energy that your teeth are so sharp?"
Little White lowered its head, deep in thoughts. After a moment, it nodded and then shook its head. Lu Li was confused.
He pondered about it and asked again, "It's the divine energy or the thunderbolts?"
Little White nodded happily. Lu Li seemed to understand. Little White could grow so strong must have something to do with being refined in thunderbolts for seven days and nights as well as divine energy.
Divine energy and thunderbolts had transformed Little White's abilities. Lu Li could not imagine how sharp Little White's teeth were now that it could bite through Quasi Relic…
"Ding of Barbarian God!"
Lu Li's spirit was recovered after sitting for a bit. He found an open space in the cave, took out the Ding of Barbarian God and began to work on it. He wanted to do it a while back but he was worried that Rui the Iron might sneak up on him so he didn't. He had put it away to his Interspatial Ring.
Lu Li took out the lid and put it together with the body. He checked it for a bit and then put his hands on the body, pouring his Xuan Energy in, thinking this might be a way to make this Ding work.
"Buzzing!"
As soon as Xuan Energy was poured in, the Ding of Barbarian God gave out a feeble dark glow. Lu Li was excited and he kept pouring in Xuan Energy.
However…
Lu Li did it for two hours but the Ding of Barbarian God was still only giving out feeble light. Other than that, nothing was happening.
"What is going on?"
Lu Li stopped pouring in Xuan Energy. Under normal circumstances, Xuan Artifact would have some kinds of reaction after receiving Xuan Energy. Granted, Quasi Relic would be more difficult to refine but there should at least be some signs? How come nothing happened after two hours?
Lu Li thought for a while but could not get an answer. He was worn out so he left it alone. He went to the end of the cave and asked Little White to protect him while he slept.
He slept for an entire day and night before he was woken up by some footsteps. Those footsteps were heavy. Clearly, some barbarians were going past nearby.
Refreshed, Lu Li had some water and food. Realizing that Little White had fallen asleep, he put it into his sleeve and went back out to the open area to continue work on the Ding of Barbarian God.
Half a day passed!
Lu Li opened his eyes, displeased.
He was now sure that he could not build a connection with Ding of Barbarian God. He was tricked by Rui the Iron. He stood up angrily, put the Ding of Barbarian God away and rushed out of the cave to the base camp of the Barbarian Race.
Since Rui the Iron wanted to set him up, Lu Li would not hold his end of the deal. He wanted to make this right. If not, he wouldn't mind putting the Barbarian Race through another bloodbath.