“Let’s leave the past in the past,” Ezra said, shaking off the sadness on his face and looking directly at Charles. “There are actually significant differences among divine beasts. Cyber Academy has ranked the possible 42 divine beasts based on the concentration of [refined energy], creating what is widely known in the Beast Master community as the [Divine Beast Ranking].”
“The Divine Beast Ranking… Elder, where does your divine beast rank on that list?” Charles couldn’t help but ask, his curiosity piqued.
“Heh, if Cyber Academy’s theories are correct, then my Nine-Tailed Flame Tiger should be ranked 19th. Of course, I haven’t battled any other divine beast owners to confirm this, so who knows for sure?” Ezra said, somewhat proudly as he glanced at his divine beast beside him.
Seeing Charles’s envious look, Ezra walked over to the pile of mystic iron, his tone suddenly changing: “At this stage, divine beasts are still too far out of your reach. You should focus on evolving your own mystical beast first!”
Ezra’s words pulled Charles back from his daydreams. He watched as the Nine-Tailed Flame Tiger approached the heap of mystic iron and breathed out a jet of pitch-black flames. Charles instantly felt the fire attribute energy in the surrounding atmosphere become agitated.
The mystic iron, engulfed by the dark flames, slowly levitated and began melting into a large glob of molten metal.
The temperature of the molten metal continued to rise, gradually starting to glow brightly. Charles noticed light brown impurities being burned off around the droplets.
As the impurities were expelled, the basin-sized mass of silver liquid shrank, eventually becoming about the size of a basketball.
This scene left Charles thoroughly astounded.
Back when he had purified a piece of mystic iron in a cave, it took him ninety-one hammerings and he still hadn’t completely removed the impurities. Now, under the flame tiger’s breath, it had taken only a few minutes to achieve purity…
As the metallic droplet turned crystal clear and semi-translucent, Ezra ceased the smelting process.
Following that, Ezra treated the silver matrix in the same manner. When the silver matrix turned translucent, he merged the large and small globules of molten metal together.
“Psst—”
With a hissing mist rising from a water pool, the mixed metal liquid gradually solidified into a silvery-white metallic sphere.
After preparing the metal materials for crafting the Spirit Nail, Ezra’s attention turned to the dragon crystals nearby. He carefully picked up one and examined it under the light.
“Elder, I understand purchasing metal materials for forging a weapon that could make a humpback whale salivate, but what’s the purpose of buying these crystals?” Charles asked, puzzled, picking up a crystal to see the fine, golden filaments inside that resembled steel needles.
“Take a closer look inside. Do you see anything?” Ezra finally responded after a long observation.
Charles widened his eyes: “I can see some golden filaments inside.”
“Exactly, those are crystal whiskers,” Ezra stated solemnly.
“Crystal whiskers? What are those?” Charles asked, surprised, hearing the term for the first time.
“Crystal whiskers are fine, hair-like structures that form inside crystals due to external influences during their formation. When a crystal develops these whiskers, it’s called a dragon crystal, and its value can skyrocket into the thousands,” Ezra explained calmly, noticing Charles’s curious gaze.
“The reason crystal whiskers are so valuable is that they are the hardest natural substance known to man. The humpback whale has an incredibly hard skull, and to penetrate it, you would need a spirit nail made from crystal whiskers given your strength.”
With that, Ezra placed the dragon crystal on the forge and picked up a forging hammer nearby. The powerful swing stirred up a thunderous boom in the air as the hammer came crashing down on the dragon crystal.
There was a sound like an explosion, and the hard dragon crystal shattered, sending golden sparks scattering in all directions.
One of the sparks shot through Charles’s arm, causing him excruciating pain. Upon closer inspection, he noticed a fine puncture wound.
Truly deserving of its reputation as the hardest natural material, its penetrative power was astonishing!
Amazed, Charles then carefully gathered the fallen crystal whiskers from the ground. After half an hour, he managed to collect a small handful the size of a palm.
Taking the crystal whiskers from Charles, Ezra didn’t speak. The mysterious blaze tiger by his side breathed out flames again, heating the forged mystic iron until it glowed red-hot.
The sound of hammering echoed through the yard again.
With each hammer strike, the piece of mystic iron began to take shape, its form gradually resembling a long nail.
After forty-nine continuous strikes, the vague shape had transformed into a steel spike as thick as an arm.
Ezra nodded slightly as he looked at the nearly finished weapon on the forge, then embedded the golden crystal whiskers into the tip of the nail.
Charles watched quietly from the side, his expression beyond astonished.
This large forging hammer, weighing several hundred kilograms, felt as light as plastic in Ezra’s hands. Charles watched silently from the side, committing every movement Ezra made to memory.
After eighty-one strikes, the steel needle displayed a crystalline, silvery-white luster.
With a long exhale, Ezra quenched the fire and tossed the completed weapon to Charles: “Get ready, we’re setting out.”
Charles carefully caught it, and several lines of information appeared on his screen.
[Spirit Nail] [Purple Quality]: Hidden weapon. Possesses extremely strong piercing damage, especially effective against dark attribute creatures. Simply inject attribute energy to easily penetrate the defenses and exoskeletons of ferocious beasts below Tier 4.
A hidden weapon?
It seemed this weapon was designed for stealth attacks, no wonder it appeared so small, not even as long as his arm. With Charles’s current strength, sneaking up on a salivate over a humpback whale might be his only chance to defeat it.
Carefully holding the Spirit Nail, Charles’s heart raced. Under the light, he could see a faint golden sheen at the tip, likely from the embedded crystal whiskers.
“This should be able to kill a salivate over a humpback whale…” He sighed softly, storing the Spirit Nail carefully. Just thinking about the upcoming battle with a Tier 3 mystical beast made his heart pound uncontrollably.
Beside him, Ezra’s figure gradually became more ethereal, his feet already stepping into the shadows, waving at Charles.
Before entering the shadow, Charles tidied up the forge and the forging materials around him.
His gaze inadvertently glanced at the back of his left hand, where there was a conspicuous red mark and a countdown: [1 year, 343 days].
Recalling that day, Grace’s haughty demeanor and the disdain in her eyes, Charles’s smile turned somewhat bitter.
The deadline for his bet with Grace was drawing closer.
Although he knew hunting a salivate over a humpback whale was very dangerous, he had to do it to ensure Mousie’s evolution…
…
The hustle and bustle of the surrounding city gradually faded as Charles moved swiftly through the darkness, the sound of surging waves growing louder in his ears.
Standing on that beach once again, Charles’s heart raced uncontrollably. Facing a dark attribute creature for the first time, and one that was a tier above him—a formidable ferocious beast—Charles felt his blood boiling with excitement.
Sensing Charles’s nervousness, Ezra slowly turned around, his swirling, pitch-black eyes fixed on him, and said calmly, “If I intervene here, it will attract their attention and bring more abyssal creatures, so you will need to act on your own.
However, I can grant you the strength of a Tier 4 Beast Master for a short time, evening the playing field between you and the salivate over a humpback whale.”
As Ezra’s words fell, he slowly extended his hand and gently placed it on Charles’s back. Charles immediately felt a surge of massive attribute energy flowing into him. Unlike a violent torrent, this energy was incredibly tame under Ezra’s control.
Feeling the surging power within, Charles took a deep breath, sensing his senses sharpening. He clenched his fist, and it crackled, his muscles tensed as if brimming with endless strength.
“Is this the power of a Tier 4 Beast Master? It’s much stronger than I imagined!”
Charles gripped his ice and fire supreme spear, eager to begin. Initially worried about not being a match for the salivate over a humpback whale, the energy infusion from Ezra temporarily leveled the playing field.
“You’ll need to be quick; my power can only sustain you for an hour, and this battle will surely attract more abyssal creatures. Everything must be quick and decisive,” Ezra cautioned carefully.
Then, a dark beam of light shot straight into Charles’s eyes.
He saw the brilliant starry sky vanish, replaced by a swath of dark red, and the sight of ten large, chained meatballs.
Despite it being his second encounter, the sight of those ten ‘suns’ in the sky still sent a shock through Charles, causing his heart to flutter.
The ocean in front of him had also disappeared, replaced by an endless dark abyss where strange creatures writhed and moved forward.
And about thirty meters away, a mountainous creature with blood-red eyes stared at him, drooling with greed as it surged towards him.
Upon spotting the salivate over a humpback whale, Charles instinctively tightened his grip on the [ice and fire supreme spear], bracing himself for a fierce battle…
—