Without losing focus, he continued hammering in a rhythmic way, molding the raw metal to his heart’s desire.
And before long, the metal began to slowly take shape of a long sword.
Finally, he quenched the shaped blade in a vat of water. Steam rose high as the metal cooled rapidly.
He lifted the sword and examined it closely under the light. It was simple and unadorned, but the blade was straight, and he felt the balance to be quite great.
A smile spread across his face. “Not perfect but much better than my previous try.” freewebnσvel.cѳm
[Congratulations,] Yue Lan said warmly with a genuine tone.
[You’ve successfully forged your first Low Grade Tier One Sword. It might be the lowest rank sword, but being able to successfully forge it under a day is an accomplishment in and of itself.]
He gave the blade a few test swings. It felt balanced in his hand, but the weight seemed lighter than what he was used to. “Thank you for the manual; I would have needed to go back to the treasury otherwise to get it.”
He paused as he thought of his inheritance. “I would have liked if I had gotten the complete Inheritance of the Inferno Smith instead of just his Cultivation Technique. I didn’t even get the manual for artifacts or weapon forging.”
[You have the system to buy the things that you can’t find outside, and the Basic Blacksmith Manual is totally worth it. After all, it encompasses the details of ores, minerals, where to find them, what reactions they will have if mixed with a different kind, among other things.]
He nodded his head as her words were true; he wouldn’t be able to find a manual as complete as this one in the outside world.
[As for the technique, I’m sure you will get a better one once you have access to the True Legacy of the Pagoda Bearing Monarch. I have a feeling you will be able to access at least the first level when you break through to the next level.]
“What was even the point of me getting this Pagoda if I can’t even open it until I’m at Origin Core Creation Realm? I would have been killed multiple times if I was just an average cultivator.” Shen Yuan shook his head as he thought the activation requirements were absurd of the Monarch.
[Well, think about it from his perspective. Would you want someone who can’t even save himself to get his hands on your inheritance? And Origin Core Creation Realm might not even have been that big of a deal for him back in his prime.]
[And not any ordinary cultivator could have completed those challenges, not to mention it’s not even been a few months since you got the Pagoda and you are already nearing the Origin Core Creation Realm.]
Shen Yuan thought about it again, as he also wouldn’t want someone so weak to take over his inheritance.
“Sigh, what’s done is done. I should continue making artifacts; at the end of the day, I need to make at least a High Tier 1 sword.” He shook his head and threw the sword inside of a box that he had placed to store swords.
[That’s a good goal. You would need to improve at least at this rate if you want to clear the mission.]
Shen Yuan nodded his head and took out another piece of Spirit Ore. “Let me make another one of the same grade before I move to try higher tier ones.”
He delved back into heating the ore before hammering it and repeated this process over and over again.
…
“Good, another Low Grade Tier 1 Sword is ready.” He wiped the sweat from his brow as he saw the sword cooling down inside the water.
The steam filled the room as the formations worked to release it outside.
He pulled it out and felt the weight of the sword in his hand. “Hmm… it’s better than before; the weight is better balanced as well.”
After weighing it enough, he swung it around to see its edges.
[It’s a good sword, typically what you see in the market.]
“Hehe, it will be quite funny to watch when the Sect Leader learns of my smithing ability. She gave me the award to choose to have the Sect blacksmith make a custom weapon for me, but what’s the use of it now when I can make a weapon for myself?” he said while smiling playfully.
[Will you name these swords?] Yue Lan curiously asked.
“Hmm… I could, but what’s the point when I will make dozens of them? I will let their owner name them so they can feel closer to their weapons.” He shook his head with a smile.
[Just like you with your Crimson Devourer.]
“Precisely.” He placed the second sword in the box and went in front of the forge again.
“Time to try for a higher tier sword,” he said while taking out a bigger chunk of Raw Spirit Ore.
He looked at the large chunk of ore before placing it in the furnace to heat it up. “I will need to purify it further and concentrate the essence to make a higher tier metal with it.”
[Or you can just use a higher tier ore from the start.]
“I’m still learning; that would be quite wasteful of me to do so, and I can perfect my basics better by using low-quality ores for forging weapons,” he said while waiting for the ore to heat up.
Yue Lan also got silent so as to let him focus on artifact forging.
…
“How was your first night with him?” Huo Rong’s teasing voice rang out in a garden as she and Bing Rong sat together in one of the mansions in the Core Sect.
Bing Rong lowered her head as her face turned a shade of red.
“Oh, come on, no need to be shy. Didn’t I tell you about mine already?” She sat opposite her at a table and rested her face on her hands while staring at her playfully.
Bing Rong gathered her courage and said in a soft voice, “…it was nice.”
“What? Just that?” Huo Rong purposely said in a loud voice and continued with a smirk, “It was heavenly for me; I already can’t wait to experience it again.”
“Didn’t you go to visit him yesterday? You can never be satisfied,” Bing Rong said with a twitch of her lips as she knew very well what this sister of hers was up to.
Huo Rong didn’t feel embarrassed one bit as she smugly said, “Of course, how can I have enough of my dear younger brother? If anything, I just want him more and more.”
Bing Rong softly bit her lips; she wanted to express her thoughts but felt too shy to say anything.
Huo Rong looked at her internal struggle as she stood up from her seat and sat down beside her. “You know, you need to chase your dreams yourself if you want them. No need to hold yourself back if you want to see him; he also wants to spend as much time with us as we want to spend with him.”