Chapter 330: Return to King Level
Translator: Alsey Editor: Chrissy
Lake Xuanwu. Here, purple mists curled up from the water, and golden carps leaped up from time to time, spraying water everywhere.
The grass on the island was like a green carpet and the whole area possessed a type of elegant beauty. There were a number of peach trees rooted here. The peach flowers were blooming vigorously, their petals floating down from time to time.
This area was extremely tranquil. It was like a painting full of peace and harmony.
Chu Feng was in full concentration as he used the bright red flying knife to carve undecipherable and complicated symbols onto the magnetic stones.
No one disturbed him. This island had become a holy land. Despite their curiosity, the others had to keep their distance from the island and could only stand on the shore.
Only the Wudang grandmaster stayed on the island for fear of Chu Feng's safety.
Just a while ago, all parties had reached an agreement. Many people were willing to work with Chu Feng.
Deity Biomedicals Headquarters was in Jiangning, and as such, mobilizing resources was extremely convenient. They immediately delivered a large number of magnetic stones and jade pieces in order to have Chu Feng nurture their weapons.
Apparently, the corporations didn't completely believe in Chu Feng's strength.
Deity Biomedicals delivered a rusted ancient sword. Rumor has it that it was an ancient treasured weapon. They wanted him to "nurture" it to see the effects.
Chu Feng began to select the best from the piles of materials around him and discarded the magnetic stones and jade pieces of ordinary quality.
That was because ordinary magnetic stones no longer had any effect on him. What he wanted was to have the black and white grinding stone within his body take form and get rid of its defects. This was to become his foundation.
Nurturing weapons for the corporations was just a convenient and secondary move.
The rare jade pieces and lustrous magnetic stones were indeed rare materials with great effects. Chu Feng had just finished laying down the weapon nurturing array when the whole area began to stir.
"Look! Various types of free energy between the heaven and earth are almost materializing. They're headed towards that area!"
Someone from the shore cried out in astonishment.
The ancient sword was mottled and rusted, but it began to emit a faint radiance after being nurtured by the special energy.
This was really an ancient famed weapon. It could be considered an extraordinary blade.
It wasn't long before the sword began to hum gently and, with a crack, all the rust peeled off to reveal an azure blade emanating a treasured halo.
Looking at it in detail, there were fine lines on the blade. The blade had once suffered serious damage and almost split apart.
At present, lights were flowing around the humming ancient sword amidst the surge of energy. The whole ancient blade seemed to be breathing and those cracks almost seemed to be becoming indistinct.
"How surprising! This was a famed sword from the northern and southern dynasties era. It possesses innate spirituality and after injecting energy into it with my weapon nurturing art, the damage on the blade is gradually healing." Chu Feng was amazed.
The people on the shore revealed astonished expressions as they watched the ancient blade release beams of light. It was an amazing sight.
"Deity Biomedicals sure is extraordinary. They really do have an ancient sword. I thought they were fooling people."
"They brought out such an extraordinary weapon for testing. They must have even more amazing things in their hands. They just didn't want to reveal everything."
Many people were guessing what secret treasures Deity Biomedicals had kept hidden. They would definitely become extraordinary objects once they were nurtured and upgraded by the weapon nurturing array.
Three days later, the fine cracks on the ancient sword completely disappeared. It had become increasingly sturdy and sharp. Enshrouded in a hazy azure light, the blade could easily cut through thick metal with a light swing.
"What a sharp and fierce weapon!" Some people sighed in amazement.
"That's it. This is as far as I can nurture this weapon unless you have even more astonishing materials," said Chu Feng.
He then returned the sword to the people from Deity Biomedicals.
During the three days, many other major powers had also transported mountains of materials over. Chu Feng's deployment of the weapon nurturing array was extremely fast. He constructed one after another on the island.
Within every domain was a weapon. All of them were shipped over by the major powers. Just like Deity Biomedicals, they all seemed to be probing.
Some were damaged ancient items.
Some were made of good material and used to be famed swords of their era. Their sharpness was astonishing. They wanted Chu Feng to help them bring these weapons to the next level.
Chu Feng knew that, as long as he performed well, these people would bring out the treasures from the bottom of their chests to have them upgraded.
Naturally, they would do it secretly and find him to perform it in secret. They wouldn't do it openly like so.
Chu Feng naturally had his own motives in deploying successive weapon nurturing domains in succession. He was trying to connect them all together and build a Major Weapon Nurturing Domain.
Evidently, the first phase of his experiment had failed because he required a famed mountain!
The requirements for the Major Weapon Nurturing Domain were stringent and had to be complemented by special geography to complete its construction. This wasn't a simple task.
Clang! Clang! Clang…
During the past several days, sword radiances and spear flashes surged on the island. All of them were extraordinary weapons flowing with brilliance and emanating extraordinary spirituality.
At this point, all major powers were convinced after witnessing Chu Feng's methods.
Just within a few days, the weapons they had delivered had undergone astonishing changes. Even those badly damaged weapons were restored.
Chu Feng also benefited during these days. His strength had recovered to the ninth level of the awakened realm and was soon about to touch the king realm. The black and white grinding stone had become evidently condensed.
During this period, the island was quite lively. Lin Naoi also came at one point. She gazed at Chu Feng from the distance but didn't go onto the island.
No one could enter the island at will. Everyone had to wait outside, no matter who it was.
During these days, all the major corporations displayed the same attitude. They were at least passionate on the surface. They waited quietly on the shore and did their best to fulfilled Chu Feng's demand for various materials.
"You need to be careful. Not every expert needs weapons. Take me for instance, I only need my fist arts."
The old grandmaster reminded Chu Feng not to get too friendly with those major powers and that he shouldn't believe that the extreme experts no longer viewed him as a threat.
Chu Feng nodded. He naturally understood this.
Although he was placed and the center of attention and revered, he knew these people could turn hostile at a moment's notice. Of course, he wouldn't let everything get to his head.
Right now, they were just using one another.
Chu Feng reckoned many major powers were trying to study domains already. They wanted to find a point of breakthrough from him.
He could sense various advanced instruments reading him from afar. There were such instruments even on the island. They wanted to see how he laid down the domains.
It was just that he'd become increasingly adept in the art of domains. All the symbols he carved on the magnetic stones would be drawn in and disappear into the interior.
Not to mention plagiarism, they wouldn't be able to research it even if he gifted it to them directly.
In truth, they might not necessarily be able to learn it even if he took these people by the hand and taught them. Those unintelligible symbols were simply too complex, abstruse and intolerant of even the smallest of defects. For instance, the thickness of the veined patterns, the sequence of carving and even the amount of spirit applied would affect the outcome.
Some things could only be grasped and not taught.
In truth, some corporates owned certain ancient volumes related to domains. Although they couldn't compare to Chu Feng's book, they were also fragmented inheritances. They'd studied them for so long but they simply couldn't produce any results.
Right now, there was word circulating within certain corporations. That was to invite Chu Feng over and build a good relationship with him. They wanted to offer him some inheritances and gain his friendship.
That was because they, themselves, were unable to comprehend those secret volumes on the art of domains.
Some corporations wanted to negotiate with Chu Feng, gifting him ancient volumes in exchanging for accepting students. They wanted him to teach their people.
Naturally, some dangerous powers had set their eyes on Chu Feng. They wanted to capture him for their own use.
That was because the uses of a domain researcher weren't just limited to nurturing weapons. He could also crack open various restrictions. He could help the corporations ascend famed mountains and dissolve those mysterious domains, etc.
On the fifth day, Chu Feng delivered all the weapons being nurtured on the island. All parties were satisfied.
That very day, someone delivered a piece of metal claiming it to be from a divine weapon.
This was a damaged finger-length item, apparently a piece from a sword body. It was completely blue but somewhat dim.
This item was delivered by the Pre-Qin Research Institute. Qi Honglin informed Chu Feng that this was probably the legendary sword, "Gan Jiang!" [1]
Chu Feng was stunned. Such a legendary divine blade could still appear after the passage of endless years?
Gan Jiang, Mo Ye, Yu Chang… these swords were seen in historical records and known as the ten famed swords of ancient China. Was he actually so fortunate as to see one of them?
To be precise, it was but a piece of the sword.
Qi Honglin solemnly vowed that this small piece should be a fragment of the sword "Gan Jiang" and inquired if Chu Feng could restore it.
"Old Qi, you must be overthinking it. How are you able to confirm this is a fragment of Gan Jiang? Besides, these legendary famed swords are mostly made of bronze and their refinement techniques are quite limited. It's just that their stories are passed down by word of mouth and exaggerated," said Chu Feng.
He truly believed that such bronze swords wouldn't necessarily be very sharp when brought into the modern age.
"But it truly is Gan Jiang. Can you restore it?" Hong Qiling asked again.
Chu Feng stared at it fixedly after receiving it. This light blue fragment of metal was made of special material that couldn't be identified. It actually released a vigorous light after it was placed in the weapon nurturing domain—blue light rushed towards the sky!
"Could it be that Gan Jiang, Mo Ye, Yu Chang, etc weren't cast by ordinary humans but instead legendary weapons?"
Chu Feng revealed an odd expression. Not just him, even the grandmaster and the others on the shore wore different expressions. That was because this small fragment was emitting a hazy radiance. This was too astonishing.
Wouldn't these ten famed swords of ancient China be able to shake the world if they weren't damaged?
"Completely exceeds expectations," Chu Feng sighed in astonishment.
In the end, he was unable to restore the weapon completely. He could only nurture weapons and use the domain to increase a weapon's quality. He couldn't do any forging or create something from nothing by restoring this fragment into a complete weapon.
But during the few days, the fragment burst forth with divine light. This made Chu Feng certain that it was sufficient to use it as a flying knife. After the process of nurturing, the blade's spiritual splendor was restored once again.
Gan Jiang was sharp to the extreme—it was as if the dust of vicissitudes was wiped away. The Pre-Qin Institute took it away with great satisfaction.
Chu Feng suspected that the Pre-Qin Research Institute possessed more of such fragments and that they had brought out only one to test his ability.
During this time, the black and white grinding stone within his body had become even more distinct and extraordinary. The energy within his body was being purified to an astonishing level.
After two days, Chu Feng once again entered the king realm. The energy within his body rolled and churned. This made him delighted as he felt the rich and powerful power. It'd truly been a long time since he last felt it!
[1] A legendary sword with a not so comforting story behind it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gan_Jiang_and_Mo_Ye
FUN FACT: The pair of swords appear in the Fate Stay Night as Archer's swords, Kanshou and Bakuya: http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Kanshou_and_Bakuya