Chapter 244: Opening the Qi Sea, the Saint Appears

"Qi Sea."

Li Rui carefully sensed the Immortal Xuan Qi within his dantian.

As the Qi completed one full cycle.

The Immortal Xuan Qi seemed to have reached a critical threshold, as if ready to explode at any moment.

It was time to open the Qi Sea.

Li Rui took out the last two fourth-grade Ninefold Soul-Returning Pills from the secret chamber.

He had already consumed all the other pills.

He bore the Martial Bone and had solidified his foundation with the Hammer of Flame That Scorches Heaven—only then could he dare consume pills so recklessly; any other martial cultivator who did the same would likely die upon attempting to open the Qi Sea.

An unstable foundation could collapse at any moment thereafter.

Li Rui took out one Ninefold Soul-Returning Pill.

The precious pill was entirely golden, faintly bearing cloud-like patterns—not carved by the alchemist, but naturally formed during refinement, a mark found only in pills of fourth grade or higher.

Quite wondrous.

Even while still in his hand, the Ninefold Soul-Returning Pill emitted a rich, intoxicating aroma.

Its scent defied description.

Merely smelling it could cure a common cold, yet unfortunately, ordinary people had no chance to even see a fourth-grade spiritual pill.

Without Tie Kuang, Li Rui himself wouldn't have had the qualification.

Li Rui tilted his head back.

The Ninefold Soul-Returning Pill was swallowed.

At first, warmth surged from his dantian, gradually spreading through his body—gentle as a spring breeze, light as drizzle, but it did not last long.

The next instant.

Terrifying pill energy surged straight to the crown of his head.

Li Rui felt unprecedented clarity, his spiritual platform pure and bright.

Time waits for no one—press forward with one decisive push!

Without hesitation, he swallowed the second Ninefold Soul-Returning Pill.

In an instant.

The Immortal Xuan Qi within him exploded—once-solidified Qi shattered soundlessly into countless tiny grains, scattering across his dantian, no longer in gaseous form.

Li Rui gripped the Hammer of Flame That Scorches Heaven without hesitation.

With bloodshot eyes, he stepped out of the room.

Night training with the hammer!

The Hammer of Flame That Scorches Heaven whirled like a gale, forming countless afterimages that enveloped Li Rui like a shield.

One strike.

Two strikes.

A hundred strikes!

The commotion in the courtyard soon caught the attention of Wang Zhao and Yang Yong.

Both rushed out in their robes to see Li Rui, beneath the moonlight, moving like a dragon, the iron hammer spinning so fast not a drop of water could pass through.

"This is..."

Yang Yong was stunned—he thought Li Rui had gone mad; who else in their right mind would come out at midnight to train with a hammer?

And Li Rui's expression showed he had forgotten the outside world entirely, focused solely on hammering.

He wanted to step forward and stop Li Rui, but his own low cultivation held him back.

Wang Zhao narrowed his eyes slightly.

He was at least a ranked expert now, with more insight into martial arts than Yang Yong; he hesitated, saying: "Master... is he breaking through?"

He looked again at Li Rui.

The once entirely black Hammer of Flame That Scorches Heaven gradually revealed red hues after countless strikes.

As Li Rui swung it more and more times.

The hammer's color grew ever brighter, until it became a blinding crimson.

In a daze.

Li Rui resembled a blazing sun, rivaling the bright moon on the horizon.

Had anyone from Divine Weapon Mountain Village been present, they would have been shocked.

In Divine Weapon Mountain Village, there was a long-standing saying.

"When the Hammer of Flame Scorches the Night, the Saint Shall Appear!"

It meant that whoever could turn the Hammer of Flame That Scorches Heaven from black to red was the Saint of this age.

The Hammer of Flame That Scorches Heaven was indeed the treasured artifact of Divine Weapon Mountain Village, yet over thousands of years—even counting its original creator—no one had ever achieved this.

Li Rui was utterly immersed in his own world, the divine hammer dancing wildly in his hands.

A thousand strikes! Ten thousand strikes!

Through each strike, the countless tiny grains of Immortal Xuan Qi gradually reformed into gaseous form, rising and floating within his dantian, becoming clouds.

It's raining...

A rain fell within Li Rui's dantian.

The Hammer of Flame That Scorches Heaven halted abruptly; he stood like a mountain, utterly still.

He stood.

For an entire night.

The rain in his dantian drizzled all night long.

When the first ray of morning sun touched Li Rui.

The rain stopped.

Li Rui slowly opened his eyes.

Within his dantian now lay a small puddle of water—just like the puddle in the horse stable of the Zhu family in Qinghe River, which always brought Li Rui joy.

"Proto-Qi Sea!"

Li Rui could no longer suppress the smile on his lips.

From a faint smile, it burst into loud laughter.

Wang Zhao and Yang Yong stared at each other in the courtyard.

"Master has gone mad."

In a blacksmith shop in Qinghe City.

The clang of hammer on iron seemed to cease only at night.

The townsfolk all thought the old man in the shop was diligent and kind—he never charged for making hoes or sickles.

Perhaps because of this, no one ever complained to the authorities about the noise disturbing their sleep.

"Add more fire."

"More!"

Tie Kuang's expression was focused; he clamped a glowing red iron ingot with tongs, watching the furnace while directing Liu Tiezhu to stoke the flames.

Liu Tiezhu, with his explosive muscles, strained the bellows until they groaned under the pressure.

The two worked in perfect harmony; though only two men, their daily output of weapons was considerable, and crucially, even the worst were sixth-grade weapons—remarkable indeed.

Across all Yunzhou, few forges could match this level.

At this moment.

The curtain was pulled aside, and Li Rui walked in.

Tie Kuang glanced at him with the corner of his eye.

"Master Tie, Master Tie, that's enough."

Liu Tiezhu looked up and saw the iron ingot nearly melted—he couldn't help but urge.

But to his confusion, the old man acted as if he hadn't heard a word.

Seeing the ingot would soon be ruined, he raised his voice:

"Old Tie, snap out of it!"

He had reverted from "Master Tie" back to "Old Tie."

He was truly desperate.

If they didn't strike now, the iron would be wasted.

For Liu Tiezhu, who lived for forging, this was unbearable.

Tie Kuang finally snapped back to reality; he raised his hand, seized the tongs, pulled the softened iron from the furnace, and tossed it onto the anvil without even looking.

"Old Tie, you—"

Seeing Tie Kuang's strange behavior, Liu Tiezhu was momentarily baffled.

At that moment.

He also saw Li Rui.

"Master..."

Liu Tiezhu was about to speak when Tie Kuang's voice, filled with excitement, cut in: "You've succeeded?"

He turned his head.

Liu Tiezhu was utterly stunned.

He had just seen an expression on Tie Kuang's face beyond sternness and sneers.

Joy.

It was as if the sun had risen in the west.

'What on earth has happened?'

Li Rui smiled faintly, took down the black satchel behind him, and handed it to Tie Kuang: "As you hoped, it's done. This hammer belongs to you again."

"Good, good, good!"

Tie Kuang nodded repeatedly.

It was the height of summer.

Earlier, when he'd said he'd open the Qi Sea before Shangyuan, it was just idle talk—he never expected Li Rui to break through so quickly.

Opening the Qi Sea isn't child's play; how could it be done so fast?

He himself had walked this path, and knew well the hardship involved.

In his heart, he'd set Li Rui's expected timeline at two years—even that was based on the assumption Li Rui was a hidden genius.

Yet unexpectedly, Li Rui had broken through in only half a year.

'Could he be a once-in-a-millennium genius?'

The thought flashed through Tie Kuang's mind and was instantly replaced by another concern.

Casting a Immortal Weapon!

All his painstaking efforts to help Li Rui open the Qi Sea were for this very purpose.

Now that Li Rui had opened his Qi Sea,

his true qi had multiplied far beyond before—perhaps success was now possible.

"Come!"

Tie Kuang pulled Li Rui to the furnace and ordered Liu Tiezhu: "Go, bring out the materials."

"Oh."

>

Liu Tiezhu muttered "Oh."

Before he even took a step, Tie Kuang snapped: "Stop dawdling—run!"

Liu Tiezhu dared not protest; he hurried inside.

He felt regretful.

If he'd known Tie Old Man's identity earlier, he'd have been better off ignorant—it was more comfortable to curse him.

Only moments passed.

Liu Tiezhu returned carrying a solid block of pure crimson gold.

Li Rui recognized it.

It was the main material Tie Kuang used to forge Immortal Weapons: Crimson Dragon Divine Iron.

A genuine third-rank divine metal.

This single piece was worth more than a fortune.

Even Li Rui had no access to metal of this caliber—it was something Tie Old Man had obtained himself.

'Forging an Immortal Weapon is truly bottomless.'

This top-tier Crimson Dragon Divine Iron could be used only once; failure meant buying a new block.

Though one could salvage it into a fourth-rank spiritual weapon to recoup some cost,

the sheer expense left Li Rui speechless.

Thus, every time Tie Kuang began, he was exceedingly cautious.

Tie Kuang placed the Crimson Dragon Divine Iron into the furnace, but this time he did not urge Liu Tiezhu to fan the flames—he drew a deep breath and opened his mouth.

A stream of crimson true qi erupted forth.

Li Rui found it fascinating.

Crimson Dragon Divine Iron was called "divine" because ordinary fire could not fully smelt it.

Tie Kuang was using his own fire-form true qi to replace flame and forge the metal.

Yu Kingdom's master smiths were not only skilled in forging—they were also martial experts.

Otherwise, they'd be helpless with weapons above fourth rank.

And they must possess a fire-form.

Tie Kuang was one of those born with a forging body.

Wrapped in his fire-form true qi, the Crimson Dragon Divine Iron visibly turned a brilliant red.

At that moment,

Tie Kuang barked: "Now! Pour in your true qi!"

Li Rui immediately activated his true qi.

A stream of Immortal Qi, as thick as a thumb, surged into the furnace—vastly stronger than the hair-thin flow of before.

The instant Li Rui's Immortal Qi touched the Crimson Dragon Divine Iron, Tie Kuang unrolled the bundle Li Rui had given him—the Heaven-Scorching Hammer emerged.

He gripped the haft.

DONG!

A deep, resonant boom echoed through the workshop.

No wonder the Heaven-Scorching Hammer was a fourth-rank weapon—it truly excelled at forging.

One strike, and the Crimson Dragon Divine Iron visibly deformed.

Of course, this also owed much to Tie Kuang's century of cultivation.

A miraculous sight appeared.

The Immortal Qi Li Rui had poured in was entirely hammered into the Crimson Dragon Divine Iron by the Heaven-Scorching Hammer.

Soon,

with each strike, a lifelike dragon pattern emerged on the metal—upon closer look, hidden beneath the dragon's form were faint images of an Immortal Palace.

Seeing this,

Tie Kuang's eyes brightened: "It's working!"

Once Li Rui's true qi was infused into the divine metal, the Immortal Weapon had a chance to take shape.

Tie Kuang's hammering slowed further; each final strike took a full quarter-hour, most of which he spent in deep thought.

After a full half-hour,

Li Rui finally spoke: "Master, my true qi is nearly spent."

Tie Kuang didn't even look at Li Rui—he simply said: "Stop. It's enough."

After opening his Qi Sea, Li Rui's true qi was sufficient to complete the infusion.

When divine metal absorbs qi, it gains the potential to awaken a spirit.

This was the crucial step to cultivating a weapon spirit.

Previously, Tie Kuang had always been stuck here—beast blood was lifeless, fundamentally different from true qi.

Li Rui fell silent.

He watched Tie Kuang quietly.

Though Tie Kuang's hammering slowed, it carried a unique beauty.

More precisely—it was precision.

Li Rui could perceive spiritual matter; he saw that whenever the Crimson Dragon Divine Iron's spirit waned, Tie Kuang struck, reviving its essence.

The art of forging was fully displayed in Tie Kuang's hands.

What is a master?

Li Rui was utterly convinced.

No wonder Tie Kuang was called Yunzhou's foremost smith.

Liu Tiezhu stared, eyes wide.

He'd forged iron his entire life, yet never seen such miraculous craftsmanship.

At this moment, his admiration for Tie Old Man reached the point of total awe.

An entire day and night passed.

Tie Kuang never rested, never closed his eyes, his gaze fixed unwaveringly on the furnace.

At noon,

Tie Kuang sighed softly: "Failed."

Yet his face held little despair—mostly excitement.

He felt this was the closest he'd ever come to forging an Immortal Weapon.

Failure didn't matter; what mattered was gaining experience from failure.

As long as he improved a little each time, he would one day forge an Immortal Weapon.

Tie Kuang told Li Rui: "I need time to think. When I need you, I'll send Tiezhu to call you."

"Understood."

Li Rui nodded readily.

If not for Tie Kuang, he never would have opened his qi sea so quickly; having received this benefit, he naturally owed him a return.

Don't think Tie Kuang will call him at the right time—just keep him stuck in the forge.

He won't utter a single word of complaint.

West City, outside Anning Guard, an abandoned mansion.

"Magistrate Zhuang, this is the house."

A young man with a sharp face and monkey-like features led County Magistrate Zhuang Renhe into the abandoned mansion.

"Your Honor, more than half a year ago, a man came to me and bought this house."

He spoke as he walked.

"Hmm."

Zhuang Renhe nodded: "Lead the way."

Creak.

The wooden gate of the abandoned mansion opened.

An abandoned courtyard appeared before Zhuang Renhe.

"This is it?"

He had been searching for Fu Huai's trail for some time; as County Magistrate of Qinghe, his influence was immense.

Even though Fu Huai had been meticulous, he still uncovered traces.

This abandoned mansion was the one Fu Huai had acquired before vanishing.

Zhuang Renhe turned to look beyond the courtyard wall.

He could clearly see Anning Guard in the distance; from the rooftop, he could even see inside the guard post.

Such a house was rare in Qinghe.

Zhuang Renhe slightly narrowed his eyes:

"Could it really be Jiang Lin or Cao Wei?"

(End of Chapter)