Chapter 244

"Qi Sea..."

Li Rui felt the Immortal Xuan Qi in his dantian carefully.

As the circulation of Qi completed one full cycle.

The Immortal Xuan Qi seemed to have reached a critical value, as if it might explode at any moment.

It was already time to open the Qi Sea.

Li Rui took out the two remaining Fourth-Rank Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Pills from the secret chamber.

All the other elixirs had already been eaten by him.

He possessed a Martial Bone and had the Burning Heaven Hammer to consolidate his foundation, which was why he dared to eat elixirs so brazenly; if other martial artists were like him, I fear the moment of opening the Qi Sea would be the end of their lives.

If the foundation is unstable, the path ahead could collapse at any time.

Li Rui took out one Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Pill.

The precious pill was golden throughout, with faint cloud patterns revealed; these were not carved by an alchemist, but were natural textures from when the pill was formed, and only pills above the Fourth-Rank would have such markings.

It was quite miraculous.

Even while the Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Pill was still in his hand, he could already smell the rich fragrance of the pill.

It was impossible to describe its scent.

Smelling it could have the effect of curing a cold, but it was a pity that ordinary people had no chance to see a Fourth-Rank spirit pill.

If not for Elder Tiekuang, even Li Rui would not have been qualified.

Li Rui tilted his head back.

The Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Pill was swallowed into his belly.

At first, a wave of warmth surged up in his dantian, gradually spreading throughout his body; the gentle breeze and drizzle did not last long.

The next instant.

The terrifying pill power rushed straight to his crown.

Li Rui only felt an unprecedented clarity, his spirit platform bright and clear.

Time waits for no one, strike while the iron is hot!

He swallowed the second Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Pill without hesitation.

In an instant.

The Immortal Xuan Qi within his body seemed to have been detonated; the Immortal Xuan Qi that had originally condensed into essence shattered in a silent boom, not in the form of Qi, but into tiny particles that fell and filled his dantian.

Li Rui grasped the God-Fire Burning Heaven Hammer without hesitation.

He walked out of the room with red eyes.

Night Hammer Practice!

The God-Fire Burning Heaven Hammer was swung by Li Rui like a gale, turning into streaks of afterimages that shrouded Li Rui like a barrier.

One hammer.

Two hammers.

A hundred hammers!

The commotion in the courtyard was soon noticed by Wang Zhao and Yang Yong.

The two hurriedly walked out of their rooms wearing their clothes, only to see Li Rui's figure like a dragon under the moonlight, the hammer being swung so fast that not even a drop of water could pass through.

"This is..."

Yang Yong was greatly shocked; he had thought Li Rui had gone mad, otherwise what decent person would run out to practice with a hammer in the middle of the night.

And looking at Li Rui's appearance, he had clearly forgotten the changes in the outside world, his heart set only on practicing with the hammer.

He wanted to step forward to pull Li Rui back, but due to his low strength, he dared not approach.

Wang Zhao narrowed his eyes slightly.

He was at least a Rank-Entered expert now, and his knowledge of the Martial Path was greater than Yang Yong's; he hesitated and said: "Master... is he about to break through?"

Looking at Li Rui again.

The God-Fire Burning Heaven Hammer, which had been pitch black throughout, gradually revealed a red color during the thousands of strikes.

As the number of times Li Rui swung it continued to increase.

The color of the God-Fire Burning Heaven Hammer became increasingly vivid, and in the end, it turned completely into a dazzling crimson.

In a trance.

Li Rui seemed like a great sun, vying for brilliance with the bright moon in the sky.

If anyone from the God-Weapon Shanzhuang were present, they would certainly be greatly shocked.

At the God-Weapon Shanzhuang, a saying had always been passed down.

"When the fire burns the night, a saint shall appear!"

This referred to the person who could make the God-Fire Burning Heaven Hammer turn from black to red, who would be the saint of the current age.

The God-Fire Burning Heaven Hammer was indeed the treasure of the God-Weapon Shanzhuang, but in the thousands of years of the God-Weapon Shanzhuang, even counting the Shanzhuang Master who forged the God-Fire Burning Heaven Hammer, no one had ever been able to do it.

Li Rui was completely immersed in his own world, the divine hammer in his hand dancing wildly.

A thousand hammers, ten thousand hammers!

Amidst the repeated hammering, the tiny particles of Immortal Xuan Qi in his dantian completely turned into the form of Qi, rising and floating in the dantian, becoming clouds.

It was raining...

A rain began to fall in Li Rui's dantian.

The God-Fire Burning Heaven Hammer stopped abruptly; his whole person stood like a mountain, motionless.

One stance.

Lasted the whole night.

The rain in his dantian also drizzled for the whole night.

When the first ray of sunlight at the edge of the sky shone on Li Rui.

The rain stopped.

Li Rui slowly opened his eyes.

At this moment, in his dantian, a small puddle appeared, just like the puddle in the Zhu family stables in Qinghe after the rain, which always made Li Rui happy.

"The embryonic form of the Qi Sea!"

Li Rui could no longer suppress the smile at the corners of his mouth.

From the initial smile, it turned into a loud laugh.

In the courtyard, Wang Zhao and Yang Yong looked at each other in dismay.

"Master has gone crazy."

In a blacksmith shop in Qinghe City.

The clanging sound of forging seemed to only stop at night.

Everyone around felt that the old man in the blacksmith shop was a diligent person and also a good person; if you asked him to forge a hoe or a sickle, he wouldn't even charge money.

Perhaps that was why no one went to the government office to complain about being disturbed in their sleep.

"Add fire."

"Add more!"

Elder Tiekuang's expression was focused; he used iron tongs to clamp a piece of red-hot iron, staring at the situation in the furnace while directing Liu Tiezhu to add fire.

Liu Tiezhu, with his explosive muscles, made the bellows roar, even appearing somewhat overwhelmed.

The two worked in perfect harmony; although there were only two of them, the weapons produced daily were not few, and the key was that the worst of them were Sixth-Rank weapons, which was very shocking.

Looking across the entire Yunzhou, there were not many blacksmith shops with such a level.

At this time.

The curtain was lifted, and Li Rui walked in.

Elder Tiekuang only glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.

"Master Tie, Master Tie, it's about time."

Liu Tiezhu looked up and found that the iron block was almost being burned to a melt, and couldn't help but urge him.

But what puzzled him was that Old Man Tie seemed not to have heard his words at all, remaining unmoved.

Seeing that if the iron block continued to burn, it would be ruined, he couldn't help but raise his volume:

"Old Man Tie, don't lose focus!"

The form of address had also changed from Master Tie back to the previous Old Man Tie.

He was truly anxious.

If he didn't hammer it now, this piece of iron would be ruined.

For Liu Tiezhu, who viewed forging as his life, this was truly too painful.

Elder Tiekuang finally came to his senses; he raised his hand, gripped the iron tongs, took the already softened iron block out of the furnace, and then threw it onto the anvil without even looking.

"Old Man Tie, you..."

Seeing Elder Tiekuang's inexplicable actions, Liu Tiezhu was somewhat confused for a moment.

At this time.

He also saw Li Rui.

"Master..."

Liu Tiezhu was just about to speak when he heard Elder Tiekuang's somewhat excited voice: "You succeeded?"

Turning his head.

Liu Tiezhu was greatly shocked.

He actually saw an expression other than severity and sneering on Elder Tiekuang's face.

Joy.

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

"What on earth happened?"

Li Rui smiled slightly, took off the black bundle behind him, and handed it to Elder Tiekuang: "I have not failed your expectations, Senior; it is done, this hammer is returned to its owner."

"Good, good, good!"

Elder Tiekuang nodded repeatedly.

It was currently the hottest time of summer.

Before, when he said to open the Qi Sea before the Lantern Festival, he was just saying it casually; he hadn't expected Li Rui to break through in such a short time.

Opening the Qi Sea was not child's play; how could it be so fast?

He had walked this step himself back then, so he naturally understood the hardships involved.

In his heart, he had given Li Rui an expectation of two years. This was still based on the foundation that Li Rui was a genius who hid his light.

He never expected that Li Rui would break through in only half a year.

"Could it be that he is a genius encountered once in a thousand years?"

This thought only flashed through Elder Tiekuang's mind for a moment before it was completely occupied by another matter.

Casting an Immortal Weapon!

He had gone to great lengths to help Li Rui open the Qi Sea, wasn't it for the sake of an Immortal Weapon?

Now that Li Rui had opened the Qi Sea.

The quantity of true qi was far greater than before, so perhaps there was a possibility of success.

"Come!"

Elder Tiekuang pulled Li Rui to the side of the furnace and said to Liu Tiezhu: "Go, take the thing out."

"Oh."

>

Liu Tiezhu said "oh."

Before he had taken the first step, Elder Tiekuang cursed: "Dawdling, run!"

Liu Tiezhu didn't dare say a word of refusal and hurriedly trotted into the inner room.

He felt annoyed in his heart.

If he had known, he might as well not have known Old Man Tie's identity; it was more comfortable when he could curse Old Man Tie.

After only a moment.

Liu Tiezhu brought out a large iron block of red gold from the inner room.

Li Rui recognized it.

This was the main material Elder Tiekuang used to forge the Immortal Weapon, Red Dragon God Iron.

It was a genuine Third-Rank God Iron.

To describe such a piece as worth a city would not be an exaggeration at all.

Such a rank of God Iron, even Li Rui had no channel to purchase; it was something Old Man Tie had obtained himself.

"Casting an Immortal Weapon is truly a bottomless pit."

Such high-quality Red Dragon God Iron could only be used once; if it failed, one had to buy a new one.

Although it could be recycled to forge a Fourth-Rank Spirit Weapon to recoup some costs.

But the sheer magnitude of the expense left Li Rui dumbfounded.

That was why every time Elder Tiekuang acted, he was extremely cautious.

Elder Tiekuang put the Red Dragon God Iron into the furnace, but this time he didn't urge Liu Tiezhu to blow the bellows; instead, he took a deep breath and opened his mouth.

A stream of crimson true qi was exhaled from his mouth.

Li Rui found it novel.

The Red Dragon God Iron could be called God Iron because ordinary mortal fire could no longer completely calcine it.

Elder Tiekuang was using his own fire-form true qi to replace the flame to calcine the God Iron.

The weapon-casting masters of the Yu Kingdom, besides having superb weapon-casting skills, were actually all martial arts experts as well.

Otherwise, when it came to weapons above the Fourth-Rank, they would be at their wit's end.

And they must possess the fire-form.

Elder Tiekuang was that kind of "forging holy body."

Wrapped in the fire-form true qi, the Red Dragon God Iron turned bright red at a speed visible to the naked eye.

At this time.

He heard Elder Tiekuang give a low shout: "Now, pour in the true qi!"

Li Rui immediately urged his true qi.

Immortal Xuan Qi as thick as a thumb was injected into the furnace, many times stronger than the hair-thin strands from before.

The moment the Immortal Xuan Qi touched the Red Dragon God Iron, Elder Tiekuang shook open the bundle Li Rui had just given him, revealing the God-Fire Burning Heaven Hammer.

He gripped the handle of the hammer.

Clang!

A deep, muffled, and loud sound rang out in the shop.

It was no wonder the God-Fire Burning Heaven Hammer was a Fourth-Rank weapon; it was truly extraordinary when it came to forging.

With one hammer strike, the Red Dragon God Iron showed obvious deformation.

Of course, this was inseparable from Elder Tiekuang's hundred years of skill.

A miraculous scene appeared.

The Immortal Xuan Qi injected by Li Rui was all hammered into the Red Dragon God Iron by the God-Fire Burning Heaven Hammer.

Soon.

As the Red Dragon God Iron was hammered strike by strike, a lifelike dragon pattern gradually appeared. Looking closely, one could faintly see the scene of an Immortal Palace beneath the dragon pattern.

Seeing this scene.

Elder Tiekuang's eyes suddenly brightened: "There's a chance!"

Li Rui's true qi was poured into the God Iron; as long as this step could be completed, the Immortal Weapon would have the possibility of taking shape.

Elder Tiekuang's hammering speed became slower and slower; the last hammer strike took a full quarter of an hour, with most of the time spent in thought.

After a full hour.

Li Rui then spoke: "Senior, my true qi is about to be exhausted."

Elder Tiekuang didn't even look at Li Rui, only saying: "Stop, that's enough."

After opening the Qi Sea, the quantity of Li Rui's true qi was already enough to support the completion of the Qi injection.

Once the God Iron obtained the Qi, it had the possibility of becoming spiritual.

This was the key to nurturing an artifact spirit.

Previously, Elder Tiekuang had always been stuck at this step; beast blood was, after all, a dead object, and it was different from true qi.

Li Rui stopped talking.

He watched Elder Tiekuang quietly.

Although Elder Tiekuang's hammering speed had slowed down, it possessed a unique aesthetic.

To be precise, it was precision.

Li Rui possessed the ability to see spiritual substances clearly, so he could see that every time the spirituality of the Red Dragon God Iron decreased, Elder Tiekuang would land a hammer strike to reawaken it.

The art of forging was displayed to the fullest by Elder Tiekuang.

What is a master?

Li Rui was convinced.

No wonder Elder Tiekuang could be called the number one weapon-casting master in Yunzhou.

Liu Tiezhu's eyes were even fixed straight ahead.

He had forged iron his whole life, yet he had never seen such a miraculous weapon-casting technique.

At this moment, his admiration for Old Man Tie had reached the point of prostration.

A full day and night passed.

Elder Tiekuang hadn't rested for a moment, hadn't even closed his eyes for a while, staring intently at the furnace.

At noon.

Elder Tiekuang sighed lightly: "It failed."

However, there was not much dejection on his face; there was more excitement.

He felt that this was the closest he had ever been to an Immortal Weapon.

Failure was not important; what was important was gaining experience from failure.

As long as he improved a little each time, there would eventually be a day when he forged an Immortal Weapon.

Elder Tiekuang said to Li Rui: "I need some time to think; when I need you, I will have Tiezhu call you."

"Good."

Li Rui nodded readily.

If not for Elder Tiekuang, he wouldn't have been able to open the Qi Sea so quickly; since he had accepted the benefit, he naturally had to repay it.

It didn't matter if Elder Tiekuang called him then, even if he stayed in the blacksmith shop the whole time.

He wouldn't have a single complaint.

West of the city, an abandoned residence outside the Anning Guard.

"Magistrate Zhuang, this is the residence."

A young man with a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks led the County Magistrate Zhuang Renhe into an abandoned residence.

"My lord, more than half a year ago, someone found me and bought this residence."

He said as he walked.

"Hmm."

Zhuang Renhe nodded: "Lead the way properly."

With a creak.

The wooden door of the abandoned residence was opened.

The abandoned courtyard appeared before Zhuang Renhe's eyes.

"This is it?"

He had been searching for news of Fu Huai during this period; as the Qinghe County Magistrate, his influence was enormous.

No matter how carefully Fu Huai had acted, he still discovered clues.

This abandoned residence was the place Fu Huai had set up before he disappeared.

Zhuang Renhe turned his head to look outside the courtyard wall.

He could happen to see the Anning Guard not far away; if he stood on the roof, he could even see the scene inside the Anning Guard.

There were not many such residences in Qinghe.

Zhuang Renhe narrowed his eyes slightly:

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

(End of chapter)