Chapter 132: Begin Forging

Master Luo of the Treasure Artifact Pavilion?

Cang Luo had certainly heard of him—his name was legendary.

A Martial King at the ninth level, an eighth-rank forger, a Grade-Ge array master—any one of these titles alone would make him a honored guest wherever he went.

Maybe Master Luo is my master?

Cang Luo thought it over, but decided against it—Master Luo’s reputation was too great; he’d easily be exposed. If Master Luo found out he was impersonating him, he’d be dead.

Better to invent someone who doesn’t exist—no way to verify, safer that way.

Even if exposed, I can claim the designs were all mine, and I hid my identity just to stay low-key.

Having made up his mind, Cang Luo spoke calmly: “My master is not Master Luo, nor is he from the Profound Heaven Sect...”

Lu Zheng and the other two looked surprised. Cang Luo continued: “My master is just an old hermit who forbids me from revealing his identity. Please forgive me, Master Lu.”

Manager He Jiu hurried to say: “Young brother, we mean no harm—we only wish to invite your master to visit the Divine Weapon Forge, and perhaps offer some guidance to our own masters.”

Of course, we’ll present a modest gift afterward.”

He had intended to offer Cang Luo’s master a position as a forge master at the Divine Weapon Forge, but then he reconsidered—someone whose designs impressed Master Lu so deeply surely wouldn’t fit in such a small temple.

Lu Zheng nodded: “Indeed, young friend. I too wish to discuss these designs with your master—they’re utterly astonishing.”

Cang Luo shook his head gently: “Master Lu, Manager He, my master won’t come. He’s long been accustomed to a carefree life—he only wishes for freedom.”

He Jiu’s face fell with disappointment. He opened his mouth to say more, but Lu Zheng held him back, and he sighed heavily, falling silent.

Cang Luo watched He Jiu’s expression, then added: “Though my master won’t come, his creations can.”

He Jiu’s eyes lit up eagerly: “Are you saying your master can design weapons for the Divine Weapon Forge?”

Cang Luo nodded: “Exactly!”

He Jiu beamed, glanced at Lu Zheng, saw him give a slight nod, and immediately said: “Then... then shall we appoint your master as an honorary forge master of the Divine Weapon Forge?”

Cang Luo was overjoyed—he hadn’t expected that coming to the Divine Weapon Forge to forge armor and weapons would land him a side job as an honorary forge master.

Honorary forge master—just the title sounds impressive. How much salary does that come with?

No matter the pay, Cang Luo agreed a thousand times over. It wouldn’t be little, surely—and at least he’d get discounts when forging weapons here.

Though delighted, Cang Luo kept his face humble and calm, even showing a hint of hesitation—as if weighing He Jiu’s proposal.

Seeing this, He Jiu quickly said: “Young brother, rest assured—the Divine Weapon Forge will never shortchange a master. Your master will receive generous quarterly and year-end bonuses.”

Also, there will be a share of profits for every design your master contributes.”

Of course, the exact bonus and profit-sharing amounts will be decided by the clan lord.”

“Naturally.”

Cang Luo gave a slight nod and said nothing more—he didn’t know how much a weapon design could sell for. Let them decide. Whatever they offered was profit.

Besides, saying too much would put him at a disadvantage. Saying less preserved the master’s aura of mystery, letting them make the first offer—perhaps even raise it.

Seeing Cang Luo’s willingness, He Jiu was overjoyed and immediately went to report the matter to the clan lord himself.

After He Jiu left, Cang Luo pointed to the blueprints and asked: “Master Lu, can these be forged?”

Before Lu Zheng could answer, Wang Zhonghu, still holding his tea, blurted: “Of course they can—my master is a sixth-rank forge master...”

“Cough! Cough!”

Lu Zheng cleared his throat twice, slightly embarrassed—claiming the title of master right in front of this boy was presumptuous.

“Naturally, no problem.”

“How long to forge them all?”

Lu Zheng thought briefly: “Forging is fast. Engraving the arrays will take longer—about two days.”

“Two days?” Cang Luo was stunned—he hadn’t expected it to be so quick.

The armor for the steel war chariot, plus several external weapons, totaled over twenty pieces, not to mention the spear and triangular throwing spikes—and they’d be done in two days?

Even with molds and direct casting, it wouldn’t be this fast.

Cang Luo stared blankly: “Really? Just two days—and all by you, Master Lu?”

Lu Zheng was puzzled—your master is a forge master, right? Why ask this?

Could it be... his master only designs, but can’t forge?

At that moment, Lu Zheng glanced again at the blueprints and noticed a detail he’d missed earlier.

He realized—none of these blueprints contained any annotations for array engraving...

Suddenly, Lu Zheng made a judgment: this boy refuses to reveal his master’s identity because his master isn’t a forge master or a martial cultivator at all—he’s just a mortal obsessed with design.

Very likely. Otherwise, if he had a forge master as a master, he wouldn’t be just an outer disciple of the Profound Heaven Sect.

Lu Zheng frowned slightly: “I never lie. Two days means two days.”

He didn’t ask about the identity of Cang Luo’s master—so long as the designs benefited the Divine Weapon Forge, that was enough.

Cang Luo nodded. Lu Zheng spoke with certainty—he had to believe him, though he was intensely curious how it was done.

There are no lathes on the Yuanwu Continent, are there?

Can manual forging really be this fast?

After a moment’s hesitation, Cang Luo asked nervously: “Master Lu, may I observe the forging process? Of course, not the array engraving.”

He added: “I’ve never seen my master forge a weapon...”

As soon as Cang Luo spoke, Lu Zheng knew his guess was correct—this boy’s master wasn’t a forge master at all, only a designer.

Could he be a destitute scholar?

Lu Zheng considered—how forge masters forge weapons wasn’t a secret. Watching wouldn’t teach anything, so he nodded in agreement.

“Thank you, Master Lu!” Cang Luo bowed deeply.

Lu Zheng smiled, pleased—originally he’d assumed the boy’s master was a forge master far superior to himself, but now he realized he was just a mortal.

“Come. Let me show you the forge master’s craft.”

With that, Lu Zheng strode toward the forge courtyard in the back. Cang Luo and Wang Zhonghu hurried after him.

On the way, Lu Zheng asked for details: what materials, which arrays to engrave.

Cang Luo repeated what he’d told Wang Zhonghu earlier, adding a few more points.

For the spear belonging to Bai Li Wunian, since it was two-piece, Cang Luo planned to engrave two arrays—one offensive, one defensive. Lu Zheng said no problem.

Cang Luo then suggested engraving arrays on the triangular throwing spikes, but Lu Zheng refused—they’re hidden weapons, consumables. Engraving arrays would be wasteful, difficult due to their small size, and expensive.

Cang Luo thought it over—it was true. Throwing one meant losing it forever. Wasteful. He dropped the idea.

Arriving at the forge courtyard, waves of heat surged from the furnaces. Cang Luo immediately felt the temperature rise by at least five degrees.

The forge courtyard was a vast courtyard, but instead of enclosed rooms, it was surrounded by a ring of open pavilions, each housing a furnace—eight in total.

Dozens of dark-skinned men swung hammers of various sizes, forging weapons with clanging strikes, sparks flying, sweat pouring...

Huh? The hammers were coated in a crimson aura?

Cang Luo wondered—is this how forge masters work?

Concentrating aura into hammers does increase power and speed, but not by this much.

Suddenly, Cang Luo’s eyes widened—he saw a man who wasn’t swinging a hammer at all... but instead, forming a ball of crimson aura and directly molding the red-hot iron with it.

Sometimes shaping it into a flat plate, sometimes into a long bar. After a while, he’d strike it with a hammer.

Repeating this several times, a longsword took shape—quenched, then finely finished...

Lu Zheng went to prepare materials. Cang Luo watched alone, timed it—each longsword took barely ten minutes from start to finish.

So fast! No wonder Master Lu said everything could be done in two days.

So forge masters use aura to forge weapons—does that mean any martial cultivator can become a forge master?

Cang Luo stepped closer, watched a while, then dismissed the thought.

He noticed all twenty or so forge masters here had crimson aura—meaning they all cultivated fire-affinity or yang-affinity arts.

He also noticed something else—their aura was so intense, it nearly ignited.

At that moment, Wang Zhonghu, assisting Lu Zheng, called out. Cang Luo hurried over.

“Master Lu, are we starting?”

Lu Zheng nodded, unleashing twin crimson auras, plunging his hands into the furnace and pulling out a block of iron, red-hot as a bedframe, placing it on the workbench.

He said: “This is Black Glow Steel. I’ll begin with... armor?”

Cang Luo nodded. Lu Zheng added: “This armor doesn’t seem meant for a person to wear?”

Cang Luo didn’t hide it: “It’s armor for a mechanical vehicle.”

Lu Zheng blinked: “Mechanical vehicle? The Mo Family’s mechanical vehicle?”

Before Cang Luo could answer, he asked: “Is this vehicle designed by your master?”

Cang Luo nodded quickly—no need to fabricate.

Lu Zheng smiled: “Could I see the mechanical vehicle’s blueprints?”

Cang Luo replied calmly: “The mechanical vehicle isn’t finished yet. Only the outer armor has been designed—what you just saw.”

Lu Zheng smiled and dropped the subject. He’d really wanted to ask: how could a man who isn’t even a cultivator, who doesn’t understand array engraving, design a mechanical vehicle?

A horse-drawn mechanical vehicle?

He didn’t press further. Cang Luo exhaled in relief, watching intently as Lu Zheng forged the armor.

Lu Zheng summoned a blade of aura, slicing a slab of iron the size of a chopping board from the massive block. He glanced quickly at the blueprint, then began stretching, molding, and hammering the plate with aura.

He said: “This is shaping.”

Cang Luo nodded, watching closely—he realized shaping wasn’t just molding with aura; during the process, the aura had to be heated nearly to combustion to refine the metal...

Cang Luo guessed: the forge masters’ cultivation arts must be uniquely specialized, with metal-refining properties.

Minutes later, the armor was nearly complete—nine-tenths identical to the blueprint, only slightly off in dimensions.

Just as Cang Luo was about to ask how to measure the exact dimensions, Lu Zheng suddenly pulled a three-foot-long polished steel ruler from beneath the workbench and began measuring the armor.

After a series of comparisons, he began shaping it, and soon, a piece of armor perfectly matching the design blueprint was fully formed.

But this wasn’t over—Lu Zheng once again condensed his Gangqi and carved a shallow groove into the inner surface of the armor, a groove the size of a yuan stone.

Lu Zheng pointed to the groove and smiled: “This groove is for embedding a yuan stone. Your master didn’t mark the location of the array’s focal point, so I took the liberty of doing it myself—won’t this affect the mechanical vehicle?”

Cang Luo froze—he’d forgotten to tell Professor Yang to leave a groove for the yuan stone.

Is Lu Master implying... he’s seen through my ‘master’s’ true level?

What should I do?

Screw it—as long as the weapon I designed is powerful, that’s all that matters.

Without further thought, Cang Luo quickly nodded: “No, no, thank you, Lu Master...”