Chapter 93: What a Disgrace

Li Zhi'an had already turned and left. Cheng Xi looked at the Storage Bag; since she was forging a sword for Li Zhi'an, it was only right that he provide some materials.

Opening the Storage Bag to take a look, Cheng Xi felt a lump in her throat; her eyes were almost blinded by the flash.

So many good things?

She picked and chose, taking out Meteorite Iron, Midnight Frost, Phoenix Feather, Deep Sea Cold Crystal... then she took out a section of Lightning-Struck Wood herself. This Lightning-Struck Wood was something Li Zhi'an had gifted her back then, and only this small section remained.

Cheng Xi went to Chi Laicheng's Artifact Refining room; Chi Laicheng was already prepared and waiting for her.

As for the task of swinging the hammer, Chi Laicheng naturally could not let Cheng Xi do it. After Cheng Xi cooled the molten iron into shape and heated it red-hot, he picked up the Mysterious Iron Hammer and began to strike.

The Mysterious Iron Hammer slammed into the glowing red sword blank again and again; the sound of smithing echoed endlessly in the refining room.

"Seven taels and three mace of extraterrestrial Meteorite Iron, must be quenched with Midnight Frost dew, then add the Phoenix Feather. The order must not be wrong, and the timing must not be off..."

Cheng Xi stood to the side, speaking to Chi Laicheng word for word, her eyes fixed tightly on the sword blank.

A phoenix cry came from deep within the sea of clouds. The moment the hammer head, forged from black ice, fell, the sword blank suddenly emitted a tremor like a dragon's roar, and the entire sword-casting platform began to shake.

When that Phoenix Feather, dripping with golden-red halo, touched the sword body, the furnace fire suddenly surged thirty feet high. Cheng Xi drew a Suppressing Fire Talisman in the air, only to see the talisman consumed by the raging flames before it could even take form.

"Oh no, the yin and yang are out of balance!"

Cheng Xi suddenly remembered the Deep Sea Cold Crystal inside the sword blank. Her left hand formed a seal to Deduce Cold Pulse Spiritual Qi, while her right fingertip pointed at the Lightning-Struck Wood. Inside the furnace, the dual energies of ice and fire transformed into a Taiji Diagram, spinning wildly, and a Big Dipper Seven Star Pattern appeared on the sword body.

Chi Laicheng stared intently at the sword body, and only after a long while did he shout, "Eldest Miss, it's done!"

Cheng Xi nodded slightly, "Not bad."

Once the sword body cooled down, Cheng Xi took it in her hand. Before she even moved, a clear ringing sound emerged.

It was a good sword.

Cheng Xi placed it into a sword case and said to Chi Laicheng, "Thank you for your hard work."

Chi Laicheng could learn quite a lot by following Cheng Xi, so how could he feel it was hard work? Knowing that Cheng Xi's Du'e Boat had been damaged, he took the initiative to help her refine a new one.

He had followed along and learned last time, so this time he could handle it himself.

With experience, refining the Du'e Boat was much faster than the sword; it only took a single day to complete.

Because the matter of the Altar was very troublesome, Li Zhi'an and the Deans of the Four Great Academies had been busy with it, and they hadn't been seen for several days.

Cheng Xi asked Chi Laicheng to deliver the sword to him, while she returned to her small courtyard, only to find Senior Sister waiting for her.

"Junior Sister, the Dragon Blood Fruit has ripened!"

Cheng Xi's eyes lit up. She immediately went with Kong Shuanghua to the place where the Dragon Blood Fruit was planted. Sure enough, it was palm-sized and crimson red; before even getting close, a scorching heat could be felt, and within three feet of it, not a single blade of grass grew.

Cheng Xi took out a Jade Box and carefully plucked the fruit, placing it inside. Once the Jade Box was closed, the scorching heat vanished.

Kong Shuanghua looked at Cheng Xi, "Junior Sister, will it work?"

"I'll try," Cheng Xi said.

Kong Shuanghua knew that Junior Sister didn't have ten-tenths certainty either, but as long as it had eight-tenths of the effect, it would be equivalent to a rebirth for Second Senior Brother.

She was very nervous, looked at Cheng Xi, and asked again, "Do you have to eat the fruit directly?"

Cheng Xi shook her head, "No, it must be refined first."

The energy within the Dragon Blood Fruit was both abundant and chaotic; if Jin Wu were to eat the fruit directly, he might not be able to withstand it.

"Can I help?" Kong Shuanghua asked hurriedly. She couldn't do much else, but she could still help out.

"No need, I can do it myself. Later, Senior Sister, please help me call Second Senior Brother over. You explain it to him carefully and let him decide for himself whether he wants to eat this thing."

"Does that even need asking? He'll definitely be willing," Kong Shuanghua said. If it were her, she certainly wouldn't refuse.

Cheng Xi went to process the Dragon Blood Fruit, and Kong Shuanghua went to find Jin Wu.

Jin Wu had not expected that Junior Sister would actually go to such lengths for his sake. He looked at Senior Sister in surprise, not knowing what to say for a moment.

Kong Shuanghua took Jin Wu to Cheng Xi's place, "Don't let Junior Sister's good intentions go to waste. Cultivate well; that will be your way of repaying her."

Jin Wu nodded hurriedly, though he still found it hard to believe, as if he were in a dream.

By extracting the energy from the Dragon Blood Fruit and making it into a Dragon Blood Fruit Pill, the energy would be more gentle.

"Second Senior Brother." Cheng Xi opened the door and came out, calling out when she saw Jin Wu.

Jin Wu looked at Cheng Xi somewhat awkwardly, "Junior Sister... thank you."

Cheng Xi handed the pill to him, "After you take the medicine, it is best to have someone guarding you."

"I will go," Kong Shuanghua said, her duty as Senior Sister being unshirkable.

Cheng Xi smiled and said, "Then I will trouble you, Senior Sister." After finishing, she looked at Jin Wu, "Second Senior Brother, your talent being limited is not because your talent is truly low; it may be because your talent has yet to awaken. Give it a try, but if it doesn't work, do not force a breakthrough. Your life is what matters most."

"Okay." Jin Wu was not good with words and couldn't find more to say to thank Cheng Xi for a moment. The seven-foot-tall man's eyes turned red, thinking only that from now on, whatever Junior Sister asked him to do, he would do, without a single word of objection.

Carrying the Dragon Blood Fruit Pill back to his own courtyard, Kong Shuanghua stood guard outside the door, looking at Jin Wu and saying, "Second Junior Brother, if anything feels wrong, just call me. I will be guarding right here."

"Many thanks, Senior Sister."

"Go on." Kong Shuanghua patted Jin Wu on the shoulder and pushed him through the door, then sat cross-legged outside.

Jin Wu gripped the Dragon Blood Fruit Pill tightly, his knuckles turning pale from the force.

The surface of the pill flowed with magma-like patterns, and a scorching heat rushed toward his face. Jin Wu bit his tongue, the fishy sweetness mixing with the dry heat rolling in his throat. He held the Pill in his mouth, and instantly, crimson flames erupted from his seven orifices. The Fire Spiritual Root in his dantian, which had been dormant for many years, suddenly trembled; flames surged wildly along his meridians, colliding with the Li Fire Power in the pill with a boom.

Jin Wu hung in mid-air, his skin cracking inch by inch to reveal golden-red flesh. He saw images from his childhood appear in his sea of consciousness: the Spirit Testing Platform was silent, and Master shook his head and sighed, "The spiritual root is incomplete; you will never be able to enter Foundation Establishment in this life..."

"I do not believe in fate!"

Jin Wu raised his hand and tapped lightly; a wisp of flame leaped from his fingertip, and wherever it passed, even the air ignited with a crimson glow.

Kong Shuanghua sensed something and turned her head in astonishment. She stood up abruptly and retreated quickly, but she was still grazed by the flames, and the ends of her hair and eyebrows gave off a scorched smell.

Kong Shuanghua cast a Condense Water Art to extinguish the fire, feeling angry, amused, and relieved all at once. Good heavens, he hadn't even learned to control it yet, and he had almost burned her too.

The house had already turned to ashes, and Jin Wu looked around in a daze.

As soon as Kong Shuanghua saw this, she immediately covered her eyes and waved her hand, causing the clothes Jin Wu had been drying in the courtyard to fall onto him.

"Congratulations, Junior Brother. You take your time cleaning up; Senior Sister is leaving first."

Kong Shuanghua vanished in a flash, while Jin Wu, clutching the clothes to cover himself, blushed as if he were bleeding.

Oh my, how utterly embarrassing!