Chapter 174: 167 Endless Controversy

Although it is said to be collecting materials yourself, this is merely a paid feature within a stage. The materials are not wild; they are hidden by Longyuan in corners of the Zhujian Garden specifically for people to collect. The difficulty of collecting them is low, and there are not many varieties to choose from.

Tang Zhao realized this and discovered it was indeed a rip-off scam—once you find the materials, they don't give them to you; they just tell you to fill the box, confirm the materials are compatible, and if you can cast a sword, the collection is considered a success. Later, they even reclaim these materials to put back in the Zhujian Garden for the next wave of tourists. Such a game of "you hide, I seek" actually costs three Origin Stones. It's not as good as picking them yourself; at least then you could eat something fresh—the tourism industry is much faster at robbing people than their retail industry.

However, as the old saying goes, since you're already here. Tang Zhao still conscientiously collected the materials.

In the garden, there are material Sword Casting recipe lists. You can collect according to the recipes; these are for reference by Talisman Sword Masters who don't know how to cast swords at all and haven't even learned how to match materials.

This is not to look down on visiting Talisman Sword Masters. After all, the Sword Smith curriculum comes after the Talisman Sword Master one, and there is a gap between the two. Most attendees are young Talisman Sword Masters, so it is normal that they haven't learned that lesson.

Tang Zhao naturally doesn't need them. What he learned from Xue Xianyun was mostly Sword Smith knowledge, as he had to prepare for formal Sword Casting. Most of his Talisman Sword Master knowledge was supplemented by himself. Now, under extremely conspicuous prompts, he quickly collected enough Sword Casting materials.

With these materials, one can cast a sword; it can be said that everything is ready, except for the Sword Seed.

It's just like having the ginger and vinegar all prepared, only missing the crab.

"Polished Su iron, Nine Mountains cold spring, Qi of clarity... Are you really not wanting to try Dragon Might and Dragon Scale water waves? Our Zhujian Garden specializes in the Longyuan Dragon series of materials. Most people who come want to try them."

Tang Zhao smiled and said, "No, the opportunity is rare; I still want to try the combination I selected myself."

Adopting the Longyuan system materials, just like the Sunshine Ancient Sword Tang Zhao wants to cast, means they are all materials of one lineage. The compatibility is high but lacks variety; the sword is easy to form, but it has little reference value. Since it is a rare opportunity to practice without bearing the cost of loss, Tang Zhao still wants to test what he has learned. After all, the experimental fee isn't cheap even after the discount.

Using all Longyuan materials is just going through the motions. Perhaps one is truly a tycoon to this extent, spending a little money just to play a round, which is fine.

The Longyuan Disciple saw that his mind was made up and said, "Come this way."

If it were a low-spending Talisman Sword Master, after handing in the materials, they would observe on-site the entire process of a Sword Smith using the materials they collected to cast a sword. Of course, this is in a phantom display, meant as a conclusion. But Tang Zhao spent a lot of money, so he can experience something more advanced: the process of casting a sword by hand in a dream. Of course, the materials will still be recycled and reused.

The Sword Casting dreamscape is built in the basement of the Longyuan History Museum and is very spacious. Tang Zhao entered a bedroom alone and saw a recliner in the middle, with a bowl-rest-like pillow placed on it.

This pillow... it really doesn't look comfortable.

"Since it's dreaming, you have to fall asleep. Just lie on this Dharma Artifact pillow. Do not resist; we at Longyuan will not harm you." The Longyuan Disciple said while adjusting the basic mechanism on the Dharma Artifact.

Tang Zhao nodded and pushed up the Glasses on his nose.

"Triple Dharma Artifact: Youmeng Pillow.

Sword Technique: Dream-Entering, Dream-Creating, Dream-Reading.

Sword Art..."

Good heavens, a triple Dharma Artifact!

A tiny Dharma Artifact carries three types of Sword Techniques. Some Sword Heroes only have one type of Sword Technique.

Dream-Reading...

Tang Zhao's heart stirred. Could this be reading other people's dreams? Is it also a way to search for privacy?

He could refuse, but he decided to try it anyway. However, he still needed to make appropriate protections.

"Jing, help me keep an eye on things. If the Dream-Reading Sword Technique is activated, give me a prominent alert. Also..." He made a deployment in his heart.

The Glasses did not answer, but Tang Zhao knew there was no problem; the Glasses had never let him down.

Lying on the pillow, the Sword Technique was activated.

Tang Zhao closed his eyes and sank deeply into dreamland.

The Longyuan Disciple had left when he entered the room. Jiu Yuan was short-handed and couldn't follow every guest at all times; he still had to welcome the next wave of guests.

When Tang Zhao was completely in the dream, the room was empty. The turtle that had been hiding in Tang Zhao's bosom since entering Jiu Yuan crawled out, crawled all the way to the side of the pillow, and used its claws to operate the dream pillow.

On the lenses of the Glasses that no one could see, everything was faithfully recorded.

——

"First Seat. Shall we open the furnace now?"

"Hm?"

Tang Zhao opened his eyes and saw a strange young Disciple looking at him.

The environment had changed!

He was standing in front of a tall copper furnace, surrounded by Longyuan Disciples. They were all wearing Disciple uniforms, only they were different from the current uniforms, bearing black circular spots.

The former Wei dynasty valued Water Virtue, and clothing colors favored black. The current dynasty, however, values Earth Virtue and favors yellow. Longyuan was official during the former Wei, so it is normal for their clothing to be decorated with black. By now, they have separated from the Imperial Court, so naturally, they have written off the black, but they haven't gone so far as to decorate their clothing with yellow.

"Hm."

Tang Zhao's mind was turning, but his body had already begun to speak.

It was a very strange feeling. He possessed complete senses, and everything around him was incomparably real, but he could not control his own body or speech; instead, he could only experience it like a bystander.

This is very much like a dream. In most dreams, people are always unable to control themselves and can only muddle along, experiencing various absurd plots as the dream progresses. Occasionally, one can suddenly wake up and realize they are dreaming, but even then, one cannot fully control oneself in the dream; instead, one is about to wake up very soon.

Tang Zhao's current situation is somewhat like a dream, but his mind is completely clear and very calm. This is not like a dream. It is just as Chen Zong said: an immersive game and a cutscene.

"Hm, open the furnace..."

"Junior Brother Yaoguang."

Someone spoke from behind.

Tang Zhao turned his head and saw an old man standing behind him, wearing more luxurious robes embroidered with stars.

"Senior Brother Tianshu."

One of the Seven Stars of Longyuan, First Seat Tianshu. He should also be the head of the Seven Stars.

"At this time, do you still insist on casting the sword? Do you know that the moment has arrived that concerns the life and death of Longyuan? What exactly are you going to do..."

"Senior Brother. If you have anything to say, wait until I finish casting the sword. Nothing in the world can hinder me from casting a sword." After saying this, he turned his back and walked toward the alchemy furnace.

"You are escaping!" The other party was exasperated. "Do you think that by hiding in the Seven Stars Furnace and burying your head in Sword Casting, you can avoid everything? Wake up from the falsehood and look at the real world! The world is about to perish! Longyuan is about to perish!"

"Is it you, Senior Brother, who cannot see the truth? People have life and death, nations have rise and fall; in heaven and on earth, only the sword is eternal!" After saying this, he flicked his sleeves and strode into the Seven Stars Furnace.

"Going against the heavens, how can there be no reason for perishing?"

"Is this plot... serious?"

Tang Zhao used his own eyes to subjectively follow Yaoguang through the plot, only feeling it was inconceivable.

It wasn't that he doubted the truth of this matter, but from the bottom of his heart, he found it hard to understand: what is the meaning of Longyuan showing him this plot?

Is this something he can watch just by spending a little money?

Wasn't the money he spent for experiencing Sword Casting? Just letting him experience the process of Sword Casting would have been enough. Wouldn't it have been better to just open his eyes and enter the Sword Furnace? What is the meaning of putting such a long plot beforehand? Is it to hope the tourist experiences the difficult choices of Longyuan's past?

Are you sure that after experiencing this kind of plot, the tourists will have a good impression of you, rather than endless controversy?

Moreover, it looks like this plot even has a bit of a "to be continued" feel to it.

Tang Zhao shook his head, sitting upright in the Seven Stars Furnace as he possessed the Head of Yaoguang.

Seven points of starlight in the bronze furnace shone upon each other, like seven stars. Although Yaoguang was Yaoguang, the position he sat in while Sword Casting was the Polaris position; from this position, he could just happen to oversee the seven star-fires used for Sword Casting.

Fortunately, the part about paying money was not a problem. The materials he had selected in the Waijie earlier were all laid out in front of him, not a single one missing.

From this, it could be seen that this illusion was not true history; even if Yaoguang had really once needed to forge a sword at a life-or-death juncture back then, he would not have happened to choose these exact materials that Tang Zhao chose. This illusion could be modified, so whether the plot just now was true or false remained unknown.

So, shall we begin Sword Casting?

Without waiting for him to give the command, Yaoguang moved on his own, performing a series of techniques, starting from processing the materials and Sword Casting layer by layer with fluidity.

Seven Stars Sword Casting Art!

Longyuan's unique Sword Casting Art was being skillfully utilized by him; if not for thousands of practices, it could never be this smooth and flowing.

Watching this level of Sword Casting Art from a first-person perspective was truly a treat. Tang Zhao could not help but compare it to Xue Xianyun, and had to admit that his old mentor also had areas where he was inferior to others.

It was a pity he could not take it to heart.

Tang Zhao could see Yaoguang's movements and could see his techniques clearly, but he could not see through his mental cultivation method and Spirit fluctuations, and thus could not learn the Seven Stars Sword Casting Art.

This was also normal; the Origin Stone Tang Zhao spent was just to experience Sword Casting, not to learn someone's secret Sword Casting Art. How much Origin Stone was the Sword Casting insight of a generation's Head worth? Never mind one hundred Origin Stone, even if he gave more money, it would be impossible to sell. Being able to experience the Sword Casting process from beginning to end was already worth the money he spent.

Tang Zhao watched and experienced while recording. Not only did he rely on his memory and comprehension to memorize it by force, but he also had his Glasses assist in recording.

That's right, in the illusion, he was still wearing his Glasses.

It was just that the Glasses in the illusion were not very useful; they completely lacked the spirituality he had developed bit by bit over these past few years, and instead had that initial rigid, mechanical nature, only able to display and record, lacking the functions of active analysis and communication.

But it didn't matter. He would record it first, and it wouldn't be too late to analyze it slowly after going out.

Once the furnace was opened, it lasted for seven days and seven nights. In the dream, there was no feeling of time passing, nor would there be fatigue.

The sword is forged!

There were no accidents; in the illusion, there would be no accidental failure in Sword Casting, and Yaoguang's casting was skilled and seasoned, so there was no reason it would not succeed.

Seven days later, the dust-covered Yaoguang held the new sword and opened the furnace door.

Outside, there were no Disciples lining up to congratulate him on his success, only a scene of Chaos. In the distance, smoke and dust billowed, and Disciples were running back and forth.

"Head, Head of Tianshu has rebelled!"