Chapter 122: Ten Thousand Soldiers Tremble, The Rift-Sea Mystic Whale Appears Again

Buzz!

The temperature inside the Crimson Fusion Cave was extremely high; Li Yuan couldn't even lie down, so he could only stand leaning on his hammer, eyes closed, sensing the Soldier-Rearing Registry.

At the flick of his mind, the five great stars in Yu Yu Xuanji's grasp blazed with light, and he took control of one second-tier and four third-tier forging hammers one by one.

Crash!

In an instant, Li Yuan seemed to hear the surging of tides, and a flood of memory images surged up in his mind.

Hammering, quenching, swinging the hammer…

"Ugh!"

Li Yuan let out a muffled grunt, wiped away the nosebleed that had trickled out; though his head was somewhat foggy, his eyes shone brightly.

These five forging hammers were highly similar: as many as five hammer-type talents, as many as three forging talents, as many as three Lesser-Completion Battle-Slaughter Hammers; in addition, there were four Great Completion forging arts, three Mastered Battle-Slaughter Hammers, and three Proficient Weapon-Casting Arts.

The control effects had surged all at once to as many as twenty-two!

"Twenty-two kinds of control effects!"

Li Yuan slowly raised a forging hammer; he could clearly sense every fine grain of this hammer, and the wear at its finest points.

Even…

He held the forging hammer level, eyes slightly closed, and felt as if he had swung this hammer thousands upon thousands of times, able to feel its trembling and its breathing.

Hmm~

Li Yuan opened his eyes, brought the hammer down; the hammer-sound was like the buzzing of bees. Without much force, when it fell, large sprays of sparks flew from the red-hot iron ingot on the forging platform.

Rise,

fall,

rise,

fall!

The hammer-sounds flowed on without break, sparks shooting out.

Li Yuan's eyes were closed, yet he seemed able to see things, even more than when they were open.

The angle of the hammer, the force, the changes and reactions of the iron after bearing the force, how to swing the hammer, how to forge…

He hadn't even activated the Soldier-Rearing Registry's augmentation, yet his forging art naturally and effortlessly stepped into Completion, and was advancing toward Great Completion.

Boom!

After one hundred and eight hammer-strikes, Li Yuan drew back his hammer and opened his eyes; his gaze fell on the forging platform, and almost at the same moment, a violent burst of force erupted together from within the red-hot iron ingot.

Blazing-hot sparks shot up to the sky, like the fire-tree silver-flowers of the common folk; only one hundred and eight hammer-strikes, yet surpassing the previous thousand. The impurities in this piece of Blaze-Fire Fine Iron had all been removed!

"Yes!"

Li Yuan seemed unable to feel the high temperature inside the Crimson Fusion Cave, only feeling every pore of his body open wide, spraying out sweat and steam.

He had yet to gather all thirteen forms, yet his Body Tempering had already reached Great Completion!

"Talent stacking!"

Li Yuan stripped off his outer garment in one motion and stowed his inner armor.

On his bronze-like, powerfully-built body, every pore was dilating, as if breathing, as if venting heat outward.

The unbearable scorching heat all around seemed to drop by quite a lot all at once.

Li Yuan could feel his heart pounding violently, pumping blood through his whole body, and beneath his skin, within the great circulation of qi and blood, internal force had already spread everywhere!

"Bang!"

He lifted a foot and jolted the water vat; Li Yuan spread both arms wide, letting the cold-pool water fall like rain. He stood without moving, yet bursts of water-mist exploded all around his body.

Not a single drop could land on him!

"Force reaches the whole body; Body Tempering Great Completion!"

Li Yuan kept his eyes closed, feeling only that his force flowed through his whole body, reaching every limb and torso without exception, able to erupt at the slightest thought.

Only…

"My internal force is still a bit thin; under full eruption, it will be exhausted very quickly!"

Tipping his head back, he swallowed a Zeng Xue Dan; Li Yuan was still immersed in his own transformation, having never perceived the existence of talent so clearly.

He lifted his hammer without moving, and in his mind, scenes of inspiration kept surfacing without cease—forging hammer arts, Battle-Slaughter Hammer arts…

Places where he had been bewildered and puzzled in the past now suddenly became clear, no longer confusing.

"Bone and root heavy are important; realm is equally important."

Breathing deeply the scalding air, Li Yuan's viscera no longer stung; every pore of his body was radiating heat.

His strength far surpassed Body Tempering Great Completion, but before Body Tempering Great Completion,

he had been unable to withstand the high temperature and scorching heat of this place.

"Augment!"

A moment later, Li Yuan's qi and blood had recovered to their peak; only then did he close his eyes and choose to augment all five forging hammers at once.

Buzz!

With eyes closed, Li Yuan seemed to feel the tremor of the Crimson Fusion Cavern; in a daze, he seemed to hear a buzzing sound that came from he knew not where.

Like the light ringing of blades and swords, like the clash of weapons and iron, and also like the sound of a hammer!

"Whoosh!"

Li Yuan opened his eyes, and at the far end of the Crimson Fusion Cave, he once again saw a flash that vanished in an instant—a streak of mystic-colored light that seemed to shoot straight into the heavens.

"Rift-Sea Mystic Whale Hammer!"

……

……

In the cold-pool cave strewn with stalactites, Jing Jing Shuhu sat still in meditation, fishing, half-asleep yet not asleep.

"Body tempering is not yet fully mastered, yet he has already endured three days in the Crimson Fusion Cave. This lad indeed possesses some perseverance, but even a man forged of iron could not last twenty days."

Beside him, Lei Lei Jingchuan spoke in a heavy voice: "He is a True Disciple and truly talented. Passing the Casting Art to him would not break any rules."

Over these three days, he had traveled back and forth to the Crimson Fusion Cave at least six or seven times. Seeing Li Yuan turn completely crimson, suffering beyond words, yet still forcing himself to hammer iron, he could not help but feel moved.

One must know, that was no ordinary disciple; he was the True Disciple of this generation, with the best bone structure and talent, and the genius qualified to inherit the position of Valley Master.

"Hmph!"

Jing Jing Shuhu opened his eyes with great dissatisfaction. Seeing the fishing hook remain motionless, he said: "Do you think I am deliberately making things difficult for him because of my grudge against Han Han Chuijun?"

You are!

Lei Lei Jingchuan harbored this thought in his heart, but could only pinch his nose and speak against his conscience: "Senior Brother's heart is broad; of course, he would not be so."

"It seems you truly value this lad quite highly."

Jing Jing Shuhu looked at Lei Lei Jingchuan with slight surprise, somewhat playfully: "Do you value him because his bone structure and talent are good, or because he has the hope of inheriting the position of Valley Master?"

There are too many people with perseverance. If news were released that surviving twenty days inside the Crimson Fusion Cave would grant the transmission of the Casting Art, who knows how many thousands or tens of thousands would dare to come and try their luck.

"Both. What of it? My family is vast, my estate is great, and I have many descendants; can I not plan a little for my descendants?"

Lei Lei Jingchuan widened his eyes.

"His talent is very good, but precisely because his talent is too good, it is impossible for him to truly inherit the Casting Art. Passing it to him can only be to sell a personal favor."

Jing Jing Shuhu stared at the motionless water surface below the deep pit and let out a yawn:

"He entered the sect too late. He has a place among the future Five Elders, but the position of Valley Master is certainly impossible..."

"Hmm?"

Lei Lei Jingchuan frowned slightly.

"The Casting Art is not a forging method; it cannot be achieved by mere bitter practice. If one stays in the mountain cave for years without coming out, how much of the affairs within the Valley can you know?"

Jing Jing Shuhu shook his head slightly.

"Then you?"

Lei Lei Jingchuan furrowed his brows.

"Twenty days, one thousand jin of Blazing Fire Refined Iron; if even one is missing, he cannot be taught. This is not because of Han Han Chuijun, nor because of any other reason."

Jing Jing Shuhu's tone was flat, yet uncompromising:

"My mind is made up; you need not say more."

"You..."

Lei Lei Jingchuan frowned deeply, feeling somewhat suspicious:

"Why do I feel you have other thoughts?"

"You are overthinking it."

Jing Jing Shuhu did not even blink his eyelids.

"What exactly do you want to do?"

Lei Lei Jingchuan knew him too well; the more he acted like this, the more he felt Jing Jing Shuhu had ulterior motives.

"Elder First!"

At this moment, footsteps approached quickly from outside the cave: "The Young Valley Master has arrived!"

"Shi Hong?"

Jing Jing Shuhu closed his eyes: "Old Lei, you go."

Lei Lei Jingchuan nodded, walked out of the tunnel quickly, and saw a man and a woman in the forging grounds from a distance.

It was indeed Shi Hong and Qiu Qiu Changying.

"Why does the Young Valley Master have time to come here today?"

Lei Lei Jingchuan stepped forward.

"Elder Lei."

Both clasped their hands in greeting.

"Qiu Changying, is your great-grandfather well?"

"He is well."

"Is the Valley Master well?"

"He is well."

After the three unfamiliar people exchanged a few pleasantries, Shi Hong spoke:

"I will not hide it from Elder Lei; we two have come to ask Elder First for advice regarding the materials required for a Supreme Grade Famous Weapon..."

"Supreme Grade Famous Weapon?"

Lei Lei Jingchuan was not too surprised; the True Disciples who came here, aside from that fool from Eighty Thousand Li, were mostly here for the Supreme Grade Famous Weapon.

"Senior Brother has gone to sleep. If you have matters, ask me; I can also forge a Supreme Grade Famous Weapon!"

"This..."

Shi Hong frowned slightly, looked around, and then said:

"With the Master's permission, we also wish to ask about the 'Divine Weapon'."

Divine Weapon?

Lei Lei Jingchuan shook his head and laughed: "Our Valley has not forged a single Divine Weapon in seven hundred years..."

To ordinary martial artists of the Jianghu, a supreme sharp blade is already an object beyond reach; a Famous Weapon is already a heavy treasure to guard the clan.

As for the Divine Weapon, for the vast majority of Jianghu people, and even for sect powers, it is something that exists only in ancient historical rumors.

"We hope Elder Lei will lead the way."

Shi Hong clasped his hands again.

Since the Valley Master had already given permission, Lei Lei Jingchuan could refuse no longer, and could only lead the two of them into the Cold Pool Cave.

"Senior Brother (Elder)."

By the deep pit, Jing Jing Shuhu yawned: "These past years I've grown drowsy more and more easily. If I've been remiss in any way, Young Valley Master must not take offense."

"What are you saying, Elder?"

Shi Hong's manners were impeccable: "This disciple has come to ask you to take action and forge a saber…"

"The Five-Color Lingxu Saber?"

Jing Jing Shuhu grew interested, and Lei Lei Jingchuan's heart jolted too; he instinctively looked toward the former.

The Five-Color Lingxu Saber was the weapon one must possess in order to practice the Five Weapons, Five-Color Lingxu Qi — the absolute art passed down through the Divine Weapon Valley.

And as a rule, when a true disciple forged this saber, it meant the next Valley Master's choice would no longer change.

"Correct."

Shi Hong nodded: "I ask the Elder to take action this once; this disciple will surely repay you later."

"The Five-Color Lingxu Saber…"

Jing Jing Shuhu's attitude shifted noticeably. Though he didn't think much of this generation's foremost true disciple, feeling he fell far short of their own batch from sixty years ago,

he was, after all, the future Valley Master, and so he rose and stood for a moment before sitting back down:

"It's been many years since I've forged a weapon; my hands are a bit rusty…"

"This disciple can offer one tael of refined gold."

"Oh?"

Jing Jing Shuhu raised an eyebrow slightly: "Ten years of true discipleship for one tael of refined gold — is the Young Valley Master truly willing to part with it?"

Shi Hong was of course heartache-stricken, but his face was full of reverence: "Refined gold is one of the auxiliary materials for forging a divine weapon, and only the Elder is qualified to possess it…"

Qiu Qiu Changying's face was full of disgust, and she instinctively moved a little farther from him.

Hum~

Suddenly, Jing Jing Shuhu's brow furrowed, and he shot a cold glance at Qiu Qiu Changying; the latter, startled, grabbed the longbow at her back:

"This?"

Qiu Qiu Changying's expression was one of astonishment; before she could speak, Shi Hong's face also changed, and the long saber at his waist began to shake violently.

"An earth-dragon turning over?"

Lei Lei Jingchuan was slightly taken aback, but Jing Jing Shuhu had already shot out of the cave; his speed was extreme, and in a few bounds he was out of the tunnel.

He cast his gaze out and saw the forging grounds in utter chaos — every manner of saber, sword, hammer, and weapon was trembling without exception, emitting a chorus of humming sounds.

"This, this…"