Chapter 141: Resisting Water and Fire, the Spirit Communion Art

Sixteen types of iron were hammered into one, their properties complementing each other; though merely a single piece of iron, it had already taken the shape of a famed weapon.

He was under nineteen, and had studied the Art of Weapon Forging for only one month.

Such talent…

"Master the Art of Weapon Forging in three months? Wan Chuan, when we meet again, I'll show you what true genius really is!"

Holding the iron ingot, Jing Shuhu stood frozen for a long while before snapping back to reality:

"It's nothing special—it still needs…"

He was about to speak when he suddenly turned and saw Li Yuan stumbling toward him, his whole body smoking like a red-hot shrimp.

"You bastard!"

Jing Shuhu flew into a rage, seized him, and expelled a burst of inner qi to drive out the heat poison from his body:

"Do you think you can just waltz into the Red Melt Cave? Don't you want to live?!"

"Huff!"

Li Yuan spat out a wisp of black smoke, a chill of fear creeping into his heart.

Before entering, he had deliberately eaten two jin of Red Dragon fish meat, but after walking less than ten meters inside, he nearly got roasted alive.

"The geothermal poison fire—even I dare not enter lightly. Do you have no regard for your life?"

Seeing he was unharmed, Jing Shuhu exhaled in relief, then let out a cold snort:

I knew you had hidden motives. You claim to admire the Art of Weapon Forging—but it's still Han Chuijun, isn't it? Still searching for the Whale Hammer?

At those words, Li Yuan jolted: "Uh—I knew I couldn't fool you, Elder."

This tiger really knew the Whale Hammer lay beneath the fire vein…

"Your petty schemes—do you think I don't know?"

Jing Shuhu sneered, unsurprised.

Of all those in Divine Weapon Valley, only the Weapon Forging Branch and the Hammer Hall persistently sought the Whale Hammer—and Han Chuijun cared far more than you.

"This Whale Hammer?"

Li Yuan recovered quickly, thanks to the Red Dragon fish meat; he seized this rare chance to probe further.

"Huh, didn't that old man tell you?"

Jing Shuhu glanced at him, then turned and walked off. Li Yuan had long learned his habits and followed him all the way to the Cold Pond Cave.

The heat inside the Red Melt Cave was truly unbearable for ordinary people—unless you were a weapon forger, Jing Shuhu wouldn't even bother going.

Lei Jingchuan had turned back halfway before—he disliked it too.

The Cold Pond Cave was cold, but infinitely more tolerable than the Red Melt Cave.

"My fish bait!"

Li Yuan hurried into the cave and heard a cry of alarm—Jing Shuhu was shaking his fishing rod, furious:

"Just now, a fish bit! My Red Dragon fish…"

Jing Shuhu pounded his chest and stamped his feet. Seeing his state, Li Yuan quietly slipped out of the cave and waited a long while before re-entering.

"My fish!"

Jing Shuhu gnashed his teeth—last time he lost bait, it had been three years ago. He'd finally gotten a bite—and he'd missed it.

"I was careless, careless… My Red Dragon King!"

Seeing him glare, Li Yuan quickly stepped back—he wasn't taking the blame for this.

"I taught you the Art of Weapon Forging—and lost my Red Dragon King!"

"..."

What could Li Yuan do? He gritted his teeth and promised to find him even better bait.

Along the way, he couldn't help boasting about Liang Ashui, claiming his fishing skills were unmatched in the world…

"As for fishing techniques, I'm peerless in the world—just my bait's a bit lacking, and maybe my rod and line too…"

After muttering for a while, Jing Shuhu finally remembered the matter at hand:

"About the Whale Hammer—how much do you know?"

Next time, I need to get some fishing gear…

Li Yuan thought to himself, then replied:

"Disciple only knows that the Split-Sea Whale Hammer is one of the Twelve Celestial Destiny Divine Weapons, said to wield power capable of shaking heaven and earth…"

The upper levels of the Library held scattered records on Celestial Destiny Divine Weapons. Though few, Li Yuan had treasured them, reading them over and over.

Legend says there are twelve Celestial Destiny Divine Weapons, said to have

been born at the dawn of antiquity—not forged by human hands, but nurtured by heaven and earth.

Over countless ages since ancient times, they have occasionally appeared—and each appearance has sparked a great upheaval in the martial world.

The last time a Celestial Destiny Divine Weapon appeared, it was said to be at the founding of the Great Yun Dynasty, when Grand Ancestor Pang Wenlong of Zhou used it to secure the realm,

summoning heavenly fire to obliterate the peerless warlord Gao Feiqing and his thirty-thousand-strong army of martialists.

"Legends are mostly false. Celestial Destiny Divine Weapons could never be born of heaven and earth—why would heaven and earth nurture weapons for humans?"

Jing Shuhu corrected him.

Li Yuan sensed a shift in his tone—had his constant display of talent finally stirred this tiger?

"All things under heaven are nurtured by heaven and earth—but has any hammer ever been born from nature?"

"You're right."

Li Yuan agreed—he found it logical.

"That old man only told you this much?"

After hearing Li Yuan's account, Jing Shuhu frowned—so that old man had told him nothing, dumping it all on him?

He felt annoyed, but remembering the boy's talent, he suppressed it:

"Our Divine Weapon Valley's ancestors have searched for generations without a single clue—do Celestial Destiny Divine Weapons even exist?"

I do!

I know they exist!

Li Yuan silently scoffed inside but still listened respectfully, nodding now and then.

From Jing Shuhu's words, he learned more about the Celestial Destiny Divine Weapons.

Many in the martial world believe they were born of heaven and earth, but the ancestors of Divine Weapon Valley leaned toward the belief that these twelve weapons were left behind by the greatest masters over ten thousand years.

Some even suspect they fell from the sky…

Li Yuan understood.

Even in his past life, many had suspected ancient mega-projects were built by aliens…

"Our ancestors may have encountered Celestial Destiny Divine Weapons—but a thousand years have passed; there's no way to verify it."

Jing Shuhu held back—he naturally said nothing of the fire vein's tremors.

"Perhaps Celestial Destiny Divine Weapons don't exist at all?"

Li Yuan followed his line of thought.

"Who knows?"

Jing Shuhu sighed heavily.

The old man and the boy exchanged a glance, then each looked away.

"Cough~"

Jing Shuhu cleared his throat, warned him not to venture deeper into the Red Melt Cave, then changed the subject:

"Now, I'll teach you the 'Art of Weapon-Spirit Communion'—well, one of them…"

"Blood-Infused Spirit Communion!"

…

…

"Blood-Infused Spirit Communion."

Back at the courtyard after work, soaking in the medicinal bath, Li Yuan still pondered this secret art.

The Hammering Method and Spirit Communion together form complete Weapon Forging.

Blood-Infused Spirit Communion, simply put, means quenching with human blood—or rather, with the blood of the weapon's master.

This spirit communion art is widely known—not just in Divine Weapon Valley, but among many weapon-forging factions.

Legends also contain similar accounts.

Some master smiths sacrificed themselves to forge swords, their radiance piercing the heavens; others forged divine weapons by bathing in blood… countless such tales exist.

"Hmm, worth trying."

After digesting today's lessons, Li Yuan rose, dismissed the two female disciples attending him, and began practicing hammering and stance training.

Once his sinews and bones loosened, he swallowed pills, switched his grip on the weapon, and continued reshaping his bones,

striving toward the Great Dragon Bone structure.

…

The next morning, he rose to practice stance and martial arts; after daylight fully broke, he didn't go to the Weapon Forging Valley—he went to find Liang Ashui.

"Li, Li…"

As he reached the edge of the Cold Pond, Li Yuan heard a familiar voice—he turned to see Yue Yunjin bowing from afar:

"Senior Yue, long time no see."

Li Yuan smiled and walked forward to greet him.

When he first joined, he would occasionally meet up with Yue Yunjin, Wu Ming, and others, but after immersing himself in cultivation, he saw them less often.

"Li… Li senior brother."

Yue Yunjin felt uneasy; when he first joined, he hadn't fully realized it, but now he understood the status of a true disciple.

He wanted to appear more natural, yet still seemed stiff.

"It's only been a few days—why so distant now?"

Li Yuan showed no excessive warmth, just as before, his demeanor unchanged: "Senior Brother Yue, are you heading to the Scripture Library?"

Yue Yunjin felt slightly relieved:

"Yes, earlier, I went down the mountain with senior brothers and killed a few Cult of Evil Gods followers. Collected enough to exchange for a mid-tier martial art."

In over four months since joining, Yue Yunjin had changed greatly—his former naivety and timidity had faded, replaced by a touch of competence and lethality.

The two chatted for a while, mostly about the current state of their fellow townspeople from Gaoliu.

Most of the Gaoliu townsfolk, like Liu Zheng and Wang Peiyao, clung to him, but naturally, some had sought other paths.

Wu Ming was one of them.

Since joining, Wu Ming had immersed himself in constantly taking missions; not long after entering, he barely escaped death once, yet succeeded in exchanging for elixirs and martial art scrolls.

In martial skill, he was already slightly stronger than Yue Yunjin now.

"Then, let's meet again when you have time."

Yue Yunjin gave a slight bow and left.

Watching his retreating figure, Li Yuan felt a quiet pang—after Sun Fatty and Old Zhang, even these few familiar faces were drifting farther away.

Even Liu Zheng and Wang Peiyao, though seeming close, were only close in appearance.

"Clear, obvious tiers of three, six, nine."

Li Yuan shook his head inwardly, followed the riverbank, and soon found Liang Ashui.

"You… you want to buy fishing gear? And bait too?"

Liang Ashui was startled—true disciples enjoyed such privileges, why would he need to fish himself?

"Yes, for other purposes."

The four great suns rose one by one; the cold pool shimmered with glinting light. Li Yuan squinted slightly.

The depths of Chirong Cave were hard to traverse, and this cold pool wasn't something ordinary disciples could enter—disciples occasionally perished there.

Among them were no shortage of experts.

"Hmm, I don't lack fishing gear, but bait…"

Liang Ashui's eyes flickered—he couldn't possibly sell bait; that was his very means of survival.

Li Yuan had long suspected Liang Ashui harbored secrets, but never intruded.

What secret could rival the Command of the Soldier Register?

He bought two sets of fishing gear personally modified by Liang Ashui for thirty taels of silver, then carried them back to Casting Forge Valley.

Master Hu slightly blinked in surprise, tested them, kept them, but sneered and warned him not to harbor other schemes.

Li Yuan had come to understand his temperament—this old man would never utter a single kind word.

Yet after accepting the gear, he tacitly allowed Li Yuan to enter and exit Chirong Cave alone.

"Huh!"

Enduring the searing heat of Chirong Cave, Li Yuan took out the intact "Chilong Fish Skin" when no one was around, continuing to forge his inner armor, and also tried the Blood-Infusing Spirit Technique.

"Blood tempering fire…"

Li Yuan fetched a large barrel of cold pool water, sliced his palm to let blood flow in; as the water glowed crimson, he stopped in time.

To awaken a weapon's spirit requires years of blood infusion—he couldn't succeed even if he drained every drop of his blood.

After releasing his blood and adjusting the quenching water's temperature, Li Yuan began his work, completing all preparations.

Then he pulled the nearly finished inner armor from the blazing flames and plunged it into the blood-tinted cold pool water.

Hss~

Amid swirling steam, Li Yuan's eyes brightened slightly:

"Done!"

【Chilong Fish Skin Armor (Tier Three)】

【Forged from weapon material, tempered by the blood of the Master of Arms, thus gradually gaining spiritual properties…】

【Command Condition: Bloodline of the Master of Arms】

【Command Effects: Water Affinity (Light Green), Resistance to Water and Fire (Light Green), Light Weapons Cannot Harm (Blue)】

{Control Effect: Water Affinity (Light Green), Resistance to Water and Fire (Light Green), Immunity to Light Weapons (Blue)}