Chapter 107: Chapter 16: Reforging the Spiritual Spear
Inside the volcano.
The process of reforging the weapon was rather traditional. The True Qi Furnace had just undergone a full inspection and overhaul and still needed to accumulate more of the volcano’s Earth Vein Qi for the "Earth Vein Flame Iron," so it couldn’t be used to process materials. But the Grand Master was willing to personally step in and once again forge a fine iron Cross Spear for Su Zhou.
"Spirit Wood, acceptable. For you, Spirit Iron, better."
He was saying that the Spirit Wood shaft Su Zhou had originally infused with the Spiritual Qi of the Wisdom Tree was decent, but for him, a shaft forged from the Spirit Iron that formed alongside the Earth Vein Flame Iron would be even better.
"Why, cross? Y-shaped, crescent-shaped, better."
As he set up the furnace, Su Zhou watched the Grand Master directly stoke the flames with his Inner Strength. Around the volcano, the Fire Spiritual Power was so abundant it was ridiculous. Here, the Grand Master, with his Extreme Yang Inner Strength, was effectively in a state of "Celestial Human Cycle"; the rate at which his Inner Strength recovered was staggering.
One could even say that near the volcano, the Grand Master was equivalent to a Grandmaster in terms of combat power!
He had just been asking Su Zhou why he didn’t use a spear-halberd with a Y-shaped or crescent-shaped side blade. The Cross Spear offered no particular advantage and was cumbersome to carry and fight with. Of course, this was just an inquiry based on their personal relationship. The client, Su Zhou, had already placed his order, so the Grand Master didn’t really care about the "why."
"The cross is a sacred geometric shape in and of itself, and it facilitates my Cultivation Technique. Just think of it as me having a unique Martial Art that specializes in this type of weapon," Su Zhou said, happy to chat with the Grand Master. He also took the opportunity to ask about armor, but the answer wasn’t what he’d hoped for.
Martial Artists in this world prioritized speed and evasion in combat. Their Inner Qi defenses already made their skin as tough as armor. A Grandmaster could generate Inner Strength fluctuations powerful enough to deflect even crossbow bolts, and lighter weapons couldn’t even touch them. Therefore, aside from large-scale Battle Arrays, very few fought while wearing armor.
And in the snowy lands of the Northern Country, experts and Grandmasters who were immune to heat and cold were a minority. Not only was metal armor inconvenient, but it also hindered combat in the snow, so it simply wasn’t used.
"Leather armor, also have. For you, useless."
Su Zhou figured as much. What good would ordinary leather armor be against an attack that could break his skin? If it wasn’t custom-fitted, it would just get in his way. So, Su Zhou simply watched the Grand Master’s every move, observing as he expertly lit the fire, melted the Spirit Iron, and then used his Inner Strength to contain the molten iron in mid-air and pour it into a mold.
’Amazing! This is just like Magic or Telekinesis from a novel!’
The sight made Su Zhou’s eyes widen. He temporarily enhanced his Spiritual Vision to see clearly how the man was using Spiritual Power to control matter!
’Is this Qi Manipulation and Sky Breaking? No, it’s just a rather complex method of applying Spiritual Power. But I think I could do the same thing with Qi Manipulation and Sky Breaking!’
He learned as he watched, even starting to imitate the Grand Master’s movements, shaping his own Spiritual Power to try and grab rocks on the ground.
At first, it was quite clumsy. But soon, Su Zhou was pleasantly surprised to find that his "Qi Manipulation and Sky Breaking," which he thought could only form things like "Sky-Splitting Palm Force" or "Sword and Saber Qi Blades," could actually be shaped into such a convenient and useful form, allowing him to control matter with ease!
’But the more complex the shape and the heavier the object, the more Spiritual Power it consumes. For attacking or defending, Sky-Splitting Palm Force and Spiritual Blades are still the most effective. But for delicate, remote operations...’
’I can afford to be extravagant because I have the Celestial Human Cycle and my Spiritual Power recovery is extremely fast. The Grand Master can probably only do this when he’s near the volcano... Of course, the most important thing is discovering this special technique for using Spiritual Power!’
Meanwhile, Yara, disguised as Su Zhou’s hair, watched as the young man’s proficiency with the Spiritual Qi technique improved at an incredible speed. It smiled, then retracted back into place.
’After eating the Wisdom Fruit, this little guy’s biggest improvement probably wasn’t his normal cognitive abilities, but his Talent in the Extraordinary arts.’
The Grand Master at his side wasn’t oblivious to Su Zhou openly studying his technique. He never minded others learning his methods; after all, it was impossible to master them without at least a dozen years of practice. However, just as he started forging the spear shaft, a glimpse of Su Zhou’s actions from the corner of his eye made his heart tremble!
By now, Su Zhou could already use a lever-like structure condensed from Spiritual Power to make two rocks play on a seesaw!
’What kind of monster is this?! Though it’s a bit clumsy, he’s undoubtedly grasped the essence of the Qi Condensation and Object Manipulation Technique!’ Since this was a thought, his words were fluid and coherent. But then he remembered that this was an inhuman genius from the Kunlun Divine Mountain’s Divine Wood who had reached the Grandmaster Realm at seventeen, while he himself was just a diligent human Master Craftsman. With that, the Grand Master couldn’t be bothered to feel jealous and instead focused on his work.
As long as the Demon Dynasty could be destroyed and he could avenge all two hundred and seventy-one members of the Five Weapons Sect, the more geniuses like this, the better!
Every member of the Rebel Army single-mindedly opposing the Anx Dynasty undoubtedly had a deep-seated hatred for them and a story of their own.
The forging process didn’t take too long. By the time the Grand Master extinguished the fire, quenched the alloyed Spirit Iron shaft in a secret-formula oil, and then reignited the furnace, only a few hours had passed.
The reignited furnace was filled with a special wood powder, which produced a low-temperature, turquoise flame. The Grand Master used the Qi Condensation and Object Manipulation Technique to separate the components of the spearhead that Su Zhou had crudely melted together. He then added another type of Spirit Wood, roasted the chelicerae-tail and the Spirit Wood in the turquoise flame for a long time, and finally steeped them in Spiritual Clear Water created from a "Dark Earth Vein Crystal."
Once the spearhead had completely absorbed the Spiritual Clear Water, the Wood-element Spiritual Materials, which originally had a hint of dark green, transformed completely into a black, cross-shaped spearhead that looked almost metallic, shimmering with a crystalline luster. The spiral tip, formed from the intertwined poisonous stingers, emanated a grim, sharp, and inexplicably menacing sense of danger.
"Wood spirit, take root. Yin attribute, water condensation."
Su Zhou understood. The meaning was that the Wood Centipede’s parts were Wood-attribute Spiritual Materials. Although they had some Extraordinary properties, rather than smelting them with intense flames, it was better to stimulate their wood nature, allowing the parts to take root and intertwine for stability. And because the Dark Spiritual Qi Crystal was of the Yin Attribute, it was better to use the Water Condensation Technique for the forging.
As for why he could understand so much from so few words, it just went to show that he hadn’t eaten the Wisdom Fruit for nothing.
"Take."
"Thank you, Grand Master!"
The long spear flew up on its own under the influence of the Qi Manipulation Skill, rotating to show Su Zhou every last detail.
’The spear shaft is nearly eight feet long and weighs a hefty forty-eight kilograms, forged from Earth Vein Spirit Iron mixed with Tungsten Steel. The head is made of a Spiritual Yin Wood Material, capable of piercing armor and cursing enemies. It excels at wounding Spirit Bodies. A successful hit can extinguish a person’s Yang Qi, leaving them weak, dizzy, and powerless, even subjecting them to a massive spiritual shock. When striking a Ghost, it will conversely plunder the target’s Spiritual Qi, inflicting incurable damage!’
With the addition of new Spirit Wood as its main structure, the head of the Cross Spear was larger, its main body now resembling a hammer with three spearheads protruding from it. Su Zhou looked at its grim, dark luster, which, under the glow of the lava, faintly flashed with a dangerous, dark green glint. He was extremely satisfied.
’Once I get back and inscribe some runes on it, my power will rise to another level. The Spirit Wood World is truly a blessed land for me. It’s only been a few days, and my strength has already taken a huge leap forward!’
Marveling at the great opportunities and assistance that came with crossing over to an Otherworld, Su Zhou looked at the spear and thought of his enemies back on Earth, a fire igniting in his heart.
A newly forged spear shaft actually needed to be set aside for a while to cool down and dissipate internal stress. But how convenient was an Extraordinary Power like Spiritual Power? Su Zhou simply grabbed it, and his Spiritual Power, which already possessed an Enhancing Transformation Power, permeated every corner of the long shaft, neutralizing all the stress.
"A fine spear!"
This was another convenience of Extraordinary Power. A powerful Transcendent could, if nothing else, make a good living and earn a great reputation simply by dissipating the stress from massive components for large-scale industrial facilities. It was an easy and simple business.
As for the high temperature, he wasn’t afraid of it.
"Deserved. Return quickly."
Seeing Su Zhou’s happy expression, the Grand Master just smiled and shook his head. Without another word, he turned and headed deeper into the volcano—he still had many things to attend to.
The Grand Master had specifically taken the time to reforge Su Zhou’s weapon because he was worried. If spies had already infiltrated this far and were even preparing to make a move, didn’t that mean the Anx Dynasty Demons were about to attack? If so, any increase in their combat strength, however small, was a good thing.
He thought of the three Demon Soldier heads Su Zhou had thrown down upon his arrival and sighed inwardly. ’Those were Scouts... I suppose a detachment of Demon Soldiers has already gathered at the foot of the Taibai Mountain Range.’
Carrying his new weapon, Su Zhou was about to hum a little tune and head back to his tent to continue his cultivation.
But just as he walked out of the forging camp, he saw Li Daoran and Zhou Buyi, dressed in white, standing at the entrance. They were clearly waiting for him.
Their reason for waiting was simple. To put it briefly, it was a pre-battle briefing.
"We interrogated a number of suspects yesterday, and thanks to Grandmaster Han’s medical skills, we managed to save the life of one traitor. We pried some information out of him and have also contacted our various rebel units via Spirit Doves."
Although neither of them had slept all night, they were both Postnatal Experts, so they weren’t lacking in energy. Li Daoran didn’t hold anything back as he relayed the intelligence to Su Zhou: "Because of the traitor, the teams escorting the materials for the Divine Soldiers have been intercepted several times. Three teams have already been wiped out en route."
"Fortunately, we knew from the start that the Demon Soldiers were swift and mobile, so we had prepared for the possibility of interception. The two shipments carried by two of those three destroyed teams were duplicates of other materials, so it won’t slow down the forging of the Divine Soldiers."
"The bad news, however, is that the Divine Soldiers are still missing the final main ingredient: ’Western Star Gang Sand.’ That material is inherently rare and has to be gathered bit by bit from the Western Desert Sea. From the moment we decided to forge the Blade of Annihilation, our comrades in the Western Regions began collecting it with all their might. But to this day, they’ve only gathered a meager three portions. With the transport teams being intercepted, only one team is left that can reach the Taibai Mountain Area at the agreed-upon time."
As Li Daoran said this, it was clear he had already anticipated the current situation. Although things were critical, he didn’t seem overly panicked.
He led Zhou Buyi and Su Zhou along the mountain path toward the summit of Taibai White Mountain, his tone steady and firm. "Martial Master Weilie, who has the best Qinggong among us, already took a group last night to provide support. Once they return, the forging of the Divine Soldiers can begin. Everything is now ready, and with a mechanical marvel like the True Qi Furnace, which far surpasses the creations of ancient times, forging the Divine Soldiers won’t take more than a few days once the materials are prepared. But there is another piece of news that is worrying."
"A detachment of Demon Soldiers is closely following the escort team. They will be here soon."
