Chapter 115: Chapter 23: Qi-Forged Divine Weapon
[Undying Demon General Red Land’s Evil Soul]
[The completely transformed Soul of a human who used a Secret Ceremony to become a member of the Coiling Banyan Undying Wood Clan.]
[An inhuman Evil Soul, entangled with countless Curses and grievances.]
[Use: Increases the body’s regeneration speed, as well as the toughness of skin and muscle.]
[Can also be subjected to Spiritual Refining to create a Red Land Demon Poison Enchantment, which can be applied to any piece of equipment or item.]
[Cannibalism has always been the ultimate taboo. Demon General Red Land once hesitated, but in the end, it still indulged in the supreme pleasure.]
[’If I’m no longer human, then it’s not a taboo, is it?’ Thinking this, it transformed into an inhuman Demon and feasted on flesh and blood.]
"Red Land Demon Poison... a virulent Spiritual Poison that can even paralyze the Undead Demon Soldiers... The uses for an Evil Soul are certainly direct and to the point."
Inside the Divine Weapon Foundry carved into the mountain, Su Zhou gave the crimson Evil Soul, visible only to him, a cursory glance before storing it away in his Soul Space to keep the recently quiet Wisdom Tree Essence Soul company. ’I just wonder,’ he thought, ’what kind of uses does the Soul of the Undying Demon Emperor have... and what does it taste like?’
As he pondered this, Su Zhou’s mental fluctuations radiated an almost tangible curiosity, laced with killing intent. Yara, meanwhile, drawled lazily, "At the very least, it should be several tiers stronger than the souls of these ordinary Demon Generals. After all, it was a Transcendent who nearly slaughtered an entire major nation. It might even be able to condense a Spiritual Weapon, or perhaps even Talent Skills."
"Is that so... Thanks, Yara."
Su Zhou nodded thoughtfully. Then, his gaze turned fiery as he stared at the Divine Weapon Foundry before him, as if he were watching a blockbuster movie or a game cinematic.
At this very moment, the forging of the Divine Blade had begun. Everyone stood at the very edge of the foundry, watching the Grand Master and the other Master Artisans operate a total of twelve True Qi Furnaces. They were injecting their own Yang Flame True Qi to activate the series of fine steel mechanical contraptions connected to the furnaces, along with the various Talismanic True Words inscribed upon them.
If the crater of Taibai Volcano was a funnel shaped like the character for "eight," then the Divine Weapon Foundry was situated in the middle of that funnel, inside the volcano, less than a hundred meters from the lava.
The True Qi Furnaces looked like massive Alchemy Furnaces. In their centers were Spiritual Objects loaded in for fuel. The operators had to be in direct contact with them, using their own Inner Strength to stimulate the activated Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi within and unleash power far exceeding that of a Martial Artist alone.
This power could be used for combat, but because it was immense yet unfocused, it was generally used as an energy source for other large-scale mechanisms. For instance, the giant, multi-ton hammers and the mechanical arms that controlled them, currently lying dormant to the side, were precisely the kind of colossal contraptions that could only be controlled by using a True Qi Furnace.
One after another, the True Qi Furnaces began to operate. Great cauldrons rose and fell, lifting ladle after ladle of lava from the swirling black-and-red lake below. The lava was poured into the True Qi Furnaces themselves, as well as into the great pool of molten iron in the center of the foundry. It was in this very pool that the Undying Root of the Red Land Demon General and the Undying Roots of more than sixty other Demon Soldiers had been reduced to ash just moments ago. Billows of invisible Wood Spirit Qi had spread out, only to be instantly incinerated by the Fire Spirit Qi brought by the lava.
In a world with Spiritual Qi, lava was not just searing molten rock, but the very "blood of the Earth Vein." Each cauldron of lava poured into the pool brought with it surging waves of Fire Spirit and Earth Spirit Qi, which not only powered the furnaces but also began to gather a sufficient amount of pure Spiritual Power.
Just as the forty-ninth cauldron of lava was poured into the pool, filling it almost to the brim, the Grand Master’s muscles bulged. In silence, he controlled his True Qi Furnace, using the miraculous Qi device as an amplifier. He activated the Qi Condensation and Object Manipulation Technique and, with a sheer act of will, snatched the Spiritual Object at the center of the pool of molten iron—the Earth Vein Flame Iron—out of the air!
Earth Vein Flame Iron!
Though it was called ’iron,’ it was only because its appearance was similar to iron and it often appeared alongside Earth Vein Spirit Iron Ore. In reality, it was an Extraordinary Crystal born from the fusion of Earth Vein Qi and Fire Spirit Qi, using iron as its vessel!
If the Dark Spiritual Qi Crystal that Su Zhou possessed were allowed to fully mature within an Earth Vein and then condense into an Ice Crystal using water as its medium, it would become an Extraordinary Spiritual Object of the same caliber as this Earth Vein Flame Iron.
The Grand Master’s expression was strained as he held the Spiritual Object aloft. Controlling an Extraordinary substance with Inner Qi was incredibly difficult; the structure of the Secret Technique would constantly be eroded and destroyed by the energy fluctuations of the Spiritual Object itself. It was a feat impossible for anyone less than an Innate Martial Saint. However, with the aid of the True Qi Furnace, he managed to hold it firmly in place.
At that moment, the other Master Artisans manipulated the remaining furnaces. Two massive, fine steel mechanical arms, each brandishing a colossal block of iron, slammed into the Earth Vein Flame Iron from the left and right—BOOM! A deafening crash was followed by a searing wave of heat. The iron blocks serving as hammers turned red-hot on one side instantly. If not for the fact that the mechanical arms kept the Master Artisans a dozen meters away from the Earth Vein Flame Iron, and that most of them were skilled experts of the First and Second Postnatal Ranks, everyone in the vicinity would have been killed in that instant!
These two hammers needed to cool, but there were others to be used. One by one, hammers struck from the left and right, from above and below, and from front and back, forging and shaping the Earth Vein Flame Iron that the Grandmaster held suspended in mid-air through sheer Inner Strength. Gradually, the once crystalline Spiritual Object was hammered into an iron bar about four chi long.
