NOVPUB
Chapter 2279 Toning It Down a Notch
The payment for crafting an Emperor-grade item could not be measured in everyday currencies.
More often than not, the blacksmith would receive unthinkable favors in addition to a generous remuneration.
This was to be expected since most users of Emperor-grade artifacts were Emperor experts. How could the value of a favor from an Emperor be calculated with money?
Over infinite years, the Divine Forge Imperial Clan had created innumerous Emperor-grade tools for all the clans in the Celestial Phoenix World. One could only imagine how heavy the favors they had accumulated were!
Moreover, it was known to all that they were under the command of the Celestial Phoenix Lineage, so those favors definitely would be credited to the latter.
Suffice to say, the Divine Forge Imperial Clan had been a big contributor as to why the Celestial Phoenix Lineage had been able to reign over all races and become the overlord of this world.
In the secret realm of Divine Forge Workshop A1, the commission, materials, and furnace cauldron needed were ready. The group of old relics were all gazing at Lin Xun with anticipation.
After organizing his thoughts, Lin Xun began.
He waved his sleeve.
Boom!
A divine aeth flame that had been flickering in the far, dark horizon was pulled down, dropping into the cauldron at the center of the arena.
In an instant, the flame steamed and the cauldron rumbled.
“Violet Yang True Flame?” An old relic was visibly surprised because this aeth flame was not among the top rankers.
Many revealed pondering looks.
This commission was to make a Long Serpent Spear for an elder of the Green Python Imperial Clan, and the lower mythic-grade was already enough.
Rustle~
Before the crowd of old monsters could figure out the intention behind this choice, Lin Xun waved his hand. Dozens of the materials surged toward the cauldron in a torrent.
Right that instant, the Violet Yang True Flame tumbled and whisked those materials into the cauldron, melting them in the process. This produced bursts of eye-catching, colorful sparks.
This was melting the materials into one, which would enable the artifact prototype to form.
There was nothing special about Lin Xun's performance. The only praiseworthy part was perhaps how smooth and magically rhythmic his movements were.
All of the old blacksmiths present were confident that they could do this as well.
“I’m afraid it would take several days to completely melt these materials with the Violet Yang True Flame,” someone analyzed with a thoughtful look.
Up until this point, they were still confused as to why Lin Xun hadn’t selected a better aeth flame instead of the current one.
However, they would soon understand.
Lin Xun’s fingers danced, and a black flame in the sky jumped into the cauldron like a long comet.
“Black Yin Cold Flame!” someone exclaimed.
Boom!
In the cauldron, the Violet Yang True Flame and the Black Yin Cold Flame intertwined until they were inseparable but clearly distinct like Yin and Yang. In the process, they generated thunderous explosions that shook the region.
The terrifying energy sent the old relics into a cold sweat, almost thinking that Lin Xun had gone crazy. These two aeth flames repelled each other like water and fire. They could not be fused at all.
No blacksmith in history had dared try making these two divine flames coexist in one furnace.
However, everyone present was dumbstruck by what happened next.
As the two flames collided with each other nonstop in the cauldron, the dozens of divine materials caught between them got decomposed at an incredible speed.
Just fifteen minutes later, the materials had transformed into a pure, beautiful, colorful liquid that emitted a precious sheen.
Meanwhile, Lin Xun leisurely threw a few more materials into the liquid, melting them next...
The audience immediately became restless. Looking at each other, they all revealed expressions of epiphany.
“It turns out that materials that take days to process can be melted in a short time with the collisions between different aeth flames. Why have we...never considered this technique before?” mumbled an old relic.
“No, we actually have, it’s just that our attempts all fell through. After all, we have over a thousand aeth flames of different qualities and intensities. Plus, the materials required to make each tool are different, so the smallest error during the melting phase can lead to failure,” another lamented.
“For Fellow Daoist Lin to be able to adopt this unique method, he must have a thorough understanding of the properties and nature of those materials.”
“I agree, this must be the case.”
The old smiths exchanged ideas as they observed, feeling that they had benefited a lot.
In the audience, Lian Jiuxiao took out a jade slip and began to record what he saw intently. His serious manner resembled that of a diligent student who was taking notes in class.
This made an old relic quite confused. “Patriarch, it's just a melting technique, nothing too shocking. Why are you recording it so carefully?”
Lian Jiuxiao didn't even look up as he replied, “The production has only just begun, yet Fellow Daoist Lin has already done something beyond all of our expectations. You really don’t think this isn’t worth taking seriously?”
Hearing this, everyone was ashamed.
After finishing recording, Lian Jiuxiao continued with a serious expression, “This opportunity is invaluable, so don’t just focus on watching. Instead, carve everything into your mind and analyze them deeper one by one. Only in this way will our Divine Forge Imperial Clan have hopes of making further breakthroughs in the art of smithing.”
The crowd of old relics all collected themselves and nodded solemnly.
Luo Jia was dumbfounded as she watched all of this. At the moment, Lian Jiuxiao’s group looked no different from a group of students who were starving for knowledge, so pious, so earnest...
If the world knew about this, how could they even register it?
She redirected her gaze to the distant Lin Xun, who looked otherworldly standing in front of the cauldron. Once in a while when he moved, his sleeves fluttered in an elegantly unrestrained and relaxed manner.
Even Luo Jia had to admit that the serious and focused Lin Xun exuded an indescribable charm that other people couldn’t help but be attracted to. Even when merely watching him work from afar, one wouldn’t find it boring or dull.
Boom!
Four hours later, the total of nearly five hundred divine materials had been fully melted. The result was a magnificent and colorful liquid that steamed and rolled in the fiery cauldron.
It was also at this moment that Lin Xun began to imprint the dao rune arrays.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
In accordance with his thought, countless runes whistled out like a school of fish and criss crossed each other, outlining one array after another. In a miraculous fashion, the arrays enveloped and embedded themselves into the material liquid in the cauldron.
“Hm? The prototype hasn’t yet completely shaped, but he’s already laying out the arrays?” Many old monsters were surprised, fixating on Lin Xun's every move.
Generally speaking, following the melting of materials was refining the prototype, and only then could the dao rune arrays be engraved on the prototype.
The current situation was that Lin Xun had set aside the second step and gone straight to arranging the arrays on the liquid. This took quite a few old relics by surprise.
On the other hand, many were sunk in thought as they perceived something novel and marvelous. Since the material liquid had no fixed form, setting up arrays in it was a most difficult task.
To make an analogy, it was plain sailing to sketch on a static canvas, but if the canvas was constantly moving and changing, then one could imagine how challenging it was to draw on.
The old smiths present had all tried forging in this way, but only on treasures under the Emperor-grade because it was easy to maneuver.
However, it was a completely different story when it came to Emperor-grade treasures. The level of difficulty wouldn’t just double!
All in all, even a great rune founder such as Lian Qingji would never employ this method because it was too easy to make mistakes and fail.
“Although this method is intractable and extremely prone to errors, a success guarantees an Emperor artifact of extraordinary quality!” Lian Jiuxiao’s remark was approved by everyone.
The only question was, would Lin Xun succeed?
When this same thought popped into their minds, the crowd saw the total of eighty-one large rune arrays completely integrating into the divine liquid inside the cauldron, producing a shocking change.
Boom!
Divine hazes erupted like rain, unleashing billions of rays of light in a deafening noise.
A matchlessly powerful and intimidating energy quietly permeated the cauldron. Immediately afterward, a treasure light swept out like a rainbow.
All the onlookers felt a stinging sensation in their eyes. When their visions cleared up again, they saw a thirteen-foot long Serpent Spear floated out from the cauldron in the air. The surface of the weapon’s body shone with a watery luster, its tip spewing a frighteningly cold aura.
The void around it creaked and collapsed, seemingly unable to withstand the terrifying might it emanated.
Success!
Lian Jiuxiao and the other old relics of the Divine Forge Imperial Clan all gawked with eyes widened and faces lathered with shock.
With their eyesight, how could they not tell that it had not only succeeded but was also a weapon of extraordinary power?
An Emperor-grade treasure could only enter lower mythic-grade when it had at least nine Emperor dao runes.
The spear Lin Xun had forged had forty-eight Emperor dao runes, just one short of reaching mid mythic-grade!
Such an artifact was often considered a supreme-grade product in its tier!
“It's only been less than six hours, right?” An old relic trembled.
In such a short period of time, not only had Lin Xun succeeded in crafting the order, but it was also a supreme-grade weapon at that. Such skill completely went beyond their expectations.
Previously, Lin Xun had helped Lian Feijia forge a supreme upper mythic-grade Emperor armor, but that was already a semi-finished product, and what he had done was only to solve the problem with arranging the rune arrays.
This production, however, was entirely different. From melting the materials to setting up the rune arrays, to finishing the weapon, everything had taken less than six hours. This kind of speed was appalling to say the least!
“What a pity.” Lin Xun's soft sigh suddenly came from the distance, startling the crowd of shocked smiths.
A pity?
What does that mean?
Lian Jiuxiao couldn't help but ask, “What is a pity, Fellow Daoist Lin?”
Lin Xun gazed at the freshly crafted Long Serpent Spear, his voice carrying a hint of helplessness, “I’m capable of making a mid mythic-grade weapon with the original materials, but the commission requests it to be lower mythic-grade, so at the last moment, I ended up toning it down a notch.”
Hearing this, the lips of all the old relics twitched violently, and their faces turned into a funny spectacle.
