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Chapter 124: Eternal Spirit
Aldrian manipulated the divine iron, making it much softer but still hard enough for tempering. He didn’t want to make it too soft for fear of damaging the divine iron when hammering it. First, he and Duke Valiard separated the true divine iron from the rock covering it. During this phase, they also extracted the impure elements from the divine iron.
After a long time, they finally separated the entire divine iron from the impurities. What they saw was a mesmerizing, pure, shiny obsidian material that emitted various natural laws. Cultivating near it would greatly enhance a cultivator’s comprehension, tempting even Duke Valiard to cultivate on the spot.
He then instantly placed the Divine Iron into the furnace, and this time, Aldrian infused his energy into the blue earth flame to increase the heat. Even with the current heat of the earth flame, it was impossible to heat the Divine Iron, which astonished Duke Valiard, who had first discovered this in his research. The blue earth flame was the second strongest, surpassed only by the sky flame on this continent. To think that it couldn’t even heat the Divine Iron left him in shocked at that time.
Duke Valiard was also impressed by Aldrian’s golden energy, which could enhance the blue earth flame many times over. With Aldrian’s control over fire laws and the divine iron, they soon saw the iron begin to glow red, showing signs of melting. At this point, they quickly added Solar Illumination steel to mix with the divine iron. This marked the beginning of the divine forging technique ’Heaven’s Hammer of Creation.’
Together, Aldrian and Duke Valiard carefully adjusted the mixture, ensuring that the Solar Illumination steel complemented the divine iron rather than being devoured by it. Their goal was to merge the materials into a new steel rod, which they could later forge into a sword. They picked up the Heaven-grade hammer and slowly began hammering the mixture, which had become soft enough to hammer.
The Heaven’s Hammer of Creation technique teaches how to combine different materials to create a new mixture of steel, while also balancing their properties. Due to Aldrian’s higher mastery and comprehension of the technique, Duke Valiard assisted him in this phase. They carefully hammered the two materials, which had already fused in the furnace. Though they were exposed to the intense heat, they ignored it.
To conserve energy, Duke Valiard focused entirely on the hammering, neglecting to protect his body, which was now drenched in sweat. Aldrian, meanwhile, was also shirtless, his muscles exposed, but unlike Duke Valiard, his sweat came from exertion, not the heat. It seemed as if the heat itself avoided him—this was because he didn’t bother conserving energy and kept himself shielded the entire time.
They continued hammering until the steel completely melted, achieving the desired result. Then, they poured the molten steel into a long mold and quenched it with a special oil. They needed to use a large quantity of oil to harden the new steel. This marked the final step in creating the new mixture of material—a fusion of Divine Iron and Solar Illumination Steel, now ready for tempering.
Duke Valiard chose Solar Illumination Steel after conducting research on Divine Iron with Aldrian’s help. He discovered that the Divine Iron possessed a devouring energy property, capable of consuming energy in vast quantities—something that could be too dangerous if left uncontrolled once forged into an artifact. His hypothesis was that each time a cultivator used the artifact, their energy would be drained rapidly, leaving them vulnerable in prolonged battles.
Through his experiments, Duke Valiard decided to use Solar Illumination Steel, known for its energy-blocking properties, to counterbalance the devouring nature of Divine Iron. While the effect wouldn’t be absolute, given the overwhelming strength of Divine Iron, he was confident that with Aldrian’s help, the combination would be successful.
They placed the newly forged steel into the forge to heat it further. After a long while, the steel turned red-hot and was ready to be hammered. Aldrian swiftly picked it up with a pair of tongs and placed it on the anvil. Without hesitation, Duke Valiard began hammering.
Clang, clang.
The sound of hammer meeting steel echoed through the workshop. Duke Valiard’s expression was focused, his eyes never leaving the steel.
"When was the last time I had this kind of spirit while crafting an artifact? Was it when I created a divine-grade shield with my brother? Or when I forged my first artifact as a young man?"
Clang, clang.
"Ever since I became a duke, it feels like I’ve lost the joy of crafting. Politics and intrigue have made me forget what once ignited my passion."
Clang, clang.
"The passion I once had. I’ve always been in my brother’s shadow. Those nobles never sees my achievements, even when I succeed."
Clang, clang.
"I can be like him. I have the same potential. I’ll show them. I’ll rise, just like my brother."
Clang, clang.
After an unknown amount of time, Duke Valiard felt it was enough and signaled Aldrian to place the steel back into the forge to repeat the process. They continued hammering and reheating the steel, repeating the cycle until the blade took shape—a double-edged sword. Throughout the process, they also implemented the Heaven’s Hammer of Creation technique, maintaining a constant, rapid hammering pace with increasing force, as the technique demanded.
Finally, they reached the stage of creating the sword’s pattern. This was the trickiest part—any mistake would force them to start over, wasting both time and materials. Since they didn’t have the luxury of fresh materials, they had to get it right on the first attempt.
Duke Valiard took on this task, with Aldrian supporting him and also learning the intricate art of creating a pattern for a divine-grade artifact. Despite his experience, Duke Valiard felt nervous, it had been a long time since he last did this, and the pattern for each artifact was unique, determined by his proficiency and comprehension. He hoped that the pattern he had been preparing for months would succeed in creating a divine-grade sword.
Pushing aside his hesitation, Duke Valiard etched the first line of the pattern. He hadn’t felt this focused in years. Sweat poured down his face, and his eyes locked onto the blade like a hawk tracking its prey.
They didn’t know how much time had passed, but the workshop remained silent as they worked on the sword.
"I can do this. I will do this," Duke Valiard thought, mentally encouraging himself.
"I’ll have my name engraved alongside my brother’s. I’ll step out of his shadow!"
The pattern was nearly complete, just one step away from being finished. But as the final lines connected, the blade began to tremble. Duke Valiard froze, then watched in horror as the pattern started to crack.
"No! The pattern isn’t strong enough to hold the energy flow," he thought in despair as the cracks spread. He was stunned—where had he gone wrong? He had tested the pattern on lower-level materials, and it had worked perfectly. Why was it failing now?
Just as the pattern began to shatter, Valiard noticed Aldrian intensifying his energy flow into the blade. Confused and alarmed, Valiard wondered why Aldrian was doing this. Wouldn’t more energy just make the pattern break faster, rendering the steel useless?
Duke Valiard suddenly noticed something about the pattern. Though parts of the lines had shattered, the entire pattern wasn’t ruined. In fact, the pattern was becoming clearer and smoother. Astonished, he looked at Aldrian.
"Your pattern was already good," Aldrian sent through a soul transmission, "but due to the properties of the Divine Iron and Solar Illumination Steel, some of the lines made the pattern inefficient and fragile when I infused it with energy. I’m using my energy now to remove the unnecessary lines that would have lowered the sword’s grade."
Understanding the issue, Duke Valiard refocused on the pattern, learning from his mistake. After a while, the pattern, which had been on the verge of crumbling, began to stabilize. Though some shattered lines remained, they no longer affected the overall integrity of the pattern and could be cleaned up later.
Once the pattern was complete, they dipped the blade into the special oil from the Diamond Abyss, leaving it to cool while they crafted the hilt and other accessories. Before long, they finished and lifted the blade to attach the final components.
When the sword was complete, they stepped outside the workshop and stood on a vast field nearby. Xin Haotian, who happened to be nearby, noticed Aldrian and Duke Valiard came out from the workshop and observed them with curiosity.
"After six months, they’re finally out. But what is that sword? I can sense it’s at the peak Heaven grade, already in its limit. Oh! Is that the divine-grade sword they tried to create that he mentioned?" Xin Haotian thought, watching with wonder.
Duke Valiard gazed at the sword before turning to Aldrian. "A divine-grade artifact should have a name worthy of its pride. We need to name it first, and then you must inject your energy to its maximum capacity to complete the process. The energy required can be tremendous. Even I don’t have enough energy for this, so that task falls to you. If we succeed, a Heavenly Tribulation will come to baptize this sword. If we fail, the heavens will deem this artifact unworthy, and no tribulation will occur."
Aldrian nodded. "Do you want to name it? It’s mostly your effort, so it’s only appropriate that you name it."
Duke Valiard thought for a moment before speaking. "Since this sword symbolizes our effort and proves that we have the ability to create a divine sword, to show that I won’t be underestimated. I’ll name it ’Eternal Spirit.’"
"’Eternal Spirit’? That’s a fitting name. Then from now on, it will be called ’Eternal Spirit,’" Aldrian replied.
With that, he began to inject his energy to its maximum. A gust of wind whipped through the area, and golden energy radiated from his body. He continued for several minutes until he suddenly felt a shift in the sky. In that moment, he knew they had succeeded!
