7 king
There are even higher realms above Void Reversion where one would be able to form rain and clouds with every flip of their hands; any thought could cause rivers to reverse, bring about enough heat to burn the oceans and shift stars from their rotations. Every single step would of theirs would cross thousands of meters!"
Those words rattled Su Zimo and the other disciples. It was as though they were already envisioning themselves ruling over the desolates while looking down at the world with disdain.
Who would not look forward to power as such?
Even though many of the inner sect disciples had heard those descriptions many times, it still sent ardor and zeal coursing through their blood.
Sect Master Ling Yun continued with a deep voice, "Head back and work hard on your cultivation. Every end of the year, our sect will organize a face-off between the five peaks and the rewards will be generous. Even though the seven of you have just joined the sect, be it in terms of spirit root or potential, you are exceptional. I hope that there can be some amongst you that will obtain good results in our five peaks face-off."
…
On the way back to Weapon Peak, Su Zimo asked Xue Yi, "What's with this five peaks face-off?"
Xue Yi chuckled. "Simply put, it's to choose the best out of the five peaks. For example, for the Weapon Peak face-off, the disciples of Weapon Peak would have a competition with their skills of refining weapons. The disciple that comes out top will get to choose an inferior-grade spirit weapon of his desire from the Spirit Weapon Chamber. As for Elixir Peak, they would compete in refining elixirs. The first disciple would be able to get a Grade 1 elixir such as the Spirit Gathering Pill."
Frowning, Su Zimo asked, "What if there are multiple disciples who can craft an inferior-grade spirit weapon? How would they differentiate between the best then?"
"Haha!"
Xue Yi burst out laughing. "If any disciple could craft an inferior-grade spirit weapon, they would definitely be the best of Weapon Peak! Junior brother, you've yet to experience any weapon refinement techniques yet and so you do not know how difficult it is to craft an inferior-grade spirit weapon. There has never been any disciples who could craft an inferior-grade spirit weapon during the annual Weapon Peak face-off. Everyone could only manage to create pseudo spirit weapons and our master will then judge who has the best quality."
Su Zimo nodded.
Xue Yi continued, "Actually, for the five peaks face-off, all the other peaks are merely there for show. Everyone's actually more focused on Spirit Peak's face-off. After all, the disciples would be competing in terms of battling techniques and pure strength – that's way more exciting. The rewards are even better as well. Not only do they get an inferior-grade spirit weapon, a Grade 1 elixir, there would also be a Grade 1 talisman as well as a number of spirit stones."
"Junior brother, don't fixate yourself on it. After all, both refining of elixirs and weapons would require a large amount of energy and time. Rather than dreaming of other things, the most important task on hand is to steady yourself and focus on your cultivation."
Even though Su Zimo did not rebut Xue Yi, he did not agree with it in his heart.
As an Elixir Refinement Master, one could create elixirs which would be helpful for boosting their cultivations.
As a Weapon Refinement Master, one could create weapons and that was a clear benefit for raising one's strength as well.
Most importantly, Su Zimo possessed a Fire spirit root and that would enhance his cultivation speed, saving time.
Within the five peaks, there would be inner sect disciples arriving daily to help the disciples with their queries and doubts.
Upon returning to Weapon Peak, Su Zimo listened carefully to an inner sect disciple's explanation of the techniques of refining weapons before returning to his cave abode.
The fundamental of refining weapons was to first be able to cultivate a spirit fire.
Spirit fire was created by igniting spirit qi into flames.
There were three levels to spirit fires with their difference shown through their colors – faint red, dark red and scarlet. The deeper the shade, the higher the temperature of the flame and the more the impurities that could be purged.
Above spirit fires came true fires which were faint, dark and pure gold in color.
The first step of creating weapons was material selection.
Be it for refinement of elixirs or weapons, the materials used were spirit items of the universe that contained spirit qi within them.
The second step was the smelting process.
For elixirs, special Elixir Furnaces were required while for weapons, it was Weapon Tripods.
Be it Elixir Furnaces or Weapon Tripods, they were all created using special materials that could endure through heat and not melt.
By placing the spirit materials they chose into the Weapon Tripod and using a spirit fire to smelt it, the materials would be melted into liquid form with initial impurities preliminary purged so that it is suitable for refinement.
Third step, forging.
This step would require controlling the temperature to dip while forging out the shape one wanted for the spirit weapon before the liquid solidified.
Of course, one would require much more effort at this step if they wanted to create something special. However, if it was just a normal flying sword, things would be much simpler.
Fourth step, tempering.
By increasing the temperature within the Weapon Tripod once more, one would then use spirit qi and the flames to strike at the weapon, conducting a secondary round of impurities elimination to ensure that the spirit weapon turns sturdier.
Five step, spirit gathering.
Spirit gathering was the crux and most difficult step of the entire weapon refinement process.
Within the Weapon Tripod, a large amount of spirit qi would be released by the melted materials and they would turn extremely pure under the repeated scorching of the spirit fire.
By gathering the spirit qi and fusing it into the spirit weapon, lines of spirit patterns would form on it.
And that was exactly the history of spirit weapon grades as well.
If a single spirit pattern was created, it would be an inferior-grade spirit weapon.
If four spirit patterns could be created, it would be a supreme-grade spirit weapon!
The reason why the spirit gathering stage was difficult was because if it failed, the spirit weapon would explode within the tripod, causing all their previous efforts to go to waste.
At the same time, there was a high rate of failure for spirit gathering; the more the patterns being tempered, the higher the rate of failure.
Sixth step, quenching.
This was a simple step – simply placing the highly heated spirit weapon into cold water would finish the forging process.
Extending his left hand, Su Zimo activated the stream of spirit qi from his dantian as a weak flame formed in the middle of his palm.
It was a faint red color and emanated a scorching heat. However, his palm did not feel the heat at all.
Level 1 Spirit Fire!
Su Zimo let out a smile.
As the spirit qi dispersed, the spirit fire disappeared as well.
But once he channeled spirit qi, a flame appeared in his palm once more. With that, Su Zimo continued practicing merrily.
Suddenly, he recalled something.
Back in Ping Yang Town, Perfected Cang Lang had shot out a scarlet flame from his fingertips, burning Zhui Feng to nothingness.
Now, Su Zimo finally realized – that flame was a Level 3 Spirit Fire!
The thought of Zhui Feng's death caused Su Zimo's eyes to dim as his mood was damped.
On his immortality cultivation, he had just obtained Level 1 Qi Condensation.
On his demonic cultivation, he was stuck on the progress of the Marrow Cleansing section even after such a long time.
He wondered how long more he would have to wait to take revenge for Zhui Feng.
Die Yue had mentioned that The Mystic Classic of the Twelve Demon Kings of the Great Wilderness would get more difficult towards the end and without her around, Su Zimo would not be able to complete it.
And now, he was already stuck after the Bones Strengthening at the Marrow Cleansing section. What about Organs Refinement and Orifice Clearing later on?
As he fell deep into thought, Su Zimo's right palm gathered a ball of spirit fire subconsciously.
Swoosh!
A ball of flames rose and the scarlet color was rather striking. Shocked, Su Zimo swung his hand and the spirit qi dispersed along with the spirit fire.
"That flame earlier on did not seem like it was faint red?"
Frowning, Su Zimo glared at his right palm before channeling spirit qi to create the spirit fire once more.
Swoosh!
Flames started rising.
A bright light shone across Su Zimo's shocked face.
Scarlet… Level 3 Spirit Fire!
"How could this be?"
Glaring at the scarlet flame in his right palm, Su Zimo wondered.
Naturally, he would not assume that he had managed to create a Level 3 Spirit Fire right after learning about it through pure talent.
But, what was the reason for everything before him?
Opening his left palm, he channeled spirit qi and gathered a flame in that palm too.
Swoosh!
A faint red flame appeared.
Level 1 Spirit Fire.
Both balls of flames continued burning in Su Zimo's palms with strikingly different color and a distinct difference in temperature too.
Dissipating the flames, he tried again a couple more times.
Each time, his left palm would always form a Level 1 Spirit Fire while his right palm could reach Level 3!
Su Zimo thought back to a detail of Qi Condensation.
The second step of Qi Condensation was to absorb the qi internally.
Back then, the spirit qi in the air entered his body from his right hand – what did that imply?
Frowning, he looked at his right hand for a long time but could not find anything unusual about iit.
Even after a long time, Su Zimo could not figure out what was going on and decided to let the doubt go for now.
No matter what, it wasn't a bad thing for him to have a Level 3 Spirit Fire right as he was starting to learn about weapon refinement.
The higher the level of spirit fire, the more efficient the purging of impurities from the materials would be!
Normally, a Level 3 Spirit Weapon could even refine a middle-grade spirit weapon!
But of course, the level of spirit fire was only one of the core factors for a Weapon Refinement Master. They had to be able to control the spirit fire, temperature and the most important process of spirit gathering. If any of the six steps were to go wrong, they would not be able to create any spirit weapons.
For Weapon Refinement Masters, they were divided to elementary, intermediate and advanced depending on the grade of spirit weapons they can refine. Only those that can create superior-grade spirit weapons could be termed as Advanced Weapon Refinement Masters.
For most Perfected Golden Cores, the spirit weapons they use would not be higher than superior-grade.
Therefore, in the cultivation world, if anyone could become an Advanced Weapon Refinement Master, their status would be equivalent to that of a Perfected Golden Core. In fact, in terms of reputation and networking, they would even surpass the average Perfected Golden Core!
However, even Advanced Weapon Refinement Masters would not dare to casually attempt for supreme-grade spirit weapons given the high failure rate.
As a disciple of Weapon Peak, Su Zimo obtained a Weapon Tripod from the elderly guard and spent the rest of his time training on his weapon refinement skills in his cave abode. Occasionally, he would train his Qi Condensation and spend the nights reading into the Marrow Cleansing section.
A month later.
Su Zimo's cultivation realm was at Level 5 Qi Condensation and he was getting better at weapon refinement, having created a couple of pseudo spirit flying swords successfully. However, he still had no progress on the Marrow Cleansing section.
To be accurate, he did not even know how to carry on with it.
The Marrow Cleansing section stated that he would be able to achieve Marrow Cleansing by quivering the marrow with the sounds of tigers and leopards.
Having stayed an entire year in the Cang Lang Mountain Range, he was extremely familiar with the sounds of tigers and leopards. Yet, no matter how hard he tried to imitate it, he could not achieve the desired effect of Marrow Cleansing.
Su Zimo was even almost going hoarse by the end of the month…
He could feel that he was not going in the right direction so he intended to look for an opportunity to capture a tiger and a leopard so that he could slowly work with that sound requirement.
This day, Su Zimo came forth from his cave abode.
Every end of the month, the five peaks would have a simple test held; it was not compulsory and any disciples of the various peaks could take part.
The first place of the test would have a chance to observe the projections of seniors in the sect refining weapons.
One had to understand that every Weapon Refinement Master had a different method of doing things. It was particularly so for the step of tempering in the Weapon Tripod which was extremely secretive and not shown to most people.
Through the entire month, Su Zimo had quite a number of doubts gathered. If he could take a look at those projections, it would be of great help to him.
Before long, Su Zimo arrived at the Weapon Peak's Weapon Refinement Hall on a flying sword.
He took a quick glance and there were more than a hundred people present!
Weapon Peak's trial disciples added up to a few dozens of people – where did the rest come from?
"Eh, you're here, Junior Brother Su."
Right then, Xue Yi walked over from the side and greeted Su Zimo merrily.
"Not bad, you're already at Level 5 Qi Condensation!"
Xue Yi exclaimed before asking, "Why? Are you here for the month end test too?"
"Yeah, I want to give it a shot," Su Zimo nodded his head.
"Sure, that's good. You can also learn by looking at the way others go about it," Xue Yi thought that Su Zimo was merely there to join the crowd since the latter had just gotten started on refining weapons.
"Senior brother, we've only got a couple dozens of disciples in Weapon Peak. Why are there so many people?" Su Zimo asked.
Xue Yi smiled. "Within the sect, any of the disciples from the other four peaks who have an interest towards weapon refinement can come to Weapon Peak to learn and take part in the month end test as well. In fact, even in the year end face-off if they want to. After all, for some of the geniuses, they will want to learn about weapons, elixirs, talismans and array formations even as they cultivate themselves."
Su Zimo nodded his head – that was the same as what he thought.
Su Zimo swept his gaze casually across the crowd before fixating it on a man clad in purple robes.
The purple robed man looked haughty with his head slightly reared and eyes closed. It was easy to spot him from the crowd.
That man was Feng Haoyu, the person with a variant wind spirit root who had joined the sect at the same time as Su Zimo.
After a month, Feng Haoyu had already gone from Level 6 to Level 7 Qi Condensation!
Xue Yi followed Su Zimo's gaze and said, "I heard that man is called the most talented genius our sect has obtained in a thousand years! With his innate variant spirit root and an exceptional talent, many of the seniors think extremely highly of him. I've even heard that he's going to take part in the year end face-off and boasted that he was definitely going to be the top of three peaks!"
"Top of three peaks?" Su Zimo frowned.
Xue Yi explained, "Even though he's a new disciple, he has a wind spirit root and by the end of the year, he would definitely be a Level 9 or 10 Qi Refinement Warrior. The only person that can compete with him in Spirit Peak is a woman called Leng Rou. I heard that she's also a new disciple."
"Even if he gets to be the top of Spirit Peak, what about the other two?" Su Zimo asked.
Xue Yi lamented, "Elixir and Weapon Peak. Our two peaks are the weakest in the sect. Even though it's good for the sect that we have a Feng Haoyu, it's still going to feel bad for us as disciples of Weapon Peak if he turns out top for our peak."
Su Zimo was confused. "Feng Haoyu has a wind spirit root. In terms of fire mastery, can he compete with Weapon Peak disciples with fire spirit roots?"
"Junior brother, you know that anyone can create spirit fire regardless of their spirit root attributes?" Xue Yi asked in reverse.
Su Zimo nodded.
Anyone could create a spirit fire without a fire spirit root. It was just that in terms of sensing, cultivation and mastery of it, those with a fire spirit root would be more astute to it.
Xue Yi continued, "Fire blossoms with the presence of wind. That is Feng Haoyu's advantage!"
Suddenly, Su Zimo realized.
Under the influence of wind, fire burns ever brighter.
Xue Yi whispered, "I heard that Feng Haoyu's already able to create a Level 2 Spirit Fire!"
Stunned for a moment, Su Zimo looked at his right hand and nodded. "That's indeed quite incredible…"
"Quite incredible? That's extremely incredible!"
Xue Yi lamented softly, "I've already been in Ethereal Sect for six years now and I'm only edging at the border of Level 2 Spirit Fire."
"Heh, let's not talk about these anymore.
Picking himself up, Xue Yi shrugged his shoulders. "But if Feng Haoyu really does become accomplished in both refining elixirs and weapons and end up making a name for himself in those rankings during the sect competition, that would be quite the honor for our sect too isn't it."
Smiling, Su Zimo nodded.
"Everyone, please be silent!"
Right then, a Foundation Establishment Cultivator appeared at the front of the Weapon Refinement Hall and pushed his hands down, causing the chatter in the hall to die down.
"Everyone, please head forth and select your materials before finding an empty spot within the hall on your own to refine your weapons. The test commences now!"
All of the disciples began dispersing after choosing their materials as Su Zimo and Xue Yi waited before choosing a spot at the back of the hall.
With his hands behind his back, Feng Haoyu stood right in front with a haughty expression; no one dared to stand shoulder to shoulder against him.
Before this, Feng Haoyu had already asked around and found out that none of the trial disciples within the five peaks had managed to create a Level 2 Spirit Fire; the best amongst them was nearly bordering on the edge of Level 2.
Thus, Feng Haoyu was extremely confident that he would definitely be able to top this month end test and obtain the rights to view projections of the weapon refinement process left behind by seniors of the sect.
Bam!
Retrieving a Weapon Tripod from his storage bag, Feng Haoyu slammed it heavily on the ground and the entire hall rattled.
Every single one of his actions attracted everyone's attention.
None of the hundred odd disciples attending the test were in any hurry as they all looked at Feng Haoyu after placing down their Weapon Tripod.
Feng Haoyu's lips curled.
Even though he did not turn around, he could feel the searing gazes that contained jealousy and envy.
That was the type of feeling he enjoyed.
The adoration of the masses.
Extending his palm out slowly, Feng Haoyu channeled spirit qi.
A ball of flames rose. It was merely a faint red color – Level 1 Spirit Fire.
The entire hall went silent as everyone watched the man right at the front with bated breaths.
Swoosh!
Feng Haoyu extended his other palm as a stream of spirit qi shot out from his fingertips, entering the initial ball of flames.
With a loud rumble, the flame burned brightly as its color deepened. Before long, it was a dark red color.
Level 2 Spirit Fire!
The crowd went into an uproar!
Even though many disciples of the sect had heard about it, they were still shocked seeing a Level 2 Spirit Fire personally.
A Level 2 Spirit Weapon would improve the success rate of creating inferior-grade spirit weapons greatly and was something that many cultivators would not be able to achieve in their lifetimes.
Sensing emotions running high in the crowd, a look of glee flickered through Feng Haoyu's eyes as he pushed the ball of Level 2 Spirit Fire into his Weapon Tripod where it continued to burn.
He was warming his tripod.
First, the area around the Weapon Tripod had to be warmed evenly using spirit fire and after the temperature was balanced, the materials would be inserted.
Because weapon refinement was a long process, many of the cultivators behind Feng Haoyu began to gather their own spirit fires and work on the tripod warming phase as well.
Xue Yi looked at Su Zimo. "Let's start too, Junior Brother Su."
"Okay," Su Zimo nodded.
Xue Yi extended his palm as a ball of flames rose. Even though it was a Level 1 Spirit Fire, its color was darker and showed vague signs of evolving to a Level 2 Spirit Fire.
One did not have to concentrate too much on the tripod warming process.
Xue Yi circled his spirit fire around the Weapon Tripod before letting it burn at the bottom and turning his head over to Su Zimo. He thought that he may be able to provide some advice given that this junior brother of his had just started on the craft of weapon refinement and might not be used to it.
However, that move of Xue Yi rooted him where he stood.
There was a ball of fervent flames burning on Su Zimo's palm and the color of it was somewhat piercing!
Xue Yi was completely stumped as his mind went blank; he did not even notice that the flames beneath his Weapon Tripod had extinguished.
Su Zimo was learning from others around him as well by surrounding his spirit fire around the Weapon Tripod before letting it burn at the bottom.
The process of warming the tripod was something that was not mentioned when the inner sect disciples explained things previously.
Through the entire month, Su Zimo had not practiced warming the tripod in his seclusion.
"Seems like this test wasn't a wasted trip. I got something out of it," Su Zimo was delighted internally.
"J-Junior Brother Su! Y-Your Spirit Fire…!"
Right then, Xue Yi's stammering voice sounded out in Su Zimo's ears.
Turning around, Su Zimo smiled. "I got lucky and somehow managed to cultivate out a Level 3 Spirit Fire by accident."
He was not saying it out of humility – it was cultivated through accident and he did not know the reason for it till this day.
Xue Yi's eyes were widened as his jaws nearly dropped to the ground.
This was the first time that he had heard someone say they created a Level 3 Spirit Fire out of sheer luck by accident!
Even though their voices weren't loud, the surrounding disciples heard everything loud and clear.
Level 3 Spirit Fire?
Dream on!
Some of the disciples in front turned around and were stumped as well.
An odd tension began to spread and permeate through the hall.
Standing right at the front, Feng Haoyu seemed to have felt something as he frowned. However, he did not turn around out of arrogance.
Within the hall, there was no one worth his attention to turn around!
Suddenly, an ear-piercing shriek broke the odd tension in the hall.
"Level 3 Spirit Fire!"
After that shriek, the entire hall went bonkers.
"Scarlet! It's truly a Level 3 Spirit Fire!"
"Who is this person? He doesn't look familiar! How have we not seen him before?"
"I think he's one of the new disciples who joined this year."
"This is way too incredible. This man is only a Level 5 Qi Refinement Warrior and yet he's able to cultivate a Level 3 Spirit Fire? What sort of talent is that?"
When he heard the discussion going on behind him, Feng Haoyu's expression turned grim.
Standing silently, he composed himself and turned around slowly, looking back indifferently.
The scarlet flame was the first thing that entered his line of sight.
Right after, a face with sharp features and green robes that he had seen before.
"Him again!"
Feng Haoyu narrowed his eyes coldly.
"Mmm?"
Sensing enmity, Su Zimo who was initially still warming his tripod looked over instinctively.
"What keen senses!"
Feng Haoyu remarked internally.
He had already kept his enmity well hidden but he had not expected that Su Zimo would notice it still.
Their gazes met for a brief moment as Feng Haoyu turned back indifferently, haughty as ever.
On the surface, it seemed as though Feng Haoyu did not take it to heart.
However, the Level 2 Spirit Fire beneath his Weapon Tripod had already been extinguished – that was a clear sign of his shock!
Su Zimo smiled and thought nothing more of it. Noticing that his Weapon Tripod was already warm, he was about to insert his materials when a head suddenly popped out beside him.
He was so shocked that he pulled his Cold Moon Saber out of his storage bag and almost slashed forth…
"Greetings, master!"
"Greetings, peak master."
When the disciples in the hall saw who it was, all of them greeted.
Su Zimo coughed gently, keeping his Cold Moon Saber without a trace.
Unknowingly, the disheveled old peak master of Weapon Peak had made his way to the Weapon Refinement Hall and appeared beside Su Zimo.
The disheveled old man eyed the Cold Moon Saber that Su Zimo kept and asked casually, "Lad, why are you always trying to stab others over every single disagreement?"
When he was joining the sect at the top of the front peak, Su Zimo slashed out at Array Peak's master right after he came forth from the illusion.
Now, he nearly did the same to Weapon Peak's master.
With an awkward expression, Su Zimo was ready to disperse his spirit fire and apologize to his master. However, the disheveled old man merely waved it off and shook his head. "It's fine, continue with what you were doing. I'll just be watching from the side, no pressure."
"Alright," Su Zimo nodded his head.
Pausing for a moment, the disheveled old man patted Su Zimo on the shoulders and commented sincerely, "Lad, you don't have to be strung up all day all night in Ethereal Sect. Relax, no one is going to hurt you. Don't brandish your saber for every small reason."
In reality, Su Zimo's reaction was trained during his time in Cang Lang Mountain Range and had already become a habit.
Outside the mountain range, every single beast was an enemy to Su Zimo.
Even back in his cave, he had to be alert against the Spirit Monkey's mischievous attacks; that was why he was so neurotic.
However, it did not mean that Su Zimo would let his guard loose just because of what the disheveled old man said. He would merely pay more attention so that he would not brandish his saber casually.
The disheveled old man continued, "Besides, even if you want to brandish it, you've got to see your opponent first. One month into the sect and you've already pointed your saber at two peak masters. What's going to happen the longer you stay?"
"Cough, cough. I'll take note of it," Su Zimo chuckled embarrassedly.
Usually, none of the peak masters would appear for a month end test as such, especially not the peak master of Weapon Peak who was known to be lazy by nature.
Yet, everyone present was clear why the disheveled old man was appearing now.
It was definitely not for Feng Haoyu, but Su Zimo.
Right then, Feng Haoyu who was standing right at the front had a burning sensation on his face. However, because he was back facing everyone else, no one could tell of the coldness in his eyes.
Composing his emotions, Feng Haoyu began to warm the tripod once more.
At the back of the hall, Su Zimo had already begun to insert the materials since his Level 3 Spirit Fire was not extinguished.
With all the materials inserted, he channeled a large amount of spirit qi and flames burnt furiously, enveloping the entire Weapon Tripod.
The temperature in the tripod continued to climb!
The process of smelting was to turn all the materials to liquid state using a high temperature before fusing them together once more, removing as much impurities from them as possible.
It was a step that had nothing to do with weapon refinement technique and was a clear indicator of the difference between different levels of spirit fire.
Even if it was an Advanced Weapon Refinement Master wielding a Level 2 Spirit Fire, he would not be able to match an amateur with a Level 3 Spirit Fire during the smelting process.
Before long, the materials in the tripod had begun to melt before turning into a metal liquid that emanated spirit qi.
The Level 3 Spirit Fire continued burning.
The golden liquid burnt within the tripod, bubbling endlessly as the spirit qi inside thickened.
At that, the disheveled old man's eyes flickered with a hint of satisfaction as he nodded.
The metal liquid glowed bright red as the quantity was condensed through the repeated scorching – that was due to impurities being purged away.
15 minutes later, the metal liquid was no longer condensing.
That did not imply that it was free of impurities – it was merely the smelting limits of a Level 3 Spirit Fire.
The smelting process was over.
Right then, the materials of the other disciples had merely only started to melt. Of them, Feng Haoyu's speed was faster as a metal liquid was formed within his tripod.
Not only was the Level 3 Spirit Fire better in purging impurities, it was faster as well as Su Zimo led the pack far ahead!
The next step, forging.
Su Zimo dispersed his spirit fire and waited for the temperature within the tripod to dip. At the same time, he cultivated and rested at the side, replenishing the spirit qi he had expended.
Forging required channeling of spirit qi to create a pair of spirit hands which would be inserted into the Weapon Tripod. One would then have to forge the shape of the spirit weapon they wanted before the metal liquid solidified.
If one entered too early when the temperature was too high, notwithstanding the fact that the spirit hands may disperse easily, it would be difficult to forge the weapon since the metal liquid would not be completely cooled.
However, if it was too late and the metal liquid was completely solidified, one would not be able to forge as well.
This step was a test of experience.
After five minutes, Su Zimo suddenly bolted up and channeled his spirit qi fervently. A pair of hands appeared in midair that reached into the Weapon Tripod, grabbing hold of the metal liquid.
That was the perfect moment when the metal liquid was malleable without solidifying just yet!
At the side, the disheveled old man was getting more pleased as he watched the focused Su Zimo.
"Bloody hell, I've really found a treasure this time round!"
If not for the fact that so many disciples were present, the disheveled old man could not wish for more than to hug Su Zimo tightly for a kiss right then.
For some reason, Su Zimo felt a gust of cold wind behind his ass and could not help but broke into a shudder.
Before long, a flying sword slowly took shape.
The blade was long without any edge yet – this was merely a rough shape.
By now, many of the disciples had given up on the test and were watching Su Zimo's weapon refinement process instead.
When they noticed the shape of the sword being crafted, a shushing sound spread out from the crowd.
Feng Haoyu was done with his smelting at the moment and was waiting for the temperature in the Weapon Tripod to dip. As he sat where he was to rest, he could not help but turn around to check out the commotion.
The moment he saw the shape of the sword in Su Zimo's Weapon Tripod, he scoffed with a look of mockery and turned back.
After the forging was complete, Su Zimo could naturally sense the strange tension around him.
"Master, have I made a mistake?" he could not help but ask.
The disheveled old man waved it off and replied nonchalantly, "It's not really a huge mistake. You've grasped the forging timing really finely. It's just that you've added an additional hilt to your sword.
"An additional hilt?" Su Zimo froze for a moment, confused.
The disheveled old man asked, "Do you know why most of the flying swords cultivators use do not have a hilt?"
Su Zimo shook his head.
"A flying sword is the most common Dharma treasure for swords in the cultivation world. Its advantage is that its fast, agile, versatile and both ends are bladed. Unlike a normal sword, a flying sword does not have a hilt because the presence of it leads to greater air resistance and in turn, a lower speed and agility."
Suddenly, Su Zimo's eyes lit up.
In the past, he did demonic cultivation and was always engaging in melee combat with others. Now, he was less than a month into immortality cultivation and did not have much practice with swords yet.
At the end of the day, immortal and demonic cultivation were different. Cultivators do not go against others by wielding flying swords with their hands. Instead, they channeled their spirit qi into a stream of energy so as to control flying swords from afar.
During a fight, if a flying sword that struck the enemy has a hilt, the sword would not pass through their bodies.
Without a hilt, the flying sword would pierce their bodies with ease, allowing the cultivators to continue controlling it without being affected.
If the opponent had a body tempering technique which gave them an extremely robust physical body, a flying sword with a hilt may end up in their hands instead.
Without a hilt, the sword would be edged at every point and the opponent would not be able to catch it barehanded.
For a flying sword, a hilt was nothing more than a burden.
