Appearance of Allforge

'Every weapon that can be created, every weapon that can be destroyed; every weapon that can be wielded, every weapon that can be defeated- they all stem from Allforge.'

'It is a Paramount Dao, directly under the Grand Dao in the hierarchical sense. One of the very first, ever since the One Dimension. For Little Zhiyuan to have called forth Allforge ...it must mean that her Dao is closely linked to the Allforge Dao!'

Hadur was having difficulty with his own thoughts. If it were not due to the fact that he was already sat on the floor, he might have fainted.

'How can it be? Which mighty sovereign has not searched desperately for Allforge- such a person does not exist. In all the Mythical Realm- no- in all voids of every multiverse, Allforge has surely been sought after with every ounce of effort possible.'

'Just who is Ye Zhiyuan? Where did she come from, and who in the multiverse is her master?'

Ye Zhiyuan suddenly began to levitate, causing Hadur to squeal and scramble a bit further away. Having come to something of an understanding, he was now terrified of Ye Zhiyuan. Every move she made, every shallow breath she took, sent him closer and closer to insanity.

While levitating, Ye Zhiyuan overturned her palm and, heeding her wordless command, the hammer turned the ore over. Then, it hammered the ore, turned it over again, and hammered it some more.

She waved her hand, and the blue fire morphed into gold flames to heat it up, then it continued hammering.

After that, she flicked her finger and the hammer sent its blazing limbs to pick the ore up. Now that it was being given direct orders, it did not say a word.

"Hadur," sounding lost and distant, cold and calm, Ye Zhiyuan called out to Hadur.

"Little Zhiyuan- ah, Miss Zhiyuan? What is it?"

"I feel like ...I can do it now..."

This time, without prompting, Ye Zhiyuan caused the hammer to dip the metal into the ice. As the fiery hands went into the water and ice, they lost all color and became transparent. Even so, the form of the flame remained, flickering under the water and ice without heat.

The metal was withdrawn, and that was when Ye Zhiyuan moved like a girl possessed, flashing across the play set and taking the metal from the hammer.

There was a grindstone nearby, running with a wheel and belt, powered by coal and fire. With her eyes closed, Ye Zhiyuan immersed herself in her inner feelings and brought the metal to the grindstone.

Hadur watched with interest, noting that, though Ye Zhiyuan was still very much a beginner, she seemed ridiculously well-informed. It was as if she had studied and memorized the entire process beforehand, and was simply acting out what she had learned.

Considering that she was in contact with the Allforge Dao, this would make a bit of sense. However, Hadur was not entirely sure of this.

By his understanding, Allforge was naught but an acting force. When universal powers enacted Creation or Destruction, Allforge was a lingering presence. If one decided to craft something as simple as a broom, Allforge was present to make it possible.

So then, how was Zhiyuan able to acquire such experience. Perhaps his knowledge of Allforge was simply lacking.

After all, enlightenment of Allforge had been sought after for countless eons and never found. There was no way for anyone to be sure exactly what Allforge was.

Anyone but Ye Zhiyuan.

She was in the process of the grinding the metal, turning it here and there, holding it up and lowering it. Every bit of the metal was worked into something more closely resembling a blade.

From there, she went over to a workbench and got a sharpening stone. With closed eyes and graceful composure, she slid the blade across it as the blazing hammer floated at her side.

With the passage of time, and with some tedious repitition, the sword was taking shape.

Then, when all was done, Ye Zhiyuan held a her shortsword in hand. It was not yet given a hilt, but in her hands it seemed perfect already.

Her eyes opened, twinkling with starlight.

"A sword is an amalgamation of Ways, waiting to be unleashed. In the hands of one who recognizes each Way, it becomes what it was meant to be. Hadur, I thank you for sharing your knowledge."

Hadur nodded frantically, "Any time, Miss Zhiyuan, any time."

Looking at the unfinished weapon, Ye Zhiyuan smiled. Inside of her, somewhere within the confines of soul, endless currents were rushing outward. With her Will as a pillar, the Allforge Dao was manifesting itself in its purest form.

As long as she allowed herself to rely on nothing but her innermost feelings, and remained firm in them, she would be able to interact with the Allforge Dao.

It was an amazing thing to experience, but Ye Zhiyuan was not overwhelmed. How could she be overwhelmed when she had spent a considerable amount of time in Logean Wuji's presence? It was incredibly difficult to do so.

"The Way of the Sword. The Way of Killing. The Way of Defending ...protecting..."

The hammer at her side descended, its blue flames raging brighter and hotter, but not turning gold. It suspended itself in the air just above her hand, and Ye Zhiyuan shut her eyes and reached into the fire.

She took hold of the handle, not suffering even the slightest discomfort.

Ye Zhiyuan walked over to the anvil, and placed the unfinished shortsword atop it. She raised the hammer, just a tad, and furrowed her brows.

What she was about to do took a considerable amount of willpower and focus.

In a gentle motion, she brought the hammer down onto the blade. The blue flames were extinguished and the hammer disintegrated, leaving nothing behind but dust.

Then, on the body of the shortsword, a beautiful mixture of colorful energies sprung to life. They enveloped the shortsword, bringing it spinning in the air. With each rotation of the blade, it would become harder to see as the energy thickened increasingly.

Beads of sweat dripped down her face as she opened her eyes, breathing a single word, "Create."

The energies swelled to an apex, then exploded in every direction, covering the area in thin multi-colored mist.

Hadur bore witness to a majestic and divine-looking shortsword, literally belching out spiritual energy. In his eyes, Ye Zhiyuan had turned a regular mundane and unfinished item into a spirit weapon like no other.

The hilt and handle were smooth and polished, while the copper of the blade seemed more durable and rich, inspiring awe.

At the tip, the sword's own energy gathered as if on instinct, ready at any moment to be wielded.

'Transfiguration? Allforge makes such a thing possible? Remarkable!'

Ye Zhiyuan took the sword while also adjusting to the wave of fatigue she felt wash over her. A sprite of blue flame appeared and hastened to her back, pushing her forward in order to prevent her from falling back.

Once she regained her wits and could stand on her own, it went to her side and she smiled at it, "Is that you, Hammer?"

The sprite jumped around in the air, giving her an answer, "Yes Mistress. I, Hammer Hammeringwel III, shall henceforth remain at your beck and call. I am the Envoy, and will provide you with any aid necessary."

Ye Zhiyuan looked to the shortsword in her hand and was slightly overcome with pride. She still did not understand what that feeling inside of her was, nor how it was able to elevate her knowledge in an instant.

Unfortunately, she was too overwhelmed at the moment to grab hold of that knowledge. As quickly as it came to her was as quickly as quickly as it left, and she could remember nothing.

Seeing Hadur watching her, hesitant to approach or speak, Ye Zhiyuan chuckled and waved at him.

"How did I do?"

Before Hadur could properly process the question, the blue sprite appeared. A moment ago, it was nothing but a wisp of blue fire, but now it had a more physical form. There were even tiny arms and legs on it, and it seemed to also be growing a head.

"You did amazingly well, Mistress. Your will is sufficient to reverse the dormancy for quite some time, so you'll definitely rise far faster than your peers!"

Hadur agreed by nodding his head and clasping his hands before him, "That's right, that's right!"

"You know about the others, Hammer?" Ye Zhiyuan asked the sprite, who leapt about again and said, "Sure do, Mistress! The Allforge has been with you for a very long time, you know. Even if we can't manifest outside without you willing us to, that doesn't mean we couldn't see the outside."

Ye Zhiyuan nodded, understanding but having more questions.

"Miss Zhiyuan?"

Hadur stepped forward, more humble than anything.

"Miss? Why are you acting that way, Hadur?"

Hadur froze and laughed nervously, then cleared his throat and stroked his beard.

"Forgive me, but you are not at all what you appear. You possess the Allforge Dao itself, Miss Zhiyuan. Do you understand what that means?"

Ye Zhiyuan shook her head, and so Hadur decided to explain.

"The shortsword in your hand. It was a completely mundane object a short while ago, but now it has become a Seventh Grade Spirit Weapon. That is an unbelievable feat, especially for a beginner such as yourself."

"So, Allforge can do things like that then..."

"That is barely a fraction of what Allforge does."

Hadur looked around for a bit, then found a short copper tree with thin and weak branches. He grabbed one of those branches, broke it off of the tree, then brought it to Ye Zhiyuan.

"With the Allforge Dao at your command, you could very easily turn this into a Ninth Grade Divine Weapon at least."

Ye Zhiyuan saw the branch and, when she heard Hadur's words, she gaped. Sure, being in Hadur"s hand it was huge, but it was still just a branch.

A d-divine weapon," she stuttered, "but is that even possible?"

"It is, and even that might not be a fair judgement. By my standards, such a branch can truly be turned into a Ninth Grade Divine Weapon, which is the lowest grade. I fear that my estimation is indeed far too low."

"It is," Hammer, the blue-fire sprite, chimed in with a spin.

Suddenly, Ye Zhiyuan felt the tattle stone call to her from within her spatial ring.

"Boing! Boing! It's time to return to the dorm, Ye Zhiyuan!"

The sunlight had never ceased, so Ye Zhiyuan had not been able to realize that a substantial amount of time had passed.

She quickly said her goodbyes to Hadur, who awkwardly bid her farewell, then teleported away with Hammer in tow.

Once he was sure she was gone, Hadur sighed. "How fortunate I am, to have witnessed this."

"Allforge... Allforge..."

He picked up the playset and started to make his way back, reminiscing in silence. Suddenly, the wind dared not move nor make a sound, then all of the Copper Forest fell deathly silent. All of nature was, in that moment, afraid of making a single sound.

"Remarkable, isn't it?"

Logean Wuji revealed himself to Hadur, and the elder fell to his knees, dropping the play set. After kowtowing a number of times, Hadur looked to Logean Wuji with tears in his eyes.

"By the Empress! Is it truly you, Young Master? Can it be you?"

Logean Wuji nodded, then stretched forth a hand, finally allowing the wind to move again. He used it to help the elder to stand again, then he flew up into the air, stopping when he was at Hadur's head-level.

"Young Master, I thought you'd left for the Omniverse eons ago, through the Primal Chaos wall. How is it that you're back? Does it have to do with Allforge and that girl?"

Logean Wuji shook his head, his ever-present smile fading somewhat.

"Hadur, I did break free of the Eternal Ring. I entered the Omniverse, where Source Laws abound, and found what I was looking for. As for Ye Zhiyuan, she is among the nine students that I have chosen from the realm of my birth."

Hadur had been struck with many mind-boggling statements at once, so he halted his steps as his breathing became erratic.

"You did-- So you mean to say-- Then that means the Empress' dream for you has finally been realized?"

Logean Wuji nodded; Hadur beamed, looking up to the sunny sky.

"Hadur."

"Yes, Young Master?"

"I have something for you, and a request from Mother."