168: Chapter 167 Spirit Weapons

Two months later.

On Red Fire Peak, inside the Immortal Cave.

Jiang Hanzhou sat cross-legged on the prayer mat in the Cultivation room and slowly opened his eyes.

Two beams of crimson-gold radiance shot out from his eyes, leaving faint scorch marks in the air.

He looked down at his hands. In his palms, a wisp of crimson-gold dual-colored flame quietly emerged. The edges of the flame shimmered with a faint golden sharpness, and with every flicker, the surrounding Void Realm warped slightly.

Two months.

Sixty full days.

Every day, from the third quarter of the Mao hour until noon, he would meditate on the seventeenth sword mark at Lijian Cliff. In the afternoon, he would enter the Earth Fire Cave to endure the tempering of the earth vein baleful fire, rain or shine, without interruption.

The Sword Intent within the seventeenth sword mark had been completely tamed by him. Although the golden light remained at one and a half percent, it was more solid and thicker than it had been two months ago, only a sliver of opportunity away from reaching two percent.

And the Bottleneck of the fifth level of the Li Huo Golden Body Art, "Blood Burning," had loosened significantly during these sixty days of arduous cultivation.

One-tenth of the Qi and blood within his body was now tinged with a faint golden hue.

He only needed one more step to actively ignite that golden Qi and blood, exchanging it for a brief surge in power.

But today, he could not continue his closed-door cultivation.

Because there was a task he had to do, which had been delayed for three full months.

The tasks that Outer Sect Disciples must complete every month.

He had originally entered Dragon Abyss Palace with a summoning token, first participating in the assessment, then being taken in as a Disciple by Master Xue Mu, then delayed by matters concerning the Dragon Slaying Cave Mansion, and then followed by these two full months of arduous cultivation.

Counting it up, he had not accepted any tasks for three months.

Although he was a Personal Disciple of Master Xue Mu, that was only in name; in terms of status, he was still an Outer Sect Disciple.

The rules for Outer Sect Disciples could not be broken.

Moreover, the resources he needed for his current Cultivation—Spirit Stones, Medicinal Pills, Incomplete Manuals—which of them did not require contribution points?

He needed contribution points.

A lot of contribution points.

Jiang Hanzhou stood up, adjusted his robes, and pushed the door open to leave.

Outside the door, Qing Zhu was sweeping fallen leaves with a broom. Seeing him come out, she hurriedly bowed: "Senior Brother Jiang."

"Hmm." Jiang Hanzhou nodded slightly. "I am going to the Spirit Weapon Hall, and then to the Duty Hall to accept a task. If Master asks, just say I will return in the evening."

Qing Zhu acknowledged.

Jiang Hanzhou walked down along the mountain path.

The morning on Red Fire Peak had thin mist like gauze and crisp bird calls.

There were more Disciples met along the way than usual; some were rushing to the task hall, some were talking in low voices in groups of three or five, and some were standing at the edge of the cliff with their hands behind their backs, breathing and Cultivating.

He did not stop walking, passing through that patch of crimson bamboo forest, walking along the winding stone steps, and half an hour later, arrived in front of a towering building.

Spirit Weapon Hall.

The forging hub of Dragon Abyss Palace.

This was a bluestone hall ten zhang high, with flying eaves and bracket sets, and layered buildings and pavilions. Hanging above the hall gate was a huge plaque, inscribed with three ancient, simple characters— "Spirit Weapon Hall".

Under the plaque, two stone lions three zhang high stood on the left and right, their mouths wide open, revealing sharp fangs, as if they would come alive at any moment to devour invading enemies.

Jiang Hanzhou stepped into the hall gate.

The interior of the hall was extremely spacious, a hundred zhang in circumference and about five zhang high. Dozens of fist-sized moonstones were embedded in the dome, illuminating the entire hall as if it were broad daylight.

The surrounding walls were covered with various weapons.

Sabers, swords, spears, halberds, axes, battle-axes, hooks, forks... each piece shimmered with a faint spiritual light, emitting a vague pressure.

That was the aura of a spirit weapon.

From deep within the hall came the "clinking" sound of hammering; that was the blacksmiths tempering weapons in the rear hall.

In the center of the hall stood a huge counter three zhang long. Behind the counter stood seven or eight Disciples dressed in gray robes, handling procedures for fellow Disciples who had come to exchange or forge weapons.

Jiang Hanzhou walked to the counter.

A gray-robed Disciple with a refined appearance stepped forward and bowed: "Senior Brother, are you here to exchange weapons or commission a forging?"

"Commission a forging," Jiang Hanzhou said. "I want to upgrade a thousand-forged weapon to a spirit weapon."

The gray-robed Disciple was slightly startled, his gaze sweeping over Jiang Hanzhou, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

Upgrading a thousand-forged weapon to a spirit weapon, while not rare, was certainly not common.

A weapon capable of reaching this stage must possess sufficient spirituality itself; otherwise, no matter how many Heaven And Earth Treasures were invested, it would just be a pile of scrap metal.

"Senior Brother, please wait a moment," the gray-robed Disciple said. "This matter requires the personal inspection of the Elder in charge."

He turned and left, and before long, he returned with a burly old man.

The old man was about sixty years old, with gray hair and beard. His arms were bare, revealing bronze-colored, sturdy muscles covered in fine scorch marks—the marks of dealing with furnace fires all year round.

His gaze was like a torch, sweeping over Jiang Hanzhou, and he immediately asked: "Where is the weapon?"

Jiang Hanzhou took out the tiger soul saber from his sumeru pouch and offered it with both hands.

The old man took it, his gaze falling on the saber body.

The dark blood-colored saber body shimmered with a faint, elusive golden luster. The gold was extremely faint but extremely pure, as if it were a sharpness naturally emanating from deep within the saber body.

The old man's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Good saber," he whispered, his rough fingers gently stroking the saber body, feeling the elusive vibration. "It has spirituality, and... it has been tainted by True Intent?"

Jiang Hanzhou felt a slight shiver in his heart, but his face remained calm: "Senior has a Wisdom Eye. This saber once sensed a Metal Sharpness sword mark with me under Lijian Cliff."

The old man nodded, not asking further.

He turned the tiger soul saber over and over for a long time, and finally looked up at Jiang Hanzhou:

"This saber has a good foundation; spirituality has already been born, and it is only one step away from being a spirit weapon. But this step requires investing sufficient Heaven And Earth Treasures, requires the blacksmith to repeatedly temper it with earth fire, and requires—time."

"How long?" Jiang Hanzhou asked.

"Ten days," the old man said. "Come back in ten days to collect the saber. If it succeeds, it will be a true spirit weapon. If it fails—" he paused, "then that is the fate of this saber."

Jiang Hanzhou was silent for a moment and nodded.

"How many Spirit Stones are needed?"

The old man pondered for a moment and said: "Your saber has a good foundation, which saved a lot of Materials. I don't need Spirit Stones; five hundred thousand taels in silver notes is enough."

Five hundred thousand taels.

Jiang Hanzhou breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

Nowadays, silver notes were worthless to him.

The several million taels he had obtained were still in his sumeru pouch, and besides purchasing ordinary Martial Skills he hadn't learned yet, they had no other use.

He took out a thick stack of silver notes from his sumeru pouch and handed them to the old man.

The old man took them, casually handed them to the gray-robed Disciple behind him, then took out a palm-sized jade token, carved a few lines of characters on it, and handed it to Jiang Hanzhou:

"With this jade token, collect the saber in ten days."

Jiang Hanzhou took the jade token and tucked it into his robe.

He took one last look at the tiger soul saber that the old man had taken away, and turned to leave the Spirit Weapon Hall.

Walking out of the hall, the sunlight happened to shine on him, warm and cozy.

He took a deep breath, strode forward, and walked towards the Duty Hall.