174: God-level Forging Manual

Shen Xiaochuan stood before the altar, his hand still pressed against the stone tablet. His palm felt a bit warm. Golden patterns lit up from the stone tablet, crawling across the surface like electric currents, and finally transformed into a translucent light screen before him—the Faith Mall had opened.

He glanced at the title: "General Trading Zone," slid his finger across the screen, and tapped into "Artisan Legacy." He wanted to solve the problem of having insufficient blacksmiths. Lolia teaching alone was too slow; he needed something that could quickly improve their skills. But as soon as he entered, the page refreshed three times, and the result was the same: there were too few good items, with only five records, three of which were from three days ago and marked as "Locked."

He opened the first item: [Great Master Rank Forging Experience Incomplete Manual], starting at 80 million faith points, with seventeen people already bidding, the highest reaching 240 million. The second item was even more expensive, [Flame Hammer Enchantment Guide], priced at 300 million, with a note saying "Only usable by Fire-type Awakened," meaning ordinary people couldn't even see the content.

Shen Xiaochuan frowned and continued to scroll down. The rest were basically F-Rank and E-Rank teaching scrolls with poor effects; even after learning them, one would only waste a few fewer pieces of iron. Such things weren't even qualified for training novices.

He exited this category and went to "Group Enhancement Items" and "Skill Legacy" to search for "forging," "smelting," and "metalworking." The results that popped up were either low-level experience books or items that required a special divinity to use. There wasn't a single truly useful item.

He felt a bit annoyed. He knew that all gods were currently fighting for industrial resources. Whoever built a complete production line first would be able to establish a firm foothold in the competition among the ten thousand races. And forging was the most fundamental link. Without enough top-tier blacksmiths, no matter how much ore he was given, it would be useless.

Just as he was thinking this, a soft sound rang in his ears, and the corner of his vision flashed. Someone had sent a Divine Thought communication.

He raised his hand and tapped to connect.

"Shen Xiaochuan, have you checked the national treasury permissions?" White Snow Princess's voice came through, calm but with a hint of urgency. "I just finished looking at the data; the items you want are not in great quantity."

"I haven't checked yet," he said. "I looked in the trading zone, and all the good stuff is locked; ordinary users can't get them at all."

"It's not a question of being ordinary or not," she paused. "Even on our side, there are only two forging auxiliary items in the strategic reserves."

Shen Xiaochuan's heart sank. "Which two?"

"One is the 'Ring of Meruel,' which can slightly increase forging success rates and Material utilization rates, but it cannot be given to others after binding. The other is the 'Intermediate Blacksmith Experience Manual,' a physical scroll that can be copied and taught, but it can only be learned up to B-Rank; it's useless beyond that."

He listened in silence for a few seconds. These two items were useful to an extent, but they couldn't solve the major problem. The ring would be fine for Lolia to wear, but it couldn't be used to train newcomers in batches. That manual could only train up to B-Rank, which wouldn't help with future development.

"Can you transfer these items over?" he asked, his voice holding a sliver of hope.

"They are already on the way," she said. "Sent via a secret passage, they will arrive at the Skydome City East Gate watchtower by noon tomorrow. Do you want to issue the receiving order now?"

"Yes, just send a confirmation code," he replied. "Thank you. It's not easy to be able to provide items at a time like this."

"Don't be so quick to thank me," her voice turned a bit colder. "You know, our entire civilization circle has a very thin foundation in terms of craft Legacy. Those established divine domains in the West have monopolized high-tier knowledge for hundreds of years. We are currently competing on resources and speed, but we can't compare to their decades of accumulation."

Shen Xiaochuan didn't speak. He knew this was a fact. The Huaxia faction had fast Awakenings and fierce expansion, but in terms of technology and cultural depth, they were indeed inferior to those old powers. Especially in an industry like forging, which relied on the accumulation of experience, they had always been suppressed.

After the communication disconnected, the light screen reappeared. He looked at those high-priced items in the trading zone, a surge of frustration building up inside him.

He couldn't afford them. The support wasn't enough. So what now?

He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, his gaze had changed.

He raised his hand and swiped a command on the interface—activate the SSS-Rank divine power exclusive channel.

The light screen flashed, the background changed from gray-white to deep purple, and golden runes appeared on the edges. A line of text popped up at the top: [faith points Exclusive Store · Only accessible to holders of "+1 Faith Point per Second"]

This was his true authority.

The mall that ordinary players saw was just the surface. This hidden store contained the real high-quality goods. However, the conditions for opening it were very strict; one must have an S-Rank or higher talent, and the growth of faith points must meet the standard.

The page finished loading, and the category bar expanded: Technology Blueprints, Summoning Scrolls, Divine Body Enhancement, Civilization Heritage... The last option was "Craft Legacy."

He tapped into it.

The page refreshed; the originally empty list was now full of forging-related manuals.

[Fine grade Forging Manual] — Price: 1.2 million faith points

[excellent grade Forging Manual] — Price: 9 million faith points

[Epic grade Forging Manual] — Price: 36 million faith points

[Legendary grade Forging Manual] — Price: 200 million faith points

[Divine-Grade Forging Manual] — Price: 1.08 billion faith points

The five manuals were lined up, their Ranks clear, and each had a description. The lowest, fine grade, could allow an ordinary person to master Advanced forging techniques within three months. And the Divine-Grade one read: "Can allow anyone with a foundation to become an ultimate forging Great Master proficient in the smelting of 99 types of rare metals and the design of a thousand types of weapons within one year."

Shen Xiaochuan stared at the final price, his finger hovering in mid-air.

1.08 billion.

What was his current balance? At the end of the last chapter, it was over 40 million. Adding today's income from the Thunder Crystal mine and agricultural trade, it was at most over 50 million. It wasn't even enough for the spare change.

But he had already started calculating.

If the Thunder Crystal cave operated on 24-hour shifts, production would double, and he could earn 12 million per day. Supply from the Star Spirit Forest was stable quarterly, and Qiao Yao brought in at least 40 million per month. Added to the city trade dividends, Believer sacrifices... he could save an average of about 8 million per day.

In other words, even if he didn't eat, drink, or spend a single cent, it would take more than a year to save up enough.

"A year..." he whispered, his eyes not leaving the screen.

He imagined himself standing in the center of a massive forging field. Thousands of workers raised their hammers simultaneously, the furnace fire illuminating the sky. They weren't using earthen kilns, but high-temperature furnaces powered by Thunder Crystals. What they forged were no longer ordinary blades and spears, but runic battle armor, weapons with energy conduits, and even flying metal shuttles.

Lolia was no longer the only one who understood the principles. Surrounded by a group of young people, she could independently design mechanical structures. Blueprints were spread out one by one: steam engine, gears, drive shafts... a complete industrial chain was forming.

He also thought that with these people, the next step would be to manufacture standard parts, assemble heavy weapons, and build mobile fortresses. Further down the line, they could even smelt the casings for nuclear fusion devices themselves.

The vision was attractive, but the reality was difficult.

He looked down at his balance: 50,832,600 faith points.

He was short by 1 billion.

He didn't close the page or exit; he just stood there, staring at the [Divine-Grade Forging Manual] entry. The purple light shone on his face, his gaze very calm.

He knew he couldn't afford it now.

But he also knew that this thing really existed. As long as he had enough faith points, he could buy it.

Then there was still hope.

He just needed to make money faster, grab resources more ruthlessly, and spend money more frugally. He couldn't be like before, spending millions on low-efficiency scrolls to cope with the present. Every cent had to be planned for the future.

He raised his hand and added the [Divine-Grade Forging Manual] to his favorites. A prompt popped up beside it: "This item has been added to the wishlist; current balance is insufficient, cannot purchase."

He also conveniently tapped on the few manuals below, adding the Legendary and Epic grades as well. Although even the Epic grade was expensive now, it at least let him know that there was a path for upgrading. Taking it step by step was better than having nothing at all.

Just as he was about to exit, the corner of his eye caught a small message in the corner: [Limited-time Event Preview: "Civilization Heritage Auction" opens in seven days; lost craft classics may appear]

He noted the time.

Then he closed the mall and withdrew his hand. The light on the altar slowly dimmed, and the surroundings went quiet.

The night wind blew in, carrying the scent of electricity from the Thunder Stone floating island. He stood still, his fingers touching the copper gear pendant in his pocket.

In the distance, the sound of hammers from the workshop was still ringing, one after another, as if unwilling to stop.

He knew that just throwing money at it wouldn't work, and just waiting wouldn't work either.

But he also knew that as long as this path existed, he would definitely be able to walk it.

He turned around, preparing to leave the altar.

Just at this moment, the mall interface suddenly popped up a prompt:

[User detected continuously browsing high-tier craft items; switch to "Low-cost Alternative Recommendation" mode?]