33: Excellent weapons

Shen Xiaochuan pushed open the door to the command room, his robe gently lifted by the wind. The earth rammer had already started, the foundation pit was slowly being dug downwards, and dust was flying in the Southeast District.

He glanced at the time.

There were four hours and thirty-seven minutes left until the ranking list refreshed.

"Need to hurry." He said in a low voice.

Just as he was about to turn and leave, his communicator suddenly rang.

"God Shen, I am Zhou Mingrui, a wandering architect. I saw the recruitment order you posted."

"Speak."

"I can lead a team to build houses; Rank 3 buildings are no problem, but I need Material support."

"I have the Materials. How long does it take you to build one?"

"Two hours for the foundation, one hour for roofing, one hour to reinforce the interior; that is the standard procedure."

"I'll give you four hours to build three Rank 3 buildings. Complete the mission, and I will make you the Construction Director."

The other party was silent for two seconds.

"You aren't checking my Aptitude? Aren't you afraid I'll cut corners?"

"I don't look at the past, only the results. Can you start now?"

"Yes."

"Go to the Southeast District and coordinate with Chen Yan; the Materials are already prepared."

"Understood."

Shen Xiaochuan put away the communicator and turned to walk towards the Blacksmith Shop.

On the way, he suddenly remembered that Lolia had not come to report progress recently. The last time he saw her was three days ago; she was recording data in front of the furnace, her cuffs stained with ash.

Two guards were standing at the entrance of the Blacksmith Shop.

"Is Lolia inside?"

"Yes, she hasn't come out, and the furnace fire hasn't gone out."

He pushed the door open and entered.

A wave of heat rushed towards him.

Lolia stood in front of the forging table, her face covered in sweat, the clothes on her back already soaked through. She held a freshly forged blade in her hand, the blade glowing with a faint blue light.

"God Shen..."

Her voice trembled slightly. "I succeeded."

She handed the blade over.

The hilt was engraved with cloud patterns, and small electric sparks danced along the edge.

Shen Xiaochuan took the blade and swung it.

The air made a tearing sound.

System prompt: 【Detected excellent grade weapon, named "sky-rending blade", comes with skills: Lightning Paralysis (chance to trigger), Armor-Piercing Slash (ignores 30% defense), Agile Flash (increases swing speed by 15%)】

His eyes lit up.

"When did you make it?"

"I started the seventh attempt three hours ago. The first six attempts all failed; the Materials cracked. This time, I used the reinforcement talisman you gave me, combined with Intermediate Precision Iron Forging, and finally succeeded in making one."

"Just this one?"

"Currently, only this one. The Blacksmith Shop Rank is not high enough; it can produce at most one piece per day, and the success rate is less than 40%."

Shen Xiaochuan nodded.

He knew this day would come sooner or later.

He took a scroll from his backpack.

It had a golden edge and a red background, with the four characters "Building Upgrade" written on it.

This was the only upgrade scroll he had obtained after saving for half a year, originally planned for the expansion of the Main Hall. But now, he felt it was needed more here.

"Listen."

He said to Lolia, "From today on, the Blacksmith Shop will be directly managed by the temple. You are the Chief Artisan."

Lolia was stunned.

"I... did I hear that right?"

"No. You deserve this position."

He pressed the scroll onto the stone monument in the center of the Blacksmith Shop.

Boom!

Golden light shot into the sky.

The furnace fire suddenly grew vigorous, its color shifting from orange to gold. The roof slowly opened, a gear-shaped Formation rotated slowly, and three lines of text appeared in the air:

【Blacksmith Shop upgraded to Rank 3】

【Unlocked functions: Batch Refining, Quality Solidification, Enchantment Slots】

【Can produce 10 excellent grade weapons per day, failure rate reduced to 8%】

Lolia knelt on the ground.

"I am willing to pledge my loyalty and forge divine weapons for a lifetime!"

Shen Xiaochuan helped her up.

"Don't thank me. You were the one who made this blade."

He raised the "sky-rending blade", the blade reflecting the furnace fire.

"With this, the army's combat effectiveness will at least double. In the future, every warrior can be equipped with a lightning-type weapon."

"I will organize the apprentices immediately, reschedule the shifts, and work in three shifts without stopping."

"Good. For the first batch, make fifty, prioritizing equipment for the frontline troops."

"Are there enough Materials?"

"If not enough, trade for them. From that last wave of trading, I still have two thousand catties of meat untouched."

"Then... the Dwarves might proactively contact you if they hear about this. They have been looking for a stable forging point."

"Let them come and talk. If the conditions are right, we can cooperate."

Lolia wiped her face and ran towards the workbench.

"I'm modifying the blueprint now! Adding Enchantment Slots!"

Shen Xiaochuan stood still, watching the furnace fire burn.

Footsteps came from outside.

It was Zhou Mingrui.

"Report!"

He panted, "The team I brought has arrived, and the Materials have been counted. Should we start now?"

"Is it already late?"

"Not late. We can finish within four hours."

"Good. Remember, it's not just about finishing; the quality must also meet the standard. I will inspect it personally."

"Understood!"

Zhou Mingrui turned to leave, then stopped.

"God Shen, other gods wouldn't use people like this. They either exploit them or are guarded against them. You are different."

"I said, I look at the results."

"Then... if I really become the Construction Director, what do you want me to do?"

"Make every inch of land in Skydome City able to hold people and withstand attacks."

Zhou Mingrui smiled, nodded, and left.

Shen Xiaochuan walked out of the Blacksmith Shop.

The north wind began to rise.

He looked up at the sky.

The clouds were grayish-white, neither pitch black nor purple.

The evil-looking cloud clusters that Tang Keke mentioned had not appeared for now.

He touched the copper gear pendant on his cuff, his eyes softening. This was a gift from his parents.

When he was a child, he was particularly fascinated by things in the house that made noise; radios and alarm clocks were all taken apart by him, just to see what was hidden inside.

Seeing he liked it, his father brought back a discarded gear from the factory and sewed it onto his clothes, saying: "Child, this is the heart of machinery, it hides secrets."

In the Southeast District, a greenhouse chicken coop was being built, which could raise Red-Feather Chickens and produce nutritious eggs.

The Blacksmith Shop had been upgraded to Rank 3 and could now batch-produce excellent weapons.

The construction team had a new person in charge, so the four-hour goal was not empty talk.

He returned to the entrance of the Blacksmith Shop and saw Lolia leading two apprentices in installing a machine—an automatic quenching machine.

Beside it were ten Thunder Horn steel bars, obtained during the last mining of crystal cores.

"Use all of those steel bars." He said.

"Enough to make twenty basic blade blanks."

"What about adding Enchantment Slots?"

"Fifteen."

"Make all of them according to the 'sky-rending blade' standard."

"Yes!"

Shen Xiaochuan walked into the room and picked up the freshly forged "sky-rending blade".

The blade trembled slightly, as if it had life.

He walked to the map on the wall.

On the map, a yellow dot was marked in the north—golden spirit fruit Orchard, a Rank 3 field, currently controlled by the Japanese Gods.

In the previous chapter, he relied on trading to exchange for resources; in this chapter, he relied on technology to forge weapons.

In the next chapter, he would use the blade to take back the land.

He inserted the blade into the yellow dot position on the map.

The blade stood firmly.

"Once Zhou Mingrui finishes the three buildings, I will take people and set off."

Lolia heard him and looked up, asking: "Are you going to seize the field?"

"Not just the field. That is the key to reaching number one on the rankings."

"The warriors haven't all been re-equipped yet."

"Fifty is enough. The vanguard will use the 'sky-rending blade' to break through the defense head-on, and the follow-up troops will move in."

"The enemy has a Cherry Blossom Barrier."

"The lightning-type anti-magic Formation, you just researched it yesterday."

"I can try."

"Not try. It must succeed."

Lolia bit her lip.

"I will add another set of lightning-conducting patterns to ensure the first strike can tear through the barrier."

"How long?"

"Six hours."

"I'll give you four hours. I want to see the finished product before I set off."

"Okay!"

She turned and ran towards the workbench, grabbing a pen to start drawing.

Shen Xiaochuan stood still, his hand still resting on the hilt of the blade.

The blade on the map wobbled slightly.

The north wind blew into the Blacksmith Shop, brushing a lock of hair from his forehead.

He did not move.

In the distance, the earth rammer was still roaring.

In the Southeast District, the foundation of the first building had already taken shape.

Zhou Mingrui squatted by the pit, holding a ruler to measure the dimensions.

Lolia's apprentices ran out holding new blueprints, shouting: "Hurry! Find Thunder Pattern Stones! Needs to be pure!"

Shen Xiaochuan drew the "sky-rending blade" and held it horizontally in front of his chest.

The blade light illuminated his eyes.

No longer annoyed, nor stifled.

But bright as a torch.

He looked down at the Faith Mall.

+1 faith points per second, the numbers jumping steadily.

He knew it would soon become +3.

By then, he could exchange for more resources.

But now, he no longer relied on the mall to crush his opponents.

He had his own blade.

His own people.

His own rhythm.

He returned the blade to its sheath and hung it at his waist.

This was the first excellent weapon.

It was also the first battle blade that truly belonged to Skydome City.

He walked towards the door.

Sunlight spilled onto the ground.

His shadow stretched long.

He stopped his steps, turned back, and said to Lolia: "At this time tomorrow, I want to see fifty 'sky-rending blades' ready to go."

"It can be done."

"If you can't finish, I will remove you from your position."

"I'm not afraid of being removed. I'm afraid of not being able to make good blades."

Shen Xiaochuan nodded.

He turned and walked towards the Main Hall.

Halfway there, the communicator rang again.

It was Zhou Mingrui.

"God Shen, the first building has been topped off, and the structural inspection is qualified."

"Continue."

"The foundation of the second building is complete, and the steel reinforcement formwork is being poured."

"Maintain the speed."

"The third building... might be half an hour late. There was a problem with the material transport."

"As long as it's solved."

"One more thing."

"Speak."

"While we were constructing, we found something underground, looks like traces of an ancient Formation, not sure yet."