98: Chapter 98 The Heavy Iron Cudgel, the Beast Tide Rises

The two of them arrived at Chijin Hall together.

As they stepped into the Master's private forging courtyard, a wave of scorching heat surged out from within.

The furnace in the center of the courtyard was burning vigorously at that moment.

Standing beside the furnace was another person—it was Second Uncle.

“Master, Xiao Ye.” Second Uncle turned around and greeted them.

“Second Uncle, what are you two...” Lin Ye was a bit confused.

“You've come at the perfect time; we're down to the final step.” Second Uncle said as he stepped aside.

Lin Ye's eyes narrowed. In the furnace behind Second Uncle, he could vaguely see a staff as thick as a bowl's rim.

Under the scorching of the furnace fire, the surface of the staff shimmered with a layer of dark gold luster.

It sat quietly in the center of the flames, yet it emitted an indescribable Aura, like a dormant beast that looked as if it would choose someone to devour in the next second!

The Master spoke up at this point: “Didn't your previous refined iron staff break? Considering the battle is imminent, how can you go without a handy weapon?

So, your Second Uncle and I teamed up to forge this black iron heavy staff.

Unfortunately, time was too tight, and it barely reached rare-grade, but it should be enough for you to use for a while.”

Hearing this, Lin Ye's spirit was bolstered.

A rare-grade weapon!

Although the Moyuan was also a rare-grade weapon, and its quality was certainly higher than the black iron heavy staff before him,

the significance represented by the two was completely different!

Saber techniques were not Lin Ye's primary focus; what he was truly skilled at, in the end, was staff techniques.

Now that he had a rare-grade long staff as a weapon, his combat power would increase by at least thirty percent!

“Alright! The tempering is complete. Try it out and see if it's handy.” Second Uncle's words interrupted Lin Ye's thoughts.

Lin Ye snapped out of it. Without him noticing, the previously vigorous furnace fire had shrunk to a small flame, and a seven-foot-long pitch-black staff was fully revealed.

Lin Ye stepped forward slowly and reached out his right hand to grasp it.

The moment it touched his hand, he could still feel the scalding heat constantly radiating from the staff's body.

However, with Lin Ye's current Physical Body, this temperature wasn't enough to burn him; it was just a bit of a scorching sensation at most.

As his fingers tightened slightly, the patterns on the staff's body fit perfectly into his palm lines, as if it were custom-made for him.

“Up!”

He lifted his right arm, trying to pull it out.

However, Lin Ye underestimated the weight of this staff, and his body was actually pulled forward into a stumble.

“Heh! I don't believe it. Get up for me!”

Lin Ye learned his lesson this time, grasping it with both hands and then heaving it upward fiercely.

“Buzzing—”

With a hum, the staff rose from the ground, the resulting wind blowing so hard that the furnace fire flickered three times.

Thud!!

The staff slammed onto the ground, and the floor shook. A pit was smashed into the bluestone slab, with cracks extending several feet outward from the edge of the pit.

Seeing this, the Master's brow twitched, and a trace of heartache appeared on his face.

This spendthrift kid, he smashed my high-quality bluestone floor.

Lin Ye naturally didn't know what his Grandmaster was thinking; he was currently examining the staff in his hand with a face full of excitement.

“It's more than three times heavier than the previous refined iron staff.”

“Two thousand six hundred catties.” The Master walked over, his tone indifferent.

“With your current physique, you should just be able to handle it.”

“As for the characteristic, try pouring your Internal Qi into it.”

“Okay.”

Lin Ye nodded.

Taking a deep breath, Internal Qi surged from his Dantian and flowed into the staff along his arm.

The staff trembled violently and emitted a low hum, like a beast being awakened.

The patterns on the staff also gradually lit up, turning from dark gold to scarlet gold, and finally to bright gold, like fire snakes slithering along the staff's body.

“It got heavier!”

Lin Ye tried to lift it; the weight had at least doubled.

This was somewhat incredible.

“Correct, this is the characteristic of the black iron heavy staff.

Once activated, its weight will double directly.

However, there is a flaw: if used frequently, it will affect the staff's own structural integrity.

Therefore, until you can fully control it, it's best not to activate it lightly.”

The Master explained at the right moment.

“So that's how it is.”

Lin Ye understood immediately.

Although it sounded a bit like the Ruyi characteristic of the ruyi jingu bang, there was a fundamental difference between the two.

The weight change of the black iron heavy staff was, to put it plainly, an influence on the gravity field around the staff through Internal Qi enhancement.

Whereas the Ruyi characteristic changed the mass of the staff itself, which was a change at the material level.

“A staff over five thousand catties... I wonder how it feels to swing it.”

Acting on his thought, Lin Ye immediately grasped the staff with both hands and began to swing it wildly in the center of the courtyard in front of the two men.

There were no complex Moves, just the most basic thrusting, sweeping, picking, and smashing.

The staff cut through the air, instantly emitting a terrifying shriek, and a gale immediately blew through the courtyard.

“Stop, stop!” The Master and Second Uncle were blown back repeatedly.

“If you want to swing it, go swing it outside. My little courtyard can't take your tossing around.”

Lin Ye quickly retracted the staff and propped the black iron heavy staff against the ground. The tail of the staff hit the ground, creating another pit.

“Thank you, Grandmaster. Thank you, Second Uncle. I still have to go to the city wall to resist the beast tide, so I won't stay any longer.”

Looking at the Master and Second Uncle, Lin Ye gave a deep bow.

Second Uncle waved his hand: “Go on, be careful.”

Lin Ye nodded, shouldered the black iron heavy staff, and walked out.

By the time Lin Ye reached the city wall with the black iron heavy staff on his shoulder, the battle had already begun.

At this moment, the city wall was crowded with people. Shouts, curses, and the booming sounds of rolling logs and stones hitting the ground were intertwined, making the scene look incredibly chaotic.

This was unavoidable.

Most of the people here were from the Black Stone Gang; only a few hundred were regular troops composed of Yamen Runners and soldiers. Naturally, there was no talk of strict discipline.

Leaping onto the city wall in a few steps, the sight before him made his breath hitch.

At this moment, the originally endless wilderness outside the town had been swallowed by an endless beast tide.

Wild boars, gray wolves, black bears, tigers, and leopards—large and small, tall and short—were packed densely, almost as far as the eye could see.

The ground vibrated wildly as it was trampled by the beast groups, accompanied by the screams of countless beasts.

The scale of the beast tide was far beyond imagination, like a tsunami sweeping through everything, giving people a sense of the deepest despair.

One could see that the ones charging at the front of the beast tide were a group of wild boars.

The size of these wild boars was a circle larger than ordinary ones, and the momentum of their collective charge was quite frightening.

As the thickest-skinned race among beasts, wild boars were like the heavy infantry among humans, possessing unparalleled impact, making them perfect for use as a vanguard.

Clearly, the Strange Beast King behind the beast tide was also well-versed in the way of unit coordination.

Fortunately, trenches had been dug outside the town in advance. Although they lost their effectiveness after burying only a few hundred wild boars, they at least broke the momentum of their charge.

“Lord Lin! You've finally arrived!” At this moment, Mayor Wang also noticed Lin Ye and hurried over.

“Oh, right, Head Catcher Zhao is here too, over there.”

“Head Catcher Zhao?”

Lin Ye looked confused and followed the direction of Mayor Wang's finger, only to see Zhao Shanhe standing by the city wall, continuously drawing his bow and shooting arrows at the beast group below.

That's right, this man used to be the Head Catcher of Black Stone Town.

With Zhao Shanhe's personality, he would definitely be the first to step up when encountering a beast tide.

“Captain.” Lin Ye came up behind Zhao Shanhe.

Zhao Shanhe turned his head, his expression very grave: “You're here. The situation is not optimistic.”

“Here!”

Lin Ye unfastened the moyuan blade from his waist and handed it to Zhao Shanhe.

“Captain, returning it to its original owner.”

Zhao Shanhe was stunned for a moment and didn't take it.

“Since I gave it to you, how can I take it back?”

Lin Ye shook his head, forced the blade into Zhao Shanhe's hand, and then patted the black iron heavy staff on his shoulder.

“This thing is still more comfortable to use. As for Moyuan, you should keep it for yourself so you can kill a few more mutated beasts.”

Looking at the Moyuan in his hand, Zhao Shanhe fell silent.

Clang!

He drew the blade from its sheath. The blade flashed in the sunlight, its edge blindingly bright.

“Good!”

Returning the blade to its sheath, Zhao Shanhe nodded seriously.

Just then, a sky-shaking roar suddenly came from the distance, sounding like a tiger's roar yet also like a Dragon's cry.

Immediately following that, the beast group began to accelerate frantically.