590: Chapter 590 begins the process of cultivating talent; a weapon-refining team must be built.

Before leaving, Xu Ruyu pulled the Grand Elder aside and whispered a few instructions: "Grand Elder, when buying Materials, don't just focus on those shops from the famous righteous sects."

"There are also good things in the Loose Cultivator markets; if you're lucky, you can find top-tier items."

"Don't worry too much about the price. We aren't short on money now, but we shouldn't be suckers either."

"Bargain when you should, and raise the price when you must. As long as it's appropriate."

The Grand Elder nodded and boarded the spirit boat.

Xiao Nianyin sat at the bow of the spirit boat, not holding a book this time, her gaze fixed on the distance.

The Grand Elder walked over and sat quietly beside her, not daring to say much.

The spirit boat flew over mountains, rivers, and layers of clouds, the sound of the wind whistling in their ears.

After a long time, Xiao Nianyin suddenly spoke.

Her voice wasn't loud, as if she were talking to herself.

"That thing he drew... can it really be built?"

The Grand Elder was silent for a moment.

He knew Xiao Nianyin was talking about the tank, that iron lump the Sect Master had been drawing for several days.

He said, "When the Sect Master built the qi-breaking gun, no one believed it could be made either."

"The Taihao Clan Old Ancestor even said it was just scrap metal."

"And now? Zhou Daniu carries his around every day, and Li Ergou's Chuanyang Gun never misses a shot."

"Back when I was with the Taihu Clan, I saw with my own eyes the Sect Master blast Mo Feng away with a single shot from a cannon he built himself."

"A man like him never draws anything useless."

"If he says it can be built, it definitely can be built."

He sat down on the deck of the spirit boat, looking at the receding mountains, and added: "I'm just curious what the tank will look like when it starts running."

"That simpleton Zhou Daniu was saying just yesterday that he wants to sit on the tank and have a Spirit Beast pull him all over the mountains."

Xiao Nianyin didn't ask any more questions.

She just felt that the things inside that man's head were even more packed than the Hehuan Sect's warehouse.

She had seen his blueprints—a thick stack, every single page densely covered with lines and numbers.

She didn't understand those things, but she knew they were important—important enough to make the Hehuan Sect different.

Back at the Hehuan Sect, on the afternoon the spirit boat flew away, Xu Ruyu began selecting people from among the Disciples.

He needed those who understood Artifact Refining; a good foundation was enough, as he could teach what they didn't know.

Although Chen Ping had gone to make purchases, Xu Ruyu had already scouted several other people and called out a few names.

Several young men walked over. Some had studied Artifact Refining for a few years, while others were just apprentices, but they all had nimble fingers, quick wits, and weren't afraid of getting dirty or tired.

"From today on, you follow me. I'm going to lead you in building something new."

Xu Ruyu took the group to the Weaponry Workshop.

That Weaponry Workshop was on the back mountain of the Hehuan Sect. It was the place where the Hehuan Sect used to specialize in Artifact Refining, but it had been vacant for a long time, accumulating a thick layer of dust, and the furnace had gone completely cold.

Xu Ruyu had people clean it up, light the furnace fire, set out the tools, and stack the Materials neatly.

"For a long time to come, you will likely have to stay here."

"You will eat here, sleep here, and live here."

Xu Ruyu clapped his hands, drawing the attention of the dozen or so people: "Anyone who can't take it can leave now; I won't force you to stay."

"From now on, there's no fixed time for when we finish work each day."

"When you're done, you sleep; when you wake up, you get back to work. It will be dirty, tiring, tedious, and day-and-night. "

"Think it over before you answer."

No one left.

The dozen or so people stood straight, their eyes shining like stakes driven into the ground.

Xu Ruyu began their first lesson—what an Array Soul is.

In traditional Artifact Refining, the Formation is carved onto the surface of the Magical Artifact.

A Magical Artifact is carved with a set of Array Pattern, and once it's used, that's it. It has no growth, no spirituality, and will not evolve.

No matter how great its power, it is a dead object, a one-time consumable.

But what he wanted to build was not a Magical Artifact, but a weapon. The difference between a weapon and a Magical Artifact is that a Magical Artifact is dead, while a weapon is alive.

A weapon must have a Soul and the power to evolve.

This kind of spirituality that can evolve is the Array Soul.

Xu Ruyu picked up a piece of Mystic Iron blank and placed it on the table.

He used an engraving needle to draw Array Pattern on the blank, stroke by stroke, slowly but steadily, as if injecting life into a piece of stone.

The Array Pattern were not carved on the surface but into the interior; every stroke had to penetrate into the deepest part of the material.

After the Array Pattern were finished, he began to embed Spirit Stones.

They were not embedded on the surface but inside the material, locked in by the Array Pattern.

The Spirit Stone used was not a High-Grade Spirit Stone, but a Mid-Grade Spirit Stone.

After embedding the Spirit Stone, he began to input Taixu True Qi to activate the Array Pattern.

The Array Pattern lit up.

A silver-white light roamed over the iron blank like tiny rivers, flowing from the center to the edges and back again.

The light grew brighter and more intense until the entire iron blank was glowing as if it were burning.

Then the light gradually faded, leaving faint lines on the iron blank, like tree roots or a Bloodline.

But that power had not disappeared; it was hidden inside the iron blank, waiting to be awakened. It was an indescribable thing, as if the iron blank now had a heartbeat.

This was the embryonic form of an Array Soul. It wasn't carved on the surface but fused into the material, becoming one with it, inseparable.

The stronger the material, the stronger the Array Soul; the stronger the Array Soul, the stronger the weapon.

The weapon's owner would nourish it with spiritual power, and it would slowly grow from an embryonic form to maturity, and from maturity to Perfection.

It was not a dead object; it was a life.

Since Chen Ping was away, one of the young Disciples present named Wang Tie, who had studied Artifact Refining for eight years and was trained by Chen Ping, stepped forward.

He listened very seriously, his eyes wide and unblinking as he stared at the iron blank.

Only when the light of the iron blank had completely dissipated did he ask cautiously: "Sect Master, does that mean the weapons we build in the future will get stronger the more they are used? Just like raising a Spirit Beast? The longer it's used, the more spiritual it becomes and the greater its power?"

Xu Ruyu smiled and nodded.

"Correct. The longer you use it, the more it fits your hand. If the material is good, its power will even increase. It's not a consumable; it's your partner."

"If you are good to it, it will be loyal to you. If you nourish it with your heart, it will repay you with its heart."

Several Disciples began to whisper among themselves.

Wang Tie's eyes lit up, and Zhao Xiaogang beside him also gaped in surprise.

They had never seen anything like this.

In the Artifact Refining knowledge they had learned, a Magical Artifact was just a Magical Artifact; whatever it was like when it was refined was how it would stay, even after years of use.

Now the Sect Master was telling them that weapons could evolve, grow, and become stronger with use. This completely overturned their understanding, but they believed him.

Because the Sect Master had never lied to them.

In the days that followed, the lights in the Weaponry Workshop never went out, staying lit night after night.

During the day, Xu Ruyu led the Disciples in smelting Materials and forging components; at night, he taught them to carve Array Souls and tune Spiritual Artifacts.

The iron blanks glowed red-hot in the furnace and sparks flew as they were struck by forging hammers; the clanging sounds rang out from morning till night.

Array Pattern emerged stroke by stroke under the engraving needles, sometimes bright and sometimes dim, like living rivers. Some people got blood blisters on their hands but gritted their teeth and kept working.

Some were baked red by the furnace fire but refused to rest.

Some carved Array Pattern until their eyes grew blurry, but they just rubbed them and continued. Late at night, when they were too sleepy to keep their eyes open, they would lean against the wall for a quick nap and get back up before dawn.

Wang Tie no longer returned to his quarters, instead laying out a straw mat directly in the Weaponry Workshop; he slept when he was tired and worked when he woke up.

Zhao Xiaogang also moved his bedding over, saying it would save time wasted on going back and forth.

Xu Ruyu didn't return to the Ningyin Hall either, eating and living in the Weaponry Workshop.

He worked alongside them while guiding the Disciples.

He could see at a glance which material's smelting heat control was insufficient, which component's forging force was uneven, or which Array Pattern was carved with inconsistent depth.

When the Disciples made mistakes, he didn't scold them; he simply had them rework it. If once wasn't enough, then twice; if twice wasn't enough, then three times, until it met the standard.