Published at 10th of October 2024 8:26 am

Chapter 858: Vanguard Regiment (2)

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The youth brought the two into the building. It was very spacious inside, with numerous independent smithing rooms. Before long, they reached the innermost hall. The hall was massive. An old man with white hair was observing the weaponsmithing process of a middle-aged man with several youngsters.

When the old man sensed the newcomers, he looked over and nodded before asking doubtfully, "Is the battle over? Are you here to repair your weapons? Feel free to hand over all weapons below the high profound grade. As for high profound weapons, you need to accept that there is a risk of failure."

The old man was only a high profound weaponsmith. Most people at this level were also at the Cloudbreach Realm. Generally, only Cloudbreaches would use high profound weapons. That was enough for them.

As for peak profound weapons, most of the people using them were early or middle Mountainseas. High-stage Mountainseas would opt to use earth weapons if they could afford it. Most Sunmoons would use middle or even high earth weapons.

Before Hong Du could say anything, the youth said, "Teacher, Deputy General Hong said that Deputy General Cao invited a pseudo earth weaponsmith over to help with weapon repairs. He's Cui Lang of Great Ming."

"Cui Lang?"

"Yes. The same Cui Lang who is related to Great Tang's Cheng Family. Do you remember him?"

"Ohh..."

Finally, the old man remembered. Su Yu's face sank as he glanced at the youth. Wrong choice, brat. That fellow would come to regret this later.

Su Yu couldn't be bothered to waste his time saying anything. When he saw that the middle-aged man was almost done weaponsmithing, he stepped forth and turned on a different furnace.

The other weaponsmiths realized that he was going to forge a weapon. None of them said anything. Evidently, this newcomer was going to showcase his skills.

At times, things were very straightforward between weaponsmiths. As long as one had the ability, there was no need to be overly humble. Of course, the premise for that was the presence of actual ability. After all, that was the most important thing for a weaponsmith.

Su Yu took out some materials, materialized a clump of flame, and instantly melted the materials. Just that one move was enough to cause the old man's expression to change.

What powerful fire. That was a fourth-tier character! The essence of the materials was easily extracted. Su Yu continued working. In the blink of an eye, steam covered his surroundings. With a golden flash, the mold of a sword was created. As this was only a mold, there was no golden stripe on it.

The old man's eyes lit up right after seeing that move. He sent a move transmission to the others, "Everyone, come and observe him. Little Wang, pay close attention. This is truly someone at the level of a grandmaster."

Meanwhile, the youth had a look of shock. A mold had been created so easily? Was this guy really a pseudo earth weaponsmith already?

Su Yu ignored all of them as he continued his work. After his many discussions with other weaponsmiths, his experience helping Old Zhao with the embryonic heaven weapon, and his success at forging a cultural weapon with seventy-two golden stripes, he had gained his own understanding of weaponsmithing.

And now, he was only going to forge a peak profound martial weapon. The difficulty wasn't high. Quenching the fire, refining the materials, and forging the mold... Then, a large hammer appeared and descended, creating a large rumble. It descended at an incomparably rapid speed.

"Is this...the weaponsmithing style of the Zhao Family?"

The old man was able to see the origin of the style. Hong Du didn't know what he was looking at, but he was aware of something else. He said, "Master Cui helped Master Zhao Li complete a weapon not long ago. Master Zhao Li was able to advance into the Mountainsea Realm and forge an embryonic heaven weapon. At the same time, he also advanced into a peak profound weaponsmith."

"I see." The old man exclaimed in admiration, "So Zhao Li succeeded. That is worthy of celebration."

He hurriedly said to the other weaponsmiths, "Pay close attention, everyone. Cui Lang...no, Fellow Daoist Cui might really be able to forge something with seventy-two golden stripes."

Only by forging something with seventy-two golden stripes would one be considered a pseudo earth weaponsmith. Previously, he was unsure. But now, he was starting to believe in Su Yu.

Meanwhile, Su Yu was completely ignoring them. He continued focusing on his forging. As for his weaponsmithing tricks, it wasn't like those people could learn everything he knew from a single observation. Furthermore, the core of his weaponsmithing skills was the Soul Expanding Hammer and his five elemental characters.

In fact, most weaponsmiths didn't mind having any observers unless they were forging an exceptionally powerful weapon. The hammer continued dropping rapidly and ferociously. The fire raged in the furnace.

Su Yu worked at a rapid pace. Eventually, the first golden stripe appeared. A short while later, two golden stripes appeared. He was able to form one golden stripe in about five minutes.

In one hour, twelve golden stripes were formed. He maintained the same speed the entire time, and the strength behind his hammer strikes stayed constant as well. At this point, even Hong Du was able to see just how durable and tenacious Su Yu's willpower was.

The sword mold reduced in size, but it also became more and more polished. Unknowingly, more people had arrived in the room. All of them observed silently without saying anything.

Two hours, three hours...

Boom!

The weapon reached the profound grade with thirty-seven golden stripes. In three hours, a profound weapon had been produced. But Su Yu was not stopping yet. He added more materials, each move of his as smooth as flowing water. He had learned from the Hundred Dao Pagoda and Zhao Li, and both teachings were the best of the best in the Human Realm.

A few hours passed. With a loud rumble, the sword suddenly unleashed sharp sword qi. The youths in the room were all forced to retreat after getting cut by the sharp sword qi.

"Sixty-four golden stripes!"

The old man exclaimed in admiration. This weapon had reached peak profound grade. This young man had forged something like that so easily. And the entire process had been extremely smooth.

This was a level above his. His current limit was sixty-three golden stripes. Moreover, he needed to spend a very long time to forge something like that. Meanwhile, the young man before him was able to do so without much trouble.

The golden stripes continued increasing in number. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead, but they instantly evaporated due to the heat from the furnace. The hammer was striking down in a unique rhythm, and the banging sounds started spreading further and further away.

The fire raged violently.

Sixty-five golden stripes, sixty-six golden stripes...

At this point, night had arrived.

After a while, Su Yu added even more materials. And finally, when the seventy-second golden stripe was on the verge of forming, Su Yu frowned. The newest golden stripe was slightly warped.

With a soft roar, he slammed his hammer down. With that hammer strike, the forming golden stripe actually started fading away.

"Reforging!"

The old man shook. Reforging a psuedo earth weapon? Was Cui Lang capable of that? This was not something everyone could do. In fact, there were some earth weaponsmiths out there who were still incapable of this.

Right as that thought crossed his mind, the seventy-second golden stripe faded completely with a loud rumble. But at that moment, Su Yu stopped and shook his head, "I can't completely reforge the whole thing. How unfortunate. The seventy-second golden stripe is not good enough. I am not going to forge a problematic peak profound weapon. Whatever. I'll stop at seventy-one stripes."

Then, his metal character activated. With a hum, an incomparably sharp sword qi erupted from the newly completed sword.

The old man sighed with admiration, "Incredible. Fellow Daoist Cui's weaponsmithing skills have reached an extremely high level. You can probably complete a pseudo earth weapon with seventy-two golden stripes easily. Most pseudo earth weaponsmiths wouldn't reduce their golden stripes from seventy-two to seventy-one even if it was an imperfect product. Have you perhaps advanced into the earth grade, Fellow Daoist Cui?"

This feat would be too difficult for someone below the earth grade.

Su Yu shook his head, "I have yet to try forging an earth weapon. I have been too busy recently. Also, such an attempt is very time-consuming and eye-catching. I won't be trying anytime soon. But I believe I can succeed if I do make an attempt. Then again, I would probably end up creating a garbage earth weapon. We'll see."

Those words were greatly hurtful to the other weaponsmiths in the room.

Right that moment, the Sunmoon in black armor clapped and praised, "Spectacular. Master Cui, you have not disappointed me. An earth weaponsmith at the Cloudbreach Realm. You're probably the first in history. I don't know the dao of weaponsmithing well, but from how smooth the process was, I believe you're definitely as good as Old Zhang"

Old Zhang was the previous earth weaponsmith of the Vanguard Regiment.

Deputy General Cao, who was the Sunmoon clad in black, said, "I saw Old Zhang forging weapons a few times before. In my opinion, Master Cui has surpassed him in both speed and skills. Cui Lang, on behalf of the Vanguard Regiment, I am officially inviting you to join us. Please name your terms."

Su Yu rolled his eyes and said, "No terms. I'll leave after three days. Fine, I'll be generous and count tomorrow as the first day. I won't stay here. Do you think I have so much free time? Also, this place is too dangerous. You guys even got a Sunmoon earth weaponsmith dead. You guys don't care about the lives of your weaponsmiths."

The deputy general in black sank into silence for a bit before nodding, "Fine. I also agree that we're at fault for Old Zhang's death. We will have to trouble you for the coming three days, Master Zhang. You don't need to work on anything below the peak profound grade. We need you to focus on peak profound and earth weapons."

He paused for a short moment and continued, "My spear is a middle earth weapon. Can you repair it as well?"

He did not try to force Cui Lang to stay. That was not an option. After all, if a weaponsmith was angered, they could leave some hidden triggers in the weapon that might be fatal. This was better than nothing. Three days were enough to get some of their weapons repaired.

Su Yu frowned and said, "That won't be easy unless I really advance into the earth grade. Otherwise, success is very unlikely. But I can try repairing early earth weapons."

"That is enough." Deputy General Cao turned to leave. While walking away, his voice rang out, "Hong Du, show Master Cui his living quarters. Let him take a good rest. Be sure to protect him well. Tomorrow, Master Cui will start repairing our weapons. But tell everyone to not bother coming with weapons below the peak profound grade."

"Yes!"

Meanwhile, Su Yu appeared completely indifferent toward Deputy General Cao. That fellow had been wearing a helmet the entire time, so he didn't even know what that fellow looked like.

In any case, he would only stay a few days here. He could even find a chance to meet his Teacher Liu.

The old man nearby sighed regretfully and asked, "Fellow Daoist Cui, are you not going to consider staying?"

Su Yu shook his head, "Nope. It's too dangerous to work here."

"Sigh." The old man nodded. He looked at the departing Deputy General Cao and said, "Yes, this place is dangerous. But...forget it. Fellow Daoist Cui, please rest well. You will get busy starting tomorrow. I can help with peak profound weapons, but we will be relying on you for the more troublesome cases."

Su Yu looked at the old man. Noticing the doubt in Su Yu's eyes, the old man contemplated for a bit before explaining, "Perhaps in your eyes, everyone here is a criminal. They all deserve death. Thus, you don't care about helping them. But despite their crimes, these people are now fighting for humanity. I am not capable of helping them with anything else, but I am still capable of repairing and improving their weapons."

Su Yu said nothing and started walking away.

Perhaps. Everyone had their own pursuits. At his current stage, this was something he couldn't understand.

Suddenly, the youth called out, "Master Cui, I apologize for what I said earlier. Are you willing to give us some guidance on weaponsmithing?"

"Not interested."

The youth had a look of regret. When Su Yu was far away, he gloomily said, "Holy shit. So he's really a pseudo earth weaponsmith now. Teacher, how did he improve so quickly? Can you really grow that much from sleeping around? Teacher, you told me to stay away from women. Are you sure about that? Perhaps I can try sleeping around as well..."

"..."

The old man was left completely speechless. Screw this brat! The fuck was he thinking?

But when he thought of "Cui Lang" again, he stroked his beard pensively. Was it possible that the flame in every weaponsmith was too strong and needed to be balanced by interactions with the fairer sex?

That might be the case. Should he...give it a try? The old man blanked out in confusion. Should he try it first? After verifying that it worked, he could then allow his students to try it as well.

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