“Ah? Isn’t forging a weapon just forging? It’s not like it’s some fitness competition… No need to go all out like this.”
Li Mo was utterly confused.
Elder Han He and Elder Zeng shook their heads slightly. After all, Little Mo was still young and naïve. If they didn’t teach him properly, what if he got tricked?
Elder Han He stroked the newly forged high-quality sword:
“At first, that’s true. You know how sword fighters can be—have a bit of a bad habit, liking to create things that look flashy and extravagant but are actually useless.”
“What kind of talk is that?!”
Elder Zeng objected vehemently.
Little Li Jianxian looked serious: “As the one and only Dugu’s Unique Sword, I was a hair’s breadth from being the Sword Hero, Hengyun Jianxian. I personally feel this statement from the elders is quite off.”
“…..”
Elder Han He sized up Li Mo’s impressively built figure.
That explosive physique glistened like treasure, with muscles radiating overwhelming vitality, and there was also…
Could you put the hammer down before saying something like that?
“In any case, since merging with the Tianshan Sword Manor, the rules for the weapon-forging competition have changed.”
“Craftsmen have been forging metal for years, so they inevitably have some strength in their bodies. The stronger the craftsman, the more powerful their physique.”
“Thus, in the weapon-forging competition, body strength has now become part of the evaluation criteria.”
“Before forging weapons, contestants must first showcase their physical form. Over time, this selection has become more detailed with more standards, like whether they have masculine energy, whether their muscles are coordinated, and if their lines are smooth and ample…”
“This has led to more and more craftsmen abandoning their skills and putting huge effort into training their bodies instead.”
“If that were all, it would be fine, but then a craftsman from the Huanmo Sect joined in. He hadn’t even forged a named weapon yet, but with his impressive physique, he still bagged the top prize.”
“He became famous overnight and even started secretly selling a kind of forbidden drug from the Xueliantang, one that seemed to transform a person entirely, making the following several weapon-forging competitions essentially meaningless.”
“Does the Sword Forge not care about this?”
Li Mo was momentarily speechless.
Isn’t this just a bodybuilding competition?!
Elder Zeng finally found his chance to interject: “Later, they strictly prohibited this. Before the competitions, there are rigorous inspections.”
“This forbidden drug is called Divine Strength Powder; its side effects are enormous. If used excessively, it can lead to physical collapse and even serious damage to the organs, causing premature aging.”
“Well, Little Mo, you absolutely must not get involved.” Elder Han He said seriously.
Li Mo shook his head vigorously: “No way.”
“I know, Little Mo, you’re not one to take shortcuts…”
“Mainly because even with those drugs, they wouldn’t perform better than I do.”
Li Mo quickly waved his hand: “Besides, there are side effects! You’d have to be nuts to take that!”
“……”
Elder Han He suddenly felt that his earlier emphasis was unnecessary.
One year, and he had perfected his bizarre martial arts.
He suddenly remembered why he believed Li Mo wouldn’t use drugs.
Those d*mn drugs aren’t that powerful!
“Ahem, but you still have to be careful. Don’t get tricked by the bad folks; the people from the Huanmo Sect are the most cunning and deceitful.”
“Sure thing, I’ll do my best.”
“By the way, such people have a notable trait that makes them easy to recognize; their heads are all…”
After a lengthy anti-deception education, Little Li finally got back to his forging lessons.
With his forging skills, he could create high-quality weapons, and if the materials were just right, even exquisite ones weren’t out of the question.
So his current small goal was to forge a named weapon.
Unfortunately, his body cultivation had reached its peak.
Even if he had the rarest treasures for refining, the improvement to his body strength would be minuscule.
As it was, he probably could only manifest a bit of the divine might of the heavens and earth.
Seeing the towering figure in the vision of divine intent, it still felt just out of reach…
“Even if I forged a divine-level martial arts technique, it probably wouldn’t be enough.”
“Not to mention, I don’t even have a divine skill.”
“And the collective strength from everyone is still insufficient to express the great path of divine forms. I wonder how Master Qin is handling things.”
Li Mo pounded the iron, his mind spiraling with thoughts.
……
Five days later.
The peaks of the Qingyuan Sect had shed their silver coats, welcoming the brilliant spring light.
“The Taiyin divine intent and Hundred Birds Phoenix formation are almost ready.”
“Today, I’ll head to the main peak to communicate regarding the fragments of the Bronze Divine Tree.”
“Ah, the Heavenly Luck Artifact, remembering when it was newly born, forged and smelted…”
In the Qiushui Pavilion’s boudoir, Ying Bing stood before the mirror, suddenly stunned.
Then, she gently raised her hand, brushing over her pale complexion, feeling that her delicate face was somewhat foreign.
How could she not have witnessed the awakening of the Bronze Divine Tree in her past life?
How could it be possible… to have seen it when it first emerged?
This thought…
…doesn’t belong to her!
However, when it first sprung up in her mind, it felt incredibly real.
Clearly, when she was in the Observation Realm during her past life, she never experienced this situation, or perhaps it occurred and…
She simply didn’t notice?
After a long silence and some contemplation, Ying Bing took a green dress out of her doll wardrobe, looking like the colors of rain in Jiangnan spilling onto the azure waves.
“Springtime in this is just right.”
Ying Bing softly mumbled, recalling the boy’s smiling words from yesterday.
That sense of incongruity and estrangement finally dissipated from her heart.
[Reminder: X hours until the next ranking.]
Ignoring the system prompt in front of her, she left the Qiushui Pavilion.
………
Half an hour later.
“Looks like I’m the only one having breakfast today.”
Under the banyan tree, Li Mo sat at a deserted table, suddenly feeling out of place.
His master seldom ate breakfast, to begin with.
Qin Yuzhi was currently out in the South Border attending to business for the Wanxiang Xianzong.
And Ying Bing didn’t know where she had scampered off to.
Suddenly, it had become a lonely Little Li; he could only eat his breakfast while taking out a notebook to record the status of collective strength across the towns in the South Border.
Now that Master Qin was back on the job assisting him, the management of collective strength had improved significantly.
They could even pinpoint individuals, although, for Li Mo, it wasn’t necessary.
“Winter’s gone, and the towns in the South Border aren’t lacking in supplies.”
“We, the Wanxiang Xianzong, are a legal sect, and we can’t intimidate the common people or engage in illegal activities.”
“So, how do we improve efficiency?”
Li Mo took a bite of the steamed ribs, feeling a bit troubled.
“Leave some for me!”
Qin Yuzhi’s figure suddenly emerged from a dreamy haze, snatching a rib with her chopsticks, chewing it loudly.
“Is everything going smoothly?”
At that time, Qin Yuzhi had promised Li Mo that with a little help from her, the collective strength output would improve markedly.
But, judging from the response from the Kongming Multicolor Tower…
Master Qin’s results weren’t very impressive.
“This rib is surprisingly tasty! Haven’t had anything like it since South Border.”
“Were you off on a vacation?”
“I couldn’t help but, things have changed too much over the past few thousand years! Learning from foxes about sending people dreams doesn’t seem to work well anymore… But I, as the dignified sect leader, running errands for you isn’t too shabby, is it?!”
Qin Yuzhi bit into a bun ferociously.
“Ugh, if it weren’t for how good this stuff is, and how it caught my stomach…”
“Wait a minute!”
Hearing this, a brilliant idea flashed in Little Li’s mind as he muttered to himself:
“To capture someone’s heart, you must first capture their stomach…”
“What are you mumbling about?”
“I have a plan!”
