"Aaaaaaaaah!", Kai Huoshi grabbed his head, ssing up his hair as he looked at the sword that Wu Long placed on the desk of the smithy, "M-my masterpiece!!!"
"Masterpiece... is a slightly strong word~... don’t you think? I an~, it was no doubt a beautiful piece of work, I even praised you for it~", Wu Long spoke slightly apologetically with a face of soone who got a bit too carried away.
"Valley Master is too cruel!!! How could you do this to my beautiful baby?!", Kai Huoshi raised the sword with trembling hands, his eyes on the verge of tears.
"It’s not ruined though... it just returned to the sa state..."
"It’s not the sa..."
"...~a similar state to what it was before you first touched it", Wu Long scratched the back of his head.
Yes, this sword was the "Iron Leaf" sword that Wu Long once entrusted to Kai Huoshi to reforge after overexerting it with a high-level Bahshi Assassin Technique that fried and ruined its inner Spiritual Qi circuits.
He received it back as a brand new reforged sword that Kai Huoshi insisted on calling his masterpiece just days earlier, but the night before he tested a Lightning Blade technique he once underestimated in his previous life, and...
"Co on~, it’s not even that bad~"
"The new Spiritual Qi circuits are fried even worse than the old ones, so are so lted they’re completely blocked, the blade core is slightly damaged but intact, however the edges are ruined, not just the sharpening but the tempering of the material is a complete ss, the handle is lted and burnt, and... the blade is bent!", Kai Huoshi’s tone was monotone which only made Wu Long more uncomfortable, until he finally raised the sword to show it indeed had a slight bend.
"Hehehe, Valley Master really did a number on that one, eh?", Ci Han standing to the side chuckled, shaking his head.
"...", Wu Long was silent for a bit, and then shrugged his shoulders, "Well if you say it like tha~t... it does sound kind of bad..."
"That’s because it is bad!"
"Alright, alright, calm down. It was my fault for using an untested technique I wasn’t familiar with to begin with, and in a combat situation where I couldn’t stop midway. Plus I didn’t consider material compatibility with the Lightning Attribute... in short I used it for purposes it wasn’t made for", Wu Long made pacifying motions to try and soothe the craftsman’s grief over the ruined sword, "But think of it this way, this is a sword you reforged, learning in the process. Not a sword you forged from scratch. If you reforge it again, you might learn sothing more for when the ti cos for you to finally forge a true masterpiece of your own"
"Hehehe, didn’t you say a true masterpiece is only transitory, that the Dao is endless?", Ci Han was all smiles.
"Not now, Old Man Ci", Wu Long put out his hand, as he already had a ltdown of one master craftsman to deal with, it wasn’t the best mont to bring up the philosophical continuity and consistency of argunts.
"...", Kai Huoshi was looking at Wu Long with near-tear eyes of soone deeply wronged, but eventually sighed with helplessness, looking at the sword with a more sober gaze, "I suppose... I could try adding in ingredients and try improving it further... but it certainly wouldn’t be sothing you can use whatever technique you used with it"
"Right? There’s the spirit~! That’s a good mindset!", Wu Long was simply happy the situation seed to smooth over, "And of course I won’t be using that technique with the new one. In fact, I won’t be using any Elental Attribute techniques with it since it’s not a sword made for those... pure swordsmanship with this one from now on"
Kai Huoshi sighed heavily again, making a slight bow to the Valley Master, and collecting the sword to start working on it. He was now slightly fearful and remorseful, as in his shock and grief over the sword, he behaved quite freely with Wu Long, though it seed the latter didn’t mind at all.
"Speaking of your masterpiece though", Wu Long added, catching the attention of the two master craftsn, "I do have a material that is very compatible with Lightning Attribute that I’d like to have a weapon made of, but it looks to be out of reach for your skills and cultivation realm for now..."
He took out the ore that he found containing the Sustained Charge Lightning.
"A 4th-tier Profound Grade material! And Lightning Attribute aligned, no less!", Ci Han widened his eyes, instantly grabbing the end of the table to lean over it and look at the ore more closely, "Where in the Heavens have you found sothing so rare and valuable like this, Valley Master...?"
Kai Huoshi also seed to lose the grief for the sword, or his worries about how he dared to talk to Wu Long, his attention captivated by the sight of this treasure.
Wu Long chuckled, recognizing the eyes of two pure craftsn, "As you can see the amount is very limited, so there’s not much room to test out the ground"
"Hmm, I’d say it barely would be enough for a sword, even then the compatible and good enough material to make an alloy with would do a lot of heavy lifting with volu which might slightly diminish the properties...", Ci Han tilted his head while stroking his beard in deep thought, speaking with regret about the limited quantity.
"Which is why I was thinking of a spear blade instead of a sword", Wu Long nodded.
"Ah! In that case there is enough material for 2 attempts... granted, of course that there is a comparable complentary material to make an alloy with as Master Ci said", Kai Huoshi’s eyes lit up with excitent as his mind was already stirring with ideas and inspiration.
"Mm~ Lightning Attribute does have more in common with Spearmanship than Swordsmanship to begin with... It is a good choice and use of material", Ci Han also nodded with approval, "But Valley Master is right, it would have to wait until this young one is ready. Honestly, my hands are itching, and my cultivation is just right, but I am only as good as a helper when it cos to weapons... my trade is Tools of Focus... and I specialize in Vessels of Life more than anything else..."
He then turned to the far corner of the Refining Hall where another young man, Ri Luhai, was hard at work, "And so is my young friend over there... though he is now experinting with branching out to the Obelisk of Solidity as well, with the knowledge you gave him..."
Wu Long nodded, "I didn’t expect to have it made right away. Was just giving you heads up so you know there’s things to prepare for. Plus, as you said, I still have to search for a material worthy of being paired with it to make the alloy"
"Of course! Valley Master can count on to improve and et your expectations!", Kai Huoshi, suddenly no longer bothered by anything, spoke in a spirited tone, and bowing once again moved to his workstation followed closely by Ci Han.
Reviews
All reviews (0)