Black Fire and Dragon Scales

The lotus flames, once bright yellow, had turned an eerie golden-red, each blossom radiating terrifying heat.

When those golden-red lotus flames surged toward Luo Zheng, his expression changed. The Lotus True Fire's power had suddenly multiplied severalfold; his body might not be able to withstand it.

Just as Luo Zheng had expected, the golden-red lotus flames were far more powerful than the bright yellow flames from before.

When the golden-red flames touched Luo Zheng's skin, intense scorching pain spread through his body. Enduring the agony, Luo Zheng discovered in astonishment that his body had turned Dark Red, exactly as it had in the cellar that day.

When an ordinary person was burned by high heat, the moisture in their flesh would first be baked dry, and in the end, they would ignite and burn into a pile of charcoal.

Yet Luo Zheng's body was bizarre. Like a Mysterious Artifact forged from refined iron, it slowly glowed red from the heat.

The tiny gold foils embedded in his skin now floated to the surface one by one. In an instant, his entire body was covered in glittering golden flakes, shining with brilliant golden light.

The obscure tadpole-like characters on those tiny gold foils began spinning without pause. They turned faster and faster, forming tiny whirlpools across Luo Zheng's body.

Once those whirlpools formed, they generated fierce pulling forces. All the lotus flames within the Smelting Furnace surged toward Luo Zheng, drawn into those tiny vortices.

True Fire Body Tempering!

His body was actually forcefully drawing in all the True Fire.

The lotus flames burrowed ceaselessly into Luo Zheng's body—his arms, torso, legs, neck...

The process was agonizing. The pain did not merely torment his flesh; the lotus flames even passed through his skin, burning every inch of him inside and out.

He clenched his teeth and endured the pain.

Compared with the agony of having his soul forged by the Black Flame before, this pain to his flesh was far lighter.

Under the searing refinement of the True Fire, Luo Zheng felt the poison of the Ten Fragrance Tendon Weakening Powder in his body slowly dissipating as well!

At the same time, Luo Zheng felt the enormous furnace that had long floated silently in his mind begin to stir. The Black Flame within, once exceptionally calm, now burst from the furnace like a wild horse breaking free of its reins. It pierced through Luo Zheng's consciousness and emerged from his brow!

The Black Flame was actually like a living thing, appearing before Luo Zheng.

The moment it appeared, it let out a strange cry and pounced toward the Karma Fire Sword.

The Karma Fire Sword had been tempered by Xie Lang's True Fire for so long and had merely turned red throughout. Yet with a light flick of the Black Flame, the Karma Fire Sword—said to be a High-Grade Profound Artifact worth a fortune—instantly melted into several drops of molten iron.

Luo Zheng was dumbfounded by the Black Flame's power. What exactly was this Black Flame? How could it be so terrifying?

The Black Fire wrapped around the molten iron from the Karma Fire Sword and plunged back into Luo Zheng's brow, returning to his mind. Luo Zheng was initially alarmed. His body might be that of a Mysterious Artifact, but surely he could not refine molten iron into his own head?

Yet Luo Zheng felt no discomfort whatsoever. In his mind, the Black Flame carried those drops of molten iron into the mouth of the Azure Dragon relief.

Nine enormous dragon reliefs coiled around that great cauldron, and only the Azure Dragon's eyes were open. At that moment, the Azure Dragon gave a deep dragon roar, raised its head, and swallowed the drops of molten iron in one gulp. Tens of thousands of its scales had originally been dull and lightless, but after it swallowed the molten iron, a strange change occurred.

At the Azure Dragon's tail, one scale now shone with azure radiance, as flawless and beautiful as an emerald gemstone.

Those few drops of molten iron from the melted Karma Fire Sword had actually activated one scale on the Azure Dragon relief!

What had happened in his mind left Luo Zheng utterly astonished.

At the same time, he felt waves of power gush from that scale like mountain floods, flooding into his body.

His strength was actually growing at a tremendous speed!

Could it be that as long as he used that Black Fire to continuously devour Mysterious Artifacts, he could activate the dragon's scales?

So that was it, so that was it! Ecstasy appeared on Luo Zheng's face. After being refined within the Smelting Furnace, he seemed to have gained a slight understanding of that enormous furnace.

A single scale had caused his strength to grow severalfold by sheer force. What if he Light Up all the tens of thousands of scales on the Azure Dragon? And beyond the Azure Dragon, there were the White Dragon, Purple Dragon, Black Dragon, Blue Dragon...

If he activated every scale on all nine dragons, how terrifying would his strength become?

Luo Zheng clicked his tongue and licked his parched lips. He could not even imagine that terrifying power.

Still, it seemed that Light Up the dragon scales would not be easy.

According to Xie Lang, that Karma Fire Sword had been a High-Grade Profound Artifact worth a fortune!

The essence refined from a single High-Grade Profound Artifact could only Light Up one scale. One could imagine how many treasures would be needed to Light Up thousands upon thousands of scales. Even if every treasure in the Eastern Region were melted down, it would likely be impossible to Light Up all the scales on one Azure Dragon, let alone the other eight dragons beyond it.

This matter required long-term planning. He could not afford impatience!

Luo Zheng neither grew arrogant nor impatient. He sat cross-legged amid the roaring True Fire, allowing the golden whirlpools on his body to devour the lotus flames and temper his body with fire.

Outside the Smelting Furnace, Xie Lang also noticed something strange. A trace of confusion appeared on his face. Since just now, he had been unable to sense the presence of his Karma Fire Sword. Had it fused together with that Kid? At the same time, he could no longer sense the Kid's life aura.

Moreover, he discovered that the Origin True Fire he had released was continuously draining away. What strange thing was happening inside the Smelting Furnace?

Perhaps his spiritual weapon had successfully been forged! That was entirely possible!

Every artifact refiner knew that when the forging of an artifact was nearing its end, just before a treasure emerged from the furnace, it would absorb a massive amount of Origin True Fire. This stage was called "condensation."

Depending on the artifact's grade, the amount of Origin True Fire required for condensation varied. The higher the grade, the more Origin True Fire it required.

When Xie Lang had forged the Karma Fire Sword, it had absorbed True Fire for a full hour during the condensation stage before it could emerge from the furnace.

But now, far more than Three Incense Sticks had passed...

The higher an artifact's grade, the more True Fire it absorbed during condensation, and the longer it took. The treasure in this Smelting Furnace had absorbed so much for so long; it was highly likely to be a spiritual weapon!

At that thought, Xie Lang's heart immediately burned with excitement.

Indeed, only a spiritual weapon could consume so much True Fire during condensation.

Without another word, he went All Out, continuously urging the True Fire within his body and sending it into the Smelting Furnace.

Although Xie Lang sent in a great deal of True Fire, it was as though there were a tiny black hole inside the Smelting Furnace. No matter how much he fed it, it swallowed it all.

Three hours later, Xie Lang was drenched in sweat and gasping for breath.

Xie Lang was, after all, only Half-Step to the Innate Realm. As an artifact refiner, his control over True Fire far surpassed that of others at the same level, but he had not entered the Innate Secret Realm. Releasing so much True Fire at once was an extremely strenuous task for him.

Yet he was worried. As an artifact refiner, he understood the importance of the "condensation" process. If it was not done properly, the weapon inside the Smelting Furnace would likely be ruined outright!

Xie Lang had no choice but to grit his teeth and hold on.

Until ten hours later...

Having squeezed out the last trace of True Fire from his body, Xie Lang collapsed to the ground with a thud, panting heavily. He could no longer hold on.

Only after resting for quite some time did Xie Lang climb up from the ground. He took several black pills from his robes and swallowed them to restore his strength before walking toward the Smelting Furnace.

As he prepared to open the Smelting Furnace, Xie Lang's expression was complicated. He could not be sure whether the spiritual weapon had been successfully forged.

As he reached out nervously and opened That Door on the Smelting Furnace, a glittering golden fist carrying the force of ten thousand jun crashed fiercely toward his face.