The weapon blank had taken shape, and the First Grade weapon was beginning to emerge.
But the work was not finished.
Next came tempering the edge. A blade's power lay in its sharpness.
Only a method that honed an edge to its utmost could bring a weapon's killing power to its peak.
In the Four Symbols Spirit God Forging Method, the third spirit god was the Black Tortoise.
The Black Tortoise Netherwater Edge-Tempering Method.
Jiang Li took up a whetstone and began grinding the demon saber's edge. This was a First Grade weapon; ordinary whetstones could not even scratch material this tough.
He put tremendous strength into it and wore through three Fourth Grade whetstones before he barely managed to sharpen the edge further.
Then Jiang Li used the Black Tortoise Netherwater Edge-Tempering Method. Water elements gathered from heaven and earth, forming a basketball-sized Black Tortoise Northern Nether Aspect above the blade.
Countless water elements condensed within the aspect into drops of Northern Netherwater. "Netherwater" referred to the Northern Nether.
One drop fell and ran along the edge. At last, it seemed to seep into the blade. The entire edge flashed bright, its sharpness increasing by a full ten percent.
Jiang Li picked up a whetstone and ground the blade again. According to the Black Tortoise Netherwater Edge-Tempering Method, the tempering would be complete when Northern Netherwater fell without entering the edge.
This time, Jiang Li went through four whetstones before using the method again.
The second drop seeped in, sharpening the edge by only eight percent.
The third time, Jiang Li wore through nearly seven whetstones. He felt the edge had reached its limit.
When the third drop of Northern Netherwater fell, only half seeped in. The other half struck the floor.
The instant it landed, that half-drop turned