Although he wouldn't die, he wasn't a Chief Sovereign's emissary, so no Chief Sovereign would come to his rescue. If a Paragon desperately banished him into Spatial Turbulence, he would either drift with the current and wait for a spatial rift to appear, which might let him return to the material plane,
or he would have to seek help from a Chief Sovereign. But given Huoxie's temperament, he would rather die than become a Chief Sovereign's emissary. Otherwise, Chief Sovereign Boteier wouldn't have wanted to kill him in a fit of anger back then.
So, having another friend was beneficial for Huoxie, even if the benefits weren't apparent just yet. But that was the nature of an investment: no one knew whether it would pay off. If they did, it wouldn't be an investment—it would be reaping the rewards.
Huoxie accepted Hodan's wine and didn't waste any time. He went straight to the point and asked, "You want to have a weapon made, right? What kind of weapon do you usually use?"
"A saber." Compared to swords, Hodan preferred sabers. They were the most suitable weapons for combat.
"Show me your hand."
Hodan didn't understand why, but he followed Huoxie's instructions and held out his right hand.
"Mm. Judging by your palm lines, hand length, and build, you'd be well suited to a long saber. The blade should be five feet long and two inches wide, with a handle one foot and three inches long and a four-inch-wide guard." Kabul truly deserved his reputation as the greatest smith of the age. At a glance, he had envisioned the kind of saber Hodan needed. From Hodan's build, palm lines, and hand length, he could tell whether a saber suited him and even roughly determine how he would use it.
"Do you have any materials?" Huoxie asked.
"I do, I do." Hodan hurriedly took the materials he had prepared in advance out of his Space Ring. Naturally, he had gotten them ready beforehand if he wanted a weapon made.
A black lump of iron appeared in Hodan's hand. It was Hell's famed Black Obsidian Gold Iron. Its greatest attribute was its hardness. Hodan needed a weapon for fighting on the battlefield, so the harder it was, the better.
"Senior, why do you live in this desolate place where not even birds lay eggs?" After Huoxie had taken Hodan's ore, Hodan couldn't help but ask.
"Oh? Then what do you think keeps me here?" Huoxie looked at Hodan with an amused expression and asked in return.
After seeing Huoxie take the ore, Hodan felt a strange sensation in his heart for some reason. Huoxie was a Paragon-level expert. Even if he wanted to live in seclusion, he wouldn't choose somewhere with such terrible conditions. He could have found a scenic mountain range, full of birdsong and flowers. Instead, he was here, where even his wine had to be brought over by Silvermoon.
Suppressing his surprise and doubt, Hodan deliberately picked up a stone from the ground and crushed it with a squeeze. Then he said with a serious expression, "Though it looks desolate, to you this mountain must be a treasure trove buried with gold. Only this mountain's ever-burning geothermal fire could let you forge divine weapons sharp enough to cut through metal. And the soil layers that have fallen away contain iron sand. If I'm not mistaken, this mountain must be rich in unusual minerals."
After Hodan finished speaking, Huoxie clapped and laughed. "Look at you, so serious. I'm applauding because you've got such a vivid imagination. But I have to object to what you just said. First, I'm a smith, not a miner. So even if this godforsaken place really did have all sorts of strange ores, it wouldn't be any of my concern. Second, to me, this mountain isn't some damned treasure trove. It's a prison without walls. Circumstances, constraints, and fate have left me no choice but to stay here."
Hodan was surprised to hear this. A prison? Fate?
"It's nothing I need to hide. Once, in a fit of anger, I refused to believe I couldn't reach Paragon, so I swore to the Overgod that if I failed to become a Paragon, I would never leave this mountain range."
"I just never expected that after thirty billion years, I still wouldn't have reached Paragon. All I can do is use the conditions here to forge weapons and armor to pass the time, and see if I can gain some insight."
Only then did Hodan understand why Huoxie had secluded himself here. So he had trapped himself. And yet, after spending thirty billion years in this barren mountain range without going mad, Huoxie clearly had a remarkably strong will and mind. An ordinary god would have gone mad long ago and then destroyed himself.
Huoxie continued, "Then I kept smithing, and somewhere along the way, I suddenly fell in love with the work. A smith's lifelong pursuit is to forge the perfect weapon, and the earth's heartflame, born from flames that burn everything to ash, is an indispensable partner in that work. This place provides the perfect conditions for my craft."
"To forge even more perfect weapons, I need to build up experience through years of constant experimentation."
"Do you think it's worth it?" Hodan suddenly asked after Huoxie had finished explaining.
"If it weren't worth it, I wouldn't still be here today. Kid, that's a strange question." Huoxie laughed as he answered Hodan, his expression relaxed, with a touch of humor.
"Maybe. I just don't understand why you'd put yourself in such a harsh living environment and endure endless torment, all to pursue perfection that seems so far out of reach."
"Heh, it's like a swordsman constantly chasing the pinnacle of the sword. The pursuit of perfection is a long battle with oneself. Forging the perfect weapon isn't just my dream as a smith; it's my destiny. Just as every god pursues Paragon."
"Then what weapon would you consider your perfect masterpiece?"
"Perfect? Ha ha..." Hodan's question made Huoxie burst into laughter again. "If I could make something perfect, how would you have been able to meet me today?"
"That's true. Senior, you're a mighty expert standing at the very peak, while we're just ants struggling at the bottom. We're caught up in it all and often drift with the current, only able to feel the world's resonance. It's hard for us to rise above the water like you and experience a different world."
Huoxie suddenly froze. Then he grabbed Hodan by the shoulders and asked, "What did you just say?"
Hodan was baffled, but he answered, "Rise above the water like you, senior."
"No, not that sentence," Huoxie urged.
"You're a mighty expert standing at the very peak—"
"Not that one either."
"We're caught up in it all and often drift with the current, only able to feel the world's resonance."
"That's it!" Huoxie exclaimed excitedly. Then he muttered to himself, "Drifting with the current, resonance... Resonance, drifting with the current."
"Resonance... drifting with the current... assimilate! Assimilate! Assimilate!!!!" Huoxie repeated the words over and over as though he had gone mad. He seemed to have become completely delirious.
Had Huoxie gone mad? Hodan began to worry. He was afraid Huoxie might suddenly lose his mind and attack them. Hodan didn't have the strength to withstand an attack from a Paragon-level expert.
But then Hodan thought of something. Huoxie's state seemed just like the legendary sudden enlightenment.
Huoxie was already at the peak of Asura. Had he reached the final stage of fusing his Mysteries? Could this sudden enlightenment be...? Thinking of this, Hodan glanced at Silvermoon beside him. Silvermoon was also experienced and knowledgeable, and had reached the same conclusion.
They exchanged a look and arrived at the same, ultimate possibility: Paragon.
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