The Forge Begins

"This is why Chief Sovereign's Envoys and Asura experts change their fighting styles to suit their Offensive Sovereign Artifacts when they acquire one."

"They even create techniques suited to their artifacts, because they know their Sovereign Artifacts are bound to their fate."

"When they lose their Sovereign Artifact, their lives come to an end."

Huoxie sighed as he spoke. He had lived far too long and seen far too many such things. Hodan had done him a favor, so Huoxie didn't mind offering him a little extra guidance.

"I'll remember that," Hodan said. He wasn't ungrateful; he knew Huoxie was guiding him and hurried to thank him.

"A weapon is only a weapon. It can shine brilliantly only when its wielder becomes its cutting edge. Such people can also reach the pinnacle of strength. If you focus only on the weapon's edge, you'll end up falling behind. That edge will become a wall right in front of you, one you can't break through!"

Hodan nodded to show he understood. This was advice from a Paragon—something countless people wished they could hear.

After saying this, Huoxie continued toward the cave, calling for Hodan to follow. "Come on! I'll need your help when I forge your blade."

Hodan followed Huoxie into the cave. The moment he stepped inside, a powerful wave of heat washed over him. The temperature was so high that the hair on his body smelled scorched, and sweat soaked him from head to toe.

Hodan quickly circulated divine power to protect himself, but he still felt miserable.

As he endured the heat, he asked, "It must be tens of thousands of degrees in here. How can you walk around so easily without using divine power?"

Hodan hadn't seen Huoxie circulate any divine power to resist the heat.

"Think about it. My true form is the Huoxie Holy Beast, and I've lived here for who knows how long. If I couldn't handle this much heat, how would I endure the temperatures approaching a million degrees farther in?" Huoxie answered, shrugging without stopping.

Huoxie walked on without waiting for Hodan. By the time he finished speaking, he had gone far ahead and disappeared around a bend in the cave passage.

Seeing Huoxie getting farther away, Hodan hurried after him. When he rounded the bend, he found a straight passage glowing red with fire.

He looked at the flames surging along both sides of the passage, hesitated briefly, then took a deep breath and hurried after Huoxie.

By now, the searing heat had left Hodan dizzy, and he couldn't manage another word.

The heat around him made it hard to breathe. If not for his determination to forge a blade of his own, Hodan would have left this hellish place that no person could endure.

Each wave of heat struck him head-on, and every step took all his strength. Although Huoxie's words raised questions in his mind, Hodan no longer had the energy to ask them.

Hearing no reply, Huoxie could tell from the heavy, dragging footsteps behind him that Hodan was nearing his limit. He slowed down and said, "The heat here will strengthen your body by tempering it. That's why I brought you down here. The longer you stay, the stronger the heat will make you. Hang in there, kid."

Huoxie still habitually called Hodan "kid." Perhaps that was how he saw him; the familiar nickname made him feel closer to Hodan.

By now, Hodan could no longer hear anything Huoxie said ahead of him. The heat had thrown him into delirium, and endless flames filled his vision. The blurry figure before him gradually vanished into the unbearable fire passage, and Hodan finally blacked out.

After who knew how long, the burning sensation had disappeared from his skin. The roar of powerful winds filled his ears, yet warm droplets fell against his body. When Hodan woke again, he found himself on a raised platform.

A massive pillar of fire surged upward in front of him, but strangely, he felt no heat from it. The roaring wind came from the powerful air current rushing up the mountain opening alongside the pillar. The droplets that had fallen on him were actually sweat splashed from Huoxie, who stood beside a massive furnace near the platform's edge.

Hodan had no memory of what happened after he passed out. When he opened his eyes, he saw Huoxie working beside the furnace, bare-chested and drenched in sweat.

Even while walking through the fiery passage, Huoxie hadn't so much as broken a sweat. Now, though, he was drenched and his face was flushed. He held a massive smithing hammer in his left hand, pounding away beside the furnace. The crisp, ringing blows echoed through the enclosed valley.

Before long, Huoxie stopped working and took the towel hanging around his neck to wipe away the sweat. He turned and noticed that Hodan had awakened. Slowly lowering the smithing hammer, he panted and said, "Huff... huff... Stay right there, kid. Rest while you can. You'll be busy soon enough."

After speaking, Huoxie dragged the hammer over to the platform's edge and peered down. A moment later, the pillar of fire shooting toward the mountain opening abruptly vanished. It was as though a powerful force below had sucked the rising flames back down. As soon as the pillar disappeared, the temperature around them began to climb sharply, and white smoke started rising from the previously cool platform.

Remembering the agony of walking through the fiery passage, Hodan's expression changed. "This..."

Hodan pushed himself up, his body aching, and quietly walked behind Huoxie. He had intended to check on Huoxie's progress, but when he reached the furnace and naturally glanced down into the valley, he found himself unable to look away.

In a sea of boiling molten rock and towering flames, a ferocious beast that should not have existed in this world lay curled up peacefully.

Its enormous red body filled the valley floor. A pair of small red wings, utterly out of proportion to its massive frame, rested lightly against its back. Now and then, powerful flames burst from its nostrils.

This beast was the source of the enormous pillars of flame that occasionally shot up through the valley.

Hodan stared at the beast below. It was a flying dragon. Unable to hide his astonishment, he asked Huoxie, "Why is there a dragon here?"

"Heh, this fellow isn't some ordinary dragon! It's called the Red-Winged Flame Dragon, a famed divine beast of the Fire Elemental Divine Realm!"

Hearing Hodan, Huoxie kept working hard while proudly explaining the beast's origins.

"But no matter how famous the Red-Winged Flame Dragon is, shouldn't it be in the Fire Elemental Divine Realm? How did it end up here...?"

Huoxie cut him off, unconcerned. "There are plenty of things in this world you'd never expect. Who says fire beasts have to live in the Fire Elemental Divine Realm?"