Blade Forged

"This guy was originally a dragon egg I obtained while traveling through the Fire Elemental Divine Plane. I hatched it, and it has been raised here ever since," Huoxie explained to Hodan.

"Don't let its lazy appearance fool you; this guy possesses the strength of an Asura."

Watching the Red-Winged Flame Dragon, despite its lethargic demeanor, the power of the fire pillars and air currents it exhaled far exceeded any fire-elemental profound mysteries Hodan had ever seen. Standing at the edge of the platform, Hodan felt the intense heat waves rushing up from below. Looking at the massive red fire pillar shooting straight upward, Hodan thought that if he were caught in it, even a Six-Star Fiend would likely be roasted into charcoal in an instant.

After a while, Huoxie stopped his work and pulled Hodan behind him. He then gestured for Hodan to look at the furnace and said in a measured tone, "Ahem, young man, don't do anything reckless. Look at the Black Obsidian Gold Iron in the furnace; it has already lost its original shape under this dragon flame in just a few days. Do you think your body is tougher than Black Obsidian Gold Iron?"

After finishing his sentence, Huoxie turned and walked toward a corner piled with nearly a hundred strange long iron boxes. He rummaged through them for a while before pulling out a dust-covered black iron box, then skillfully placed this iron mold under the furnace, which was glowing red from the dragon flames.

A moment later, thick molten iron slowly flowed out from beneath the furnace, spreading evenly over the iron mold.

Then, he took out a bottle and poured some blood-red powder from it, sprinkling it evenly into the molten iron.

Seeing this blood-red powder, Hodan was startled. At the same time, Hodan's divine sense detected a corrosive quality from the powder. Linking this to the fact that they were in Yingxue Prefecture, it wasn't hard to guess that this was the famous Yingxue Star Sand.

Hodan watched Huoxie, his gaze then falling on the gradually forming blade. After speaking, Huoxie focused entirely on the work of forging the long blade and said no more.

Seeing this, Hodan wisely stayed to the side and watched. At this moment, Hodan didn't notice that although he was standing near the red flame pillar just like Huoxie, he felt absolutely no burning sensation from the high heat; instead, he began to enjoy the heat waves constantly rushing toward his face.

By now, Huoxie was fully immersed in forging the blade. He rhythmically hammered the blade he had clamped out of the iron mold, and the crisp sound of metal striking metal echoed throughout the mountain pass.

After a while, Huoxie put down his hammer, wiped his sweat with a towel, and instructed Hodan, "Young man, go to the cabinet behind you on the right. There is a small transparent bottle containing a red liquid inside. Bring it to me."

Following Huoxie's directions, Hodan found the small bottle filled with red liquid on the iron cabinet to the right. Just as he reached out to take it, Huoxie's voice came again, warning, "Be careful, young man! This little bottle is very heavy, and be careful not to break it. Without the liquid inside, your blade won't be perfect."

Hodan looked suspiciously at the small bottle on the iron cabinet, doubting that a bottle only the size of a palm could be that heavy.

However, hearing the seriousness in Huoxie's tone, it didn't seem like a joke. Hodan took a slight breath and carefully reached out, gripping the small bottle containing the red liquid tightly. To his surprise, it was far heavier than he had imagined. Using all his strength with both hands, he lifted the strange little bottle and walked toward Huoxie, step by step, with great effort.

Seeing Hodan's strained appearance, Huoxie couldn't help but tease, "Hehe, surprised, aren't you?"

"What exactly is inside..."

Huoxie easily took the bottle that Hodan had to use all his strength to lift, shaking it in front of him. He then opened the stopper and slowly poured the red liquid inside evenly over the already-formed blade. He then explained, "The liquid in this bottle is the essence refined from the Dragon Marrow of that Red-Winged Flame Dragon. Even the most ordinary weapon will become the best dragon-slaying tool once it touches a drop."

"A dragon-slaying tool?"

"The reason dragon scales have a halving effect on magic is not just because they are tough, but mainly because, depending on the species, dragons have a layer of elemental light shield on their bodies. This elemental light shield is just like the protective light shield of a god. By the same logic, any weapon that can slay a dragon can naturally kill a god! Especially since this Red-Winged Flame Dragon has the strength of an Asura!"

He hadn't expected this seemingly unremarkable red liquid to have such an effect when applied to a weapon. Thinking about his future ability to easily kill gods, Hodan couldn't help but feel smug.

At this point, Huoxie said, "However, don't get too smug just yet. Even with the dragon essence, this blade only has the capacity to kill gods, but lacks the sharpness to do so."

"If that's the case, wouldn't what you're doing be a redundant effort?" After hearing Huoxie say this, Hodan couldn't help but feel deeply disappointed.

"This is not a redundant effort. Pouring on the dragon essence makes the blade's hard material elastic, but this step also reduces the blade's sharpness by a fraction and increases its weight to ten times what I originally estimated."

"Did you forget what I said about becoming the sharpness of the weapon, rather than letting the weapon be your sharpness?"

After finishing his words, Huoxie continued to raise his hammer and skillfully struck the glowing red blade.

Looking at the blade he had shaped, its luster gradually dimmed after being doused with the dragon essence. As the world's peerless blacksmith, Huoxie was very satisfied with the weapon he had forged with his own hands this time.

The rusty long blade, stuck straight into the red earth, made it hard to imagine that this could be a weapon capable of killing gods.

The dull, lusterless blade looked like a long knife covered in rust, and it was even covered in dents and nicks from the hammering. Looking at the blade before him, it was less a divine weapon and more a broken blade resembling rotten wood.

Seeing his blade in such a state, Hodan's face showed not only shock and confusion but also hesitation as he turned to look at Huoxie.

After all, this blade was far from the divine weapon he had imagined; it didn't flash with cold light, nor should it look like a piece of scrap metal!

After a while, Hodan moved toward the blade, reached out his right hand, gripped the hilt, and prepared to pull it from the ground.

However, the weight of the blade was far beyond his imagination. Hodan not only used his left hand but also exerted every ounce of his strength, barely managing to pull the blade out under Huoxie's gaze.

Gripping the blade with both hands, its weight was beyond imagination. Even using both hands, Hodan could only barely lift it for a moment before it came crashing down heavily into the earth.

Hodan gasped for air, his sweat-drenched face showing that he had used all his strength just to pull the blade out.

Huoxie sighed and said, "It has lost all its sharpness and edge, but it is incredibly hard and possesses toughness. This is the divine weapon I have forged for you to reach the peak. Give it a name."

"Remember, you are the master of the blade, and you are also the sharpness of this blade. Only as brightly as you shine can this blade become world-renowned because of you."

"The blade only serves you. You don't need a powerful blade; you need to make yourself powerful. Until you are fearless, at that point, whether you have a blade in your hand or not, it will be all the same."

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