"This fellow was originally a dragon egg I found while traveling through the Fire Elemental Plane. I hatched him, then kept him here," Huoxie explained to Hodan.
"Don't let his lazy appearance fool you. He has the strength of an Asura."
The Red-Winged Flame Dragon looked languid, yet the pillars of fire and gusts of wind it exhaled were tremendously powerful—far beyond the Fire Mysteries Hodan usually saw. Standing at the edge of the platform, he felt the scorching waves rushing up from below. Looking at the enormous red pillar of fire shooting skyward, he thought that if he were caught inside it, even a Six-Star Fiend would be charred to a crisp in an instant.
After a while, Huoxie stopped working and pulled Hodan behind him. Then, gesturing toward the furnace, he said unhurriedly, "Ahem, young man, don't go looking for trouble. Look at the Black Obsidian Gold Iron in the furnace. It's lost its original shape after just a few days beneath this dragon flame. Do you think your body is tougher than Black Obsidian Gold Iron?"
After speaking, Huoxie turned and walked toward a corner where nearly a hundred strange, long iron boxes were piled up. He rummaged around for a while before hauling out a black iron box covered in dust. Then he skillfully set the iron mold beneath the furnace platform, which had been heated red-hot by the dragon flame.
A while later, thick iron liquid slowly trickled down from the furnace platform and spread evenly over the mold.
Then he took out a bottle and poured some blood-red powder from it, sprinkling it evenly into the molten iron.
Hodan was startled when he saw the blood-red powder. His divine sense also sensed a corrosive quality in it. Remembering that this was Yingxue Prefecture, he easily guessed that it was the famous Yingxue Star Sand.
Hodan glanced at Huoxie, then turned his gaze to the blade as it gradually took shape. After speaking, Huoxie had focused entirely on forging the long blade and said nothing more.
Seeing this, Hodan sensibly stayed quiet and watched from the side. At that moment, he was completely unaware that although he stood beside Huoxie near the blazing pillar, he felt none of the scorching heat that should have seared him. Instead, he was enjoying the waves of heat that kept washing over him.
Huoxie was now wholly absorbed in forging the long blade. He rhythmically hammered the blade he had taken from the iron mold, and the clear clang of the hammer rang through the mountain pass.
After a while, Huoxie set down his hammer. Wiping away his sweat with a towel, he instructed Hodan, "Young man, go to the cabinet behind you on the right. There's a small transparent bottle filled with red liquid in there. Bring it to me."
Following Huoxie's directions, Hodan found the small bottle filled with red liquid on the iron cabinet. Just as he reached for it, Huoxie's voice came again with a warning. "Young man, be careful when you pick it up! This little bottle is very heavy. And don't break it—the liquid inside is essential if you want your blade to be perfect."
Hodan stared at the little bottle on the iron cabinet, puzzled. He wondered how much a bottle barely the size of his palm could weigh.
But Huoxie sounded serious, not as if he were joking. Hodan took a small breath and reached out cautiously, gripping the little bottle of red liquid tightly. When he tried to lift it, he was astonished to find it far heavier than he had imagined. He used both hands and all his strength to raise the strange bottle, then trudged toward Huoxie one step at a time.
Watching Hodan struggle, Huoxie couldn't help teasing him. "Heh, surprised?"
"What's in this...?"
Huoxie effortlessly took the little bottle Hodan had needed all his strength to lift and dangled it in front of him. Then he uncorked it and slowly poured the red liquid over the finished blade, evenly coating it. He explained, "The liquid in this bottle is the essence refined from the Dragon Marrow inside that Red-Winged Flame Dragon. Even the most ordinary weapon will become the perfect weapon for slaying dragons if it gets even a little of this."
"A weapon for slaying dragons?"
"Dragon scales halve the power of magic because, aside from being hard, dragons of different kinds each have an elemental barrier around them. That barrier is just like the protective barrier around a god. By the same logic, any weapon capable of slaying a dragon can also kill a god! Especially since the Red-Winged Flame Dragon has the strength of an Asura!"
Hodan had never imagined that the unremarkable-looking red liquid could have such an effect when added to a weapon. Thinking that one day he would possess the power to kill gods with ease, he couldn't help looking pleased with himself.
Huoxie continued, "But don't get cocky just yet. Even with the dragon's essence added, this blade can only kill gods—it doesn't have the sharpness to do so."
"Then wasn't all this pointless?" Huoxie's words left Hodan deeply disappointed.
"It wasn't pointless. The dragon's essence makes the blade's hard material elastic, but this process also dulls its edge further and makes it more than ten times heavier than I originally estimated."
"Have you forgotten what I said? You must become the weapon's edge, not let the weapon become your edge."
After speaking, Huoxie raised his hammer again and skillfully struck the blade, now glowing red from end to end.
Looking at the blade he had forged into a rough shape, Huoxie was very satisfied with his work. After being doused with the dragon's essence, its gleam had gradually dimmed. For the peerless master smith Huoxie, this weapon he had crafted with his own hands was a source of great satisfaction.
The rusty long blade stood straight in the red earth. It was hard to imagine that it was a weapon capable of killing gods.
Its dull, lusterless blade looked like a long sword covered in rust. It was also riddled with dents and chips from the hammering. Rather than a divine weapon, the blade before them looked more like a rotten piece of wood.
Looking at the sorry state of his blade, Hodan wore a bewildered, dazed expression, then turned to Huoxie with hesitation.
After all, this blade was far from the divine weapon he had imagined. It didn't have to gleam with a cold light, but surely it shouldn't look like a piece of scrap metal!
After a while, Hodan stepped toward the blade and reached out with his right hand, gripping the hilt firmly as he tried to pull it from the ground.
But the blade was far heavier than he had expected. He had to use his left hand too and strain with all his strength before he finally managed to pull it free under Huoxie's watchful gaze.
Gripping the blade with both hands, Hodan struggled under its unimaginable weight. Even with both hands, he could barely raise it for a moment before bringing it crashing down into the earth.
Hodan panted heavily, drenched in sweat. Just pulling the blade free had taken all his strength.
Huoxie sighed. "It has lost all its edge and sharpness, but it's incredibly hard and resilient. This is the divine weapon I forged for you to reach the peak. Give it a name."
"Remember, you are the blade's master, and you are also its edge. The more brilliantly you shine, the more this blade will make a name for itself because of you."
"The blade is here to serve you. You don't need an overly powerful blade; you need to make yourself strong. Once you reach the point where you fear nothing, it won't make much difference whether you have a blade in your hand or not."
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