The Blood Sacrifice Sword

"Buzz—"

The clash ended in an instant. Their figures crossed past each other, and silence returned.

Bai Chen dropped to one knee, cold sweat running down from his forehead. He panted heavily as he turned to look at Ji Juechen.

Ji Juechen still wore that expression as though he had nothing on his mind. He closed his eyes, fell silent for a moment, then said,

"You won."

As he spoke, he raised his hand and looked at the "sword" he held.

The Heavenly Meteoric Iron Sword that had accompanied him for years was now only a short fragment. Five broken pieces that had once been part of it lay quietly on the ground, proclaiming its end.

He had not actually lost to Bai Chen in that last attack. He had lost because of his weapon.

The quality of this Heavenly Meteoric Iron Sword had been utterly outclassed by the Darkgolden Terrorclaw. That was the result—he had lost his weapon.

For a Sword Maniac, losing his sword was no different from losing his limbs. Thus, although he still had far more Soul Power left than Bai Chen, he could no longer continue fighting.

"What... Don't think I didn't notice."

Bai Chen shook his head with a bitter smile.

"You held back just now, didn't you?"

He did not say that because Ji Juechen had failed to use his full strength. Rather, during the final collision, Ji Juechen had deliberately chosen not to attack Bai Chen himself and had only attacked the Darkgolden Terrorclaw.

Otherwise, the result would have been Ji Juechen's sword breaking and Bai Chen suffering severe injuries. Even without a sword as a vessel, a Sword Maniac's Sword Intent could still continue attacking along the path of his slash.

Ji Juechen said flatly,

"There's no need to say any more. A loss is a loss. My Soul Power was already above yours. For the fight to end like this only proves that I still need to improve."

"Ha..."

Bai Chen let out a weak laugh.

What was this? Whether it was Xuan Ziwen or Ji Juechen, their first reaction after being dealt a blow was that they still needed to improve?

That was what true geniuses were like. As expected, he could not afford to relax. Otherwise, he would be left far behind by these monsters before he even realized it.

"Juechen, Bai Chen!"

Only then did Jing Ziyan hurriedly run up onto the arena.

She asked nervously,

"Are you two all right? Neither of you got hurt, did you?"

"Don't worry, Senior Sister. I'm fine."

Bai Chen shook his head at her.

"That's good." Jing Ziyan let out a huge sigh of relief. "If you got hurt here, I really wouldn't know how to explain it to Senior Brother."

"Haha, Senior Sister, you don't need to worry. I know my own strength."

"Oh? Is that so? So that's how it is."

Jing Ziyan suddenly revealed a somewhat dangerous smile.

"So you brat really had been putting on an act from the very beginning, huh?"

"Uh..."

Bai Chen suddenly felt that things were not looking good. Without drawing attention to himself, he took two steps back, trying to quietly put some distance between himself and Jing Ziyan.

"Senior Sister, I had my reasons too. If I'd told you from the start that I was this strong, you wouldn't have believed me anyway... Wait, Senior Sister, I was wrong! Stop, stop, stop!"

Before he could finish, Jing Ziyan had already pounced on him and vigorously drilled her fists into his head.

"Senior Brother, save me!"

"..."

Hearing Bai Chen's plea for help, Ji Juechen pondered for two seconds before silently looking away.

No matter what, his beloved sword had just been broken by Bai Chen.

Of course, he would not blame Bai Chen for that, but there was no problem with standing by and watching at a time like this.

The three of them messed around for quite a while before Jing Ziyan finally pulled Bai Chen up from the ground.

She cleared her throat twice and asked,

"Bai Chen, how did you become this strong? You're not even ten yet, right?"

Bai Chen dusted himself off and smiled.

"Didn't Teacher Xuan tell you? I'm from the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect."

Jing Ziyan's eyes widened in astonishment.

"The Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect is that amazing? It can make a child like you this strong?"

Bai Chen merely smiled without answering.

He wanted to find a way to recruit Jing Ziyan and Ji Juechen, so naturally, he had to exaggerate the role of the force behind him.

Seeing that Bai Chen did not want to say more, Jing Ziyan pursed her lips and stopped asking. She extended her hand to Bai Chen and said,

"If you don't want to say it, forget it. We won't tell anyone about you either. But since you're this strong, we'll be coming to spar with you often from now on. In exchange, we'll look after you in the academy. What do you think?"

"Then I'll be in your care, Senior Sister."

Bai Chen smiled and took Jing Ziyan's outstretched hand.

With that, he had successfully taken the first step.

It was impossible to pull these two battle fanatics to his side all at once, but he had plenty of time to wear them down.

Besides, sparring with them was not without benefits for him.

As an all-round Soul Engineer, Jing Ziyan was familiar with the fighting styles of nearly every type of low-level Soul Engineer. Fighting her would let him effectively familiarize himself with the situations he might encounter when battling different kinds of Soul Engineers.

There was even less need to mention his fights with Ji Juechen. Ji Juechen could gain insight from fighting Bai Chen, and Bai Chen was the same.

An unusual opponent like him might not have a second match anywhere on Douluo Continent. Sparring with him was absolutely something that brought endless benefits.

"Little Brother Bai Chen, watching your fight with Juechen has made my hands itch. How about we spar after you've rested?"

"...Let's skip it for today. I still have things to do."

Still, being overly obsessed with sparring and fighting was truly a headache.

Bai Chen sighed helplessly.

Sword of Blood Sacrifice

One week later, in Xuan Ziwen's laboratory.

Xuan Ziwen looked at Bai Chen, Ning Tian, Jing Ziyan, and Ji Juechen standing before him, and the corner of his mouth could not help twitching.

"What are you all doing here?"

There had never been this many people in his laboratory. As a rather solitary researcher, Xuan Ziwen did not have many companions. A situation like this, with five people crammed into his laboratory, was unprecedented.

At his question, Ning Tian's eyes were filled with confusion, Ji Juechen expressionlessly turned his face aside, Jing Ziyan gestured toward Bai Chen with her lips, and Bai Chen sighed before saying,

"Last weekend, when I sparred with Senior Brother Ji and failed to hold back, I accidentally broke his sword. So I want to make him a new one."

"You can do that too?"

Xuan Ziwen was somewhat surprised upon hearing this.

"Of course."

A blacksmith's work was not limited to refining the quality of metals. Forging metal into components and weapons was also part of a blacksmith's job.

Thanks to the unique nature of the Douluo III Era Soul Battle Hall Space, Bai Chen had far more time than his peers. During that time, his forging ability had risen sharply. Not only had his success rate for First-Grade Thousand Forging improved considerably, but his skill at forging metal into weapons had also greatly advanced.

Xuan Ziwen frowned and pondered for a moment before suddenly saying,

"How about you provide the metal, and I make a Soul Tool for him? With my skill and your Thousand-Forged Metal, the close-combat Soul Tool we make definitely won't be inferior to any Level-Eight Soul Guide Device on the market."

"..."

Bai Chen looked at Xuan Ziwen in surprise, then turned toward Ji Juechen with a faintly amused smile.

Ji Juechen could no longer keep up his cool act at a time like this. He said flatly,

"There's no need. I asked him to make it for a reason. A Soul Tool made by someone else may not suit me."

At that, he paused and lightly nodded at Xuan Ziwen.

"Thank you."

He had not expected Xuan Ziwen to be so warmhearted. He had thought that providing a place to work was already the limit.

He had underestimated the relationship between Xuan Ziwen and Bai Chen. Though Xuan Ziwen would never say it aloud, Bai Chen was forever his most satisfactory and most important student.

If Bai Chen caused trouble outside, then as his teacher, Xuan Ziwen naturally had to help deal with it.

What he did not know was that Bai Chen had already discussed this with Ji Juechen, and they had reached an agreement. For the time being, there was no need to use a Soul Tool.

Ji Juechen walked to the worktable. The bracelet on his hand flashed, and a massive black chunk of iron appeared on the table.

This was the material he had found. It was called Heavenly Meteoric Iron, the same material as the sword he had previously used.

Bai Chen took out two forging hammers, drew a deep breath, and adjusted his entire state to its peak.

When he had said he would forge Ji Juechen a new sword, Ji Juechen had actually refused.

But Bai Chen would never miss such an opportunity to bring them closer together. After repeated persuasion, Ji Juechen had finally agreed.

This forging attempt could not fail.

A black-gold halo silently rose and merged into Bai Chen's body. The Domination Domain spread out, and Bai Chen abruptly raised his forging hammers, beginning the forging process.

Heavenly Meteoric Iron was an extremely rare metal. At least in the era ten thousand years later, he had never seen such a material.

To ensure that this forging attempt would succeed without fail, Bai Chen had specifically used the fragments of Ji Juechen's broken sword for many trials over the past week before finally setting his mind at ease.

Now, beneath his full-force hammering, the originally massive piece of Heavenly Meteoric Iron rapidly shrank, while a strange light faintly began to shine from its surface.

Bai Chen did not dare pause for even a moment. He exhausted all the experience and knowledge he currently possessed, continuously elevating the quality of the metal before him.

It was the first time Ji Juechen and Jing Ziyan had seen him forge, and both of them could not help staring in a daze.

At last, as a jet-black beam of light shot into the sky, Bai Chen let out a long breath and revealed a relieved smile.

First-Grade Thousand Forging—success.

"..."

At that moment, Ji Juechen silently stepped forward. With a swipe of his hand, bright red blood fell onto the piece of Heavenly Meteoric Iron.

"Juechen!"

Jing Ziyan was greatly alarmed. Just as she was about to say something, she saw the light of the Heavenly Meteoric Iron brighten by several degrees, and the words caught in her throat.

Bai Chen blinked in astonishment.

"How did you know to do that?"

He was far too familiar with Ji Juechen's action. Wasn't that Blood Sacrifice?

A blacksmith could greatly increase the success rate of forging through Blood Sacrifice, while the purpose of Blood Sacrifice for a non-blacksmith was to increase one's compatibility with the metal.

It could be said that from this moment onward, this piece of Heavenly Meteoric Iron was completely linked to Ji Juechen. No matter what weapon it was forged into, only Ji Juechen could bring out its effects to the fullest.

As Ji Juechen's strength grew, the power of the weapon forged from it would also gradually increase.

Ji Juechen still wore that cool expression.

"Instinct."

"..."

Bai Chen no longer wanted to say anything to this kind of gifted monster.

He waved at Jing Ziyan and Ji Juechen.

"All right, you can leave now. I can complete the remaining forging steps without your involvement."

He had specifically called the two of them over to witness the process so that they could complete the Blood Sacrifice. Since that step was already done, there was naturally no need for them to stay.

Ji Juechen, however, shook his head and sat down against the corner of the wall.