Forging a Black-Tier Greatsword

Outer Sect, Mission Hall.

The hall buzzed with voices, packed shoulder to shoulder.

A massive jade wall floated in the center of the hall, dense streams of mission information scrolling across it. The red lettering was like flowing lava.

[Find the missing spirit pet "Huahua." Reward: 1 contribution point.]

[Gather ten hemostatic herbs. Reward: 2 contribution points.]

[Slay a first-rank demonic beast, an Ironback Boar. Reward: 5 contribution points.]

Ye Xingchen's gaze swept rapidly over those low-level missions before skipping past them.

These brick-hauling missions were far too slow.

His gaze traveled upward before finally settling on the middle section of the jade wall.

[Urgently seeking the forging of a "Profound Iron Greatsword." Must be Black Tier or above, weigh one thousand jin, materials provided by the requester. Reward: 1,200 contribution points, plus ten Blood-Coagulating Pills!]

"Wow, the reward for this mission is so generous—1,200 contribution points and ten Blood-Coagulating Pills!"

"Don't even think about it. Forging a Profound Iron Greatsword is incredibly difficult, not to mention reaching the Black Tier. Other than a few elders in the outer sect's Artifact Refining Hall, no other artifact refiners could even dream of it."

"I was only saying wow. I never said I was taking it."

"This mission has been up for over a month, and no one has dared accept it!"

"..."

This was the one. Ye Xingchen walked up to the counter and slapped his identity jade tag onto the table.

"I'll take this mission."

The attendant disciple looked at the slender, fair hand on the counter, and his Adam's apple bobbed.

"Are you... sure?" the attendant disciple kindly reminded him. "Junior Brother, this mission has been posted for a month. For a Profound Iron Greatsword, you need to refine the essence of metal from mundane fire, while ensuring that its thousand-jin weight does not vary by even a fraction. If you fail, you'll have to compensate for the materials yourself."

"Certain beyond doubt." Ye Xingchen lightly tapped his fingers against the tabletop, each tap ringing with certainty. "Register it already. I'm in a hurry."

"Who's this kid? He looks unfamiliar. Isn't he only at Qi Refining, Fourth Layer? Where did he get the nerve?"

"He's so fair and delicate, skinny as a twig. He's an artifact refiner?"

"Forging a Profound Iron Greatsword—what a newborn calf that isn't afraid of tigers."

Among the crowd, several sharp-eyed disciples gathered together, their eyes flickering as they whispered among themselves.

"I remember now! Isn't this Ye Xingchen, the one who has been causing such a stir in the Artifact Refining Hall lately? They say he defeated Li Gui, and that he has a close relationship with Elder Mo!"

"Oh—so he's someone with connections. No wonder he dared take this mission. Most likely, after accepting it, he'll hand it over to Elder Mo or some senior brother to do for him, then pocket the contribution points and pills for free, right?"

"Tsk, tsk. The world is going downhill. We risk life and limb killing demonic beasts, while he can fill his bowls to overflowing just by relying on connections."

The sour remarks spread through the crowd, and quite a few people looked at Ye Xingchen with hostility and disdain.

"Idiots..."

In a corner of the crowd, several disciples wearing Artifact Refining Hall robes could not help rolling their eyes.

"Elder Mo is famous for being iron-faced and impartial. Even his personal disciples are punished for mistakes without exception. Helping someone do their work for them? That would only happen if the sun rose in the west!"

"But then again, can this Ye Xingchen really forge a Black-Tier greatsword? That requires Foundation Establishment cultivation. He's only in the Qi Refining Stage right now."

"Who knows? Maybe after becoming famous, he got carried away and no longer knows his own weight. Let's just wait and watch him make a fool of himself."

"..."

Ye Xingchen turned a deaf ear to the discussions around him.

In his eyes, the strong never needed to explain their strength to the weak.

"Is the registration done?" Ye Xingchen urged.

"Y-yes." The attendant disciple hurriedly handed over the jade tag. "The mission deadline is three days. If you fail to submit it by then, double the contribution points will be deducted."

"Got it. Thanks."

Ye Xingchen snatched up the jade tag, leaving the crowd with a dashing silhouette as he strode out of the Mission Hall.

Artifact Refining Hall, Earthfire Room.

The place was scorching hot year-round, and the air was thick with the smell of sulfur and scorched metal.

Ye Xingchen made his way familiarly to the materials storeroom and slapped the mission jade tag onto the table.

"I'm collecting one set of materials for the Profound Iron Greatsword."

The man in charge of the materials storeroom was a greasy-faced middle-aged fat man. He glanced at Ye Xingchen and lazily raised one finger. "You know the rules, right? For missions not assigned by the hall, borrowing an Earthfire Room and materials requires handing over ten percent of the profits to the hall. Also, the thousand jin of Profound Iron must be purchased at your own expense."

"How much?" Ye Xingchen's eyelid twitched.

"Five hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones, or... one Blood-Coagulating Pill." The fat man smiled amiably, looking exactly like a shrewd lucky cat.

"Highway robbery!"

Ye Xingchen sucked in a cold breath and clutched his chest.

He had known artifact refining was a money-burning profession, but this entry fee was far too expensive! Five hundred Spirit Stones were the savings of an ordinary outer sect disciple for half a year!

"Forge it or don't." The fat man shrugged. "This Profound Iron is top-quality Deep-Sea Sunken Iron. If it weren't for the fact that you're a disciple of this hall, the price would be double."

"Fine! You win!"

Gritting his back teeth, Ye Xingchen painfully pulled out the jade bottle he had only just warmed in his pocket. He poured out a Blood-Coagulating Pill and slapped it onto the table. "Take it! How many hammer strikes will I need to earn this pill back..."

After taking the pill and confirming it was genuine, the fat man smiled until his eyes became narrow slits. "Take the Profound Iron yourself. Here's the key to the Earthfire Room."

"Room D-9. Wishing you a victorious start, Junior Brother."

Ye Xingchen hoisted the Profound Iron ingot, which stood nearly half a man tall, onto his shoulder and stormed toward the Earthfire Room.

"Just wait. The wool comes from the sheep's back. Sooner or later, I'll settle this account!"

Earthfire Room D-9.

It was a semi-open refining room. There were no fully enclosed walls around it, only several thick stone pillars supporting the dome.

That meant Ye Xingchen's artifact refining process would be completely exposed to everyone's eyes.

At that moment, many disciples in the Artifact Refining Hall had received the news. They put down their work and gathered around.

"Look, that's Ye Xingchen! I heard he accepted that Profound Iron Greatsword mission!"

"Seriously? That's Black-Tier difficulty, and he actually dared take it?!"

"I think he's gone mad for money. I saw him paying for the materials just now—his expression looked like someone was carving flesh off him."

"Putting on airs. I want to see how he turns that stubborn chunk of iron into a treasured sword without an elder's help!"

Inside the Earthfire Room.

Ye Xingchen took a deep breath, cast aside all distractions, and became utterly focused.

"Ignite."

He formed a hand seal with one hand and activated the Earthfire Array.

Boom!

Crimson Earthfire surged from beneath the furnace, instantly engulfing the entire forging platform. The heat warped the air, yet Ye Xingchen's brow did not furrow in the slightest.

He threw the thousand-jin Profound Iron ingot into the furnace.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—

Under the licking flames, the surface of the Profound Iron slowly began to redden, but its core remained as hard as ice.

"With this kind of mundane fire, melting Deep-Sea Profound Iron will take at least three hours."

A veteran artifact refining disciple among the spectators shook his head. "This step alone will be enough to drain all his spiritual energy."

Yet in the next instant, everyone froze.

Ye Xingchen did not foolishly wait.

A strange golden light suddenly flashed through his eyes.

Origin Heaven Art—Activate!

In his vision, the seemingly seamless chunk of Profound Iron was instantly broken down into countless crisscrossing patterns. Where the impurities were most concentrated, where the structure was loosest, and where the core stress points lay—all became clear at a glance.

"So that's how it is..."

A confident curve rose at the corner of Ye Xingchen's lips.

He suddenly reached out and grabbed the eight-hundred-jin black iron sledgehammer beside him.

"Chaotic Cloak, rise!"