Artifact Forging Results, a Full Set of Magical Artifacts!

Ning Chen held the newly forged Fierce Slash Blade in his hand and examined it closely beneath the sunlight.

The Fierce Slash Blade had a sleek, elongated body that was not overly heavy, resembling a goose-quill saber in shape.

The blade curved slightly, narrowing cleanly and sharply from spine to edge, giving it a crisp, fierce air.

Yet unlike an ordinary goose-quill saber, this Fierce Slash Blade possessed a deep, restrained crimson color, as though flames had seeped into its very bones during the forging process.

Most eye-catching were the patterns that began at the hilt and extended along the blade's spine all the way to its tip.

The patterns overlapped in orderly layers, sparse and dense in perfect measure, becoming deeper and more intricate closer to the tip.

They resembled the veins of solidified flames, or the traces left by lava flowing across the blade. Under the light, they faintly shimmered with a dark crimson sheen.

They were decorations, but also array markings forged from Crimson Steel.

When used, they allowed the wielder's Soul Power to flow smoothly along the patterns, unleashing greater power.

He casually spun the blade in a flourish. The edge sliced through the air with a faint hum.

Soul Power flowed into it, and the array markings forged from Crimson Steel on the blade flickered slightly.

"Soul Power circulation is normal. Next, it's time to test the Fierce Slash Blade's power!"

Ning Chen walked to the center of the courtyard and secured a piece of wood prepared in advance, as thick as an adult's thigh.

He then raised the Fierce Slash Blade in his hand, poured Soul Power into it, and swung fiercely!

A searing, solid blaze instantly emerged from the Fierce Slash Blade, like a flame slash compressed to its absolute limit, striking the wood with precision.

A crisp cutting sound rang out. Wherever the blade passed, the piece of wood as thick as an adult's thigh was cleanly severed.

Ning Chen stepped up to the stump and saw that the cut was flat and smooth, with faint charred scorch marks lingering around its edges. A light smell of burnt wood filled the air.

Ning Chen could not help laughing in delight. Its power was even stronger than he had imagined. It absolutely rivaled the single-target offensive Soul Skills granted by some high-quality hundred-year Soul Rings!

Looking at the Fierce Slash Blade in his hand, fashioned like a goose-quill saber, Ning Chen felt incomparably satisfied.

However, Ning Chen did not intend to go Soul Hunting just yet.

His first Soul Ring was already seven hundred years old, so his second Soul Ring had to start at a thousand years.

Thousand-year Soul Beasts were already scarce in the Soul Hunting Forest, and there were simply none in the Barak Kingdom's Soul Hunting Forest suitable for Ning Chen.

If he wanted to obtain a suitable thousand-year second Soul Ring, he would need to travel to the Star Dou Great Forest.

The Star Dou Great Forest lay directly south of the Heaven Dou Empire, bordering the southeastern frontier of the Barak Kingdom.

It also stretched across the borders of the two great empires, Heaven Dou and Star Luo. Its vast area was nearly equal to the entire territory of the Barak Kingdom, making it the foremost of Douluo Continent's three major wild Soul Beast habitats.

Any Soul Master with sufficient strength and good fortune could find the Soul Ring most suited to them within it.

For Ning Chen, the Star Dou Great Forest was the best choice for obtaining his second Soul Ring.

Likewise, compared with the Barak Kingdom's Soul Hunting Forest, the Star Dou Great Forest's danger level increased geometrically.

Even the Azure Wood Puppet could not give him enough of a sense of security. Ning Chen planned to forge a complete set of magical artifacts at the level of second-level Soul Tools before heading to the Star Dou Great Forest.

In the blink of an eye, another two months passed.

With the insight and perspective granted by mastering the Nine Yang Divine Skill, Ning Chen's artifact-forging techniques improved at a rapid pace.

Over those two months, Ning Chen had also largely completed his goal.

The second-level Soul Tool Fierce Slash Blade looked sharper and smoother, while the patterns upon it had become more intricate.

The second-level Soul Tool protective inner armor, the Earthguard Armor, was already being worn close against Ning Chen's body.

Not only was its inherent defense extremely strong, but it could also activate the defensive spell Thick Earth Protection, condensing earthen armor around the vital parts of his body.

It lasted for ten seconds. During Thick Earth Protection, it could withstand the full-force attacks of three Soul Elders.

There were also the second-level Soul Tool Wind-Chasing Boots. By injecting Soul Power into them, he could activate the inscriptions within the boots and directly increase Ning Chen's speed by thirty percent.

They came with the low-level spell Wind-Chasing. Once activated, it granted explosive movement speed for three seconds, making it highly useful whether in battle or while fleeing.

The Fierce Slash Blade, Earthguard Armor, and Wind-Chasing Boots—these were the results of Ning Chen's forging and artifact crafting over the past two months.

And after forging those three second-level Soul Tools, his little treasury officially went bankrupt. He did not even have money left for the journey to the Star Dou Great Forest or for purchasing supplies.

Now that he had a second-level Soul Tool Fierce Slash Blade, the First-Level Flame-Slashing Blade he had forged before was no longer of much use.

So Ning Chen simply placed it in the Treasure Gathering Pavilion on consignment.

The art of forging Soul Tools had long been lost in the present-day Douluo Continent. They could only be acquired through excavations in various ruins, and even then, they were mostly storage-type Soul Tools.

Ning Chen's Fierce Slash Blade was not only an exceptionally rare offensive Soul Tool, but was also of outstanding quality. In the end, it sold for an extremely high price.

After the Treasure Gathering Pavilion took its commission, Ning Chen received a full two thousand Gold Soul Coins!

It was the largest sum of wealth he had ever received at one time.

According to the people at the Treasure Gathering Pavilion, the person who had bid on the First-Level Flame-Slashing Blade seemed to be a high-ranking grand noble from Barak City.

He had not purchased the Fierce Slash Blade to use it, but to collect it.

With two thousand Gold Soul Coins in hand, Ning Chen began urgently preparing all sorts of items for his journey to the Star Dou Great Forest.

Food, water, changes of clothes, and everything else were fully prepared.

To make traveling easier, Ning Chen also bought a horse said to possess Soul Beast bloodline, spending a full fifty Gold Soul Coins.

Though the price was steep, it was worth it. This gray-coated horse was not only fast but also had great endurance, absolutely no worse than some of the so-called Ferghana horses from his original world.

For convenience, Ning Chen gave the gray horse a name: Little Gray.

This trip to the Star Dou Great Forest would take at least half a month, or as long as one or two months.

Ning Chen therefore did not renew the lease on his current courtyard. Once everything was ready, he set out one morning.

After several months, Ning Chen had grown quite a bit taller, but riding a horse was still somewhat difficult for him.

So Ning Chen hitched a carriage to Little Gray and traveled all the way toward the Star Dou Great Forest.

The Star Dou Great Forest lay southeast of the Barak Kingdom, only about five hundred kilometers from Soto City, known as the "Barak Granary."

If Ning Chen wanted to reach the Star Dou Great Forest, he would inevitably have to pass through Soto City.

And Soto City was the city where the renowned Shrek Academy from the original work was located.

Within the Soul Master World, Shrek Academy also had a certain degree of fame.

That was entirely because Shrek Academy's founder was Flender, the Horn of Soaring, one of the famous Golden Iron Triangle of the Soul Master World, and a Soul Sage-level powerhouse.

For that reason, although Shrek Academy was located in the countryside outside Soto City and its environment was not particularly good, many people still brought their children there every year to apply for admission.

However, Shrek Academy had always maintained strict requirements for its students. After all these years, it had never even gathered enough students to participate in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament.

It was rather a case of much thunder but little rain.