More than a decade had passed in the blink of an eye since Zhou Yuan successfully forged a third-tier force weapon.
Over those ten years, Zhou Yuan had lived a regular yet fulfilling life. Every day, he mass-produced third-tier Earth Profound Blades in reality, accumulating wealth and weapon-forging experience. The rest of his time was devoted to studying secret patterns. To break through the bottleneck of fourth-tier weapons, he had spared no expense in purchasing a fourth-tier Breaking Mountain Blade, studying the law-pattern structure within it day and night.
At that moment, in the castle's cultivation chamber, the silver Breaking Mountain Blade floated in midair, its blade trembling faintly as though muttering to itself, "I never expected to gain an introduction to the Space Origin Law."
This was Zhou Yuan's transformation using the Myriad Transformations Secret Technique. Over the years, he had assumed the form of a weapon to study the secret patterns of the Breaking Mountain Blade in depth, repeatedly simulating their operating paths and sensing the Earth Origin Law and Space Origin Law patterns within the blade.
As his understanding of the secret patterns deepened, Zhou Yuan was delighted to discover that he had unknowingly touched upon the threshold of the Space Origin Law. This was truly an unexpected windfall.
The Space Origin Law was one of the two most obscure and difficult-to-understand higher laws in the universe. Many World Lords cultivated bitterly for tens of millions of years without even gaining an introduction, yet Zhou Yuan had entered its threshold merely by studying the secret patterns of a fourth-tier weapon. Such talent would make countless cultivators green with envy.
What excited him even more was that the Earth Origin Law patterns within the Breaking Mountain Blade had also elevated his comprehension of the Earth Origin Law to a new level. He had even formed some preliminary ideas about creating his own secret technique.
"This Breaking Mountain Blade was more than worth the price." Zhou Yuan returned to human form, a smile curling his lips. Studying the secret patterns had not only allowed him to grasp the core structure of a fourth-tier weapon, but had also helped him break through in his law comprehension. It was killing two birds with one stone.
Without wasting a moment, Zhou Yuan immediately entered the Virtual Universe and began simulating the forging of a fourth-tier Breaking Mountain Blade. Forging a fourth-tier weapon was more than a level harder than forging a third-tier one.
Not only did it require more precise control over force energy, but it also required him to wield two types of law power at the same time to inscribe the secret patterns. The slightest mistake would ruin everything. Even with the Virtual Universe as a practice platform, Zhou Yuan did not dare let his guard down.
The days passed one by one as Zhou Yuan switched back and forth between reality and the Virtual Universe.
In reality, his methods for forging third-tier Earth Profound Blades had become flawless. Every movement carried the bearing of a grandmaster, and the quality of every blade remained steadily at the highest standard.
In the Virtual Universe, however, he had to start from scratch, repeatedly attempting to forge fourth-tier Breaking Mountain Blades and experiencing the profundity and difficulty of the two law-patterns.
Occasionally, he was invited to exchange cultivation experiences with several World Lords from Nanyun Star. These World Lords were old monsters who had lived for hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of years. Each had their own unique insights, and discussing law comprehension with them often left Zhou Yuan suddenly enlightened.
With this balance between work and rest, several more decades slipped away in silence.
Over those decades, Zhou Yuan's mastery of the Space Origin Law steadily improved. He had long since crossed the threshold of entry, and his control over spatial power grew increasingly adept. His comprehension of the Earth Origin Law also deepened accordingly, and the two laws formed a wondrous balance within him.
Meanwhile, in the Virtual Universe, his success rate in forging fourth-tier Breaking Mountain Blades rose from single digits at the beginning to perfect success later on. His methods were no less refined than his real-world forging of third-tier weapons.
"It's time to try it in reality." Zhou Yuan looked at the perfect Breaking Mountain Blade floating in the Virtual Universe, determination flashing through his eyes.
Returning to the forging room in his real-world castle, Zhou Yuan took out the materials he had prepared long ago from his spatial ring: over a hundred tons of D9 level earth-element Star Iron, as well as one ton of D9 level space-element Void-Pattern Silver. These materials were extremely valuable, with a total cost exceeding one million Universe Coins. Yet once successfully forged, the finished weapon could sell for at least a hundred million Universe Coins, yielding a hundredfold profit.
However, forging a fourth-tier weapon was incredibly risky, and the failure rate in the early stages remained high. If not for the Virtual Universe, where he could simulate and practice beforehand, material losses alone would have been enough to bankrupt Zhou Yuan.
"Beibei, activate smelting mode. Set the temperature to thirty thousand K." Zhou Yuan's tone carried a trace of gravity. This was his first time challenging a fourth-tier weapon in reality, and there was no room for even the slightest error.
Star Iron had an extremely high melting point. The bright white glow within the smelting furnace rapidly intensified, soon turning into a terrifying pale violet. The temperature throughout the forging room rose sharply, and even the surrounding metal supports were heated until they glowed faintly red.
Zhou Yuan steadily fed the hundred-plus tons of Star Iron into the furnace. Under the intense heat, the metal blocks first softened before gradually turning into silvery-gray molten metal. Fine specks of starlight glittered within it, like a condensed river of stars.
After the Star Iron had completely melted, Zhou Yuan took out the ton of Void-Pattern Silver and carefully added it to the furnace bit by bit. The fusion of Void-Pattern Silver and Star Iron was the crucial step of the entire forging process. Metals with such vastly different properties could easily repel each other, and the slightest carelessness could cause the fusion to fail, wasting all previous effort.
Zhou Yuan pushed his spiritual power to its limit, breaking down every piece of Void-Pattern Silver into nanoscale particles and guiding them evenly into the molten Star Iron. His spiritual power was like the most precise instrument, sensing every minute change within the molten metal while constantly adjusting the output of his force energy to ensure that the two metals merged perfectly.
A full hour passed. When the last trace of Void-Pattern Silver fused into the molten Star Iron, the metal within the furnace finally turned a peculiar silver-violet. Starlight flickered within it, and faint spatial fluctuations seeped out. The two metals had successfully fused.
Zhou Yuan took a deep breath and immediately began the most crucial step: tempering and inscription.
Zhou Yuan drew upon every bit of force energy within his body and poured it into the smelting furnace. On one hand, he used the force energy to refine the molten metal, allowing the energies of the two metals to merge completely. On the other, he inscribed the secret patterns of the Breaking Mountain Blade into it as the molten metals fused.
The secret patterns of a fourth-tier force weapon were extraordinarily complex. The patterns of the earth law and the Space Origin Law intertwined, forming a precise network of laws. Even the slightest deviation in any strand could cause the entire forging process to fail.
Time passed bit by bit. Fine beads of sweat seeped from Zhou Yuan's forehead as both his spiritual power and force energy drained rapidly. His eyes remained fixed on the smelting furnace, not daring to lose focus for even an instant. Every surge of force energy and every circulation of spiritual power was controlled with utmost precision.
Three days later, the tempering of the molten metal finally neared its end. The silver-violet radiance had become so dense it seemed tangible, while the fusion of the two metals within was flawless. At that moment, the final law-pattern was also completed. The earthy-yellow patterns of the earth law and the silver patterns of the Space Origin Law combined perfectly, forming a stable circuit.
"It's done!" Zhou Yuan relaxed inwardly and slowly withdrew his force energy. The temperature of the smelting furnace began to fall. When the last trace of force energy was drawn from the furnace, the blade's law fluctuations reached their peak. The dense heaviness of earth intertwined with the profundity of space, radiating terrifying pressure before gradually subsiding.