A true magic core weapon was born!

Amid the ringing blows, the iron billet steadily shrank, while metal and lightning Dou Qi continually strengthened it.

Before long, the billet took shape.

This time, however, it was not a weapon blank. Instead, it looked rather like a scabbard—a broad scabbard for a Heavy Sword, at that!

Its interior was hollow, as though someone had removed a Heavy Sword's hilt and guard, then hollowed out part of its blade.

If he had to describe it, this was a sword shell with cutting edges!

After quenching and cooling the sword shell.

Zhou Changqing took a sword from beside him.

The sword shell was dark gold and looked exceptionally heavy and solid, but this sword was different.

Its two-foot blade was grayish green, with many mysterious patterns engraved across its faces, flowing smoothly over the entire blade.

Furthermore, its black guard was unusually broad, and its black hilt, wrapped in gold and silver bindings, was about a foot long.

These stood in stark contrast to its normally sized blade.

"What was that saying again? A little horse pulling a big cart! Right, that's it. Fuck, that fits perfectly."

Looking at the sword with its oversized guard and hilt and undersized blade, Zhou Changqing could not help smiling, almost laughing aloud.

Shaking his head, Zhou Changqing stroked the two recesses he had left in the centers of the guard's two faces, his eyes brimming with anticipation.

Picking up the peculiar longsword, Zhou Changqing went over to the sword shell and lifted it with his other hand.

Then he aligned the longsword's tip with the hollow opening in the shell and pushed hard!

Whoosh!

The longsword slid inside in an instant!

The two pieces fit together perfectly, without the slightest gap!

Zhou Changqing nodded to himself at the sight. His craftsmanship truly was impeccable, every bit the equal of the precision, zero-tolerance seamless metalworking techniques from his previous life.

Now the sword looked much more normal. It was a genuine Heavy Sword.

Its appearance rather resembled the Dragon Spring Sword from an animated series Zhou Changqing had watched in his previous life, though it was slightly larger.

Feeling the Heavy Sword's weight in his hand, Zhou Changqing clicked his tongue. "This must weigh over a hundred jin, right? No wonder the shell's made of Heavy Gold. One word: heavy!"

After speaking, Zhou Changqing pulled the blade out of the shell again and inspected its engraved patterns.

Once he confirmed there was no wear, Zhou Changqing reassembled it, carried the Heavy Sword over to the furnace, and placed it inside.

Soon, the Heavy Sword's blade glowed red-hot once more.

Taking it out, Zhou Changqing picked up his hammer and began striking the junction between the guard and blade!

When forging the little-horse blade and its shell, he had left interlocking catches resembling mortise-and-tenon joints wherever there were no engraved patterns.

Now, under his hammering, the shell locked tightly onto the blade, as solid as though they had become a single piece.

After a second quenching, a complete Heavy Sword appeared before Zhou Changqing.

Then the Storage Ring on Zhou Changqing's right index finger flashed, and two crystalline gems the size of pebbles appeared in his palm.

One gem was gold and the other silver. They gave off a faint glow, their radiance mingling beneath the sunlight in a breathtaking display.

Holding the two gems, Zhou Changqing fitted them into the recesses on either side of the Heavy Sword's guard.

"Whew... success or failure all comes down to this!"

"Come on!"

Looking at the now-complete Heavy Sword, Zhou Changqing took a deep breath, his expression turning solemn!

Gripping the Heavy Sword tightly, he circulated his cultivation technique, and a stream of pale gold Dou Qi immediately flowed from his right hand into the sword!

Under Zhou Changqing's control, the Dou Qi went straight toward the golden gem on one face of the guard!

When the Dou Qi touched it, the gem began to shine with a hazy radiance under its guidance!

In an instant, a considerable surge of energy poured out of the gem, mingling with the Dou Qi and flowing into the blade.

Had someone been able to see through the blade, they would have seen the Sword Core fitted inside the Heavy Sword's shell glowing!

The source of that glow was a portion of the mysterious patterns on the Sword Core's surface!

The flowing, profound inscriptions intertwined like glittering rivers of stars, golden energy circulating endlessly through them!

At the same time, the Heavy Sword's enormous blade also shone, energy spreading from within to cover its entire surface in dazzling light!

"Hah!"

Delight flashed in Zhou Changqing's eyes at the sight. Then he shouted, swung the Heavy Sword forcefully with his right hand, and slashed toward the heavens!

Though the Heavy Sword was heavy, Zhou Changqing's current Dou Shi cultivation, coupled with the powerful physique he had developed through years of smithing, allowed him to swing it easily!

Whoosh!

In an instant, a dazzling golden crescent of light slashed out of the Heavy Sword!

The incomparably sharp golden streak seemed capable of cutting through anything as it sliced through the air and shot into the heavens!

Swish!

Just then, a small bird happened to fly past, directly in the streak's path!

There was no surprise—the bird was cleaved in two!

Its upper half had not even reacted. It flew another inch or two before abruptly falling!

The streak of light had long since vanished, its destination unknown!

"Hahaha! It worked!"

Watching the light disappear into the sky, Zhou Changqing cheered and laughed, utterly exhilarated!

Then he looked down at the Heavy Sword in his hand, his eyes filled with excitement!

The first true Magic Core Weapon.

Had been born!

And it had been born from his own hands!

At that moment, Zhou Changqing could hardly bear to put the Magic Core Heavy Sword down, continually feeling over every part of it.

After handling and admiring it for a while, Zhou Changqing set the Heavy Sword down, sat beside the stone table in the courtyard, took out several sheets of paper, and began writing furiously.

He wanted to record every bit of experience he had gained from successfully refining the Magic Core Heavy Sword.

Although he remembered every detail, that did not stop him from compiling them into a written record.

Perhaps these pages would one day become a sacred text for the weapon-refining profession?

Speaking of this Magic Core Heavy Sword, making it had truly been no easy task for Zhou Changqing.

First, the materials were different from those he had used before.

The material used for the two-foot Sword Core was a special metal called Jade Steel.

It earned its name from its grayish-green color and jade-like luster.

This metal was tough and possessed considerable energy conductivity, making it exceptionally suitable for forging the core components of Magic Core Weapons.

The metal used for the sword shell, meanwhile, was called Heavy Gold.

This metal had only two characteristics: it was heavy enough and hard enough!

Compared to ordinary metals, Heavy Gold weighed more than twice as much!

Next came the manufacturing process.

Thanks to his connection with Ya Fei, he had purchased a large number of books on Formation Crafting and Medicine Cauldron construction at the Mittel Auction House.

Some covered the basics, others were advanced, and there were even a few secret manuals containing more profound knowledge.

After several months of extensive reading and study, Zhou Changqing had finally gained a preliminary grasp of their mysteries.

Using this knowledge and his own ideas, Zhou Changqing began engraving formation patterns onto weapons, hoping they would produce special effects once Dou Qi was injected.

They were much like the restrictions or runes within Magical Artifacts in cultivation novels.

Hard work never failed those who put their hearts into it.

After many failed experiments, Zhou Changqing finally discovered the knack.

But afterward, Zhou Changqing discovered a fatal weakness in engraving formation patterns onto a weapon's surface.

When weapons clashed, the formation patterns engraved on their surfaces were easily damaged.

After all, formation patterns were delicate. Even the slightest scratch could cause them to fail.

And so Zhou Changqing thought of using an outer shell.

He would forge a core that functioned like a chip to carry the formation patterns, then fit it inside the weapon. That way, it would be much harder to damage.

Unless the entire weapon was broken or severed, the core would remain intact.

Zhou Changqing had chosen Heavy Gold for the shell precisely because of its hardness.

Finally, he embedded a Second-Tier Magic Core into the weapon to serve as its power source.

Dou Qi acted as the switch, drawing out the energy within the magic core and selectively activating the various formation patterns in the weapon's core to produce different effects.

Of course, this method of Weapon Refining was imperfect. After all, the weapon was not a seamless whole.

But again, Zhou Changqing's current resources were limited. This approach to Weapon Refining was truly a matter of necessity.

Because he could neither project Dou Qi outside his body nor give it physical substance, he could not melt metal into liquid through his own power, nor could he use his soul perception to guide Dou Qi into directly inscribing formation patterns inside the weapon during the shaping process.

Thus, he could only resort to this clumsy method of assembling separate components.

However, once Zhou Changqing broke through to Da Dou Shi, these would no longer be problems.

At that point, he would be able to refine fully integrated Magic Core Weapons!

Ahem, the method for refining Magic Core Weapons was entirely made up by the author. It's a fantasy world, dear readers, so please don't take it too seriously.

(End of chapter)