The undefeated legend

Tian Hao had no idea someone already had their eye on him-and that it was a man lusting after his good looks and his backside.

At that moment, he was holed up in the tombs of the Mount Hua Sect's forebears, swinging a hammer until sweat streamed down his back.

Of course, he was not merely swinging a hammer. He had not neglected his own cultivation either.

His Eagle Claw Stele-Smashing Hand had already reached perfection and needed no further practice, while the Horizontal Crab Iron Shirt grew harder to cultivate the further he progressed. It was a matter of slow, painstaking effort.

Thus, he focused most of his energy on cultivating Embrace Origin Force, hoping to bring it to perfection as well.

He had even set aside his plans to cultivate Primal Chaos Skill, intending to perfect Embrace Origin Force before switching to Primordial Chaos Palm Art.

Besides that, he also practiced the martial arts manuals obtained from the Desert North Duo.

They had acquired three martial arts manuals from the Desert North Duo in total. Besides the internal art Demon Ape Skill and the external art Demon Ape Through-Arm Fist, there was also a saber technique.

However, that saber technique was utter trash. It was inferior even to the Mount Hua Sect's introductory swordsmanship and not worth cultivating.

That made sense, though. Had the Desert North Duo possessed a powerful saber technique, taking them down that day would have been difficult. At the very least, they would have paid a considerable price.

Compared with the saber technique, Demon Ape Skill and Demon Ape Through-Arm Fist-two complementary arts that cultivated both the internal and external-were far more valuable.

Clang!

After delivering the final hammer blow, Tian Hao set down the massive meteoric iron hammer and picked up a towel to wipe the sweat from his face.

"Take it away, fit the hilt, and grind an edge onto it!"

He handed the sword blank to the martial uncle waiting beside him. Although he had done his utmost to hammer the black iron blade extremely thin, it still needed grinding. Nor could they use an ordinary whetstone for the job; they had to use a bar of black iron.

Just as diamonds could only be polished with diamonds, black iron rivaled diamond in hardness. Ordinary whetstones naturally could not grind it; they had to rub black iron against black iron. Even then, it remained extremely difficult.

Perhaps Dugu Qiubai, that king of show-offs next door, had not left his black iron heavy sword blunt because he wanted to, but because he lacked a suitable grinding tool. Hence the saying: a heavy sword has no edge; the greatest artistry needs no embellishment.

Fortunately, they only needed to grind that tiny strip along the blade's edge, so it was not much of a problem.

And this was already the fortieth black iron longsword he had forged.

One each for his thirty-six martial uncles, two for his master and master's wife, one for his little senior sister, and his own greatsword-forty in all.

"What a fine sword! A fine sword!"

Qian Bunu was beside himself with joy as he accepted the finished longsword blank. His delight only grew when he channeled his inner qi into it and saw Sword-Qi condense along its edge.

Black iron swords greatly amplified a martial artist's internal power. In the hands of a Houtian Realm expert, they could make Sword-Qi more concentrated. Even an Inner Qi Realm expert could use one to condense Sword-Qi, something normally possible only for Houtian Realm experts.

Moreover, the black iron longsword itself was virtually indestructible and incomparably sharp-a rare divine weapon. Even at the Mount Hua Sect's former peak, it had not possessed a single longsword made of pure black iron.

With this treasured black iron sword in hand, coupled with his Embrace Origin Force, which was approaching major achievement, he was confident he could hold his own against an expert at the peak of the Houtian Realm for a short time.

Once his Embrace Origin Force reached major achievement, he might even be able to kill one.

That was the terrifying power of combining a divine weapon with a martial artist who cultivated both internally and externally. Fighting above one's level was entirely possible.

"Put out the furnace!"

Tossing aside the sweat-soaked towel, Tian Hao ordered the furnace extinguished.

Their original target had been forty treasured black iron swords. Although they still had a little meteoric iron in reserve, there was no need to hammer out any more for now.

Fortunately, they had acquired that batch of unfinished curved sabers forged from meteoric iron at Guan Family Fort. Otherwise, the Mount Hua Sect's stockpile would never have been enough to forge all these black iron longswords, much less upgrade his treasured armor as well.

"Wait! You haven't forged Eldest Senior Brother's sword yet!"

Yue Lingshan, who was grinding her own treasured sword nearby, protested. Everyone now had a treasured black iron sword, yet Eldest Senior Brother was still using a longsword made of hundred-forged steel.

Eldest Senior Brother was now one of the Mount Hua Sect's three Houtian Realm experts. A treasured black iron sword would surely give the tiger wings.

"Eldest Senior Brother is destined to follow the path where no sword surpasses having a sword. A treasured black iron sword would only shackle him."

Tian Hao delivered this nonsense with a perfectly straight face. He would never forge a treasured black iron sword for someone like Linghu Chong, who was destined to become an ungrateful wolf. Only an idiot would do something as foolish as supplying the enemy.

Unless that fellow came to his senses-and, more importantly, improved his intelligence. Still, that seemed unlikely.

"No sword surpasses having a sword?"

Yue Lingshan blinked in innocent bewilderment. It was her first time hearing such a saying, but it sounded rather impressive.

"In the Southern Song Kingdom, there's a Sword Demon who calls himself Dugu Qiubai. He has already attained the supreme realm of swordsmanship where no sword surpasses having a sword. Grass, wood, bamboo, and stone can all serve as his sword.

"Eldest Senior Brother's talent for swordsmanship is exceedingly rare. He has a chance of following in Senior Sword Demon's footsteps."

He continued bluffing with a perfectly straight face. No matter who came asking, he would never forge a treasured black iron sword for Linghu Chong.

"Why hasn't your Horizontal Crab Iron Shirt reached minor achievement yet?"

Before the girl could speak again, Tian Hao questioned her coldly, his expression even turning somewhat ferocious.

As my little cheat sister, she actually dared to slack off? Did she have a death wish?

"S-soon. It'll reach minor achievement soon."

Yue Lingshan shuddered in fright. These past few months had been sheer torment. She had thought reaching the entry-level realm in Horizontal Crab Iron Shirt would be the end of it, but this fellow had then gotten her mother to force her to keep practicing. Being struck with wooden sticks really hurt.

"One month. Bring your Horizontal Crab Iron Shirt to minor achievement within one month. If you can't, I'll help you train."

Tian Hao imposed the deadline in a tone that brooked no refusal and left no room for negotiation.

"Damn rat!"

Muttering resentfully, Yue Lingshan truly wanted to hammer this fellow to death.

I'm a girl, you know!

"Martial Nephew Hao, your treasured black iron armor has been linked together."

Just then, the one-armed Wu Buyi approached with a suit of fish-scale Chainmail slung over his shoulder.

Tian Hao had forged it from black iron in his spare time. First, small black iron rings were linked into Chainmail, then the finished black iron plates were attached one by one, creating two layers of protection.

There was no helping it. Although Chainmail offered decent protection, it could not stop needle-type hidden weapons. Aunt Dongfang happened to be an expert with embroidery needles, and plenty of people in the Sun-Moon Demon Cult could use Black Blood Needles too.

That was why he had added a layer of fish-scale armor.

In any case, the imperial court only prohibited civilians from wearing armor; fish-scale armor and Chainmail did not count as rigid armor.

With his respected teacher Ru Zhigang's connections as well, it would not be much of a problem even if someone discovered it.

"So soon?"

Tian Hao was surprised. He had thought it would take several more days to finish. The fish-scale armor was one thing, but fastening together the inner Chainmail was troublesome. There were countless rings, and the black iron rings were difficult to pry open and link together.

"We divided the work among ourselves and joined the pieces together at the end. Naturally, it didn't take long. This thing is rather heavy, though-a full three hundred jin."

Baring his teeth, Wu Buyi could not understand why Tian Hao had wasted black iron making such a cumbersome suit of armor.

Mount Hua's martial arts excelled in lightness and agility, flowing like a gentle breeze. Wearing three hundred jin of armor, forget using Lightness Skill-even moving would be difficult.

"There are too many villains in the Jianghu these days. Compared with nimble footwork and Lightness Skill, I prefer armor like this. Wearing it also provides extra weight to help train my body."

Tian Hao knew very well that his path differed from that of ordinary martial artists. To reach the pinnacle of martial arts, staying alive came first. And to live longer, he had to stack on the thickest armor.

A real man ought to crush every enemy with grand, overwhelming might. Martial arts were no different!

In fact, were it not for the imperial court's explicit regulations and their limited supply of meteoric iron, he would have liked to forge himself a suit of black iron plate armor, preferably styled like Garen's or Arthur's armor. Add a massive black iron shield, and he would immediately stand undefeated.

Even if I stood there as a target for Aunt Dongfang, I'd concede defeat if her embroidery needles could pierce it.

Of course, equipment was secondary. The key was his own defenses. Later, he could find a way to acquire Shaolin Temple's Vajra Indestructible Divine Skill, Golden Bell Shield, and a whole series of other martial arts, then stack them all together.

When that time came, he, Tian Hao, would be this world's undefeated legend!

"As long as you're happy!"

His face twitched involuntarily. Wu Buyi kept feeling that this martial nephew he had acquired was cut from a very strange cloth, utterly at odds with the entire Mount Hua Sect.

He truly could not fathom how his sect leader junior brother had raised such an oddball.