"Don't heap such praise on this old man. I'm really not as capable as you imagine," Ou Jin said, shaking his head. "All these years, I haven't dared begin forging, for fear of failure. There's only one saber blank. If I ruined it, I'd become a sinner condemned throughout the Ou Family's history."
"Senior Ou, I imagine your wish to forge a divine weapon from this saber blank isn't out of selfishness, is it?" Huang Xiao asked.
"What do you mean?" Demon Phoenix asked, somewhat puzzled.
Demon Phoenix hadn't quite understood Huang Xiao's words.
"To think you could actually guess that, lad," Ou Jin said with a long sigh. "You're right. This old man truly has no selfish motives. If I could still afford to wait, I wouldn't dare use this saber blank either. I'd only dream about it. The Ou Family has had forging masters more skilled than me in its history, so why didn't our forebears forge a divine weapon from it? To a smith, a saber blank like this is an irresistible temptation, just like..."
"Just like a beautiful woman's temptation to a man," Demon Phoenix called out.
"Crude words, but the principle is the same," Ou Jin said with a hearty laugh. "Our forebears left it untouched because the saber blank hadn't been tempered to maturity yet. Without enough time spent quenching, it would contain flaws. Even if they forged a precious saber, it would certainly have defects and couldn't count among the world's divine weapons. That's why our forebears didn't dare use it. But now, this old man has discovered that the saber blank is nearly ready. In another few years, the time will be ripe, and forging must begin then. Continuing to temper it would probably damage the blank. Longer quenching isn't necessarily better.