The spores were tiny, invisible, and extremely permeative. Once attached to flesh and blood, they could continually draw out vitality, take root, and grow, producing exactly the same effect as toxins eating away at the body.
Only, while others used corrosive toxins, he used the powerful vitality of Blue Silver Grass.
The long saber covered in spores gave off a faint blue glow. It looked unremarkable, but its killing power was already completely different.
As the saying went, first came the Tetanus Blade, and now came his Blue Silver Blade.
Xu Qing's gaze sharpened, and he charged out again.
Cold saber light swept out, striking a zombie that had broken free of the Blue Silver Grass and lunged at him.
The instant the blade entered its body, the vast mass of spores attached to it invaded the zombie's wound, spreading wildly along the grain of its flesh.
The zombie, which had still been struggling violently, suddenly stiffened, its entire body convulsing.
Tiny blue-silver shoots visible to the naked eye burst wildly from its flesh and the gaps between its bones. In mere moments, they pierced through its body, completely locking down its every movement.
Without needing a second strike, the zombie lost all signs of life and crashed to the ground.
A one-hit kill!
The effect far surpassed an ordinary slash!
Heh heh heh~
Little zombies, here I come~
Over the next few days, aside from his regular classes, Xu Qing spent his time forging as he tried to grasp the Thousand Refinement Mang Tian had described, and killing zombies.
Besides that, he also began his own Blue Silver Grass planting plan.
After school, Tang Wulin and Xu Qing went to Mang Tian's Workshop together.
Aolai City, an unnamed, deserted beach.
The sea wind howled, and waves surged, crashing against the pitch-black reefs and throwing up layers of white spray with a bone-chilling coolness.
"My lord, we've finally found you!"
A black-robed man bowed to a silver-haired girl.
Three other men and two women stood nearby.
Gu Yuena nodded, a trace of coldness flashing through her eyes. "Di Tian, if I'm not mistaken, someone must have plotted against me."
"What!"
The black-robed man immediately erupted with a terrifying presence, and the others were likewise filled with anger!
Gu Yuena waved a hand, signaling for everyone to remain calm.
"Back then, during my transformation, getting me here right under your noses shouldn't have been something an ordinary person could do. And I actually sensed his presence inside a child in this little city."
Di Tian said in surprise, "Lord Golden Dragon King?"
Gu Yuena nodded. "All of this is too coincidental, as though someone arranged it."
"My lord, then... the other lord..."
"If my guess is right, he should have fallen, and his origin has been sealed inside a child."
"Then, my lord, should we..."
Gu Yuena shook her head. "No. I considered it at first, but I vaguely sensed a hint of danger. There should be someone protecting him, so we can't touch him for now."
"Also, I encountered the Auspicious Beast here!"
"What! How is that possible!"
Di Tian and the others immediately wore expressions of disbelief. Ever since the Three-Eyed Golden Lion died, no Auspicious Beast had been born in the Star Dou Great Forest.
They had never expected one to appear now.
"For some reason, he's become a human. I'm staying by his side for now."
"Then, my lord, could we meet him?"
Di Tian asked again.
"When the opportunity arises, I'll let him meet you."
Afterward, Gu Yuena turned and left, though before leaving, she took something from Di Tian.
Meanwhile, after Xu Qing and Tang Wulin arrived together at Mang Tian's Workshop.
The furnace fire burned fiercely, scorching heat filling the air.
Xu Qing found Mang Tian, his expression earnest and resolute.
"Teacher, I think I can attempt Thousand Refinement now!"
Hearing this, Mang Tian raised his eyes to the boy before him.
The confidence and composure in Xu Qing's eyes kept him from hesitating much, and he gave a slight nod.
"Since you're confident, go ahead. Also, while you're forging, I plan to have Wulin come watch."
As he spoke, Mang Tian took a piece of heavy silver from a nearby rack and handed it to Xu Qing.
"Of course, no problem!" Xu Qing said casually, then accepted the heavy silver from Mang Tian. Unprepared for the heavy silver suddenly placed in his hands, he was pushed into a slight forward lean by its weight.
However, Xu Qing quickly steadied himself.
It really lives up to the name heavy silver! This weight alone is more than an ordinary person could lift.
"All right, preheat the material here in the workshop first. I'll go get Wulin."
"OK!"
OK?!
Although Mang Tian was somewhat puzzled, for some reason, he miraculously understood what it meant. He turned and hurried out of the workshop toward Tang Wulin's forging room.
Xu Qing was left alone in the workshop.
He wasted no time, expertly starting the forging furnace. With a turn of the temperature control, he directly set the furnace to maximum power, and orange-red flames immediately spurted from a ring of nozzles inside.
Xu Qing nodded at the sight.
He picked up the long-handled forging tongs with both hands and firmly clamped the heavy silver. A weight immediately bore down through the tongs.
The piece of heavy silver Mang Tian had given him was the size of a human head and weighed over four hundred jin.
It would have been strange if it hadn't weighed down his hands.
Still, with Xu Qing's current strength, it wasn't much of a problem.
He steadily placed the weighty piece of heavy silver into the red-hot furnace chamber.
This was the first step of forging-high-temperature preheating.
The higher heavy silver's temperature, the more ductile it became. Its texture was hard and its structure stable, leaving ordinary people helpless against it at room temperature. Only after prolonged, continuous heating at high temperatures would its originally tight internal metal structure gradually loosen and soften, allowing it to be forged.
While the heavy silver was heating, Xu Qing found a spot, closed his eyes, and focused, silently sorting through the forging insights he had accumulated over time.
Mang Tian brought Tang Wulin into the forging room, and they waited along with Xu Qing.
Time slipped by, minute by minute and second by second. Amid the flames, the heavy silver slowly shed its dullness, changing from dark gray to dark red before heating to a luminous scarlet, continuously giving off faint sizzling sounds.
"It's about ready!"
Another five minutes passed, and the heavy silver turned an intense scarlet, the stability of its internal structure dropping to its lowest point.
Using the tongs, Xu Qing steadily removed the red-hot heavy silver and placed it in the center of the cold forging table. Then he turned sideways and picked up the pair of tungsten steel forging hammers beside him.
Mang Tian had specially given these to him after he came to Mang Tian's Workshop.
Xu Qing drew a deep breath, banishing every distracting thought and focusing all his attention on the scarlet heavy silver before him.
The next instant, he moved!
Holding a forging hammer in his right hand, he brought it down.
Clang-
A clear, ringing metallic note echoed through the room. This strike was called a test strike. Through a single blow, he gauged the heavy silver's current hardness, elasticity, vibration frequency, and overall condition, bringing his own rhythm into initial alignment with the metal's pulse.
Mang Tian stood quietly to the side, watching Xu Qing's calm, composed expression, and gave a slight nod of satisfaction.
After spending these years with Xu Qing, Mang Tian had gained some understanding of his character. When faced with difficulties, he was the first to complain, but he was also the first to charge forward. Over the years, he had studied diligently and been very disciplined. More importantly, of course, was his comprehension-the child had a strong gift for understanding. His thinking was a little erratic, but Mang Tian understood that too; after all, he was only an eight-year-old child. Sometimes, though, he felt Xu Qing wasn't like a child at all.
Overall, he was very satisfied with Xu Qing, especially since he could already begin attempting Thousand Refinement at eight.
It was precisely for this reason that he was willing to take out such precious heavy silver for Xu Qing's first attempt at a Thousand Refinement breakthrough.
This was a rare precious metal buried deep underground, with scant deposits that were extremely difficult to mine. Its price was more than a hundred times that of ordinary iron and steel.
He didn't have much in his own stock, either.
Moreover, most of what was produced was monopolized by the Federation military and major families. Ordinary blacksmiths struggled to obtain any, making it an exceptionally precious high-grade forging material.
Not far away, Tang Wulin's eyes were full of longing as he stared unblinkingly at the forging table.
His cultivation had now reached rank eight, and he could already skillfully forge nine kinds of Hundred Refinement metals.
According to Mang Tian's arrangements, once he successfully broke through to become a rank-ten Soul Master, he too could begin learning Thousand Refinement, just like Xu Qing.
Thus, he treasured this opportunity, watching Xu Qing's every movement intently.
Under their gazes, Xu Qing officially began forging.