Chapter 221: Another Lost Profession
Having tested what he wanted to test, Xiang Yu’s consciousness returned to his body. He slowly opened his eyes, then rose to his feet. He still felt the strange tingling sensation from his bloodline transformation still coursing through every inch of his skin.
He brought out his blacksmithing tools from his spatial ring. It was time for him to also contribute something meaningful to the wedding, and he was planning to go all out. He actually had an ambitious idea brewing in the back of his mind, though he wasn’t entirely certain if it would work.
Xiang Yu carefully retrieved the finest resources he had received from the five major sects. These materials were mostly intended for refining low to mid-level spiritual weapons (sixth to fifth grade quality).
Although his blacksmithing skill had broken through to the fourth grade level, Xiang Yu still lacked the proper high-tier resources needed to craft a genuine high-level spiritual weapon from scratch.
Still, he had an idea on how to solve this problem. If he could somehow utilize the various spiritual metals he had, since they weren’t all identical and possessed distinctly different magical properties, perhaps he could attempt creating a unique alloy that would reach the fourth grade quality. Then he could use this custom alloy to forge fourth grade items.
The forge blazed white-hot which contrasted the absolutely dark flame he was using to fuel it.
Xiang Yu carefully fed strips of different spirit metals into the crucible. First came the resilient base spirit metal that would give his creation its fundamental backbone and structural integrity. Next, he added thin ribbons of flexible spirit alloy designed to prevent brittle fractures that could ruin the entire thing. Finally, he incorporated a sliver of corrosion-resistant spirit metal that would make the final product capable of lasting for a long time.
He watched with fascination as the spirit metals gradually surrendered to the overwhelming heat, their distinct metallic colors bleeding together like watercolors in rain, eventually forming a unified molten silver pool that swirled hypnotically in the crucible.
Xiang Yu carefully stirred the bubbling mixture, not with a stirring rod, but with his bare hands. With his current physical strength and the protective dragon scales that manifested at will, the searing heat merely stung a bit rather than causing serious injury.
The main reason he chose to use his hands instead of a traditional metal rod was because simply creating an alloy alone wouldn’t be sufficient to elevate these materials to fourth grade quality. Naturally, these metals would need to bathe in concentrated spiritual energy for a long time before gradually advancing to such a level. But Xiang Yu wasn’t interested in waiting that long for results.
Instead, he planned to infuse his own qi directly into the molten mixture, ensuring the spiritual energy would become an integral part of the metal’s fundamental structure before it cooled and hardened permanently.
This approach was undoubtedly quite dangerous, and he wasn’t entirely certain if his theory would actually work in practice. However, he had received valuable new insights after his recent blacksmith profession breakthrough, plus some unexpected benefits from his newly acquired teacher profession, giving him at least some theoretical foundation for what he was attempting.
He continued the delicate process of carefully infusing controlled amounts of qi into the swirling mixture while simultaneously stirring, ensuring every single atom found its proper place in the emerging custom alloy.
The real challenge wasn’t fire control, with his Abyssal Void Flame, he could regulate temperature down to five decimal points if necessary. It also wasn’t understanding how different metals interacted with each other, since he had already gained extensive knowledge in metallurgical theory from his blacksmith profession advancement.
The genuine problem was qi emission control. He had to ensure that he didn’t overwhelm the delicate solution too quickly with spiritual energy. Despite being spirit metal, these materials still required gradual exposure to qi over extended periods to reach their current state naturally. Infusing too much spiritual energy at once could catastrophically destabilize the entire mixture, resetting all his progress and destroying expensive materials he had limited amounts of.
Fortunately, with his golden core level qi quality and the enhanced control that came with it, his emission precision almost matched his temperature regulation capabilities. Each pulse of spiritual energy flowed into the mixture with surgical accuracy.
Slowly but surely, everything began to come together in perfect harmony. When he felt completely satisfied with the final product’s consistency and spiritual saturation, Xiang Yu carefully poured the liquid metal into a specially prepared mold and began the crucial cooling process at a controlled, gradual pace.
When the lengthy process finally reached completion, the moment of truth had arrived. Xiang Yu felt his heart pounding with nervous anticipation as he activated his appraisal skill to determine if his ambitious theory had proven correct.
And the results...well, they didn’t disappoint. He had actually succeeded in creating genuine fourth grade spirit metal.
With the high-quality materials finally secured, he could finally move forward with crafting something truly special...
...
Xiang Yu raised his hammer high above his head and brought it down against the glowing metal. The rhythmic pounding echoed through the cave as sparks flew in brilliant arcs with each strike.
Sweat beaded on his forehead as he hammered more and more, not from exhaustion, but from the intense concentration required for such delicate work. He was in deep focus, his mind laser-sharp as every fiber of his being understood that at this critical point, any slight mistake would mean starting completely from scratch. The margin for error was nonexistent, especially since he was crafting such intricate and delicate items that demanded absolute perfection.
His enhanced strength allowed him to control the force perfectly, neither too heavy nor too light. The metal sang under his touch, responding to his will as it gradually transformed from raw material into something extraordinary.
As the hours passed, the items slowly began to take their intended shape. The rough edges smoothed away, curves became elegant, and details became more clear. When the final touches were complete, Xiang Yu carefully set down his hammer and reached for the finished products.
He picked them up delicately, as if handling precious gems, and they might as well have been. He placed them in the palm of his hand for closer inspection. There, resting on his palm, lay a pair of exquisitely crafted rings. The metal gleamed with an inner light that pulsed with spiritual energy every few seconds. Their surfaces were perfectly smooth and flawlessly polished.
These were the wedding gifts he was going to present to his master and martial aunt for their upcoming ceremony. He smiled to himself, wasn’t he quite the thoughtful disciple, even going so far as to prepare rings for his master’s marriage? If he dared to call him an unfilial disciple after this gesture, then he feared no one in the world could ever claim to be filial.
Although he somewhat understood the properties of the crafted items, he decided to activate his appraisal skill to examine the items more closely:
[Name: Vow of Love]
[Type: Artifact]
[Grade: High-Level Spiritual Artifact]
[Info: A pair of rings crafted by Xiang Yu. The first ring is a defensive artifact, capable of blocking three full power attacks from a Void Traversing Realm Cultivator. The second ring is an offensive artifact, capable of delivering a maximum of three full power strikes equivalent to those of a Void Traversing Realm Cultivator]
Looking at the detailed information, Xiang Yu thought to himself that this was a genuine nuke he had created. He assumed the Void Traversing realm must be the cultivation stage that came after Soul Formation. Just holding these rings in his hands made him tremble slightly. He hadn’t expected what he had built to be so OP.
This incredible power was mostly because these were specialized artifacts rather than conventional weapons. This classification meant they came with significant limitations, if either ring delivered those three devastating strikes or defended against attacks, it would need to recharge afterward.
The amount of spiritual energy required for such recharging would be absolutely enormous. Generally, something like this would be used by a cultivator at the Void Traversing stage as their trump card, and even such a powerful cultivator would be able to just barely recharge one of the rings after completely draining their reserves.
As he continued observing the rings, turning them over in his hands and marveling at their craftsmanship, a sudden idea struck him. He concentrated his Abyssal Void Flame on his fingertip and began gently carving something onto the surface of both rings.
After the carving was complete, he stared at the rings intently for several long moments, waiting for some kind of reaction. "Nothing happened?" he spoke aloud, his voice carrying a note of disappointment. "Well, I figured as much..." he began to say, but before he could complete his sentence, both rings suddenly erupted in brilliant golden light that filled the entire cave.
When the blinding radiance finally died down, the rings gave off a completely different aura than before.
He quickly activated his appraisal skill again to see what changes had occurred:
[Name: Vow of Eternal Love]
[Type: Artifact]
[Grade: Pseudo-Divine Artifact]
[Info: A pair of rings crafted by Xiang Yu. The first ring is a defensive artifact, capable of blocking ten full power attacks from a Void Traversing Realm Cultivator. The second ring is an offensive artifact, capable of delivering a maximum of ten full power strikes equivalent to those of a Void Traversing Realm Cultivator]
[The [Talisman Maker] profession has evolved into [Runesmith]]
[You have discovered a lost profession, choose a reward]
[1: Upgrade an existing system function]
[2: Unlock a new system function]