Chapter 167: Weaponsmithing (2)
"Old Zhao!" Some of the people in the crowd couldn't take it anymore. One of them coughed and said, "As weaponsmiths, there are naturally rules we need to abide by. We won't do something like that."
"You can never be too careful. Who knows if you would really encounter someone like that?" Zhao Li turned solemn as he resumed his lecture, "After the fusion stage, you will reach the hardest stage yet, the formation stage. At this point, you need to be very careful. This stage will decide whether you can forge a weapon that is actually suitable for the person you're forging for.
"This is a stage where the weaponsmith's capability and character would be tested. Some dishonest fellows would only do enough to form a weapon with the shape you want. But in truth, the weapon is very weak. You won't notice it at normal times, but during combat, the weapon might fall apart after a few hundred moves. Anything is possible."
At that moment, the air itself seemed to freeze. Next, Su Yu saw countless hammers appear out of thin air before slamming down on the transparent liquid.
Boom!
"This is the formation stage. For a low-tier profound-grade cultural weapon, you need at least 37 forges. Some weapons even need 40 forges. Some weaponsmiths are not strong enough so they will stop at around a dozen forges and produce fake profound-grade weapons instead. Accidents can happen easily using these weapons. Such people are the disgrace of all weaponsmiths."
Boom!
As the hammers struck on the liquid repeatedly, Su Yu could see a weapon taking form. It was a dagger. As Zhao Li worked on it, a golden vein appeared on the dagger.
"This is the first imprint of the forging process. For a low-tier profound-grade weapon, you need a minimum of 37 imprints. Of course, weaponsmiths can also leave fake imprints on the weapons. You outsiders won't be able to see through it anyway..."
Once again, Zhao Li was exposing the secret of weaponsmiths. The faces of some weaponsmiths in the crowd fell. Why did it feel like Zhao Li was indirectly accusing them of doing so? They had never done something so dishonest before!
One vein. Two veins. Three veins…
Slowly, beads of sweat started appearing on Zhao Li's forehead. He stopped talking. Evidently, forging was not an easy task. Su Yu could see that Zhao Li was using both his willpower and a different Divine Character for the forging process. From what he had seen so far, Zhao Li had at least three Divine Characters.
A single vein took 10 minutes to form. And since this weapon required at least 37 veins, this would take a long time to finish. It would take no less than six hours. Su Yu was shocked at that realization. He had a feeling that this was in truth a type of cultivation for weaponsmiths.
This was also a process of willpower clash and exhaustion. Using no less than six hours, Zhao Li would be able to create a profound-grade weapon of the lowest tier. Su Yu thought about himself and the fragment room. He could now last 40 minutes there. But if he was the one to work on this weapon, he could probably only last 20 minutes.
That was because this forging process required Divine Character, and it utilized a lot of willpower. Nobody in the crowd spoke a word, but a lot of them had looks of envy or admiration on their faces.
Weaponsmiths were by no means weaklings. In fact, very few people in the academy could actually finish the process of 37 forges.
Suddenly, Zhao Li spoke again, "Weaponsmiths are no weaklings. In fact, our willpower is much tougher than those in the same realm due to the time we spent on weaponsmithing. Against those in the same realm, we don't fear anyone. Oftentimes, we are the ones that would come up on top. Therefore, I like students who are tenacious. Weak willpower does not matter."
He had said something similar before. He was talking about none other than Su Yu. Why had he decided to accept Su Yu as his student the first time he saw Su Yu? Because Su Yu was tenacious despite having a weak willpower. During the battle against the cult members, Su Yu had utilized his Divine Character multiple times despite his weak willpower.
Since that encounter, Zhao Li had been trying to take Su Yu as his student. He was very regretful that Su Yu had picked the Character Faculty instead.
"A genius should aim to forge a powerful willpower that is far more durable and long-lasting than the willpower of their peers. As a weaponsmith, you would be able to sweep away everyone in the same realm. Others might only be able to last five minutes in a fight while you can last ten minutes. You will always be the one to emerge victorious.
"A genius should have the ability to not fear multiple opponents. If your opponents think they can tire you out in five minutes, you can last ten minutes and kill them all instead. With a durable enough willpower, you might even be able to face those above your level and exhaust them to death!"
Zhao Li was starting to tremble from exhaustion, but he still smiled and said, "I am a seventh-stage Cloudbreach cultivator. But no cultivator in the same realm can have stronger willpower than mine. Their so-called offensive prowess is nothing before my willpower. Without strong enough willpower, they can barely harm me. I can simply wait them out and kill them after they run out of willpower.
"I can keep fighting for ten hours. Can they? Those Character Faculty fellows would probably run out of energy after an hour. Their willpower will probably weaken after only a few minutes. I can easily kill such an opponent.
"Your multiple character faction is slightly similar to us. Due to the large number of Divine Characters you guys have, your willpower can also last longer than the average person. But you guys still can't last as long as us weaponsmiths. Of course, with more Divine Characters, you will have more abilities, so it is hard to say who will be the one to win in the end if we do fight.
"Bai Feng can instantly defeat Hu Wensheng who is a ninth-stage Skysoar cultivator. As for me, even against Zheng Yuming, as long as he can't instantly defeat me, I can outlast him."
Zhao Li was filled with pride as he spoke. That was his pride as a weaponsmith.
Zheng Yuming was a student of Zhou Mingren and a Mountainsea expert. Meanwhile, Zhao Li was only a seventh-stage Cloudbreach cultivator. Of course, there was definitely some exaggeration in his words.
Su Yu could clearly see a few people in the crowd looking away when Zhao Li was saying all that. Those people could believe the claim that Zhao Li could fight a ninth-stage Cloudbreach cultivator. But the Mountainsea Realm was an entirely different matter.
The premise of what Zhao Li said was that Zheng Yuming wouldn't be able to instantly defeat him. But that might not necessarily be the case. What if he was seriously injured in one hit? At that point, it no longer mattered how long his willpower could last.
Thus, there was no way Zhao Li would be a match for those in the Mountainsea Realm. Of course, there was no denying that Zhao Li would still be much harder to kill than regular seventh-stage Cloudbreach cultivators.
Zhao Li did not care about the crowd's reaction. While breathing heavily, he said, "For weaponsmiths, obtaining the right Divine Characters is very important. Additionally, expanding your willpower for more durability is also very important. As for the method of doing so, that's a secret. I don't teach that to students who are only minoring in weaponsmithing."
...
Su Yu was speechless. If Zhao Li wasn't teaching, what was the point of telling him all that? This old man was obviously still trying to take him as a student. Su Yu and everyone in the crowd understood what Zhao Li was trying to do. Once again, they all looked at Su Yu curiously. Was this student really that incredible? Was he worth Zhao Li's favor?
At this point, Zhao Li could no longer continue talking. The hammers in the air continued pounding on the dagger. Before long, a few more golden veins appeared on the dagger.
While everyone was watching silently, Zhao Li suddenly spoke, "Watch carefully. Observe where I hit. Each spot I hit will create a different result. How clear the golden vein is represents how successful your forging is. Garbage weaponsmiths will frequently produce only unclear and crooked golden veins."
Bang!
He had just finished his sentence when a new golden vein appeared. It was crooked. An awkward silence descended. Even a clueless newbie like Su Yu could see that the new golden vein was crooked.
And when he recalled what Zhao Li just said, Su Yu hurriedly looked down. He told himself that he had heard nothing.
Zhao Li was feeling rather embarrassed as he said, "I wasn't paying attention as I was speaking earlier. This is an example of what not to do when forging. I am showing all of you that you should always concentrate when forging. This is a demonstration of what would happen when you lack concentration. For me, this doesn't matter. Garbage weaponsmiths won't be able to correct this mistake, but I'm different. I can reforge and correct the previous forge."
...
The faces of a few old researchers dropped when Zhao Li said that. Yes, yes, all of them were garbage weaponsmiths. Why? Because none of them was capable of reforging. Zhao Li was willing to offend all of them just to protect his reputation in front of a newbie.
With a roar, Zhao Li activated a different Divine Character. Nobody knew what character that was. Generally, nobody could see a cultural researcher's Divine Character unless the cultural researcher was willingly showing it.
Rumble!
Once again, the hammers slammed down madly. This time, no new vein was being created. Instead, the previous vein was slowly fading away. This process took an even longer time than the formation of a new vein. After about 20 minutes, when Zhao Li turned pale, the crooked vein finally faded completely.
"Done. This is the basic ability a good weaponsmith should have. This is also a special technique of mine. Some fellows have been trying to learn this from me, but I refused to teach any of them. Those trash weaponsmiths will only embarrass me after learning my technique."