Heaven and Earth's Reward, the Battle of Three Hammers

"Clang!" The sound of armamentsmithing rang out across the land, on and on. In the void above the Profound armament, the golden inscriptions had now reached fifty-five. This was far slower than simply forging fifty-five golden patterns, because this time the weapon being forged was an Earth armament—the standard was far higher. And as the inscriptions multiplied, the forging took longer and longer, and the reverberations grew louder and louder. ... Inside the yuanqi secret realm. A vast tide of yuanqi swept in. Su Yu and Zhao Li were both stripped to the waist, each gripping a hammer, streaming with sweat, pounding without pause. The vibrations grew stronger and stronger; even with Su Yu's formidable body, he was beginning to find them hard to bear. And this was only a Profound armament. Yet even so, the aura emanating from that giant hammer weighed on Su Yu's chest. This weapon was far mightier than an ordinary Profound armament—the reverse-forging method had raised it a whole grade. Fifty-six golden patterns, fifty-seven golden patterns... Su Yu felt like vomiting blood, and Zhao Li was secretly alarmed as well. This was harder than forging it all those years ago; the reverse-forging method had raised the difficulty of this forging yet again. Glancing at Su Yu out of the corner of his eye, Zhao Li felt helpless. The chance of success wasn't very high. Call it thirty-seventy: thirty percent success, seventy percent failure. Still, if the kid could stay with him all the way to seventy-two golden patterns and experience it once for himself, then forging a peak Profound-rank civilized armament next time wouldn't be too difficult. As for Earth rank—that would depend on his luck. As for the improvement in Su Yu's body, that counted for little. In Zhao Li's eyes the real gain for Su Yu at this moment was learning everything, remembering everything. "Clang!" The two hammers fell again. Seeing Su Yu's willpower draining rapidly, Zhao Li shouted, "Switch to yuanqi—you switch, I'll watch it for you and steady the golden patterns!" Su Yu said nothing. As this golden pattern gradually took shape, he switched swiftly; at the instant of the switch, the inscriptions produced a recoil force, and Zhao Li forcibly neutralized all of it. Su Yu switched to yuanqi—yuanqi of incomparable purity—and went on forging. His yuanqi was far purer than that of an ordinary Tengkong or Lingyun cultivator. He had been using the Yuan-Purifying Art all along, and with the great quantities of Heaven Yuan Qi he had absorbed and his practice of the Yuan Shen Vitality Art, his body held very few impurities. All 360 apertures opened, and yuanqi erupted. Su Yu was entirely wrapped in Heaven Yuan Qi, and so was Zhao Li—and so was the civilized armament itself. Heaven Yuan Qi was consumed quickly too. But Su Yu no longer cared about any of that. With money, an Earth armament could actually be bought for tens of thousands of merit points. Yet right now the materials alone, plus the Heaven Yuan Qi, already cost more than that. Neither of them cared. They kept forging. ... Sixty, sixty-one... Time crept by. Outside, it was already May 29th. The great hammer hanging in the void now showed sixty-three golden patterns. It was about to enter the peak of Profound rank, and yet the vast aura it faintly radiated made it feel as though the weapon were already an Earth armament. Outside. More Sun Moon cultivators had come. Different areas gathered different crowds—powerhouses clustered together, prodigies clustered together, descendants of Invincibles clustered together. In the Xiuxin Pavilion district. Inside a courtyard. Yuan Qingdong was watching that way. Several more people had joined him, all of roughly the same age and strength, and they too were watching Zhao Li's side. After a while, a middle-aged woman said flatly, "Zhao Li certainly knows how to pick his moment. All of Great Xia Prefecture is watching him forge now—an armamentsmith who hasn't even reached Earth rank, forging an Earth armament, and even the Invincibles are looking on. What a face he has!" Beside her, a young man with white streaks in his brows smiled faintly. "Just stall. Stall hard. We wait, that's all. What's the hurry?" Great Xia was stalling. Zhao Li was stalling. The three Invincibles—who knew what they were thinking—were stalling too. Stalling what? Delaying the public trial of Feng Qi! As long as Feng Qi's trial was not held, Chen Yong could not be convicted. As things stood, Chen Yong was a Human Realm grand elder, and no one had the right to arrest him. The longer this dragged on, the faster and farther Chen Yong would flee. Perhaps he had already smuggled himself to the All-Heavens Battlefield. The woman said with displeasure, "Chen Yong killed several generals. This cannot simply be dropped. If even Chen Yong can escape punishment, how do we answer to tens of millions of soldiers? Morale will falter, and the world will fall into chaos!" Yuan Qingdong nodded slightly. "If Chen Yong did it, punishing him is necessary and must be done—even an Invincible cannot oppose it! Tens of millions of soldiers are at the front; Chen Yong assassinating generals shakes morale and shows contempt for the Human Realm. Once he is let go, the All-Races Cult will follow suit, and great upheaval will soon follow." Morale! With that as the grounds, no one could stop it. Chen Yong must die. The woman said with a faint smile, "Qingdong, you've grown much more cautious. If Chen Yong... it is Chen Yong! What's still uncertain?" Yuan Qingdong said nothing and paid her no mind. Coming to Great Xia Prefecture, he had learned at least one thing: before everything is settled, be careful with words. "If"—that is a hypothesis. "It is"—that is certainty, definite. Once the evidence is insufficient and Chen Yong cannot be convicted, then it is slander, and slander... has a price. For instance, last time he said Su Yu had defected; for that one sentence, he paid an enormous price. And now he was much more cautious than before. These days, whether Hong Tan or Zhao Li talked back to him, he might get angry, but he quickly suppressed it and quietly watched how things developed, no longer recklessly involving himself. Ignoring the few peers beside him, Yuan Qingdong looked at the void again and said, "There's a reason the Invincibles are paying attention. This Earth armament Zhao Li is forging is unusual—it may even hold the hope of another path. Forged by man, forged by god; a divine character fused into a civilized armament. If he succeeds, this Earth armament becomes Zhao Li's primary divine character, virtually standing in for one aperture, and Zhao Li might use it to unleash power beyond Shanhai." The others nodded slightly, but soon the woman shook her head. "The probability of failure is too high. And... the more golden patterns forged now, the stronger the backlash if it fails! He's at sixty-three patterns now; if it fails, Zhao Li won't die. But once it passes seventy-two patterns, a failure's powerful backlash will surely shatter his sea of will!" They all nodded. Indeed, the stronger the civilized armament, the stronger Zhao Li's primary divine character; and once that is strong and then breaks, the backlash is terrifying. "Zhao Tianbing went to the Prefecture Lord Manor—probably to beg the Invincibles to act. But even then, even if an Invincible acts, it's very hard to strip out the divine character. If Zhao Li fails, he'll be crippled even if he lives." The group were all Sun Moons, and their judgment was sound. Soon Yuan Qingdong brought up Cui Lang, smiling. "That Cui Lang is rather interesting. Zhao Li is clearly grooming him as a disciple. I'd say the Expanding Will Art has very likely been passed on to Cui Lang too! If so, three people in the Human Realm will know the Expanding Will Art—and it is a powerful art!" They nodded again. Powerful indeed. The foundation of the Expanding Will Art was created by Zhao Li's father, a top-tier Sun Moon; afterward Zhao Li perfected it, and the fifth generation had in fact contributed too, helping with some of the deduction and refinement. Compared with the arts Su Yu had produced, what Su Yu gave was foundational—the groundwork for building strength—whereas the Expanding Will Art was a divine skill for attack and killing. The white-browed young man smiled. "Qingdong, what are you suggesting?" "See if he can be won over. If Zhao Li fails, don't count on Su Yu—that one is difficult to deal with too. But Cui Lang comes from a small family after all, so maybe he can be drawn in a little. He has gained a great deal this time; even if Zhao Li fails, he may not be in trouble. Earth rank is in sight for him, and he may know the Expanding Will Art." The others pondered this. That made sense. Cui Lang! As for Niu Baidao and Cheng Mo—one was only a nominal master, and the other had little real connection. As for Cheng Mo's granddaughter, that was a matter for the younger generation. They said no more, because at that moment, in the void, the sixty-fourth inscription took shape! And this time, as the inscription formed, yuanqi trembled in every direction, and the air shook! Yuan Qingdong said in surprise, "This... this is the sign of a phenomenon already. Only Heaven armament forging produces phenomena—Earth armaments don't, do they?" "A powerful Earth armament might." The white-browed young man considered for a moment. "It's like cultivation. Earth armaments compare to Shanhai, Heaven armaments to Sun Moon. An ordinary person advancing to Shanhai naturally produces no phenomenon, but powerhouses, prodigies, monsters—when they advance to Shanhai, there are phenomena too!" He meant people like Xia Longwu. An Earth armament could in fact be regarded as Shanhai. Of course, Earth armaments lacked the spirituality of Heaven armaments. Great Ming Prefecture's Heaven armament, the Pavilion of a Hundred Dao, possessed great spirituality; as a support-type Heaven armament, its self-activation carried Sun Moon power. Naturally, the Pavilion of a Hundred Dao was of very high grade. Still, an ordinary attack-type Heaven armament, even a low-tier Heaven-rank one, actually possessed weak Sun Moon power—not much weaker than the Pavilion of a Hundred Dao. The main reason was that the Pavilion was never built for attack in the first place. "If a phenomenon really appears, then there's truly great hope of it advancing into a Heaven armament—an attack-type Heaven armament!" They all looked at the hammer. The woman's voice came softly: "But this is a civilized armament, not a martial armament! An attack-type Heaven-rank civilized armament... comparable to a Sun Moon. Tell me, could we find someone to forge one like that and try it?" "Find who? Who has that skill? Forge it yourself—are you courting death? Do you have the ability?" Yuan Qingdong said calmly, "Leave Zhao Li be. Once his forging is done, everyone should keep a closer eye on Feng Qi during the public trial. Not everyone can do what Zhao Li does; his path is not ours. As for the armamentsmithing path—are any of you proficient in it?" There was no real point in scheming after Zhao Li. Truly, different paths! Give you his techniques, give you the materials—so what if you're a Sun Moon? Could you forge it? Apart from the Expanding Will Art, there was nothing worth coveting from Zhao Li. Even if he succeeded, that was his civilized armament; coveting it was useless—even if you got it, you might not be able to use it. No one said anything more. ... At the same moment. Inside the yuanqi secret realm, Su Yu switched back to willpower and hammered like a madman. His body trembled ceaselessly, and cracks began to open on his skin. The recoil was growing stronger and stronger! As the civilized armament reached the peak of Profound rank, the recoil had already exceeded the limits of Su Yu's body. Su Yu paid it no mind! At that moment, a divine character gradually took shape—Quake. The instant the Quake divine character emerged, the force of the vibration dropped by twenty percent. "..." Zhao Li nearly fumbled his hammer. Damn you! Aren't you forging an armament? Aren't you casting your body? This works too?! Your family's innate divine characters just pop out after you get shaken a few times? "Kid!" "Huh?" Su Yu looked up, still forging, staring at him blankly—at a time like this, what are you calling me for? "You... didn't sense a divine character?" "Oh!" Su Yu nodded. He'd sensed it—so what? After being shaken thousands of times, nearly ten thousand, he'd gained the tiniest sliver of insight into the way of vibration and comprehended a "Quake" divine character. Was that so strange? Zhao Li was speechless. The next moment—bang, bang, bang—he began forging like a madman! Comparing people—there's just no living with it! This time Su Yu wasn't so uncomfortable. The Quake divine character was weakening the vibration, and stronger vibrations actually helped nurture the divine character. Su Yu began to enjoy the force. Not bad at all! The Quake divine character was quite good. Stacked with the Mind Expansion Hammer—vibration, one hammer strike—its power was now at least thirty percent greater than before, wasn't it? Of course, the Quake divine character was too weak, only tier one. At tier three, one hammer strike, stacked a few times, the vibration could shake a Lingyun civilization master to death outright, couldn't it? This forging session hadn't even ended, and Su Yu already felt his strength had improved a great deal. Nine body castings, hammer stacking, the innate Quake divine character traced into being—so this was another way to forge armaments? Zhao Li stayed silent, feeling stabbed. I've been forging for so many years and never comprehended an innate divine character. What the hell are you?! Su Yu paid no mind to what Old Zhao thought and hammered away as if savoring it! He sensed the rhythm of the recoil, weakening it, reducing the vibration's frequency. The flame of inheritance kept burning; Zhao Li actually gained a great deal of insight too—this flame of inheritance divine character helped him considerably. At this point his consumption was not as great as expected, and that had a lot to do with this divine character. Both of them silently forged on. With the Quake divine character traced out, Su Yu was no longer as miserable, and could hold out longer. Time passed—over a day now, nearly two. Zhao Li had been forging continuously for close to five days in total, without a single break in between. An ordinary Shanhai would have collapsed long ago under such consumption. Zhao Li's endurance was no boast. ... Outside, at this moment, the cultivators were filled with admiration. The sound of forging had lasted five days. Was this still a human being? "Is Master Zhao really only Lingyun?" Someone was starting to doubt. Lingyun—and you can forge for five days straight? Even without knowing how much forging consumes, just continuously bursting out yuanqi and willpower for five days would be more than anyone could bear, wouldn't it? Many were shocked and full of admiration. And every Earth-rank armamentsmith was thinking not of Zhao Li, but of Cui Lang. "Cui Lang... he's received the legacy of the Expanding Will Art, hasn't he?" "He might have already advanced to Lingyun!" "Old Zhao found himself a treasure. Cui Lang has been with him for a day of forging, and he can still keep going." "Maybe he took some heavenly treasure?" "..." Several Earth-rank armamentsmiths discussed in low voices. Zhao Li's endurance was a given. Years ago his father had fought enemies on the All-Heavens Battlefield for three days; Zhao Li outlasted his father, mainly thanks to the Expanding Will Art. But Cui Lang lasting a day and keeping up the rhythm—that was no small thing. He might have truly stepped into Lingyun and received some of the essentials of the Expanding Will Art, and perhaps taken some heavenly treasures besides, to hold on this long. In the crowd, Hu Qi said flatly, "It's normal for Cui Lang to last this long. He never practiced the Expanding Will Art before, but he did learn my Heaven Forging Art. Among armamentsmiths, apart from the Expanding Will Art, the Heaven Forging Art of my line is inferior to no forging art." At this, the others nodded slightly. Someone laughed. "So Senior Hu once taught him the Heaven Forging Art—no wonder! Cui Lang has good fortune: he inherited Senior's lineage, and now Old Zhao's as well. I'd say Earth rank is truly within his reach!" "He might advance to Earth rank very soon!" "The envy of everyone!" "..." By now, even the Earth-rank armamentsmiths were envious. Drawing on the strengths of two schools, receiving secret transmissions from both—that was no small thing. Basic forging arts could be learned by anyone, but special techniques were rarely taught outside a master-disciple line. Hu Qi said mildly, "Cui Lang has good forging talent, so teaching him is only proper. A pity Senior King Tianzhu hasn't appeared for a long time; otherwise, if he came to watch this time, he might take Cui Lang as a disciple." "King Tianzhu... ah, only Great Ming received some of his legacy. People like us never had the fortune to be guided by him." Hu Qi's line—or rather, Great Ming's line—had many Earth-rank armamentsmiths, largely thanks to the Pavilion of a Hundred Dao, and the forging arts within the Pavilion came from King Tianzhu. All told, Great Ming's armamentsmith lineage counted as King Tianzhu's legacy. Of course, in Zhao Li's words, that was assembly-line production, and he looked down on it—not on King Tianzhu, the founder, but on what came later. Old Zhao considered those later works assembly-line goods, mediocre, devoid of independent thought and creativity. As they talked, the inscriptions in the air reached sixty-eight. ... By this point, Su Yu was being shaken dizzy all over again! His body began to crack once more! He madly absorbed Heaven Yuan Qi, yet still could not repair his flesh. Zhao Li said in a low voice, "Once it reaches seventy-two, withdraw. The recoil after that is stronger. Your divine character is good and your body isn't weak, but it's still not enough!" "I... I know..." Withdraw? I'm not withdrawing. I still have other means! I still have Sun Moon divine characters I can shatter. I want to absorb the lingering resonance of a divine character and advance my Quake divine character. Once it advances, the vibration will be reduced again. And once my body is cast again, reaching the tenth casting, my body will be stronger still. Hold on! What is this? Would I, Su Yu, fear this? Willpower trembles, the sea of will shakes—it's just like those dreams in the past, when I was killed every time and it hurt even more than this. I haven't felt that pain in so long I'm almost not used to it. A little nostalgic! It's good, actually. Let me recall that feeling now—quite satisfying. Dreams are rare now. Not gone, but rare—maybe once a month. And being killed now, perhaps because my willpower has grown strong, doesn't hurt the way it used to. Come to think of it, this forging's shaking and recoil really does feel a little like being killed in dreams back when I was weak. Old Zhao said nothing. He knew Su Yu could take it. Back when Su Yu was so weak, he had given him dozens of hammer blows, and the kid endured them. Now that he was stronger, he should endure even better—which was exactly why he told Su Yu to pull back only after seventy-two golden patterns were successfully forged. Otherwise, an ordinary Profound-rank armamentsmith should have withdrawn long ago! Having forged to this point, Zhao Li could feel it: the hammer now was in no way inferior to an Earth-rank civilized armament. It was three parts stronger than in the old days—at only sixty-eight golden patterns it was already a little stronger than the seventy-two and a half of the past. If he stopped now, he was confident of success—one hundred percent. Used as an Earth armament it was formidable indeed: Earth armament strength, but consuming only what a Profound armament consumes. The legendary simplified civilized armament—a powerful weapon used at a lower grade. Grade-reduced civilized armaments were possible at Yellow and Profound rank; at Earth rank they practically did not exist. And now one existed! But that was not what Zhao Li sought. He wanted to advance! If he advanced successfully, his strength would enter Shanhai, his civilized armament would become an Earth armament, and his armamentsmith rank would reach at least mid or high Earth rank. Breaking through that barrier, with great strength, he could soon become the next peak Earth-rank forger, like his senior brother. If he failed, then even if the weapon was forged, what use was it? A half-Earth-rank forger stuck at Lingyun—what say would he have? Forever depending on his dead father and that senior brother who left years ago? Thinking these things, Zhao Li kept forging silently. Sixty-nine! Several hours later, seventy! And now Su Yu was shaken into quite a state—one hammer strike nearly went wrong, which startled him into correcting it quickly. Failing to help was one thing; causing trouble would be far worse. When it reached seventy-one inscriptions, Su Yu truly could not hold on. He saw that Zhao Li's face was pale too. No longer hesitating, he gritted his teeth. "Teacher... let's... let's both recover a bit..." Zhao Li rolled his eyes. Recover, my ass! Just withdraw! My Lingyun willpower is more abundant than a Shanhai's, and most of it is spent now—how am I supposed to recover? If I had such a fine treasure, I'd have gotten my hands on one long ago. He had barely finished the thought when, from Su Yu's storage ring, a wrapped divine character rose into view. Su Yu said, trembling, "If... if I shatter a divine character... won't it be sensed?" "..." Zhao Li stared at the floating divine character. It was a long while before he came back to himself. I... I want to curse someone, but I don't even know how anymore. Is this a Sun Moon divine character? The "Shatter" divine character, from the demon race! "You... you want to shatter a divine character to recover?" "Y-yes!" "..." Zhao Li hammered in silence. A Sun Moon divine character was actually worth more than an Earth armament. Am I forging a weapon here, or just burning money for fun? "Teacher... will the outside... sense it?" Su Yu was afraid that shattering a divine character would be detected, and then there'd be trouble. Not everyone had Sun Moon divine characters! If it was sensed, his identity would be easily exposed. "It's fine—we'll seal off the yuanqi secret realm. But kid, think this through..." "It's not worth much..." Su Yu said directly, "Last time, to cultivate... the Change divine character... I shattered a nurtured divine character..." "*&...%¥" Zhao Li muttered something. This time it didn't sound like cursing in the human tongue, but in some minor race's language. Su Yu didn't know it and couldn't understand, but it felt like Old Zhao was cursing him. Things like spendthrift, idiot, waste, extravagance... Su Yu didn't mind, grinning away. Since Old Zhao said it was fine, then shatter it! The next moment, with a thought, the little fur ball suddenly darted out and bit at the divine character. It was an ownerless divine character, easy for it to bite, and soon it burst with a bang! The little fur ball wanted to absorb it, but Su Yu swiftly scolded it away with his willpower! The little fur ball stared wistfully, not daring to absorb it, its big eyes full of grievance and longing. So fragrant—but the fragrant thing wasn't for it. Abusing a child! At this, Zhao Li sighed and said nothing. Perhaps... if he succeeded, it would bring benefits greater than this divine character; but if he failed, it would be a huge loss. A Sun Moon divine character shattered, its power concentrated within the small secret realm and not leaking out. In an instant a vast amount of willpower surged forth, and Zhao Li recovered as he forged. His recovery was much faster. Su Yu simply devoured and absorbed it. He devoured it even faster than Zhao Li. Before long he had swallowed about a third of the willpower and the divine character's lingering resonance. In his mind, the Quake divine character advanced straight to tier two. Now when Su Yu forged, the vibration was reduced by another ten percent—much easier. And his willpower quickly began to return to full. Both he and Zhao Li were absorbing. Both had spent enormous amounts before; one Sun Moon divine character brought them great gains—not full recovery, but at least seventy percent. Before this, Zhao Li had been about to drain himself dry. "Clang!" The hammering grew crisper. Zhao Li smiled. The thirty percent success rate—thanks to one divine character—was now at least fifty percent. He had recovered most of his strength, which meant he could keep going much longer. Before this, he had never imagined recovering by shattering a Sun Moon divine character. Too damn extravagant—he'd never done such a thing in his life. Voluntarily shattering a Sun Moon divine character to recover! That's a whole secret realm gone! ... Outside. Yuanqi swept in. Someone exclaimed, "Is it about to succeed?" At this moment, the civilized armament displayed seventy-two inscriptions! Seventy-three meant Earth rank. And now it felt as though a phenomenon was about to appear. Was it about to succeed? It was now late night on the 29th, soon to be the 30th. Some Earth-rank armamentsmiths rose to their feet. One said gravely, "This civilized armament already counts as Earth rank—or rather, it's the monster prodigy of Profound rank, able to fight above its grade against Earth armaments! It all depends on what Zhao Li wants. If he forges the seventy-third inscription the normal way, the chance of success is very high, and it would be far stronger than those Earth armaments. But if Zhao Li insists on forging the embryonic form of a Heaven armament... then it's difficult!" This armamentsmith gave his judgment: Zhao Li had a good chance of successfully forging an Earth armament, but forging several dozen more inscriptions of the embryonic form would sharply increase the difficulty. Someone clicked his tongue. "Isn't Master Zhao too ambitious? An Earth armament—a powerful Earth armament—isn't that enough?" Why insist on a Heaven armament embryo? Hu Qi rose as well, and said mildly, "With his divine character contained within, once the Heaven armament embryo is complete, he may gain Sun Moon power. With an ordinary Earth armament, he could only step into Shanhai. Zhao Li is certainly ambitious!" Around them, people exchanged looks. There was such a thing? That, they truly hadn't known. As they spoke, before long, thunder flickered in the sky and yuanqi churned. In the void, above the civilized armament, the seventy-third inscription wavered in and out of sight. ... "Teacher!" Su Yu was alarmed too. Was a heaven-and-earth phenomenon coming? Could forging an armament produce a phenomenon? Zhao Li looked up at the void as well. Normally you couldn't see it from inside the secret realm, but now he could—he saw the thunder flickering in the sky, and Zhao Li laughed. "It's fine! The monster among Earth armaments, breaking through a realm, may bring a phenomenon! It's a good thing—heaven helps me! If there's a Heaven Yuan Qi reward, or a willpower reward, it can help us recover some. Haha, this time I'm more successful than in the past!" He was overjoyed! If the phenomenon came with a reward, he might last longer, and the chance would be greater! Su Yu was delighted too. A phenomenon reward! He knew that well! The little fur ball had had one, and so had he. It all depended on whether it was a willpower reward. If it was Heaven Yuan Qi, it wouldn't help much. He had barely finished the thought when a tremendous recoil struck. The next moment, the seventy-third inscription appeared. And then a cloud drifted across the void and entered the secret realm directly. Su Yu and Zhao Li were both overjoyed—but the next moment, Zhao Li suddenly roared, "Fuck! Is heaven out to destroy me?" "..." Not just him—Su Yu's face fell in shock as well! This cloud was filled with incomparably powerful willpower, filled with many powerful forces, but... but the cloud did not drift toward Su Yu and Zhao Li. It instantly seeped into the Earth armament! It was a reward for the Earth armament! They had forgotten—or rather, no one had any experience with this. This was the reward for the Earth armament's breakthrough, not for them! The two of them had been happy for nothing; the reward wasn't theirs, it was the armament's. In an instant the newly advanced Earth armament erupted with sharpness, its inscriptions formed by heaven itself, and in a blink three more inscriptions appeared. It instantly reached seventy-six inscriptions! The recoil was immense, terrifyingly strong. Su Yu spat out blood; his body cracked and blood spattered! The webbing of Zhao Li's hand tore open, and he howled at the sky! So infuriating! He didn't want a seventy-six-inscription Earth armament. He didn't want it. He wanted to recover himself, not to make the armament instantly stronger by a large margin! Damn it! I'm such a fool. I thought the reward was for me, and it turned out to be for the armament. Of course, if the armament is strong, I'm strong too—after all, it counts as my primary divine character. But that's not what he wanted! Su Yu too wanted to cry. The reward went to the armament—insane! What kind of rules does this Human Realm have! And there was no time even to intercept it; the armament absorbed it directly. Not only three more inscriptions—a fourth was already emerging, likely to make seventy-seven. In his fury Zhao Li thought of something too, and gritted his teeth. "Give me Heaven Yuan Qi! I'm going to break into Shanhai! My divine character has recovered—hurry, I need to break into Shanhai and keep forging it! God damn it, I thought the reward was for me, that I could break into Shanhai..." A miscalculation! Such a miscalculation! I'm too stupid. I should have realized the reward would go to the armament, not to me. Su Yu hurriedly produced large amounts of Heaven Yuan Qi. Zhao Li let out a furious roar and forcibly drew the Earth armament back into his sea of will. Draw it back, and it became his primary divine character, and he could use the chance to break into Shanhai. Before, he'd thought: once he was strong, with seventy-three inscriptions, he could recall it quickly. Now he wasn't strong, and the armament was nearly at seventy-seven inscriptions—damn it, he was going mad. Heaven had played an enormous joke on him! ... At the same time. Wind and clouds changed color. Outside, thunder rose on every side. A cloud swiftly fell into the secret realm, and in a blink the Earth armament showed seventy-six golden patterns. In the great hall of the Prefecture Lord Manor, Zhao Tianbing suddenly rose, kicked a table to pieces with a bang, and snarled, "Damn it! How could the reward go to the Earth armament?!" He hadn't expected it either! Because he had never encountered it! "My lords, later... I beg you to act in time!" Zhao Tianbing's mindset was collapsing too. He had been delighted to see Zhao Li successfully forge an Earth rank weapon, faster and easier than he had expected—but he'd never thought the phenomenon would make trouble. At another time, this would be a good thing. But now it contained Zhao Li's primary divine character—so strong! Could Zhao Li still draw it back into his sea of will and enter Shanhai? Don't blow up your own sea of will! And just as he thought that, another inscription appeared on the armament—officially seventy-seven! Zhao Tianbing opened his mouth, his face full of despair! This heaven-and-earth reward had turned into poison. Where was the justice in that? My junior brother... his whole life has been too tragic! ... And by now, Zhao Li was roaring madly. More inscriptions? Do you have to kill me before you're satisfied? He forcibly fused with the civilized armament, but kept vomiting blood, his willpower shaking. His sea of will was solid, but his consumption was enormous, and the armament was stronger than he had imagined. Drawing it back now was more than thirty percent harder. Just as he was roaring, Su Yu gritted his teeth and produced another divine character—the last Sun Moon divine character—and shattered it directly! "Teacher, absorb!" With that, Su Yu took out most of his Heaven Yuan Qi and wrapped it around Zhao Li. What to do? The Earth armament was too strong; Zhao Li couldn't hold out. But with another Sun Moon divine character shattered and forcibly absorbed, Zhao Li recovered somewhat. The armament was struggling as well, flying toward his sea of will. Su Yu suddenly thought of something and gritted his teeth. "Teacher, my Mind Expansion Hammer is one with yours—take it back, fuse it with yours, beat this armament into submission, make it obey!" Zhao Li thought of it too, and shouted, "Lend me a hand—quick, bring the Mind Expansion Hammer into my sea of will. Hurry!" "Teacher, you can just take it yourself..." "Less nonsense!" Zhao Li shouted, "If you join in, the power is greater. Hurry!" Su Yu nodded and said no more. He could join, but that would mean his willpower would probe into Zhao Li's sea of will—which meant Zhao Li's sea of will would be undefended against him. That was an extremely dangerous thing! Between civilization masters, even father and son rarely did such a thing rashly. Even Su Yu wouldn't dare let someone into his own sea of will on a whim. Thinking of this, Su Yu thought of something and said, "Little fur ball, come with me. Teacher, I'll bring it in to help suppress it—it won't leak secrets..." "Hurry!" Zhao Li didn't care anymore. Suppress the Earth armament first. The next moment, Su Yu's willpower stirred and a hammer appeared. This time it was the divine character battle technique fused with the Mind Expansion Hammer—a full twenty-two divine characters formed into a very powerful hammer—and the little fur ball jumped onto the hammer and quickly burrowed into Zhao Li's sea of will. ... His mind blurred. Su Yu, attached to the hammer, in a blink entered a vast empty world, the sound of waves crashing to the heavens! No—it was the sea of will. Willpower like seawater, churning. In Zhao Li's sea of will, divine characters surfaced one after another. Su Yu's gaze swept past and soon found the civilized armament, surrounded by divine characters and being pounded by the Mind Expansion Hammer. It could not be suppressed! The sea of will was in violent turmoil! Su Yu wasted no words. Steering the hammer, he charged at the armament-hammer. Three great hammers began fighting in Zhao Li's sea of will—they had to beat this thing into submission, or it would break Zhao Li's sea of will. Silent and soundless! The three hammers fought on. Su Yu was the weakest; the armament-hammer was the strongest. But two against one, they barely fought it to a standstill. And Zhao Li's sea of will was transforming. Expanding, strengthening. In the void, the opened divine apertures—some of them were now fusing. This was the advancement process. Zhao Li's voice came through, shouting, "Once I advance to Shanhai, I can suppress it. Hold out for me a while—kid, understand?" "Understood!" Su Yu answered. The great hammers clashed violently. This was Zhao Li's primary divine character—unfortunately, uncontrolled now—but inside the sea of will it could advance, and once Zhao Li successfully advanced to Shanhai, he would still be able to suppress it. ... Outside, many people now saw that giant hammer trembling—trembling violently. They had no idea what was happening. Those who did know wore grave faces. Could Zhao Li hold on? If he couldn't, that man's sea of will would collapse. Great Xia's Old Chen looked helpless too. "This heaven-and-earth reward has turned into a deadly poison. This... ah! Well, it's a warning for those who come after: the rules' reward goes to the civilized armament, not to the person!" Everyone else looked shaken, but Hu Qi said coldly, "Don't fret. We'll never in our lives forge a civilized armament that earns a rules reward. Worrying about ourselves for no reason—how pointless!" "..." A stab to the heart! Those Earth-rank armamentsmiths all lowered their heads, helpless. She made so much sense—so brutally realistic! We... can't forge one at all. What are we worrying about?