As You Sow, So Shall You Reap

Boom! Inside the sea of will, three hammers were locked in a pitched clash, churning the waters and turning heaven and earth upside down. This sea was the sea of will. This heaven was the firmament arched over that inner sea, where divine apertures clustered like stars. Several of these stars were currently converging. It was the first time Su Yu had ever witnessed someone breaking through to the Shanhai Realm with such piercing clarity. Aperture fusion! The divine apertures were fusing! To attain the Shanhai Realm, one fused seventy-two divine apertures; eight apertures merging into one marked the threshold of Shanhai. Then what role did divine characters play? If fusing the apertures brought one directly to Shanhai, why were divine characters even necessary? Why was it impossible to fuse apertures and step into the Shanhai Realm without advancing one's divine characters first? At this moment, a sliver of doubt lingered in Su Yu's mind. Of course, he had no leisure to dwell on such questions. All he knew was that before those eight apertures could fuse, that giant hammer had to be kept under control. Otherwise, Old Zhao's breakthrough might fail, and the hammer could even shatter his sea of will into fragments. Suppress it! Lock it down! Both he and Zhao Li were throwing everything into suppressing the runaway hammer. The three hammers battered against one another in continuous concussions. Su Yu's divine character battle technique hammer was the weakest of the three; under the unrelenting pounding, it shuddered wildly while Su Yu strained to disperse the shockwaves. This was the power of a Shanhai Realm strike. With his current willpower and divine characters, he was clearly no match for an authentic Shanhai. And Zhao Li was trying to break through at the same time. Stretched too thin, he found his strength flagging, unable to keep the hammer down. His sea of will roiled violently. Several times, the giant hammer surged upward in an attempt to break free, nearly puncturing the boundary of his sea of will. Had Zhao Li's sea of will not been exceptionally robust, an ordinary ninth-layer Lingyun would have had theirs shattered by the hammer long ago. Even so, Zhao Li was reaching his limit. As Su Yu fought on with everything he had, Zhao Li's voice echoed through the space: "Get out of here. I'll pin down this Mind Expansion Hammer myself! You've learned everything you were meant to learn! Even if it receives no further forging, this Mind Expansion Hammer is already an Earth armament. There's even a glimmer of hope that it might become a Heaven armament in the future. "Once I suppress it, I'll seal it away. When you reach the high layers of Lingyun or the Shanhai Realm, you can wield it yourself. "This hammer has an extraordinary affinity with you. You took part in forging it, and you cultivate the Expanding Will Art..." Zhao Li's voice rolled across the sea of will. He truly could not hold on much longer. His sea of will was shuddering beneath the brutal battering of the colossal hammer, hindering the fusion of his apertures and causing spiderweb fractures to spider across the mental realm. If things were to continue like this, it would be far wiser to seal the weapon and call an end to it... "Who wants a piece of trash Earth armament?!" "..." Su Yu's retort took Zhao Li by surprise, followed by an immediate urge to curse up a storm! To hell with that! A piece of trash Earth armament?! Su Yu shouted, "Teacher, what kind of talk is that? It's just an entry-level Earth armament! You're telling me we can't suppress it? Just fight! Keep hammering it! It has no outside supply of power and no master steering it. As long as we hold on, it will submit eventually! My divine characters are the exact same way—rebellious at first, but once you beat them into shape, they behave!" These words seemed to sting the Mind Expansion Hammer. In a sudden frenzy, its resistance flared even fiercer! Rumble! The sea of will trembled violently under the impacts. Zhao Li's medium-sized hammer hesitated for a split second before silently throwing itself back into the fray! If that was how it was going to be, then they would fight to the end! Three hammers—large, medium, and small. Su Yu's was the small one, Zhao Li's was the medium one, and the wild hammer was the large one, representing three distinct tiers: Shanhai, Lingyun, and Tengkong. The battle raged without pause! For the first time, Su Yu tasted the true weight of exchanging blows with a Shanhai combatant. With every clash, the recoil left him shuddering for breaths on end. If he had not formed the 'Quake' divine character, if his divine character battle technique had not integrated them into a coherent whole, and if Zhao Li had not shouldered the vast majority of the pressure, ten strikes would have pounded him to paste! Even so, clashing with a Shanhai purely through willpower was an astounding feat! It meant that if Su Yu ever encountered a newly advanced Shanhai Civilization Master alone, he could hold his ground for at least a dozen exchanges. Factor in his formidable physical body—and assuming the Shanhai's physical vessel was unremarkable—he could hold out even longer. This was the first time Su Yu had unleashed the full combat potential of his divine characters! One hundred and eighty divine apertures continuously pumped out willpower, feeding him the energy needed to stay in the fight. As the clash dragged on, Su Yu could not help but grumble, "Teacher, why does the hammer you forged have so much staying power? Why is it nothing like anyone else's?!" Zhao Li felt utterly helpless. What kind of time was this to start complaining about that? How was he supposed to know why an ownerless hammer could fight for so long? "It's the energy granted by the heaven-and-earth reward..." Zhao Li couldn't hold back a furious curse of his own. "Bullshit heavenly rules!" Granting a reward was one thing, but advancing an Earth armament and supercharging it was another—and worse, an enormous share of that reward had yet to be digested, granting the weapon terrifying combat capability and bottomless stamina. Two living beings were actually being suppressed by an inanimate weapon! Who would believe it? Yet here they were, forced to accept reality! Zhao Li had thought that the hardest part of this entire endeavor would be etching the embryonic inscriptions toward the end. He had never imagined encountering such a mortal crisis right at the cusp of breaking through to Shanhai. It was completely outside his calculations. In truth, thanks to Su Yu shattering the Sun Moon divine characters and offering immense assistance throughout, the process had been much easier than anticipated. Zhao Li had even rated his odds of success at fifty-fifty! Who would have guessed a bizarre snag like this would crop up halfway through! As they spoke, a thunderous bang shook the sea of will down to its depths. Yet right at that instant, with a faint crunch, the giant hammer recoiled violently. Upon its head, a little fur ball took a bite, made a crunching sound, and instantly vanished. Only then did Su Yu remember the little creature. Overjoyed, he barked, "Little fur ball, kill it... no, suppress it! I'll feed you the good stuff later!" "Squeak, squeak!" The little fur ball's silhouette flickered into view, bouncing with excitement at the promise of food. Flickering in and out of existence, it took a chomp out of the giant hammer every now and then, taking an enormous load off Su Yu and Zhao Li. Zhao Li was taken aback as well. The little runt could do this? Fighting right inside his sea of will! And with every bite, even an Earth-rank civilized armament shuddered in distress. In truth, whenever the giant hammer was bitten, Zhao Li felt a wave of agony too; he simply hadn't voiced it. That thing was fundamentally his core divine character. It was just that the core character was currently acting up and rebelling, requiring him to beat it into submission. Technically, he was fighting against himself, but there was no need to say that out loud. It was too humiliating! No one had ever heard of a cultivator being beaten half to death by their own core divine character. If word got out, it would become an eternal laughingstock, a farce for the ages. People like Liu Wenyan might have undergone similar ordeals, but their divine characters had been external inheritances. His core character was genuinely his own. And yet it had kicked up such an absurd ruckus! With the little fur ball joining in, the two men and the ball worked together, easing their burden considerably. As long as they dragged it out, the giant hammer would eventually run out of steam. But the prerequisite was that it could not shatter Old Zhao's sea of will first! And right now, the sea of will showed alarming signs of giving way. Su Yu's gaze flickered as a thought struck him, recalling some cultivation insights and records Liu Wenyan had left behind. He glanced up at the starry divine apertures overhead. A spark flared in his mind. An instant later, he shouted, "Teacher, fight where I lead you! If you die, I'll bury you properly; if you live, you'll come out stronger!" "Fuck! Fight how?" "Lure it into the sky!" With those words, Su Yu's hammer shot upward into the air. Zhao Li's hammer followed in tight formation, and together the two hammers harried and forced the giant hammer upward into the heights. Up above, seventy-two stars were densely arrayed—no, there were more. Zhao Li had opened a few additional divine apertures over the years, bringing the total to around eighty. Even after so long, he had only managed to open a few extras. Apart from those clusters of apertures, the rest of the expanse was steeped in darkness. Su Yu made a swift assessment and locked onto a position. He hurled himself at an empty expanse of darkness, pounding away madly. Old Zhao couldn't help but roar, "That's my sea of will!" "Open an aperture!" Zhao Li understood immediately, a wave of despair washing over him. "By brute force?!" "Yes! Try it—it might just work! My teacher Liu Wenyan broke apertures open this way back in the day. He didn't die even when he was just in the Character Nurturing Realm! Teacher, borrow the giant hammer's power to force the aperture open! It's the perfect chance to unlock more apertures and make yourself stronger. You'd never get an opportunity like this normally!" Zhao Li weighed the thought for a heartbeat, then gritted his teeth. To hell with it! What was there to fear?! Liu Wenyan hadn't died, so why would he? Perhaps Su Yu was right. Opening more apertures would make him stronger, ground his sea of will more firmly, and provide far more willpower. It was a solid plan. The three hammers clashed violently in the void. Su Yu continually channeled the errant force toward the empty expanse, using the impacts to help Zhao Li force open an aperture. ... Meanwhile. On the All-Heavens Battlefield. Liu Wenyan was chatting idly with his eldest uncle, reminiscing about the past. He sighed, "Back then, when Teacher's divine character was left behind, it forced my sea of will to the brink of bursting, forcing me to pry open several divine apertures..." "You forced them open, and your sea of will didn't shatter?" His uncle sighed with emotion, knowing how much suffering his nephew had endured over the years. "It nearly did. Fortunately, King Daxia happened to be nearby when I opened them and stabilized my sea of will." Liu Wenyan sighed again. Naturally, he kept the part about King Daxia saving his life off the record; it sounded too pathetic, and he had his dignity to protect. As for the notes he had handed down to Su Yu—he had never told the boy to force open apertures by brute force. Su Yu didn't need to force anything open anyway, so dwelling on the details had seemed pointless. At this moment, Liu Wenyan felt a twinge of wistfulness. With Bai Feng gone, the All-Heavens Battlefield felt much duller. And then there was that kid Su Yu—who knew if he had caused any trouble lately. ... Inside the sea of will. The battle continued unabated. With a resounding boom, a divine aperture burst open, pried apart by raw force. At that exact instant, the sea of will shuddered violently. Zhao Li froze, then erupted into furious cursing: "Forcing it open made the sea of will crumble even faster! Are you trying to get me killed so you can inherit my civilized armament?!" Unreliable little bastard! Why was the sea of will trembling so fiercely? It felt like it was going to shatter even faster! Su Yu was taken aback as well. That couldn't be right—wasn't this how Teacher Liu had weathered his crisis? What had gone wrong?! The giant hammer, seemingly sensing the violent quaking of the sea of will, appeared to pause in confusion as well. Suicide? After all was said and done, it was still Zhao Li's core divine character, carrying remnants of his will. Was its master trying to kill himself? Possessing a rudimentary sliver of sentience, the hammer pondered this conundrum. Speechless, Zhao Li rapidly assessed his condition and said, "It won't collapse just yet—it's only one aperture. But your idea is rubbish! If we open a few more like this, my sea of will is going to implode for sure. Did Liu Wenyan really do this?" "That's what Teacher Liu said." "Bullshit! King Daxia probably stabilized his sea of will for him!" Zhao Li spat a curse. It was just a guess, though perhaps Liu Wenyan simply had an extraordinary natural constitution. Either way, if he opened any more, he was finished. What kind of day was this? He had spent the entire time fighting himself. First, his core divine character attacked him, and then he teamed up to attack his own sea of will. A little more of this, and he would end up dead by his own hand. Su Yu quickly evaluated the situation as the giant hammer began thrashing again, rampaging in every direction. Scanning the expanse, Su Yu gritted his teeth. "Teacher, how about this? The seventy-two apertures of your Myriad Characters Scripture are unevenly distributed. Let's open a few more apertures and establish two full sets of the Five Elements Art! If we link them into an art network, it might stabilize your entire sea of will." Zhao Li also knew the Five Elements Art, though he only had four sets. Calculating quickly, he bellowed, "Accounting for overlapping apertures, opening two complete sets requires at least eleven more apertures! Are you sure this won't kill me?!" "Treat a dead horse like a live one!" Su Yu was completely out of options. If they didn't try, Zhao Li's sea of will would eventually be battered to pieces by the giant hammer anyway. Zhao Li currently had eighty-one divine apertures open. But comparing them to the seventy-two required for the two arts, the highest degree of overlap was only sixty-one apertures. That left eleven more to open before the two complete sets could be formed. If they could link them together like a great stabilizing net, it might hold the sea of will together. It was the best solution he could come up with right now. Zhao Li knew there was no other choice. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Then let's do it! Pick whichever two sets merge best, cover the widest area of the sea of will, and see if they can patch things up!" "Understood!" Su Yu dropped lower and gazed up at the sky. The stars were distributed unevenly. Perhaps if they balanced the distribution and formed the cultivation pathways, the space would become far sturdier. The half of the space where the seventy-two apertures of the Myriad Characters Scripture were linked together was already noticeably more stable. Linking divine apertures did indeed grant structural integrity. Without another word, Su Yu ignited the Fire of Inheritance, turning the concept over in his mind to ensure the logic held. After a brief contemplation, Su Yu called out, "Teacher, hold out for a moment! I'm going to form a healing divine character—ideally one that mends the sea of will—to help stabilize you..." "What?!" Before Zhao Li could recover from his shock, Su Yu vanished. Yes, his consciousness withdrew entirely! Back in his physical body, Su Yu whipped out an Invincible manuscript and began scrutinizing it rapidly. The Fire of Inheritance burned bright as he studied the pages again and again. Calm down! Su Yu activated his 'Quiet' divine character, maintaining absolute composure. Ignoring Zhao Li beside him, he kept reading. He had to form a divine character that possessed suppression, healing, or stabilizing properties to anchor his teacher's sea of will before attempting the apertures, lest he accidentally beat the old man to death. Still fighting in his sea of will, Zhao Li was on the verge of losing his mind! What the fuck?! You abandon a fight halfway through and step out, telling me you're going to whip up a divine character on the spot? What kind of joke is this?! Su Yu paid no heed. Focusing his mind, he absorbed and comprehended the text bit by bit, the Fire of Inheritance blazing brighter and brighter. It was just forming a divine character! In the past, there were divine characters he simply hadn't cared to outline, skipping over them without much thought. Now, with his mind racing at maximum capacity, he needed a character suited for suppression, healing, or stabilization. After about three or four minutes, a new character gradually took shape within Su Yu's sea of will. 'Merge'! Because the Invincible's manuscript was not a pure text of will, carrying it into the secret realm had produced no significant reaction. Yet the moment Su Yu formed this divine character, someone outside felt a faint resonance. ... Inside the Prefecture Lord Manor. King Dasong gave a slight start. In his eyes, figures flickered through time, sun and moon shifting in an instant. Just now, had someone gained an insight connected to him? Who could it be? The connection was related to him, but not particularly close, and veiled behind some obstruction. Even peering through the heavenly secrets, he could discern nothing concrete. Yet someone had undeniably comprehended a divine character tethered to his own insights. Beside him, King Miecan called out, "Old Song, what's the matter?" "Nothing!" King Dasong smiled and waved his folding fan lightly. It was nothing, merely a touch curious. Was this person not far from him? Someone from his Great Song Prefecture? Someone who had studied one of his manuscripts? Over the years, he had bestowed a handful of manuscripts as rewards. Could one of the recipients be present? Yet he hadn't noticed anyone. He put the thought aside; it was a trivial matter anyway. King Dasong said, "If Zhao Li truly fails later and his sea of will is grievously wounded, I'll see if I can help stabilize it." "My thanks, King Dasong!" Zhao Tianbing hastened to express his gratitude. King Dasong gave a slight nod and said no more. ... Meanwhile, within Zhao Li's sea of will, Su Yu rushed back in. Spotting the battered, mid-sized hammer, he called out, "Teacher, I'm back!" The Tier-2 'Merge' character, born from the Invincible's manuscript, immediately went to work, gathering the surrounding willpower to shore up the sea of will. Su Yu added hurriedly, "It's not for healing, just barely enough to pull the sea of will together. It's only tier two. Teacher, should I step out and try again? Can you hold on?" "..." Zhao Li's hammer trembled violently! What the fuck! You really formed a divine character in an instant?! And it's tier two right out of the gate! Is the Dao of Divine Characters run by your family?! You just pop them out whenever you feel like it?! Are you pulling my leg?! Are you toying with me?! You're going to play me into an early grave! His jaw was practically on the floor. He knew Su Yu was outrageously gifted, but the boy had stepped out for a few minutes, strolled back in, and casually announced he had formed a Tier-2 divine character! Yes, tier two, not even tier one! How were other cultivators supposed to live? People who had to sketch character strokes one by one, slowly fleshing them out and painstakingly advancing them—people like him! And now he wanted to step out and try again?! To hell with that! "Don't! Start—just start!" Old Zhao roared, demanding they begin. If this went on, he wouldn't die from the hammer; he would die of pure shock from this kid. "All right, let's begin then..." Su Yu had only tossed the idea out casually anyway; if he stepped out again, there was no guarantee he could form another character. "Teacher, I've got other tricks up my sleeve. Don't be afraid..." Zhao Li felt numb. Whatever tricks you have, bring them on! I'm beyond fear! Just as the thought crossed his mind, Su Yu's divine character battle technique morphed instantly from a hammer into a massive cauldron! The character nodes had rearranged entirely! Zhao Li was struck dumb, staring in sheer disbelief. What in the world was this?! "Teacher, watch me pin it down! Lock onto it with me—we'll fight right next to the aperture so we don't disturb other areas..." "You... I... you... your divine character battle technique can change shape?!" "Yeah!" "..." Zhao Li was about to crack. He genuinely couldn't take this anymore. A battle technique that changes shape on a whim?! Su Yu didn't dwell on it. Feeling that the cauldron couldn't fully trap the hammer, he shifted it again, and the cauldron became a heavy rope that coiled tightly around the giant hammer's haft, dragging it forcefully toward another point. The giant hammer thrashed furiously, while Zhao Li dazedly moved alongside Su Yu to help haul it. At this moment, he had ten thousand words he wanted to say, yet could not utter a single one. Was Su Yu even human? No! He was a monster. Zhao Li almost wished he could gouge his own eyes out so he wouldn't have to see this. As for Su Yu, he unleashed every trick at his disposal, using every ounce of strength down to his last drop! Like a tracker hauling a barge, he dragged the giant hammer straight toward the location of a divine aperture. Before long, the giant hammer began struggling wildly right beside the aperture. Zhao Li's task was straightforward: team up with the little fur ball, battle the giant hammer, and use the collision of forces to pry the aperture open. Su Yu's job was simply to restrain the hammer and keep it from running off to wreak havoc elsewhere. Boom! Another divine aperture burst open. The sea of will quaked violently, but Su Yu's 'Merge' character flared to life, dampening the tremor and providing just enough stability. Without wasting a breath, Su Yu hauled the giant hammer toward the next target. Zhao Li followed along in a daze. Though he had lived for over a century, this was the first time he had ever experienced such madness. He would never forget what he had witnessed today for the rest of his life. Su Yu had manifested an innate divine character in an instant and acted as though it were nothing. Su Yu had stepped out to read a book and manifested another divine character in minutes, utterly unbothered. Su Yu's divine character battle technique could shift its form at will—not a superficial illusion, but a genuine, fundamental transformation. Through that shift, the battle technique took on authentic properties; when turned into a rope, it could genuinely bind a Shanhai hammer. A superficial change—like turning a blade into the shape of a rope—would still carry the properties of an offensive weapon and could never bind the hammer. Su Yu was altering the technique's very essence. Meanwhile, another idea crossed Su Yu's mind. Hauling the giant hammer, he called out, "Teacher, you should really sketch out a divine character battle technique right now! Before you step into Shanhai, there's still a chance! I know how to construct a giant hammer battle technique. Do you want to learn it? You can't use the template directly, but you can manage a rough outline. With some time to polish it later, and once the disassembly art is fully perfected, you can still develop a genuine battle technique! If you wait until Shanhai, our research hasn't reached that level yet..." Zhao Li was still a Lingyun, so it was still possible. He had plenty of divine characters and could build a template on the spot. Naturally, he would need to refine and integrate it slowly over time, since it was not an inheritance template nurtured from the Character Nurturing Realm. Such a template could not be assembled haphazardly, but Su Yu knew how to structure it. He could prevent any conflicting character properties. Zhao Li asked blankly, "That works too?" "It should!" "..." "So... want to give it a shot?" Zhao Li remained stunned. Should I try it? At this point, he had almost forgotten that he was trapped in a life-or-death crisis. Su Yu's barrage of outrageous maneuvers had made him lose track of the danger entirely. Su Yu didn't hesitate. Once Zhao Li and the little fur ball engaged the giant hammer again, Su Yu shifted his battle technique back into a giant hammer composed of eighteen divine characters. "Teacher, how many divine characters do you have?" "Twelve..." Zhao Li didn't have as many, but twelve was still a formidable number. "Twelve..." That wasn't bad. Su Yu thought it over. "Fine, I'll map out a twelve-character template for you first. If that's not enough later, we'll figure something out." A moment later, he combined twelve divine characters into a smaller hammer. "Teacher, look and memorize this! A configuration like this is stable and won't easily collapse..." Zhao Li rapidly gathered eleven of his divine characters, but soon winced. "My core character is that hammer..." He only had eleven available! Su Yu's eyes lit up. "Teacher, use the battle technique to imprison and capture it! That way, your battle technique will become even stronger, and it will keep the hammer pinned down. After that, we can direct its strikes wherever we want!" "..." Zhao Li was past arguing. He simply did as Su Yu instructed, arranging the characters and forging the connections exactly as told. What had begun as a mortal crisis had turned into a full-blown operation to capture the giant hammer and use it to blast open divine apertures! ... Outside, the crowd had waited for hours without seeing any further changes. All they could tell was that the phantom hammer in the air had grown more active, vibrating continuously. The golden patterns neither increased nor decreased. What was going on? Several hours had passed! Why hadn't there been any movement? Had the attempt failed, or had it succeeded? Everyone was completely at a loss! Even the ringing of the hammer had ceased! Confusion hung thick in the air. It wasn't just the onlookers; the armamentsmiths and the several Invincibles were puzzled as well. Was this a success or a failure? Was Zhao Li breaking through to Shanhai? The hammer looked terrifyingly powerful, yet it hadn't shattered his sea of will. Could Zhao Li's sea of will be so monstrously strong that the hammer couldn't harm him at all? Or was the hammer merely imposing on the outside while actually being a paper tiger that couldn't scratch him? ... In short, those outside could see nothing of the truth. Inside the sea of will, Su Yu was thoroughly exhausted. Zhao Li had managed to patch together a rudimentary hammer battle technique, though it was flimsy and on the verge of falling apart several times. The main issue was that the core character hammer kept struggling. Yet reaching this stage, Zhao Li suddenly realized that success was within his grasp! The hammer's strength had been almost entirely drained, and its resistance was growing feeble. Once more, they hauled the hammer to smash into a divine aperture! Boom! The ninety-second aperture burst open. Zhao Li finally possessed two complete sets of Five Elements Art apertures. He immediately began linking all the apertures together. Across his violently quaking sea of will, the two cultivation techniques began circulating in harmony. The Myriad Characters Scripture and the Five Elements Art ran on opposite sides, web-like threads of light fanning out to connect them, spanning across the entire sea of will. Moments later, the sea of will settled into profound stability. Zhao Li stood dazed. He had been struck dumb too many times today. Had he succeeded? Was the crisis averted? Wrapped in his eleven divine characters, the core character hammer had grown limp and weary. After fighting for so long, the giant hammer had failed to overcome them. He had... actually pulled it off! And right at this moment, his breakthrough to Shanhai and the fusion of the eight apertures seemed poised to succeed! The heat of battle had accelerated the fusion process. "Kid... I think I'm about to break through. The hammer can barely fight back!" Su Yu nodded. Indeed, the danger had passed. Only now did Su Yu finally feel a wave of relief. They had survived the ordeal. Zhao Li blinked in disbelief for an instant before bursting into wild delight. "It's going to work! But the forging isn't finished yet. Give me a moment—once my breakthrough is complete, I'll resume forging the other embryonic inscriptions!" The moment the words left his mouth, the eight divine apertures merged into one! Boom! The sea of will churned as pure, potent willpower cascaded in from the void. Su Yu absorbed a tiny sliver to recover a fraction of his strength before swiftly withdrawing his consciousness from the sea of will. Before departing, he cast a glance back at the aperture fusion. Eight apertures, fused into one. The process had been remarkably swift, but that was because Old Zhao had spent years preparing for this breakthrough, gradually grinding down the repulsive forces between them. If Su Yu were to attempt aperture fusion himself, it would never be this fast; he would need to wear down the resistance beforehand to succeed. Withdrawing his consciousness, Su Yu collapsed in total exhaustion. As his willpower returned to his physical body, he breathed a sigh of relief and smiled faintly. His willpower felt as though it had been washed clean of all dross, undergoing a subtle transformation. His mental energy churned, gently expanding and reinforcing his sea of will. After a moment, Su Yu opened his eyes. He had firmly reached the pinnacle of tier two—the absolute peak of the ninth layer of Tengkong. The clash with the giant hammer had essentially pitted him against the Mind Expansion Hammer itself. Coming out of that battle alive brought its own rewards; the Expanding Will Art was that kind of technique. If it didn't kill you, whatever didn't destroy you made you stronger. The little fur ball also withdrew a moment later, looking thoroughly energized. It was evident the little creature had reaped substantial benefits from biting the hammer over and over. Rumble! Inside the yuanqi secret realm, massive tides of yuanqi poured into Zhao Li. His aura climbed higher and higher, surging without end! An instant later, it broke through a critical threshold! Boom! A terrifying burst of momentum erupted, blasting Su Yu several paces back! A short while later, Zhao Li snapped his eyes open and let out a booming laugh. "I've stepped into Shanhai!" Success! "Keep going, kid! I'm in Shanhai now, and stronger than any ordinary Shanhai! I've opened ninety-two divine apertures, the outline of my battle technique is formed, and my core character has established a connection with me again! Come, let's keep forging—we're forging the embryo of a Heaven armament! "Once we succeed, the day you forge an Earth armament won't be far off. Even if you never fight another battle in your life, armamentsmithing alone will feed you for a lifetime!" Su Yu smiled. "Congratulations, Teacher!" "We're not done yet, but eighty percent of the work is behind us. Hurry up! I'm bursting with energy—let me teach you a little more!" The forging resumed! The inscriptions for an Earth armament were far more numerous than anticipated, currently standing at seventy-seven complete patterns. With Zhao Li now in the Shanhai Realm, possessing greater strength and fully healed injuries, the forging became far easier for him. Su Yu said nothing more. Manifesting his hammer, he sprang into the air to join Zhao Li. Zhao Li's core divine character appeared once more, behaving far more submissively this time as it took the hammering from both of them! ... Clang! When the sound of hammer strikes rang out again, it carried an even grander cadence! In that instant, the entire Great Xia Prefecture fell silent. Zhao Tianbing stared in utter disbelief. Had he succeeded?! No, the forging wasn't fully complete yet, but Zhao Li somehow had the energy to keep hammering. Did this mean he had broken through to Shanhai?! He had actually pulled through! Up in the sky, the tip of the seventy-eighth golden inscription began to materialize on the hammer. Soon, the embryonic form faded as Zhao Li moved on without completing it, beginning to forge the outline of the seventy-ninth inscription instead. The ringing of hammer on metal echoed incessantly! Every strike resonated with boundless vigor! There was even a distinct note of jubilation in the rhythmic beats! ... Meanwhile. Su Yu was settling into a state of sheer enjoyment. The recoil no longer felt overwhelming as it tempered his flesh. Zhao Li guided his rhythm as they hammered together, laughing boisterously. "It wouldn't have been this easy before, but my battle technique's outline pinned this hammer down and knocked the wildness out of it. You get what I mean?" "Yeah, I get it. It was like a stray beast that forgot its home, but now it's been collared and tamed!" "Hahaha! Well said!" Delighted, Zhao Li roared with laughter. "Keep going! This is my core divine character, kid! The stronger we forge it now, the stronger I become! Once this civilized armament reaches the Heaven rank, I'll step naturally into the Sun Moon Realm! "Today, I am going to forge a truly formidable civilized armament! I'll show the world that I, Zhao Li, am stronger than my senior brother!" Su Yu nodded with a grin. You're strong, sure... but let's finish forging a peak Earth armament first. He continued using the recoil to temper his body. His progress was astonishingly rapid. Zhao Li believed Su Yu's greatest takeaway would be smithing techniques, but Su Yu didn't dwell on that. Even if he became an Earth-rank smith, so what? Raw martial strength was far more reliable. And from this ordeal, he had grown immensely stronger. His willpower had strengthened, his divine characters were sharper, his battle technique was reinforced, and his physical body was harder... Every facet of his cultivation had advanced! His body was already closing in on its tenth casting! Time marched forward to the unending chime of the hammer. In the blink of an eye, the calendar turned to June 1. By this day, Zhao Li had forged ninety-nine embryonic golden inscriptions, seventy-seven of which were solid and twenty-two of which were ethereal outlines. Outside, the Earth-rank armamentsmiths were struck with awe! What did this signify? It meant that Zhao Li currently lacked the raw cultivation to bring them all into reality, but his craft had already reached the pinnacle of high-tier Earth rank. Once he reached one hundred golden inscriptions, it would mean Zhao Li possessed the craftsmanship of a peak Earth-rank smith. The only condition was whether his stamina could hold out long enough to forge that many inscriptions without his strength giving out and causing the forging to collapse midway. It was purely a matter of cultivation! As long as Zhao Li's personal strength improved, his smithing rank was beyond question. On the evening of June 1, the hammer strikes that had echoed through the day gradually softened! At that moment, the void trembled. The hundredth embryonic inscription materialized! ... "Peak Earth rank!" Hu Qi gazed up at the sky, feeling a strange pang of loss. Old Chen looked up as well, letting out a rueful chuckle. He had been completely outshone by Zhao Li. Zhao Li's only limitation was his cultivation, which prevented him from turning all one hundred inscriptions into reality; otherwise, he would already be the next peak Earth-rank smith. In the entire Human Realm today, there were only three peak Earth-rank armamentsmiths. The strongest was Zhao Tianbing. Of the other two, one was the eldest disciple of King Tianzhu, and the other was the Primordial Cult Master. Yes, the Primordial Cult Master. Otherwise, the All-Races Cult wouldn't have possessed so many civilized armaments. The Primordial Cult Master was an armamentsmith as well, though his smithing prowess was often overshadowed by his sheer strength as a ninth-layer Sun Moon expert. Only three peak Earth-rank smiths existed! Now, another was likely to join their ranks. Given some time to reach the Sun Moon Realm, Zhao Li should be capable of forging a peak Earth-rank civilized armament, wouldn't he? And he was only in the Shanhai Realm right now! Perhaps he wouldn't even need to wait for Sun Moon; the higher layers of Shanhai might be enough. "It's practically done!" "A blessing for the Human Realm!" "The smithing world is about to welcome another grandmaster!" "The fourth-generation head's lineage is truly terrifying! It feels even more impressive than King Tianzhu's legacy. King Tianzhu's branch has several Earth-rank smiths, but only one peak master, yet the fourth generation has produced two!" "..." Several armamentsmiths were overwhelmed with emotion. From this day forward, Zhao Li's standing in the world would be entirely different! ... Inside the Prefecture Lord Manor, Zhao Tianbing let out a long breath. King Dahan smiled and remarked, "It looks like he's going to succeed!" Zhao Tianbing nodded. "As long as he doesn't lose his head and insist on forging an embryonic outline of one hundred and nine inscriptions, success is guaranteed. I can sense that he still has some strength in reserve. And that Cui Lang has actually kept up with him the entire way—it seems he's been quite helpful." He was genuinely surprised by Cui Lang's endurance. Impressive! This kid was primed to become the next Earth-rank armamentsmith! King Dasong said with a smile, "A joyful occasion indeed. In a few years, your junior brother will be the next peak Earth-rank armamentsmith. From the looks of it, he might even reach Heaven rank before you, becoming the second Heaven-rank smith in the Human Realm. Tianzhu probably regrets missing this sight!" Zhao Tianbing chuckled. "Let's hope so. I certainly hope my junior brother reaches Heaven rank soon. When that day comes, he can forge more Heaven armaments for the Human Realm, providing better weapons for our Invincibles and high-layer Sun Moons!" At these words, the Invincibles smiled and nodded, saying nothing. If that came to pass, it would be ideal. Zhao Tianbing had also laced his words with a subtle plea, hinting that the Invincibles should shelter Zhao Li. Of course, there was no need to state it plainly. While they celebrated, Marquis Xia's grin stretched so wide his face began to twitch. Zhao Tianbing glanced at him and snorted. What are you grinning at?! What does any of this have to do with you?! Marquis Xia ignored him completely. I'm happy—can't I smile if I want to? ... Amid the quiet celebration, the embryonic outline of the one hundred and first golden inscription appeared. At the same time, Su Yu completed his tenth physical body casting! Through this forging session, he had remarkably completed two full body castings. Naturally, the resources consumed were staggering: the Heaven Yuan Qi expended was equivalent to nearly one hundred Heaven Yuan Fruits. He hadn't absorbed it all himself—Old Zhao had taken a massive share—and two Sun Moon divine characters had been shattered in the process. All told, estimating the total value at over two hundred thousand merit points was no exaggeration! Two hundred thousand merit points in exchange for Zhao Li's success, his breakthrough to Shanhai, the recovery of his injuries, and a leap in his smithing rank... It was worth every single point, more than worth it! Su Yu felt not the slightest regret, only joy. As Zhao Li continued hammering, he chuckled. "Take a break; you don't need to help anymore. Once you've caught your breath, start forging your own weapon! I want to watch you forge a peak Profound or even Earth armament! When we leave seclusion together, we'll let everyone see just how formidable the two of us are!" He had already thought it through: the moment they stepped out, one having forged the embryo of a Heaven armament and the other a peak Profound or Earth armament, the scene would shake the entire world! Masters of the smithing path could shake the world just as well! Su Yu, nineteen years old, a peak Profound or Earth-rank armamentsmith... Well, right now he was Cui Lang, thirty-five years old, but whatever! If his true identity were exposed, King Tianzhu would probably rush back without catching his breath just to take Su Yu as an apprentice. Zhao Li looked at Su Yu, his heart brimming with emotion. As you sow, so shall you reap. His success today was largely thanks to Su Yu, and the reason Su Yu had gone all out—exposing so many of his secrets—was rooted in the goodwill Zhao Li had sown in the past. At this moment, Zhao Li felt a surge of heroic pride. "Forging! Keep going! I'm going to forge one hundred and nine golden inscriptions!" "..." Su Yu stared at him blankly. Teacher, cut it out—have you lost your mind? Zhao Li burst out laughing. "Just a joke! But... within ten years, I will forge a true Heaven armament!" He wasn't truly insane; he had already pushed his limits to the absolute brink. If he actually attempted to forge one hundred and nine embryonic inscriptions and failed, there would be nowhere in heaven or earth for him to weep.