Gathering Helpers

Inside the Castellan Manor. Zhao Li did not waste words. Sitting down cross-legged, he asked, "Do you have blueprints sketched out?" Su Yu shook his head. "I haven't settled on the exact design yet, but the broad idea is a book." "You aren't worthy!" "..." Stunned, Su Yu looked at him. *Teacher, that stings a bit!* Zhao Li said bluntly, "Your Dao isn't a book! Mark my words! You just want to use the guise of scholarship to commit ruthless deeds. In my view, it's better forged as a saber, sword, axe, or trident." "No way, that doesn't suit my demeanor!" Su Yu shook his head in refusal. With a subtle shift, he donned robes white as snow, clasped his hands behind his back, looked up at the stars, and said, "Teacher, someone like me holding a butcher's knife just wouldn't look right, would it? I should be holding a book. Besides, I possess vast knowledge. Going by cultivation techniques alone, I know thousands of them!" Zhao Li cast him a sideways glance. He knew the boy just loved to show off. Since Su Yu insisted on a book, Zhao Li could not be bothered to argue further. "Forging a book-type armament is far more difficult. Sabers, spears, swords, and halberds are actually the easiest to make; unconventional weapons are always tough." Su Yu nodded. It would certainly be difficult. Zhao Li looked at him. "Any other requirements?" After a moment of thought, Su Yu said, "First, it must be exceptionally stable—that's a non-negotiable. Ideally, it should contain internal spaces of its own! One space per page..." *My head hurts already!* Zhao Li cursed inwardly. *This kid is going to be the death of me.* Such a thing was fiendishly difficult to forge. "And how many pages do you plan to make?" "Ten thousand pages!" "Get lost!" Zhao Li cursed outright, "All you know how to do is flap your lips with impossible demands! Ten thousand pages? Are you out of your mind? That's equivalent to ten thousand pocket dimensions fused together, and it has to remain rock solid! Do you have any idea how hard that is? If you actually forged something like that, it wouldn't be an Earth armament—it would be a divine armament!" After venting for a while, Zhao Li soon frowned and added, "If you want this weapon to serve as your Dao-manifestation armament, you'd better pursue the path of divine character armament fusion. You'll likely need to integrate divine characters into it. Have you thought that through? Otherwise, merely forging an ordinary weapon won't qualify as a true weapon of Dao-affirmation!" Su Yu nodded. "I've thought it through. Two divine characters!" Su Yu naturally had his own plans for forging this weapon. He intended to integrate the characters for 'Civilization' into it. Gather corpses, integrate civilization. Without lingering on the topic, Zhao Li hesitated before saying, "Look, I don't have the skill to forge ten thousand pages, and neither does King Tianzhu! Let's start with a hundred pages as an experiment—just a semi-finished embryonic form! You can add more pages gradually as your cultivation grows, perfecting it over time! Or we can just start with ten pages to make things even easier." Saying that, Zhao Li said gravely, "What other demands do you have? Spit them all out at once." Su Yu calculated for a moment and said, "For every page, I need spaces of different tiers crafted, starting from the Qianjun Realm as a foundation, followed by Wanshi, Tengkong, Lingyun, Shanhai, Sun Moon, Eternity..." Zhao Li felt his head swell as big as an ox's! *Damn it all!* *You really are trying to kill me.* *I honestly can't do this.* The more Su Yu spoke, the more insurmountable the difficulty seemed. Zhao Li could not help but scowl. "This isn't something you and I can forge. Even if you and I combined our efforts, reaching a mid-tier or high-tier Earth armament is our absolute limit! Crafting a peak Earth armament is already a stretch. The demands you're laying out are things only a Heaven armamentsmith or even a divine armamentsmith could pull off! Kid, do you take me for a divine armamentsmith?" Su Yu let out a dry laugh. Zhao Li hesitated, then said, "In that case... if it comes down to it, I can call someone. I'll get Zhao Tianbing to help! He's a peak Earth armamentsmith. If you don't want him knowing everything, we can assign him specific components, including some of the spatial fusion and incision. Though when it comes to spatial incision... he might not be up to it either." Su Yu pondered for a moment. "Dean Hu Xiansheng from the Daming Prefecture can handle that!" "Can you get him to come?" Su Yu nodded. "Shouldn't be an issue. He's short on funds to build his spatial teleportation gate. Coincidentally, I might lack many things, but money isn't one of them. I can hire him." "That does sound feasible!" Zhao Li sighed. "You kid, your ambition is just too wild! What you're making isn't an Earth armament; you're not even just preparing an embryonic Heaven armament. You're aiming straight for a divine armament! In the myriad realms today, the only true divine armament might be the Heaven Hunting Ranking! Leaving aside the fact that the few of us can't possibly forge a divine armament, the resources and funds required are far beyond what you can afford!" Su Yu smiled. "I don't have delusions of grandeur right now. But if in the future... it can become a divine armament, that's a matter for the future. When that time comes, you and I, Teacher, will have etched an indelible mark in the annals of armamentsmithing!" Zhao Li could not be bothered to banter with him, but taking a deep breath, he felt a faint surge of excitement. Suddenly, he murmured, "If my father were still around, he'd probably be thrilled! Never mind, he's gone. Su Yu, just the two of us isn't enough, and even bringing in my senior brother might fall short. Have you... considered asking Yun Chen for help?" "Yun Chen?" Su Yu froze for a moment. Zhao Li nodded. "The human race has three peak Earth armamentsmiths! One is my senior brother, one is King Tianzhu's eldest disciple Tie Ge, and the other is the Primal Cult Master—namely, Yun Chen." Su Yu recalled someone mentioning this before. At this moment, he asked in surprise, "How is Yun Chen a peak Earth armamentsmith?" It was one thing when he didn't know Yun Chen's identity, but knowing now that the Primal Cult Master was Yun Chen, Su Yu was still taken aback. Zhao Li was not particularly surprised. "He and my father were of the same generation and on decent terms. Back then, much like you, he was proficient in many arts. After the Third Generation vanished, my father took charge of the academy, and Yun Chen served as the Dean of Divine Characters at the time. During that period, he likely learned armamentsmithing from my father. Strictly speaking, he counts as an armamentsmith of our Zhao family lineage." Su Yu clicked his tongue. The Zhao family lineage's armamentsmithing arts were truly formidable. Zhao Tianbing was a peak Earth armamentsmith, as was Yun Chen, while Zhao Li could forge mid-tier Earth armaments, and perhaps high-tier ones as well. Of the human race's three peak Earth armamentsmiths, the Zhao lineage had produced two. Even though King Tianzhu was a Heaven armamentsmith, he had only trained one peak Earth armamentsmith. If the Fourth Generation had not fallen, he would likely have become the second Heaven armamentsmith. Zhao Li continued, "Before his identity was exposed, I didn't think too deeply about it. Looking back now, some of the powerful armaments used by the Myriad Races Cult did carry traces of the Zhao lineage, though faint. Yun Chen probably studied the God race's armamentsmithing techniques as well, drawing from multiple traditions!" Su Yu nodded. Zhao Li asked, "Should we invite him? We aren't well acquainted with King Tianzhu, and you aren't very familiar with Yun Chen... though I know him reasonably well. Going by generation, he's of Ye Batian's cohort, so Liu Wenyan would have to address him as Eldest Martial Uncle. He's currently in the All-Heavens Battlefield; if we truly ask, he'd probably come." Su Yu hesitated. Zhao Li said calmly, "I understand what you're thinking. There's no need to be overly harsh on him. The Primal Cult Master operated covertly in the Human Realm with a hidden identity; there were certain events he might not have known about in advance. As for the Third Generation's side, the Heaven Hunting Pavilion was constantly ostracized by the human race, so he might not have known everything or had a say." Su Yu smiled. "Teacher, I personally don't care that much, but let's forget it. This isn't just about my feelings; my teacher and the others can't move past that grudge, and neither can Manor Head Wan." "Wan Tiansheng..." Zhao Li shook his head and sighed. "True enough! Yun Chen was practically his master. That fellow Wan Tiansheng didn't utter a single word to him right up until he left. Clearly, he can't get over that hurdle in his heart." From the moment he left, right through the exposure of the Primal Cult Master's identity, Wan Tiansheng had not spared him a glance or spoken a single word. It was plain to see that Wan Tiansheng harbored deep rejection and resentment toward the senior brother who had once taught him. "If you won't seek out Yun Chen, so be it. You can borrow a few Earth armamentsmiths from the Daming Prefecture!" Zhao Li spoke again, "Kid, this undertaking is truly massive! If we rely solely on the two of us, simply constructing the design and extracting the materials will take far longer than a day or two. And the materials you've prepared must be top-tier; the better the materials, the harder they are to refine!" "Without reaching the level of an Earth armamentsmith, even extracting the essences will be difficult. One wouldn't even qualify to do odd jobs." At these words, Su Yu clicked his tongue. *Isn't that an exaggeration?* Needing Earth armamentsmiths just to run errands seemed absurd. He produced his materials to show Zhao Li. After inspecting them for a moment, Zhao Li fell silent. *Damn you!* These were all meant for forging Heaven armaments! What he had said was entirely accurate—anyone below an Earth armamentsmith would genuinely struggle to extract and refine them. "You're basically aiming for a Heaven armament from the start. You and I can't do this alone. If you want to forge it, you'd better hurry up and call in reinforcements!" Su Yu had not expected Zhao Li to offer such advice. Two Earth armamentsmiths wouldn't suffice! Even three or five wouldn't be enough! They had to summon more. Crucially, Su Yu wanted to forge it within a month, which ratcheted up the difficulty even further. Someone had to handle spatial cutting as well! Hu Xiansheng was well-suited for that! After a brief pause, Su Yu nodded. "Alright, I'll follow your advice, Teacher. I'll invite a few people to help us out. You and I will handle the core work, and the others can assist with auxiliary tasks." When it came to trust, Zhao Li was the one he trusted most. As for others, even Hu Qi from the Daming Prefecture—it wasn't that he distrusted them, but rather that the secrets of one's civilized armament were best kept private, especially one like Su Yu's. "The death qi in this ancient city is too dense... I'm afraid it might interfere!" Zhao Li added another concern, but Su Yu brushed it aside. "Don't worry. I'll flood the Castellan Manor with heaven yuan qi—massive amounts of it, even more than in an ancient ruin! That way, the death qi won't be able to encroach, and everyone can recover their energy rapidly!" That was no problem at all! Su Yu did not lack heaven yuan qi. Furthermore, he needed to prepare willpower-restoring treasures for everyone, which he also had on hand. Forging armaments was impossible without ample treasures to restore willpower; Su Yu was not in Zhao Li's dire financial position. With that in mind, Su Yu said hastily, "Teacher, we can't repeat what happened last time. We were so underprepared back then that we nearly failed! Our willpower couldn't recover, shattering several Sun Moon divine characters wasn't enough, and I had to sketch new divine characters on the fly..." Zhao Li's face flushed crimson! *Why don't you just come right out and say I was too poor to afford proper preparations, instead of all this long-winded rambling!* Su Yu cleared his throat and quickly pivoted. "This time, we must prepare thoroughly! We also have to account for any tribulations that might strike upon completion." Last time, Zhao Li had run into one. This time, they couldn't afford any mishaps. Strictly speaking, it hadn't been a tribulation last time, but an auspicious phenomenon—a heavenly reward. The trouble was that the reward had arrived at the wrong time. Receiving the reward prematurely had made the civilized armament far more powerful, drastically spiking the forging difficulty and nearly driving Zhao Li into his grave. Who knew what kind of situation they would encounter this time? Zhao Li nodded. "If we proceed according to your vision, the finished armament could be outrageously powerful. Even if it falls short of that, it will still be an embryonic Heaven or divine armament. Whether it brings rewards or tribulations, we must account for every contingency!" Having said that, he asked, "Should I head back now to invite my senior brother...?" "No need!" Su Yu let out a breath and said, "Though I'm not keen on returning, since we're inviting people, I might as well make the trip myself! I can hardly expect people from the Daming Prefecture to come running on just a written message." Calling Zhao Li over had worked because of their close relationship; a simple message had been enough. With others, he lacked that level of familiarity. Su Yu smiled. "Teacher, I'll go extend the invitations right away. Is Principal Zhao Tianbing in the All-Heavens Battlefield?" "Probably." Zhao Li wasn't entirely certain, but added, "No matter—even if he comes, he'll arrive faster than anyone from the Daming Prefecture." "Sounds good!" Without another word, Su Yu acted. Suddenly, the entire ancient city shuddered violently, and the colossal fortress vanished from its spot in an instant! On the Sea of Stars, colossal waves surged skyward! All around, treasure ships were instantly smashed to splinters by the monstrous swells. At the city gates, an amorous young couple had been holding hands moments before—one standing inside the boundary and the other outside, chatting away—only for the city to disappear in the blink of an eye! The massive shockwave blasted the male demon into the air. In the next breath, he shrieked in despair, "Su Yu, where did you kidnap my Dao companion to?!" All around, countless cultivators were thrown off their feet by the gale, utterly exasperated. *Damn it!* *Could you at least give a warning before taking off?* Many more began shouting: "My master is still inside the city!" "My grandfather is in there! Where did he just get taken to?" "..." Cultivators of various races were left utterly dumbfounded. What were they supposed to do now? Where had Su Yu whisked their people away to? Meanwhile, the powerhouses of the Nine Realms sighed in despair once more. *Bloody hell! We gave up building islands and set up a ring of treasure ships instead, and you still wrecked it! That bastard Su Yu is truly intolerable—couldn't he have given a heads-up?* The ancient city was definitely still somewhere in the All-Heavens Battlefield. They just didn't know which direction it had flown toward. With couples separated and masters parted from disciples, a chorus of curses erupted against Su Yu. The least he could have done was give fair warning! ... At that exact moment, in the East Rift Valley. King Daqin's eyes snapped open! In the next instant, a colossal ancient city hovered above the peak of the East Rift Valley, and Su Yu's voice echoed through the heavens. "Su Yu of the Sacred City pays respects to the human Invincibles. Forgive my intrusion!" The massive ancient city loomed across the sky. In this moment, countless figures from all directions caught sight of it, including cultivators far off near Liu City. Su Yu! He had piloted the ancient city straight to the Eastern War Zone. King Daqin took a step forward. Only now did Su Yu truly get a clear look at King Daqin's features: a middle-aged man with a square-jawed face, a cold and resolute expression, long hair tied back, exceptionally tall stature, and an overwhelmingly formidable aura. He wasn't conventionally handsome, but he exuded an aura of supreme majesty. It was said that before founding his prefecture, King Daqin had been an overlord who dominated the Human Realm back when it was still composed of feudal dynasties. Rumor had it that King Daqin was one of the rebel kings from that era, though few ever brought it up nowadays. At this moment, King Daqin's aura shook the heavens. Looking at Su Yu atop the city wall, he asked impassively, "Su Yu, what brings you here with your ancient city?" Su Yu cleared his throat and smiled. "Your Majesty King Daqin, please do not misunderstand—I'm not here to cause trouble! I merely wish to invite a few guests to my Sacred City, and I feared the journey might be hazardous for them." King Daqin glanced at Zhao Li beside him. He knew the stone statue had fetched Zhao Li earlier; who was Su Yu here to pick up now? Su Yu called out loudly, "Principal Niu, are you still around?" A moment later, Niu Baidao hurried into view, looking somewhat disheveled. Muffled chuckles rippled through the surroundings. King Daqin cast a glance over, frowning slightly, and said coldly to Niu Baidao, "A dignified Eternity expert should show some restraint. Wipe that red mark off your face!" In the distance, Niu Baidao gave an awkward chuckle as the red mark faded from his cheek. Seeing everyone still grinning, he smiled and remarked, "No need to be envious or jealous. My wife left that mark, not some stranger. I was just over at the All-Heavens Prefecture when duty called, so didn't I rush right over?" Beaming, he added, "My wife and I have been married for four hundred years, our bond firmer than gold. None of you understand!" "..." Silence fell. Niu Baidao chuckled inwardly. *Laugh at me, will you? Go laugh at yourselves!* Only then did he turn toward Su Yu, asking in surprise, "Why did you come running over here? Is something the matter?" Su Yu smiled. "Nothing major. I'd like to invite Dean Hu, Senior Hu Qi, and a few other Earth armamentsmiths from the Daming Prefecture to my Sacred City to discuss the Dao—specifically, the Dao of armamentsmithing." "Huh? Hu Xiansheng? What does he know about armamentsmithing...?" Su Yu explained, "Dean Hu specializes in the Dao of space. The Dao of armamentsmithing and the Dao of space complement each other! Furthermore, I might need their guidance, as I plan to forge an armament soon." "Oh!" Niu Baidao nodded and smiled. "A small matter. I'll notify the Manor Head right away and have him make the arrangements!" Just then, someone chimed in, "Su Yu, you're forging an armament? Might this old man come observe?" Su Yu looked toward the speaker—a white-haired elder, King Tianzhu. Su Yu smiled. "Your Excellency jest. You are a Heaven armamentsmith, while we are merely a bunch of Earth armamentsmiths messing around. How could we dare trouble you?" King Tianzhu was rendered speechless. *If you want to refuse, just refuse—must you sound so grand and courteous?* Su Yu had made such a huge spectacle, suddenly arriving at the Eastern War Zone to invite a group of Earth armamentsmiths after having already fetched Zhao Li. On top of that, he had earlier taken several Heaven armament materials from the myriad races. Could it be that he intended to forge a Heaven armament? Could he actually pull it off? While King Tianzhu was pondering, Zhao Li spoke up: "Could I trouble you all to inform Zhao Tianbing of the Great Zhou Prefecture that I need him for something? Principal Zhou, Zhao Tianbing isn't in seclusion, is he?" The person present was not King Dazhou, but Zhou Polong. Zhou Polong glanced at Zhao Li, then at Su Yu, and nodded slightly. "Alright, I'll pass the message. He's in the prefecture and can arrive shortly." "Then I trouble you, Principal Zhou!" Zhao Li cupped his fists and said no more. A moment later, King Daqin and several others vanished. Since Su Yu had nothing further to say, they had little to add and dispersed, leaving only a few figures behind. Niu Baidao remained, and King Tianzhu had not left either, seemingly unwilling to give up on asking if he could take part. Before long, an elderly figure manifested. It was not Zhao Tianbing, but Nan Wujiang. Nan Wujiang looked at Su Yu in the distance, and Su Yu looked back at him. For a time, the two stood in mutual silence. Xuanjia! During their time operating in the Heaven Hunting Pavilion, Su Yu and Xuanjia had been practically inseparable, frequently joking with each other on friendly terms. Yet at this moment, neither had words to say. Nan Wujiang looked at Su Yu, said nothing, and produced a faceless mask, tossing it toward Su Yu as he said softly, "This is an Elder mask—the Xuan Division Elder mask! Additionally, the Xuan Division now has a department head. With Zhou Tianyuan gone, a new head has taken office. Try not to leave the city while carrying this mask." Su Yu caught the mask, looked at him, and said slowly, "Thank you, Elder!" "..." Nan Wujiang was silent. *Just Elder, not Great-Grandmaster, nor Great-Great-Grandmaster.* After another beat of silence, Nan Wujiang asked, "Yun Chen is a peak Earth armamentsmith. Do you need his help?" "No need, but thank you!" Nan Wujiang gave a slight nod, his figure gradually dissolving into the air. His voice drifted into Su Yu's ears: "I still have a Xuan-Three mask. If you need anything, you can reach me through it!" Su Yu remained silent, quietly watching him depart. His feelings were somewhat complicated. He personally didn't harbor much resentment toward Nan Wujiang and Yun Chen, but Su Yu knew that the one who truly couldn't move past it was likely his teacher, Liu Wenyan. Perhaps his martial uncle Chen Yong couldn't let it go either. Since they could not hold hatred, it was best to simply cut ties. Once everyone had dispersed, Niu Baidao walked forward with a grin. He did not enter the city, wary that the stone statue might strike him, but chuckled from outside: "Su Yu, inviting so many people—are you preparing to forge a Heaven armament?" Over to the side, King Tianzhu interjected, "I'm an expert at that!" Su Yu was at a loss for words. *Isn't this old gentleman being a bit too eager?* *I already said I don't need help.* King Tianzhu didn't mind the cold shoulder, sighing helplessly. "Su Yu, do you know? It's been thirty years since I last forged a Heaven armament!" Su Yu looked at him, and King Tianzhu looked back, sighing, "I have no materials to forge with, holding the title in name only!" Between the lines, he was practically pleading: *Hurry up and invite me!* *If you're forging an armament, isn't it a Heaven armament?* *Otherwise, why invite so many Earth armamentsmiths!* *I excel at this too!* *When it comes to armamentsmithing, I'm the undisputed number one.* Before Su Yu could reply, Niu Baidao laughed heartily. "Old Zhu, go do what you need to do! It's just a bunch of kids playing around, and you're taking it seriously? Go back to keeping watch over King Xuan Armor—once we take him down, you'll have everything you need! Hurry along!" Niu Baidao belonged to an older generation and was no younger than King Tianzhu. Having attained the Dao, they were on equal footing, so there was no need for excessive formality. King Tianzhu sighed helplessly. "Fine, you fellows... leaving a Heaven armamentsmith sitting idle, you'll regret it sooner or later! Wasting precious materials is no trivial matter—excessive extravagance is a crime!" With those parting words, he vanished as well. Niu Baidao chuckled. "That old fellow lacks the ability to gather such materials himself, so he's just jealous of others. Don't pay him any mind! Su Yu, you'll have to wait about a day. Even traveling fast, coming from the Daming Prefecture will take a bit of time..." Su Yu nodded, then quickly added, "Have Dean Hu bring along that spatial cutter. I have a use for it." "You want that contraption?" Niu Baidao was somewhat surprised, but nodded. "Alright! Old Hu has been twiddling his thumbs lately anyway. Do you plan on having him help you cut spatial dimensions?" "Yes, that's the idea." Su Yu smiled. "Principal, does the prefecture still withhold support for Dean Hu's spatial teleportation research? I thought it was pretty impressive—didn't he teleport you onto the battlefield in an instant last time?" "Don't even mention it!" Niu Baidao shook his head. "I was teleported so violently that my head spun. Anyone ordinary would have been shredded to ribbons! His research still has major flaws. The prefecture did allocate some funds recently, but it's far from enough. The concept is sound, but it's just too expensive!" "How has Manor Head Zhu been doing lately?" "Him?" Niu Baidao laughed. "Same as always! He's probably feeling stifled these days. His reputation for slaying four Invincibles is still fresh, and now even his grandson looks at him like he's a monster." Su Yu chuckled. Continuing, Niu Baidao said, "There's one more thing I need to tell you. Those cultivation techniques you disseminated have racked up quite a lot of merit points. The Manor Head said you have no use for merit points now, so he plans to trade other items with you. Is there anything you need? Don't be shy—he's loaded! His eldest brother served as the head of the Yellow Division for so many years. The Yellow Division specializes in intelligence, and their embezzlement makes them far richer than the Xuan Division!" Su Yu said with amusement, "Surely not? The Xuan Division runs commerce while the Yellow Division handles intelligence—how much income could they possibly pull in?" "That's where you're naive! Just open your mouth wide and demand the moon—what are you afraid of?" Before Su Yu could speak, Zhao Li cut in, "If I remember correctly, King Daming is also a divine array master! Back when the Pavilion of a Hundred Dao was forged, most of its arrays were built by King Daming himself! Right now, we need a Heaven-rank grand array, primarily for absorbing yuan qi and willpower, allowing the armament to nurture and repair itself automatically if damaged. Ordinary people can't lay down this kind of array, but King Daming certainly can. Su Yu will forfeit all his earnings in the Human Realm in exchange for one such array—and it must be powerful! It should remain operational for at least three to five thousand years, ideally sturdy enough that even an Invincible can't break it..." "..." Niu Baidao inhaled sharply. "With such ambition, are you two planning to forge a divine armament? Unbreakable by Invincibles? Little Zhao, you certainly have a big appetite..." *Little Zhao!* Su Yu wanted to laugh, while Zhao Li looked thoroughly exasperated. *I look older than you.* Never mind—this man truly belonged to an older generation. Even his father, the Fourth Generation, would have had to address Niu Baidao as Senior. Without dwelling on it, Niu Baidao nodded. "Alright, I'll ask for you. If you're giving up all your proceeds in the Human Realm, securing a relatively powerful array shouldn't be a problem." He then asked, "Is it an urgent need? If so, once King Daming finishes crafting it, I'll deliver it to you. Any other requests?" Zhao Li chuckled and said, "If King Daming doesn't mind, he could throw in some defensive functions, offensive functions, teleportation functions, spatial stabilization functions..." Su Yu's mouth fell open! He had always thought Zhao Li was a straightforward, blunt man. Who knew he could open his mouth so wide and make such shameless demands? Even without knowing much about arrays, Su Yu knew that making an array so all-encompassing would multiply its difficulty tenfold! Not to mention consuming countless resources, it would require vastly more effort. Still... well played. Niu Baidao laughed helplessly. "Fine, I'll pass along the message! Whether it works out is out of my hands." Zhao Li grinned. "If we can solve the array problem, things will be much easier. By the way, Principal Niu, your greatest expertise lies in crafting divine talismans. Could you help craft a set of containment divine talismans?" "A small matter..." Su Yu hadn't known that Niu Baidao excelled in divine talismans, though he remembered the talisman Niu Baidao had once given him to conceal his strength, which no one below an Invincible could see through. It turned out the man was genuinely skilled in the Dao of divine talismans. Seeing Niu Baidao agree so readily, Zhao Li pressed on without hesitation: "This set of divine talismans must be exceptionally powerful and plentiful! It needs to be a complete set—ten thousand talismans working in unison, separate like pages of a book, capable of containing Half-Emperors without being destroyed..." "..." Niu Baidao's eyes widened. *Holy shit!* *What in the world are you two trying to do?* *Are you pulling my leg?!* Crafting a containment divine talisman wasn't hard—in fact, it was quite simple. The issue was making ten thousand of them as an interconnected set! What did he take him for? And containing Half-Emperors without breaking? Were they planning to go out and slaughter ten thousand Half-Emperors to store inside? "Stop joking!" Niu Baidao coughed dryly. "Little Zhao, that joke isn't funny." Zhao Li said calmly, "I'm not joking. This kid told me this himself. I told him not to joke, but he insisted this is what he wants, so I had no choice." Su Yu wore an awkward expression. Under the gaze of both men, he realized he had indeed oversimplified things earlier. Zhao Li was truly a master armamentsmith, quickly identifying what was needed and what was lacking. A Heaven-rank array, Heaven-rank divine talismans, and ten thousand of them at that... it was madness. Su Yu hadn't considered these aspects before. Thinking about it now, while it might technically be possible without them, the resulting armament would hardly live up to expectations. Niu Baidao's teeth ached. "Your demands... are utterly outrageous! Judging purely by what you've described, this is all preparation for a divine armament! You'd need a divine talisman master, a divine array master, and an armamentsmith all working together! When do you need it by?" "Within a month!" Niu Baidao shook his head. "That's impossible. Unless we only produce a hundred containment talismans to start with. Besides, your standards are absurdly high—containing a Half-Emperor? What a joke! Even containing an Invincible requires extraordinary talismans, consuming immense materials. I don't have the money for that. If you foot the bill, I'll craft a hundred for you free of charge. Any more than that is simply impossible without sufficient time." Su Yu nodded hurriedly. "I'll pay!" "Then we have a deal!" Niu Baidao smiled. "You kid have no small ambition. It looks like whatever you're forging this time won't be simple. As long as you provide the funds, the array and talismans can be arranged. As for the rest, you'll have to figure it out yourselves!" "Thank you, Principal!" Su Yu expressed his gratitude at once, overjoyed inside. After chatting for a while, another elder arrived before long. The Great Zhou Prefecture was not far from the All-Heavens Prefecture, and Zhao Tianbing had arrived. The moment he arrived, he chuckled, "Junior Brother, you've finally remembered me. It seems you need my help after all!" Zhao Li snorted with a sneer. "Ridiculous! I only took pity on you because you don't even have materials to forge with, so I'm giving you a chance. King Tianzhu wanted to join just now and I didn't even let him. If you're unwilling, get lost right now!" In the distance, Zhao Tianbing stepped through the air with a smile, not the least bit offended. "Junior Brother is as mischievous as ever!" "..." Su Yu felt terribly awkward. Why did the venerable and dignified Old Zhao sound like a child in the eyes of these figures? Principal Niu called him 'Little Zhao,' and Zhao Tianbing told him not to be 'mischievous'... It was bizarre! He stole a glance at Zhao Li, who wore an impassive face and glanced back at Su Yu. Seeing Su Yu looking, Zhao Li glared. *What are you looking at!* Su Yu was speechless. *So you can only bully me, huh.* The group fell into casual conversation. Su Yu took the opportunity to consult them on armamentsmithing techniques; it had been some time since he last forged an armament, and he was still far behind Zhao Tianbing. ... Discussions of the Dao always made time fly. A day passed, and no one came to disturb Su Yu and his companions. On the second day, arrivals from the Daming Prefecture appeared. Zhu Tianfang had personally escorted them. Three Earth armamentsmiths! Aside from Hu Qi, there were two other Earth armamentsmiths. The Daming Prefecture's armamentsmithing prowess was indeed superior to that of the Great Xia Prefecture. With that, counting Su Yu, a total of six Earth armamentsmiths were taking part. That was not even counting two Invincibles—one helping to craft the array and the other helping to craft the divine talismans. Soon, Su Yu gathered everyone and departed aboard the ancient city. ... Yet his round trip quickly spread news among the myriad races of the heavens. Su Yu was preparing to forge an armament. He had enlisted the help of five Earth armamentsmiths. Perhaps he intended to forge a Heaven armament! One had to admit that this fellow still possessed considerable connections within the Human Realm. Everyone knew Su Yu was on good terms with the Daming Prefecture, and his ties with the Great Xia Prefecture's Fourth Generation lineage were solid. Only Su Yu could pull off something like this—summoning five Earth armamentsmiths to assist him even after severing ties with the human race. Had it been anyone else setting up an independent fiefdom, practically no human Earth armamentsmith would have agreed to help. Yet Su Yu paid no heed to any of that. The colossal ancient city settled back onto its original location. The tremendous waves once again battered the newly repaired ring of ships belonging to the Nine Realms, causing the powerhouses of the Nine Realms to completely despair! *Damn it all!* *We're not repairing it anymore!* *Let whatever happens happen!* Being neighbors with Su Yu was eight lifetimes of bad luck.