The Beginning of Armament Forging

Inside the Castellan Manor of the ancient city. The density of Heaven Yuan Qi was frighteningly high. Su Yu was never short on Heaven Yuan Qi; whenever he had a spare moment, he simply extracted more. Now, his extraction speed was exceptionally fast. At the moment, death qi and Heaven Yuan Qi mingled, offsetting each other, and the yuan qi dispersing from their clash proved surprisingly suitable for cultivation. Among the five master armamentsmiths, Zhao Li, Zhao Tianbing, and Hu Qi were familiar faces. The other two were people Su Yu was not deeply acquainted with, though he had met them before. Both were quite advanced in years and showed signs of aging. Right now, the two elders looked somewhat dazed. *What dense Heaven Yuan Qi!* Su Yu had previously imparted the Longevity Art to these elders, which was in fact the vitality-stimulating method of the immortal race. Feeling the Heaven Yuan Qi entering their bodies and beginning to disperse some of their old, accumulated injuries, the two elders felt shocked and a bit embarrassed. Surely Su Yu had prepared all this Heaven Yuan Qi for recovery during the forging process, right? Absorbing it like this felt terribly presumptuous. Su Yu had not given it much thought. There was another person present whom he knew quite well. Seeing that man craning his neck and looking around, Su Yu could not help but smile. "Director, what are you looking at?" Hu Xiansheng chuckled and replied, "Nothing much. You had me bring the spatial slicer here—are you planning to slice up space? I'm just looking to see where would be appropriate. Slicing space can easily trigger spatial collapse. Didn't you say the ancient city connects to the Dead Spirit Realm? I was checking if we could enter the Dead Spirit Realm to slice there. That way, even if the cut space collapses, it won't matter!" "Hmph!" A cold snort echoed through the grand hall. Hu Xiansheng jumped in surprise. "Who's that?" Su Yu replied with complete calm, "It's fine, Director. There's a dead spirit sovereign in the back who loves eavesdropping on our conversations. It's nothing." "..." Everyone went numb. Even Zhao Li looked at Su Yu in surprise. *Damn it, in this ghostly place of yours, dead spirit sovereigns can even eavesdrop?* Su Yu shrugged. Seeing everyone staring at him, he said helplessly, "She's different from other dead spirits. The others just go back when they're done, but she doesn't leave. She spends all day lingering by the passage, so she can sometimes hear what we say." He was genuinely exasperated, too! Some dead spirit sovereigns never bothered guarding passages—they weren't that bored. Ordinary sovereigns had their own dead spirit kingdoms down below, and Xingyue had one as well, but recently she simply refused to go back! In the past, she would return to cultivate, but lately she had been loitering right near the passage, refusing to leave no matter what. Su Yu had no way to deal with her. The group looked at Su Yu with bizarre expressions. *You can remain totally unperturbed by that?* *This kid truly is out of the ordinary!* Hu Xiansheng also felt a bit uneasy. *Damn, I hope that dead spirit sovereign doesn't set her sights on me!* At a loss for words, he said, "Then... we can't slice space from the Dead Spirit Realm." Su Yu nodded. "Right, we can only slice space from the Allheaven Battlefield. Slicing it is fine; it's no great loss to us if it's ruined anyway. Besides, it's just cutting away a bit of space. In battles between Invincibles, massive amounts of space collapse without issue, so our little operation won't matter." Hu Xiansheng nodded and said no more. Su Yu turned toward Hu Xiansheng and cut straight to the chase: "The reason I invited all of you masters here is to help me forge a civilized armament. However, the workload is enormous, not something one or two people can finish." Since he intended to forge an armament, he had already prepared a plan. Looking at Hu Xiansheng, he said, "Director Hu's task is very simple: help me slice out three hundred small spaces. Each space only needs to be about ten mu in size, nothing too large..." Before he could finish, Zhao Li shook his head. "No, that's far too small!" *You are underestimating the true body size of those great demon corpses!* Zhao Li swiftly corrected him: "A single space must be at least a thousand meters in length, width, and height. On top of that, it should be compressed as much as possible using Sumeru methods so that it can actually hold much larger things! Not only that, it must undergo a second compression, shrinking the physical boundaries down to the thickness of a sheet of paper..." Hu Xiansheng was flabbergasted and stared at him. "Zhao Li, are you joking? That... that's an insane amount of work!" Zhao Li shook his head. "I'm not joking. Stop whining! Add more money. Su Yu, pay up!" "..." Su Yu did not know whether to laugh or cry. Looking at Hu Xiansheng, he said, "Rest assured, Director. I'll cover all the expenses for your future research. Until the day I drop dead, I'll fund all your research!" "Is that a promise?" "Of course!" "Deal!" Hu Xiansheng was overjoyed. "Easy enough! Three hundred pieces, right? A thousand meters in length, width, and height—that volume is no joke. For three hundred pieces, an entire space measuring three hundred thousand meters on every side will end up collapsing..." That was a gigantic volume! A cube of space six hundred li long would be carved out. Hu Xiansheng sucked in a breath of cold air and added, "It's best to cut them separately. If we slice it all in one spot, an area the size of an entire city will be turned into a black hole. Su Yu, let's agree on this beforehand: slicing up such a massive expanse of space might attract the attention of Invincibles. You'll have to handle that!" Su Yu nodded. "Certainly!" The others wore solemn expressions. From the mere act of slicing space alone, everyone could tell this forging project was extraordinary. Even if one were crafting the simplest storage ring, a ring of that size would qualify as an Earth armament, if not higher. That was enough to see how immense it was. A single piece of space was one hundred million cubic meters. And there were three hundred pieces in total! Just what kind of monstrosity was Su Yu trying to create? If it were just storage rings, there was no need for something so vast—thirty billion cubic meters, sliced separately at that. Could he really be forging three hundred storage rings? Zhao Tianbing asked solemnly, "What do I need to do?" Su Yu said, "Martial Uncle Zhao's task is straightforward: forge 302 book leaves capable of holding the compressed spaces Director Hu slices out. Three hundred will carry the spaces, and the remaining two will serve as the front and back covers." "Carrying space?" Zhao Tianbing sucked in a breath of cold air as well. *Damn, you brat, are you trying to work me to death?* "Compressing such massive spaces generates immense force. Asking me to forge book leaves capable of bearing that space is extraordinarily difficult, not to mention needing over three hundred of them..." Zhao Li snapped irritably, "Do it if you can; if you can't, get lost and I'll find someone else!" "..." Zhao Tianbing felt helpless. "Fine, I'll do it. But let me make this clear: time is too tight. Su Yu demands it all wrapped up within a month, which means more than ten leaves a day. I'll need assistants to help extract the materials, or I definitely won't manage alone!" "A single leaf like that is practically equivalent to a profound armament..." Before he finished, Zhao Li frowned. "That's not enough. It's best if they are comparable to Earth armaments!" "..." Zhao Tianbing furrowed his brows. "First, if they truly have to rival Earth armaments, there is no way in hell I can forge ten a day! Second, does Su Yu even have that many materials? Third, if we succeed, that would be equivalent to fusing over three hundred Earth armaments together, stronger than even a Heaven armament. Su Yu might not even be able to control it..." Zhao Li nodded, considered it, and said, "No matter. We can forge them as embryonic Earth armaments. Seventy-three gold inscriptions make an Earth armament, so you can forge them with seventy-two and a half, and sketch out a few embryonic gold inscriptions alongside them... That way, Su Yu can upgrade the pages into true Earth armaments whenever he wants down the line!" Su Yu swallowed hard. He could not help glancing at Old Zhao. *My teacher... feels completely insane!* Truly, Su Yu had merely wanted to forge a slightly stronger Earth armament and then craft an embryonic Heaven armament, which was why he had asked Hu Xiansheng for spaces of ten mu each. But... what was Zhao Li trying to do?! Zhao Li turned to Su Yu and said in a heavy voice, "Your strength is advancing too quickly; ordinary Earth armaments can't satisfy your needs! What's more, what you intend to forge this time is your armament of attainment—you absolutely cannot take it lightly! Oh, right, your materials aren't enough. You'll need more. I still have some on my side..." Zhao Tianbing hastily said, "I have quite a few as well!" Hearing that, Su Yu frowned and shook his head. "That won't do. You two teachers came here to help me out. If I had to ask you for materials as well, that would look down on me, Su Yu! Don't worry, Teacher, I'll find a way to get the materials myself." A trivial matter! Wasn't the Hunting Heaven Pavilion still around? It wasn't as if he lacked money. He could sell Heaven Yuan Qi—he had heaps of the stuff. If that still wasn't enough, he still possessed plenty of carriers. To Su Yu's surprise, the god race had actually delivered a carrier to him. Right now, Su Yu had as many as eight carriers in his possession. It was just that his earlier preparations had been a bit too modest. In truth, he had gathered quite a lot, enough to forge two or three Heaven armaments, but Old Zhao seemed determined to play on an unprecedented scale. At this moment, Hu Qi and the other two Earth armamentsmiths from the Daming Prefecture were left clicking their tongues in amazement! Hu Qi chimed in, "Three hundred pages comparable to Earth armaments? Su Yu, you want to forge a book-type armament and infuse space into it—one page, one world?" Su Yu nodded. "Teacher Hu, that's my plan. And three hundred pages... is likely just the initial estimate. Of course, we might not manage to forge that many right away." Hu Qi inhaled deeply as well. "This undertaking of yours is monumental. Then what about our task..." Su Yu thought for a moment and said, "First, extract materials! Second, assist Martial Uncle Zhao in integrating the spaces. Martial Uncle will forge the leaves, but embedding the spaces into them isn't something ordinary people can do; only we Earth armamentsmiths can accomplish it." The three Earth armamentsmiths nodded in unison. The difficulty was extraordinarily high! Hu Qi warned solemnly, "Integrating space carries risks; it can easily cause an explosion. If a single page is destroyed, the loss will be immense!" That would be equivalent to losing an entire Earth armament. Su Yu laughed. "If it blows, it blows! So long as none of you get injured, a ruined page is a small matter!" With that, Su Yu added, "For now, the three of you will be responsible for those two duties. Martial Uncle Zhao and Director Hu will proceed as I just laid out. As for my teacher... he will oversee the entire process!" Su Yu continued, "As for me, I will join hands with my teacher at the very end to fuse everything and forge it from scratch. In addition, I will handle procuring materials, assisting everyone with their recovery, and lending a hand wherever needed..." He was an Earth armamentsmith as well, but he needed to wait until all preliminary work was completed before carrying out the comprehensive forging. The difficulty of that step would be astronomical. Zhao Tianbing voiced serious doubt: "Can you manage it? Su Yu, I'm not looking down on you, but this is far too difficult! Fusing hundreds of Earth armaments—are you sure your stamina can hold out until the forging is complete?" Su Yu took a deep breath and nodded. "I will do my utmost. If it really doesn't work, I can incorporate fewer pages; it's not a big deal, and I can supplement them later." Zhao Tianbing nodded. "You brat, your ambition is boundless! Once this armament emerges, even if it doesn't reach the Heaven armament rank, it will be at the peak of the Earth armament rank. Furthermore... there will definitely be rewards or a lightning tribulation. You will have to judge for yourself! If it aligns with the great momentum of the world, it will be a reward! If it defies the great momentum, it will be a calamity!" Su Yu nodded. As for whether it would be a reward or a punishment, he had no idea either. Su Yu retrieved all his materials. The several Earth armamentsmiths gasped for breath. So many good things! Su Yu had killed numerous experts, leaving him with an immense collection of miscellaneous treasures far beyond what he had exchanged for. Shortly after, Su Yu brought out more items. "These are Five Elements Spirit Fruits. Whenever any of you run low on yuan qi or willpower, use these directly to recover!" "Holy crap!" The exact same thought surfaced in everyone's minds at once. *Damn you!* *What are you giving us to recover with?!* *Five Elements Spirit Fruits!* *Are you addicted to squandering fortunes?!* A single Five Elements Spirit Fruit was worth ten strands of Heaven Earth Mystic Light. That was no joke—it was worth the entire blood essence of a first-stage Sun Moon realm cultivator. Selling an actual first-stage Sun Moon expert might only fetch slightly more than that. Zhao Li frowned. "Absolute nonsense!" Su Yu shook his head. "It isn't nonsense. Teacher Hu and the others are advanced in age, with lingering injuries built up inside them. If they undergo a month of such high-intensity forging, they might pass away before the armament is even finished... How could I answer to everyone then? Nourishing yourselves with the Five Elements Spirit Fruits will not only restore yuan qi and willpower, but also heal your old wounds." As Su Yu spoke, he retrieved yet another batch of fruits. "These are Sacred Yuan Qi Fruits, which can directly replenish yuan qi to full capacity. There are a hundred of them, which I swindled from others last time." Su Yu said with a chuckle, "Under normal circumstances, we should avoid using them if possible. I will prepare plenty of Heaven Yuan Qi for everyone, so there's no need to recover using ordinary yuan qi liquid. That stuff isn't good—it has too many impurities!" "..." Everyone swallowed hard. It wasn't that these Earth armamentsmiths were inexperienced, but... they had truly never witnessed someone acting like this. Heaven Yuan Qi for routine consumption, Sacred Yuan Qi Fruits for emergency recovery, Five Elements Spirit Fruits for crucial replenishments... To be frank, the value of these items far exceeded the price of a Heaven armament. *Has Su Yu gone mad?!* Su Yu had not gone mad. He wasn't particularly short on wealth. While these items could help someone achieve Nine Yuan Qi Transformations, they were of little use to him; what he needed were even more formidable treasures. He needed to forge a treasure for his own path of attainment—why should he care about these things? These Earth armamentsmiths had come across realms at a single word from him; how could he treat them poorly? If they passed away before the weapon was finished, how could he answer to anyone? How could he answer to the Daming Prefecture and their families? Su Yu would never do such a thing! Su Yu continued, "All of you teachers likely know the Longevity Art. Taking advantage of this opportunity, I suggest you first heal your physical injuries, then nourish yourselves with the Five Elements Spirit Fruits so even the injuries in your seas of will can mend!" Saying that, Su Yu took out four more fruits—the Demon God Fruits, the most valuable of all. Back then, each Demon God Fruit had been priced at sixty strands of Heaven Yuan Qi! Shockingly expensive! Of course, high price brought high quality. Su Yu looked at the group and said, "These are Demon God Fruits! They are extraordinarily precious; I only have four left. Their greatest effect is that even under severe Sun Moon injuries, consuming one will almost completely restore you, as if possessed by a demon god, regenerating severed limbs. Originally there were five, but the fur ball ruined one..." Su Yu told them, "If any of you suffer backlash, you can eat these to recover." The group went completely numb. They had a growing feeling that they hadn't come to forge an armament; they had come to attend a grand banquet. There were simply too many treasures! Su Yu... was a prodigal beyond belief! Su Yu was indeed squandering resources, but not just anyone could make him spend like this. These people had traveled thousands of li across realms to help him on a single summons for an unimaginably arduous task. Earth armamentsmiths weren't idle people with nothing better to do. Their coming was an act of genuine goodwill. Toward those who helped him, Su Yu was never stingy. Not only that, Su Yu still had some Sun Moon Xuanhuang Liquid on hand, which he brought out now as well, remarking with a grin, "This stuff can also be used as a top-tier restorative. I'll go buy more from the Hunting Heaven Pavilion. I have too many things; some of them I even forgot about and never had time to use. Leaving them unused would be a waste anyway, so please feel free to use them..." Zhao Tianbing, a master at the peak of the Earth armament rank, let out an emotional sigh and said with a touch of envy, "Su Yu, I've forged armaments all my life, yet I couldn't produce this many treasures. You brat..." Su Yu gave an honest smile. "Swindled them. The myriad races are too foolish. In truth, I haven't ventured out that many times; it was all swindled." "..." They were rendered speechless. Hu Qi also gave a bitter smile. "I originally thought I'd come to lend you a hand, but instead, you little rascal make it feel like you're showering us with benefits. You're making us feel embarrassed." Su Yu smiled. "There's no need for that! While I was in the Daming Prefecture, I relied heavily on the care of my seniors. During my time there, I was very happy, and everyone gave me immense help! These are just worldly possessions; I can't use them myself, so keeping them would be pointless." Zhao Li let out a long breath and quickly said, "Everyone, use them! Recovering your injuries will benefit the upcoming forging process. If Senior Hu Qi and the others heal, it will only make the forging go smoother. That way, with Zhao Tianbing as a peak Earth armamentsmith, the three of you possessing the ability to forge mid-tier Earth armaments, and myself capable of forging mid-tier Earth armaments as well... our chances of success will be far greater!" Hu Xiansheng also laughed. "To be honest, with this lineup, if King Skyforge were here, it would be even more formidable than the team that forged the Pavilion of a Hundred Dao back in the day! By the way, for an armament this powerful, have the grand arrays and such been settled?" "Settled!" Su Yu smiled. "King Daming will help me craft the arrays. Oh, and Prefect Niu will help me forge divine talismans, containment talismans..." *Extravagant!* Two Invincibles stepping in, plus multiple master armamentsmiths, countless Heaven armament materials... truly extravagant beyond reason. In short, only the absurdly wealthy could afford to be so willful. Hu Xiansheng was speechless for a long time before saying, "From what I see, this armament of yours is aiming straight for the God armament rank! Even the myriad races wouldn't dare to be this extravagant. Of course, advancing to a Heaven armament will be no problem, but a God armament... hard! Far too hard! I think there's hope of reaching the peak of Heaven armaments, but a God armament... is something that can only be encountered by serendipity, never sought!" Su Yu and the others nodded; that was simply a fact. If it were really that easy, the only known God armament today wouldn't be just the Heaven Hunting Ranking. The power of a God armament was beyond imagination; the Heaven Hunting Ranking alone spanned the heavens, capturing the auras of the myriad realms, tracking targets in real time... Those functions alone were terrifyingly formidable. Zhao Tianbing took a deep breath. "Alright, since the tasks have been assigned, let's get to work! This is also the first time the several of us have joined forces! If we can truly pull this off, everyone will reap considerable gains, and I... might even use this opportunity to truly become a Heaven armamentsmith! I have to thank Su Yu for giving me this chance. Relying on myself, or relying on the human race... I'd probably never have had the chance in my lifetime to forge something with such extravagant treasures! Su Yu, we only have one request: when you and my junior brother forge the final piece, we want to watch!" Su Yu remained silent for a moment before nodding. "Alright!" Zhao Li frowned, then quickly said, "Watching is fine, but you cannot pry into the core! Those Su Yu dared invite here are considered our own people. I'm a junior before you seniors, but let me lay down the ugly truth first: this is no ordinary combat weapon, but the boy's armament of attainment. He said he has found his own Dao, which is why I had him decline King Skyforge's help... For ordinary weapons, even Heaven armaments, exposing the core is no big deal, but for an armament of attainment, none of you should observe the core!" The others nodded one after another. That was only right. Zhao Tianbing laughed. "Junior brother, we understand the rules of the trade! You're just a brat, yet you're lecturing us old-timers on trade rules..." Hu Qi remarked calmly, "Tianbing, you and your junior brother don't need to play good cop, bad cop. The two of you are both children; the three of us understand far better than you do!" "..." Zhao Tianbing looked sheepish. Indeed, he was not as old as those three; all three were figures from the era when the prefectures were established. Su Yu stifled a laugh. He glanced at Zhao Li with a touch of gratitude. There were words he could not easily say himself, so Zhao Li had spoken them for him. It was not a question of trust; the core of an armament of attainment was critical. Once exposed, it could easily be sabotaged by others, which would result in catastrophic losses for Su Yu, including the destruction of the divine characters integrated into it. Zhao Li said nothing more. As Su Yu's teacher in the art of armament forging and his guide on this path, things Su Yu found awkward to express fell upon him to state plainly. The reason they had not asked King Skyforge for help was also that King Skyforge was too powerful; during the forging process, he would easily see through certain secrets. If King Skyforge ever harbored ill intent toward Su Yu, the weapon would be ruined. At this moment, the preliminary preparations were complete. The elders were all people of action. Armamentsmiths never dragged their feet, quickly commencing the forging process, while Su Yu, still lacking some materials, needed to purchase them from the Hunting Heaven Pavilion. *Clang! Clang! Clang!*... The ringing echoes began to reverberate throughout the ancient city. ... By this time, the myriad realms in the heavens all knew that Su Yu was leading a group to forge an armament. Having summoned multiple human Earth armamentsmiths to assist, the kid was most likely attempting to forge a Heaven armament. For a time, armamentsmiths from across the myriad realms wished to come and watch. Forging a Heaven armament was extraordinarily rare. Heaven armaments were mostly possessed by Invincibles, with only a few peak Sun Moon cultivators owning them. Coincidentally, it was right around the time the Star Residence Mansion was about to open. The area was already bustling, and all at once, even more people arrived. When Earth armamentsmiths mobilized, they were usually protected by Sun Moon cultivators. A single Earth armamentsmith traveling outside would be accompanied by at least three to five Sun Moon experts. ... Meanwhile, at the headquarters of the Hunting Heaven Pavilion. When Su Yu's list arrived, several golden-masked figures in the main hall sucked in breaths of cold air. The Minister of Earth said with a strange look, "Just what grade of Heaven armament is this brat trying to forge? He traded for quite a few treasures last time—was that not enough? He's trading for so many things again!" The Minister of Heaven, whose figure flickered faintly, picked up the list, examined it for a moment, and said calmly, "These are all materials for forging Earth armaments, likely for a composite weapon! He wants few varieties but massive quantities, meaning there must be numerous components! With many components, assembling them will be difficult! Generally, the forging world advises against composite weapons because the final unified forging is simply too challenging! Su Yu inviting so many armamentsmiths to craft components means he most likely intends to handle the final fusion forging himself. This kid has no small amount of nerve; even an armamentsmith like Zhao Tianbing is only being used as an assistant. As for the final fusion... I doubt it will succeed." With just a cursory look, the Minister of Heaven had broadly deduced Su Yu's intent. Clearly, he was quite proficient in the Dao of armament forging himself. After looking at it a while longer, he added, "Give them to him! I also want to see whether he can forge a Heaven armament this time!" The Minister of Earth said, "The quantity he requested is immense and immensely valuable. He intends to pay in Heaven Yuan Qi. If paid that way, it will cost over five thousand portions. Does he really have that much Heaven Yuan Qi?" "We'll know once we hand them over!" The Minister of Heaven did not care much, saying impassively, "He was the first to discover that ruin last time; he might have hoarded a great deal. That place was brimming with Heaven Yuan Qi." "That's true!" The others nodded. This young man truly moved with grand gestures. Regarding Su Yu forging an armament, everyone had some curiosity. Last time, Su Yu and Zhao Li had jointly forged an embryonic Heaven armament, causing quite a stir, and Su Yu had been hailed as the youngest Earth armamentsmith in the myriad realms. This time, from the looks of it, he likely intended to forge a true Heaven armament. Of course, if it were a Heaven armament, Su Yu might not be able to unleash its full power right now, but given his rapid advancement, wielding one would not be too wasteful. ... While the outside world was abuzz with commotion, inside the Castellan Manor, Su Yu was handling logistics for the armamentsmiths. He and Zhao Li acted more like a fire brigade, rushing wherever help was needed. Su Yu was also constantly re-familiarizing himself with the forging process. Not having forged for quite a few days, he felt a bit rusty. Moreover, he needed to become familiar with the structure of these components to prevent issues from arising during the final fusion. The final fusion would likely be carried out by just him and Zhao Li. This was because both he and Zhao Li possessed the Expanding Will Art, granting them powerful endurance to keep forging without interruption. The "Quake" divine character had been comprehended by Su Yu during his previous forging session. Right now, he was acting as Zhao Tianbing's assistant, observing his forging techniques along the way. Although Zhao Tianbing came from the same lineage as Zhao Li, his methods possessed their own distinct flavor. Su Yu activated his "Fire" divine character. The power of the Fire of Inheritance was astonishing; when the fourth-tier Fire of Inheritance was ignited, everyone in the Castellan Manor felt as though they were swimming in an ocean of knowledge and enlightenment. Not only that, Su Yu, feeling it was still insufficient, even decoupled "Civilization." The "Wen" divine character had its own special effect when isolated, capable of augmenting the power of other divine characters. Merging it into the "Fire" character, Su Yu gained even more profound insights. The armamentsmiths also found their forging going far more smoothly; minor flaws they hadn't noticed before were now instantly detected. As he forged, Zhao Tianbing could not help marveling, "What an incredible divine character! If I had this, I probably would have advanced to a Heaven armamentsmith long ago. Brat, shine that light on me more!" As they spoke, he effortlessly forged a single leaf. Seventy-two and a half gold inscriptions! A semi-Earth armament! Su Yu took it in his hands, looked at it for a moment, and suddenly frowned. "Not quite right! Martial Uncle, let's do this: integrate a drop of Sun Moon blood essence into it, then forge it again!" Zhao Tianbing looked at Su Yu, his brows furrowing slightly. "You want to forge a book, an armament of knowledge! Adding blood essence turns it into a lethal weapon. Su Yu, have you thought this through?" Su Yu nodded. "Ending war with war is the true sage's path! The myriad realms today are not peaceful. I want to be a scholar, but I'd much rather be a scholar who suppresses violence with violence!" Zhao Tianbing took a deep breath. "Fine, then. Each leaf will incorporate a drop of Sun Moon blood essence, with adjustments made later to make it possible to summon a Sun Moon expert forth to battle... This can count as an unorthodox summoning-type civilized armament!" Su Yu nodded. "One leaf, one species! We'll integrate three hundred drops of Sun Moon blood essence, three hundred different races..." "Do you even have that much Sun Moon blood essence?" Su Yu nodded with a smile. "I do. I still have several hundred drops of first-stage Sun Moon blood essence, which I can't use anymore anyway, and several hundred drops from high-stage Sun Moon experts... But those are too powerful; if I integrate all high-stage blood essence, I won't be able to bear it. I'll only integrate first-stage essence. That way, if I truly summon three hundred first-stage Sun Moon battle beasts, it will still be a terrifyingly potent force..." The armamentsmiths were left tongue-tied once again. *Damn! Does Sun Moon blood essence get counted by the hundreds with you?!* Yet on Su Yu's end, it still wasn't quite enough. He had enough blood essence, but not enough distinct races. He intended to integrate only one race per page without overlap, preparing for what lay ahead. Time to trade with the Hunting Heaven Pavilion! ... Over the next few days, Hu Xiansheng went all over slicing space, while Su Yu had Yunxiao keep watch to prevent Invincibles of the myriad races from targeting him. Inside the ancient city, progress went very smoothly. The armamentsmiths continuously absorbed Heaven Yuan Qi and various treasures, growing more energized the more they forged. The old injuries accumulated within their bodies were improving, and Elder Wang and the others benefited immensely as well. The vast amounts of treasures and Heaven Yuan Qi transformed the entire Castellan Manor into a sacred cultivation ground, completely devoid of its former lifeless, dead atmosphere. The crisp clanging of hammers rang out incessantly. ... In the rear hall. Xingyue's voice drifted out: "Xinghong, tell me, what kind of armament is he trying to forge? He's already forged over a hundred semi-Earth armaments." "I don't know." Xinghong had no idea what kind of armament Su Yu was forging either. Besides, the boy suddenly deciding to forge a weapon was surprising in itself. Su Yu's strength lay in his physical body; forging an armament might not boost his combat power by much. Consuming all his resources just for a single armament—was it really worth it? ... At this moment, Su Yu had no time to spare for them. Forging, continuous forging. He was also practicing his craft. Su Yu was forging book leaves as well; creating semi-Earth armaments was fairly easy for him now, but the upcoming fusion forging would involve several hundred pages, which was no small matter. Zhao Li was also familiarizing himself, analyzing, and making constant adjustments. Soon, Zhao Li found Su Yu and said, "We're still missing something!" "Please tell me." "We lack a book spine. Without a spine to unify them, the pages will be too powerful and will easily scatter!" Su Yu smiled. "I thought Teacher deliberately didn't mention it because you knew I had already prepared it. I have the material ready! To bind a book of several hundred pages—and perhaps even more in the future—ordinary materials definitely won't suffice!" Saying that, Su Yu retrieved a piece of withered wood and smiled. "This!" Zhao Li sucked in a breath of cold air! "A carrier!" The other armamentsmiths turned to look at Su Yu, completely horrified. *Has he gone mad?!* Su Yu chuckled. "Yes, exactly this! I looked up records on this withered wood; it should be the remains of an ancient creature, a plant spirit that was struck dead by a lightning tribulation, leaving behind this skeletal core! Using this as the book spine will definitely bind all the pages together and guarantee it won't fall apart!" "Damn you!" Zhao Li cursed at him, then quickly said, "This thing can't be refined easily; we can't strip away its outer layers..." "We can!" Su Yu laughed. "Lord Xinghong can help. If he can't, I'll ask a Half-Emperor to help!" *Damn!* They were truly at a loss for words. Zhao Li felt mentally exhausted; *now this is what you call influence!* *Can't solve it?* *What a joke!* *If an Invincible can't do it, I'll find a Half-Emperor!* At those words, the armamentsmiths fell silent. *Go on, do whatever you want; we'll just keep working hard!* Su Yu chuckled. He had planned everything long ago. Not only that, Su Yu added, "In the end, I suspect those spaces might not be stable enough. I might shatter another carrier and infuse it into them to stabilize the spaces!" He had done this once before: in the Nanyuan ruin, Su Yu had incorporated a carrier, a secret known only to Old Wan and himself. That was why, even now, everyone believed that ruin was authentic. Because the space was simply too stable! No one would have dreamed that a lunatic like Su Yu had actually fused a carrier into it; no sane person would do that. Even the Xia family suspected whether the ruin was real or fake. Xia Longwu had personally inspected it and thought it might truly be an ancient ruin, while King Daxia was completely baffled—he had lived in Nanyuan for many years and never noticed it. Thus, the ruin remained an unsolved mystery to King Daxia and the others. ... Amidst the busyness and relentless hammering, and with money flowing like water, one page after another was forged. Hu Qi and the two others continuously embedded the spaces. There were several explosions along the way, wasting spatial fragments and pages, forcing them to reforge. Multiple armamentsmiths bustled tirelessly, purely handling the preparatory work for Su Yu. At this point, even an outsider could see that Su Yu's forging would create an enormous commotion, driven by immense ambition. By this time, Inside the Castellan Manor, a book was gradually taking shape. Of course, it was still loose and unbound. It was not yet complete! It required Su Yu to carry out the final fusion forging. Looking at the pages laid out before him, Su Yu took a deep breath. It was almost time; with Zhao Tianbing and the others nearly worked to exhaustion, the preliminary preparations were nearing completion. Meanwhile, he had been deliberately suppressing his physical body's breakthrough. In truth, Su Yu felt he was ready. He had halted right before his final casting! Waiting to break through during the forging process would allow him to extend his forging stamina, and perhaps even trigger heavenly rewards to help strengthen the book. Zhao Li was preparing as well. Over the past few days, Zhao Li had entered seclusion. He continuously consumed massive quantities of treasures to elevate his willpower and then compress it, fearing that his willpower might fall short at the critical moment and cause a mishap just like last time. This was the second time Zhao Li and Su Yu were joining hands to forge an armament. Last time, Su Yu was in the Soaring Realm and Zhao Li in the Lingyun Realm, yet the two of them had unexpectedly forged an embryonic Heaven armament. Now, Su Yu had improved by leaps and bounds, and so had Zhao Li. Both were far stronger than before. Even so, they still felt nervous. The cost poured into this project was far too great; if it failed, Zhao Li would probably want to die. Such a loss could hardly be recouped even by selling off an entire grand prefecture. ... A month later, the Star Residence Mansion opened to the outside, allowing those holding tokens to enter. However, Su Yu did not go, and many others did not go either. Massive numbers of people gathered outside the ancient city. For a whole month, the sounds of forging had continued without pause. Since the Star Residence Mansion hadn't fully opened its core yet, there was no rush; staying here to watch the excitement was just as good. The myriad races in the heavens were all curious to see what kind of monstrosity Su Yu would produce. The commotion he stirred up was massive! It had nearly triggered a war between Invincibles, because a certain someone had been slicing space everywhere and was eventually spotted. Fortunately, Yunxiao was present; otherwise, Hu Xiansheng would have been beaten to death by an Invincible. Who told him to slice space right in front of another race's realm—right at the entrance to the Xuan Armor Realm? King Xuan Armor had nearly died of fury. However, upon seeing Yunxiao, King Xuan Armor had meekly fled. He could not afford to provoke her. Lately, he had been full of regret, realizing that making an enemy of Su Yu brought terrible luck. Had he known this would happen, even if Hongkai were resurrected, he would have beaten Hongkai to death himself. Because of that brat, he didn't even dare leave his realm recently, terrified of being ambushed. ... Under these circumstances, amidst the eager and curious anticipation of many, Year 352 of the Anping Calendar entered March. On Su Yu's end, everything was ready, waiting only for the final fusion forging. This time, all the armamentsmiths had gained tremendously; the vast quantities of heavenly treasures, combined with the Longevity Art, had healed nearly all their chronic ailments. Zhao Tianbing, in particular, had gained faint insights into advancing to a Heaven armamentsmith. After having Su Yu madly ignite the Fire of Inheritance for an entire month, anyone would have gained some enlightenment. Even Liu Hong, who had been kicked out of the hall and hid outside, had gained massively over the month, wishing he could sneak inside. Unfortunately, Su Yu wouldn't let him in, leaving Liu Hong full of regret; otherwise, he felt he could have advanced two or three stages. Instead, he had only broken through by one stage, barely stepping into the fourth stage of the Lingyun Realm—a tremendous pity. Elder Wang and the several great demons also reaped benefits. They stayed outside in the manor grounds without entering the main hall, yet they still gained considerably. Every one of them made progress in strength. And on this day, Su Yu and Zhao Li both walked out of the hall. Master and disciple exchanged glances and nodded slightly. Following their previous collaboration, they were once again joining hands to forge an armament. Last time was for Zhao Li; this time was for Su Yu. Zhao Li took a deep breath and said loudly, "Succeed in one try! Don't rush—fuse them page by page. This time, I'll act as your assistant!" "Thank you, Teacher!" Su Yu smiled. In the void, 302 book leaves hovered suspended, making Liu Hong drool from a distance. Only now did he realize what Su Yu had been doing this past month. Comparing that to his own storage ring, he instantly felt like a pauper! He had considered himself quite wealthy before, but compared to Su Yu, he was practically a beggar! Su Yu couldn't be bothered to pay him any mind. While Liu Hong was still lost in lamentation, a fist came crashing down. With a loud *boom*, Liu Hong was knocked unconscious. Su Yu tossed him toward the rear hall and shouted, "Milord, please keep an eye on him!" There was no need to let this fellow watch the forging. In the rear hall, Xinghong said nothing. He casually shifted his foot and kicked Liu Hong behind him so the body wouldn't block his view. Xinghong was watching as well. He also wanted to see what use Su Yu's month of frantic preparations would amount to. Inside the passage, a faint wisp of death qi seeped out. Xinghong paid it no mind, and Xingyue let out a sigh of relief. She also wanted to peek at what kind of weapon Su Yu was forging. That incessant clanging for a whole month had annoyed her to no end.