Chapter 702 — All the Worthies Assemble

The Buddha-Essence Crimson Chromium carried a powerful Buddha-nature; forged into a treasure, it blazed with Buddha-light. Those who refined such divine metal into weapons were, for the most part, monks. The Tianyin Gold, by contrast, was the material for forging soul implements; this divine metal could house souls and was most congenial to primal spirits, but wielding a primal weapon made from it would inevitably carry a ghostly aura.

That Lady Tianyin had needed to steal the Lord of Heaven's heavenly fire to forge her pagoda was precisely in order to burn away that deep, dense ghostly aura. But Shen Mu used the Buddha-light of the crimson chromium to neutralize the ghostly aura of the Tianyin Gold, so that he would neither resemble a monk at every turn nor summon gusts of ghostly wind whenever he wielded his weapon. He and Yan Jingjing first tested the proportions in which the two divine metals should be combined; besides neutralizing them against each other, they had to find the best balance of hardness and flexibility. After a hundred-odd trials, Shen Mu at last found the perfect ratio. He began smelting at once, hammering and refining his sword core.

Seeing him forge one flying sword after another, a most tedious process, Yan Jingjing could not help but wonder. "Brother Cowherd," she said, "I have watched you refine swords, and you can refine a flying sword until the blade flows like water and shifts at will.

If that is so, why forge them one by one? Refine the divine metal directly to the point where the sword flows like water, and would you not spare yourself the making of eight thousand flying swords?

" Shen Mu devoted himself wholly to forging the sword in his hand. "Every flying sword is stamped with different runes," he said.

"The runes within the flying sword must accord with my Mystic Body Three-Core Art, so that it fits me perfectly. That is why I must make certain that the runes on every sword are flawless .

. . " Suddenly his body trembled faintly. He stopped forging and stood staring blankly, lost in thought. Yan Jingjing watched him curiously. Shen Mu's expression gradually turned solemn, then shifted from solemnity to ease and delight, then to deep pondering; in a short while, more than a dozen expressions crossed his face.

"You are right! " Shen Mu clapped his hands and burst out laughing. "You are right! I forged the flying swords so as to refine each one to its most perfect state and stamp it precisely with the imprint of my art — but that is truly too tedious.

I can indeed simply refine a lump of divine metal and forge that lump into a sword core.

" He suddenly threw his arms around Yan Jingjing, meaning to lift her and spin her around, but gave a stifled groan — his own waist nearly snapped. Yan Jingjing was a deity of the divine realm; her body looked petite, but its true weight was terrifying. Shen Mu was still only of the Heaven-Human realm, and to think of lifting a god and spinning her around was, of course, a fool's dream.

Yan Jingjing's face reddened slightly.

She quietly circulated her power to make herself lighter, and only then could Shen Mu, carried on by his excitement, lift the girl and spin her wildly around twice. "Forging them one by one, I had to exhaust my mind considering the runes on each sword, dividing the imprint of my own art into eight thousand parts. I studied arts and calculations until I muddled myself, and forgot the simplest way. " Shen Mu set her down and paced to and fro, elated. "I will refine a single sword core .

. .

no, I will refine a single sword . . .

no, not that either — I will refine a single ball! This ball shall be my sword, my saber, all my primal weapons — that is, my Mystic Body Three-Core Art . .

. " He was so elated he could scarcely contain himself. He quickly brought out all the Buddha-Essence Crimson Chromium and the Tianyin Gold, melted the divine metals together, and forged them into a great ball some four hundred zhang high. Shen Mu waited for the great ball of divine metal to cool, then tried to shoulder it, only to find he could not budge it in the least — truly an ant trying to shake a tree.

Yan Jingjing stepped forward and likewise could not move it a fraction. The two of them looked at each other. Shen Mu's face reddened slightly. Yan Jingjing helped him control the Xuandu heavenly fire and cut a piece from the ball. "Can you lift this piece?

" she asked. Shen Mu tried. Blushing, he said, "Still too heavy.

" Yan Jingjing controlled the heavenly fire and cut off another piece. Shen Mu lifted this piece of divine metal, though still with some effort, and smiled.

"This will do for now.

When my cultivation rises and my body grows stronger, wielding it will no longer be such a strain. " Yan Jingjing helped him smelt this piece of divine metal into a ball, about as tall as a small hill.

Shen Mu roused his ten-zhang primal spirit to hammer and temper it, channeling his own art into runes that he drove into it without cease, using the rune imprints as hammers to forge the primal weapon.

His primal spirit tempered it for a day and a night, yet the ball of divine metal showed not the slightest sign of being refined down. Shen Mu too flew circling around the ball, and together with his primal spirit he kept imprinting it with all manner of arts and divine powers. Only after two or three days did the ball show some slight decrease.

"Brother Cowherd, shall we not go back to forging them one by one? " Yan Jingjing could not help saying. "Refining it this way is actually more time-consuming and laborious. " Shen Mu shook his head.

"To forge eight thousand swords, I would need to mobilize the Supervisory Foundry to smelt them, if they were to be finished in a short time.

Relying on myself alone would actually be more laborious and time-consuming. Besides, the Jingping Supervisory Foundry was designed by me, and smelting divine metal in it is still rather a strain. " Even as he spoke, the voice of the Woodcutter Sage came.

"I have redesigned the Supervisory Foundry.

Smelting divine metal is no strain now.

" Shen Mu looked toward the voice and saw the Woodcutter Sage, the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping, the First Ancestor Human Emperor, and Xu Shenghua emerging from the Taihuang Heaven Tunnel. Behind them, shadows shifted; darkness cloaked and moved. The King of Hell wore a cloak of darkness that shrouded his whole person in gloom. The First Ancestor Human Emperor raised his head and gazed up at this sword core more than thirty zhang tall, somewhat dumbstruck.

He shook his head. "Who ever refines a sword core like this?

Far too reckless. Do you not already have a sword core of your own? " "It was smashed by someone.

" Shen Mu smiled.

"Teacher, I have found the source of the darkness. " Everyone was badly shaken. Even the Woodcutter Sage's expression changed drastically, and he blurted out, "You found the Tianyin Realm?

You have seen Lady Tianyin?

" "The reason I asked you all to come this time is to resolve the ultimate problem of the Tianyin Realm and Lady Tianyin.

" Shen Mu took out the skin of the Kaihuang Divine Man and spread the divine being out. "Teacher, you still recognize him, do you not?

"