The hall immediately grew somewhat dim, but looking up, the starlight appeared even more translucent and brilliant. Starlight and moonlight intertwined brilliantly. In the outside world, a bright moon would typically mean sparse stars, but here the moonlight and starlight complemented each other, making the starry sky inside the hall even more enchanting.
Qin Mu did not return inside. After a short while, a bull's head suddenly peeked out from behind the moon and plucked it down.
The two women were somewhat angered. "This utterly tactless fellow understands not a shred of romance! If we were in this hall, under the moonlight and starlight, and you said something sweet, honeyed words, wouldn't that be lovers' paradise? Of course, you'd have to chase away that fox spirit beside you first!"
Then Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang heard the sound of bricks and tiles being stacked outside. They saw the ceiling of the great hall gradually disappearing as a bull's head periodically reached in from the sky to pluck down the stars.
The stars above the great hall grew fewer and fewer. After more than half an hour, the sky was peeled away entirely, and the stars, sun, and moon had all been taken down by Qin Mu.
The two women came outside the hall and saw a mountain-like pile of luminous pearls on the ground, along with two large eyes whose pupils were closed.
These eyes were about ten feet tall, towering over the women. They appeared to be made of jade, not actual eyes—likely carved from fine jade.
Ling Yuxiu leaned closer and saw many extremely complex patterns within the eyes, probably formation imprints.
The pupils were closed, hiding the formations within as a single white line, with no visible iris. Around them were radiating patterns resembling the myriad golden rays of sunlight.
The two women touched them and found them cool to the touch, completely unlike the fiery intensity they had displayed moments ago.
"I thought they were glutton's eyes, but they're made of jade." Si Yunxiang sounded somewhat disappointed.
Qin Mu was standing behind one of the eyes, fiddling with something. Suddenly, the pupil of that eye cracked open a sliver, like an upright almond.
The two women immediately saw that where the pupil had split, an incredibly complex formation was activating and running, like a precision mechanism composed of countless gears. Then terrifying firelight surged from the pupil, growing more and more intense. Just looking at it made their eyes feel as though they were burning and splitting!
Si Yunxiang hurriedly pulled Ling Yuxiu aside. The two women dodged, and with a whoosh, a snow-white beam shot out from the pupil, igniting the air as it blazed onward. Wherever it passed, the white marble floor tiles instantly turned to magma, which then evaporated!
The beam struck a few glazed roof tiles. Though those tiles also bore rune imprints, they were instantly vaporized by the beam's touch!
Ling Yuxiu jumped in fright. "If that beam had hit us, we'd be dead! Thank goodness Holy Maiden Si pulled me away..."
Qin Mu was still fiddling behind the eye. The women went around and saw that behind the eye was a formation inscribed with runes—not overly complex, but difficult to discern exactly what it was.
Qin Mu was using his own qi to adjust the formation's variations.
With his adjustments, the jade eye's pupil gradually separated further, and the heat grew more intense, pouring down like sunlight. Even standing behind the eye, they felt the searing waves of heat were almost unbearable.
"Close your eyes."
Qin Mu's expression was grave, his voice low. "I've activated the full power of this eye's formation. Now I'm going to make the pupil close into a vertical slit and see how powerful this spirit weapon is."
"Spirit weapon?"
The two women were slightly stunned. Qin Mu was already manipulating the formation, shrinking the pupil. The light suddenly became incredibly bright, and Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang hurriedly closed their eyes.
Even with their eyes closed, they could see a terrifying beam of light cutting through—like a blade of light, impossibly thin!
Qin Mu halted the formation. They heard a buzzing vibration from the jade eye, then the light vanished and the surrounding heat gradually dissipated.
The two women opened their eyes, but a black afterimage still burned before them—light pushed to its absolute extreme becomes black, as their retinas had been scorched.
Though they hadn't looked directly, the light from the jade eye had still pierced through their eyelids and damaged their eyes. Fortunately, their qi reserves were substantial, and this minor injury could self-repair.
Qin Mu emerged from behind the eye and looked up, stunned by what he saw. The great hall before them had been sliced cleanly in two by the light blade from the jade eye!
The hall still stood, but it could collapse at any moment!
And across the sky of this underwater world, a blade scar descended from above. The barrier supporting the seabed had been split open, and seawater was flooding into this underwater realm.
Qin Mu rubbed his chin, where a few stubborn whiskers had sprouted. He grabbed them and pulled hard.
The youth hissed in pain—not from flesh, but from heartache.
He had been testing the jade eye's power and accidentally punctured the barrier of this peculiar underwater world. In a few days at most, seawater would flood the place entirely.
Si Yunxiang watched as water droplets cascaded from midair and struck the hall. The seemingly rock-solid structure immediately emitted creaking, groaning sounds of strain, tilting to both sides. With two thunderous crashes, the great hall split in two and collapsed, dust billowing to reveal massive beast bones.
They were the bones of a glutton—a pure-blooded glutton's skull—also sliced in half by Qin Mu's beam of light.
With the hall collapsed, the glutton skull was finally exposed, immensely vast.
"The Heavenly Kings weren't wrong," Si Yunxiang murmured. "Cult Master Qin truly wrecks everything he touches..."
Ling Yuxiu silently agreed with regret.
This was a divine temple, a wondrous underwater world. Yet after just a few of Qin Mu's tinkering, it was destroyed.
"Herding boy, you have a name but no courtesy name. Let me give you one—'Wrecker.' Qin the Wrecker!" Ling Yuxiu suggested.
Qin Mu was still heartbroken over the damage. Hearing this, his face flushed red as he protested: "I am not Qin the Wrecker! I didn't wreck things carelessly! Don't talk nonsense and ruin my reputation!"
Si Yunxiang ground her teeth and sneered. "Your reputation? You tore down the Three Kings Temple the moment you arrived at Sacred Descent Mountain!"
Ling Yuxiu also sneered. "You've demolished the Imperial Academy scholars' quarters three or five times, haven't you? The palaces around the Imperial Palace's altar were also torn down by you and the Heavenly Demon Cult, weren't they? And Tianbo City—I hear you demolished that too! Look, we've barely arrived here and you've already wrecked this underwater world. This place has probably stood here for tens of thousands of years, and it's gone the moment you showed up!"
Qin Mu slumped, muttering, "Don't talk nonsense, don't talk nonsense..."
The two women teased and poked fun at Cult Master Qin for a while before heading into the collapsed temple to search for anything useful. After a moment, Ling Yuxiu came over carrying two massive pillars and set them before Qin Mu. These pillars must have weighed tens of thousands of jin each, yet she had carried them on her shoulders.
Si Yunxiang praised her: "Truly, a larger build means more strength. I'm not as capable as Princess Ling. I'm too delicate."
Ling Yuxiu nearly lost it, wanting to pin this Heavenly Demon Cult Holy Maiden to the ground and give her a good beating, but with Qin Mu nearby she held back, smiling through gritted teeth: "Yes, Holy Maiden Si is indeed delicate—too delicate. Barely anything up top."
Si Yunxiang feigned anger, her gaze sharp. "I'm still young and still growing. Besides, what's the good of being bigger? It'll only sag when you're old!"
The two women locked eyes, then looked away.
"Cult Master, can these two pillars be forged into a spirit weapon?" Ling Yuxiu asked softly.
Qin Mu was examining the other jade eye, trying to understand the mysteries of how the two eyes functioned, oblivious to their argument.
"This metal is rather rare. It seems to have other metals mixed in—several metals blended together. Both its texture and flexibility far surpass Cold Iron Metal Essence!"
Qin Mu inspected the two pillars with surprise. In the State of Yankang, cultivators forging spirit weapons usually sought pure metals, but these pillars were the opposite—mixing other metals into the dark copper actually greatly enhanced both strength and flexibility!
"Can you forge the Nine Dragon Weapon I need?" Ling Yuxiu asked eagerly.
"Absolutely!"
Qin Mu was full of confidence. "My smithing skills are excellent, truly!"
He activated the Solar Jade Eye's formation and melted one of the copper pillars. First he forged a large hammer, then had Ling Yuxiu release her spirit weapon's form to demonstrate all the transformations of the Nine Dragon Weapon.
He pondered for a long while, then took out paper and brush to sketch blueprints before beginning the forging.
Two days later, Qin Mu finally completed the Nine Dragon Weapon. It consisted of nine dragons that could be joined together to form a large hammer, or separated with their tails linked to form the Nine Dragon Divine Fire Shield.
He had forged the dragon bodies to be supple. During the forging, he infused them with Creation Spirit Art, allowing numerous further transformations. Though the nine dragons were made of metal, they contained over nine hundred bones within, enabling them to swim through the air. Each individual dragon scale could also detach from the body as an independent piece—razor sharp and retrievable.
Beyond the scales, the dragon claws were hook-like and exceptionally keen. The dragon fangs were like blades. Two dragon whiskers served as interlocking golden chains, yet supple enough to bind and capture opponents.
When the nine dragons merged, they formed a golden Nine Dragon Wall. The dragon scales assembled into a mirror surface, with nine protruding dragon heads on the back.
Even though Si Yunxiang and Ling Yuxiu had little expertise in forging, they could see that Qin Mu's Nine Dragon Weapon was truly extraordinary, possessing extremely high craftsmanship. This set should be perfectly suited for Ling Yuxiu.
Ling Yuxiu eagerly infused the Nine Dragon Weapon with her own qi transformed into runes, nourishing it with her vital energy. After a brief refinement, she found it wonderfully responsive and able to shift into any form she desired at will.
"Excellent, truly excellent!"
Ling Yuxiu praised endlessly. "Herding boy, your skills aren't bad at all—only a tiny bit below the Vice Minister of Works."
Si Yunxiang was thoroughly envious. She manifested her own spirit weapon form—a single thread with infinite transformations—and recited: "What is a hundred-fold tempered steel, made pliable enough to wrap around a finger? Forging a spirit weapon to such flexibility is far from simple smithing. Cult Master, my spirit weapon is called Thousand Threads—it is both a sword and a technique, modeled after my Heavenly Demon Cult's Great Nurturing Heavenly Demon Sutra. Can you forge metal as supple as thread?"
Qin Mu studied her spirit weapon form and frowned. "Forging such a thin sword, fine as silkworm thread, and inscribing magical imprints on it—there are difficulties. I've learned the theory but never actually done it. Let me try!"
Si Yunxiang's Thousand Threads spirit weapon was far more troublesome to forge than Ling Yuxiu's Nine Dragon Weapon—more intricate and delicate. It required hammering the metal to extreme softness, then stretching it into a metal film thinner than silkworm thread. Silkworm thread's thickness is measured in "si," but beyond that lie even finer measurements: hu, wei, xian, sha, chen, ai, miao, mo.
Qin Mu could only stretch the metal film down to the "chen" (dust) thickness; anything finer was beyond his ability.
At this thickness, even more precise imprinting was required. Both Qin Mu and Si Yunxiang practiced the Great Nurturing Heavenly Demon Sutra, so they worked together to inscribe the runes. After tremendous effort, they managed to brand the rune imprints onto the metal film, though it tore several times in the process, requiring reforging.
Afterward, Qin Mu folded the metal film and hammered it repeatedly, then stretched it out again and re-inscribed the runes. After going through this cycle numerous times, the Thousand Threads spirit weapon was finally completed.
Si Yunxiang willed it, and the Thousand Threads spirit weapon transformed into a ribbon tied around her waist.
The water in this underwater world was gradually deepening—they couldn't stay long.
Qin Mu immediately used his qi to form threads, netting the two jade eyes and the jade star fragments in a web of vital energy. "Let's head up."
The three hurried toward the great cauldron. Si Yunxiang reached its edge, eyes flickering with intent as she tried to lift the cauldron and take it with her. But the cauldron was impossibly heavy—despite her full strength, it didn't budge.
"You're flat-chested, so you're weak," Ling Yuxiu grinned.
"If you're so busty, you do it!" Si Yunxiang snapped.
Ling Yuxiu stepped forward, but found the cauldron far too heavy and couldn't lift it either, her cheeks flushing slightly.
Qin Mu shook his head. "This cauldron spouts so much spirit water—the water is lifted over sixteen hundred zhang to the surface. The weight of the water it ejects probably rivals a mountain, not to mention the cauldron's own weight. This is definitely a divine artifact. You two should give up on it."
The women silently lamented the loss and followed Qin Mu upward.
After a long while, they finally surfaced. Ling Yuxiu smiled. "At least we got a few treasures this trip. It wasn't in vain..."
"What treasures did the Princess get? What treasures indeed?"
A voice came from the pool's edge. The three looked over to see Long Jiaonan sitting atop a massive red serpent whose enormous body encircled the entire pool.
Long Jiaonan smiled, her gaze sweeping across their faces before settling on Qin Mu. "What a delightful outing, Cult Master. You've made me search quite thoroughly."
"Kill!"
Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang burst from the water, summoning the Nine Dragon Weapon and Thousand Threads spirit weapon, and without hesitation charged at Long Jiaonan!