Before this seclusion, he had used his divine sense to scan Mingmei's mustard seed belt, but the space inside was only one-thousandth the size of this one.
However, his only regret was that the place was empty and there was nothing there.
Sigh... Since Ancestor Tianxuzi has bestowed a ring, why not just give me a magical artifact in the form of a ring? Wouldn't that have saved me a lot of trouble?
Xiao Wenbing's mind wandered, his divine sense drifting through the space. Suddenly, dozens of jade bottles appeared on the ground, each containing about a hundred Foundation Establishment Pills and Lesser Rejuvenation Pills. These were all treasures, and he couldn't let anyone know about them, otherwise he would be unable to defend himself.
Fortunately, with this Heavenly Void Ring, this place is like a space of his own. He can do anything in it without being disturbed, and he can store anything without worrying about others.
At the very least, anyone below the level of an immortal would likely be unable to open this treasure by brute force.
Volume Two: The Fairy in White, Chapter Forty-Three: Preparing to Forge the Sword
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Is there anything else important? After thinking for a moment, a talisman floating in the air appeared. It's good to keep the talisman bestowed by the White Crane Immortal here; wouldn't that be even safer?
Looking at these three items, Xiao Wenbing sighed inwardly, wishing he could have individual compartments to categorize and store them.
Suddenly, his consciousness wavered, almost dissipating due to excessive surprise.
In the space, a cloud drifted down and, under his incredulous gaze, transformed into a small shop window.
Overjoyed, Xiao Wenbing kept imagining the size and style of the shop window. Then, he was pleasantly surprised to discover that any building or item he could think of could be created using the clouds in the sky.
However, these clouds are not omnipotent; they are far inferior to his superpowers.
Because they didn't actually become a building; they merely took on the shape and color of that building.
They are still clouds at their core, only their appearance has changed.
Moreover, they cannot be transformed into treasures such as medicine. Furthermore, these things can only be formed within the ring's space and cannot be taken outside of it.
Although these clouds had various limitations, they were already an excellent resource, and Xiao Wenbing, overjoyed, enthusiastically modified them. Before long, he had squandered all the clouds in the sky, leaving not a single one.
Looking at the area, which was still mostly empty, Xiao Wenbing tried to replicate the clouds. However, to his disappointment, he discovered that these things clearly possessed some kind of power that he did not understand, and they were impossible to replicate.
With a deep sigh, Xiao Wenbing was surprised to find himself extremely exhausted. Alarmed, he immediately withdrew his divine sense from the Heavenly Void Ring.
Slowly opening his eyes, Xiao Wenbing had just used his internal vision technique to examine his body. To his great surprise, he found that his spiritual energy was almost depleted.
Only then did he realize that the Heavenly Void Ring wasn't so useful after all.
To use the clouds inside, one needs one's own spiritual power to propel them. If it weren't for the fact that one's inner core is complete, and one has a natal golden talisman and special abilities as a continuous source of backup energy, one would have been unable to sustain it long ago.
I never imagined that using divine sense would require so much spiritual energy.
After resting for a while, I realized that although my skill level wasn't extremely high, I had at least reached a basic level on the path of cultivation. So, shouldn't I be thinking about acquiring some kind of magical artifact?
Yes, that's right. Senior Brother Mingmei is still waiting at the door. Let's go find him...
※※※※
"Third Senior Brother." Xiao Wenbing put on a big smile, smiling ambiguously at Ming Mei.
Master Mingmei shivered. He looked at his junior brother warily and asked, "Junior brother, is something the matter?"
"Senior brother, take a look." Xiao Wenbing handed over a thick book.
Mingmei took it and glanced at it; it was titled "The Legend of the Swordsmen of Shu Mountain." He casually flipped through it and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Third Senior Brother, all cultivators possess a flying sword, moving swiftly like the wind, capable of taking the life of an enemy from a thousand miles away. Is that right?"
Mingmei was taken aback and was about to deny it when he suddenly saw Xiao Wenbing's hopeful face. The words that were about to come out of his mouth changed: "Perhaps."
"Hehe..." Xiao Wenbing laughed even more heartily, and said with great enthusiasm, "Senior brother, I have now achieved the inner core, and I should have a celestial sword by now. You are my guide, so please bestow the sword upon me."
Mingmei stared wide-eyed at him with an extremely strange look in her eyes. After a long while, she exclaimed in surprise, "A sword bestowed upon me? I don't even have a flying sword myself, why would I be given one?"
"Third Senior Brother, you don't have a flying sword?"
"Nonsense, of course not."
Xiao Wenbing frowned and said, "That's not right. I've read every Xianxia novel, and it seems that when a disciple reaches a certain level, the master will bestow a sword upon him. Surely our Secret Talisman Sect wouldn't be so stingy?"
Mingmei glared at him, both amused and exasperated, and said, "Alright, since you want a flying sword so badly, let Senior Brother make one for you."
"Senior Brother?"
“That’s right. Among us, only the eldest and second eldest brothers have studied weapon crafting. If we want to forge a sword, we should naturally go to them.”
The two men found Lu Jun and explained their purpose. Lu Jun pondered for a moment, then immediately nodded in agreement and sent a message to Zhao Feng, instructing him to prepare the materials for forging the sword.
Perhaps influenced by the novel, Xiao Wenbing has a special fondness for flying swords.
A week later, Zhao Feng sent a text message from the foot of the mountain, informing him that the items were ready. Xiao Wenbing immediately volunteered to go down the mountain to retrieve them himself.
With his current cultivation level, the short journey was nothing to him, and he arrived at Zhao Feng's house in no time. Zhao Feng respectfully welcomed him into the villa, and Xiao Wenbing, still concerned, immediately asked him where his things were.
Led by Zhao Feng, they arrived at the warehouse in the backyard of the villa.
The warehouse was filled with rows of steel plates, and there was nothing else there.
"Junior Brother Zhao, where is what Senior Brother wanted?" Xiao Wenbing looked around for a long time before finally asking.
Zhao Feng pointed to the iron plates and said, "Sixth Senior Brother, everything is here."
"What?" Xiao Wenbing pointed at the steel plates that could be measured in tons and asked incredulously, "These are all...?"
"Yes, Sixth Senior Brother." Zhao Feng said strangely. He was surprised. Did this Sixth Senior Brother not even know what he was supposed to get when he went down the mountain this time?
Xiao Wenbing stepped forward, flicked his finger on the iron plate, and produced a pleasant sound of metal striking metal.
“Junior Brother Zhao, if I’m not mistaken, these are just ordinary steel.”
"Sixth Senior Brother is wise. Because Eldest Senior Brother needed it so urgently, I had to ask the municipal government to urgently transfer a batch of high-quality steel. Due to the short timeframe, please forgive me if there is a shortage in quantity," Zhao Feng said respectfully.
"Shortage? No way, these things can't possibly be in short supply." Xiao Wenbing shook his head repeatedly. Lu Jun was acting strangely. Did he really need so much steel to forge a sword?
He stepped forward, stretched out his right hand, and reached out to touch the steel.
As soon as his hand touched them, the steel disappeared into thin air and entered his Heavenly Void Ring.
Zhao Feng's expression changed as he watched from the side. His eyes widened to their limit and he could no longer close them.
Volume Two: The Fairy in White, Chapter Forty-Four: Forging the Sword (Part 1)
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"What's wrong?" Xiao Wenbing finished collecting all the steel and turned around to see Zhao Feng's expression. He was very surprised. What was wrong with this Junior Brother Zhao?
Even if you haven't eaten pork, you've at least seen pigs run, right? To say that Zhao Feng, with his status, has been under the tutelage of the old Taoist priest Xianyun for over thirty years and has never seen a mustard seed equipment is truly unbelievable.
Therefore, upon seeing this, Zhao Feng immediately knew that Xiao Wenbing was using a mustard seed item. However, to use a cultivation item, his cultivation level...
"Sixth...Sixth Senior Brother, have you mastered the inner core?" Zhao Feng stammered.
Xiao Wenbing sighed. It turned out he had encountered another person who liked to make a fuss. He casually said, "Creating a Core? What's so strange about such a small matter?" After saying that, he used his cultivation technique and went up the mountain.
"A trivial matter?" Zhao Feng sighed sadly, his face full of bitterness, and remained silent for a long time.
※※※※
To the west of the mountain gate, Lu Jun pointed to a large pool and said, "This is the molten pool. All the steel must be melted into molten steel here. Then, it is transported along this pool to the furnace. Only after being tempered by the Samadhi Fire in the furnace can it be made into a sword."
"Samadhi Fire?" Xiao Wenbing craned his neck to look for a moment, then asked enviously.
“That’s right. Only when the Samadhi True Fire reaches its peak can one learn the art of weapon forging,” Mingmei explained from the side.
"Ah, then I'll have to trouble you, Senior Brother," Xiao Wenbing said flatteringly.
While it's true that one can cultivate the Samadhi True Fire once an inner core is formed, the Samadhi True Fire consumes an extreme amount of spiritual energy. To use it for refining artifacts, one needs at least the cultivation level of the Golden Core stage. Otherwise, it will extinguish after only a few burns, making refining pointless.
Within the Secret Talisman Sect, it's likely that only the Old Daoist Xianyun and his two Golden Core stage disciples are qualified to forge weapons.
As for Xiao Wenbing, he can only observe from the sidelines for now...
Under Lu Jun's command, Xiao Wenbing took out all the steel from the Heavenly Void Ring and put it into the molten pool.
He asked in surprise, "Senior Brother, how many swords do you plan to practice with?"
"One."
"A handful?" Xiao Wenbing pointed to the pile of steel that already exceeded the height of the molten pool and said, "Does a mere handful require so much steel?"
Lu Jun smiled slightly and said, "Junior Brother, you may not know this, but flying swords are different from ordinary weapons. A good flying sword requires not only countless iron stones but also rare minerals to have any chance of success. Although there is a lot of steel, it is of ordinary quality. Even if all of it is melted down, the flying sword made will only be of average quality."
"ah……"
"Actually, this steel has already been tempered in the secular world. If it were a hundred years ago, there would have been so much soil and rocks all over the mountains."
Xiao Wenbing finally understood why Zhao Feng was so eager to plunder land and forcibly seize 20% of the underworld's profits. It turned out that the expenses of these disciples of the Secret Talisman Sect were unimaginable.
The amount of money required to forge a flying sword is so vast that even an ordinary family of three would struggle to save up for their entire lives.
"Junior Brother, go to the furnace. Once the sword is complete, bite your finger and drip a drop of blood onto the flying sword. In this way, the flying sword will recognize you as its master. Third Junior Brother, you stay by the furnace and protect your elder brother."
Xiao Wenbing and Mingmei responded in unison, and Lu Jun sat cross-legged, already beginning to circulate his internal energy.
After a moment, the molten pool boiled, and countless hot gases surged from all directions into the scorching pool.
Xiao Wenbing watched carefully, not daring to be careless in the slightest.
The temperature of the molten pool was clearly extremely high, and the steel quickly disappeared. Strands of red-hot molten steel finally reached the furnace along the channels in the pool.
Before the furnace, Xiao Wenbing clearly saw a strange sight. The molten steel inside the furnace seemed to be squeezed by a mysterious force, gradually forming the shape of a long sword.
As the temperature rose and the molten steel dwindled, the rough outline of a longsword was becoming increasingly clear.