Chapter 55

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Chapter 55: The Movement Was Too Big

"Wow!" Lou Yun had successfully unleashed the Human Fierce Sword for the first time. Never expecting its power to be so immense, he couldn’t help but cry out in amazement.

Chang Xiang, however, spoke with distinct disdain. "What is this? You only executed the sword moves by rote right now, failing to truly grasp the sword intent. Otherwise, its power would have been far greater."

"Sword intent?"

"Hmm. Actually, it’s not just swords. Every weapon, every weapon technique contains an ‘intent’. Essentially, this is identical to the natural laws governing heaven and earth. It’s something you must personally sense and comprehend; words cannot convey it. As I said earlier, true masters can unleash any weapon technique under the heavens even barehanded. A casual move from them can be a supremely superb weapon technique — all because they’ve understood this ‘intent’."

He paused briefly before continuing. "Take this ‘Fierce Sword’ set as an example. Why was it named so? What’s essential in this name? It’s the ‘fierceness’. Three techniques: Human Fierce, Earth Fierce, and Heaven Fierce. Only once you comprehend ‘fierceness’ and express its realm can you unleash this sword art to its utmost potential."

"Alright, enough for today. Ponder this slowly yourself. Right now, gather your materials quickly. Tonight, we start forging weapons!"

Observing the devastation wrought by his sword earlier and reflecting on Chang Xiang’s words, Lou Yun sank deep into contemplation.

…

Late that night, certain Nie Jiu was sound asleep, Lou Yun slipped stealthily from his room. Weapon forging created significant disturbance; fearing to wake Nie Jiu, he had scouted a hidden location by dayfall — a cave concealed behind the waterfall.

Darting like ghosts through the nocturnal Ancient Weapon Academy, Lou Yun evaded several patroling instructors and arrived, unscathed though startled, at the waterfall. Slipping behind the cascade, he entered the cave.

Though not overly spacious, the cave easily accommodated the Azure Cloud Cauldron. Lou Yun stretched out his spiritual sense, probing his surroundings. Ensuring solitude, he retrieved the Azure Cloud Cauldron from his ring.

The more Lou Yun admired the cauldron, the more he cherished it. He couldn’t resist circling it another two times.

Chang Xiang also materialized. Witnessing Lou Yun’s fascination, he mocked, "Alright, not seen enough yet? Prepare for forging without delay!"

This session’s goal was a primary three-star common weapon. Lou Yun had acquired all necessary materials during his last rest period.

"Actually, once your forging skill reaches a certain level, inferior materials can still yield high-grade common weapons — albeit constrained to the same rank. However, you currently lack that capability. To err on the side of caution, you must proceed step by step."

Upon hearing Chang Xiang’s words then, Lou Yun initially considered using Taoli Stone directly again. Reluctantly, he abandoned the idea and opted for a safer choice: Polarity Origin Stone, known for its higher success rate in primary three-star common weapon forging. As for auxiliary materials — spiritual crystals and beast souls — he still possessed some surplus and hadn’t purchased more.

Attending the Ancient Weapon Academy, Lou Yun faced no immediate scarcity of funds. Half of the coin in the money jade from his father remained unspent, and his Second Uncle Lou Tianzhi had gifted him an additional money jade.

Just before commencing, Chang Xiang asked uneasily, "Have you mastered the Azure Cloud Seal?"

"Of course I have!"

"Oh? Then let’s begin!"

"Forging weapons within a cauldron liberates both hands. Identical steps needn’t be repeated. However, this demands greater proficiency with your spiritual sense. With the weapon concealed within the cauldron and invisible to the naked eye, you must perceive everything solely through your spiritual sense. Every stage must be accomplished via spiritual sense. This also hones your spiritual awareness."

Beyond its outwardly prominent belly, the Azure Cloud Cauldron concealed intricate inner depths.

Internally, nine separate, openable compartments existed, each rather compact. These compartments specifically housed auxiliary materials.

Lou Yun inquired curiously, "Auxiliary materials number only two — spiritual crystals and beast souls. Two compartments suffice easily. Why need nine in total?"

"Nine too many?" Chang Xiang shook his head. "You currently forge primary common weapons, demanding only a single main material. Yet, when you craft common weapons of mystery rank and above, a single main material becomes inadequate. Multiple materials must combine to yield a mystery-grade weapon. Hence, nine compartments may still prove insufficient then."

Though encountering this concept for the first time, Lou Yun instantly grasped its truth upon reflection. Naturally, a common weapon’s escalating rank imposed stricter demands — starting simply with durability. The few most durable weapon-forging materials available on Spirit Weapon Star inevitably fell short of high-tier requisites. Therefore, melding several materials became necessary to create one possessing the necessary properties.

With meticulous care, Lou Yun placed the spiritual crystals and beast soul into two separate compartments, sealed them shut, deposited the crimson Polarity Origin Stone into the cauldron’s basin, and finally closed the cauldron’s lid.

The next phase, heating, commenced. Lou Yun summoned Fusang Fire, directing it beneath the Azure Cloud Cauldron’s tripod feet.

Simultaneously heating three distinct items — each possessing unique heat resistance — rigorously tested Lou Yun’s regulation over Fusang Fire’s temperature.

Lou Yun expanded his spiritual sense, meticulously tracking events within the Azure Cloud Cauldron. Given this inaugural attempt, prudence dictated sequential refinement: liquefying the main material first, followed by the spiritual crystals and finally the beast soul. With all three materials in liquid state, the impurity purification phase followed.

Forging manually, Lou Yun could purge impurities directly with spiritual energy, working sequentially. But enclosed within the cauldron, he now needed channel spiritual energy into the Azure Cloud Cauldron itself. Coupled with spiritual sense, he must guide the cauldron to expunge those impurities as envisioned, using the spiritual energy.

Lou Yun himself had never witnessed this process before, so naturally, he paid closer attention.

As Lou Yun’s spiritual energy poured into the Azure Cloud Cauldron, a ball of white light slowly emerged on its surface. Then, as if possessing a spirit of its own, the white light began to burrow into the cauldron, vanishing entirely within moments.

Through the handles of the Azure Cloud Cauldron, one could indeed see white light shining from within, yet his spiritual perception revealed an even clearer picture.

Lou Yun’s spiritual energy slowly coalesced into a vortex inside the Azure Cloud Cauldron, rotating at a steady, gentle pace. Below it lay the liquid of the Gathering Essence Stone.

As the vortex spun, the impurities suspended in the Gathering Essence Stone liquid detached one by one, slowly floating upwards. They eventually entered the vortex itself. The vortex then carried these impurities, moving them slowly down to the very bottom of the cauldron where they settled.

Though the speed of the vortex’s rotation and the ascent of the impurities wasn’t fast, the entire process didn’t take much time at all. Clearly, the step of removing impurities was complete.

"Removing impurities this way is incredibly convenient!" Lou Yun praised from the bottom of his heart.

The subsequent process of removing impurities from the auxiliary materials was nearly identical. A vortex appeared within the small compartment, drawing in the impurities. The vortex then sank to the compartment’s bottom, where a small door opened beneath it to expel the impurities.

Molding the shape—this step could be considered the only inconvenient part of forging weapons within a cauldron. The barrier of the cauldron’s body made spiritual perception control less sensitive than when forging directly by hand.

Furthermore, Lou Yun had decided to give it a try this time, to see if his magical weapon could actually change shape. So, he deliberately altered the form of the common weapon. Instead of forging a sword, he forged a spear—a spear identical in appearance to the Sky Crystal Spear his father used!

After considerable effort, as the shape of the common weapon solidified, the lids of the two small compartments automatically opened. The liquid spiritual crystals and beast soul floated out, merging into the common weapon.

"Whew!"

Lou Yun let out a long sigh. His spiritual perception examined the completely formed common weapon spear within the Azure Cloud Cauldron. He was ready to begin the final step: awakening the spirit!

Chang Xiang’s spirit also grew tense, for he had never performed the Azure Cloud Seal before and had no idea just how powerful it might be.

The Azure Cloud Seal comprised nine sets. Lou Yun had only memorized the first set, but through repeated practice, he could now form all nine seals in the shortest possible time.

Lou Yun’s hands began moving like butterflies darting through flowers, joining and separating with incredible speed as he formed each Azure Cloud Seal in sequence.

As the last seal was completed, Lou Yun held his hands in its final shape and thrust them decisively towards the Azure Cloud Cauldron, simultaneously exhaling and declaring, "Form the heavenly and earthly marks, awaken the spirit of the common weapon!"

This time, Lou Yun could clearly see a streak of flowing light shoot from his fingertips onto the body of the Azure Cloud Cauldron. This stream of light then began rapidly coursing through the intricate patterns engraved on the cauldron’s surface. Wherever it passed, the pattern would glow faintly.

Thus, until the flowing light had traversed all the engraved lines, every pattern on the cauldron’s body was illuminated. Immediately after, the Azure Cloud Cauldron itself began to slowly rotate. It gradually lifted off the ground, hovering in mid-air. As it spun, the bronze patina that had clung to the patterns rained down like flaking rust.

Witnessing this wondrous spectacle, a strange feeling suddenly welled up in Lou Yun’s heart. It felt like he was remembering something, yet what it was precisely defied any description in words.

After rotating several times, the Azure Cloud Cauldron abruptly stopped. Suspended motionless in the air, it emitted a soft, azure glow.

Lou Yun cast a questioning look at Chang Xiang. The latter, however, whispered softly, "Get ready. Your common weapon is about to emerge!"

The moment the words fell, with a resounding BOOM, the lid of the Azure Cloud Cauldron was violently blasted skyward by a tremendous wave of air. A gleaming red spear shot straight up from within the cauldron, piercing directly into the cave ceiling. It embedded itself completely, leaving only a hand’s length of the spear’s grip exposed.

The sound of the Azure Cloud Cauldron exploding was truly immense. The patrolling teachers at the academy heard it and exchanged glances. They immediately sprinted towards the source of the explosion, fearing the academy was under enemy attack.

However, before they could reach the waterfall, the figure of Dean Xia Guanqiu suddenly appeared before them, blocking their path.

Recognizing the dean, the teachers quickly halted and bowed, "Dean!"

Xia Guanqiu nodded with a smile. "You’ve worked hard. Rest assured, everything is fine here. Go check the other areas."

Though filled with suspicion, the teachers dared not insist on investigating since Xia Guanqiu forbade it. They could only nod and turn away.

After they left, Xia Guanqiu looked towards the waterfall and shook his head. "This kid, sneaking out here to forge weapons in the middle of the night, making such a racket! He’s got quite the nerve! Tsk, and now I, this old man, have to stand guard for him. What a thing!"

Xia Guanqiu appeared here because ever since Old Man Feng had mentioned betrothing Xia Zhilan to Lou Yun, he had been observing Lou Yun covertly. Tonight, however, was pure coincidence. He was returning from another teacher’s place when he spotted Lou Yun sneaking out of his room. Curiosity piqued, he followed Lou Yun until he saw him enter the cave behind the waterfall.

Though Xia Guanqiu didn’t enter the cave, his status as an earth-level magical weapons master allowed him to perceive the events unfolding inside. He decided to stay outside, curious to see if Lou Yun could actually forge a common weapon.

Lou Yun himself hadn’t anticipated such a massive commotion. Startled, he froze on the spot. It was only Chang Xiang’s urgent reminder to retrieve the common weapon that snapped him out of it. He leaped up, grabbed the grip of the spear embedded in the cave ceiling, and pulled it out with a forceful tug.

Spear in hand, Lou Yun immediately examined it eagerly: "Primary three-star!"

Chang Xiang, however, shook his head and sighed. "Ah, what a shame. If you’d used different materials and a different seal set, this forging attempt could have yielded a common weapon of at least mystery rank!"