Chapter 1358: Saint Outwardly, Demon Inwardly (1)

Mayor's residence.

Su Yu looked at Zhao Li and smiled, "Teacher, let's start."

Zhao Li nodded. For this project, Su Yu would be the main weaponsmith while he would be the assistant. As this would be Su Yu's dao weapon, it would naturally be better if he could complete it with his own hands.

The other weaponsmiths and Hu Xiansheng couldn't help feeling excited about this.

Only they themselves knew how much Su Yu had sacrificed for this weapon during the past month. If they ended up producing a normal earth weapon, it would be a massive loss for Su Yu.

One could say that Su Yu had invested everything he had accumulated so far into this weapon.

A hammer appeared in Su Yu's hand. It was the Soul Expanding Hammer.

Zhao Li solemnly said, "First, forge the covers. Then, bind them. We will first build the frame before putting everything together."

"I understand."

After a deep inhalation, Su Yu started swinging his hammer. The covers and the binder would serve as the frame and foundation of the book. A carrier treasure was being used as the binder. That alone would raise the forging difficulty significantly.

Bang!

The crisp clanking sound resounded throughout the city.

With a single strike, multiple clanking sounds followed.

Stacked hammer.

Back when Su Yu was helping with Zhao Li's weapon, a single strike of Zhao Li's hammer had produced 180 stacks. The stronger a weaponsmith was, the more stacks one would be able to hear. At the time, Su Yu had only been able to hear 108 of the stacks.

As for the other weaponsmiths, even the best among them had only heard 144 stacks. Zhao Tianbing was the sole exception as he had been able to hear all 180 of the stacks.

At the time, Su Yu was still weak.

At the time, he had yet to grasp a proper vibration technique.

At the time, he was still incapable of stacking his hammer too many times.

But today, Zhao Li's furrowed brows relaxed when he heard Su Yu's first strike.

Seventy-two stacks in one strike.

It might have looked like one strike, but it had vibrated seventy-two times, producing seventy-two hammer strikes at once. Su Yu might not have been a weaponsmith for long, but as he grew in cultivation, his mastery over weaponsmithing had also grown significantly.

***

Bang!

The strike sounded entirely different from the clanking sounds that had persisted for one month in the city.

Outside the city, some weaponsmiths exclaimed in excitement, "Soul Expanding Hammer! Either Zhao Li or Su Yu is finally forging as well!"

The Soul Expanding Hammer was only passed on in a single line. Zhao Li and Su Yu were the only individuals capable of using it in the Myriad Realms.

As fellow weaponsmiths, they weren't completely unfamiliar with Zhao Li's Soul Expanding Hammer. Thus, some of them were able to instantly guess that the Soul Expanding Hammer was being used here by only listening to the hammer strike.

Suddenly, the air warped.

Someone arrived.

It was a human expert.

Or to be precise, it was the sulking Heavenly Forge King. Beside him were Nan Wujiang and Yun Chen. And behind them, a few other Invincibles and youngsters could be seen. There were even some weaponsmiths among the group.

"Seventy-two strikes."

Heavenly Forge King said, "Su Yu has probably reached the earth grade for real."

Bang!

Yet another clank rang out. When Heavenly Forge King heard it, he raised his brow. Seventy-three strikes. Was Su Yu easing himself into it? Was he slowly increasing his number of stacked hammers?

More powerful weaponsmiths were arriving. One of them was an earthfire devil. The earthfire devils were known for their expertise in weaponsmithing. The newly arrived devil laughed, "Hahaha! Not bad at all! Seventy-three hammers. With Su Yu's strength, just this strike alone is enough to kill a sixth-stage Mountainsea."

The strength he mentioned referred to Su Yu's willpower, not physical strength. In terms of physical strength alone, Su Yu had long reached the level of Sunmoons.

"Seventy-three stacks...truly impressive."

Some other experts started nodding as well. This was especially true for the weaponsmiths among them. They could dislike Su Yu, but they wouldn't deny the sheer talent he possessed. He was incredibly young, yet he had reached such a height in weaponsmithing. Denying his talent was the same as denying themselves or all weaponsmiths in existence.

As Su Yu started forging, mist started gathering in the sky. Slowly, a projection appeared.

Someone remarked with a smile, "This weapon won't be lower than the earth grade."

Only the forging of a weapon at the earth grade or above could produce a projection. Of course, the appearance of a projection did not guarantee that the forging would be successful. It was merely an indication of the weapon's potential.

As for what exactly Su Yu was forging, it was still unclear. Everyone merely saw a brick-like item.

Finally, the first golden stripe appeared on the book.

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

***

Also watching the forging beside Niu Baidao was Cui Lang. He was a weaponsmith as well, and he had recently reached the profound grade.

When he saw the projection, he asked Niu Baidao, "Principal, is he forging a brick?"

Why did that weapon look like a brick?

Niu Baidao ignored him.

That was definitely not a brick. Who would forge something like a brick?

Heavenly Forge King said, "Su Yu is actually doing the final forge himself. He's not strong enough. It's hard to say if he has enough endurance to last until the end. The forging of an earth weapon of this level will require at least one full day."

"Endurance won't be an issue."

Niu Baidao said, "He knows the Soul Expanding Art. His willpower is strong with a fast recovery speed. It won't be an issue."

Heavenly Forge King said nothing else. Su Yu was still forging.

Boom!

The clanking sounds continued reverberating everywhere.

Some people started feeling uncomfortable from the reverberations. Some of the Skysoars even started feeling suffocated. They felt as though each strike of Su Yu's hammer had landed on their hearts.

Everything was progressing smoothly. Nothing unusual was happening.

After a while, a weaponsmith said, "This seems to be a normal weapon. Nothing abnormal is happening."

"Exactly. From the progress, there probably won't be a tribulation. He might even receive some rewards upon succeeding."

The projection started shining in gold.

Nothing out of the ordinary was happening. Seeing that Su Yu wasn't doing anything unusual, everyone calmed down and started waiting patiently.

***

Inside the mayor's residence, Zhao Li had an extremely solemn expression.

Normal?

No. This was no normal weapon. It was a weapon of calamity.

Su Yu had yet to bind the pages to the book. The true forging process would only start when the pages were involved as well. Each page would be embedded with a drop of Sunmoon blood essence. This would be a weapon of carnage and calamity.

Three hundred drops of blood essence. Three hundred races. Three hundred deaths.

The covers of the book were perfectly normal. In fact, Su Yu had been including some saintly powers during the forging of the covers, creating a weapon that would be saintly externally and demonic internally.

The covers gave off a sense of righteousness and justice.

It felt as though Su Yu was making a weapon fit for the saints. But that was absolute nonsense. Zhao Li knew this. Zhao Tianbing and the others knew this as well.

The hammer dropped down again and again. Eventually, Su Yu's clothings were ripped apart by the vibrations, revealing his muscular and toned body. Even his long hair had been ripped off by the vibrations, leaving some needle-like hair on him. Beads of sweat started dripping down his body.

Drop after drop, his sweat dripped onto the ground.

Boom!

Seventy-four hammers.

Yet another golden stripe appeared.

His assistants watched in silence.

Hammer after hammer, he bound the binder with the covers. The binder was a carrier treasure. It was incomparably tough. Forging the covers of a book into it was not something an ordinary person could do.

A clump of raging flame appeared in front of him. The fire burned the binder, helping with the fusion of the covers and the binder. At the same time, the fire of inheritance lit up and burned the binder, giving the weapon an even more saintly appearance.

Whoosh!

As the binder shook, yet another golden stripe appeared. Su Yu continued swinging his hammer while dripping with sweat. Again and again, he struck the book, immersing his entire body in the vibrations spread from the hammer strikes.

Not even regular earth weaponsmiths could withstand weaponsmithing of such intensity. After all, he was working on a carrier treasure. It was all thanks to his powerful physical body that he could withstand this.

Zhao Li had been watching in silence. Suddenly, he said, "Add one stack to your hammer with the addition of each golden stripe."

Su Yu said nothing, but he followed Zhao Li's suggestion.

The clanking sounds continued.

The others in the room did not feel any pressure. Rather, they were fully immersed in the process, adjusting their breathing and cultivating according to the tempo of the hammer strikes.

Hu Xiansheng was the exception. He felt somewhat out of place as he knew nothing about weaponsmithing. Each hammer strike would give him a sense of discomfort.

Seemingly having noticed his discomfort, Zhao Tianbing sent him a voice transmission, "If you feel uncomfortable, try to stay further away. This is the dao of weaponsmiths. It does not suit outsiders."

Hu Xiangsheng resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Why was Zhao Tianbing making it seem like weaponsmiths were special existences? The air around him warped and started absorbing the vibrations spreading through the air, instantly eliminating his sense of discomfort.

The others said nothing. Hu Xiansheng was a space master. Cultural researchers specializing in space were extremely rare. One should never underestimate any of them.