Chapter 27: Please, Do the Smelting Yourself

Qu Yi heard Kang Qian’s call and immediately smiled, saying, “Sure, I’m really eager to see how my senior cultivates weapons.”
Hearing this, Kang Qian’s face turned awkward again as his heart pounded. He hoped that this time, the attempt to forge the Fire-Piercing Blade wouldn’t fail again.
This was already the eleventh time!
Soon, Kang Qian led Qu Yi to the Flame Hall, the place where the Xianyun Sect conducted weapon smelting.
Inside the Flame Hall, there was a special array—the Earth’s Core Flame Array—which drew all the fire from beneath Fire Wonders Peak into the hall. Thus, the sect’s disciples could use not only their own internal true fire but also the Earth’s Core Flame for smelting.
At the center of the Flame Hall stood a large four-legged cauldron, one meter tall and covered in brownish-red hues. Carvings of fierce beasts adorned its sides, and its base rested directly on the Earth’s Core Flame Array, allowing the fire to be absorbed by the cauldron.
This cauldron was called the Blue Fire Cauldron, a lower-grade spiritual artifact that had been passed down since the founding of the Xianyun Sect.
Kang Qian approached the Blue Fire Cauldron, tapped his storage bag, and all the materials inside flew out, landing neatly on the ground.
“Junior brother Qu Yi, I’m about to start forging the Fire-Piercing Blade. Watch from the side and make no noise,” Kang Qian said solemnly.
“Don’t worry, senior brother Kang Qian,” Qu Yi replied loudly, slapping his chest with his fist.
Kang Qian nodded and focused entirely on preparing to forge the blade.
“True Fire of Samadhi, activate!”
With a deep shout, a small flame appeared in the palm of his right hand. Shaped like a melon, it had three colors—inside, outside, and in between. As soon as it appeared, it shot into the Blue Fire Cauldron, activating it.
Instantly, the cauldron burst into flames, and the Earth’s Core Flame Array beneath it also came online, with continuous streams of fire erupting from below.
Kang Qian kept sending out spiritual energy through his palms to control the flames inside the cauldron.
“Red Rock Star Iron, into the cauldron!”
With that command, he waved his hand, and a pile of red iron ore flew into the cauldron. With sizzling sounds, the red rock star iron melted completely, turning into a pool of red liquid inside the cauldron.
“Explosive Fire Stone, into the cauldron!”
“Cold Pond Mystery Crystal, into the cauldron!”
Continuously controlling the flames, he ordered one after another, adding all the materials needed for the Fire-Piercing Blade into the cauldron.
Qu Yi watched silently, but within his soul, the voice of the Weapon God kept explaining every step of Kang Qian’s smelting process.

It turned out that at this moment, Kang Qian was still in the process of refining the weapon core. Qu Yi continued to watch silently, but the temperature in the entire Flame Hall made him feel uncomfortable. He realized that with his current cultivation level at the early stage of foundation building, he could only barely withstand the heat from such earthfire and the residual heat of the Samadhi True Fire. If he were to be hit by the true Earthfire or the Samadhi True Fire, he would instantly turn to ashes.

Before long, sweat beaded on Kang Qian’s forehead as he refined the weapon core, clearly feeling uneasy. At that moment, the voice of the Weapon Spirit rang out: “Qu Yi, go remind Kang Qian to reduce the intensity of the true fire. Increase it again once the weapon core is nearly formed.”

Qu Yi was stunned for a moment before mustering up the courage to shout, “Senior Brother Kang Qian, please reduce the intensity of the Samadhi True Fire. Restore it to its current level after the weapon core is formed.”

Kang Qian, who was already nervous, was startled by the voice, but his eyes sparkled as if he had suddenly understood something—realizing the key to the ten failed attempts at refining the weapon.

“Thank you!” Kang Qian said urgently and immediately reduced the intensity of the Samadhi True Fire.

A moment later, Kang Qian’s expression turned ecstatic; it was obvious that he had nearly completed the refinement of the Fire-Piercing Blade’s core. Soon after, he sent his vital energy again to increase the intensity of the Samadhi True Fire. The flames surged violently, causing waves of heat to ripple throughout the Flame Hall.

“Fire-Expelling Array, activate!”

Kang Qian suddenly took out the entire Fire-Piercing Blade core and used his vital energy to float it in the air. Meanwhile, he formed a hand seal with his left hand, embedding the Fire-Expelling Array within the core. Then, with a motion of his right hand, he drew out the icy spiritual spring from a tube beside the Blue Fire Cauldron. The spring water spread evenly, enveloping the entire Fire-Piercing Blade, until it was completely absorbed into it.

Once the quenching process was complete, the entire refinement of the Fire-Piercing Blade was finished.

“Congratulations, Senior Brother Kang Qian! The Fire-Piercing Blade has been successfully refined!” Qu Yi shouted from in front of the Blue Fire Cauldron.

The Fire-Piercing Blade was entirely red, only a little over a foot long, but Qu Yi could still sense its sharp and scorching aura, knowing for sure that Kang Qian had succeeded in refining it.

Kang Qian dropped the Fire-Piercing Blade and stared at Qu Yi intently, tears streaming down his face from extreme excitement.

Qu Yi felt extremely uneasy. This Kang Qian must be either so obsessed with artifact refinement that he had lost his mind or plagued by some mental affliction, intending to attack him physically. Qu Yi immediately covered his chest with both hands and looked at Kang Qian with fear—after all, he was only at the early stage of the Foundation Building phase. If this Kang Qian, who was already at the early stage of the Golden Core phase, went all out, he really wouldn’t be able to resist.

“Qu Yi, thank you, truly!” Kang Qian shed a tear and spoke earnestly.

Indeed, he had attempted to refine the Fire-Piercing Blade ten times before, all in failure, leaving his master Huai Miao nearly desperate. Kang Qian had even sworn to himself that if the eleventh attempt still failed, he would simply throw himself into the Blue Flame Cauldron and burn himself to death. Now that it had succeeded, it was all thanks to Qu Yi’s reminder, and his gratitude was genuine.

“This… Senior Brother Kang Qian, I should be the one thanking you for giving me the chance to observe the artifact refinement process. Oh, by the way, should we go to our uncle right now to tell him the good news?” Qu Yi tried hard to distract Kang Qian, fearing he might pounce like a hungry wolf.

Upon hearing this, Kang Qian’s eyes lit up. He immediately picked up the Fire-Piercing Blade and rushed off to find Huai Miao.

…

As the elder in charge of artifact refinement, Huai Miao lived in the Blue Flame Hall, along with his training space, which was a quiet room behind the Exhibition Hall.

“Master, master, master…” Kang Qian was extremely excited, holding the Fire-Piercing Blade as if searching for Huai Miao, as if determined to avenge his master by killing him.

Huai Miao still lay on the bed with a worried expression, thinking that when his lifespan ended, the art of artifact refinement in the Xianyun Sect would have no successor. How could he face the ancestors of the Xianyun Sect? He didn’t even have the face to reincarnate—it would be better to detonate his soul and die cleanly.

“Huh? Why is Kang Qian shouting so loudly? What kind of behavior is this… Wait, what does he seem to be holding? The Fire-Piercing Blade!” Huai Miao scanned with his spiritual sense and exclaimed in surprise.

Inside the Exhibition Hall were all sorts of magical artifacts crafted by the Xianyun Sect. At that moment, master and disciple Huai Miao and Kang Qian were hugging each other, crying loudly.

One cried because the art of artifact refinement in the Xianyun Sect could finally be passed on, while the other cried because he had finally succeeded in his refinement and gained his master’s approval.

After crying for a while, they talked, and naturally, Huai Miao learned about Qu Yi’s reminder that had helped Kang Qian.

Soon after, Qu Yi was invited by Kang Qian to the Exhibition Hall to meet Huai Miao again.

“Qu Yi greets his uncle!” Qu Yi called out loudly with a smiling face.

Huaimiao’s face tightened as she waved her hand and said loudly, “Qu Yi, tell me—how did you know that when refining the Thoroughfire Blade, the intensity of the true fire needed to be reduced as the weapon core was nearly formed?”
Seeing Huaimiao’s stern expression, Qu Yi’s smile vanished immediately; he realized he couldn’t just give a casual answer.
“Uncle, I can’t explain the specifics. Anyway, I just had a feeling that if Senior Brother Kang Qian didn’t reduce the true fire, it would likely disrupt the fusion of the weapon core, and thus the next step of forming the array wouldn’t succeed.” Qu Yi slightly raised his head, gazing at the ceiling as if recalling the scene.
Huaimiao’s heart stirred, and she quickly asked, “Let me ask you—did you read all five books in the Array Hall? Did you feel anything?”
Qu Yi felt pleased; finally, Huaimiao’s attention had been diverted. He smiled and said, “Uncle, those five books were too easy. I just flipped through them and understood their contents right away.”
After saying that, he still shook his head and pretended to look worried.
Huaimiao immediately asked several more questions, covering the main parts of the five books. Qu Yi answered them easily, giving her a new perspective on arrays.
“A genius! A true genius, Qu Yi! You’re the genius bestowed upon our Xianyun Sect!” After asking several times, Huaimiao was filled with admiration, her eyes shining with joy as she looked at him.
“Uncle, you’re overpraising me,” Qu Yi replied. He felt a bit intimidated by Huaimiao’s gaze and wondered why she resembled Kang Qian so much—both having such passionate eyes toward men. Truly, they were destined to be master and disciple.
Huaimiao hummed and adjusted her posture before looking at Qu Yi seriously. “Qu Yi, go tell the head master that you shouldn’t practice cultivation techniques anymore. After all, with your Five Elements Root constitution, you won’t achieve much. Come and learn weapon refinement with me instead!”
Qu Yi inwardly cursed. So this was his uncle—saying he had no future in cultivation? Must she be senile? He had reached the early stage of Foundation Building in less than two years. Although his true energy fluctuations were only at the mid-stage of Qi Guidance, such speed was already a miracle among cultivators on Cuimu Planet.
“No!” Qu Yi replied firmly.
Huaimiao was stunned and quickly said, “Qu Yi, I can nurture you wholeheartedly, passing on all my lifetime experience in weapon refinement. In the future, Huomiao Peak will also be yours. And anything you desire, I’ll personally help you get it…”
To keep Qu Yi, Huaimiao spoke incoherently.
“No!” Qu Yi remained resolute.

“Ah, please, you take on the task of refining weapons!” Huai Miao suddenly became emotional, on the verge of crying. Having finally found a genius in weapon refinement, how could Huai Miao give up? Even if it meant damaging her own reputation, it wasn’t worth it. Qu Yi was stunned for a moment, then a faint smile appeared on his lips, as if he had come up with a plan.