Chapter 5

The underground fire surged, but was completely devoured by a short sword. This scene was truly bizarre.

"How could this be?" Kong Fang muttered, his mind wandering, and he had even forgotten to use the formation to control the underground fire.

If Sun Hao were here, he would certainly have exclaimed in surprise, for this was something every weapon cultivator aspired to. This situation represented a realm of weapon refinement, known as 'Fire Refining Golden Body.'

This rare situation only occurred when the removal of impurities and the creation of the weapon's core were nearly perfect. At this point, all the materials in the weapon would almost perfectly fuse together, and a mysterious force would be generated, attracting flames to refine the weapon even more perfectly. This was a manifestation of skill approaching the Dao.

Therefore, as long as 'Fire Refining Golden Body' appeared, even if the subsequent quenching and activation of the weapon's spirit were not done well, the weapon's quality would not be poor.

'Fire Refining Golden Body' was generally only achieved by master weapon cultivators, but it now appeared in Kong Fang, a novice disciple. This was indeed a very strange occurrence.

However, this was all due to Kong Fang's choice of using the Earth Refining Method to remove impurities and create the weapon's core, rather than the normal Fire Refining Method.

The Earth element was heavy and vast, unlike the Fire element, which was violent and difficult to control. When removing impurities, Kong Fang used the power of the Earth element to integrate into various materials, removing the unnecessary parts. This process was entirely under Kong Fang's control.

Using the underground fire, one of the external manifestations of the Fire element, it was difficult to achieve such a subtle operation. The power of the Fire element was violent and refined from the outside in. The power of the Earth element, however, was completely inclusive, refining both inside and out, and had an advantage in removing internal impurities.

Therefore, the appearance of 'Fire Refining Golden Body' was not due to Kong Fang's superior weapon refinement skills or his ability to control the underground fire, but rather the fundamental difference between the Fire and Earth elements.

This was akin to using a wooden sword and an iron sword to cut a stone with the same force, but the damage caused was incomparable, as the iron sword was more suitable.

However, to use the Earth element to remove impurities, there was a prerequisite that could not be bypassed: the Earth element had to fully integrate into the weapon materials. Kong Fang, lacking knowledge, did not realize what he had achieved. Otherwise, the weapon cultivators in this world would not all be those with Fire element talent, but rather those with Earth element talent.

Kong Fang, who had unknowingly reached the 'Fire Refining Golden Body' realm, was still staring blankly at the short sword devouring the underground fire, his face full of confusion and fear.

People tend to be more easily frightened by the unknown.

However, if others saw Kong Fang's expression at this moment, they would probably drown him in saliva. Encountering such a rare and good thing as 'Fire Refining Golden Body,' one should not be so foolish as to be afraid.

'Whoosh,' the underground fire suddenly leaped, then quickly returned to normal.

The short sword no longer devoured the underground fire.

Only then did Kong Fang come to his senses. Seeing that nothing bad had happened, he felt a great relief, as if he had survived a disaster.

"Thank goodness, nothing terrible happened." Kong Fang sighed with relief. "This weapon sect is really stingy. Setting up the worst Yellow-grade refinement room is one thing, but the underground fire being unstable is another. If the underground fire suddenly burst and broke the formation, my life would be over." Kong Fang harbored some resentment.

However, at this moment, the resentment of the novice disciples in the surrounding dozen refinement rooms was even stronger. Kong Fang had encountered 'Fire Refining Golden Body,' so his weapon not only remained intact but also benefited greatly. But because of 'Fire Refining Golden Body,' much of the underground fire was attracted, causing the surrounding refinement rooms to suffer greatly. Everyone's weapons turned to ashes.

Kong Fang controlled the formation, and the underground fire swirled. The short sword, which had been submerged in the underground fire, immediately flew out and quickly plunged into the quenching liquid.

'Sizzle,' a white mist quickly appeared on the quenching liquid.

Kong Fang used the formation to reseal the underground fire, then came to the quenching liquid pond. Looking at the short sword in the quenching liquid, Kong Fang was both curious and anxious, fearing that the strange situation might have ruined the short sword.

If this short sword was ruined, he would have no new materials to refine weapons, and thus would not be able to pass the weapon sect's assessment.

"I hope the result isn't too bad. I'm not greedy. I don't want a spirit treasure or a quasi-spirit treasure; I just want a weapon that can pass the assessment. This isn't a high demand, so all the great deities and immortals must protect me." Kong Fang muttered.

However, mentioning spirit treasures and still saying he wasn't greedy, it was worth noting that Sun Hao, an inner disciple, caused a stir in the weapon sect by refining a low-grade spirit treasure, gaining a great reputation. This was like someone saying they didn't want ten billion or one billion, just one million. Even one million was not a small amount.

After a while, Kong Fang reached into the quenching liquid.

"Great deities and immortals, please let it not be too bad." As he pulled out the short sword, Kong Fang continued to pray. However, the deities and immortals he mentioned were probably hiding somewhere, and no one had the time to pay attention to him.

Holding the short sword, Kong Fang carefully examined it.

The more he looked, the brighter his eyes became, and his anxiety quickly turned into an excited smile.

"Even without the final step of activating the spirit, this short sword shouldn't be ranked in the last two hundred, right?" The heavy burden on Kong Fang's heart was greatly reduced, allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief.

Although Kong Fang had already taken a step onto the path of cultivation, the world was full of Ling Realm and even more powerful beings. Kong Fang was just a small cultivator who had not even fully entered the Soul Attraction Realm, and he was not very familiar with this world. If he rashly ventured into the wider world, his chances of death would be over eighty percent.

Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, Kong Fang did not want to leave the weapon sect. At least for the short term, he was unwilling to do so. Now, with Zhao Yong as his enemy, Kong Fang could not rashly leave the weapon sect, lest he suffer Zhao Yong's revenge.

As Kong Fang was carefully examining the short sword's quality, his breathing suddenly paused, and his face turned slightly red. "It, it actually reached the third grade. Am I dreaming?" Kong Fang pinched himself hard, wincing in pain, but his face was full of uncontainable excitement.

"Ha ha ha, a third-grade weapon, this is enough for me to pass the assessment." Kong Fang couldn't help but laugh. "A third-grade weapon, perhaps... I have a chance to enter the inner sect." Kong Fang's heart suddenly became hot. Once he became an inner disciple, his status and position would change dramatically.

"The next step should be the very important activation of the spirit. If the activation is done well, this short sword's quality could even improve another level, possibly reaching the second grade. Once it becomes a second-grade weapon, my chances of becoming an inner disciple would be over ninety percent." Seeing the hope of becoming an inner disciple, Kong Fang placed even more importance on the final step of activation.

Actually, below spirit treasures, weapons did not have detailed grades except for quasi-spirit treasures. Without becoming a spirit treasure, they were all considered substandard. However, the weapon sect, being primarily focused on weapon refinement, added six grades below quasi-spirit treasures, from sixth grade to first grade, with first grade being the highest, followed by quasi-spirit treasures.

Actually, according to the 'Fire Refining Golden Body' that appeared earlier, this short sword could have directly reached the first grade or even a quasi-spirit treasure. However, the materials Kong Fang obtained were too poor, and reaching the third grade was already an extremely impressive feat.

Other disciples generally hovered between the sixth and fifth grades, and reaching the fourth grade was already very rare. Reaching the third grade was even rarer, and the second grade was almost impossible for novice disciples unless they had special materials. This was why Zhao Yong initially tried to snatch Kong Fang's Qingming Stone, as special materials could enhance the weapon's quality and greatly benefit the assessment.

"To activate the spirit, I must integrate a formation into this short sword, but I only remember a simple formation. Even if I integrate this formation into the short sword, the weapon's quality won't improve much." Recalling the formation in his memory, Kong Fang felt a bit regretful.

Without a good formation, the effect of activating the spirit would not be significant, which quickly cooled Kong Fang's excitement.

The weapon sect's assessment required the top thirty weapons to enter the inner sect. Kong Fang had not initially hoped to enter the inner sect; he was satisfied with maintaining his status as a novice disciple. However, when he discovered that the short sword had reached the third grade, he could not help but desire to become an inner disciple.

Becoming an inner disciple was a leap to the heavens, allowing one to truly cultivate. Although Kong Fang had started cultivating, he possessed a high-level soul refinement technique but lacked a good cultivation method, which slowed his progress.

Therefore, Kong Fang did not want to miss the opportunity to become an inner disciple. Unfortunately, the formation in his memory was too simple, making his desire to become an inner disciple a mere dream.

"Fine, I should be content with maintaining my current status. I'll try harder to become an inner disciple in two years."

Kong Fang immediately cleared his mind, took a small piece of Fengjin from his pocket, and began to engrave the simple formation on the short sword. The fragments of Fengjin stuck to the short sword, creating a unique beauty.

The formation Kong Fang engraved had only one simple function: to disperse the force it received. When attacked, the formation would distribute the concentrated attack force across the entire sword, effectively making the entire sword bear the attack.

This ability seemed powerful, but it was actually quite useless. The formation was too simple and had little power. If the attacker was slightly stronger, the formation would lose its function and fail to disperse the attack force.

However, it was better than nothing, and Kong Fang had no choice but to use this formation. Of course, other novice disciples generally only had such a simple formation. Only those who had been novice disciples for several years and had contributions from the sect could obtain better formations.

To activate the spirit of a weapon, the best method was to use spiritual energy to construct the formation. However, novice disciples had not yet entered the cultivation path and lacked spiritual energy, so they could only use this simple and crude method to activate the spirit.

Fully immersed in the activation process, Kong Fang's consciousness gradually entered the Purple Mansion, appearing under the vast starry sky. However, his hand holding the Fengjin did not slow down, instinctively continuing to engrave the formation.

Staring blankly at the short sword in his hand, his consciousness watched the vast starry sky, and Kong Fang's mind became clear. Gradually, the formation he engraved began to differ from the one in his memory, with some subtle changes.

After a while, when he finished engraving the formation, Kong Fang suddenly shivered and came to his senses.

"Huh, what just happened? I felt a bit dazed." Kong Fang's eyes were filled with confusion.

When he looked down and saw that the formation was complete, he was delighted and immediately forgot about his daze. Without carefully examining the formation on the sword, he turned to reopen the formation sealing the underground fire, allowing it to surge out. Then, he threw the short sword into the underground fire.

Under the burning of the underground fire, the formation engraved with Fengjin slowly integrated into the short sword. At the moment the formation and the short sword fully merged, a faint purple light suddenly appeared on the short sword, but it quickly disappeared into the sword.

Under the glow of the underground fire, Kong Fang did not see this strange scene.

PS: Requesting recommendations and support. Thank you.

Page flip AD starts

Page flip AD ends