Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

After Li Yao said that, even the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators of the Purple Pole Sword Sect looked at each other in bewilderment, grasped by shock and suspicion.

The Purple Pole Sword Sect was the largest sword sect in the world. The Ancient Sages Sector did not have a sect that specialized in the business of refining. Therefore, the forgery of the Purple Pole Sword Sect was definitely state-of-the-art. There were too many great sword forgers in the sect!

As the strongest sword Cultivator of the Purple Pole Sword Sect, Yan Liren, with his reputation as the ‘Sword Saint’ and the ‘Sword Maniac’, had more resources at his disposal than even the leader of the sect did.

Whatever his needs were, the entire Purple Pole Sword Sect would certainly try their best to fulfil them, no matter the cost!

After his sword was damaged, naturally, he did once intend to look for the famous, experienced sword forgers for maintenance.

The general swords built out of Purple Martial Copper and Cold Mountain Steel were not difficult to maintain at all. With the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures under the Purple Pole Sword Sect’s control and the marvelous skills of the sword forgers, there would not be trouble at all even if Yan Liren wanted the hardness of the sword to be increased ten times over or attach a powerful technique to the sword.

However, Yan Liren’s requirement was that the renewed sword should be exactly the same as before in every detail, including the length, the thickness, the shape, the outline, the barycenter, and everything else. Nothing was to be added or reduced. Even the tiny holes lingering inside the body of the sword during the original forgery had to be identical!

Such a weird requirement was indeed a bit too much. Many of the masters of forgery had never heard of such an absurd request before even though they had spent their entire lives building magical equipment. After much discussion, they found the task impossible. Therefore, it had been postponed.

They had thought that the sword was Yan Liren’s beloved item as a souvenir or a reminder of the past. Also, Yan Liren could prove to be a dummy who did crazy and weird things sometimes. Nobody knew exactly why he proposed such a requirement.

Yan Liren had mentioned the issue twice and dropped it after seeing that nobody could repair the sword. Soon, everybody forgot it.

Today, after hearing Li Yao’s detailed interpretation, they finally realized that there were so many more mysteries to the whole matter. They had dedicated their entire lives to the forgery of swords, yet they did not know that an invisible hole inside a sword could cause fatal influences on the attacks performed in the end!

“How is it possible?”

“Is he able to do it when so many sword forgers here together can’t?”

“That’s very implausible. Master Spiritual Vulture is a barbarian Cultivator. It is understandable why he is very strong. However, why does he have such a profound understanding of the arts of sword forgery?”

“But—but Elder Yan brought the blueprints last time to tell us the specifications of the sword to be renewed. They were exactly like what the guy just said!”

“This—this—”

The famous sword forgers of the Purple Pole Sword Sect were all lost, not to mention the Cultivators of other sects who did not have the first clue what was going on. Intense doubt was written all over their faces!

Yan Liren, however, was the only one who stared at Li Yao without blinking.

He had never shown his sword to anyone alive.

Even when he asked the great sword forgers in his sect for maintenance, he had merely drawn the blueprints and written the data and his requirements.

Because none of the sword forgers had dared accept the contract, he had never revealed the sword to any of them.

However, this ‘Master Spiritual Vulture’ not only specifically described the parameters of the sword but also pointed out the hidden injuries inside the sword. He even understood Yan Liren’s reluctance to reforge the sword!

The basis of his deduction, however, was just an invisible, illusionary will of the sword!

There were actually such terrifying arts of sword scrutiny in this world!

Yan Liren’s eyes immediately became bloodshot.

He was devoted to his sword. His sword was his life. To achieve the most perfect sword, he was willing to pay anything!

He had thought that the sword would be in his company in such a ragged appearance for the rest of his life. Although he could make up for it with his marvelous sword arts, it was still his major regret!

Yet, out of his expectations, an opportunity had presented itself. How could he not feel thrilled?

“Are—are you really capable of renewing the sword?” The eminent Sword Saint was bellowing like an anxious young man.

“Of course! In terms of the sword arts or other techniques, I may be no match for you or Qi Zhongdao. However, when it comes to forging and refining, I am absolutely invincible in the entire Ancient Sages Sector!”

His declaration rumbled across the field like thunder!

Before he joined the Dragon Spring Meeting, Li Yao had run a detailed analysis on the positioning of the identity of ‘Master Spiritual Vulture’.

It was not enough to position the identity as a mean and brutal warrior.

He was born and raised in a modern Cultivation civilization, and he was used to battles in crystal suits, which was definitely not to be exposed right now.

Without crystal suits or Colossi, and with just his own combat ability, not just the terrifying ‘Sword Saint’ Yan Liren, even Qi Zhongdao could force him to run away like a stray dog when the Heaven Flipping Seal was triggered to the maximum.

Even if he could earn his fame as one of the ‘top ten experts’ on par with the ‘Three Saints and Four Rapscallions’, his rank would still be low.

Besides, with his combat ability alone, he was certainly able to build the image of an unparalleled brutal man who was good at fighting. Chances were that other people would be scared of him, admire him, recruit him, and get him involved in certain core secrets.

However, the role that he played would only be a ‘muscle’, who would have to carry out the most dirty and exhausting tasks without corresponding benefits.

But a refiner would be different.

The profession of refiner could be traced back to ancient times when it was called ‘sword forger’. It had been quite popular at the time. Making friends with other experts and establishing a complicated social network were very easy things for a refiner who helped others forge swords and other magical equipment!

For Li Yao who intended to build an ‘overseas mercenary camp of Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators for the Star Glory Federation’, it was certainly a very advantageous role.

The perfect example would be right now. If he could indeed successfully help Yan Liren renew his sword, he would certainly win the guy’s affection. With a few nice words, it was possible for him to convince the guy to stand on the federation’s side!

Furthermore, while exploring relics, refiners were highly protected assets and would not be leading the charge fighting with their lives. After all, if the team ran into any alien traps or magical equipment, they would have to count on the refiners to crack them.

Compared with his combat ability, Li Yao had more faith in his expertise in refining.

The reason was simple.

He was now in the Nascent Soul Stage. Therefore, Ou Yezi’s memory pieces had been opened to the phase of the Nascent Soul Stage, too.

Right now, after the mental devil helped Li Yao swallow and study Ou Yezi’s memory pieces, the two parties would share the knowledge. The efficiency of digestion and absorption had been significantly increased!

The highest level in the Ancient Sages Sector was the Nascent Soul Stage. The two Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators who had gone missing mysteriously a hundred years ago did not seem to have any shocking expertise in refining, either.

Therefore, Li Yao did not think that there would be a better ‘sword forger’ than himself in this Sector!

The only problem was that such an identity would raise suspicion or even connect him with Vulture Li Yao of the Star Glory Federation one day in the future.

However, after giving it a lot of thought, Li Yao believed that it was not very likely.

When he was in the Star Glory Federation, he had never told anyone that he had the memories of Ou Yezi, a master of refining in the age of ancient Cultivators!

It was true that he often performed certain methods that had been popular in ancient refining at that time. However, most of the methods were merely for ancillary purposes. They were only meant to ‘knock the door’ so that he could better understand the mysteries of modern refining.

At that time, the impression that he left on everyone should be a modern refiner who was adept at ancient refining arts and whose works were in a quaint style.

It was completely different from refining purely with ancient techniques!

As long as he slightly changed his style in refining, nobody would realize that a sword forger from the Ancient Sages Sector who adopted the most authentically traditional approaches was the same person as the modern refiner of the Star Glory Federation whose works were a vintage style!

Besides, he had foreseen the dangers of his journey before he left the federation and made arrangements accordingly. If he indeed returned to the federation with the ‘Nascent Soul Stage mercenaries’ one day, those arrangements might come in handy.

“You must know who I am, Fellow Cultivator Yan. I am just a barbarian Cultivator! It’s only natural that you grow suspicious about my expertise in refining!”

Bronze Censer Peak was still utterly soundless following Li Yao’s egotistical declaration.

Li Yao glanced around slowly before he continued proudly in a hoarse voice. “I didn’t intend to reveal the secret earlier. However, your astounding attack has indeed benefited me a lot!

“I am a grateful man. Now that you have shown me respect by demonstrating your most secret sword to me, what is the big deal about my little secret?

“It’s true that barely any knowledge in forging and refining has been passed on in the Southland of Sorcerers. There are few experts good at manipulating the swords among the barbarian Cultivators!

“My master was Elder Five Despairs. His lineage did not have any knowledge in the arts of sword forging.

“However, as many fellow Cultivators may have heard, seventy years ago, I was ambushed by my senior brother Master Black Moon and knocked into a venomous lake at the bottom of an abyss. I narrowly escaped from being killed, but I was seriously corroded and deformed!

“Thankfully, the dozens of lethal poisons neutralized each other, and I managed to survive. Later, by accident, I found an ancient residence that was passed on from the Great Zhou Dynasty!”

“The Great Zhou Dynasty!”

All the Cultivators exclaimed.

‘Great Zhou’ was the second unified dynasty after Cloud Qin more than eighty thousand years ago. In the eyes of the ancient Cultivators who believed in ‘the older, the better’, it was certainly a mysterious and incredible age!

“What I found was a residence left by a master of sword forging and examination named ‘Yan Zhu’. To avoid the riots in the world of Cultivators in the Great Zhou Dynasty, he fled all the way to the Southland of Sorcerers. Since he passed away in his residence, the place hadn’t been opened for tens of thousands of years. But I accidentally entered it!”

Naturally, the name Yan Zhu was make-believe.

He had learned on his way there that the ‘Great Zhou Dynasty’ was a short-lived dynasty where riots and conflicts were ubiquitous. Little information of that time had survived. No one would see any loophole in the nonexistent ‘sword forger of Great Zhou’ that he had fabricated!