The Human Emperor

In the cavern, Wang Chong piled up another bunch of pine trees and started another flame.

Different from the one he made for quenching, the flame he created was significantly smaller this time around.

The temperature required for tempering was much lower than quenching, at around 150 degree Celsius. As such, a small flame would suffice.

“Alright, about time!”

Placing his hand above the flame and feeling that it had reached the ideal temperature, Wang Chong placed the quenched saber on top of the flame.

150 degree Celsius was an extremely low temperature, far insufficient to melt Wootz steel. All it was capable of doing was to turn it slightly red.

On top of that, the saber had been quenched, granting it astonishing resilience. Thus, the tempering process was destined to be a lengthy and tiresome one.

If it was in the past, Wang Chong would find it hard to complete the entire tempering process.

However, after reaching Origin Energy Tier 7 and having cultivated Might of the Barbaric God, Wang Chong strength had been boosted tremendously, granting him the power and endurance to finish his work himself.

Boom!

It sounded as though a bolt of lightning had struck the cavern. Swinging a metal hammer, Wang Chong struck heavily on the surface of the blade. The heavy platform trembled beneath Wang Chong’s massive strength, and some dust and debris fell from the ceiling.

Boom!

Once!

Twice!

Thrice!

…

With massive strength, the hammer in Wang Chong’s hands fell again and again. His full might was harnessed for every single strike of the hammer. He paid careful attention to every single movement he made, and he bore great expectations for the product.

The sound of Wang Chong’s hammering sounded ceaselessly in the cavern.

The process of tempering was much longer than quenching, and the tough property of the Wootz steel sword did little to help.

It took an entire day, from sunrise to noon, then on to sunset, until all of the pine trees that he had cut and collected had burned out, for Wang Chong to complete the tempering process.

Standing by the metal platform, sweat flowed down Wang Chong’s body profusely. By now, Wang Chong’s clothes were already completely soaked. In fact, even the ground in a three zhang radius around him was wet. For this saber, Wang Chong had truly put in all of his soul.

(10 meters)

However, Wang Chong felt satisfied and gladdened when he saw the newborn slender-blade thick-blunt saber in his hands.

“Even though I had to spend an entire day on it, it’s worth the effort!”

Wang Chong lifted the saber to take a closer look at it. This saber was elegant and beautiful, and there was an alluring pattern reminiscent of flowing water and floating clouds on it. At the same time, it emanated a cold and merciless aura!

This was a weapon crafted for murder!

However, under Wang Chong’s hands, it became a marvelous art piece as well!

Shua!

Lightly shaking the saber in his hands, the air in the cavern immediately shook, as though it had been cut into countless pieces.

From the lingering illumination from the pine branches, one could see that the sharpness of the slender-blade thick-blunt saber had been brought up to an even more fearsome level!

“This is truly a good saber! A good saber should have its own name. Have you given it some thoughts yet?”

Footsteps sounded from behind. Flinging his robe, Li Zhuxin walked into the cavern. Upon seeing the slender-blade thick-blunt saber in Wang Chong’s hands, ripples appeared in his calm eyes.

“Hehe, I’ve already decided on it. It shall be called Death’s Abyss!”

Wang Chong smiled.

“Death’s Abyss? That’s a good name! If only I knew that you were capable of forging such incredible weapons, I would have used my employment term to trade for this saber!”

Li Zhuxin couldn’t tear his eyes away from the Death’s Abyss in Wang Chong’s hands.

Even though he wasn’t a saber user, he couldn’t help but feel fond of it, and a desire to possess it welled up within him.

“Hehe, even if you want it, I won’t agree to it!”

Wang Chong chuckled lightly.

This Death’s Abyss had taken two jun of Hyderabad ore to forge. If it was just an ordinary Wootz steel weapon, it would already be worth at least eighty thousand gold taels. On top of that, this weapon was much stronger than the previous few blades that Wang Chong had forged, having being tempered by the technology that Wang Chong possessed exclusively.

(Two jun ~ 26kg)

Wang Chong estimated its price to be above that of a hundred thousand gold taels!

This was far beyond the hiring price of Li Zhuxin. It was the epitome of the highest level of saber in the world, a priceless treasure in the truest sense.

Leaving the cavern along with Li Zhuxin, Wang Chong rushed back to the capital and passed the newly-forged Death’s Abyss into Uncle Li Lin’s hands. Upon seeing the newly-forged Death’s Abyss, Li Lin was overjoyed.

In the month that Wang Chong was gone, every day felt like an eternity to Li Lin. His doorsill was almost destroyed by the Imperial Army commanders who came to his residence daily to urge him on the matter of the Wootz steel weapon.

On top of that, most of them were Li Lin’s superiors, and there were a few figures whom even Zhao Fengchen dared not to offend. The pressure Li Lin was placed under was truly immense.

“Chong-er, if you came any later, you might have to collect my corpse!”

Li Lin was relieved by the appearance of the saber.

“Uncle, you’re exaggerating the matter.”

Wang Chong chuckled.

“This isn’t an exaggeration though. Alright, Chong-er, don’t worry. I’ll make sure this saber fetches a good price.”

Without wasting any time, Li Lin prepared to bring the Death’s Abyss into the royal palace.

“Wait a moment!”

Wang Chong hurriedly stopped Uncle Li Lin. Death’s Abyss was important, but other than that, Wang Chong had another purpose here.

“I have a few things that I’ll have to trouble uncle to help me on as well.”

After which, Wang Chong brought up the matter of the ‘Assassin Pavilion’.

“Hmph, to think that there would be such a matter!”

After hearing the entire story, Li Lin harrumphed coldly. A rare sliver of killing intent appeared on his face.

“It’s one thing for them to deal with other people, but since they dared to lay their hands on you, then they surely won’t get away scot-free. Rest assured, I will inform Lord Zhao of this matter and have him help deal with this!”

“You can’t even start to imagine how valued you are in the Imperial Army now. If something happens to you, even if Lord Zhao and I don’t do anything, the other commanders in the Imperial Army would surely tear them to shreds.”

Li Lin wasn’t exaggerating this matter.

Wang Chong had already formed an intangible network of connections. Under Wang Chong’s instructions, Li Lin had accepted quite a sum of money from various figures in the Imperial Army.

Even though there was no tangible reward in sight, all of these people still willingly presented it to him.

After Zhao Fengchen’s fight with Huang Xiaotian, the Wootz steel sword that Wang Chong forged earned the recognition of everyone in the Imperial Army, and it was labeled as the number one weapon in the Imperial Army.

In the view of the Imperial Army, be it the capital or even the entire Central Plains, only the weapons Wang Chong forged was worthy of their identity.

At this moment, every single Imperial Army member who had the means desired to obtain a Wootz steel weapon, resulting in a large sum of money being delivered to Li Lin in the past month.

If something were to happen to the swordsmith, it was scary just to think how the Imperial Army would react.

“Don’t worry, I know at least three Imperial Army commanders who would make a move on this kind of malignant tumor. What Profound Martial Realm expert or master of the Assassin Pavilion… In the capital, going against you means to go against the entire Imperial Army. I will make sure that this tumor is rid of once and for all!”

A majestic aura exuded from Uncle Li Lin.

This aura that shrouded Uncle Li Lin so naturally surprised Wang Chong. He had known his uncle for a very long time, but he had never seen such a quality in him.

“Circumstances shapes attitude, and attitude shapes appearance! After being deployed out of the North Gates and promoted to a higher position, his inner self changed accordingly as well, giving birth to this kind of majestic aura.”

Wang Chong thought.

Naturally, Wang Chong was delighted to see such a change. In his previous life, due to the old master’s influence, Uncle Li Lin had a slightly cowardly and hesitant nature.

But it was different now.

Men were born ambitious!

In Wang Chong’s view, this might be the true nature of his uncle.

“Perhaps I can bring that matter up on the schedule!”

Wang Chong thought.

In Wang Chong’s view, all of his family members were his aides, an important strength he would require to change destiny. Initially, Wang Chong only intended to hand over Death’s Abyss and bring up the matter of the ‘Assassin Pavilion’.

However, the momentary majesty that Uncle Li Lin exuded had sprouted some thoughts in Wang Chong.

The reason why Wang Chong helped uncle wasn’t just so that he could follow Zhao Fengchen as his subordinate and rise along with him.

Wang Chong bore much greater expectations and ambitions of him.

But this all couldn’t be realized with the limited strength the other party possessed at the moment.

“Uncle, wait a moment!”

Amidst Uncle Li Lin surprised gaze, Wang Chong walked into the carriage. When he came out once more, there was a handwritten secret manual in his hand.

“Uncle, this is for you!”

Wang Chong passed the secret manual hidden in the secret compartment in the carriage over.

“Ah? For me? What’s this?”

Li Lin stared at Wang Chong in bewilderment, unable to comprehend what was going on. He subconsciously grabbed the book and glanced at it.

Upon flipping through a page or two, Li Lin’s confused expression immediately warped into shock.

It was a martial arts manual!

The book that Wang Chong passed him was the secret manual of an extremely powerful martial art! Browsing through a couple of page, Li Lin could sense that this martial art was much more formidable than the techniques he had learned in the past.

“Chong-er, how did you get this?”

Li Lin was astounded.

Li Lin didn’t think that a teenager like Wang Chong would possess such a powerful martial art.

“Uncle, this… Grandfather gave it to me!”

Wang Chong pushed all the credit to the old master.

Wang Chong’s purchasal of the Hyderabad ore and crafting of the Wootz steel sword were astonishing feats, but it wasn’t completely impossible.

However, martial art manuals, especially powerful ones, were tightly guarded treasures of each clan. It would be difficult for Li Lin to not get suspicious if Wang Chong had suddenly produced a manual of such a top-notch martial art all of the sudden. This wasn’t a matter that could be explained by intelligence and aptitude.

It was precisely because of this that even though Wang Chong had copied down the secret manual a period of time ago, he wasn’t able to find a suitable opportunity to hand it over to Li Lin, until the visit to the Four Quarters Embassy…

“Old master?”

Li Lin was surprised.

“That’s right! Do you remember the matter at the Four Quarters Embassy? Grandfather asked grandmother to pass it to me after we offered our blessings to him. Perhaps grandfather felt… embarrassed, so he decided to pass it to you through my hands.”

Feigning ignorance of the matter, Wang Chong spoke nonchalantly.

All along, grandfather had confined uncle to the position of a section leader in the North Gates. Even though had good intentions in heart, it was unavoidable that uncle, who was an ambitious man at heart, would feel dismayed by his action.

In a way, Wang Chong was mending the tear between grandfather and uncle.

“Old master…”

Upon hearing Wang Chong’s words, Li Lin seemed to have realized something and ripples appeared in his eyes. However, before Wang Chong, he chose to hold himself back.

“I understand.”

Li Lin smiled.

“If there’s a chance, help me thank the old master in my stead. Tell him that I won’t let down him down. Anyway, you don’t have to worry about the matter of the Wootz steel saber, I’ll settle it properly. Alright, I’ll be going in now.”

After which, carrying the Death’s Abyss, he turned around and headed straight into the royal palace.

Perhaps it was just an illusion, but looking at Uncle Li Lin’s departing figure, it felt as though a heavy burden had been taken off his shoulders, or maybe, a knot hidden deep within his heart had been untied.

His footsteps grew more and more forceful, as though reflecting his determination, and eventually, he disappeared within the grand royal palace.