Chapter 69

Chapter 69: The Ice Crystal Jade Weapon

Back at the Ancient Weapon Academy, Han Tianxiao went to report the mission completion, while Lou Yun and the others returned to their rooms. Nie Jiu shoved a certain amount of food into his belly before collapsing into a deep, noisy sleep. Lou Yun, however, couldn’t sleep. He simply went back to that secret, small cave that belonged to him. He took out all the forging materials he had just bought, preparing to seize the time right now to forge a few common weapons.

Chang Xiang naturally appeared too. He only swept his eyes over the materials spread across the ground before shifting his gaze firmly onto Xiao Huo, staring at it intently. The stare made Xiao Huo feel extremely uncomfortable. In the end, it simply turned its head away, turning its butt toward Chang Xiang.

Chin resting in his hand, Chang Xiang finally spoke up, "Kid, can you make Xiao Huo spit out the Hellfire again?"

"Why? Wouldn’t that be a bit too dangerous?"

To be honest, although Lou Yun had possessed the Fusang Fire for a long time, he had never been genuinely afraid of heavenly fires until today when he witnessed the power of Hellfire. Such a big person was instantly reduced to such a small mound of ashes, without even time to make a sound. Just thinking about it was frightening. If the Hellfire Xiao Huo spat out earlier had been slightly misplaced by just a few centimeters, he himself would probably be a pile of ash right now!

Chang Xiang naturally saw Lou Yun’s apprehension. He smiled slightly and said, "Now you finally have a deeper understanding of heavenly fires, huh? Although they are indeed terrifying, if you can control them properly, the benefits they can bring you are absolutely unimaginable!"

"Besides, you also have the ice crystal jade weapon that can ward off all fires. What are you afraid of? Come on, give it a try!"

"Ice crystal jade weapon? Is that the name of the plaque? How did you know?" Lou Yun looked at Chang Xiang doubtfully.

Chang Xiang had overheard the conversation between Old Man Feng and Xia Guanqiu in Xia Guanqiu’s room that one time, hence knowing the origin of that plaque. But he didn’t want Lou Yun to know about it yet. Hearing Lou Yun’s question, his eyes darted around and he said, "Of course I know. Alright, let’s hurry up. We still need to forge common weapons later!"

Lou Yun didn’t harbor much suspicion either. Thinking it over carefully, what Chang Xiang said was indeed very reasonable. Everything has its pros and cons; the key lies in how well you master it. So, Lou Yun decided to give it a try.

However, just to be safe, he took out the ice crystal jade weapon first. Then, he began to communicate with Xiao Huo. Clearly, Xiao Huo was extremely reluctant to spit out its food. Only under Lou Yun’s coaxing and cajoling did it reluctantly turn its head around. Facing an empty patch of ground, it opened its mouth.

A dark mass spat out. Simultaneously, Lou Yun felt the temperature inside the cave instantly rise by at least several dozen degrees. Yet, the area immediately around him remained unchanged. It seemed the ice crystal jade weapon truly was working.

But he couldn’t dwell on that now. He hastily looked toward the burning black flame on the ground.

The flame was only about the size of a palm, entirely black, and thick like ink. The flame burned steadily, motionless and level, giving off a deeply eerie feeling.

Chang Xiang explained, "Hellfire is said to originate from the deepest recesses of the earth. Its temperature is so high it can even sear a person’s soul, and it’s black, like the flames in the legendary Volcanic Hell. That’s how it got its name."

"Volcanic Hell? Like one of the Eighteen Levels of Hell from the legends? Does such a place truly exist?"

Chang Xiang shrugged his shoulders. "I don’t know about that. But last time, you also sensed the energy of a soul after a person died. I suppose maybe it does exist."

"Oh!" Lou Yun had only asked offhandedly. He didn’t have much interest in such ethereal, unverifiable matters.

Chang Xiang pointed at the Hellfire on the ground again. "It seems Xiao Huo really can preserve the heavenly fire it devours. Moreover, it can completely separate the flame from the fire seed. Look, this is just the flame. The actual fire seed must still be in its belly. That’s how it can control it freely."

The fire seed was the root of the heavenly fire, like a plant’s roots or a living being’s soul. Subduing a heavenly fire essentially meant subduing its fire seed. As long as the fire seed existed and had sufficient spiritual energy, flames could be released continuously without end. For humans, however, although they could release flames, each flame emitted encompassed the fire seed itself.

But Xiao Huo, being a unique beast, possessed the special ability to acquire the fire seed simply by devouring the heavenly fire. That was why after Xiao Huo devoured the evil weapons master’s Hellfire, it gained control over Hellfire. Naturally, that evil weapons master lost the Hellfire.

When Lou Yun’s Great Grandfather gave him the Fusang Fire, it meant he forcibly transferred the Fusang Fire’s fire seed onto Lou Yun.

In other words, if Lou Yun wanted to subdue Hellfire, he would need to make Xiao Huo spit out the Hellfire’s fire seed as well. Only by subduing that fire seed could he truly possess Hellfire. However, with Lou Yun’s current cultivation level, he wasn’t yet capable of subduing Hellfire. Moreover, forcing Xiao Huo to spit out the fire seed right now wouldn’t be easy either!

Chang Xiang glanced at Lou Yun. "Do you dare to try it? To feel the temperature of the Hellfire?"

This question stumped Lou Yun. He looked at the flame still burning on the ground, then at Chang Xiang, and finally at the ice crystal jade weapon he held in his hand. After a moment of hesitation, he gritted his teeth and declared, "Alright! Give it a try!"

Lou Yun currently held both fear toward the Hellfire and a deep yearning for its terrifying power. That’s why he resolved to give it a try.

Gripping the ice crystal jade weapon, Lou Yun slowly extended his hand towards that burning black flame.

He didn’t feel the intense burning heat he anticipated. Instead, he felt a comfortably warm sensation. Lou Yun looked at Chang Xiang with slight surprise. The latter merely shrugged, his expression clearly saying ‘I told you so’.

"Now try without the ice crystal jade weapon. See what the temperature feels like then!"

Having tried once, Lou Yun’s courage had grown. Acting on Chang Xiang’s suggestion, he placed the ice crystal jade weapon aside. The moment he set it down, a wave of scorching heat instantly hit him. Sweat poured from his body, soaking his clothes instantly.

And that was without touching the Hellfire! Such a stark change in sensation!

Lou Yun had to proceed with extreme caution as he very slowly reached his hand towards the Hellfire once again. When his hand was still roughly a meter away, a scorched smell filled the cave. The hair on Lou Yun’s arm had been completely singed off. Terrified, he dared not move his hand any closer!

It was crucial to remember that Lou Yun had already undergone the Second Refinement of the Ten Refinements of the Body. His entire body was also protected by spiritual energy, making it several times tougher than an ordinary magical weapons master’s. Yet, even he still couldn’t withstand the Hellfire’s temperature! Just imagine how incredibly high that flame must burn!

"Hehe, how’s that? Feels nice, doesn’t it?" Chang Xiang laughed gloatingly beside him.

Lou Yun shot him an annoyed glare. He didn’t intend to continue testing the Hellfire’s temperature any further. Grasping the ice crystal jade weapon again, he instantly felt a coolness permeate his body. So comfortable!

Waving his hand, Xiao Huo rushed over swiftly and swallowed that mass of Hellfire back down with a single gulp. It smacked its lips a couple of times contentedly before obediently returning to Lou Yun’s shoulder and settling down.

Chang Xiang stared at Xiao Huo. "Xiao Huo definitely possesses other abilities as well, we just don’t know what they are. But even just this ability to preserve heavenly fires brings you enough great benefits already."

Lou Yun nodded repeatedly. He completely agreed. Until he could naturally increase the Fusang Fire’s temperature at will, having Xiao Huo with him could truly save his life at critical moments!

Chang Xiang only needed to glance at Lou Yun to know what he was thinking. He snorted coldly, "But don’t count on Xiao Huo too much either. The temperature of the Hellfire it spat out this time is clearly much lower than the temperature of the flame it spat out this afternoon on that mountain. So I reckon it also has limits on controlling the flames. For example, maybe it can only manifest such intense power once, or twice a day. Any more than that, and it probably won’t maintain that devastating power."

This was something Lou Yun hadn’t considered. Because he was carrying the ice crystal jade weapon, and his spiritual perception wasn’t as keen as Chang Xiang’s, he hadn’t really sensed any significant difference in the Hellfire’s temperature.

"Alright, forget about subduing Hellfire for now. If you did, and you didn’t have the ice crystal jade weapon one day, you’d definitely get burned to ashes by its backlash! Let’s focus on our business. How many common weapons are you planning to forge tonight? What ranks?"

Chang Xiang frowned as he surveyed the forging materials Lou Yun had produced. Materials from the mystery rank down to the most basic primary rank were spread out, a dazzling array covering virtually anything. That’s why he was asking.

Lou Yun chuckled. "Since we’re opening a common weapon shop, naturally we need to prepare a lot of common weapons! Besides, I personally can’t be there often, so the supply absolutely must be sufficient!"

Chang Xiang shook his head helplessly. "I can’t be bothered. It’s up to you. But I think you could consider letting customers who need common weapons come directly to you for custom orders. Arrange a pickup several days later. That way, you could choose materials more selectively, or even ask them to bring their own materials. You just charge a forging fee. After all, there’s not much profit in materials alone; the price truly depends on the final quality and rank of the finished weapon!"

The more Lou Yun listened, the more feasible Chang Xiang’s suggestion seemed. Excitedly, he exclaimed, "Yes! Why didn’t I think of that? Brother Chang, I really didn’t know you have a talent for business!"

"Get lost! I really don’t know how much more trouble I’ll have to handle for you!" Chang Xiang glared fiercely at Lou Yun.

"But since these materials have already been bought, we can’t waste them either. Let’s just start forging them one by one!"

Due to his limited time and energy, Lou Yun hadn’t bought an excessive amount of materials. He hadn’t prepared any of the very lowest grades at all. After laboring through the night, however, he looked at his results with considerable satisfaction.

Overnight, he had forged a total of ten common weapons: four of them primary rank, four intermediate rank, and two high rank. He had also intended to forge mystery-rank common weapons, but he discovered he simply didn’t possess enough spiritual energy to sustain performing all nine gestures of the Fourth Set of the Azure Cloud Seal.

Though each set of hand seals only consisted of nine simple gestures, strangely, the amount of spiritual energy required to form each seal varied depending on the set’s rank. The higher the rank, the more spiritual energy it demanded, and the gestures became increasingly difficult to form.

Nevertheless, Lou Yun was satisfied. How many skilled weapon makers needed a whole day, even several days, to craft a single common weapon? And he had forged ten in just one night! If other skilled weapon makers knew of this forging speed, they would surely drool with envy!

The following night, Lou Yun forged another ten common weapons. By then, the materials he had purchased were almost entirely consumed. After resting for the night, the third day finally brought the one rest day granted per month. This time, Lou Yun didn’t call anyone. Alone, he left the Ancient Weapon Academy, heading towards Tianrang City to seek its lord, Qian Lianyun!