Courtyard Houses: From Bronze Compasses to Global Reach

Chapter 100 The Foundation of Craftsmanship: The Initial Success of Weapon Forging and "Borrowi

After raising his cultivation to the second level of Foundation Establishment, Lin Yan began to study the weapon crafting techniques passed down from his ancestor.

"Alchemy is about fusing medicinal power, talisman drawing is about micro-manipulation of spiritual power, and array formation is about borrowing the power of heaven and earth. But this weapon crafting..." Lin Yan flipped through the jade slip titled "Basic Crafts of Weapon Crafting - Tier 1," his eyes filled with a desire for challenge, "requires the mastery of all three, plus the physical strength to forge and shape the body and an ultimate understanding of the materials."

This is a truly hardcore craft. From identifying mineral veins, purifying materials, forging and shaping, to quenching and activating spirit, engraving runes, and embedding arrays, every step requires meticulous attention to detail to create a powerful magical artifact.

He invited the old man again.

"Senior Master Zhen, I'm troubling you again. This time it's not about identifying array materials, but the foundation of all weapon crafting—identifying mineral veins and spiritual materials."

The old man stroked his beard and smiled, "If young master has such a wish, this old servant will do his best. The Wanyan Mountains are a treasure trove left by the old master, and the richness of its mineral veins far exceeds imagination."

So, the old man and the young man ventured deeper into the Myriad Destinies Mountains once more. This time, Lin Yan's target was no longer the demonic beasts, but the minerals and spiritual materials buried deep underground or exposed on the surface. The old man stroked his beard, pointing to the mountains shrouded in mist and with varying distributions of spiritual energy, and said to Lin Yan, "Young Master, the Myriad Destinies Mountains were formed by our old master using great supernatural powers to move the earth's veins and gather spiritual energy. The geology within is diverse, and the spiritual materials it nurtures are all unique and extraordinary, far surpassing ordinary mountains. To identify them, one must understand the 'earthly energy' and 'heavenly timing' that led to their formation."

This time, the old man guided Lin Yan to identify a strange object closely integrated with the mountain's geology:

The [Gengjin Rock Core] is not pure metal, but a rock core formed deep within the main ore vein, tempered and refined over millions of years by the pressure of the earth's metallic energy and immense earth spirit. Its exterior appears as an unremarkable grayish-brown rock, but breaking open the outer shell reveals an incredibly dense crystal that shimmers with a sharp, platinum-gold light. It combines the weight of earth with the sharpness of metal, making it a top-grade material for enhancing the hardness and armor-piercing capabilities of magical artifacts, but it is extremely difficult to refine.

Originating from the deepest part of a large metal vein, in an area with extremely high ground pressure, it is suitable for forging the spine of flying swords, heavy weapons, shields, and the core base of defensive formations.

[Earth Vein Blood Essence] is a mineral found at the nodes of mountain spirit veins or in places where large-scale blood battles have taken place. It is a strange mineral formed after the earth absorbs the blood and qi of powerful beings or the essence of spirit veins and undergoes mutation. It is dark red in color, with a texture that is neither jade nor glue, and it feels slightly warm to the touch. It contains immense vitality and malevolent energy, and can grant magical artifacts a certain degree of self-repair ability or the sinister characteristic of devouring the blood and qi of enemies to nourish itself. It should be used with caution, as it can easily affect one's mind. It is mostly found beneath ancient battlefield ruins and in places where spirit veins converge and become blocked. It is suitable for crafting demonic/blood-refined magical artifacts, weapons with growth potential, and special magical artifacts for healing and prolonging life.

【Empty Sound Stone】

Formed in massive underground cavities or special rock strata frequently experiencing earthquakes and sound reverberation, this bluish-gray ore contains countless tiny, regularly spaced pores. It efficiently transmits vibrations and sound, resonating with specific sound wave frequencies. It is an excellent material for crafting sonic attack artifacts and detection artifacts. It originates from underground caverns and earthquake-prone rock strata. Suitable for crafting sonic attack artifacts such as bells, chimes, and flutes, as well as compasses for exploring earth veins and communication artifacts.

【Kun Yuan Jade Phosphorus】is a special soil crystal found beneath spiritual fields or in areas with particularly abundant spiritual plant root systems. It appears as small flakes or granules, emitting a faint earthy yellow glow and a fresh, herbal fragrance. It contains pure earth-elemental spiritual power and the vitality of vegetation, slowly absorbing surrounding spiritual energy to nourish itself. It is commonly used to stabilize medicinal properties, cultivate spiritual plants, and can also be used to craft earth-elemental defensive magical artifacts and nourishing auxiliary magical treasures. It originates from beneath thousand-year-old spiritual fields, deep within the root systems of ancient spiritual trees. It is suitable for crafting the inner lining of medicinal cauldrons, earth-escape magical artifacts, defensive jade pendants, and "flowerpots" for cultivating magical treasures.

【Lightning-Struck Wood Heart】is not a mineral, but it does originate from mountain ranges. It is a rare treasure formed when a spirit tree, struck by lightning, miraculously survives, sealing its lightning power and life force within its heartwood. The entire tree is charred black, but the heartwood is purplish-black, with subtle arcs of electricity flickering within. It contains a trace of the exorcising and destructive aura of heavenly lightning, as well as powerful vitality. Extremely yang and strong, it is a top-tier material for crafting lightning-based and exorcising magical artifacts. It originates from the heartwood of ancient spirit trees high in the mountains, easily struck by lightning. Suitable for crafting lightning talismans, lightning seals, exorcising swords, and magical treasures that counter evil and yin techniques.

【Frost Marrow】exists in extremely cold ice caves or the yin veins of snow-capped mountains that never melt. It is a milky-white paste formed by the condensation of extremely cold spiritual energy over tens of thousands of years. It is icy cold to the touch and can instantly freeze the soul. It can emit extreme cold and freeze the circulation of spiritual energy, making it a core material for refining ice-type magical artifacts and sealing magical treasures. It is produced in ancient ice caves and mysterious yin caves. It is suitable for refining ice-type flying swords, cold jade bottles (for preserving spiritual items), sealing talismans, and auxiliary items for cultivating ice-type supernatural powers.

【Mirage Sand】Found in arid, sun-exposed desert areas or near special crystal veins that refract light. It is an extremely fine grain of sand that shimmers with iridescent colors. It naturally refracts and distorts light and faint spiritual energy, making it a natural material for creating illusions and concealing one's presence. It originates from arid valleys in mountains and around exotic crystal mines. Suitable for crafting the base of illusion arrays, the coating of invisibility cloaks, and one-time-use magical artifacts to confuse enemies.

As the old man guided Lin Yan to identify the metal, he explained in detail: "Young master, please look. This Gengjin rock core needs to be patiently burned with true fire and then repeatedly forged with a heavy hammer to extract the Gengjin energy within... As for this earth vein blood marrow, one must guard one's mind and clear one's nature when processing it to prevent the invasion of evil energy... To collect this cold marrow, one must use jade tools and act quickly, otherwise the cold energy will dissipate and the efficacy will be greatly reduced..."

Lin Yan listened with rapt attention, not only sensing the materials with his divine sense but also touching and striking them with his own hands, even trying to stimulate their reactions with different types of true essence. He understood that the first priority in crafting artifacts was recognizing the materials. Only by understanding the "nature" and "origin" of the materials, and knowing their connection to the earth's spiritual energy, could one unleash their true potential in the dance with fire, forging them into magical treasures that resonated with the Dao and possessed boundless power.

This trip to the mountains allowed him to delve deeper into the philosophical realm of "weapon forging," moving beyond a purely technical understanding to one of communicating with the natural world. The Myriad Evolution Mountains truly are an inexhaustible treasure trove waiting to be discovered.

Back in the weapon-refining room. Inside, there was a heavy black anvil, on which stood a forging furnace with earth fire at its core. Next to it were quenching pools, polishing tools, and workbenches for inscribing rune arrays.

Step 1: Shaping the iron.

Lin Yan started practicing with the most basic ordinary iron. He took off his shirt, revealing his strong physique, and swung a heavy spirit iron hammer.

"Eighty! Eighty!" he shouted strange slogans, placed the red-hot iron block on the anvil, and began to circulate the "Great Zhou Celestial Body Refining Technique," mobilizing his physical strength to forge it with each hammer blow.

At first, his movements were clumsy, and his power control was uneven. He would either flatten the iron block or smash it with sparks but leave it shapeless. But he was not discouraged. He practiced repeatedly, feeling the subtle feedback of the power transmitted through the hammer to the material.

Several months passed in the space. He went from forging ordinary iron to refining star iron, and finally he was able to control the force and landing point with relatively precision, creating rough prototypes of basic shapes such as daggers and short swords.

Step 2: Purification and fusion.

This step is akin to alchemy, requiring the use of divine sense to control the fire, calcining and removing impurities from the ore, leaving only the most essential parts. Sometimes, it also requires blending various metal solutions in precise proportions. Lin Yan had prior alchemy experience and picked it up relatively quickly, but the requirements for precise control of the heat were even higher, resulting in a surprisingly high failure rate and a significant waste of materials.

Step 3: Characterization and Spirit Awakening.

This is the most delicate step, incorporating the principles of rune arrays. It requires using divine sense to guide the spirit carving knife on the formed embryo to inscribe various runes with functions such as "sharp metal," "armor penetration," and "lightness."

Lin Yan initially found carving runes on hard metal far less smooth than on talisman paper. Often, due to deviations in force or interruptions in spiritual energy, his efforts were wasted, sometimes even ruining the original talisman. He could only calm down and start practicing from the simplest single runes.

In addition to the tedious basic practice, Lin Yan decided to craft some practical equipment for himself, both as practice and as motivation. He planned to make three things: a talisman pen, a flying sword, and a set of magic robes.

While practicing crafting various first-tier magical artifacts, Lin Yan longed to forge a talisman brush for himself. He chose a section of second-tier lightning-struck peach wood for the brush handle and void mithril for the ferrule. However, the most crucial element was the bristles at the tip. According to the inheritance, the best bristles were those from the tip of the Swift Shadow Wolf's tail. These bristles were sharp, tough, and had excellent spiritual conductivity, while also possessing a touch of ethereal wind spirit, which could greatly enhance the success rate and power of drawing talismans.

There happens to be a Swift Shadow Wolf in the late Foundation Establishment stage in the Wanyan Mountains. Its bloodline is extraordinary, and it is said to have a trace of the ancient divine beast "Howling Moon Wolf". It is incredibly fast, has sharp claws and teeth, and can control the power of shadows, making it extremely difficult to deal with.

In order to obtain the best hairs, Lin Yan began his "borrowing" hair business.

He went to spar with the wolf demon named "Shadow Fang" every day.

The first time, Lin Yan tried to trap it with "Binding Thorns", but it was easily torn apart by Shadow Fang, and a shadow blade almost cut off a lock of Lin Yan's hair.

The second time, Lin Yan set up the "Mist Locks the Clouds and Clouds Formation" to limit its speed, but the Shadow Wolf directly merged into the shadows, and then the shadow darted out and gave Lin Yan a claw attack.

The third time, Lin Yan unleashed all his talismans, spells, and flying swords, battling the Shadow Wolf with such ferocity that the earth shook. The Shadow Wolf was as fast as a ghost and its attacks were fierce. Although Lin Yan managed to remain undefeated thanks to his abundant true energy and various techniques, he was still unable to defeat it.

This happened every single day! The Shadow Wolf was thoroughly annoyed. Although it wasn't afraid of Lin Yan, it couldn't gain much of an advantage either. Every fight left it covered in dust and grime, interfering with its cultivation and sleep. Most importantly, this two-legged beast's fighting style was too underhanded, with all sorts of control, traps, and dirty tricks appearing endlessly, driving it to its wits' end.

Finally, when Lin Yan came to find it yet again, and got into a fighting stance, the Shadow Wolf let out a long, mournful howl: "Awooo—! (Will this ever end!)"

It abruptly turned around, turning its rear end towards Lin Yan. Its majestic, fluffy tail, trembling slightly, reluctantly extended, then pointed with its paw at the shiniest, smoothest tuft of silver-gray fur at the tip of its tail, then at Lin Yan. Finally, baring its teeth, it let out a series of low, aggrieved, and angry growls: "Awooo! Awooo! (Take it! Take it! Pull it out and get lost! Don't come back! It's so annoying!)"

Lin Yan was taken aback at first, then suppressed a laugh, knowing that he had finally worn down the proud demon wolf. He quickly plucked a small tuft of hair from the tip of its tail.

"Thanks, Brother Shadow Fang!" Lin Yan was in a great mood after getting what he needed, and casually tossed over a few Beast Essence Pills that could improve cultivation as compensation.

The shadow wolf snatched the pill, savoring its pure medicinal power. It glared at Lin Yan with a complex expression, thinking, "At least you still have some conscience." Then, without looking back, it darted into the depths of the forest, vowing never to return to this area.

Having gathered all the materials, Lin Yan began his seclusion to refine his first "masterpiece"—a talisman brush.

He carefully smelted the peach wood heartwood with earth fire to shape it into a pen holder, and hollowed out the inside to embed intricate spirit-gathering array patterns.

The penholder is crafted from Void Mithril and inscribed with runes that stabilize and transmit spiritual energy.

Finally, and most importantly, the small clump of "Shadow Wolf Hair" containing the power of wind spirits was glued together with special spiritual glue, embedded in the brush holder, and each hair was carefully combed with divine sense to ensure unobstructed flow.

The entire process took seven days and seven nights. When the final solidification spell was cast, the entire talisman brush suddenly burst forth with a soft cyan-silver light. The brush body was radiant with light, and the bristles at the tip moved automatically without wind, exuding a sharp and agile aura!

It worked!

A talisman brush of the second-tier superior grade, named "Shadow Wind," floated quietly in front of Lin Yan.

Holding this talisman brush, into which he had poured his heart and soul, and even which contained his "friendship" with the Shadow Wolf, Lin Yan felt a great sense of accomplishment. He tried drawing a [Flame Arrow Chasing the Wind Talisman] and found that the flow of spiritual energy was exceptionally smooth, the speed of rune condensation was 50% faster, and the power of the talisman had also subtly increased!

Forging flying swords is every cultivator's dream. Lin Yan chose star iron as the main material, adding a small amount of void mithril powder to increase spiritual affinity and toughness, and a trace of nine-ninth cold iron powder to enhance sharpness and stability.

This process is extremely demanding in terms of both mental and physical exertion. He needs to fuse three kinds of spiritual materials into one at extremely high temperatures from the earth's fire, and then repeatedly forge it tens of thousands of times to remove the last trace of impurities, shaping it into a sword blank that is three feet three inches long, two fingers wide, and has smooth lines. Each hammer blow must contain a specific spiritual energy vibration to make the material molecules bond more tightly.

After the sword blank was formed, he used his divine sense to control the carving knife and meticulously polished the blade. The edge was as thin as a cicada's wing, yet it shimmered with a cold light that was a mixture of starlight and cold iron.

He inscribed a Spirit Gathering Array on the sword guard to ensure the continuation of spiritual energy during flight, and inscribed Sharp Metal Runes and Breaking Qi Runes inside the sword blade to enhance its penetrating power. He also inscribed a Heart-Wish Rune on the hilt to improve its maneuverability.

Finally, the sword is quenched with an extremely cold spiritual spring, and at the moment of its completion, a drop of the user's own blood essence is forced out and integrated into it, completing the final spiritual awakening step.

When the sword was completed, a clear and melodious sword cry resounded throughout the weapon-forging room. The sword's body was as deep as the night sky, with specks of starlight and subtle flowing light from the void mithril shimmering on it, exuding a chilling aura. Its grade was as high as the second-tier superior quality, and Lin Yan named it "Starry Sky".

The forging of robes differs from that of metal magical artifacts, focusing more on the processing of materials and the weaving of runes. Lin Yan chose Silver Moon Heavenly Silkworm Silk produced in the space as the main material. This silkworm silk is exceptionally tough, has excellent spiritual conductivity, and is light and soft in texture.

Using his own true essence as a guide, he manipulated countless invisible needles to weave celestial silk into cloth. This process itself continuously infused his true essence into the fabric, making it an excellent conductor of spiritual energy. The fabric was dyed with the juice of cloud-shrouded spiritual plants, giving it a delicate moon-white hue and a slight dust-repelling and cloud-shrouding effect. The cut was inspired by the minimalist style of modern clothing, ensuring ease of movement. The most crucial step: using specially crafted spiritual silk as the "thread" and his divine sense as the "needle," he embroidered, rather than inscribed, a dense array of tiny runes on the inner layer of the fabric.

Chest and back: [Kun Yuan Array Pattern] increases overall defense.

Cuffs and hem: [Wind-Riding Pattern] Increases movement speed and agility.

Key area: [Armor Rune] for enhanced protection.

Overall embedding: [Miniature Spirit Gathering Array] Slowly replenishes spiritual power.

Finally, a small piece of dark, mysterious stone was even polished into a thin slice and inlaid in the lining, giving the robe a slight ability to [interfere with divine sense].

Once completed, it appears to be a finely crafted, simply styled moon-white robe, capable of changing its appearance and soft, cool to the touch. However, once infused with true essence, faint spiritual runes immediately appear, revealing astonishing defensive capabilities and diverse functions. Its grade has also reached the upper-tier second rank, and Lin Yan named it "Flowing Cloud."

When the "Shadow Wind" talisman brush, the "Starry Sky" flying sword, and the "Flowing Clouds" magic robe were successfully crafted and tested to show excellent performance, Lin Yan knew that he had finally truly entered the hall of mastery in the art of weapon crafting.

From identifying the ore, forging iron, refining, shaping, to engraving and drawing runes, from metal to fabric, he completed his first comprehensive experience. Although it was only the beginning, and he was only refining second-tier magical artifacts, the sense of accomplishment from personally crafting powerful equipment was unparalleled.