by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
As for why Long Chen had chosen him to trade for those things, that did make him suspicious. However, given how much Long Chen had asked for, his worries were lessened a great deal.
Even Elders who had worked decades in the monastery wouldn’t be able to buy all of those medicinal ingredients, let alone Long Chen.
However, Elder Sun had worked in the monastery for a very long time, and he had also had a lucrative position in charge of the Xuantian pavilion for decades, so he had plenty of savings.
Long Chen’s request would be extremely painful for him to fulfill, but he could still do it. However, half of his entire savings would be gone.
More importantly, most of these medicinal ingredients could not be found in the monastery. Thus, he had to make a trip to the supermonastery to buy them.
That very day, Elder Sun left to go to the supermonastery, purchasing all the ingredients listed on Long Chen’s list.
Elder Sun’s actions were completely within Long Chen’s expectations.
Although he knew that coming to find him at this time would definitely raise his suspicions, Long Chen was sure that by proposing such an extravagant trade request and by also giving him half of his reward at the beginning, that old fellow would definitely take the bait.
Once he left Elder Sun’s immortal cave, Long Chen saw that everyone had already awakened from their drinking contest and had secluded themselves.
That huge battle had been extremely beneficial to them. Since Long Chen had returned and their hearts had been steadied, they all secluded themselves in order to absorb all the benefits of that battle.
Returning to his immortal cave, he saw that Tang Wan-er and Qing Yu were both in a meditative state, so he didn’t bother them.
He then went to go find Wilde but found that he and Little Snow had disappeared. After asking some workers, he found out that the two of them had gone hunting with Cang Ming.
Wilde had been starving the entire time during these past few days. Ordinary Magical Beasts were unable to allay his hunger.
As soon as he had returned to the monastery, he had gone to see his master to get some food. Little Snow was similar to him in that he required meat to cultivate, and so Wilde had naturally brought Little Snow along as well.
Seeing everyone in seclusion, Long Chen didn’t even know what he should do. He was still waiting for the news from Elder Sun.
He trusted that Elder Sun would be even more impatient than him. He was probably gathering the medicinal ingredients as quickly as he could.
After thinking about it for a bit, Long Chen decided to go visit Guo Ran. Guo Ran’s immortal cave was the most isolated of all the immortal caves. As soon as Long Chen approached, he heard loud clanking and banging, the sound of forging, coming from within.
Entering his immortal cave, he saw that the entire ground was covered with junk. Iron fragments were everywhere, as well as a couple of failed items.
Even though Long Chen had arrived, Guo Ran’s head was still down. He was constantly beating something on his huge forging table.
That forging table was exceptionally large. It was covered with all kinds of forging utensils. From a distance, it almost looked like a beast made of ironware.
It was no wonder Tang Wan-er had grumbled to him that Guo Ran was spending more and more. He had constantly been asking for more points from her.
Most likely, Guo Ran was planning on changing professions to become more of a forger than a cultivator. Seeing him so focused on what he was working on, Long Chen sighed. Even this little fellow can be serious sometimes.
As he got closer, Long Chen saw that Guo Ran was using a set of pliers to hold a nine-inch steel nail.
That steel nail had only just been taken out of the furnace beside him. His right hand held a hammer that was smashing down over and over, sparks flying.
That steel nail’s head was gradually turning black as it was struck by the hammer. Long Chen saw that dense lines covered the top of the nail.
Although Long Chen didn’t understand much about forging, he knew that a single line would appear after that steel nail was tempered once.
Within Phoenix Cry, the majority of weapons had only gone through a single tempering. That was because Phoenix Cry’s forgers were just ordinary blacksmiths and were unable to temper their weapons a second time. They weren’t skillful or strong enough, and so when they tried to let their weapons undergo a second tempering, they would automatically burst apart.
That was why ordinary weapons were only tempered once, and only had one line when created. After it cooled off, that line would fade, but professionals would all be able to tell just how many times a weapon had been tempered.
Furthermore, it was said that good weapons were all tempered at least ten times. The more times a weapon was tempered, the fewer impurities it would contain.
It was said that steel could be tempered up to one hundred times. Although steel was just a very ordinary metal, after being tempered one hundred times, its hardness would be absolutely shocking. That level of steel was capable of even piercing through the armor of a third rank Magical Beast.
The steel nail in Guo Ran’s hand had dozens of lines, showing how many times it had been tempered by him.
Guo Ran had remained focused this entire time. When the nail’s color had changed to a certain level, he immediately threw it into the water bucket beside him.
The water boiled for a moment before quickly calming back down. Guo Ran carefully took out the steel nail and examined it.
But when he went to examine it, he also saw Long Chen standing in front of him.
“Boss- ah!”
Guo Ran was given a fright, and his hand loosened for a moment, dropping that nail onto his foot. But he was fortunate that the nail landed on its side, otherwise, with how sharp he had made it, his foot would have acquired a new hole.
However, that nail, which was only the thickness of a single finger, was still dozens of pounds. Having it smash on his foot still made him yelp in pain.
“Looks like if you ever leave the monastery, you’ll still be able to feed yourself by being a blacksmith.” Long Chen laughed.
Guo Ran rubbed his foot vexedly. “Boss, if you discriminate against me, you’ll be discriminating against a future crafting god! You have to apologize.”
Long Chen couldn’t help but laugh. “Fine. If you can show me any of the style of a crafting god, I will apologize.”
Guo Ran brightened. “Hehe, boss, don’t eat your words. I’ll let you see something that is called a grand masterpiece.”
[1] Ni
Chapter 278 Voidbreaker Crossbow
Guo Ran touched his spatial ring and took out a huge crossbow. It wasn’t the same as ordinary crossbows. Its limbs at the front were completely straight.
The bowstring was golden, and the two ends were wrapped around two cylindrical wheels. That string seemed to have been wrapped around the crossbow randomly in an incomprehensible manner.
The crossbow was almost six feet long, around the same height as an average person. It was made entirely of the finest steel that had been tempered a hundred times. Just by looking at it, it was possible to tell that it was shockingly heavy.
Guo Ran was extremely proud of this crossbow. He wished he could show it off grandly, but it was actually too heavy for him to carry, so he could only lay it on the ground.
“Cough, so, what do you think boss? This is my new invention. I call it Voidbreaker. Can you help me shoot out an arrow?” asked Guo Ran with embarrassment.
Long Chen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Are you telling me you can’t even use your own invention? How are you supposed to fight enemies like this? Why didn’t you make it lighter?”
Guo Ran was bitter. “I wish it could be lighter, but in order to increase its power, the crossbow’s hardness had to be pushed to the peak. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have its optimal power.”
“Fine, I’ll help you test it.”
Long Chen w
ent to pick it up. It was no wonder Guo Ran was unable to use it. It had to be at least seventy thousand pounds.
“Wow, it really is heavy. I hope its power doesn’t disappoint.” Long Chen was a bit shocked. Although this weight wasn’t much to him, an ordinary Tendon Transformation expert would be unable to use it.
“Don’t worry boss, even senior Cang Ming endlessly praised this invention of mine,” Guo Ran said with pride.
“Senior Cang Ming has seen this crossbow?”
“Of course! He even praised me!”
“What did he say?”
“Are you ready? That old man said I was extremely good at boasting! … Hey, boss, stop looking at me so disdainfully! Senior Cang Ming is our monastery’s number one Forging Master. Obtaining his praise is extremely difficult!” Seeing Long Chen’s disdainful expression, Guo Ran was a bit irritated.
“That is true. With how prideful senior Cang Ming is, just him praising you as being good at boasting is also a positive for you.” Long Chen nodded.
“Of course! At the beginning when I showed it to him, after praising my boasting, he said my bowstring wasn’t good enough and gave me a couple of new ones. Hehe, that let my Voidbreaker become even stronger!” said Guo Ran excitedly.
The bowstrings Cang Ming had given him were all made of mithril. Mithril was an extremely soft metal, but its toughness was absolutely alarming. It was the best material for bowstrings.
[1]However, mithril was an incredibly precious metal. Guo Ran didn’t have the qualifications to obtain it yet. And even if he did, then with his still amateur techniques, he wouldn’t be able to use it properly.
And so obtaining this bowstring from Cang Ming was not only a sign of Cang Ming’s approval, but it also affirmed his own confidence in himself.
Long Chen really was surprised that Cang Ming would look so favorably on this crossbow. Just what mystery was behind it?
He began to pull back the string. As he pulled, the two wheels to the side also moved slightly. The messy bowstring also gradually became taut.
“Nice, that’s a pretty smart move.” Long Chen realized that Guo Ran had used a clever technique to use the wheels to reduce how hard you had to pull in order to cock the crossbow. There were also springs inside, and when the string was released, the wheels would immediately release their energy to increase the force.
“Hehe, back when you went to the rubble wasteland, you told me my talent was just ordinary and that I needed to find an alternative route to stand out.
“Afterward, I thought about it and realized you were right. I can’t just keep following the same old path without trying anything new.
“And now, I’ve ended up being fascinated by mechanism and forging arts. Although I’ve only reached the entry level, I really do like these playthings. Sometimes, I’ll even think about them while dreaming.
“I’ve tasted the sweet taste of success in battle. I swear that I will become a grand craftsman now!” said Guo Ran with confidence.
Long Chen was surprised that Guo Ran had become so devoted. Thinking of how he had laughed at him before, Long Chen felt a bit bad.
“Your brother apologizes to you. I shouldn’t have ridiculed you.”
Guo Ran laughed. “Boss, you don’t need to say that. I know you were joking.”
Long Chen said, “No, I was serious.”
“...”
Long Chen stopped joking around and began to really pull on the bowstring. He was surprised that even with the help of the cylindrical wheels, it still needed a shocking amount of force to pull back.
Finally, when the crossbow was fully nocked, even the limbs at the front had curved like a crescent moon. Just looking at this taut crossbow gave Long Chen a chill.
If an arrow was shot out with that kind of force, it would definitely be shockingly powerful.
“Guo Ran, you aren’t able to use this crossbow for now. Without two hundred thousand pounds of force, you won’t be able to fully cock it,” said Long Chen with worry.
Guo Ran was bitter. “That’s also the most vexing thing for me. My Spirit Root is average, my physical body is average, and my soul is also average. In total, I am the averagest of all averages. When I managed to make this amazing Voidbreaking Crossbow, I thought I’d be able to exterminate one or two Favored, but… no matter what, I can’t even carry it! It’s the most depressing thing ever.”
“It can kill Favored?” Long Chen was startled.
Guo Ran confidently said, “Right now it’s still in its embryonic state. Once I do a few experiments and perfect it, I’m certain that it will be able to kill Favored. Boss, take a look at the arrow.”
Guo Ran went deeper into his immortal cave and came back out with an arrow. Long Chen carefully examined it. How was this thing even an arrow? It was more like a short spear.
It had to be five feet long and as thick as an egg. It was clearly also a new invention of Guo Ran’s.
And as soon as he lifted the arrow, he found that it had to be over ten thousand pounds. There were also many little grooves along the shaft.
Looking at those little grooves, Long Chen exclaimed, “Guo Ran, you really are a genius!”
“Boss, you know what those grooves are for?” Guo Ran was surprised.
“If my guess is right, these grooves should be to lessen the air resistance, allowing it to fly faster as well as letting it fly silently!”
The faster something moved through the air, the more drag and resistance it would meet, eventually causing a sonic boom. That was a law of physics.
But these little grooves were able to prevent that, allowing it to kill others silently. By the time anyone sensed it, it would already be too late.
“Boss really is boss. I had to research and experiment for a long time before figuring this out, but boss figured it out with just a glance,” said Guo Ran with worship.
“Haha, let’s stop shamelessly boasting about each other. Let’s test it out.”
The two of them left the monastery and found a small mountain. That was a stone mountain over forty meters tall.
“Let’s try it out.” Long Chen aimed the crossbow at that mountain from five miles away.
With a light release of a lock, the arrow shot out like lightning. The instant that arrow shot out, Long Chen felt a huge backlash and he involuntarily stumbled back a dozen steps.
BOOM!
The small mountain exploded to pieces from that arrow, dust filling the air.
Long Chen and Guo Ran were dumbfounded. Even Guo Ran hadn’t expected this.
Although he had personally made it, he had never had the strength required to use it. Today was his first time seeing it in action.
The arrow hadn’t had any explosives in it. The explosion had been entirely due to the power of inertia behind that arrow. Just that inertia possessed the shocking power to break apart a small mountain.
And most frightening of all, while it had been flying through the air, there hadn’t been the slightest sound.
“A perfect sneak attack…”
Both Long Chen and Guo Ran looked at each other with a wicked light shining in their eyes. They laughed; they had actually said the same thing at the same time.
With this kind of weapon, Guo Ran’s killing power would definitely be alarmingly high. However, after laughing for a moment, Guo Ran could no longer laugh. No matter how amazing it was, if he couldn’t use it, then it was useless.
Long Chen might be able to use it, but he preferred to face his opponents head-on, fighting on the frontlines. He would never have an opportunity to use this Voidbreaker crossbow.
Long Chen patted Guo Ran on the shoulders. “Don’t worry, leave this to me.”
“Really?”
“Aren’t you just wasting words? When have I ever tricked you?” asked Long Chen. “But there is one thing I have to make clear to you first. You have to keep your Dao-heart steady. If you can keep a steady Dao-heart, I can guarantee that you’ll advance without bottlenecks for your w
hole life.”
“How is that possible?” Guo Ran was filled with disbelief.
Live a whole life without bottlenecks? Not even a god would necessarily be able to do that!
“As long as you can keep a steady Dao-heart, I can accomplish that,” said Long Chen solemnly.
“Boss, what is this Dao-heart?” asked Guo Ran.
“A ‘Dao-heart’ is a kind of a belief, a kind of conviction in your own truths that will never change.
“Each person’s beliefs are different. For example, you might believe in your inventions and creations, believing that you can use smarts to overcome any difficulties and become a revered crafting god.
“That will be your Dao-heart. As long as you can let your Dao-heart stay unrattled, I can use medicinal pills to constantly raise your cultivation base.
“However, once a problem occurs with your Dao-heart, once you start to feel lost or begin to doubt in your own choices, your cultivation base will forever stall,” warned Long Chen.
Each person’s Dao-heart was different. Some people believed in their inheritance, some people believed in their cultivation technique, some people believed in their bloodlines, and some people believed they were simply the geniuses of heaven.
No matter what kind of Dao-heart you had, it had to go through endless tempering. Many people ended up losing more and more confidence as they went through that tempering. In the end, they lost sight of what they were supposed to believe in.
Even people with extremely stable Dao-hearts were unable to keep them perfect forever. If they received a large enough impact, that would make it impossible for them to advance to become experts in the future.
As for Guo Ran, his Dao-heart would be extremely dangerous. Once his smarts failed and he lost sight of what he wanted from forging, he would lose his path and become lost.
That would be especially terrible for Guo Ran, as his foundation would have been built up by medicinal pills. He would never have a chance to form a new Dao-heart if his old one was shattered.
“Boss, I’ll definitely succeed in becoming a crafting god.” If Guo Ran didn’t succeed in this path, he would forever be lost. But Guo Ran was determined.