Chapter 264: Chapter 259 Longbo Giant
Elder Kaiyang revealed a dubious expression, evidently skeptical of Jiang Li’s statement.
He furrowed his brows in thought and then suddenly asked, "Nephew Jiang, is your mother’s surname Jiang too?"
"Yes," Jiang Li replied.
Although the Jiang family members did not keep the bad habit of maintaining pure bloodlines, due to the sheer number of people in the clan, many still married within the family. Jiang Li’s parents were among them.
"Then what about your grandmother on your mother’s side? Furthermore, are there any other relatives still alive?" Elder Kaiyang continued to inquire, one question after another.
Clearly, this elder suspected that Jiang had the blood of the Ji family in his veins and might be one of those legendary mixed-bloods.
Jiang Li took a step back, avoiding the increasingly rapid questioning, and said helplessly, "Elder, is it not possible that it’s because of my sincere heart..."
"If a sincere heart was of any use, I would have awoken the Xuanyuan Sword forty years ago," Elder Kaiyang sneered, "Five years, I endured the heat of the Earth Fire and lived right here for a whole five years, and not even a fart of a response did I get. Do you know how I spent those five years?"
Towards the end, Elder Kaiyang’s face even showed a hint of distortion.
He was bitter.
He had stayed here for five years, and the Xuanyuan Sword had not shown any reaction at all; yet Jiang Li had been here only for a short while, and the sword exhibited some signs of activity.
Although the activity was minute, almost non-existent, the cracks that appeared were real, and so were Elder Kaiyang’s perceptions.
Having lived here for five years, he was familiar with every inch of this place; he sensed the anomaly in the Xuanyuan Sword almost immediately. If not for his intervention, there would have been more than just him, Elder Kaiyang, here by now.
Therefore, Elder Kaiyang was certain that the Xuanyuan Sword had reacted because of Jiang Li.
He was equally certain that it was not because of some so-called sincere heart.
If a sincere heart was effective, wouldn’t that imply Elder Kaiyang himself lacked sincerity?
So no matter what, it couldn’t be because of a sincere heart, absolutely not!
He would rather believe that Jiang Li, who had awakened the appearance of the Divine Farmer, actually had a flawed bloodline mixed with that of the Ji family than believe it was due to some sincere heart.
He stared at Jiang Li with penetrating eyes, trying to see where the problem was, but after much thought, aside from the bloodline, there seemed no other possibility.
Also observing Jiang Li were Yun Jiuye and Ling Wujue who had awoken, Xuanming, and even Yun Qiuchi and Qi Changsheng from afar, along with two individuals from the Mo Sect.
Among these people, probably only Feng Ziyang was still wholeheartedly comprehending the sword, even gaining a great deal from the near awakening of the Xuanyuan Sword.
Yun Jiuye watched Jiang Li from a distance, the usually inscrutable man feeling an uncontrollable turmoil in his heart, a sense of repressed wariness.
If Jiang Li had the blood of the Ji family, his situation would change drastically. The rejection from certain disciples would resolve itself, and he wouldn’t even need to support Gongsun Qing Yue; he could step forward himself to compete with Yun Jiuye.
If he had no Ji family bloodline, that wasn’t good news either.
The fact that he could stir the Xuanyuan Sword showed Jiang Li’s potential; he would definitely become a formidable opponent in the future.
Any possibility made Jiang Li an immense threat.
Elder Kaiyang came and went, checking over and over again, short of stripping Jiang Li, but ultimately he could not discern anything.
Meanwhile, the surrounding temperature was climbing steeply. The scorching radiance soared upward, accompanied by the sound of metal being struck.
As time passed and the sun gradually rose, the Earth Fire inside the Heaven and Earth Furnace responded to the change of the heavenly timing, becoming more intense. Below, the masters of Artifact Dao must have begun their crafting.
"Elder, I think it’s time to go down and observe the masters’ Artifact Refining," Jiang Li whispered, "As a disciple who will wield a sword for the Mo Sect, I should go and observe early to familiarize myself with the swords."
Seeing Elder Kaiyang’s demeanor, Jiang Li was genuinely afraid that he would make him comprehend the Xuanyuan Sword again. If the sword truly awoke, he feared that it would be he who would be struck down first.
For the sake of their lives, it would be better to descend sooner rather than later.
Elder Kaiyang actually had this intention, but unfortunately, Jiang Li preempted him with well-reasoned arguments, leaving Elder Kaiyang with no grounds for rebuttal.
"Let’s go."
Scratching his head in annoyance, he led the way downward.
Jiang Li, of course, was the first to follow suit.
Yun Qiuchi, after a moment of contemplation, chose to continue contemplating the inscriptions on the sword’s hilt while also looking after Feng Ziyang.
As for the others, having already made gains or placing more importance on the Sword Discussion Conference, they went down together.
Descending the scorching red stairway, the closer they got to the bottom, the more translucent the rocks underfoot became. Eventually, they had completely transformed into a crystal-like state, and the surrounding rock walls were also replaced by Red Crystal.
The Earth Fire in this place continuously rose, refining the rocks into crystals. Using these Red Crystals for Artifact Refining would undoubtedly yield extraordinary Divine Weapons.
The air around them gradually twisted, and as their sight grew blurry, the air seemed to boil like water with the rising heat, consumed like kindling.
By the time they nearly reached the bottom, about a quarter of the distance left, the heat had reached a certain boundary, challenging even those of Sixth Rank to continue downward.
"This will be far enough."
Elder Kaiyang announced, leading everyone to a protruding platform. The scene below now fully came into Jiang Li’s view.
A giant sword stood erect, piercing the flowing surface, located within a spring-like circular hole. The gold-red fluid was like magma but much purer, resembling liquid flame pouring from the circular hole, releasing ever-increasing heat.
Surrounding the Xuanyuan Sword were dark rocks of unknown origin, forming an arc-shaped platform that semi-encircled the Xuanyuan Sword, where the main participants of the sword casting were positioned at both ends of the platform.
Others, due to insufficient cultivation, along with Jiang Li and the others, remained at a height a quarter of the way from the bottom, observing from afar.
"Dang! Dang! Dang!"
On the left side of the platform was a giant over thirty feet tall, his skin a blackish-red color, bare-chested and donning an unidentified beast hide on his lower body.
With disheveled hair, he stood barefoot on the platform, wielding a pitch-black mallet in one hand while the other grasped a red-hot iron bar, constantly forging it on the anvil.
"This is our Mo Sect’s Master Long Yue."
Yan Hanqing pointed at the giant from afar and said, "The Great Master has assimilated the Dao Fruit of a Longbo Giant and can reach up to a hundred feet in height. He has shrunk his size now to accommodate sword casting. Only Master Long Yue, with the strength to shoulder mountains, could forge the Heavenly Sinking Iron."
Heavenly Sinking Iron, known to be the heaviest and hardest material, is dubbed "Heavenly Sinking" to imply it could press against the firmament, making the sky fall.
Such iron, even with the help of the Heaven and Earth Furnace for smelting, would require an extraordinary force to achieve form.
And the Longbo Giant indeed possessed such legendary strength.
It’s said that the Longbo Giant once fished up the giant tortoises carrying three immortal mountains, causing them to drift onto the sea, later known as the famous Penglai, Fangzhang, and Ying State mountains. Although the truth of this origin is unknown, it speaks to the immense strength of the Longbo Giant.
"The Heavenly Sinking Iron that requires forging by the Longbo Giant..." Jiang Li was a bit worried about whether he would even be able to lift the finished sword.
He circulated his Innate Qi, tempering his body as per the previously acquired techniques, while his gaze shifted to the other side.
On the side of Yuxu Temple, there was an altogether different setup.
A Furnace of Eight Trigrams stood outside the platform in the gold-red streams, drawing in the Earth Fire. The golden body of the furnace shimmered with radiant runes.
Three figures from Yuxu Temple sat suspended in the air, encircling the Eight Trigrams Furnace, continuously casting Seal Techniques that resonated with it.
It was a completely different scene altogether.