Chapter 1 The Sacrifice

Leaping into the furnace to consecrate a sword is an extremely ancient forging technique, filled with primitive barbarity and viciousness.

Long ago, those ancient cultivators, in order to obtain powerful magical treasures and weapons, would often organize large-scale blood sacrifices when the magical treasures were being formed.

Thus, many powerful, yet sinister and dangerous, demonic treasures were created.

Similarly, due to the bloody and backlash properties of such magical treasures, with the development of cultivation civilization, most of the worlds... even the demonic cultivators, have eliminated this crude and barbaric forging method, except for some remote, barbaric worlds that rarely communicate with the outside world.

After all, even demonic cultivators would be troubled by the 'fussing' of magical treasures day and night, and would resist having to guard against the magical treasures in their hands suddenly stabbing them in the back during dangerous battles.

In contrast, contemporary magical treasures, which have slightly reduced power but are more mature, more flexible, and more handy to use, are more popular.

But it must be said that this is indeed a 'good way' to directly create divine artifacts.

The essence of divine artifacts is spiritual communication with the divine, breaking the boundaries that original spiritual artifacts could not reach, possessing extremely strong autonomy and spontaneity, and to some extent, can even be regarded as a unique 'living being'.

Once a divine artifact is attached to its user, it can provide all-round amplification in various ways.

This also means that the sacrifices used for 'sacrificing the sword' must be cultivators above the Intent Realm.

Because only the spirituality of Intent Realm cultivators can meet the needs of an item to be upgraded to a divine artifact in an instant.

It's like using a long time to nurture a divine artifact, which is something only Intent Realm cultivators can do.

If it is not an Intent Realm cultivator, even if a Wisdom Realm cultivator holds a magical treasure with the potential of a divine artifact and sleeps for ten thousand years, it will still only be a spiritual artifact, not a divine artifact.

In order to prevent the forged magical treasures and weapons from becoming demonic artifacts, this kind of sword sacrifice cannot be forced, cannot contain resentment, and requires spontaneous dedication.

Various restrictions have turned this method of refining divine artifacts into a niche within a niche.

In many worlds, there is even no related inheritance of such methods.

In Ye Chuxiao's memories of those forging techniques, although there is a 'blood sacrifice forging' method, there is no branch of Intent Realm cultivators 'leaping into the furnace to sacrifice the sword'.

"Don't stop me, I'm already very old!"

"Having lived for 1,800 years, even if I continue to hold on, I will only have a maximum of ten years of life left. For me, continuing to linger on like this is truly a disgrace."

"It's better to change the method and let me survive in a completely new form." The old Divine Smith waved his hand and said very calmly.

After speaking, he unceremoniously scooped up a large amount of basic materials for forging that the strongman had sent to the clouds, and also took out treasures such as Yin Soul Stones, Rejuvenating Spirit Jade, Heart-Sealing Treasures, etc., which are conducive to preserving the soul and storing spirituality. With a shake, he transformed into seven or eight blacksmiths of varying heights, but equally strong, and entered his forging palace to begin preparations.

The Divine Smiths who belonged to the same sect as this old Divine Smith stopped their work, each holding divine artifacts and magical treasures, transformed into their strongest battle forms, and guarded the entrance of the old Divine Smith's palace, looking unkindly at anyone approaching.

Looking at the old Divine Smith who was preparing, throwing out a large amount of Pure Yang Fire Essence under the forging furnace, Nangong Ju Hong and other Divine Smiths from Divine Weapon Villa completely darkened their faces... Now, even secretly destroying and restricting firepower delivery is impossible!

"This old fellow, I'm afraid he had already made plans."

"His lifespan is coming to an end, and without any hope of breaking through to Wu Ding, he plans to transfer all his will into a divine artifact he personally forged, to live on as a weapon spirit."

"We organized this competition, which is simply fulfilling them for nothing." Ou Huazi said unhappily.

Hua Yinren said, "Anyway, after he refines this divine artifact, he will be dead. Living on as a weapon spirit also transforms his form and he is no longer a Divine Smith. Giving him the title of Number One in the World won't be too much of a loss for us. What we fear is... what other tricks there will be afterwards."

Nangong Juhong said, "According to the rules of the competition, the divine artifact he refines belongs to us."

"And in order to ensure fairness, all works produced in the competition must be placed in the Weapon Cleansing Pool."

As soon as these words came out, the expressions of the several Divine Smiths of Divine Weapon Villa changed drastically.

Ye Chuxiao also heard something was wrong at this time, but he was not a Divine Smith and did not know much about the inside story, so he appeared and asked, "What impact will this have? Speak directly!"

Nangong Juhong's face was ugly and said, "If I were this Old Shao, I would definitely add Jiaolong horn powder and Fangtian crystal stone when forging. These two materials are not too rare when taken out separately, but once combined, they have unparalleled sturdiness. All magical treasures and weapons mixed with these two materials will become mediocre in other aspects, but their sturdiness and stability will become almost indestructible."

"This old fellow has accurately grasped the rules and wants us to put the divine artifact he parasitizes into the Weapon Cleansing Pool, just to seize a large amount of unowned spirituality from it."

"Your Yuanyang set, added together, can't compare to the autonomous plundering speed of a divine artifact."

Ye Chuxiao's face had already darkened when he heard half of it.

He understood that the divine artifact forged by the old fellow was probably impossible to destroy.

And once it is put into the Weapon Cleansing Pool according to the rules, with the autonomy possessed by the divine artifact, the old Divine Smith, transformed into a weapon spirit, will actively and massively devour the huge unowned spirituality that should belong to the Yuanyang set, helping him go further and become an ultra-strong divine artifact with even stronger spirituality.

Perhaps even because of this, he will embark on some even more evil and weird weapon cultivation path.

After all, the cultivators in this world are physically weak.

Abandoning the original body and continuing to cultivate in the form of a special divine artifact, there may have been related inheritances long ago.

This is equivalent to Ye Chuxiao spending a lot of money and setting up such a situation, but in the end, it fulfilled this old fellow who was about to leap into the furnace to sacrifice the sword.

If the other party really succeeds, this is not as simple as a bloody loss... it is completely a blood collapse.

An investment of two hundred wisps of Dao rhyme, busying back and forth, is just to upgrade the Yuanyang set to a divine artifact embryo?

Had he known this, Ye Chuxiao might as well have dealt with it directly on the Good Fortune Boat, which would have been easier and more convenient... and the cost would have been much lower.

As for reneging?

The rules were set by Divine Weapon Villa, but they were also unanimously recognized by all the weapon cultivators who came to participate.

Even Divine Weapon Villa must act according to the rules, and once it makes a mistake, it will be caught in the act.

How much benefit Divine Weapon Villa has taken advantage of with the general trend before, it will have to spit out ten times as much afterwards.

Ye Chuxiao is certainly not of one mind with Divine Weapon Villa, but he is an outsider. Without the help of Divine Weapon Villa, the local snake, to organize and arrange things, how could he succeed on his own?

If he turns his back on them on the spot, and Divine Weapon Villa turns against him, Ye Chuxiao will be unable to do anything alone. Even if he kills until heads roll and the sky is covered in blood, it will be of no avail. In the end, he will still be collectively expelled from the realm.

Ye Chuxiao is very strong, but he is not yet strong enough to single-handedly overturn the entire world.

Moreover, divine artifacts are not particularly rare in this world. If two or three Intent Realm cultivators surround him with divine artifacts, Ye Chuxiao would have to run away.

"Sure enough, at any time, we cannot underestimate the smart people in this world. While I am seeking profit, someone is plotting my capital."

"It's just that this loophole exists because I am not proficient in forging. I don't know... is it because they are limited by their knowledge, or did these Divine Smiths of Divine Weapon Villa not think of it?"

"Is this embarrassing situation due to carelessness, or... is it intentional?" Standing from Ye Chuxiao's perspective, he has no reason not to suspect it at this moment.

Nangong Juhong said that they are craftsmen with integrity. This statement can be believed halfway.

They are craftsmen, but also merchants.

What's more, compared to the weapon cultivators all over the mountain, he, Ye Chuxiao, is the real outsider.

It wouldn't be strange to think that others would close the door and make a deal to help their own people, tricking him, an outsider and a fool.

As for the explanation in advance at this moment, perhaps it is just to avoid Ye Chuxiao's furious turnaround afterwards.

Those few Divine Smiths who are equivalent to Intent Realm cultivators are guarding the door of the old Divine Smith's palace, and Ye Chuxiao is afraid that it will be difficult to rush in quickly.

Moreover... forcibly interfering is also destroying the rules of the competition and will be targeted by unanimous condemnation.

"This matter is your negligence. You must give me an explanation!" Ye Chuxiao had suspicions in his heart, so he spoke directly to test the waters.

Fortunately, he has not yet paid the final payment at this time.

He has only paid forty or fifty wisps of Dao rhyme before and after. If the situation is really unfavorable, Ye Chuxiao will not continue to gamble because of sunk costs. It is the way of a smart person to withdraw in time and then wait for another day to get back what he is owed.

Nangong Juhong's face was ugly and said, "Yes! This is our fault. We should be responsible."

He acknowledged the account with one sentence, and Ye Chuxiao's face eased slightly, but he raised his vigilance instead.

"If Old Shao really used Jiaolong horn powder and Fangtian crystal stone, then we can only gamble. We will use Divine Weapon Villa's Sky Piercing Spear and Divine Forging Hammer, two divine artifacts, to combine and try to forcibly break it."

"The power of the two divine artifacts superimposed has a more than 30% probability of breaking the newly formed divine artifact..."

Ye Chuxiao stared intently at Nangong Juhong, looking at the sincerity in the other party's eyes and the decisiveness on his face. Ye Chuxiao slowly sketched a reluctant smile on the corner of his mouth.

"Good! I'll leave it all to you. I believe... Villa Master Nangong will not disappoint me." Ye Chuxiao said.

At this time, Old Shao had already entered the palace for a while.

Outside the palace, above the sky, there were clouds of red swirling around the forging palace where he was.

After that, evil winds, dirty thunder, and poisonous fire emerged from the void for no reason and attacked the palace.

This is the inevitable calamity before the formation of a divine artifact embryo.

The stronger the embryo, the more calamities there are.

If not handled properly, and the evil and ominous Qi invade, the forged item will fall in grade, and the wisp of divinity that has sprouted within it will dissipate.

Outside the palace, five-colored brilliance flashed.

A special divine artifact, like a mist, bloomed with light, completely digesting and absorbing the evil winds, dirty thunder, and other harmful objects.

After absorbing these, the light of this special divine artifact also became slightly dim.

It was obvious that it had consumed a lot of its origin and worn away a certain amount of the divine artifact's spirituality.

Divine Weapon Villa also has similar divine artifacts.

When Ye Chuxiao's Yuanyang set was upgraded, it was also used.

Using this type of special divine artifact to help 'block the calamity' is a unique method of large weapon cultivation forces that can guarantee the success rate of the divine artifact embryo.

It's just that because it consumes the divine artifact, it cannot be used lightly or frequently.

After the external calamity, intense light began to bloom in the cloud palace hall.

The Divine Smiths guarding outside the hall showed joy.

The divine artifact embryo has been formed, and all that remains is the sword sacrifice.

Suddenly, the entire palace seemed to be on fire.

The fiery flames completely ignited the entire palace in the clouds.

With the sudden surge of flames, the outer walls melted and collapsed.

The scene hidden behind the walls was exposed to the public.

The old Divine Smith, surnamed Shao, had a solemn expression at this time and had already changed into a white robe.

He was chanting spells in a deep voice, and ancient sacrificial words echoed in the air.

With a crack of thunder, the old Divine Smith leaped into the raging flames.

The terrifying flames devoured his body.

It also scorched his soul.

With a unique traction, the old Divine Smith's soul, after being transformed, was injected into the newly formed divine artifact embryo.

Only then did Ye Chuxiao see clearly that this divine artifact embryo was actually sword-shaped.

Looking at its simple and slender shape, it flickered with a strange rainbow light in the raging fire at this moment.

After all, it was refined by the cruel method of 'sacrificing the sword', and naturally carried a wisp of evil.

As the old Divine Smith's soul entered the sword embryo, the surging and violent energy between heaven and earth began to collapse endlessly into this sword embryo.

The original simple sword also began to shine with extraordinary brilliance on the sword body.

The many cultivators who were forging below stopped their work.

Those weapon cultivators who were also forging swords with the theme of 'sword' looked at the swords they were forging.

The swords that were being forged jumped out of the forging furnace at the same time and flew towards the place where the newly born divine sword was located, as if to worship their newborn emperor.

Nangong Juhong's face was very dark.

Hua Yinren, Ou Huazi, and other Divine Smiths from Divine Weapon Villa also had even worse complexions.

On the contrary, Ye Chuxiao, the 'victim', wore a smile at this moment.

"A divine weapon! It's done!"

"So far, the Immortal Treasure Realm has finally had a divine artifact born in this era, formed upon its emergence from the furnace."

"Fellow Daoists! This is a major event in our Immortal Treasure Realm, a moment worthy of being permanently remembered." A Divine Smith from the Myriad Treasures Association stood in the clouds and shouted passionately.

His shout was like deliberately rubbing salt into Divine Weapon Villa's wound.

All five active volcanoes where Divine Weapon Villa was located began to boil.

Forging a divine artifact embryo and directly forging a divine artifact are two completely different concepts.

For those ordinary weapon cultivators, they don't understand the various tricks behind it, and will only be excited and jubilant.

Even though it actually has nothing to do with them.

But the inexplicable sense of honor and mission made them extremely excited.

Under this kind of emotion, if something unpleasant happens, it will explode with a little guidance.