Chapter 1486: Forging System

Witnessing this, Wu Liang desperately flapped the small wings on his back. At the same time, a white silk thread suddenly shot out from his hand, its other end seeming to plunge into the spatial vortex. The silk then contracted sharply, pulling his entire plump body into the vortex, where he quickly vanished.

Zu An and the others sighed inwardly, remarking on how many magical artifacts the fat man possessed and wondering how many grand tombs he had plundered. This particular item resembled spider silk, leading them to speculate that he had likely pilfered the tomb of some mighty individual from the Spider Clan.

Despite his silent complaints, Zu An dared not delay. He immediately employed his Great Wind skill, embracing the three women and teleporting into the spatial vortex with them. Their figures had barely entered when the vortex instantly shrank to a size too small for anyone to pass through.

The next second, they tumbled out of the spatial vortex. They quickly glanced around and spotted the familiar, towering statue of the Demon Ancestor. It was clear they had returned to the Demon Imperial Mausoleum, and only then did they breathe a collective sigh of relief. They were finally back; they had been worried about being trapped in that other world forever.

Yan Xuehen subtly disengaged from Zu An's embrace, swept her gaze around, and remarked, "I originally thought we'd reappear in the pool where we first entered. I didn't expect it to be here. Fortunately, there are no demon guards nearby, otherwise, it would have been quite troublesome."

Just then, a muffled voice spoke, "This is a forbidden area of the demon race. Only the Emperor and Crown Prince are typically permitted entry, so it's naturally impossible for soldiers to be stationed here."

Following the sound, they saw a plump figure splattered against the wall like a blob of mud. He struggled to peel himself off, his face bruised and swollen with two streams of blood flowing from his nose. It was clear the spider silk had attached there and yanked him into the wall.

Zu An couldn't help but chuckle, "Fatty, you truly have a lot of tricks up your sleeve, always an endless supply of magical artifacts."

"Oh, it's nothing, really, compared to how easily you escaped with three women; I'm far from that," Wu Liang said modestly, though his face was alight with smugness, a clear "praise me more" expression plastered across it.

Zu An directly ignored his implied request for more praise and asked, "Fatty, what are your plans now?"

Upon hearing Zu An bring up a serious topic, Wu Liang's expression also turned grave. "I was just about to ask you the same thing," he said. "Given your extraordinary talents—you're truly one in ten thousand—why not pledge allegiance to the Second Prince? You're sure to be heavily relied upon. Besides, you've already made an enemy of the Crown Prince, and currently, the only one in the demon race who can contend with him is the Second Prince."

In any case, after their previous encounter, the others already knew he had been sent by the Second Prince to assassinate the Golden Crow Crown Prince, so there was no need for him to conceal it.

Zu An smiled faintly. "Thank you for your kind offer, Fatty, but I'm quite accustomed to my freedom and idleness; I'm simply not used to pledging allegiance to anyone. Instead, I'm more curious: with your personality, how did you come to serve a master?"

The rejection did not surprise Wu Liang. "Serve a master? I never wanted to bother with him in the first place, but he offered too much… If you ever find me a divine weapon, I'll even acknowledge you as my father."

Zu An and his companions were speechless.

This damned fat man truly had no integrity.

At this point, Wu Liang cupped his hands and said, "I was quite startled in that secret realm this time; my little heart is still pounding. I need to rob a few more tombs in the Imperial Mausoleum to calm my nerves, so I won't chat with you any longer. Until we meet again!"

After speaking, his entire body transformed into a rapidly spinning ball, which drilled a hole directly into the ground beside them and vanished without a trace.

Yun Jianyue couldn't help but exclaim, "The earth evasion technique of the Pangolin Clan is truly unparalleled."

Yan Xuehen also nodded, a strange smile touching her lips. "If the Second Prince ever learns that his ancestors' tombs have been completely plundered by him, I wonder what his expression will be."

The thought of such a scenario brought knowing smiles to their faces.

Zu An said, "There's a large army guarding outside the Imperial Mausoleum right now. You all should rest and recover here first, and then we'll figure out a way to get out." He had just extended his divine sense and sensed that while the Imperial Mausoleum itself was empty, the area outside was heavily guarded. It would likely be difficult to leave quietly, and a confrontation was almost unavoidable.

The three women nodded slightly. Each took out a Qi-nourishing pill and consumed it, then sat down to meditate and regulate their breathing. Zu An guarded them nearby. It had to be said that even with their eyes closed, lacking the sparkle of their beautiful eyes, their absolute beauty remained undiminished.

Yu Yanluo was as delicate and vibrant as a rose, and even more precious was her gentle and serene temperament, which instantly inspired a feeling of warmth and closeness in anyone who saw her. No wonder she had once captivated all men in the world. Yun Jianyue, devoid of her usual murderous aura, now exuded an air of graceful nobility, like a blooming peony... *Ahem*, her chest was indeed quite ample. Yan Xuehen's pure and flawless face was like a freshly boiled egg; he couldn't help but want to take a bite. *Oh, why was it a bit flushed again?* The rosy glow made her look even more appealing.

Her long eyelashes trembled slightly; her thoughts did not seem peaceful at the moment. Zu An mused that she claimed to practice "Supreme Detachment" and usually valued inner peace above all else, yet among the three women, her mind was currently the most disturbed.

Just then, Yan Xuehen's starry eyes opened, and she glared at him with a hint of annoyance, transmitting her voice with qi: "Stop staring at me!"

Zu An smiled faintly. "Who told you to be so beautiful?"

Yan Xuehen bit her lip, seemingly helpless against his teasing demeanor, and simply closed her eyes again, opting for an "out of sight, out of mind" approach.

"Alright, alright, I won't look. You focus on your recovery," Zu An said. He was aware that the White Jade Capital's cultivation method was unique, and it would be problematic if he caused her to have severe emotional fluctuations or even spit blood like Xiao Longnu.

Hearing the concern in his voice, Yan Xuehen's heart warmed, but she immediately composed herself, not daring to dwell on it further.

Zu An averted his gaze, taking the opportunity to examine the newly unlocked forging system, which had appeared after he obtained the *Divine Rune Armament Chart*. In his sea of consciousness, a phantom image of a furnace appeared, covered in intricate, dense runes. Zu An, not skilled in runes, couldn't make any sense of them, thinking he would draw them out one evening and study them with Yan Xuehen.

He read the accompanying instructions, which stated that this phantom furnace was the designated place for forging magical artifacts and weapons. To activate this furnace, ordinary flames were insufficient; it required True Fire. Zu An mused, *As expected from the keyboard's creation, it's truly extraordinary. If magical artifacts could be forged with mere mundane fire, they wouldn't be particularly powerful.*

Fortunately, he had recently acquired the White Lotus True Fire. Previously stored within the Nine Cauldrons, it had been temporarily placed in his Sea Bottom Wheel (Muladhara Chakra) after the Cauldrons were taken by Yu the Great. This location suited its attributes, as it was also where he practiced the Crude Fire Meditation. However, this arrangement increased the risk of qi deviation, and losing control would be extremely dangerous.

When the White Lotus True Fire was brought beneath the furnace, the runes on its surface suddenly illuminated, and the entire furnace seemed to come alive, radiating a brilliant divine glow.

Activation successful!

Immediately after, Zu An noticed the White Lotus True Fire transform into a small flame that settled permanently beneath the furnace, as if it had made its home there. He thought this was excellent, as it saved him the effort of constantly protecting the volatile True Fire.

Just then, a new piece of information appeared in his mind, which Zu An quickly examined. This forging system had three main functions. The first was its ability to forge any weapon or magical artifact, provided you had the appropriate forging blueprints and corresponding materials. Zu An's gaze lingered on the term "forging blueprints." *Materials are easy to understand,* he thought, *but what exactly are these blueprints?* Standard weapons issued to armies and great family disciples often came with corresponding forging blueprints. However, Heaven-grade, Immortal-grade, and even Divine-grade items were born from the very essence of heaven and earth, so could they also have forging blueprints?

He then examined the second function, which allowed for the repair, enhancement, or even grade breakthrough of weapons to higher tiers. Zu An was delighted; his Tai'e Sword had been damaged, and he could use this function to repair it. "Enhancement" was akin to leveling up in a game from his past life: even within the same grade, weapons varied in power, and this function could significantly boost a weapon's effectiveness within its tier. As for "breakthrough," with sufficient materials, it could upgrade weapons or magical artifacts by one grade. For example, a Heaven-grade weapon could break through to Immortal-grade, and an Immortal-grade weapon could even reach Divine-grade.

Upon seeing this function, Zu An's breathing quickened. *Wouldn't this mean I could mass-produce divine weapons in the future? Plant a batch of common-grade weapons in spring and harvest a batch of divine-grade weapons in autumn!* However, he quickly calmed down after seeing the required conditions: upgrading a grade demanded massive resources, as well as special and rare items whose rarity was comparable to weapons of the same tier. For example, the Primordial Tribulation Gold he had previously obtained from the Jade Garden stone gambling was one such item. These things often had a price but no available supply; even if you could afford them, you might not find anyone selling them. Beyond the resources consumed, a weapon's ability to break through to a higher grade also depended on its inherent growth potential. Weapons with immense growth potential could even be upgraded all the way to Divine-grade. However, most weapons were fortunate to achieve even a single grade breakthrough and absolutely could not be upgraded to higher tiers. An ordinary weapon, no matter how many precious resources you invested, could not be upgraded to Divine-grade, and might not even reach Earth-grade.

The third function was "reforging," which allowed you to place several weapons and various corresponding resources and materials back into the furnace for a complete reforge. This would yield a new weapon that was at least of the same grade, but its attributes or abilities would be entirely random and unrelated to the original weapons. It was possible that the reforged weapon might turn out inferior to the old ones that were put in, or it might possess better new attributes and abilities. The crucial point was that this function had no reproducibility; each outcome was random. For instance, if you were to put the exact same weapons and materials into the furnace again, the resulting weapon would not be identical to the one produced last time; in fact, there might be no relation between them at all. Furthermore, the reforging function carried an extremely small chance of even producing a weapon of a higher grade than the original inputs—for instance, putting in several Immortal-grade weapons and getting a Divine-grade weapon. Of course, the system's instructions solemnly warned that this probability was infinitesimally small, and users should consider it very carefully.

*Who would dare to gamble precious Immortal-grade weapons on such an infinitesimally small chance?* Zu An mused. *It's just another gamble; I hate gamblers!*