Chapter 1505: Sword Dao Treasure

"I am still the strongest Master Craftsman, but Wuyou Township is no longer the Kaihuang Era of old."

This statement, sharp as a blade, struck Kaihuang, leaving him visibly disheartened. Even his sword dao, imprinted across thirty-five layers of void, found it difficult to resist.

Although Wuyou Township had shed its past decadence, it still lacked much compared to the Kaihuang Era of old. It could not return to that era of radical reform and ambitious striving.

Throughout Wuyou Township, while the spirit of combat remained, deeply entrenched issues were hard to overcome. Whenever Kaihuang visited Yankang, he felt an invigorating spirit of vigorous progress and constant renewal. But upon returning to Wuyou Township, he no longer felt that same spirit.

This was the Yankang of today!

Yankang could gather the world's elite and, with the full might of the nation, forge a sword for Qin Mu, imbuing the very essence and spirit of the era into its creation.

Wuyou Township, at present, could no longer achieve this.

Li Youran stepped into the Dao Fire. As the most powerful Master Craftsman of the Kaihuang Era, his mastery was exceptionally high, and his cultivation realm surpassed that of Mute, Yankang's strongest Master Craftsman.

With his addition, the forging speed immediately accelerated.

However, only then did Li Youran realize that in the art of forging, Mute was no longer inferior to him; in fact, in some aspects, Mute was even stronger. Mute’s forging unified the macro and micro. His hammer strokes were grand and boundless, embodying the profound principle that the greatest form is formless and the ultimate tool is not conventionally made.

Yet, his hammering technique was also incredibly delicate, with each strike landing on the tiniest particles, capable of carving intricate patterns onto them.

This level of skill was something Li Youran did not possess.

In terms of grand-scale forging, he was far superior to Mute. Both Wuyou Township and the Ark of the Other Shore were colossal, artifacts of a scale that even the Heavenly Court would find difficult to forge.

However, in terms of microscopic detail, he was far inferior.

Wishing to help Mute achieve greater heights, he acted as Mute's assistant, using his own understanding of forging to aid him and help him progress further in the art of forging, grasping deeper principles.

One by one, divine weapons of prehistoric powerhouses emanated earth-shattering might within the Dao Fire. But the Dao Fire was so fierce that the Grand Dao imprints contained within these divine weapons disintegrated and melted away, causing the Grand Daos that prehistoric powerhouses had cultivated into these weapons to collapse and fuse!

The Grand Daos, damaged by the Dao Fire, disintegrated into individual Grand Dao domains. These Grand Dao domains also collapsed within the Dao Fire's nine heavens, transforming into Dao Marks.

The Dao Marks then further disintegrated, turning into runes.

This scene revealed many cultivation insights to everyone involved in the treasure forging and to those observing from outside the Dao Fire Ancestral Land.

Although the divine arts and Dao methods of current divine arts practitioners and gods and devils were growing increasingly profound, they had not yet reached the flourishing extent of the previous universe.

Cultivators and gods and devils had always followed a path of Grand Dao runes, divine arts, and Dao Marks, with Dao Marks forming Dao Chains to create domains.

As for domains, they were only mastered by a select few, becoming closely guarded secrets.

It was not until Kaihuang introduced the Dao Realm system and Sword Domain to Yankang that this higher level of cultivation, the domain, gradually became known to divine arts practitioners and gods and devils.

Mastering rules defined a domain, and at this stage, divine arts practitioners and gods and devils across the world felt as if there was no further path, that the road had reached its end.

However, beyond domains lay even deeper cultivation paths. Kaihuang, with his layers of Sword Domain Dao Realms on the path to the ultimate void, had not yet perfected the ultimate sword domain, the Great Luo Heaven of Sword Dao. Until the very last moment, he himself did not know what lay beyond the domain.

Wei Suifeng and Prince Youming had seen deeper insights from a single Dao Mark in Miluo Palace, but they had not disseminated this knowledge.

Now, with ancient artifacts disintegrating within the Dao Fire's nine heavens, everyone present witnessed even more profound cultivation secrets.

The owners of these ancient artifacts collected by Qin Mu had not yet achieved Dao, but many had touched the very edge of Dao attainment, and some had even progressed further than Kaihuang!

Their artifacts melted in the Dao Fire, continuously breaking down from deeper Dao Realms into Dao Chains, Dao Marks, and Grand Dao runes, providing great enlightenment even to Kaihuang.

Yet, even the Grand Dao runes continuously disintegrated within the Dao Fire, transforming into the purest spiritual power and energy.

Within the Dao Fire, Master Craftsmen wielded their great hammers, forging this spiritual power and energy into the molten slurry. Array Masters simultaneously acted, imprinting Qin Mu's runes, Dao Marks, and domains.

This sight left even the Four Ancient Emperors stunned. Each of the melted artifacts was no weaker than a Celestial Venerable's treasure, and some were even stronger!

Each item, if taken out, would likely be no less formidable than Kaihuang's Wuyou Sword!

What was more crucial was that there were over a hundred such high-grade artifacts!

Bringing out one or two would be remarkable, but presenting so many high-grade artifacts all at once meant that even the combined wealth of the Four Ancient Emperors couldn't compare!

"With so many treasures melting down, I fear they could fill an entire ocean!"

The Eastern Emperor Azure Dragon shook his head, muttering, "What kind of sword would require so many divine materials? It's simply impossible to forge such a sword. Even if only one percent of these divine metals and materials were used, that would be remarkable."

Hearing this, Kaihuang raised an eyebrow, drew his Wuyou Sword, and said indifferently, "Does the Eastern Emperor know how much divine metal and material went into my sword?"

The Eastern Emperor Azure Dragon examined the Wuyou Sword, which was about four feet long. He thought forging such a sword wouldn't require much material, but the Wuyou Sword was renowned for its astonishing power; Kaihuang had once relied on it to enter the Heavenly Court, fight the Heavenly Alliance, and even slay a Heavenly Emperor.

Such a treasure, naturally, could not have been forged with just a few pounds of divine metal.

"My sword contains thirty-three layers of heavens within it, and its body is hollow, capable of containing all of Wuyou Township."

Kaihuang sheathed his sword and said calmly, "When Li Youran forged this sword for me, the divine metals and materials used were far more than mere mountains. Even hundreds of mountains wouldn't suffice to forge such a sword. Eastern Emperor, the art of forging is already a Grand Dao itself, beyond your comprehension."

The Eastern Emperor Azure Dragon fell silent, looking chagrined.

Given his temperament, if anyone else had spoken to him that way, he would have long since obliterated them with a raised hand. But the speaker was Kaihuang, so he could only listen.

After over a hundred high-grade artifacts were melted down, thousands of Master Craftsmen began forging the first layer of heavens for the divine sword. Countless divine metals and materials flowed like water to the towering Master Craftsmen, being forged into shape, consuming an astonishing amount of resources.

This was the forging of a grand artifact, an artifact symbolizing the Yankang era.

Yankang had long been forbidden by the Heavenly Court from forging grand artifacts. For a long time, besides crafting heavy vessels like multi-decked ships and large warships, Yankang had only forged psionic teleportation bridges. The Heavenly Court's assessment of Yankang's strength was somewhat flawed.

This time, however, was the moment for Yankang's manufacturing capabilities to fully blossom!

Emperor Xuan and Emperor Wu had already begun to act, drawing water from the Heavenly Yin Sea to quench the divine weapon. The Heavenly Yin water, being utterly cold and yin, was perfect for tempering treasures.

After quenching, the Dao Fire blazed even fiercer, once again heating the newly forged layer of heavens until it was red-hot, almost molten. Thousands of Master Craftsmen stood on its surface, seizing the opportunity to hammer it, their colossal hammers rising and falling with thunderous sounds.

On the other side, thousands of Array Masters activated their formations, imprinting Qin Mu's Grand Dao runes, Dao Marks, and Dao Chains into the treasure, allowing Qin Mu's Grand Dao principles to be hammered in, their imprints growing deeper and deeper with the power of the Master Craftsmen.

The two Emperors, Xuan and Wu, once again drew upon the Heavenly Yin water to cool down the first layer of heavens, making the divine sword's first layer even harder and more stable.

Through repeated quenching and refining, undergoing dozens of such cycles, the first layer of heavens finally took shape. Not even the nine layers of Dao Fire could melt it.

The Eastern Emperor Azure Dragon looked at this first layer of heavens, his heart skipping a beat. Qin Mu's Grand Dao runes within it formed suns, moons, stars, mountains, rivers, lakes, oceans, swirling winds, clouds, and flashes of lightning. This method of artifact forging truly exceeded his expectations.

But what did this have to do with a sword?

He was somewhat puzzled.

As this first layer of heaven formed, a surge of golden energy erupted, emanating terrifying power from within, threatening the many Master Craftsmen who were forging the treasure.

At this moment, the Western Empress White Tiger intervened, suppressing the golden energy within the Dao Fire's nine heavens, causing it to be contained within the first layer of heavens, hidden within the treasure rather than released.

The Empress's actions were like a dance, gracefully moving within the Dao Fire, creating a beautiful spectacle.

Thousands of Master Craftsmen and Array Masters worked tirelessly, beginning the forging of the second layer of heavens.

Days passed. By the time the Master Craftsmen had forged the thirteenth layer of heavens, the Eastern Emperor Azure Dragon and others finally understood where the sword was.

They realized that these layers of heavens, stacked one upon another, collectively formed the sword's body.

From the hilt to the quillons, and then to the blade, it was all gradually taking shape under the hammers of these giants!

Even more astonishing was that Qin Mu used his own Grand Dao to imprint each successive layer of heavens, each one stronger than the last, with almost no repetition in the Grand Daos used for each layer.

This was the truly terrifying aspect of Celestial Venerable Mu.

By the time the Master Craftsmen had completed the twenty-third layer of heavens, Qin Mu's Grand Dao was exhausted. Mute was about to stop, but Li Youran shook his head and said, "Continue forging! Leave a surplus!"

Mute's heart stirred, and he and the other Master Craftsmen continued forging until they reached the thirty-sixth layer of heavens before finally stopping.

Kaihuang, the Village Chief, Jiang Baigui, and other sword dao masters unleashed their sword daos. On the Heavenly Yin Sea and within the Dao Fire Ancestral Land, sword daos intertwined and resonated, tempering the divine sword. It was a long time before they ceased.

Kaihuang even brought forth his Wuyou Sword to stimulate the new divine sword's sword qi, sword light, and sword intent, further honing it!

The Eastern Emperor Azure Dragon sighed in relief, awakening from his shock, and murmured, "The divine sword is finished, right? Although this divine sword is magnificent, it still couldn't have used up so much divine metal and material..."

He had just reached this point when he saw the sword daos filling the sky vanish. The sword dao masters all sheathed their divine swords, while the Master Craftsmen, after resting for a moment, resumed their hammering.

The Eastern Emperor Azure Dragon stared, somewhat bewildered.

"The first layer of the domain has been forged," Kaihuang, standing beside him, pointed out, "There should be another thirty-five layers of domains to come."

The Eastern Emperor Azure Dragon's expression was blank, then he suddenly burst into laughter. "Celestial Venerable Qin, the materials might be sufficient, but is the wielder capable enough? If a divine sword with thirty-six layers of domains were truly forged, I fear even you wouldn't be able to control such a supreme treasure, would you?"

Kaihuang said calmly, "Celestial Venerable Mu's aptitude and talent in sword dao are no less than mine; in fact, they might be even greater. Whether he admits it or not, he is my descendant, a Qin family bloodline, naturally steeped in sword dao. He was simply delayed by worldly affairs, focusing too much effort on other areas."

He paused for a moment, then added, "Even in his youth, his swordsmanship was already the best in a million years. In this world, only he can truly control this sword."

The Eastern Emperor Azure Dragon felt very uneasy, thinking to himself, "You're just boasting on Celestial Venerable Mu's behalf. How could he possibly deserve such praise?"