Chapter 295: Spirit Weapon Form

The workers from the Ministry of Works rebuilt the Fangzhou supervisory factory, and Qin Mu redesigned the great furnace. The factory was completely renewed, with many forging mechanical giants added. Once the great furnace was activated, the mechanical giants began operating, and the factory immediately bustled with activity.

Dan Youxin and the others were busy calibrating the equipment, while Qin Mu activated his Ba Ti San Dan Gong, causing his vital energy to surge and circulate vigorously. In the Liu He Jing Jie, most people first cultivate a Ling Bing before achieving full mastery, and only then do they work on the Yuan Shen, which is not fully formed until they reach the Tian Ren Jing Jie, where it can manifest and roam the Taixu. However, Qin Mu took a different path, cultivating his Yuan Shen first and then his Ling Bing.

His Yuan Shen was still very weak and far from the point of manifestation. If it could appear behind him, that would mean he had reached the Tian Ren Jing Jie. But between Liu He and Tian Ren, there was the Qi Xing Jing Jie, and he had only just entered Liu He, so he was still far from that stage.

His ability to let his Yuan Shen roam freely was merely a stroke of luck, occurring when he encountered a master like Xu Sheng Hua, which stirred his mind and led to an enlightenment by the river. That allowed him to roam with Ling Yuxiu. According to orthodox cultivation sequences, he still needed to nurture a Ling Bing in his Liu He Shen Zang first.

As Ba Ti San Dan Gong circulated, Qin Mu felt his vital energy flowing through his Ling Tai Wu Yao and Liu He, with his soul merging with the Ling Tai, essence condensing, and Yuan Shen forming once more. It absorbed the world's creations, making his cultivation speed much faster than before.

“Could it be that others cultivate in the same way as I do? But from what the prince said, it seems not…”

He couldn't help but feel puzzled. Based on what Ling Yu Shu had implied, others couldn't form a Yuan Shen at this stage. Once the Yuan Shen was formed, cultivation progressed quickly, but without it, one had to proceed step by step.

He set aside his doubts and focused on activating Ba Ti San Dan Gong, guiding his vital energy and blood flow. In his Liu He Shen Zang, streams of essence gathered and continuously flew toward the center, where a Ling Bing was slowly taking shape.

The Liu He Shen Zang nurtures a Ling Bing whose form is most aligned with one's own cultivation method. This Ling Bing is different from others—it's tied to one's life and destiny, growing alongside them. Its formation happens naturally with cultivation, without needing deliberate design.

Now, his Ling Bing was still in the process of forming, and its exact shape wasn't clear yet—only a mass of light was visible. His essence flew in from all directions of the Liu He Shen Zang, converging into that glow.

Within the essence, faint runes and seals were faintly discernible, quite mysterious. For Qin Mu, these runes were simply manifestations of his skills and techniques.

Ling Yuxiu's Nine Dragons Soldier and Si Yunxiang's Thousand Silks also bore such runes, which needed to be imprinted during the forging of a Ling Bing.

The essence flying toward the ball of light took the form of Jian Wen seals, with rays of essence entering the light like swords plunging into a Jian Wan.

A Jian Wan wasn't a ball but a sword, refined by incorporating dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of swords into it. Thus, its essence was still that of a sword.

In the Liu He Shen Zang, as it nurtured the Jian Wan Ling Bing, sword-shaped essence flew from all sides, interweaving to form a ball-like shape. This sword-shaped essence was called Jian Yuan. Once all the Jian Yuan entered the Jian Wan form, he could forge his own Jian Wan, with the number of flying swords inside matching the number of Jian Yuan exactly.

Forging a Jian Wan involved refining each sword to a size finer than a needle and then shaping them into a ball, which required hammering each sword to the perfect size—a very difficult task.

That's why Jian Wan were expensive. Many Shen Tong practitioners opted for Jian Xia instead, which held fewer flying swords and required beast bones with Taotie bloodline to expand the internal space, making them costly as well.

The Tai Xue Yuan provided a Jian Xia to each Tai Xue scholar, costing the national treasury a significant amount each year. Truly wealthy Tai Xue scholars often hired master craftsmen to forge their Jian Wan, turning it into a symbol of status.

“So my Ling Bing is a Jian Wan. Although it's hard to refine, it's not that difficult for me.”

Qin Mu didn't think much of the Jian Wan's value. After all, back in Can Lao Village, Grandma Si had Jian Wan scattered everywhere under her bed and in her shoes, and even a few had been eaten by chickens. Even more astonishing, Dumb had a whole box full, as heavy as a mountain.

Moreover, having learned forging from Dumb, refining a Jian Wan was laborious for Qin Mu but not overly challenging.

However, in his Liu He Shen Zang, the Jian Yuan kept entering the glow, and when he counted, his face turned pale—there were already five thousand of them! That meant he had to refine five thousand flying swords to create his Jian Wan.

Not only that, more Jian Yuan were still arriving, indicating it wouldn't stop at five thousand.

He wasn't worried about the cost—he never was. What concerned him was the weight! Even if thousands of flying swords were refined to be very fine, their total weight wouldn't change. Turning that many into a small ball would make it incredibly heavy.

In Yan Kang Guo, flying swords were graded into nine ranks. A ninth-rank sword weighed two jin and was the lowest quality, made of ordinary iron for common use. But even a Jian Wan made from ninth-rank swords would weigh ten thousand jin! Better swords were even heavier, with second-rank ones often weighing hundreds or thousands of jin. Only first-rank swords, like those worn by high officials—such as Qin Mu's Shao Bao sword—were lightweight.

The Shao Bao sword was crafted from the finest materials by top masters, with only a dozen or so ever made. Qin Mu couldn't gather enough such materials even if he wanted to.

“A third-rank sword is made from elite cold iron and cold iron crystals, but it's just too heavy. If I turn it into a Jian Wan, I might not even be able to lift it—the Jian Wan alone could exhaust me.”

Just as Qin Mu thought this, the Jian Yuan finally stopped entering the light ball, totaling eight thousand.

“Eight thousand swords—this is going to kill me. Even if I'm rich, it would bankrupt me!”

Qin Mu felt a bit apprehensive, but then he saw other essence flying in—figures of Buddhas from all sides of the Liu He Shen Zang, merging into the light ball.

“Wait, isn't it supposed to be a Jian Wan?”

He was confused. If it was a Jian Wan, it should have stopped, so why were Buddha-shaped essence arriving?

In addition to Buddha Yuan, there were Dao Yuan in the forms of knives, then Wu Ji Tu, Tai Ji Tu, Si Xiang Tu, Wu Xing Tu, and Ba Gua Tu.

Following that came various runes—some insect patterns, beast patterns, dragon patterns, phoenix patterns, bird patterns, as well as divine patterns, demonic patterns, and even You Du scripts and designs, all mixed together.

Qin Mu's face turned from pale to purplish. These patterns stemmed from the vast array of elements in his Great Unification Gong, including the Rulai Dacheng Jing, Da Yu Tian Mo Jing, Nine Dragons Emperor Gong, Killing Pig Knife Method, and especially the bizarre techniques from Da Yu Tian Mo Jing.

Even the algorithms from Tai Xuan Suan Jing had been manifested by his essence, becoming part of the Ling Bing's form.

“What on earth will my Ling Bing evolve into with all these forms?”

Qin Mu felt uneasy. Would his Jian Wan turn into some monstrosity covered in all sorts of weapons?

That might be bad enough, but the key issue was how heavy this Ling Bing would be once forged and how much it would cost.

After a while longer, all the essence had merged into the light ball, and its glow gradually faded. The Ling Bing's form inside became clearer.

Qin Mu was on edge, almost afraid to look, fearing it would be an ugly mess.

Finally, he mustered the courage to glance at the Ling Bing in his Liu He Shen Zang and was surprised—it was still in the shape of a Jian Wan, not as outrageous as he'd imagined, without turning into a bizarre Buddha covered in swords and oddities.

The Jian Wan remained a Jian Wan, but each Jian Yuan now bore additional seals: Buddha Yuan seals, Dao Yuan seals, knife Yuan seals, bird and beast patterns, dragon and phoenix patterns, divine and demonic patterns, and You Du text.

Qin Mu breathed a sigh of relief: “Thank goodness—it's just extremely heavy, not enough to crush me. Though this Jian Wan seems a bit larger than others. If I could refine it like Grandpa Dumb's fluid form, it might be smaller…”

Dan Youxin and the others spent several hours on the adjustments, finally finishing by the next day, and the supervisory factory began operating.

Qin Mu had spent the whole night condensing his Ling Bing form and hadn't slept, but he was full of energy. He called Dan Youxin over and said:

“My Ling Bing form is set, but refining it will be tricky—I need to create eight thousand sword blanks.”

“Eight thousand sword blanks?”

Dan Youxin was startled and exclaimed: “Jiao Zhu, eight thousand sword blanks could forge a small sect's treasure! Are you sure you need that many swords?”

Qin Mu nodded helplessly: “To refine these eight thousand swords to the perfect size and form a Jian Wan, it's giving me a headache.”

Dan Youxin hesitated and said: “Eight thousand swords could arm an entire army. Crafting that many would require the finest metals…”

“Before the disaster, I sold some medicine and got some money.”

Qin Mu thought of the money-managing fox spirit and missed the little fox. “I have a million Da Feng coins here—do you think that's enough?”

Dan Youxin was taken aback and laughed: “Why should the Jiao Zhu spend his own money? Our halls have a habit of collecting heavenly materials and treasures. For instance, we have people in the mines who dig up valuables and keep them private instead of reporting to the state.”

He glanced around to make sure no one was listening and whispered: “The sect's rule is to offer the best to the emperor and keep the absolute best in the sect's treasury.”

Qin Mu was surprised.

Dan Youxin smiled: “Having the Jiao Zhu refine a Ling Bing is a major event. We can open the treasury and use those heavenly materials and treasures. With one command from you, we'll access the treasury, and Tian Gong Hall can retrieve the items to refine your eight thousand sword blanks! I won't say the materials are the absolute best, but they won't be much inferior to a first-rank official's sword.”

Qin Mu let out a breath and said: “Where is the treasury?”

“Does the Jiao Zhu not know where his own treasury is?”

Dan Youxin said with a mix of amusement and exasperation: “It's naturally on Sheng Lin Mountain.”

——Zhai Zhu has been staying in a place called Dong Ye Hu these past couple of days, up on the mountaintop. It's five or six li down to the base, with no people around, no buses or subways, and seemingly no taxis. The food is ridiculously expensive—a meal for one person starts at a thousand yuan—so we've been eating bread. Some of the great authors went out and bought Japanese instant noodles, hunkering down in a five-star hotel to eat them, saying the soup is delicious but the noodles aren't fully cooked. Others say the starting point brought us here just to watch us write, and I think that's probably true… Zhai Zhu is heading with the main group to Osaka tomorrow to write there. I hope we won't have to eat bread and instant noodles. The updates will definitely happen—even if it kills me—but travel fatigue might affect the timing, so please understand.