After completing the fire elemental sword embryo, Qi Ze went on to finish the wind elemental one in one fell swoop, completely unaware that dawn had broken. Despite working tirelessly through the night, he showed no signs of fatigue, taking a shower and then locking himself in the basement to continue his forging.
Yan Junyu couldn't endure the intense storm formed by the intertwining of wind and fire elements and could only wait at a distance. Through the night's observance, he was now one hundred percent certain of Qi Ze's origins. Without a doubt, he came from a family of blacksmiths, with his father likely being a high-level blacksmith, on par with the Empire's God of Forging, Mu Feixing.
Why was he so sure? By Qi Ze's current forging abilities alone.
Although the two swords weren't yet fully formed, they had already absorbed all the wind and fire elements in the surroundings, almost leading to an electromagnetic storm. Such a scenario would only occur in the pens of fantasy novelists, not in reality.
As a dual-elemental thunder and fire ability user, when Qi Ze was forging the fire elemental sword embryo, Yan Junyu received significant benefits, forcing him to immediately sit down in meditation to digest the influx of fire elements to prevent his body from bursting. In just a few hours, his spiritual body could already faintly touch solid objects, and if this happened a few more times, he might be able to come back to life in the form of a soul without needing to repair his body.
"Just how far can you go?" he murmured, staring at the sweat-drenched back of the youth. Resurrection meant leaving the youth's side, and at the thought of this, he felt a twinge of reluctance. No one else could ignite within him such a strong urge to explore, and no one was as enigmatically captivating as the youthâ
While the soul and the youth were busy in the basement, Ouyang Ye didn't remain idle either, training his physical skills every day. He had asked for a month-long leave for Qi Ze, with the entire school already aware of Ouyang Duanhua's heinous acts, assuming that Qi Ze would surely be unable to recover this time. During this period, Wang Xuan visited a few times, but was fobbed off by Ouyang Ye. He seemed very curious about the sudden transformation of the Ouyang family's eldest son into an ability user, but didn't ask too many questions. Li Yu, on the other hand, made a statement on the Li family's official website, stating that Ouyang Ye had awakened his abilities long ago, and had kept it a secret to this day to prevent persecution by certain people.
This matter involving the power struggles and family feuds of the rich and powerful families sparked a lot of heated discussion. Some expressed understanding, some observed, and others were skeptical. If the Ouyang family's eldest son had possessed abilities long ago, how could he have been suppressed by Ouyang Duanhua to the point of gasping for breath, losing his rights as the heir of the family?
However, before the martial arts tournament began, every participant had to undergo rigorous testing to enter, and the Ouyang family's eldest son wouldn't be foolish enough to lie in front of the entire galaxy, unless he completely abandoned his dignity. Thinking about it, many people felt that this news was very likely to be true.
But no one knew how nervous and short of breath Ouyang Ye was at this moment. Young Master Qi hadn't shown up for a long time, and even the nutrient solutions were left at the door by the robot butler, which he would come out to take when he remembered, or they would pile up for two to three days if he didn't. The safety door of the basement had excellent soundproofing, making it impossible to hear what was happening inside, which made Ouyang Ye even more uneasy.
If Young Master Qi couldn't fulfill his promise and give him abilities, he would certainly become the laughingstock of the entire galaxy. That image was enough to send his heart into a panic. Yet, the Li family's blood, which occupied half his body, made him unable to abandon the thought of taking a huge gamble, so he withstood the immense pressure from the outside world.
During these days, he had been staying at his uncle's house, avoiding Ouyang Duanhua and the probing of certain people.
"He hasn't come out yet?" Li Yu asked in a deep voice.
"Let's wait a bit longer, there's still a month until the competition starts." Ouyang Ye glanced at the smartbrain on his wrist.
"If he's just playing with you, I will definitely flay him alive." A hint of murderous intent flashed in Li Yu's eyes.
Ouyang Ye's heart tightened, and the idea of withdrawing from the competition surfaced once again, when at that moment, the communicator rang, displaying two words - Young Master Qi.
"Young Master Qi, you're out?" He answered eagerly.
"Don't waste any more time, hurry back." The voice on the other end sounded hoarse and exhausted.
"Yes, I'm coming right away." Seeing his uncle's gaze, he quickly said, "Wait, don't hang up! Can I bring my uncle along?"
"Yes." And with that, the phone call ended with the sound of a dial toneâ
When uncle and nephew arrived at the basement, Qi Ze was wiping a pure black longsword, the blade of which was unsharpened and looked like a hastily made item, lacking any superfluous decorations or embellishments. It could only be described with two words - ordinary, and if two more words were added, it would be ordinary to the extreme.
"Is this the thing you spent over ten billion on?" Li Yu didn't ask this question, but his expression of dissatisfaction made it clear what he was thinking.
Ouyang Ye covered his face, and the regret once again surged within him.
Qi Ze was fully focused on polishing his work and didn't pay attention to the exchange of glances between the two, but as an observer, Yan Junyu was eager, "If you don't want them, could you let me have them?" Having witnessed firsthand the two longswords slowly coalesce from flowing liquid and then be transformed into unmatched sharp blades under the youth's hammering, Yan Junyu's affection for them was almost uncontrollable.
If he could come back to life, he would definitely ask the youth to forge a weapon for him, regardless of the cost.
In the midst of his thoughts, Ouyang Ye had already approached, hesitantly asking, "Young Master Qi, is this the elemental weapon you're preparing to sell me? It doesn't seem to be made of metal? The luster isn't enough."
"Hmm, it's stone." Qi Ze didn't raise his head.
Ouyang Ye's expression became even more indescribable, and Li Yu lost all patience, asking, "We paid you over ten billion, and you're selling us a rock?"
Qi Ze was unperturbed, handing the polished longsword to Ouyang Ye and saying calmly, "Try it out first."
It was better to give it a try, or there would be no reason to be angry even if he was on fire. Li Yu gestured to his nephew, and Ouyang Ye, understanding, took the longsword. His elbow dropped a bit, and he exclaimed, "It's so heavy!"
"Heavy is right, a heavy sword has no edge." Qi Ze still had that indifferent expression. After being cloistered for half a month, his body had not only not thinned but had become even stronger. His originally flat and smooth abdomen now had the texture of undulating muscles. Standing straight in his place, he resembled a sword ready to be unleashed.
He pointed at the sparring robot and ordered, "Attack it."
Ouyang Ye channeled his inner qi and swung the sword fiercely, with a fireball smashing onto the robot's body before exploding, causing it to stagger slightly and the outer armor to sustain some damage. Seizing this opportunity, Ouyang Ye advanced forward, hacking repeatedly. After several rounds of fighting, he ultimately destroyed the robot.
"I, I can use abilities." He shouted breathlessly, his eyes filled with excitement.
"Is this called an ability?" Li Yu, however, looked at Qi Ze and said slowly, "Young Master Qi, I'm a businessman, and I believe in the principle of honesty. You've put Xiaoye in the limelight due to some personal vendetta, but you've only prepared a weapon of this level for him, what are you trying to do? Setting him up? You should be clear that this elemental weapon is only of primary level, its power is very limited, and the first-place winner of this competition can obtain the admission notice for the Imperial Military Academy, so the participants are all experts above level four. At this level, Xiaoye will be instantly killed the moment he steps on the stage."
He slightly bowed, his attitude polite yet extremely assertive, "I'm sorry, Young Master Qi, but we can't do this business."
Yan Junyu was also greatly surprised. He had watched these two swords come to life with his own eyes, the surging elemental powers that were about to burst forth were definitely not mistaken, so how was it that in Ouyang Ye's hands, they could only exert this level of power? But he wasn't too worried, feeling that the youth would have a hidden move.
Qi Ze glanced at Li Yu and sneered, "The goods haven't been inspected yet, what are you in such a hurry for? I, Qi Ze, don't sell defective products." He then ordered, "Ouyang Ye, drop your blood on the sword."
"Blood? Why?" Ouyang Ye didn't understand but still did as told, biting the tip of his finger and smearing the blood on the unsharpened sword. At that moment, a red beam and a green beam burst out, complementing each other, and then fused into a dazzling golden light. The originally dull blade instantly became razor-sharp, and a faint humming sound emanated from within, layering outward, causing a piercing pain in the eardrums.
Li Yu frowned uncomfortably, but the person holding the sword, Ouyang Ye, felt no discomfort, instead opening his eyes wide, his eyes filled with wild joy and shock.
This sword came to life! He felt a powerful suction conducted from the hilt to his entire body, quickly dispersing and turning him into a magnet, continuously absorbing the wind and fire elements floating in the air. They flooded in crazily, almost bursting his entire meridians, and a massive energy had no place to vent, gushing out along the sword's edge.
A loud boom echoed, and a tornado of flames uncontrollably swept forward, leaving a trail of charred blackness. The floor, ceiling, robot, all the obstacles along the way turned into dripping molten steel. The scene was like a small volcanic eruption. And this was still in an unconscious state, what kind of destruction would it cause if it was under strict training?
Ouyang Ye was knocked back several meters by the flames spewed from the sword's edge, falling to his knees in a state of exhaustion, with his entire meridian crying out "pain." But he was not at all panicked, instead, he struggled to stand up and shouted loudly, "Uncle, you saw that, right? That attack just now was done by me?"
Li Yu was stunned for a while before nodding, then shook his head. To be precise, this destruction was done by the sword, it seemed like a living thing, humming and whispering, actively attacking, completely out of his nephew's control. Only weapons powerful to a certain degree would have such a situation.
"How is that possible?" Li Yu licked his dry lips and said hoarsely, "Young Master Qi, just one drop of blood can increase the level of an elemental weapon by more than five, what is the principle behind that?" Suddenly realizing that this sentence might touch on someone's secrets, he couldn't help but show a look of regret, then recalling his previous uncourteous remarks, cold sweat poured down even more.
This weapon far exceeded his psychological expectations. No matter how Young Master Qi did it, it was none of his business to ask. This ten billion was well spent, too well spent!