Chapter 248 | Smelting the Ores

Chapter 248: 248 | Smelting the Ores

Morning sunlight slanted through the high bronze windows of the Artifact Pavilion’s Affairs Hall.

Behind the central desk stood Aunt Lin, dressed in the deep-azure robes of the Deputy Hall Master. The heavy Bronze-Gold Deputy Seal hung gracefully from her embroidered sash.

In front of her desk, Master Gu and four senior Refiner deacons kept their heads respectfully lowered as Aunt Lin inspected the morning delivery slips.

"The thirty Tier-2 Peak-Grade profound-iron broadswords forged by the eastern hall meet our standards," Aunt Lin said evenly, stamping her Deputy Seal onto the jade slip with a clean, solid click. "Deliver them to Elder Qing’s quarter on the Martial Arts Peak before noon. As for the three furnace deacons who reported late to the morning fire-lighting, deduct ten contribution points from their Monthly Allowance and reassign them to ore-washing for seven days."

"Yes, Deputy Hall Master Chen!" Master Gu and the deacons bowed without a trace of hesitation and hurried out to carry out her orders.

Standing by the archway of the inner corridor, Lin Tian watched them leave with a faint, warm smile on his lips.

"It looks like the new Deputy Hall Master was born to manage this hall," Lin Tian said softly, stepping into the room.

Hearing his voice, the stern, dignified air on Aunt Lin’s face melted away at once. Her dark eyes lit up with deep affection as she walked around the desk to smooth the golden collar of his Elder robe with her warm fingers.

"Only because the Hall Master is standing right behind me," Aunt Lin whispered, looking up at him with a soft smile. "In the past, whenever I needed high-grade material from Master Gu, I had to wait three days for his approval. This morning, he carried the entire vault inventory to my desk before sunrise."

She turned her gaze toward the heavy ironwood door leading down into the subterranean mountain stone, her eyes shimmering with excitement.

"The work has been done just as you ordered, Tian-er. Everything we brought from the Restricted Material Vault and the northern tournament spoils is laid out."

"Then let us head down," Lin Tian said calmly. "It is time to reforge the Abyssal Suppression Pagoda into a true Tier-4 Artifact."

Deep beneath the eastern ridge of the Artifact Pavilion lay the Subterranean Forge—the Earth-Fire Annex.

This cavern was carved directly over an arterial branch of the sect’s subterranean Earth-Fire Vein.The ambient temperature was high.

As Lin Tian pressed his Elder Seal into the inner stone lock, the doors of dark rock rumbled shut, cutting off all sound and spiritual sense from the outside world.

At the center of the vast cavern stood a bronze smelting cauldron, surrounded by four carved dragon mouths connected to the magma vein below. Next to it was a massive anvil cast from dark-gold spirit-iron.

Lin Tian walked to the stone table and waved his sleeve.

With a deep, resonant hum, a nine-story miniature tower appeared above his palm and settled onto the slab.

It was his Tier-2 Peak-Grade Abyssal Suppression Pagoda.

Back in the Qi Gathering and Foundation Establishment realms, its allowed it to trap and crush enemies far above his level.

Now that he had ascended to the Core Formation Realm and faced dangerous enemies like Sect Master Hong and the elders of the Blood-Bone Demonic Cult, a Tier-2 vessel could no longer withstand the raw power of his Nine-Cloud Supreme Dark-Gold Core.

With another wave of his hand, Lin Tian laid out four piles of glowing spiritual materials across the table:

Thirty catties of black Deep-Sea Profound Iron drawn from the Restricted Vault.

Six fist-sized pieces of translucent Void-Stone won at the Underground Ghost Market.

Twelve purified ingots of Blood-Marrow Heavy Iron smelted from the spoils.

And at the center, a head-sized boulder of Tier-4 Low-Grade Thousand-Year Earth-Marrow Ore, radiating an invisible, heavy pull that made the thick stone table groan beneath it.

Standing beside the table, Aunt Lin’s breath caught as her eyes swept over the rare treasures.

"Thousand-Year Earth-Marrow Ore paired with Deep-Sea Profound Iron and Void-Stone..." Aunt Lin whispered in sheer wonder. "Even a single fist-sized piece of Earth-Marrow Ore weighs as much as a thousand catties of common iron. If we blend this into the nine stories of the pagoda, ordinary Earth-Fire will not even be able to soften its outer shell!"

"Ordinary Earth-Fire cannot," Lin Tian said calmly, taking his place before the smelting cauldron. "Which is why you will command the four outer dragon vents to pre-heat the Deep-Sea Profound Iron and Void-Stone, while I use my Core Origin Fire to melt the Earth-Marrow Ore at the center."

Aunt Lin nodded firmly, her expression turning sharp and focused as she stepped to the formation wheel controlling the subterranean fire gates.

"Begin whenever you are ready, my Sovereign!"

Aunt Lin pressed her palms against the bronze wheel, circulating her Foundation Establishment essence through her Earth-Fire Dual Affinity Root.

ROOOOOAAAR—!

The four dragon mouths around the cauldron snapped wide open at once, pouring four thick pillars of roaring crimson Earth-Fire into the furnace!

Lin Tian swept his sleeve, guiding the Deep-Sea Profound Iron, the Void-Stone, and the Abyssal Suppression Pagoda into the outer ring of the flames.

Then, lifting the heavy block of Thousand-Year Earth-Marrow Ore with one hand, he cast it straight into the heart of the cauldron and thrust his right palm forward!

FWOOSH—HUMMMMM!!

A roaring torrent of pure, dark-gold Tier-4 Core Origin Fire erupted from Lin Tian’s palm, pouring directly from his Supreme Dark-Gold Core into the center of the furnace!

The instant that dark-gold Core flame surged into the cauldron, the roaring crimson Earth-Fire around it bowed down like subjects kneeling before their emperor!

The heat inside the cavern spiked sharply.

Faint crimson runes flared within Lin Tian’s Insight Eye as he looked through the blinding glare into the metal marrow of the ores.

Under the terrifying heat of his Core Origin Fire, the rock-hard Thousand-Year Earth-Marrow Ore—which would have taken an ordinary refiner days to soften—began glowing bright gold at the edges and melting into a thick, glowing liquid within half a watch!

"Lin-jie, open the third and fourth vents by three parts!" Lin Tian commanded calmly, his hands moving in steady seals as he separated tiny flecks of dark rock-slag from the glowing liquid. "Keep the Void-Stone hovering above the liquid iron—do not let them touch until the last fleck of impurity burns away!"

"Understood!"

Across the furnace, Aunt Lin’s forehead was covered in beads of bright sweat. Her cheeks flushed crimson from the intense glare as she poured all her concentration into balancing the four fiery pillars.

For two full watches, neither of them paused for a single breath.

Every time a hidden impurity surfaced within the molten metal, Lin Tian’s Insight Eye caught it instantly, and a needle-thin lash of his dark-gold Core Origin Fire turned the slag to ash.

When all four materials were refined into four pure, glowing spheres of liquid essence—dark-gold, deep black, silver, and crimson-iron—Lin Tian’s golden eyes blazed.

"Fuse!"

With a heavy clap of his hands, Lin Tian drove the four spheres of molten essence directly into the softened frame of the Abyssal Suppression Pagoda!

CLANG—CLANG—CLANG!

Using his condensed Core Formation spiritual force as an invisible forging hammer, Lin Tian struck the spinning pagoda eighty-one times in mid-air!

Every strike drove the molten Thousand-Year Earth-Marrow and Deep-Sea Profound Iron deep into the metal marrow of the pagoda’s nine roofs and octagonal pillars, expanding the treasure’s foundation into a heavy, unyielding Tier-4 frame!

TSSSSSS—!

When the eighty-first hammer strike landed, Lin Tian guided the glowing, newly forged tower out of the cauldron and set it firmly onto the wide Profound-Ice Slab beside the wall to cool until morning.

Clouds of white steam billowed across the cavern roof before being pulled out through the upper vents.

As the dragon mouths finally closed, Aunt Lin let out a long, trembling sigh. She leaned against the warm stone railing, her knees shaking slightly from hours of unbroken exertion.

The blistering heat of the subterranean annex had soaked her azure robe in sweat, causing the silk to cling tightly to the full curves of her chest and the soft flare of her hips.

Before she could wipe her face, two strong, warm arms slid around her waist from behind, lifting her off the stone floor and carrying her over to the fur-covered stone bed in the corner of the cavern!

"Ah... Tian-er!"

Aunt Lin gasped softly as Lin Tian laid her down on the soft beast-fur mat and leaned over her, his golden eyes still carrying the warm glow of his Core Origin Fire.

Looking up at his broad chest through his open collar—and remembering how magnificent he had looked commanding the Tier-4 flames moments ago—Aunt Lin’s heart hammered against her ribs.

All afternoon, watching him forge while breathing in the deep, masculine heat of his Irresistible Yang Scent had left her burning with a hunger hotter than the furnace itself.

"The pagoda needs until tomorrow morning to cool," Lin Tian murmured against her flushed neck, his warm hand sliding beneath her damp collar to cup the heavy softness of her bare breast. "Which means the Hall Master has the rest of the night to reward his Deputy Hall Master for tending the fire so well."

"Mmmph... you didn’t even let me catch my breath..." Aunt Lin whispered breathlessly, a rich, alluring smile curving her lips as her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, her fingers undoing her own soaked sash. "Come here then, Hall Master... my fire has been burning since you placed that Deputy Seal in my hand this morning..."

Within moments, the robes were cast aside onto the stone floor.

Right there in the glowing twilight of the Subterranean Forge, while the newly reforged pagoda hummed softly, Lin Tian drew Aunt Lin into his arms—sharing two slow, passionate tender warmth that left the new Deputy Hall Master sleeping peacefully against his chest until dawn.