Is that a Wisp?

"This scroll contains all the knowledge regarding the forging of County Arms," Krune said after he made everyone sit down, controlling his eyelids from twitching. "Please look through it and ask me if you have any doubts."

He placed the scroll on the large table, revealing it completely, allowing countless diagrams, forging methods, and rows and rows of words to come into view. 

Once everyone in the main hall looked at the scroll, they were shocked before Liu Heng's father muttered, "T-This is… written in code?"

"It is." Krune nodded, saying, "I encrypted them using the humming produced by our hammers. It's something only we can understand. In short, it's the safest way to ensure the contents of this are never leaked. For anyone else, this is just a bunch of garbled letters and erratic scribbles." 

"Amazing!" Liu Heng's father began to immerse himself into the logic presented on the scroll, muttering, "So, that's how we make the designs for the County Arms."

After all, until now, it was Krune that did the designing. Everyone else just blindly followed what he did to make the hammer County Arms. 

With the scroll before them, they began to link them to the actions they had done, understanding how the hammer County Arms was produced. 

Krune left them to their devices, smiling as he saw them discuss the contents of the scroll with great enthusiasm. He then said, "Mother said that news of the County Arms has been given to the family heads of various aristocratic families. In two days, they'll be coming here. So, you should also discuss who'll take charge of which family. Well, that's because you'll be tasked with forging their County Arms for many generations."

"What do you mean by this?" Liu Heng's father frowned as he heard that.

"Well, what do you think would happen once all the prestigious families obtain County Arms?" Krune smiled, watching the eyes of everyone light up in surprise. 

"Our clan would lose its standing," one of them spoke. 

"Yes, our forging services would no longer be desired unless new aristocratic families emerge," Krune said in response, nodding. "So, we'll make it seem like forging County Arms is more difficult than it is, only giving them one every six months. On top of that, they'll have to pay a lot for this."

"But, is this okay? Wouldn't the Emperor become mad at our actions?" One of them frowned, shuddering for a moment in fear of the Emperor's wrath. 

"If not for me, there wouldn't have been any County Arms. Besides..." Krune smiled. "Did you forget how our forge works?"

Everyone shuddered as realization finally hit them, causing them to gaze at Liu Heng's father in suspicion. 

Sighing, he nodded, saying, "Daxia Ting is the Emperor's daughter. Her identity has been kept secret because the Imperial Astrologer had predicted Liu Heng's birth as the next Emperor." 

"A Star Imperial Meister!" Everyone understood the reason, also understanding the reason why they wanted to prostrate every time they gazed at Krune—Liu Heng. 

"In other words, my authority is only below the Emperor's, at least based on what my mother told me." Laughing in response, Krune left the main hall. "Also, allow me to forge the County Arms for the Imperial Family."

With that, he returned to the forge, having already thought of their design. Surprisingly, through his mother, the Emperor had already expressed his desire for the type of power they wished to wield. 

Since they were royalty and would also become the leading force against the Demons, Krune had been preparing accordingly.

In the Liu Clan, the men wielded the Sun Hammer while the women wielded the Moon Hammer. He planned to keep the same concept for every clan/family. 

For Wang Hao, the County Arms he designed was an actual firebird. As Imperial Warlocks, they were experts in close-range combat. Their only weakness was long-ranged fights. So, to solve that, he made their County Arms that way. 

Wang Hao's County Arms was in the shape of a firebird, while Chen Xue's was an ice bird. This way, their abilities had no apparent weakness. 

Now, there were only a couple of weeks before they had to enroll in the Imperial Academy. Thus, Krune first sent them traveling to the academy. As for him, he planned to spend the next year forging as many County Arms for the Imperial Family as possible. 

In the meantime, Wang Hao and Chen Xue were to investigate the Su Family and matters regarding the Demon.

After all, Daxia Ting had informed him that the number of Demon Arms wielders was increasing in numbers. It was apparent that the Demon had made a breakthrough in its research. 

Moreover, it had now gone towards the south of the Daxia Empire, making their habitat in a large forest, beginning to grow their numbers over there. 

There were also reports of kidnappings in various cities, towns, and villages as people discontent with their lives were being brought over to the settlement in the forest. 

She coined the term... the Demon City. 

The two Demons there had begun to actively gather their strength in order to topple the Daxia Empire. So in response, Krune's County Arms were of tremendous help. 

'Based on mother's expression, something dangerous is brewing in the Demon City. Its location makes it impossible to raid with our army. If I'm not mistaken, Su Daiyu is the other Demon. Now that there's a male and a female Demon, what happens next doesn't even require much thought.' He sighed, muttering, "It's obvious since they established their stronghold."

Demon offspring!

Shaking his head, Krune began to forge the County Arms for the Imperial Family. When he was resting, the rest of the clansmen began to work on their respective County Arms, forging for other families. 

Time passed in such a fashion as Krune wholly focused on his task, unaware of the schemes that were being enacted behind the scenes. 

…

"County Arms… that's troublesome." An arrogant voice resounded before issuing a command. 

"Command the Yin Beasts to wreak havoc throughout the Daxia Empire. We'll have to ensure the resentment of the populace continues to build up so that more Nightmares are birthed."

"Your commands shall be fulfilled, Lord!" Multiple voices responded in unison.