Chapter 664: Return and On the Moon

「The West Sea, in a secret base owned by Zhou Buyi.」

Deep within the mountain stronghold, Su Zhou stood before a massive pool of molten iron. In his hands, he reviewed a secret classic from the Five Weapons Sect, detailing the supreme mystical technique of the Five Elements Five Forging Technique: the art of the Qi-Forged Divine Weapon.

After the war with the Demon Dynasty, Grand Master Shi Jiling chose not to rebuild the Five Weapons Sect. Instead, he opened a specialized academy, creating a simplified and popularized version of the Five Elements Five Forging Technique.

It wasn’t that Shi Jiling was unwilling to spread the sect’s mystical techniques; the main issue was that the Five Elements Five Forging Technique had incredibly high requirements. Even cultivating a single one of its paths required an above-standard Spirit Talent in a single attribute. To master the final art of the Qi-Forged Divine Weapon, one needed aptitude in all Five Elements—you might not find more than a handful of such people in a hundred million.

The Grand Master spent his entire life trying to adapt the Five Elements Five Forging Technique to make it more universally applicable, but sadly, he never succeeded. Although later inheritors also failed in this, the simplified version of the Five Forging Technique nonetheless became the industrial foundation of the Tianzheng Alliance. Practically everyone working in related industries could master a part of it. In other words, they could all be considered inheritors of the Five Weapons Sect—and if you went by that metric, the Five Weapons Sect was truly the number one school in the world today.

As for Su Zhou, to say nothing of the scales he possessed that were formed from the Five Spirits Colorful Feathers, he had a natural talent for all Five Elements without needing any conversion. Cultivating the Five Elements Five Forging Technique was a walk in the park for him. Furthermore, the art of the Qi-Forged Divine Weapon corresponded with the methods of using Spiritual Power he had already mastered. He might not be a grand master at it, but he could use it proficiently.

‘I’ll use my blood, the scales from my True Body, leaves from the Wisdom Tree, and the Earth Fire Crystals that Zhou Buyi excavated from deep within a lava zone. Then, using the art of the Qi-Forged Divine Weapon, I will enhance the Blade of Annihilation, raising it to a higher level.’

Gazing at the Blade of Annihilation floating above the pool of iron, Su Zhou saw its red-gold Spiritual Light reflected in his eyes. ‘With the Desire Power I’ve already consolidated, the Blade of Annihilation’s lethality will now be exceptionally powerful, even among the Commander Tier.’

The Blade of Annihilation was stripped bare, without its scabbard or hilt. Its once-black blade had turned a solid red-gold as its Spiritual Power was activated. Now, as the condensed essence of innumerable Treasures of Heaven and Earth (which was mostly just Su Zhou’s blood) gathered upon it, this red-gold blade was gradually being coated in a layer of clear, pale-gold crystal.

Within this crystalline layer, extremely fine, cyan flashes of Thunder Light sparked, resembling both blood vessels and circuit patterns. This power originated from the blood Su Zhou had drawn from his own Heart of the Thunder Marsh.

“Being self-sufficient really is convenient. No wonder so many Immortal Gods and Demon Gods use materials from their own bodies for Artifact Refining.”

In response to Su Zhou’s rather cheerful comment, Shao Qiming, standing off to the side, frowned. He recalled the moment when Su Zhou, without a second thought, had just ripped out his own heart. He had been terrified, thinking Su Zhou was committing suicide, and was then thoroughly mocked for it: “An ordinary Extraordinary Tier Cultivator wouldn’t die from having their heart torn out, not with emergency treatment, let alone me! It wouldn’t even matter if my head got blown up!”

At that moment, Su Zhou reached out, using his Spiritual Power to draw the Blade of Annihilation into his hand. Under the effects of the Qi-Forged Divine Weapon technique, the Divine Blade’s body, with a surface temperature of several thousand degrees, was hot enough to instantly vaporize ordinary flesh. However, Su Zhou’s hand was also enhanced by Spiritual Power. After its outer layer underwent elemental specialization, it could withstand temperatures of over twenty-five hundred degrees.

Gripping the blade, Su Zhou paid no mind to the fact that it had no hilt and simply gave it a casual swing toward the test range behind him. With just that one casual wave, an unusual, bluish-red fiery light shot out. It expanded rapidly as it traveled, quickly morphing into a giant Fire Blade over thirty meters in diameter before smashing violently into the numerous metal targets on the range.

It was clear that the Fire Blade could have grown even larger. The metal targets it hit didn’t explode; they simply melted instantly in the terrifyingly high temperature, turning into pools of molten metal.

‘Its power is a bit stronger than my Dragon Breath. It seems I can improve my Dragon Breath by studying the structure of the Blade of Annihilation—or, like when I dealt with the Water God, I can use the Blade of Annihilation itself as the core for an armor-piercing projectile, making it the ace up my sleeve for my True Body Breath.’

Su Zhou’s view of weapons had always been different from the average person’s. Did swords have to be held by hand? Why would swords be such inconvenient things! Any method that could kill an enemy was a good one. Never mind spitting the blade out like a cannonball; he even planned to modify his tail into a greatsword. Then, when his True Body swung its tail, it would be the equivalent of a giant blade slashing down!

The True Body is a weapon, meant for combat. Why make it look so biological? Such was the design philosophy of the third-rate designer, Su “Firepower-Is-Everything” Zhou.

Machinedramon? Nothing wrong with that.

‘…This guy. One day, he’s going to convert all five of his fingers into nuclear warheads, shout a catchphrase like “Finger Missiles!” and launch them in a massive, indiscriminate barrage…’

Knowing Su Zhou all too well, Shao Qiming stood to the side, shooting a sidelong glance at his friend who was enthusiastically swinging the newly-upgraded weapon. He couldn’t help but silently roast him and make a prediction. ‘A while ago, I also heard from the academy leadership that Su Zhou recently visited the high-energy laser weapons lab. I bet he wants to modify his eyes…’