Tribulation of Myriad Races

As Su Yu hammered away, more and more golden stripes became visible on the projection.

At the moment, nine had taken form.

Peak early yellow grade.

Outside the city.

Someone smiled and said, “The dao of benevolence and righteousness. Is Su Yu forging a weapon fit for saints?”

He was both speaking the fact and mocking Su Yu for forging such a weapon.

From the projection, they could see a flickering light, akin to a ray of light in the midst of darkness. The radiance emanated an auspicious and peaceful atmosphere, with a tiny bit of scholarly aura mixed within. This surprised a lot of people. So deep inside, Su Yu was but a scholar.

A different person laughed and said, “Don’t tell me he’s forging a book. This thing is starting to look like a book. I can never understand these bookworms.”

The various experts and geniuses were paying close attention to the progress of the weapon. Why? Because Su Yu was involved. Rather than the weapon, it would be more apt to say that everyone was interested in Su Yu. This forging wouldn’t have attracted such a large crowd if it weren’t for Su Yu.

Among the crowd was an old-and-young pair. Each of them was wearing a unique mask. The masks weren’t Heavenly Hunt Pavilion masks, but they were still quite unique. The younger of the two, a woman, sent a voice transmission, “Elder, how is this butcher a scholar? A person of benevolence and righteousness? Is he really forging a saintly weapon? Are you buying this?”

The elder looked around, focused on the atmosphere, and replied, “Nope. However…this is indeed a weapon of the righteous dao. This saintly power…is so righteous that I’m suddenly feeling like a monstrous sinner. This isn’t what I’m curious about. I’m more curious about the material used here. Why does the material feel incredibly unique?”

The elder was a specialist in spatial manipulations. From the undulations in the air, he could sense that Su Yu was working on an extremely special material.

The young woman said indifferently, “He’s rich. What’s the big deal if he ends up using something special as the material?”

“No, that’s not it…whatever.”

Hallow decided not to elaborate.

He had a feeling that Su Yu was using something incredible as the material. Also, he couldn’t feel the presence of the space Hu Xiansheng had cut previously in the weapon. Clearly, Su Yu had yet to start with the forging of his real weapon.

***

Bang!

Eighteen golden stripes had appeared.

The weapon had reached the peak of the middle yellow grade. This had taken Su Yu around half an hour. He had swung his hammer over a thousand times, and each swing would unleash more than a single hammer strike.

The better the material, the harder it would be to forge. If this were merely a yellow grade material, Su Yu could probably finish forging it in minutes.

At this point, his hammer had reached ninety stacks. His entire body was beaded with sweat. Each drop of sweat would evaporate before it could even drip to the ground before being replaced by a new drop. At this point, he couldn’t even afford to let his sweat drip down anymore lest it interrupt his focus.

Zhao Li had yet to do anything. As an assistant, he would not interfere as long as Su Yu could still persist.

The fire grew in intensity.

The covers were still mere covers as the pages had yet to be bound with the covers and binder.

Bang!

With the appearance of the twentieth golden stripe, the book finally reached the level of a high yellow-grade weapon.

Su Yu ignored that and continued forging with full concentration. He had forgotten about everything except the fact that he had to keep forging. This would be an extremely important weapon for him. He couldn’t fail here.

Bang!

With the appearance of yet another golden stripe, the hammer strikes of Su Yu grew heavier and heavier.

At this point, some of the residents in the city started shutting their doors. Each hammer strike would cause their hearts to thump. This was a rather uncomfortable sensation.

As for Su Yu, he continued hammering away while activating different characters one after another. He would burn the weapon for a bit before switching to the lightning character to refine the weapon. With a carrier treasure as the binder, even Su Yu was feeling quite uncomfortable. But his discomfort did not arise from the fact that he was wasting a carrier treasure. Rather, his discomfort was due to the sheer difficulty of forging a carrier treasure.

***

An hour since the start.

The twenty-seventh golden stripe appeared.

Two hours since the start. The thirty-sixth golden stripe appeared.

The weapon had reached the very peak of the yellow grade.

Even as a mere yellow weapon, many people could feel the surging power that the weapon was emanating.

A weaponsmith gasped and remarked, “The foundation of this weapon is too powerful. Even now, he’s still working on the foundation of the weapon. Just what is he using as the material? How did it reach the peak yellow grade when he’s still working on the foundation?”

Someone else said, “I’m afraid he’s trying to forge the foundation of a heaven weapon. This fellow is planning for the future here. It’s a good idea. But he would probably benefit someone else. Could he even live that long?”

The speaker laughed mockingly as he said that. Nobody could deny that Su Yu was forging a powerful foundation for his weapon.

Even now, the golden stripes were still smoothly appearing one after another. This indicated that he wasn’t done yet with the foundation building. The golden stripes would appear at a much slower rate after the foundation was completed. After all, one would start challenging the limits of the weapon after one was done building the foundation.

Bang!

With a rumble, the projection grew in clarity. Everyone could see the appearance of the thirty-seventh golden stripe. The weapon had reached the profound grade.

Slowly, Su Yu appeared in the projection as well. Bright, golden light was emanating from his entire body, as though he was the sun illuminating the world. He continued swinging his hammer while sweating all over.

A female demonic beast clicked her tongue and praised, “What a good figure. How surprising. Mayor Su looks like a tender child, but his body is actually quite impressive.”

“Shameless!”

In response, a human snorted with contempt.

Everyone else ignored the two.

This wasn’t what the rest of them cared about.

Someone laughed and asked, “Heavenly Forge, what grade do you think this weapon will reach?”

Heavenly Forge King looked at the speaker and replied indifferently, “And why is this your concern?”

“You’re a boring man, Heavenly Forge.”

The speaker was an earthfire devil. He grinned and asked, “Are you interested in making a bet? I’m betting on the fact that his weapon will be a middle or high earth weapon.”

“Not interested.”

Heavenly Forge King was uninterested in the bet. But that was mainly because he was too poor to afford it. In any case, he had no idea what Su Yu was trying to make. He only knew that this might not be the real forging yet. After all, Niu Baidao was still out here. He knew that Niu Baidao was supposed to be providing something to Su Yu for the forging as well.

The earthfire devil did not mind Heavenly Forge King’s attitude. He said, “What a pity. If Su Yu focused purely on the path of weaponsmithing, he might be able to become a heaven weaponsmith one day. Look. His hammer has reached 108 stacks. Isn’t that impressive? The Soul Expanding Hammer of the Zhao Family is truly very interesting. I wonder if Zhao Li is interested in selling the technique for a good price…”

The Soul Expanding Hammer was incredibly suitable for weaponsmithing. It was a mystery how Zhao Li had created such a technique. Of course, his father had also contributed a lot to it. Zhao Li had referred extensively to his father’s works to create that technique.

Heavenly Forge King merely sneered. The earthfire devil should stop dreaming. He knew Zhao Li’s temper well. He had tried to purchase the technique from Zhao Li before as well. And his offer was rejected. If even a human Invincible couldn’t buy the technique from Zhao Li, a non-human should forget about it.

Back then, Heavenly Forge King had offered quite a high price. Yet not even that had managed to tempt Zhao Li. In the end, the technique had been taught to Su Yu for free. He merely believed that Su Yu was a suitable successor. Thus, he had taught Su Yu for free.

***

“Forty stripes.” After some time, someone exclaimed, “Why does it feel like…Mayor Su’s profound weapon is a lot more powerful than even some earth weapons? Is the Soul Expanding Art really so amazing?”

“The materials are playing a big role in this as well.”

“I don’t know weaponsmithing well, but I can feel the strength of the weapon. Just how long will Mayor Su take to complete this forging?”

“An earth weapon will require about one day.”

“Oh, that’s not too bad, then.”

As everyone discussed among themselves, the clanking sounds continued while one golden stripe after another appeared. At this point, only the front cover had been embedded into the binder. Even with only the front cover, the weapon was already a profound weapon.

Inside the mayor’s residence.

After some time, Zhao Tianbing exhaled and sent a voice transmission, “When both covers are bound, the weapon might reach the peak profound grade.”

Zhao Li nodded. That was his guess as well.

Just the frame of the weapon was already enough to reach the peak profound grade. Furthermore, it would be a profound weapon that was even more powerful than some ordinary earth weapons.

Zhao Li was only worried that Su Yu wouldn’t last that long. A weapon like this was much harder to forge than even earth weapons. At this point, there was no longer any doubt that Su Yu was already an earth weaponsmith. But how much longer could he last?

***

How much longer?

There was no such thought in Su Yu’s mind. He had exhausted quite a lot of his willpower thus far, but his recovery had also been rapid. He hadn’t even used much of his heavenly source qi or other recovery treasures. Thus, this wasn’t a worry for him.

Furthermore, he could also switch to source qi after running out of willpower. That was what he had done when he helped with Zhao Li’s weapon previously. And his source qi was much more plentiful than his willpower. There was nothing to worry about. However, forging was still tiring work. He couldn’t avoid feeling tired.

As Su Yu worked in silence, more and more golden stripes appeared. At the same time, the number of stacks on his hammer continued rising steadily. In fact, his hammer had accumulated so many stacks that with each strike, the recoil would cause his entire body to shake.

Forty-one golden stripes, forty-two golden stripes…

Three hours since the start.

Four hours since the start.

There were now fifty-five golden stripes on the weapon.

Of the crowd gathered around the city, most people were only there to enjoy the show. In truth, they had no idea what was happening. They only knew that the weapon was still a profound weapon. It was no big deal for many of them.

But those familiar with weaponsmithing had an entirely different reaction. The more they watched, the more solemn they became.

Why did it feel like even at fifty-five stripes, Su Yu was still working on the foundation. It felt as though he hadn’t even left the preparatory stage. Was the mere foundation of the weapon going to reach the earth grade? Was that possible?

Eight hours since the start.

The seventy-second golden stripe appeared.

The weapon had reached the peak profound grade.

Numerous people exhaled in relief. If this was the limit of the foundation, the final product would probably be an earth weapon. In the mayor’s residence, Su Yu was looking at his book. Both covers had finally been embedded into the binder.

The frame was finally completed. Next, it was time to add the pages to the book. For some reason, Su Yu was frowning and shaking his head.

Not enough.

Even after completing the frame, the weapon was still a peak profound weapon. Sure, this peak profound weapon of his was stronger than even regular earth weapons, but this was below his expectations.

He inhaled deeply, licked his lips, and smiled, “Teacher, it’s time to see whether I have inherited your teachings well.”

Zhao Li sighed and said, “I’m only afraid that you won’t be able to last until the end.”

“It will be fine.”

While the others were still confused, Zhao Tianbing thought of something and exclaimed, “Su Yu, think carefully about this! If you reforge, the difficulty of the subsequent phases will increase significantly. It might be too much for you…”

“No. I want to try. Since I’m forging a weapon for myself, I will only settle for the best. I am already far stronger than Teacher Zhao back then.”

Zhao Li rolled his eyes. Could the kid not use him as an example when making a point?

Yes. Su Yu was going to reforge the weapon.

Reforging.

Like what Zhao Li did previously, he would remove all the golden stripes before reforging all the stripes. This would greatly increase the might of the weapon, but the difficulty of forging would also increase significantly.

At this point, the others finally realized what Su Yu wanted to do. Hu Qi asked, “Su Yu, are you trying to make the frame itself an earth weapon?”

“Yes.” Su Yu smiled, “It would be too weak otherwise. Such a weak weapon does not fit me.”

WIth a roar, he withdrew all his willpower. Then, a powerful burst of source qi erupted from his body. He would use his source qi instead of willpower to reforge the book.

Boom!

With the first strike, a golden stripe shrank. This was the same thing Zhao Li did before. When Zhao Li saw what Su Yu was doing, he sighed helplessly.

The kid was truly crazy.

He wasn’t even in the final phase of the forging yet he was already reforging the book. By reforging so early, the following phases would increase in difficulty.