The carriage traveled for about three or four days. With Tianlin's help, Ning Rongrong fully grasped the cultivation method of the Blue Spirit Sacred Eyes. However, Daoist techniques are broad and profound; even with Tianlin's enormous spiritual power assisting her, it would still take her some time to truly master them.
When they stopped to rest in a city along the way, Tianlin took the opportunity to buy a lot of paper and pens. Since he rarely traveled, he didn't plan on just visiting the Speed Clan once; on the way back, he intended to take a detour to the Metal City, Gengxin City.
Back then, the soul ring of the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear had enabled Tianlin to unlock the way of forging, but he simply hadn't had time to study it. After all, forging was something for blacksmiths to specialize in.
Tianlin was preparing to further strengthen his sect. Previously, he had only taught Ning Rongrong footwork and similar things, but no swordsmanship—not because he was withholding secrets, but because it simply wasn't useful.
On the Douluo Continent, because of the existence of martial souls, people generally did whatever fit their martial soul. Even those without soul power would use a hammer martial soul for forging, a hoe for farming, and a sickle for cutting grass.
Thus, research into weaponry was extremely weak. Even those master-level blacksmiths mostly focused on defensive armor; actual combat nearly always relied on martial souls.
No one studied sword-forging techniques. Unless one was highly skilled in swordsmanship, an ordinary longsword wouldn't even scratch a beast martial soul master's tough hide. As for weapon martial soul masters, just a touch from their martial soul would shatter a poor-quality weapon to dust.
Ordinary weapons were indeed useless. But what about divine weapons? The forging chapter at the end of Tianlin's Shu Mountain Treasure Record documented several weapons whose attack power far exceeded even Tang San's Buddha Fury Tang Lotus, capable of easily cutting through a Title Douluo's true body. The only problem was that forging them was extremely difficult.
But if auxiliary soul masters used these and learned some swordsmanship, then they wouldn't be much weaker than battle soul masters. After all, Tang San's hidden weapons only gave them some surprise attack ability; once the enemy got close, their usefulness was greatly diminished.
Ning Fengzhi had already recruited many blacksmiths to the sect to craft hidden weapons, and Tianlin had already sought them out to forge the weapons from the Shu Mountain Treasure Record. Unfortunately, each weapon was far too profound for ordinary blacksmiths to comprehend.
They could barely forge weapons at the level of the Lingfeng Sword, Fengling Blade, or Flying Waterfall and Water Chant. As for divine weapons like Shetian and Feiwen Huari, they were completely clueless.
To make those, they'd need a master craftsman's help.
Tianlin lost track of time as he wrote and drew in the carriage. Even nightfall didn't bother him; with his Golden Flame Eyes, he could see as clearly as day.
"Boss, come down and rest! Dinner time!" Ma Hongjun called from outside. "I caught a ton of fish and even nabbed a few wild rabbits. I made your favorite spicy rabbit head—super spicy, just for you!"
Tonight, they camped outdoors. Tianlin discovered yet another of Ma Hongjun's good traits: his cooking was great, with perfect flavor and heat.
Ma Hongjun used his Phoenix Fire to roast a descaled fish, handing it to Bai Chenxiang. During the battle, you barely saw him use his Phoenix Fire so skillfully.
Bai Chenxiang watched Ma Hongjun with a bit of envy. Both had flying beast martial souls, but her Sharp-tailed Swift had little attack power, let alone such strong flames. Ma Hongjun could even use his fire for cooking—a classic case of some having too much and others none at all.
Ma Hongjun then roasted a super spicy rabbit head and handed it to Tianlin, asking, "Boss, what have you been working on these days? We rarely leave the sect, but you haven't even come out to see the scenery."
"I'm not as free as you. There's a lot I need to research. Miss Bai wants to persuade Senior Bai He to join my sect, but if I don't offer a tempting enough incentive, why would he leave his homeland for my Seven Treasure sect?" Tianlin replied.
Bai Chenxiang quickly said, "Incentive? Brother Jun's willingness to help us is more than enough you don't need to give us anything more!"
"Miss Bai, just take a look at this and you won't say that." Tianlin opened his soul guide belt and took out two exquisite short swords, handing them to Bai Chenxiang. "Miss Bai, these are for you—as a meeting gift."
Bai Chenxiang took the short swords, puzzled. "These two little swords are…?"
"They're a pair. The names are Flying Waterfall and Water Chant. When swung, they make the sound of rushing water, grand and mystical—hence the name."
"Don't underestimate these swords. They're made from top-grade spinel and green jadeite, with my spirit infusion technique to sharpen them. Not only are they extremely sharp, but they also have armor-piercing and energy-gathering effects," Tianlin explained.
Bai Chenxiang gasped in shock—who knew such small swords could be so amazing?
The others were equally stunned. Were these divine weapons? They seemed to come with soul skills built in! Even the three great master blacksmiths of the past couldn't make such weapons.
Forging these two swords wasn't that complicated. If a master craftsman tried, it would be easy. The problem was they didn't understand Shu Mountain's unique spirit-infusion technique—at best they'd make them sharper, but without the magical effects.
That infusion was the true secret. Tianlin would never teach it to anyone outside his people.
In this Douluo Continent world, it should be called soul infusion—the soul power can replace spiritual power, though it's a bit lower in quality, that's fine. After all, the opponents also use soul power, so nobody's at a disadvantage.
"Miss Bai, you've always lamented that your Speed Clan lacks attack power, right? You're sitting on a treasure mountain without realizing it. I once heard a saying: 'In the world of martial art, speed determines the winner!' "
"Speed is a way to enhance power. As for your worry that your clan's focus on speed weakens your bodies, making it hard to withstand the recoil of high-speed impacts, that's true. But people can use weapons! Imagine if everyone in your Speed Clan had short swords like these, using energy-gathering to accelerate and armor-piercing to break defenses, slashing the enemy's throat in an instant—how formidable would that be!" Tianlin smiled.
"We'd become an assassination clan even stronger than the agile attack soul masters!" Bai Chenxiang blurted out. Her clan's speed far surpassed ordinary agile attack soul masters of the same level.
If these swords were so powerful, then the Speed Clan's greatest weakness would be solved by Tianlin so easily.