Ling Tian observed the volcanic rock iron in the smelting furnace with his spiritual power at any time.
As a result, before the material had even melted halfway, Ling Tian felt that his entire True Essence was almost depleted.
Ling Tian was somewhat dejected. He had miscalculated, or rather, he had underestimated the material known as volcanic rock iron.
If it were ordinary steel, Ling Tian's current True Essence would have been enough to melt one to two tons of steel into molten iron.
However, to smelt volcanic rock iron, the required temperature was several times higher than that for melting ordinary steel.
This also caused Ling Tian's True Essence consumption to increase exponentially.
Helpless, Ling Tian quickly opened his portable medicine bottle and swallowed several pills.
These pills were valuable, made from various precious materials, and could rapidly restore True Essence in a short period.
Finally, after more than two hours, the furnace finally melted all the volcanic rock iron into molten iron. The molten iron flowed along the grooves into the mold and began to cool.
At this moment, Ling Tian began to use his spiritual power to control the iron tongs and two hammers, starting to forge the red-hot steel billet.
And this time, Ling Tian felt something different again.
A few days prior, he had used the same process to forge ordinary steel, and the material deformed and became scrap with just a little force.
But this current material, no matter how hard Ling Tian controlled the hammers to strike, it was difficult to damage.
Helpless, Ling Tian could only increase his strength, relying on repeated forging to shape this weapon bit by bit.
Thus, the forging work continued for a full three days, and Ling Tian also stayed in the spiritual realm space for three days, almost without a moment's rest.
When his True Essence was depleted or his spiritual power was insufficient, he would close his eyes and rest for a while, then continue forging once his internal energy and spiritual power recovered.
Finally, a long sword with a red metallic sheen appeared before Ling Tian.
This sword was about 96 centimeters long and three fingers wide. The blade was very heavy, making it very convenient for thrusting or slashing.
And when Ling Tian infused his energy into the long sword, the blade seemed to ignite, with a layer of Samadhi True Fire enveloping the entire sword!
Ling Tian, holding this long sword, began to practice his swordsmanship directly in the spiritual realm space.
Ling Tian's several masters were all sword experts.
His senior master, Dao Yuan Immortal Master, was skilled in swordsmanship from various schools, especially his own Daoist sect's sword techniques, in which he possessed profound attainments.
His fourth master, the King of Assassins Xiang Yun Tian, was also very adept with the sword, his sword techniques being tricky and unconventional, but primarily practical.
Furthermore, his sixth master, Yan Yu, was also a master of the sword, though she specialized in short swords, daggers, and various rapiers and foils.
Ling Tian, from childhood to adulthood, had diligently practiced swordsmanship over the years.
Ling Tian named the weapon forged from volcanic rock iron "Crimson Flame!"
Next, Ling Tian obtained a piece of meteorite iron, a material with extremely high temperature and hardness.
This time, Ling Tian was forging a Tang Dao.
Tang Dao and Wakizashi looked similar, but they were actually two different types of weapons.
Wakizashi had a curved blade and was very light, relying mainly on its sharp edge to cut opponents.
The Tang Dao, also known as a Zhanmadao (horse-slaying saber), had a straight, heavy blade. It could penetrate armor when slashing at people and sever legs when slashing at horses, relying on the blade's momentum to strike opponents.
Surprisingly, the craftsmanship of Tang Dao had already reached its peak in the Tang Dynasty a thousand years ago. The current craftsmanship of Wakizashi was actually stolen from the Tang Dynasty by the Japanese.
The craftsmanship of Tang Dao employed a process of laminated steel, where two materials of different densities were forged together, ensuring the blade's sturdiness while also possessing a certain degree of flexibility, preventing it from breaking in head-on clashes.
However, this technique, passed down by our ancestors, was later lost. Fortunately, Ling Tian's inherited knowledge included the method for forging Tang Dao.
After another few days of work, a Tang Dao with a pitch-black blade appeared before Ling Tian.
This long saber was nearly 1.2 meters long and weighed over ten catties (approximately 5 kg). It possessed immense power when swung.
Ling Tian stacked three blue bricks together and made a single downward cut. He didn't even use his internal energy. After the cut, the three bricks were cleanly severed, the breaks perfectly smooth, and the blade remained undamaged!
Ling Tian was also very satisfied with this long saber. He directly gave it a very imposing name: Oni-giri!
In the following days, Ling Tian did not rest. He forged several short swords, numerous daggers, dozens of throwing knives, as well as armor-piercing drills and even spears.
Thus, a long summer passed by in Ling Tian's fervent days of forging weapons.
Time moved on to October, and on this day, Ling Tian had visitors.
These visitors were none other than Xie Liheng and Zhang Caifeng.
With guests arriving, Ling Tian naturally could not neglect his manners. He took the two of them on a tour of his home.
Both Xie Liheng and Zhang Caifeng were full of praise for Ling Tian's residence.
In their eyes, it was simply a paradise, with mountains and water, undisturbed by the outside world, abundant spiritual energy, and even bears and tigers as pets.
Living here was like living the life of an immortal.
Especially Zhang Caifeng, being knowledgeable, immediately noticed that many formations had been set up around Ling Tian's residence.
Most of these formations left her dazzled and completely unfamiliar.
This meant that Ling Tian's current attainments in formations even surpassed those of the people on Mount Longhu!
Ling Tian invited the two of them to the greenhouse on the third floor, to a small pavilion. They sat on either side of the tea table as host and guests. Ling Tian personally brewed tea for the two guests.
"Ling Tian, you don't need to fuss over me. I don't know much about tea, and giving me good tea is like casting pearls before swine," Xie Liheng said with a smile.
"Uncle Xie, you wouldn't come to my door without a reason. Tell me, is there anything I can help you with?" Ling Tian saw through Xie Liheng's purpose for visiting at a glance.
Since the establishment of the Dragon Shield Special Operations Department, Xie Liheng had been incredibly busy, flying around the country almost every day to handle difficult matters.
And now, he was appearing at Ling Tian's place. To put it nicely, he wouldn't come without a reason; to put it less politely, it meant trouble was afoot.
His purpose revealed by Ling Tian, Xie Liheng felt a little embarrassed and scratched his head.
"Ling Tian, I've come to ask for your help to participate in the World Abilities Congress..."
"World Abilities Congress? What the heck is that?" Ling Tian asked, full of suspicion.