Chapter 69: Becoming A Grade-1 Blacksmith (Mortal Grade)
Three days later.
Jun Wu stood inside the new blacksmith forge hammering with deep focus and attention.
He was bare-chested, sweat dripping down his chest.
His well-proportioned muscles were moving in tandem as he swung the hammer.
Clang! Clang!
His hammer removed all the impurities from the metal ingot as he turned it into the desirable shape he wanted.
His hammer never stopped moving. On the anvil, circular plates appeared one after the other.
When he reached the ten plates, he stopped working and wiped off the bead of sweat from his forehead.
Inside the Tier-2 Ruin, he discovered he had many weaknesses which he did not like.
The battle inside the Labyrinth would have been more dangerous if he did not have the Runic Revolver.
He might know many formations that could trap and kill his enemies, but would he have the time to set up the array formation.
The answer was no.
Against the Twin Fury Lion, the space was narrow leaving no room to set up formation. He could only defend helplessly while escaping.
Just thinking of it made his blood boil in anger.
He had a library of ancient formations, runes, and others in his memory. Why would he not make use of them?
Thus, he vowed when he returned to the surface. He must correct his weakness immediately.
And this was one of them.
Without resting, he took his runic pen and moved to the next steps. He picked four plates out of the ten plates and began to work.
He needed to inscribe the anchor runes, flow runes, qi runes, and lastly the killing runes.
Standing outside the forge, Xinyue and others watched Jun Wu working with sharp focus.
"Uncle Mao, are you not going to ask the Young Master to relax a bit?" she asked, worried about his health.
Mao Yun and Zhang Wei shook their heads.
"This is how the Young Master is. When he is focused on something. He will see to it that he completes it." Zhang Wei responded.
"Ahh! That is not good. Are you not worried he might collapse."
Looking at Xinyue’s concern about Jun Wu’s health, the two retainers had a pleasing smile on their faces. With each passing day, they liked Xinyue more.
She was respectful, humble, and took care of everyone. Importantly, she was beautiful.
With such a pretty girl among them, the lone dogs couldn’t help but smile.
After coming from the ruin, the two sustained various injuries and were recovering under her intense care.
As for their loot, they kept it hidden for now.
According to Jun Wu, the Soaring Cloud Region situation was quite sensitive, and they needed to keep a low profile for the time being.
This was not the time to flaunt their wealth.
Just then, Jun Wu walked out of the forge holding four black plates.
"Zhang Wei, what’s your weapon?" Jun Wu asked.
"Young Master, I use a saber." Zhang Wei replied, puzzled.
"Good. Take your saber and attack these plates." He threw the plate on the ground.
Zhang Wei, Mao Yun, and Xinyue were confused. Why would he ask him to attack metal plates?
Still, Zhang Wei complied and took out his Mortal Grade weapon. His countenance changed, taking a fighting stance.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
In quick succession, Zhang Wei sent a barrage of attacks. The metal plates trembled with faint pulsations of runes.
Jun Wu stood by the side watching the array plates without blinking. After close to a minute, he stopped Zhang Wei from attacking.
"Young Master, what is going on?" Mao Yun asked.
"You will see..." he responded and picked the four array plates.
On the plate surfaces, there weren’t any traces of the saber on it. They were smooth with rune patterns.
"Zhang Wei, let’s fight." He said as he walked to the training field.
Zhang Wei and Mao Yun looked at each other with a knowing glance. Now, they had begun to understand what the Young Master was making.
It must be a weapon.
But how could four plates become a weapon? This puzzled them.
Still, everyone walked to the training field.
Standing a couple of feet from each other, Zhang Wei faced Jun Wu with a solemn expression.
He did not dare look down on Jun Wu. Their weak Young Master was long gone. What stood before him was a waking monster.
"Young Master, I’m not going to hold back." He declared.
"That’s what I want." Jun Wu nodded. "You can attack."
Whoosh!
Zhang Wei lunged at him with his saber raised. Before he closed the distance, Jun Wu responded with six deadly Wind Blades.
In addition, he threw the four array plates to form a square.
Zhang Wei barely dodged the six Wind Blades when the battle took another turn.
The moment the four array plates touched the ground, they were activated.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The four array plates formed a dense net around him while releasing a terrifying saber qi attack.
The saber attack resembled Zhang Wei’s attack.
Ahhh! Ahhhh!
Zhang Wei let out a miserable scream as the dense saber qi ripped through his clothes cutting deep into his skin.
Whoosh!
The array plates were deactivated. However, the effect left everyone horrifyingly scared.
Zhang Wei lay on the ground covered in blood.
Jun Wu was also stunned. He did not expect the Four-Square Killing Net would be this frightening.
Quickly, he took out a healing pill from his storage pouch and gave it to him.
Swallowing the healing pill, the effect was almost immediate.
"I’m sorry. I did not expect the effect would be that powerful." Jun Wu apologized.
Zhang Wei nodded. He knew his Young Master did not deliberately do it. Besides, this was not the first time they sparred to test his creation.
While Mao Yun and Xinyue were stunned by the effect of the Four-Square Killing Net, a voice came from behind.
"Young Master, is that your new creation?" Elder Peng asked with a trembling voice.
"Yes..." Jun Wu nodded. "It is a Four-Square Killing Net array plate. A Grade-1 Array Plate."
What!
Everyone widened their eyes.
"Young Master, you’ve become a Grade-1 Blacksmith?" Elder Peng asked with wide eyes.
Jun Wu nodded and a faint smile hung at the corner of his lips.
Everyone could not believe their ears. He was already a monster in Array Formation known throughout the Soaring Cloud Region.
And now...
Zhang Wei and Mao Yun exchanged a knowing glance. Xinyue stared at Jun Wu with bright stars in her eyes.
Feeling their gaze, Jun Wu cleared his throat and looked at Elder Peng.
"Have you delivered the letter?"
***
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