The key to the treasure vault atop Holy Arrival Mountain is kept by the Si family's matriarch, who is also the Holy Maiden of our Heavenly Demon Cult.
Shan Youxin continued, "All our cult's wealth is managed through the Si family, and all finances must pass through their hands. If the Cult Master wishes to access the vault this time, he must first obtain the key from the Holy Maiden. As long as we can retrieve the heavenly materials and earthly treasures from the vault, forging eight thousand sword blanks won't be difficult. Using the Imperial Forge to produce sword blanks will be very fast!"
The Si family held a prominent position within the Heavenly Demon Cult, and the Holy Maiden was often drawn from their ranks. The current Holy Maiden was Si Yunxiang, which meant the vault key was in her possession.
Qin Mu found Si Yunxiang, who exclaimed in surprise, "Eight thousand swords to forge a sword pellet! That's so many swords—can the Cult Master even lift them?"
Qin Mu's face darkened. He too was somewhat worried about his ability to wield so many flying swords once they were forged into a sword pellet.
Si Yunxiang observed his expression and said with a smile, "You are the Cult Master and Holy Teacher. It's only natural that the heavenly materials and earthly treasures from the vault should be used to forge spirit weapons for the Cult Master. However, these treasures were accumulated over time by the sect's disciples. During the recent disaster relief, our Heavenly Demon Cult spent all its funds on aid. The vault is empty of money, and if any mishaps occur, it would be troublesome for the sect to have no emergency funds."
Qin Mu laughed, "I understand your predicament. I still have a million Dafeng coins here. Perhaps I could contribute them to the Heavenly Demon Cult, so you can withdraw them for emergencies."
Si Yunxiang was overjoyed. "A million Dafeng coins is a lot, but among a million disciples, it's barely enough for each person to receive one Dafeng coin. Since the Cult Master is forging swords, the Shao Bao Sword is no longer necessary..."
Qin Mu's face darkened as he removed the Shao Bao Sword and handed it to her.
Si Yunxiang kindly reminded him, "The Cult Master's Taotie Bag seems to contain other treasures as well, like the Thousand-Banner Pagoda, which could also be used to replenish the vault..."
Qin Mu took off his Taotie Bag and removed the Thousand-Banner Pagoda and scorched-tail zither. Suddenly, he became wary. "Wait—I only intended to forge a Six Harmonies realm spirit weapon. Why are you asking for Cult Master-level treasures? Their values aren't even comparable! Holy Maiden, are you trying to trick me?"
Si Yunxiang scoffed, "Cult Master, the treasures in the Heavenly Demon Cult's vault are more than enough to forge a dozen Cult Master-level artifacts! If the Cult Master wants to use these treasures to forge a single sword pellet, we can't let the vault be emptied all at once, can we?"
Qin Mu considered this and realized it made sense. He had no choice but to hand over the Cult Master-level treasures from his Taotie Bag—spoils from raiding the Loulan Golden Palace's vault, so he didn't feel too attached to them.
"Cult Master, your bag still contains those Star Pearls from the Qushan Divine Temple in the Eastern Sea, doesn't it?"
Si Yunxiang's eyes sparkled. "There are three thousand of them!"
Qin Mu said with a grim expression, "Holy Maiden, this is all I have!"
Si Yunxiang smiled, "You are the Holy Cult Master. I'm not asking for your treasures—I'm suggesting they be stored in the Heavenly Demon Cult's vault. Aren't they still yours? Our Si family manages the wealth, but it's a thankless task, isn't it? We can only look but not use. No matter how many treasures there are, aren't they all surnamed Qin?"
Qin Mu felt her words were quite reasonable, but something still felt off. Nevertheless, he produced the three thousand pearls.
Si Yunxiang stole a couple of glances into his Taotie Bag. "And those two large eyeballs..."
"Not giving them!" Qin Mu's face turned ashen, and he had the urge to kill.
Si Yunxiang probed tentatively, "Cult Master, that dragon qilin of yours..."
Qin Mu relaxed and said with a smile, "If you can afford to feed it, you can take it."
Si Yunxiang quickly laughed, "I'm joking, Cult Master. That glutton is better kept by you. Even the Ancestor didn't want him, complaining about how much he eats. I'll go have my Si family elders retrieve the materials from Holy Arrival Mountain and deliver them to the Imperial Forge in Fangzhou for the Cult Master to forge the sword."
Qin Mu held his deflated Taotie Bag, his face green. He felt like he'd been stripped bare by this little vixen, standing there without a shred to his name.
"This woman is obsessed with money. I can't outwit her. I need to bring Ling'er over soon to manage the finances, otherwise I'll be completely stripped by the Holy Maiden—skinned and squeezed to the bone!" the great Cult Master thought to himself.
Si Yunxiang ran to the side and took out a mirror. The mirror floated in the air and spun twice, revealing another mirror within the reflection. Behind that mirror was an old woman who asked, "What matter does Holy Maiden Xiang seek me for?"
Si Yunxiang explained Qin Mu's sword-forging project and said, "The Holy Cult Master wishes to forge spirit weapons—this is no small matter. Please retrieve the finest materials from the vault and send them to the Imperial Forge in Fangzhou."
The old woman frowned. "The Si family doesn't do unprofitable business. The Cult Master is still young and his cultivation is low. Why use the finest materials..."
"We made a profit!"
Si Yunxiang displayed the treasures she'd bluffed and tricked out of Qin Mu. The Si family matriarch's eyes lit up immediately, and she exclaimed repeatedly, "So many sect-protecting level treasures! The Holy Maiden truly knows how to manage wealth! Good, good—worthy of my training. You didn't learn from your aunt! That aunt of yours spent money like flowing water, never calculating accounts—she's a spendthrift!"
She was referring to Grandma Si, who had always been indifferent to money, preferring to buy only the most expensive items regardless of necessity.
The Si family matriarch continued, "The finest sword-forging materials are extremely heavy. A piece the size of a finger can weigh dozens of jin, and the vault doesn't have enough material to forge eight thousand swords. For sect-protecting level artifacts, we can forge twenty-seven swords, each weighing roughly ten thousand jin."
"What about the next grade?" Si Yunxiang asked.
The Si family matriarch replied, "The next grade isn't enough either—we can only forge a hundred flying swords at most."
Si Yunxiang frowned deeply. "What about the grade below that?"
"The grade below that includes Cold Iron Essence, Dark Gold Essence, and Dark Copper Essence. There's more than enough to forge eight thousand swords."
Si Yunxiang said, "Then please bring the finest of the second grade, and fill in the rest with Dark Gold Essence. The finest materials will be sufficient for sharpening the spirit swords."
The Si family matriarch asked suspiciously, "Dark Gold Essence is three times heavier than Cold Iron Essence. Why use Dark Gold Essence instead of Cold Iron?"
Si Yunxiang smiled sweetly. The Si family matriarch in the mirror rolled her eyes at her. "You little minx, up to your tricks again! Be careful the Cult Master can't lift them and spanks your bottom until it's swollen! I'll send the materials to Yongzhou. Have that bandit named Fan bring his ship over."
Si Yunxiang agreed, and she reversed the bronze mirror twice, causing the mirror-within-a-mirror to vanish.
Two days later, Fan Yunxiao sailed back from Yongzhou, transporting the materials needed for Qin Mu's sword forging. The Imperial Forge in Fangzhou immediately bustled with activity again.
Forging the sword blanks wasn't troublesome—merely shaping the initial form of the swords. However, even this required hammering each blank hundreds or thousands of times, repeatedly forging and pressing.
The finished sword blanks had flat, rod-like blades. To polish them into proper swords still required Qin Mu's personal effort—thousandfold hammering and tempering.
Qin Mu picked up a sword blank, and his expression soured. Si Yunxiang approached with feigned concern, "Cult Master, what's wrong?"
"It's a bit heavy."
Qin Mu said dejectedly, "It's two or three times heavier than I imagined. Each sword weighs three hundred jin, and once forged into a sword pellet, eight thousand swords..."
Si Yunxiang laughed, "The Cult Master wanted the finest materials, so naturally they'd be heavier. The sharpening materials used this time are even better than those used for the emperor's bestowed swords for first-rank officials—sharper, heavier, and harder to forge! As they say, 'true mastery appears effortless.' The Cult Master can simply throw the sword pellet without needing any sword techniques, and that will be enough to crush a whole crowd."
Qin Mu said grimly, "I'd still need to be able to throw it. Eight thousand swords..."
Si Yunxiang was delighted. "I've heard that when forged to perfection, the weight can be adjusted at will. The Cult Master is an expert in artifact forging—he can surely refine the sword pellet to that stage!"
Qin Mu turned and walked away with the sword blank, muttering obscure phrases like "hundred forges, hundred temperings, transform into divine craft" and "strength to uproot mountains."
Si Yunxiang blinked, feeling quite pleased with herself.
In the Imperial Forge, though Shan Youxin wanted to stay and observe Qin Mu's sword forging, Prince Ling Yushu still had to attend to government affairs in other prefectures. He had no choice but to order disciples from the Heavenly Crafts Hall to help, while he and the Ministry of Works officials accompanied Ling Yushu to the next prefecture.
With the Heavenly Crafts Hall disciples assisting, Qin Mu's forging speed wasn't slow. However, completing all eight thousand swords, each perfectly matching his spirit weapon form, was still a monumental task.
Especially since the heavenly materials and earthly treasures Si Yunxiang had sent were of exceptional quality, making them easy to shape to any size was extremely laborious. Qin Mu continuously inscribed spirit weapon patterns and stamped various seals onto the sword bodies. After several months, he had lost considerable weight.
Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang also stayed to help. The two women learned many forging techniques from Qin Mu and upgraded their Nine Dragon Soldiers and Thousand-Thread Swords with some superior materials, raising them to a higher grade.
Qin Mu had forged seven thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine swords. The final sword was the mother sword within the sword pellet—it required the finest materials, otherwise it couldn't coordinate all the subsidiary swords.
To forge the mother sword, Qin Mu exhausted his ingenuity. He had reserved the finest material—a metal he had never seen before. A piece the size of a fist weighed ten thousand jin. Si Yunxiang said it was something that had fallen from beyond the heavens.
However, this metal was only enough to forge the blade and body—not enough for a complete mother sword.
Qin Mu took out the broken sword from his Taotie Bag. This broken sword had also been obtained from the Loulan Golden Palace. Si Yunxiang, seeing that the sword was broken, hadn't extorted this one from him.
Qin Mu held the unknown metal in one hand and the broken sword in the other, comparing them. Suddenly, with a clang, the broken sword and the unknown metal were drawn together, colliding!
This change took Qin Mu by surprise. The broken sword radiated brilliant light, while the fist-sized metal also emitted streams of golden light, like sword currents flying through the air, circling in great rings that surrounded Qin Mu in the center. The dazzling radiance illuminated the entire Imperial Forge, its light streaming through the doors and windows, blindingly bright!
Clinking sounds echoed continuously as the light emitted from the metal circled and collided with the broken sword's blade. Each impact sent numbness through Qin Mu's arm.
After countless collisions, the metal suddenly fell to the ground and shattered into ash with a whoosh, scattering everywhere.
And the broken sword in Qin Mu's hand now gleamed brilliantly—no longer a broken sword at all!
This broken sword had absorbed the metal's golden essence, regenerating its blade and becoming brand new!
Strange patterns like dragons and snakes writhed across the blade. The patterns glowed brightly before dimming again, but Qin Mu had already seen the two characters the patterns had formed.
"Wuyou!"