Chapter 197: Green Wave
“Nine edges combined together? Wow, that sure does sound awesome!” Zen said in an astonished tone. In the first glance, he thought the Nine Edges Sword's edge was too thick, but now he didn't think so after he understood the significance of its name. He thought to himself, 'Even though the nine edges used to forge this sword are very thin, it is still hard to condense them into a tool which is as thin as this.'
The shopkeeper nodded in approval, “Chase's weapon refining skills are outstanding and irreplaceable. Only a genius like him could think of such an innovative way to optimally use the materials and forge such a mighty sword.”
According to the shopkeeper's further explanation, Chase used a special kind of steel which had great ductility for the sword's purpose. His first step was to heat the steel until it softened and after that the matter was placed on an iron plate which too had been heated in a furnace filled with a special kind of charcoal for special effect.
This special kind of charcoal, mined right from the Cloud Mountain, could keep burning for over three months after being lit. After being heated for such a long time, the iron plate had become red-hot while maintaining a flat plane.
A dozen of muscular men would then be ordered to move a huge roller, weighing over ten thousand pounds, to keep flattening the steel on the iron plate.
After seven days of hard and constant work, the steel was condensed and compressed into a thin sheet which was stuck tightly to the iron plate. But now instead of putting it all into cold water, which was the common procedure in forging, the iron plate would be placed in normal temperature until it cooled down and the steel sheet fell off it naturally in its own pace.
After this long process, the kind of extremely thin steel sheets processed formed the basic material of the Nine Edges Sword.
Post the preparation of nine steel sheets of this sort, Chase merged them together one layer after another patiently to deliver the finest result. Each time he merged two layers of the steel sheets, he would add a concoction of different special materials and employed his special refining method, which was a well kept secret from the world.
It was a tedious process which required great patience, strength and determination.
After the steel sheets were all merged together, they would be put into a smelting furnace and using the fire generated by the weapon refiner's life energy, they would receive the final refinement. During this process, the weapon refiner added the heavenly essence into the weapon to further strengthen it giving it a special nature of its own.
In fact, Chase's way of forging the Nine Edges Sword was well known to the public.
Even so with such knowledge, no other weapon refiners was able to repeat the process with the same skillset to produce a masterpiece.
It was said that even the weapon refining master at the Burning Sky Palace tried his hands at making a weapon on the lines of the Nine Edges Sword. But he too failed to merge all of the nine steel sheets together and was only able to produce an incomparable “Eight Edges Sword”.
“I didn't expect for this mighty sword to undergo so many processes and require so much effort to reach perfection,” Zen spoke out honestly as he fully pulled out this sword from its sheath and waved it with vigour in the air. He appreciated the details and perfection of this weapon. Because of its heavy weight, it could generate a greater power as its user cut through his enemies with it. On the other hand, its user could also employ it as a sword to stab his enemies and perform swordplay if he had great strength to wave the tool smoothly.
“Despite its powerful features and magnificence, yet there is just one small problem about this weapon,” the shopkeeper said as he took a heavy deep sigh expressing his disappointment.
“Oh really?” Zen asked immidiately with dripping curiousity, “This weapon seems perfect owing to its grand appearance and appealing functions. What is the imperfect part it conceals so well?”
The shopkeeper answered with a sorry look, “Actually, Chase was attempting to forge a ”Ten Edges Sword“ at the very beginning. However, he failed right at the last step. Had he succeeded, this weapon had the capability to have been a fairy weapon!”
“Oh, now I understand it.” Zen stared at the weapon in his hand quietly almost like he was studying the details. It was already an extraordinary achievement to merge nine layers of steel sheets together, and it must be much harder to add just this last one layer.
The shopkeeper regained his smile and said, “Nonetheless, as a spiritual weapon, the Nine Edges Sword too is the best among other swords of the same rank. Are you interested to own it?”
Zen pushed the weapon back into its sheath delicately and said, “Before I make a decision, I want to have a look at the other two swords here.”
There were still two other weapons in the showcase which Zen decided to examine carefully before he finally decided on one!
“Okay. I totally understand that you need to examine and analyse each carefully before you find a suitable spiritual weapon for yourself,” the shopkeeper said as he took out the second sword carefully and handed it to Zen with a warm smile.
This sword was a unique beautiful green color including its hilt and sheath. It seemed to be made of jade.
Compared to the Nine Edges Sword, this green sword was on the other end of the spectrum in terms of appearance. While the Nine Edges Sword was extremely heavy which would intimidate those with poor strength who would struggle even to wave it, whereas this sword was almost as light as a feather, and Zen felt no strain on his hand when holding it.
“This sword is called 'Green Wave', it is another high-level weapon among the spiritual weapons. Like the other two swords here, it was made by Chase during his late experienced years. At that time, he had nearly exhausted his talent, but he still tried to challenge himself and wanted to produce another fairy weapon.”
A weapon refiner's basis for distinguishing himself from the others as a master creator was the fact that he was able to produce a fairy weapon. This was an unwritten rule in the Eastern Region for the past thousands of decades.
Brady, the weapon refiner from the Wang family, Chase, and the weapon refiner at the Burning Sky Palace were all called weapon refining masters because each of them had managed to make a fairy weapon using their special skills and knowledge.
But what distinguished Brady was the fact that he had only produced two fairy weapons during his past lives, but that was enough to make his mark in the world.
As for Chase, he was far better known and respected than Brady because he had made thirteen fairy weapons altogether putting him in a different league all together. Even during the entire course of the Eastern Region's long history, he was the only weapon refiner who was able to make such a significant achievement leaving a legacy.
All of those thirteen weapons were finished at his peak. He did try one last time to make another fairy weapon during his late years, but he had already run out of his great talent.
These three swords in front of Zen were Chase's last attempts at making a fairy weapon during his final days.
He exhausted the remaining inspiration and strength to make these three swords before he eventually died. Some strongly believed that he would have lived for several more years had he not exerted himself.
Zen pulled the sword lightly, and the sharp edge of the sword popped out of its sheath, it was that light and fast.
“Shiiiiiing! Vzzzzt...”
The green edge kept shaking, almost emitting strong vibrations, after it was pulled out of the sheath. Its ringing sound carried itself to the entire space around them, and it sounded refreshing and pleasing as a fairy playing a zither.
Zen lifted the sword and observed its movement casually. Its thin edge was so crystal clear that he could see through it. Everything he saw through this weapon was tinted green.
“It's a good sword,” he praised as he admired the perfect piece of weapon.
Zen had a somewhat broad knowledge of weapons because he had visited the weapon house in White Emperor City, not to mention the fairy palace too. Even so, he couldn't help but feel amazed at the brillance and slender nature of this beautiful sword.
The shopkeeper smiled as he spoke out, “It surely is. Its raw material is the wings of the golden cicadas which give its colour and strength.”
The golden cicada was one of level seven beasts. It was almost as rare as the fire scorpion lion which was a little higher up the rank. Evidently procuring golden cicadas' wings was not an easy task, but it was even harder to make a sword with them.
The golden cicadas had very hard and sharp wings which could easily cut through iron and leave a lasting mark.
However, the wings couldn't be used directly to make weapons. One reason was that they had poor ductility due to their great solidity. Aside from that, the wings could only maintain their supernatural power when they were still on the cicadas' alive bodies.
Once they were removed from the cicadas, the wings would lose their energies and soon become fragile almost instantly. After a short time, they would easily break apart just upon being touched so that they couldn't be used to make a weapon.
Owing to this very reason, the hunters needed to get the golden cicadas' blood and immerse the wings in it. After that, they had to rush back to the capital of Burning Sky Empire and hand the materials to Chase who would then use his knowledge and special method to preserve the wings.
In this way, the ductility and potence of the wings were balanced to the highest extent possible.
“Although Chase failed to make the 'Green Wave' into a fairy weapon, it is one of the best weapons among its rank. Its power and quality are extremely close to an actual fairy weapon!” the shopkeeper said with excitement as his face beamed with pride.
Zen held the sword with a tight grip in his hand and casually waved it in the air. Although he mainly learned about the Purple Light Fist instead of any swordsmanship, he still had some basic skills of using a sword because it was a required course for every warrior. His swift motion was smooth and sharp as he performed a set of swordplay with the Green Wave.
He could feel that the edge of this sword was quite different from a metal weapon. After all, its material was taken from a living creature, and there were numerous tiny spaces among the dead cells. Zen tried to inject his demonic life vitality into the “Green Wave”, and the sword was immediately filled with his energies. Under the influence of his great power, the green sword turned into a color of deep purple.
“Mr. Luo, how do you like this sword?” asked the shopkeeper, trying to get an impression of his first thoughts.
Zen nodded lightly, “It's really a good weapon. I want to know about the prices of the Nine Edges Sword and the Green Wave respectively.”
The shopkeeper pointed at the Nine Edges Sword as he answered, “Although these two swords are both high-level spiritual weapons, they differ a lot in their prices owing to their distinct properties. This Nine Edges Sword will cost you about 30, 000 cubic crystals, while the Green Wave will cost you 80, 000.”
After hearing the shopkeeper's words, Zen was slightly astonished and taken aback by the high price.
He was prepared as he knew that the spiritual weapons would cost much more than his previous weapons, but he never once expected such a high number.
Despite that, he realised that the high prices were reasonable enough as they were high-quality after he pondered over it.
For example, he had once sold a crystal core of fire scorpion lion for 70, 000 cubic crystals at an auction. The crystal core could be used to strengthen the power of the fire generated by a weapon refiner or a pill refiner's life energies.
The main materials of the Green Wave were the wings of the golden cicadas which were close to the fire scorpion lions in their ranks. According to ranks of the beasts, the golden cicadas' wings might only be a bit cheaper than the crystal cores of fire scorpion lions.
Furthermore, the golden cicadas' wings still required more processes and refinement before they were finally trasnformed into the mighty Green Wave, not to mention that it was made by the famous Chase. To be honest, now after analysing everything, Zen felt that this weapon was being sold at a very cheap rate.
As he was not prepared to make such an investment, he didn't bring so many cubic crystals with him, but that wasn't a problem.
With the Blessed Draft Bank token that Wurth had given him, he could pay his bills on credit. As for the cubic crystals he needed to pay here, he knew that Wurth would handle it for him after he told him about the figure.
He was not worried because he still had fifty drops of heavenly essence in Wurth's hand, and those were worth much more than several dozens of thousand cubic crystals.