Chapter 718: The Old Ox
More than a hundred li from the center of the explosion, Qin Mu crawled out of a large crater in a sorry state, his clothes tattered and torn. He patted at the flames still burning on his body—those flames crackled and sizzled, roasting him until he gave off the smell of cooked meat.
Just now, he had used demonic essence to ignite heavenly fire, and the explosion had occurred without the slightest warning.
Fortunately, he had been cautious, using only a wisp of demonic essence to trigger the heavenly fire. As a result, the explosion had not been too violent—it had only blasted him a hundred li away.
Even so, it had nearly killed him. Luckily, he had cultivated the Creation Art of both Red Emperor and Bright Emperor, which had managed to preserve his life.
"The Nether Realm belongs to the demonic path, while the Mystic Capital belongs to the divine path. Using Nether Realm demonic qi to ignite Mystic Capital heavenly fire—it seems that was bound to cause trouble."
The youth extinguished the demonic flames on his body, then glanced behind him. The back of his clothes had also been blown open in several large holes, exposing half of a snow-white rear end.
These clothes had been refined by Yu Zhaoqing and the experts of the Heavenly Feather Clan. They were quite well-made—the garments could grow or shrink as needed, and could even change color according to one's mood, so they were never monotonous.
He had worn them constantly, but now they could no longer be worn.
"I'll have to ask Sister Yu for help again, to refine a few new sets of clothes."
He flew into the air, feeling a chilly draft behind him.
Qin Mu returned to the center of the explosion and found his sword orb. During the explosion just now, he had aimed the blast at his own sword orb. The orb had borne the collision of demonic fire and heavenly fire—he didn't know whether it had been scorched or shattered.
"Oh—"
Qin Mu let out a soft exclamation. The sword orb had shrunk considerably again. Now it was only the size of a fist. He didn't know whether part of it had been vaporized or whether it had truly been tempered into something smaller.
At this moment, the sword orb emitted a quiet, mysterious glow, like a night pearl. The light was not intense—it flowed like water from within the orb, contained yet not released, making the orb seem as though it were composed entirely of light.
He reached out and grasped the sword orb in his hand. It was extremely heavy—no lighter than before. This showed that the great explosion of demonic fire and heavenly fire had not vaporized the orb.
Qin Mu was briefly stunned. Alternating tempering with divine fire and demonic fire could indeed rapidly refine a sword orb to the point where the sword flowed like water. However, just now, the demonic fire mixed with heavenly fire had produced a violent explosion. Under such circumstances, for the sword orb to be refined to the point of flowing like water was somewhat unbelievable.
He gripped the sword orb tightly. Within it, the sword light flowed like a stream, spilling out from between his fingers, bending and flowing according to his will.
This sword light was very quiet, mysterious. It made no sound as it cut through the air. Even when he struck at full speed, there was no sound of the blade breaking the air. Its silence was frightening.
Yet when Qin Mu gently stroked the sword light, he could clearly feel the cold texture of the blade.
This characteristic indicated that the sword's flexibility had reached a level approaching flowing water, while the strength of the blade body was also extraordinarily high!
The toughness and strength of the sword orb had reached a perfect standard!
"My forging and smelting techniques have never reached this level. Even Grandpa Mute might not be able to achieve this. So what exactly happened here?"
When others refined treasures, if they succeeded, they succeeded—they wouldn't think about the reasons behind it. But he was more interested in why this phenomenon had occurred.
"I wonder how wear-resistant it is?"
Qin Mu rummaged through his Gluttony Pouch and found the Heaven's Mourning Bell. This bell was a treasure of the Nether Capital. In the Nether Yin Realm, disciples of the Nether Capital had once used this treasure to attack him, causing him considerable trouble.
The Heaven's Mourning Bell was a treasure refined by gods and demons, also made of Nether Yin gold—the same material as the sword orb in Qin Mu's hand. However, his sword orb also contained some Buddhist essence and red chromium.
Qin Mu lifted the bell and rubbed its mouth against the sword orb. He rubbed for a long time, and sure enough, the bell's mouth was worn away in one spot, while the sword orb remained completely unharmed.
"Its wear resistance is also extremely high!"
Qin Mu was astonished. Judging by his refining techniques, he was indeed quite skilled, but not yet skilled to this degree.
"Was it the effect of heavenly fire and demonic fire? That played a part, but more likely it was the abnormally intense heat and impact produced by that explosion just now."
Qin Mu frowned slightly. "Can explosions also be used for smelting and forging? Why didn't Grandpa Mute teach me this... Wait a moment! When refining treasures, one uses a hammer to strike repeatedly. In the Imperial Manufactory, giant mechanical constructs are used to forge and press, releasing millions of jin of pressure in an instant. And gods like Grandpa Mute can swing a hammer to increase the pressure to hundreds or thousands of times that of the mechanical constructs! The temperature generated in the instant the hammer falls approaches the surface temperature of the sun! However, explosions can produce the same effect—and the pressure from an explosion is even greater!"
His eyes lit up. He paced back and forth, muttering softly: "When heavenly fire and demonic fire collide and explode, the heat and pressure they generate are something even gods and demons like Grandpa Mute cannot match. That's why my sword orb was refined to a perfect state in one go! Explosion refining—this has great potential!"
Qin Mu spread his five fingers. Suddenly, the sword orb rang out with a clanging sound and split into eight thousand swords, their tips pointing toward the center.
With a thought, the sword orb vanished and transformed into two long blades. Qin Mu grabbed the blades and began executing Night Battle Through the City in Wind and Rain, but he only managed half a stance before he was panting heavily and nearly fell to his knees.
"The sword orb is too heavy. Using primordial qi to control it is one thing, but holding it in my hands—I can't even execute a single stance."
Qin Mu's heart stirred. The two long blades vanished and merged back into a fist-sized sword orb. He placed it in his Gluttony Pouch, but it weighed down his belt, pulling his pants down.
The capital's guard troops sensed the explosion here and rode over on large black-feathered, red-combed birds. When they saw the tattered Qin Mu, they were startled and quickly asked: "Lord Qin, what happened here?"
Qin Mu waved his hand and smiled: "Just a small matter. Don't worry about it. I'm returning to the Tu River Imperial Manufactory. You lot can fill in the crater left by the explosion." With that, he walked toward the manufactory.
The guards looked at each other in bewilderment. They watched this Lord Qin, famous throughout the capital, walk with difficulty along the river toward the manufactory, exposing half of a snow-white rear end as he moved.
"Should we give his lordship some clothes to cover his shame?" one soldier said in a low voice.
The leader hesitated for a moment, then shook his head: "I've heard that Lord Qin is also a tailor. In his early years, famous figures in the capital would seek him out to cut clothes for them—it was quite fashionable. This outfit is probably Lord Qin's innovative design for this year—a beggar's ensemble he created himself..."
Qin Mu returned to the Imperial Manufactory and saw Dragon Qilin lying on the ground, his chin flat on the floor, all four legs stretched out straight. He couldn't help but shake his head.
The disciples of the Heavenly Crafts Hall in the manufactory hastily brought out clothes, saying: "Your Holiness, we don't have anything nice here—just ordinary coarse cloth garments. Please make do with these."
Qin Mu put on the clothes and smiled: "I'm planning to test some things, so the clothes don't need to be too good. Prepare a few more sets—I might need to change several times. Oh, right. Is the Hall Master of the Heavenly Crafts Hall here? Have him come over immediately!"
The disciples quickly sent word for the Heavenly Crafts Hall Master to come. They asked in surprise: "What does Your Holiness plan to do?"
"Explosion refining!"
The Heavenly Crafts Hall Master had originally been in Jiangling, working with the National Preceptor and the Emperor to build the Sun Boat and Moon Boat. That problem had now been solved. Upon hearing the news, he immediately took a fast boat to come over, arriving by sunset.
Qin Mu, the Heavenly Crafts Hall Master, and many disciples of the Heavenly Crafts Hall all crowded into the workshop. For the next ten-plus days, explosions continuously rang out from within the Imperial Manufactory, shaking the houses in the capital and causing considerable public complaint.
Finally, even the Empress and Crown Prince Ling Yushu could no longer sit still. They hurried to the Imperial Manufactory. When they reached the workshop, they saw many cultivators flying around a giant furnace over ten zhang tall, inscribing various runes onto it.
That furnace was different from ordinary furnaces—it had no ventilation openings. Its exterior was covered with Vermilion Bird patterns and various other mysterious flame designs, and its structure was extremely complex.
"Your Majesty, Your Highness!"
The Heavenly Crafts Hall Master had been blasted until his face was black with soot. Seeing the Empress and the Crown Prince, he hurried forward to pay his respects, saying: "To think we disturbed Your Majesty and Your Highness—this subject deserves death!"
The Empress smiled: "We saw you all banging away here day after day, keeping the common folk from sleeping, so We came to have a look. Where is Lord Qin? What new trick is he teaching you all now?"
"His Holiness Qin has gone to the Southern Frontier. He said he wanted to ask Clan Leader Yu to refine some clothes for him."
The Heavenly Crafts Hall Master, Shan Youxin, smiled: "His Holiness has been leading us in researching explosion refining. This furnace is for that purpose. Your Majesty, Your Highness, this furnace is enough to rapidly refine divine weapons to a usable state. The runes on it are Vermilion Bird runes and heavenly fire runes. Once ignited, the powerful explosion drives the hammer bolts inside the furnace, striking the divine metal—one strike to shape it, extremely fast!"
Ling Yushu and the Empress were greatly shaken. They exclaimed: "Divine weapons can be refined this quickly?"
Shan Youxin smiled: "Tempering divine metal is extremely difficult. The Tu River Imperial Manufactory is one of the few places capable of tempering divine metal, and even so, the amount tempered each day is not large. The gods of our Yan Kang have all queued up for divine weapon forging—they're scheduled all the way to the year after next, and the year after that! But with this furnace, we can refine all the divine metal the gods need within two months!"
Ling Yushu remembered his father Emperor Yanfeng's instructions and quickly asked: "When the furnace is started, does it consume a lot of medicinal stones? His Holiness Qin has always been extravagant. The Sun-Shooting Divine Cannon he built—Father said it consumed too many medicinal stones. The last time Father fired it, he was so pained he couldn't sleep well for three months."
Shan Youxin hesitated for a moment: "It doesn't consume too much. Well... not too much..."
At the Li River Academy, Qin Mu found Yu Zhaoqing and asked her to help refine some clothes. Yu Zhaoqing quickly gathered the experts of the Heavenly Feather Clan and smiled: "Your Highness, I've been raising silkworms at the academy and have found some excellent materials. Rest assured, Your Highness—I'll make them well. Does Your Highness want a dragon robe?"
Qin Mu quickly shook his head: "Don't joke around. I'm not planning to rebel."
Yu Zhaoqing looked a little regretful: "I could make two sets to keep in reserve."
Qin Mu shook his head and went to find Ba Shan the Sacrificial Wine. The two fellow disciples drank wine together in the hall. Fox Ling'er was also in the Southern Frontier, cultivating under Fox Immortal, one of the Five Immortals of the demon race. Upon hearing the news, she came running over, clamoring for wine. But she saw Dragon Qilin outside the hall beating up the green ox, sending the ox howling in pain.
"Big Sister! I'm your sworn brother Green Ox—save me!" the ox cried out.
Fox Ling'er shook her head, ignored him, and slipped into the hall to drink wine with Qin Mu and Ba Shan.
A few days later, Yu Zhaoqing finished refining several sets of clothes. Qin Mu tried them on and was quite satisfied. He then embroidered heavenly fire patterns and Nether Realm script onto the clothes with gold and silver thread as decoration.
These two types of runes would ensure that even if he encountered an explosion of that same power again, his clothes would not be destroyed.
"Your Highness, these days the Heavenly Feather Clan members are homesick. They always want to return to the Heavenly Feather World."
Yu Zhaoqing carefully probed Qin Mu's intentions, smiling: "Now that Yan Kang no longer faces the threat of heavenly calamity, shouldn't we consider the various worlds?"
Qin Mu understood perfectly and smiled: "Yan Kang has only just stabilized. A hundred things await restoration, and the Emperor doesn't have enough troops to pacify the Heavenly Feather World. The Heavenly Feather World is like the Great Wasteland—daytime is still normal, but at night, darkness invades. Since the darkness has not yet been pacified, Sister, why not wait a while longer? Once Nether Yin Empress has completely pacified the remaining troubles of the Nether Yin Realm, you can return to the Heavenly Feather World."
Yu Zhaoqing could only say: "This humble woman will await Your Highness's news."
Qin Mu drew a geographical map and said: "Clan Leader, you can take some of the clan's young men and women to the Nether Yin Realm first. Nether Yin Empress is short-handed there. When you arrive, she will put you to important use, and there will be many benefits. Once other races enter the Nether Yin Realm, there won't be as many benefits. I still need to go to Fengdu, so I'm afraid I won't have time to escort you there."
Yu Zhaoqing was overjoyed and hurried off to arrange the matter.
Qin Mu took his leave of Ba Shan the Sacrificial Wine and Fox Ling'er, then immediately set out for the Great Wasteland.
He entered Fengdu from the Great Wasteland and had Dragon Qilin wait outside Fengdu. But he did not see Di Yuemei or Tian Shu. Fengdu was just as it had always been—it had not undergone any renovation.
"Could Sister Di Yuemei still be searching for Heavenly King Tian Shu?"
Qin Mu was puzzled. He took Lingjing Daoist's small boat and left Fengdu, only to see Dragon Qilin beaten black and blue, in a sorry state.
Qin Mu quickly asked what had happened. Dragon Qilin said: "I ran into an old ox plowing the fields. It looked a bit like Green Ox, so I thought I'd bully it a little. But I ended up getting beaten."
Qin Mu was stunned and quickly asked: "Where is this old ox?"
Dragon Qilin led him to seek revenge. They arrived near a few mu of rice paddies. From a distance, Qin Mu saw an old ox sitting on its rear end in the shade of a tree, its two hind legs stretched out on the ground like a person's, its front hooves leisurely holding a water pipe, puffing clouds of smoke. It squinted at the rice paddies.
Beside it was a small stone table with tea brewing on it.
Qin Mu stepped forward, paid his respects, and said: "Daoist Brother."
—Warm congratulations on Flying Sky Panda's wedding. Congratulations, congratulations! May you have a child soon, a hundred years of harmony, and grow old together!