At this moment, Long Chen held a sword identical to the one Qin Feng had used to scare off the crowd. However, this sword possessed a bit more spirituality in it, as if it were alive.

This sword resonated according to a mysterious rhythm in Long Chen’s hand, and a twinkling light flowed around it, filling the world with color.

“What a beautiful sword!” exclaimed Bai Shishi. She had never seen such a beautiful sword before.

Guo Ran wiped off some sweat, emotionally saying, “I finally succeeded! This sword can place me in the ranks of grandmasters. Of course, some credit has to go to Xia Chen’s help, and boss’s—”

“Of course, our contributions were only a percent of a percent, and the rest was all yours,” mocked Long Chen, causing everyone to laugh.

This time, Guo Ran was a bit embarrassed. “Joking aside, Xia Chen helped me the most. He can take at least half of the credit.”

Xia Chen simply smiled and didn’t say anything. However, what Guo Ran said was undoubtedly the truth. This time, the weapon blueprint, the forging method, the smelting process, and material picks were all Xia Chen’s efforts. If Guo Ran were to do everything on his own, he wouldn’t have been able to pull this off.

Thankfully, Xia Chen was much calmer than him and didn’t particularly care about showing off. Looking at the sword in Long Chen’s hand, Xia Chen was filled with pride as it symbolized the pinnacle of skill that he and Guo Ran had ever achieved together.

“Then the sword in my hand isn’t finished yet, right?” Qin Feng pulled out his sword. After comparing it to the glowing sword in Long Chen’s hand, he suddenly felt that his sword was no longer so amazing.

Qin Feng’s sword had also been freshly forged by Guo Ran, and after testing it, Qin Feng was extremely satisfied with it. However, now he couldn’t help but feel envious of Long Chen’s sword.

“The sword in your hand isn’t unfinished, it’s defective. Fuck, my heart hurts just thinking about it,” replied Guo Ran through clenched teeth.

“A defective product? Boss Guo Ran, you aren’t bragging, right?” Qin Feng was stunned. How could such a sharp sword be a defective product?

“Fuck, do I look like someone who likes bragging?”

After his outburst, Guo Ran found himself doubting his own words. “Even if I do like bragging from time to time, would I joke about something so serious? That sword really is a defective good. Most hateful of all, the precious materials used in its forging are gone, so there’s no way to fix it. It can only be thrown away.”

“What are you talking about? This sword is very powerful!” retorted Qin Feng, his eyes widening.

“Strong means nothing. It lacks a soul, and it’s fated to be a dead object with no room for growth. It will never form a resonance with you. Although it was made out of the best materials, it has an upper limit.” Guo Ran shook his head and took Qin Feng’s sword with a pained expression.

Although Guo Ran was lacking in other regards, he was always serious when it came to forging, unable to tolerate the slightest flaw. He was an extremist in this regard.

“The two sides of the sword are struck a total of 999 times by the hammer, and every strike has to be perfectly equal in power. Then, the final strike links all the hammer marks together and adds the final specific rune, awakening every mark, causing them to resonate and form life fluctuations. This is a Grand Dao. It’s extremely miraculous,” explained Long Chen as he rubbed the sword with admiration.

Those “scales” on the sword were Guo Ran’s hammer marks, which had the exact same size and layered according to a set pattern.

The final strike of the hammer was like a single dot in a painting that turned it from a lifeless object into an unmatched masterpiece—practically a divine technique to bestow life on an object. Even Long Chen was amazed by it.

Qin Feng’s sword was identical to Long Chen’s. However, during the making of Qin Feng’s sword there had been a problem with the final strike of the hammer, resulting in an incorrect final dot. Due to one mistake, it was defective. Furthermore, there was no way to fix it or recycle it, which was why Guo Ran’s heart hurt.

What he was aggrieved about wasn’t the loss of the materials or his invested time and effort. It was the deeply personal connection he felt to each of his creations. To him, every creation was akin to his own child, and a failure felt like the death of a child in the womb.

“To be able to find the correct method after one failure already makes you a genius amongst geniuses in forging. Don’t be dejected,” comforted Long Chen.

“In truth, I’m not dejected. It’s just that… I thoroughly enjoy hearing your praise and admiration, Boss, hahaha!” Guo Ran’s sudden laughter broke the tension, his demeanor shifting too swiftly for comprehension.

Seeing this scene, Long Chen had the urge to strike Guo Ran with his new masterpiece. However, this sword was too sharp. Even with Guo Ran’s three-fold armor, he might not be able to block it.

Everyone was speechless. This fellow seemed insane, and there was no way to judge him according to the standards of a normal person.

“That’s right, Qin Feng, what was going on outside?” asked Long Chen.

“Just a group of rabble who wanted to vent. After I killed a chicken to warn the monkeys, they ran,” chortled Qin Feng.

“Good job. This first sword will be yours.” Long Chen handed the sword to Qin Feng, delighting him. However, Xia Chen interrupted them.

“That sword hasn’t had runes on it yet. It will only be a true divine weapon once I’m done.”

“Alright. Well, work hard everyone. I trust that the ninth heaven will soon open. This time, we’re probably going to have to slaughter our way in,” said Long Chen with a slight smile.

“We’ll make the name of the Dragonblood Legion resound throughout the Sovereign Emperor Heaven!”

Everyone laughed heroically. They were all nine star Heavenly Doyens and were about to get weapons that suited them. Hence, they were all excited over the opening of the Sovereign Emperor Heaven.

Guo Ran was busy forging, and Xia Chen was busy inscribing runes. Meanwhile, Long Chen distributed medicinal pills to everyone, but he told them not to be in a rush to increase their realm. As nine-star Doyens with dragon blood, they needed to maintain a delicate balance between their newfound powers. Rushing to elevate their realms alone could lead to complications.

Returning to his seclusion chamber, Long Chen started refining a huge number of medicinal pills. Although the Earth Cauldron had told him that it would be extremely difficult for him to increase his realm, he hadn’t expected it to be this hard.

He devoured eighteen barrels of medicinal pills before finally stabilizing in the first Heavenstage of the Divine Venerate realm. Yet, he felt no joy at this moment.

These were peerless grade golden pills, and an ordinary cultivator could advance two to three minor realms by consuming one of them. However, he had to tally his intake by the barrel.

Contemplating the terrifying amount he would need upon reaching the ninth Heavenstage, Long Chen felt as though an enormous, daunting mountain was looming over him. He almost despaired. Could anyone endure consuming that many pills?

“Not good! Boss, Xiaole is being beaten! You have to come quickly!”