146: Chapter 146 The Fifth Life, The Blazing Sun Illuminates the Martial Path (Ninety-Four)

Afterwards, Elder Jin's gaze fell upon the scrap metal scattered all over the ground, and he slowly asked,

"Chu Shi, do you know what the real difference between a high-grade magical artifact and a top-grade magical artifact is?"

Hearing this, Chu Shi pondered for a moment before replying truthfully,

"Your disciple is dull-witted and only superficially thought it was a difference in materials.

Ordinary iron ingots have limited quality and cannot bear the power of more than eighteen runes. Only the more precious profound iron can support the formation of stronger magical artifacts."

Elder Jin nodded slightly, affirming his words.

"You are right. Materials are indeed a threshold.

The limit of ordinary iron ingots stops at seventeen runes. This is an innate shackle that is difficult for anyone but a master to reverse."

Then, shifting his tone, he continued with a solemn expression,

"However, this is merely the surface. The real difference lies in the core concept of the rune framework.

high-grade magical artifacts focus on stacking and layering.

Three runes condense one basic effect, nine runes yield three effects, and seventeen runes can at most stack five scattered attributes.

These effects function independently without blending, like loose sand. They are merely a simple addition of values, the so-called 'plus one'.

The more runes there are, the stronger the mutual repulsion, which is the fundamental reason why ordinary iron ingots reach their limit so early.

But top-grade magical artifacts are completely different. With eighteen to twenty-seven runes, there is no need to stack complex and useless effects from the very beginning.

At the start of refining, one must decide on the most core characteristics of a martial weapon, such as true qi conduction, sharpness, blade sturdiness, and weight adjustment."

The remaining runes are no longer used to add extra attributes, but are entirely used to integrate and amplify the core characteristics.

In this way, the scattered 'plus ones' will condense and transform into a 'plus three' or even higher level.

The runes echo and nourish one another, forming a closed-loop flow. This is where the true qualitative leap of a top-grade magical artifact lies."

Hearing these words, Chu Shi's mind buzzed as all his confusion instantly vanished.

So that was it. He had been walking down the wrong path all along.

Blindly stacking effects and forcing more runes, no matter how exquisite the technique, would never allow one to cross the threshold of a top-grade magical artifact.

"Your disciple understands! Thank you, Elder, for clearing my doubts." Chu Shi suddenly realized, his heart instantly clearing.

"What is learned on paper always feels shallow." Elder Jin smiled faintly, reaching out to pick up a profound iron ingot from the side.

"Today, I will personally demonstrate for you, so you can witness the forging method of top-grade magical artifacts with your own eyes."

Chu Shi quickly concentrated and calmed his breathing, his gaze locked tightly onto Elder Jin, not daring to miss a single detail.

The refining officially began.

Unlike the clumsy method of forging high-grade magical artifacts—where effects were inscribed one by one and then forced together—

Elder Jin had already planned the entire rune framework from the very first step of forging the iron blank.

He threw the profound iron into the furnace and took it out just when the heat was perfect.

Tempering it a thousand times, he removed all the impurities inside the profound iron and forged a well-shaped longsword blank.

From the very first stroke of his carving knife, Elder Jin discarded all complex and redundant effect planning, focusing solely on the three core elements of a martial longsword: excellent true qi conduction, indestructible sharpness, and an unbreakable blade.

The twenty-seven runes, grouped in threes, were entirely arranged and constructed around these three core elements.

Without the burden of redundant miscellaneous runes, all the lines connected with each other, laying the groundwork for integration beforehand.

The carving knife rose and fell like flowing water, with the depth and angle of every single rune refined to the absolute limit.

The runes blended perfectly with the profound iron itself, without a single conflict of power or any sign of cracking from beginning to end.

The entire forging process was completed in one smooth motion, a world apart from how Chu Shi used to forge magical artifacts.

Before long, a dark and completely restrained longsword took shape.

All twenty-seven runes were completely hidden within the blade, circulating a smooth and continuous stream of primordial energy.

Elder Jin casually tossed the longsword to Chu Shi.

"Give it a try."

Chu Shi quickly caught it with both hands. It felt just the right weight in his grip, the blade steady and heavy without any of the flightiness of ordinary weapons.

He immediately circulated his cultivation, slowly pouring his vast true qi from his perfect Iron Skin Realm into the blade.

In an instant, the twenty-seven runes hidden within the sword woke up in unison, forming a perfect closed loop of primordial energy.

The pure true qi circulated through the entire longsword without any loss, not only perfectly matching his current cultivation but also faintly amplifying the power of his true qi by several tens of percent.

With a stir of his heart, Chu Shi took out the seventeen-rune high-grade longsword he had poured his blood and sweat into making. Holding both swords, he slammed them together.

*Clang!*

A clear and resonant sound of clashing metal echoed through the refining room.

In just an instant, the blade of that high-grade magical artifact, which had undergone countless polishings, was covered in spiderweb-like cracks, its luster completely dimmed.

Meanwhile, the twenty-seven-rune top-grade longsword forged by Elder Jin remained as pristine as before, without a single mark left behind.

The difference in quality was clear at a glance.

Chu Shi was deeply shocked and sincerely cupped his hands to Elder Jin. "Your skills are truly miraculous, Elder. Today is the first time your disciple has truly witnessed the power of such a top-grade magical artifact."

Hearing this, Elder Jin nodded with a chuckle, his eyes filled with expectation.

"This twenty-seven-rune top-grade longsword is yours now.

I hope you will observe and comprehend its rune arrangement, primordial energy flow, and the framework of rune integration well.

May you find your own path of artifact refining as soon as possible, and forge your very first top-grade magical artifact."

"Your disciple will definitely not fail your high expectations, Elder!"

Afterwards, Elder Jin spoke no further, slowly walking back into the inner room of the refining chamber to busy himself, leaving the entire space to Chu Shi.

In the days that followed, Chu Shi shut his doors and devoted himself to intensive study.

Day and night, he observed the top-grade longsword in his hands, analyzing the arrangement patterns of the twenty-seven runes over and over again, understanding how the core attributes integrated and amplified each other, and silently memorizing that seamless structural concept.

He completely discarded his old way of thinking—blindly stacking scattered effects when forging magical artifacts—and began attempting to replan runes using the concept of top-grade magical artifacts.

Shi Tie and the other two continued to silently handle chores and clean up scrap materials in the outer room, never coming to disturb him.

Furnace after furnace was opened, and failure followed failure.

At first, Chu Shi still found it difficult to break free from his old habits. He would always subconsciously want to add redundant attributes, leading to rune repulsion and the scrapping of one profound iron sword blank after another.

After hitting a wall several times, he completely settled his mind, keeping the three core characteristics firmly in mind and focusing solely on the integration and amplification of the runes.

Finally, after going through several failed attempts and refinements,

another batch of profound iron longswords slowly emerged from the furnace.

The eighteen runes formed a perfect closed loop, all condensed and applied to the three core elements of true qi conduction, sharpness, and sturdiness. The scattered effects had completed their integrated transformation, giving birth to a characteristic power unique to top-grade magical artifacts.

The dark light of the blade was restrained, and the primordial energy circulated smoothly without any hindrance. It had already transcended the scope of high-grade magical artifacts.