150: Chapter 150 The Fifth Life, The Blazing Sun Illuminates the Martial Path (Ninety-Eight)

The night was deep, and the lights in the small courtyard of Lieyang Peak remained unextinguished throughout the night.

Chu Shi sat upright before the stone table, his eyes tightly closed, his mind completely immersed in the true essence of the path of weapon refining.

The countless images of inscribing runes and forging top-grade magical artifacts over the past two months surged rapidly through his mind.

Those twenty-seven basic rune patterns he knew by heart, the construction methods of the Magical Artifact micro-circulation, and the feel of forging and tempering dark iron were all disassembled at this moment, cross-referenced one by one with the mysteries of the Treasure Artifact taught by Elder Jin.

A Magical Artifact is about accumulation and summation, while a Treasure Artifact is about returning to one and undergoing transformation.

He chewed and polished the principles, word by word, repeatedly in his heart.

Over the next three days, Chu Shi did not step half a step out of the small courtyard, nor did he go to the storeroom to retrieve any materials.

During the day, he used his bare hands to condense energy, tracing the twenty-seven basic runes in the void over and over again.

He abandoned the habit of grouping and amplifying, forcibly breaking the micro-circulation framework already etched into his muscle memory, attempting to make every independent rune fit and merge with the others.

Under the cover of night, he sat in quiet meditation, deducing every detail of the rune collapse.

He calculated the trajectory of the pattern connections, predicted the rhythm of true energy infusion, and simulated the risks of fusion backlash.

Shi Tie and the other two continued to practice inscription diligently every day, and seeing their senior brother sitting and deducing all day long, forgetting to eat and sleep, their hearts were filled with admiration.

They became even more diligent when practicing, even lightening their movements, fearing they might disturb Chu Shi's enlightenment.

After three days of settling, the shackles in Chu Shi's mind finally quietly loosened.

He completely severed the inherent thinking of Magical Artifact forging and truly understood the core of "Rune Convergence."

It was not about forcing a combination, but about collapsing in accordance with the trend; just like a martial artist tempering their physical body, it required gradual progress, layer-by-layer transformation, and a single continuous flow.

On the morning of the fourth day, the sky brightened, and the morning sun bathed Lieyang Peak.

Chu Shi opened his eyes, a clear, bright light flashing in them.

The fatigue of the past few days was swept away, the confusion accumulated in his heart dissipated, and he now had a complete and clear grasp of the entire process of forging a Treasure Artifact.

He stood up and stretched his muscles and bones, the silent blood energy in his body boiling slightly.

The timing was ripe.

Chu Shi turned and headed to the storeroom, retrieved the refined Copper Essence prepared in advance by Elder Jin, took some high-grade dark iron raw material, and returned to the forging table in the small courtyard.

The black stone forging furnace was wiped spotless, the charcoal fire was ignited, and the crimson flames slowly rose, carrying a scorching temperature that permeated the entire small courtyard.

Chu Shi focused his mind and calmed his energy, banishing all distracting thoughts, and officially began his first Treasure Artifact forging.

Seventy percent dark iron, thirty percent Copper Essence.

He strictly followed the optimal ratio, precisely divided the two materials, and threw them into the furnace fire to melt at high temperature.

Under the calcination of the intense flames, the dark iron melted first, turning into a pitch-black, thick liquid, heavy and steady, possessing a strong sense of weight.

Following closely behind, the bright and translucent Copper Essence melted into a liquid state, with wisps of golden aura lingering within it, agile and transparent, specialized for conducting true energy.

The two liquid materials slowly merged.

Chu Shi's five fingers flew, injecting true energy precisely into the furnace, controlling the liquid materials to roll and temper, removing the last trace of impurities, and controlling the ratio of seven parts iron to three parts copper without the slightest error.

The moment the alloy blank formed, he tensed his mind, raised his hand to trigger his spiritual sense, and began to inscribe the twenty-seven basic runes.

This step was no different from usual; each rune was neat and delicate, landing steadily upon the warm blank.

The real challenge began with the rune collapse.

Chu Shi settled his heart, guided the first rune to fit with the second pattern, slowly drew the energy, and urged the patterns to merge.

At first, everything went smoothly, the tiny patterns connecting with each other to form a faint resonance.

But the moment the seventeenth rune was connected to the fusion sequence, a sudden change occurred.

The energies of the old patterns clashed, and the previously docile runes suddenly became violent; on the pitch-black blank, dense patterns flashed wildly, erupting with blinding spiritual light.

"Hum!"

A piercing vibration sound exploded from the forging table.

The twenty-seven basic runes were incompatible with each other, instantly triggering a backlash.

The violent energy exploded suddenly, the scorching alloy blank cracked on the spot, and the scattered high-temperature iron filings swept out of the furnace fire, landing on the bluestone floor and scorching small charred marks.

The first furnace run, failure.

Chu Shi's eyes narrowed slightly, but he did not panic; he leaned down to examine the broken remains and reviewed the mistake just made.

It was that the fusion rhythm was too fast.

He was too eager for success, connecting all the runes in one go, ignoring the differences in the energy of different patterns, which led to the disconnection of the latter half of the runes, ultimately triggering the backlash.

Having found the crux, Chu Shi quickly adjusted his mindset, cleaned the furnace table, and prepared the materials for melting again.

Second time, third time...

For an entire day, the furnace fire did not cease, and the sound of forging did not stop.

Yet, failures followed one after another.

The second time, the rune fusion was halfway through when it ran out of steam, the spiritual energy was blocked, and the texture of the blank was loose, causing it to be directly scrapped.

The third time, there was a slight deviation in the ratio; the Copper Essence energy was too weak, the formed patterns were stiff, and it was impossible to complete the collapse.

The fourth time, the true energy infusion was unstable, the rune fusion depth was uneven, and it collapsed halfway...

A pile of scrapped alloy remains accumulated beside the forging table, and the precious Copper Essence was constantly being consumed.

The setting sun dipped westward again, and a whole day of hard practice had all gone down the drain.

Chu Shi stood before the furnace, his forehead covered in fine beads of sweat, his palms stained with charcoal ash, and for the first time, a heavy gloom clouded his eyes.

He felt his talent for weapon refining far exceeded his peers; in two months, he had grasped the essence of all Magical Artifact forging, and he had never failed in perfectly inscribing the twenty-seven runes.

Everything had been smooth sailing, and he had never encountered such continuous failures.

Clearly, he had corrected the mistakes of the previous round every time, and clearly, he knew the principles by heart, yet in actual practice, there were endless loopholes.

The difficulty of Rune Convergence was far more terrifying than Elder Jin had described.

Even the slightest deviation in energy, a momentary lapse in focus, or a hair's breadth of disorder in rhythm could cause the entire forging process to fall short of success.

Twilight gathered, and the evening breeze was slightly cool.

Shi Tie and the other two had long stopped their cultivation and stood silently outside the courtyard, watching their senior brother's lonely figure standing before the furnace, not daring to step forward to disturb him.

Seven consecutive failures, most of the precious resources consumed, time and again opening the furnace full of hope, and time and again watching the blank crack and become useless.

The extreme repetition and sense of frustration finally pressed down on Chu Shi, causing a trace of irritability and dejection to arise in his heart.

He raised his hand to extinguish the furnace fire, slumped onto the stone bench, his fingertips slightly stiff, and his mind in chaos.

Where exactly did it go wrong!

Could this Treasure Artifact threshold really be so difficult to cross?

Impatient thoughts kept sprouting, the clear state of mind he had attained over the past few days was completely shattered, and he fell into a brief period of self-doubt and collapse.

The evening breeze blew past, dispersing the residual heat around the furnace, and also slowly smoothed out the irritability in his heart.

After a long time, Chu Shi let out a long breath of stale air, closed his eyes, and forcibly suppressed all negative emotions.

He recalled Elder Jin's teachings, remembered the true essence of gradual progress in the martial path, and remembered that weapon refining is like practicing martial arts; the most taboo thing is an impatient and restless heart.

He had only failed a few times, yet he already felt dejected; with such a state of mind, how could he talk about stepping into a higher realm of the weapon path?

He discarded distracting thoughts and replayed the entire process of the seven failures, frame by frame, in his mind.

From the control of the alloy melting temperature to the depth and rhythm of the rune inscription, to the strength of the true energy flow and the sequence of the pattern fusion, all details were disassembled and analyzed one by one.

A moment later, Chu Shi suddenly opened his eyes; the gloom in them had completely dissipated, and they shone brightly.

He had finally found the core crux!