536 To Protect Those I Love and Who Love Me

After removing the impurities, it was time for casting.

Casting meant to mold the molten iron into the shape of the targeted item. For example, if Su Mo wanted to craft a sword, then he should cast the molten iron into the shape of a sword.

In this stage, if crafting a Lv 1 or 2 weapon, one would need to put the molten iron into a sword mold and wait for it to cool down and take shape.

However, for Lv 4 weapons or for those skilled craftsmen, they only needed to cast by using their willpower.

Willpower could complete the three major stages of crafting—casting, forging, and sharpening.

Su Mo took out a piece of Floating-cloud Marble and put it into the furnace.

It started to melt immediately after.

The Floating-cloud Marble could neutralize the Dark Steel and the Silver-essence Sand. It acted as a stabilizer and could increase the weapon's ductility.

Subsequently, Su Mo's willpower poured into the furnace and completely shrouded the molten iron. It then exerted a strong force to slowly alter the shape of the molten iron.

The molten iron was gradually pulled up, and after a few moments, it took shape as a sword.

The high temperature kept destroying Su Mo's willpower. However, his willpower was very strong and inexhaustible.

Su Mo stopped infusing his Vital Spirit, and the flames were gradually extinguished. He then opened the lid and let the sword embryo cool itself down.

A few minutes later, when the embryo had cooled to a certain extent and turned solid, he poured quenching liquid on it.

"Sizz!"

When the liquid splashed onto the embryo, a loud noise and a large amount of white smoke were produced.

Once the smoke cleared, a black sword could be seen in the furnace.

However, it was not done yet. It needed to be burned, refined, and sharpened.

Over the next hour, he performed those procedures thrice and then took out the sword.

Now, it was completely finished.

"Craftsmanship is so simple!" Su Mo smiled as he sized up the sword in his hand.

However, he was aware that this sword was very ordinary and quite easy to craft.

It was merely a Lower Lv 4 sword, and it was the most ordinary one among the Lv 4 weapons because no precious materials were used.

Although it was just a normal sword, Su Mo was quite delighted about his first success.

As a matter of fact, Su Mo's skill and experience were quite basic. His success utterly came from his strong willpower.

He decided to continue practicing craftsmanship. The materials he bought were sufficient to craft dozens of swords.

He planned to improve the simplest crafting skill to the extreme before trying to craft high-end weapons.

"Clump! Clump! Clump!"

The sound of a door being knocked on suddenly arose from outside.

Su Mo used his spiritual consciousness and discovered that it was Hong Qingxuan.

He then put away the crafting furnace, went downstairs, and opened his tower door.

"Qingxuan, I assume that you have consolidated your cultivation, right?" asked Su Mo as he greeted her with a smile.

Hong Qingxuan's beautiful eyes were complicated while fixing on him. She nodded and said, "Yes. I'm here to cultivate with you."

"Come in!"

Su Mo led her to the third floor, the practice room.

They sat down face to face, when Su Mo said, "Let's do this!"

When he was about to take out the Spiritual Stones, Hong Qingxuan opened her mouth suddenly.

"Brother Su Mo, wait!"

"What's wrong?" Su Mo was confused.

Hong Qingxuan had a complicated look on her face as she bit her lip. After a moment of silence, she said, "Brother Su Mo, I have a question for you."

"Sure, go ahead!" Su Mo said, nodding.

"Brother Su Mo, why do you practice martial arts? Or... for what purpose?"

Su Mo was shocked, not knowing where this question had come from!

It was an extremely simple question, but also a complicated one—it was a question about the very nature of martial arts.

When thinking about his father, the family members of the Sus, Xi'er, and the Firmament Sect members who were hiding in the Skymoon Country, Su Mo had the answer.

"The reason why I do this is to protect those who I love and who love me from danger!" Su Mo said affirmatively.

Upon hearing his words, Hong Qingxuan's body trembled and then she started to beam with joy.

"Brother Su Mo, I get it!"

She continued with a smile, "Let's get started!"

Su Mo was even more confused. "Get it? Get what?"

He shook his head and did not ask anything further. They then started to cultivate together.

Inside the incredibly dense Spiritual Qi, Hong Qingxuan's cultivation growth was several times faster than Su Mo's.

After consuming 1,000,000 Medium Spiritual Stones, she broke through and her cultivation reached Lv 5 Enlightenment Realm.

And after consuming 2,000,000 Medium Spiritual Stones, she reached Lv 6 Enlightenment Realm.

Su Mo was so jealous while seeing this. He had absorbed 70 percent of the Spiritual Qi, yet he had only reached Late Lv 6 Enlightenment Realm.

They stopped cultivating after Hong Qingxuan reached Lv 6 because she could no longer absorb any Spiritual Qi.

She did not leave the tower though, but spent the rest of the day there with Su Mo.

They casually chatted about their cultivating experiences, news of the world, and their life ideals.

It was not until nightfall that she left Su Mo's tower.

Later on, Su Mo did not continue cultivating because he could easily upgrade again in two months.

He started to practice craftsmanship again.

One weapon after another took shape. There were sabers, swords, and spears, and all of them were Lower Lv 4 weapons.

Two weapons were shattered during the refining stage due to Su Mo's mistakes.

Over the course of five days, Su Mo had used up all his materials and crafted 22 long-swords, 18 long-sabers, and 13 spears.

Su Mo's crafting skill had greatly improved after having crafted more than 50 weapons. He then left his place and headed for the Spiritual Treasure Palace on the Great Heaven Peak.

That is where he planned to sell all the weapons that he crafted, the loot from Hou Jun's two helpers, and the loot from Tao Wei.

Tao Wei had a number of items, yet nothing precious.

Although he had practiced a King fistplay, it was not in his storage ring.

Besides, Su Mo wanted to buy some upper materials to craft some high-level weapons.

A short while later, Su Mo arrived at the Spiritual Treasure Palace.