After obtaining the Vein Stone, Law didn't rush to work. He first asked Nobunaga for specific requirements in various aspects.
To get a long sword that suited him, Nobunaga patiently cooperated.
Once he had the relevant data, Law began carving the long sword.
Despite his rich experience in carving, Law proceeded slowly and with intense focus.
As the saying goes, slow work yields fine results. In his plan, carving the sword would take at least three days.
After it was carved, they would have to see if Nobunaga was satisfied.
If not, carving would continue.
As for materials, that was no concern at all here.
Law began carving the Vein Stone with full concentration, while his teammates didn't disturb him. They continued searching the Slu Tribe's settlement, hoping to find some clues.
Three days passed in a blink, with the search yielding no results, but Law completed the long sword.
On a flat area, Nobunaga wielded the Vein Stone long sword, swinging it haphazardly as if testing its feel.
Law and the others stood at the side, watching Nobunaga test his newly acquired sword.
Nobunaga's brows would furrow at times, then relax, and he remained silent, making it difficult to tell whether he was satisfied or not.
This went on for about twenty minutes before Nobunaga finally sheathed the sword.
"So, any issues?" Law was the first to ask.
"It's just a bit heavy."
Nobunaga held the blade horizontally before his eyes. The blade was clear as a mirror, reflecting his aging face.
It looked more like a jade sword than a stone one.
Besides the weight, Nobunaga was more concerned about its quality.
After all, only repeated forging creates steel, and the long sword in his hand was carved from stone.
"Differences in weight can be gradually adapted to, as long as it doesn't hinder your use." Law felt weight was a minor issue.
Nobunaga lowered the sword and scratched his head, "That's not really a problem, but I'm worried about the sword's quality."
"So that's what you're worried about." Law chuckled, then looked at Uvogin, "You can have Uvogin try to break the sword."
"Huh?"
Nobunaga was stunned.
'Wasn't this clearly asking to damage the sword?'
Not just Uvogin, even he himself felt he could easily snap the long sword.
"Law, you spent three days making this sword," Uvogin said hesitantly, his thoughts aligning with Nobunaga's… he felt breaking the sword would be effortless.
"It's fine, go ahead and try."
"Alright, you said it."
Uvogin looked at Nobunaga, who hesitated for a moment before handing the long sword to Uvogin.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Uvogin didn't release any Nen. He chose to rely solely on physical strength to try and break the Vein Stone long sword.
"Hah!"
With a low shout, the muscles in Uvogin's arms, gripping the sword at both ends, suddenly bulged, veins popping out.
However, the Vein Stone long sword remained completely still. Not a single crack, not even a sound.
A look of surprise flashed in Uvogin's eyes. He had thought it would break easily, but he hadn't managed to even produce a crack despite using all his strength.
Immediately, he opened his Aura Nodes, releasing Nen to amplify his strength.
Seeing Uvogin getting serious, Nobunaga's expression changed, and he instinctively started to speak up to stop him, but Law preemptively stopped him.
Whether the Vein Stone sword could withstand it, Law wasn't actually confident either. But the sword only took three days to make, and with materials readily available, it wouldn't be a big deal even if it broke.
Everyone watched Uvogin. First, he used Ten, but the Vein Stone sword still didn't break.
Then he used Ken, and still no movement.
Finally, forced into it, Uvogin used Gyo, concentrating Aura into his hands. He exerted force for over ten seconds before finally managing to snap the Vein Stone long sword.
Holding the broken sword, Uvogin wore a look of disbelief.
Except for Law, who knew best the hardness of the Vein Stone, everyone else looked astonished.
"This is too hard..."
They couldn't help but exclaim.
Not to mention Law's ability to carve such a hard stone into a long sword, one could only imagine how much effort and time the Slu Tribe had invested in chiseling out a sanctuary inside the Vein Stone.
'What a pity...'
Nobunaga took the broken sword from Uvogin. Now he wasn't worried about quality at all.
If it were his currently worn long sword, Uvogin could have broken it without even using Aura.
In contrast, the Vein Stone sword held out for ten seconds against an Uvogin using his full power.
With this level of hardness, as long as he infused it with his own Nen, next time they encountered the magical beast tribe, he wouldn't need to hack away so many times.
Thinking this, Nobunaga smiled.
The test result for the sword's hardness was satisfactory, but Law still needed to spend another three days carving a new sword.
Besides Nobunaga, who used a sword, others in the team didn't have much need for weaponry, so the utilization of Vein Stone was limited.
After staying in the Slu Tribe's settlement for another seven days, Law carved two more long swords and fitted Nobunaga with a suitable scabbard.
After completing these tasks, the team left the Slu Tribe's settlement directly.
Before leaving, Law didn't take the Restarite embedded in the cave ceiling.
Those were valuable items that could continuously replicate liquid, but they were also relics of the Slu Tribe.
The team left the Slu Tribe's settlement and headed straight for the lava region.
"Besides the Slu Tribe, there are other human tribes in the underground world. I'd like to check on their situation along the way," Law said.
Biscuit looked at him, hesitated for a moment, but said nothing.
She knew Law's motivation for wanting to visit other human tribes. Although she deeply sympathized with the Slu Tribe's fate, she believed it was a result of the ecological evolution of the underground world.
Therefore, there was no need to risk further contact with unknown dangers for this matter.
In her view, they could just collect a sufficient amount of Grass Jelly from the lava region and then leave the underground world.
What Biscuit could think of, Ging could too.
However, Ging also didn't raise any objections.
After all, it was on the way.
The team advanced towards the lava region, inevitably encountering frequent attacks from the Bone Clan along the way.
Nobunaga, having obtained his new sword, eagerly engaged the enemy. Enhanced with Nen, the Vein Stone long sword was unstoppable, taking down small Bone Clan creatures with each swing.
In contrast, Uvogin, relying only on his fists, still showed a considerable gap in killing power compared to Nobunaga.
After one battle ended, Nobunaga, with his not-insignificant results, continuously mocked Uvogin, angering him to the point where he almost wanted to break Nobunaga's sword again.
Though even if he broke it, there was still a spare long sword.
The journey was tense but without real danger. When they were just three days away from the lava region, the team arrived at another human tribe settlement in the underground world.
It was a settlement built inside a horizontal 'U'-shaped cave. The outer perimeter was a wall made from piled-up Bone Clan's carcasses, studded with spikes to defend against Bone Clan's attacks.
However, what should have been a magnificent, intact bone wall was now half collapsed, broken open with over a dozen large gaps.
The wall was a signal.
Intact meant safety.
Damaged meant danger.
Everyone exchanged glances, then immediately slowed their pace, letting Tonpa's detection circle scout the situation first.
A moment later, the result came back: empty, no one.