Amidst the rhythmic hammering, the metal billet steadily shrank as both Gold and Thunder Dou Qi continuously tempered its strength.
Before long, the billet took its final shape. However, this was no weapon prototype, but something more akin to a sheath—a wide sheath, fit for a greatsword. Its interior was hollow, as if someone had taken a greatsword, removed its hilt and crossguard, and then carved out a portion of the blade itself. To be precise, it was an outer-bladed shell.
After quenching and cooling the shell, Zhou Changqing picked up a different sword from the side. Unlike the dark gold shell, which looked incredibly heavy and thick, this sword's two-foot-long blade was a bluish-gray. Its surface was etched with numerous profound, mystical runes that flowed seamlessly across its entire length. In stark contrast, the sword's black crossguard was exceptionally wide, and its black hilt, wrapped in gold and silver bindings, was a full foot long. The oversized hilt and guard created a jarring mismatch with the normally sized blade.
"What's that saying again? A small horse pulling a big cart! Yeah, that's it. Damn, what a perfect description." Looking at the peculiar sword with its massive hilt and undersized blade, Zhou Changqing couldn't help but grin, nearly bursting into laughter.
Shaking his head, he ran his fingers over the two empty sockets set into the center of the crossguard, his eyes filled with anticipation. He picked up the strange sword and moved over to the shell, lifting it with his other hand. Then, aligning the tip of the sword with the hollow opening of the shell, he pushed firmly.
With a smooth hiss, the sword slid perfectly into place. The two components fit together seamlessly, without the slightest gap.
Zhou Changqing nodded in satisfaction. His craftsmanship was truly impeccable, on par with the zero-error precision machining from his past life. Now, the weapon finally looked normal, a true, solid greatsword. Its appearance was quite similar to a famous sword from an anime he'd seen in his past life, though slightly larger.
Feeling the heft of the greatsword in his hand, Zhou Changqing clicked his tongue. "This thing must weigh over a hundred pounds. The shell was made from Sinking Gold, after all. Heavy is the only word for it!"
With that, he drew the blade from the shell once more to inspect the runes. After confirming they were undamaged, he sheathed it again and carried the greatsword over to the forge, placing it back into the flames.
Soon, the greatsword was glowing red-hot again. Taking it out, Zhou Changqing raised his hammer and began striking the junction where the crossguard met the blade. When forging both the smaller blade and the outer shell, he had intentionally left an interlocking mechanism in the areas without runes. Now, under the force of the hammer, the shell and the core blade fused together, becoming as solid as a single, unified piece.
After a second quenching, a complete greatsword lay before Zhou Changqing's eyes. A flash of light came from the storage ring on his right index finger, and two crystal-like gems the size of goose eggs appeared in his palm. One gem was gold, the other silver, and they both emitted a faint glow that shimmered beautifully in the sunlight.
Holding the two gems, Zhou Changqing pressed them into the empty sockets on each side of the greatsword's crossguard.
"Hoo… It all comes down to this!"
"Come on!" Zhou Changqing took a deep breath, his expression turning solemn as he gazed at the completed greatsword.
He gripped the hilt and circulated his cultivation method. A stream of pale gold Dou Qi instantly flowed from his right hand into the weapon. Under his control, the Dou Qi surged toward the golden gem on one side of the crossguard. The moment it made contact, the Dou Qi guided the gem to erupt in a brilliant, misty radiance.
Instantly, a formidable burst of energy surged from the gem, mixing with his Dou Qi and pouring into the blade. If one could see through the metal, they would witness the core blade, now fused with the outer shell, begin to glow. The source of the light was a section of the profound runes on the core's surface. The flowing, arcane inscriptions lit up like a web of shimmering constellations as golden energy coursed through them.
At the same time, the massive body of the greatsword began to shine, as energy radiated from within, enveloping the entire blade in a blinding light.
"Hah!" A look of joy flashed in Zhou Changqing's eyes. He let out a great shout and, with a powerful swing of his right arm, cleaved the greatsword toward the heavens. Although the weapon was heavy, with his current Dou Shi cultivation and the formidable physique he'd developed from years of blacksmithing, he could wield it with ease.
In an instant, a dazzling, golden, crescent-shaped arc of light shot out from the greatsword. The impossibly sharp golden light seemed capable of slicing through anything as it tore through the air and soared into the sky.
At that moment, a small bird happened to fly into the arc's path. The outcome was inevitable. The bird was sliced in two. Its upper half, not even realizing what had happened, continued to fly for another inch or two before abruptly plummeting from the sky. The arc of light, however, had already vanished, disappearing to some unknown destination.
"Hahaha! It worked!"
Watching the light fade into the sky, Zhou Changqing let out a triumphant laugh, overcome with excitement. He looked down at the greatsword in his hand, his eyes gleaming.
The first true Magical Core Weapon.
It had been born.
And it was born from his own hands.
At that moment, Zhou Changqing felt an overwhelming affection for the greatsword, unable to put it down as he continuously examined every part of it. After admiring his creation for a while, he carefully set it aside, walked over to the stone table in the courtyard, and sat down. He pulled out several sheets of paper and began to write furiously, documenting every detail of his successful forging experience. Although he had memorized the entire process, it didn't stop him from recording it. Who knew? Perhaps these pages would one day become the sacred text for all future weaponsmiths.
Crafting this Magical Core Greatsword had been no easy feat. First, the materials were unlike any he had used before. The two-foot core blade was forged from a special metal called Azure Jade Steel. It earned its name from its bluish-gray color and jade-like luster. This metal was incredibly tough and possessed excellent energy conductivity, making it the perfect material for the core component of a Magical Core Weapon.
The metal used for the outer shell was called Sinking Gold. This metal had only two defining characteristics: it was extremely heavy and extremely hard. Compared to ordinary metals, Sinking Gold was more than twice as dense.
Next was the crafting process itself. Thanks to his connection with Ya Fei, he had been able to purchase a large number of books related to formation arrays and cauldron forging from the Mitel Auction House. These included basic texts, intermediate guides, and even a few rare and profound secret manuals. After months of intensive reading and research, Zhou Changqing had finally grasped the fundamental principles.
Using this newfound knowledge and his own ideas, Zhou Changqing began experimenting with inscribing runes onto weapons, hoping to grant them special functions when infused with Dou Qi, much like the restrictions or talismans on magical artifacts in cultivation novels.
His efforts were not in vain. After numerous failed experiments, Zhou Changqing finally had a breakthrough. But he soon discovered a fatal flaw with inscribing runes on a weapon's surface: they were easily damaged during combat. The runes were incredibly fine, and even the slightest scratch could render an entire array useless.
This led him to the idea of a casing. He would forge a core, which would act like a computer chip and carry the runes, and then insert it into an outer weapon shell. This way, the runes would be much harder to damage. Unless the entire weapon was shattered or snapped in half, the core would remain perfectly intact. His choice of Sinking Gold for the outer shell was precisely because of its incredible hardness.
The final step was to inlay a Second-Order Magical Core into the weapon to serve as a power source. His Dou Qi would act as the switch, triggering the energy within the Magical Core and activating the various rune arrays on the core blade to achieve different effects.
Of course, this method of forging was imperfect, as the weapon was not a single, seamless whole. But as he had told himself before, his current resources were limited, and this approach was born of necessity. Because he couldn't yet achieve the external release and materialization of Dou Qi, he was unable to melt metal into a liquid state by himself. Nor could he use his Spiritual Perception to guide Dou Qi and directly inscribe runes within a weapon as it was being shaped. Thus, he had to resort to this clunkier, assembly-like method.
However, once Zhou Changqing broke through to the Da Dou Shi realm, none of these would be problems. At that time, he would be able to forge a truly integrated and complete Magical Core Weapon.
Ahem, about the forging method for this Magical Core Weapon, it's all just stuff the author made up. It's a fantasy world, so please don't take it too seriously, dear readers.