This was all of Grenia's assets, her family was not prominent, and she had saved up these coins by herself. Compared to the luxurious lifestyle of male war spirits, Grenia was much simpler, so she had accumulated tens of thousands of gold coins over the years.
Although she was giving away all of her fortune, Grenia felt it was worth it. If this magic core were sold at auction, given the current soaring price of undead materials, it could fetch at least five hundred thousand gold coins.
After the battle with the manticore, Grenia had completely recognized Ge Zheng's abilities. She believed that Ge Zheng must be an excellent alchemist.
"Master, I know it's little, but I can write you an IOU. I guarantee it in the name of an elite spirit user, and I will definitely pay you back. Master, how much do you want, just ask." Grenia said sincerely.
The mindset in the Star Forge world and people like Ge Zheng from the East were different. They did not believe that a "master" of this level must be indifferent to fame and gain, selflessly helping others without taking a cent. In fact, in the prevailing values of the Star Forge world, gold coins were not indispensable; for a master-level person, gold coins were not a reward but a reflection of their value.
For instance, a general alchemist would receive a mere two to three thousand gold coins as a reward, while a master-level alchemist would easily command tens of thousands to millions of gold coins. This kind of reward was a tangible representation of the difference between them and ordinary alchemists.
Looking at her, Ge Zheng nodded, "Alright, you write the IOU, and I'll fill in the number." "Yes, Master," Grenia immediately complied, because she knew the importance of this equipment to her!
The Temple of the Goddess Her had three elite spirit users, she was the only female and her family background was far inferior to the other two, so she had no advantage in competition. However, with a custom-manufactured pre-god-like equipment, she would have an advantage of her own.
Grenia quickly wrote the IOU on parchment, leaving the amount blank. Then, she took out her four crystal stone cards, which held all her wealth.
She placed the IOU at the bottom, and the four crystal stone cards on top, and pushed them in front of Ge Zheng, saying, "Master."
Ge Zheng took them back, took out his pen, and wrote "-300,000" on the amount. Grenia was stunned. The Star Forge world had not developed a complete mathematical system, so Grenia naturally did not understand the concept of negative numbers. Ge Zheng had wanted to make a joke, but found the pretty spirit user looking puzzled.
Ge Zheng had to explain again what "-300,000" meant. Although the joke lost its charm, Grenia did understand Ge Zheng's meaning. However, Ge Zheng didn't return the money to her and came up with another request, "I'll help you refine the equipment, but I have another requirement."
Grenia's heart was wary, "What requirement?" Instinctively, she shrank back and tightened her collar, which made Ge Zheng hesitate. He realized that this demon girl had no sense of humor and abandoned his intentions, saying, "I want someone to accompany me to find the manticore's lair. I think it's the king of all the beasts on this wilderness, and there might be some interesting things in its den."
Grenia blushed, misunderstanding Ge Zheng's intentions. Ge Zheng shook his head disinterestedly. Wasting all this time just to see the demon girl blush, cute as it was, it was still boring.
"No problem," Grenia readily agreed. Ge Zheng pushed back the four crystal stone cards.
The manticore's lair was easy to find. The giant beast had been chasing Solgivlen and caused widespread destruction along the way, leaving plenty of traces. They easily found the lair. Grenia was unfazed, but Ge Zheng found it strange: Solgivlen was working too hard. The lair was far from the camp, and there were countless beasts to hunt along the way. Why did Solgivlen run so far to provoke such a big creature?
Even though the manticore was no longer in the swamp, the formidable creature had left a deep mark. There was no trace of any creature in the swamp. Grenia wrinkled her nose dozens of meters away, but she was not an affected aristocratic lady, so she followed Ge Zheng into the swamp despite the unpleasant smell.
A tuft of dry grass grew from the edge of the swamp, then naturally turned into a mat, gradually extending from the edge of the swamp to the inside, next to the large hole in the ground before continuing inward.
Grenia stopped the incantation and the two walked along the mat into the hole.
The smell in the cave was even more unpleasant than outside. Although the danger was estimated to be minimal, Grenia sent a spirit warrior ahead to lead the way. Ge Zheng and Grenia's eyes easily saw through the illusionary figures and swords of the spirit warrior, all was clearly illuminated by the flame above Ge Zheng's head.
"What's that?" Grenia pointed to a dimly glowing patch of wall. Ge Zheng walked over, and the mat under his feet lengthened.
After touching it, the flame approached, and Ge Zheng looked carefully, then his expression turned somewhat grim, and he waved to Grenia, "Let's keep walking." Curious, Grenia asked, "What is it? Ge Zheng shook his head. Absent that knowledge, Grenia became more curious, rarely trying to act coquettish, "Master, just tell me what it is, okay? Please?" She reached for Ge Zheng's arm, coincidentally the hand he had used to touch the wall.
Ge Zheng's expression wasn't very good, "According to my judgment, that monster sprays its waste on this wall every day, and it takes a long time to form this appearance."
Grenia shuddered and quickly let go of Ge Zheng's hand. From then on, she was very cautious throughout the journey, particularly wary of Ge Zheng's hand.
Ge Zheng was annoyed. After all, she had pressured him to tell her.
Suddenly, Ge Zheng stopped and squatted down to observe the ground. Grenia also noticed, "Hey, the ground here seems different from other places…" She stretched out her foot and stomped. The ground was soft and elastic, sinking and recovering quickly.
"What is this?" Grenia asked. Ge Zheng shook his head, "I'm not sure, but I find it odd that the manticore's scales are incredibly tough; there must be a secret."
Grenia was incredulous, "What does the toughness of the manticore's scales have to do with this soft mud?" Ge Zheng said, "If you roll around in it every day, you'll end up with scales like the manticore's." Grenia imagined it and suddenly felt nauseous. She quickly shook her head, "I don't want to!"
Ge Zheng took out a shovel and cautiously proceeded to collect the soft mud into his storage space. Grenia stood far away, and Ge Zheng tossed her a shovel, "What are you waiting for? I called you to help." Grenia looked helpless. The clean and pretty elite spirit user ended up covered in mud. He didn't seem to care about her, but rather the mud, "Be careful, this soft mud is incredibly precious, don't spill it everywhere!" Grenia was at a loss; the dignified elite spirit user had been reduced to such a state, yet Ge Zheng had no sympathy.
Ge Zheng's shovel was not small, but the patch of mud was large. After half a day's work, they finally cleared the area. It was filled with sixteen square gold coins. Grenia was interested in the string of square gold coins on Ge Zheng's wrist and eyed them for some time, but she didn't have the courage to ask for a look. Ge Zheng noticed her interest and took it off, "Here, take a good look."
"Thank you, Master!" Grenia was jubilant. What girl didn't love jewelry? Grenia took them and put them on her hands. She shook her wrist, and the shiny gold glinted. "It's so beautiful, I will make one for myself when I return." Ge Zheng almost stumbled. He had thought that Grenia had her eye on the value of the square gold coins but never thought that she simply found the adornment to her liking. It seemed that men and women did indeed have different tastes.
Ge Zheng took back his string of gold coins and put them back on.
There was nothing else of value in the cave, and finally, they could leave the foul air behind. When the two returned to the camp, Deenola was on the verge of losing her temper. The way she looked at Ge Zheng suggested a look of suspicion, as if he was the odd uncle taking a little girl away. Ge Zheng realized that he had made a mistake. He shouldn't have spontaneously decided to bring Grenia to help. The way everyone looked at the two made it clear that something was amiss. Grenia felt embarrassed and blushed as she ran back to her tent and refused to come out. Ge Zheng was even more troubled: Isn't this a case where there's smoke, there's fire!
"Master, you've come back." Captain Cody smiled ambiguously and took Ge Zheng away.
"What happened?" Ge Zheng inquired.
Cody replied as they walked, "We found something strange in the monster's head. We didn't dare to touch it until you returned. Dinner time is already here, everyone is starving."
Slapping his head, Ge Zheng exclaimed, "No wonder I felt something off in the camp, turns out it's because the scent of meat was missing."
The two hurried to the manticore's corpse. Even from tens of meters away, Ge Zheng smelled a tantalizing aroma. He couldn't resist and greedily took a few sniffs, "So fragrant, what could smell this good...?" This scent was unlike any Ge Zheng had encountered before; it was more penetrating than any aroma and led to a spiritual delight from a mere nasal enjoyment!
Kodi smiled bitterly, "That's the problem."
The two men arrived under the remaining head of the python crocodile, and the 15-meter-long giant crocodile skin had been peeled off, revealing the crimson flesh inside. The skull had also been opened, and one meter from the passage opened by the Punishment of the Cross, was the brain of the monster, covered by a layer of white membranous substance.
The closer they got to the membranous substance, the stronger the fragrance became. Ge Zheng exclaimed in surprise, "Is this the thing?"
Kodi nodded, "That's right, I didn't expect that inside such a foul-smelling monster, there would be such a fragrant substance."
Ge Zheng cast a wind magic and floated up. The white membranous substance, relative to the huge skull, was not large, only about the size of one or two square meters. The central part of the membranous substance bulged, as if there was something inside.
After thinking for a moment, Ge gently lifted the membranous substance, revealing the gray-white brain tissue underneath. Several umbilical-cord-like things connected the membranous substance and the brain. After cutting them, Ge put the membranous substance into his storage space.
Kodi didn't care about the substance, and waved his hand, calling out, "Let's go!" More than a dozen riders brandished their long swords and charged forward.
At the feast on the last day, they enjoyed tonight’s delicacies, and tomorrow morning the team would set off again. This kind of leisurely time wouldn't happen again. Kodi and his subordinates indulged themselves. Although there was no alcohol with the army, there were plenty of soft drinks and fruit juices. The knights lit a bonfire and sang loudly around it, their armoured figures exuding a sense of grandeur, adding a special flavor.
Dinora mingled among the knights, her muscular arms bare, completely lacking any sense of a woman, occasionally linking arms with Kodi, calling him a brother.
In the light of the fire, a slender figure walked out of the tent. She walked cautiously, her face flushed as she sat quietly next to Ge Zheng. Ge Zheng turned and asked her, "You finally came out." Glorinia twisted and said coyly, "I'm so embarrassed..."
Ge Zheng almost sprayed out the juice in his mouth, "There’s nothing between us, is there? What's there to be embarrassed about?" In the flickering light of the fire, the resentful glance from the girl of the Dark Race chilled Ge Zheng to the heart: uh-oh, now I can't explain myself even if I open my mouth. Several people around them glanced at each other and tactfully left, leaving the two alone.
In her heart, Glorinia smirked, thinking, "When we get to the King City of Delson, the rumors of my 'intimate' relationship with Ge Zheng will spread throughout the entire city, and he will be completely tied to the Dark Temple."
But in Glorinia's heart, she couldn't help but think: Is it really just for the temple that a girl is willing to sacrifice her reputation?
...
The next morning, everyone fell ill as expected.
Of course, it was as Ge Zheng had expected. The python crocodile was not only huge, but it also regularly devoured various monsters and lived in the dirty swamp, so it must have accumulated quite a lot of toxins in its body. These toxins had permeated the flesh, bones, and scales of the python crocodile, which were no problem for the creature due to its enormous size and ability to balance these toxins. However, for humans, these toxins were quite troublesome.
The knights had a much tougher physique than ordinary humans, and the python crocodile flesh had been specially processed by the honest Dunk, so eating it once or twice was not a problem. But after eating it for more than ten days, the accumulated toxins in the python crocodile meat suddenly broke out.
Over three thousand knights suffered from diarrhea and vomiting. The sound of moaning could be heard throughout the camp early in the morning.
All of this was within Ge Zheng's expectations, otherwise, how could he come up with an excuse not to eat the meat?
Dinora, among others, had weakened from diarrhea, and no one came to disturb Ge Zheng again. Since obtaining the earth magic core, Ge Zheng had made up his mind to buy time and refine a new flying sword!
In the past, even if he had obtained such a precious magic core, he would not have thought of refining a sword because his Three Flames of Truth had not yet formed. But now, with the magical flames supported by true elemental power, the temperature seemed to be no less than that of the Three Flames of Truth, so Ge Zheng had come up with the idea of refining a sword in advance.
Now, among the entire camp, only Ge Zheng was able to stand up. He made an excuse to go find herbs for everyone and left the camp for the wilderness.
This was still within the territory of the Maris Principality, and it was unlikely that large groups of people and horses would be mobilized to attack them, so the camp was quite safe.
In the camp, apart from Ge Zheng, there was actually one more person who was able to stand up—Solg Velen.
The wise dragon had been punished for not being able to eat for three days, but he had actually eaten more meat than anyone else. The tiny amount of toxin really didn't mean much to the dragon, and the atrocious appearance he was making was purely to deceive others. When Ge Zheng left the camp, Solg Velen immediately became suspicious, so he found a place where no one noticed and quickly fled the camp.
...
Thirty miles away from the camp, there was a chaotic stone formation on the wilderness. Tall original stones stood on the wilderness, resembling titanic warriors.
Ge Zheng thought about it and decided to take precautions against the one person in the camp whose actions he couldn't understand—Solg Velen. He took out the summoning emblem and summoned the heavily dissatisfied Golden Armor Tree Demon. Ignoring the demon's strong resistance, Ge Zheng snapped his fingers and said, "Protect me, guard this area, and don't let anyone get close, especially the one who almost molested you last time, Solg Velen."
The Golden Armor Tree Demon snorted in anger and its triangular eyes showed impatience. Its thick, root-like legs delved deep into the ground, and soon, several roots grew out from the ground, intertwining together to form a huge root Mandu head, like a giant bamboo basket inverted on the ground!
After doing all this, the Golden Armor Tree Demon ignored Ge Zheng and fell to the ground with a loud thud, falling fast asleep!
Ge Zheng couldn't help but laugh: this was probably a skill of the Ghost Flower Tree.
This Mandu head was extremely large and densely packed, making it impossible to see the inside from the outside. Ge Zheng confidently summoned the Ice Chamber of the Dragon and began to prepare to refine the second flying sword after arriving in the Star Refining World.
Because of Glorinia's commission, he couldn't refine a magical weapon due to the lack of the soul fire of the Bone Elf, but the raw materials had already been procured. Plus, with Ge Zheng's ongoing collection, the materials for this sword were not a problem.
The Dragon's Ice Chamber was fully equipped, but still, Ge Zheng did not immediately start making the tool. Instead, he sat down, lifted his chin, and contemplated for a while.
Finally, he started to take out all the materials from his storage space. Top-grade magic core, python crocodile scales and vertebrae, various metallic minerals, superior magic crystal stones, the strange slimes found in the python crocodile's cave. There were two additional materials: the yellow iron ore from the Roland Village and meteorite iron.
The effect of the sword he had forged for the mysterious man was better than he had expected, and that was because at the time, due to insufficient raw materials, he had temporarily added the yellow iron ore.
Ge Zheng later found the remaining yellow iron ore, extracted the original refined iron, and then refined it into iron crystals. This process seemed very ordinary, as if there was nothing special about this yellow iron ore.
However, while normal iron ore would be condensed into iron crystals, Ge Zheng condensed the material once again, obtaining a kind of droplet-shaped iron crystal sand. Such a substance had never appeared in the history of alchemy, and Ge Zheng had scoured through all the books in the cognitive repository without understanding what this material really was.
Moreover, throughout the process of condensation, this yellow iron ore showed much less loss than ordinary iron ore.
Dozens of special yellow iron ores finally produced half a kilogram of iron crystal sand.
The properties of this material were special. It was not hard, but rather brittle like sand, and could be easily smashed with a single iron hammer. However, when added to ordinary iron and used to forge a blade, it could easily cut dwarf weaponry!
…
The first step was to refine the slimes to see what kind of substance they really were.
With a flick of his finger, a flame fell into the crucible, and the Fire Cloak magic was cast. Ge Zheng channeled his own true elemental power into it. The color of the Fire Cloak gradually climbed, quickly reaching gold, then jumped to gold-red. Ge continually increased the input of his true elemental power, and the color rose to orange, yellow, green, blue... all the way up, until finally, the Fire Cloak turned into golden-silver, but it still couldn't break through to the final gold color.
He had already felt some strain, but the golden-silver color of the flame, supported by true elemental power, was the highest level he could sustain for long-term forging.
Knowing his own limit, Ge slowly lowered the flame temperature, keeping it at the level of gold-blue. Then, he threw the slimes into the crucible.
Hiss... A dense white fog spread, and the whole Dragon Ice Chamber was momentarily engulfed in white. The sealing magic formations in the chamber automatically activated and sucked out the white fog.
As the white fog dissipated, the sludge inside the melting furnace remained black. Though the moisture had evaporated, it was still soft and sticky, its volume only reduced by half.
Ge was surprised: The temperature of the gold-blue flame couldn't melt this substance! Once again, he raised the flame's temperature, increasing it by two levels, reaching the gold-purple stage. Finally, the black substance began to change colors.
In the crucible, the black color slowly faded, turning into a furnace of purple-red liquid. Thin wisp of smoke emerged as impurities were refined bit by bit.
Concentrating this material greatly exceeded Ge Zheng's imagination, taking half a day to refine a furnace of soft mud. After removing the magic flame and allowing it to cool, a blue-green stick, as thick as a thumb and about the length of a hand, was left in the crucible.
Ge Zheng vaguely remembered seeing this thing in a book in the wisdom repository. He opened a ring, took out a book, and flipped through it loudly until he found the page: Star God Iron, a legendary material for the weapons of the gods.
Ge Zheng's hand trembled, feeling as though he was about to touch the forbidden boundary!
Undoubtedly, the Star God Iron was the top metal material. With it, Ge Zheng no longer needed the iron crystals he had originally prepared. This piece of Star God Iron used up the stock of one of the sixteen square inches of money. However, it was enough to forge a flying sword.
Unlike alchemy, crafting did not have strict requirements for material ratios. Practitioners often sought rare materials, roughly understood the interrelationships of the five elements, and then began crafting. Different ratios of the same materials could produce different magical treasures. Therefore, in the cultivation world, no two magical treasures were exactly the same, just like there were no two identical leaves in the natural world.
The practitioners were enthusiastic about this, as it was like playing a slot machine. It was possible that you might be the lucky one and inadvertently forge a divine-level magical treasure, thereby gaining great fame.
The quality of crafting materials did not lie in quantity but in purity. With the Star God Iron, the magical iron crystal sand, the top-grade magic core, and the meteorite iron in his possession, Ge Zheng decided to use these four types of materials. In terms of the five elements, only the magic core was of the earth attribute, so there should be no conflicting relationships.
What troubled him was the inscription of the array on the flying sword. He could not recall many of the practitioner's attack arrays. After confirming several arrays through a letter, he felt that the power was still lacking. If he only had these arrays, it would be a waste of materials.
Fortunately, there were still magic arrays.
Ge Zheng gestured on the ground, solving a few details of the magic arrays and the practitioner array seals, and pondered over it twice, feeling that there shouldn't be any loopholes.
A flame shot out, landing in the crucible and starting to burn.
The color of the flame of the robe magic kept changing and soon rose to the level of golden thread silver. Ge Zheng took a deep breath and threw the materials into the furnace...
Does it matter? This time the crafting went surprisingly smoothly. When each material was thrown into the furnace, a crispy "ding" sound could be heard. The solution in the crucible joyfully swallowed the materials, quickly melding them together.
After throwing the top-tier earth element magic core into the furnace, a blue magic light rose up from the crucible. Seizing the opportunity, Ge Zheng used his mental force to manipulate the array and magic seals.
As soon as the array was inscribed, a golden light also rose up. Inside the furnace, the silver flame, the golden light of the artifact, and the blue magic light, three lights complemented each other, shining brightly, not disturbing each other but blending together, like three mischievous children, holding hands, walking on the road, laughing and giggling. Where the lights intersected, it was as soft as a cloud.
Ge Zheng suddenly roared and poured all his true essence into the furnace, breaking through the silver color in an instant, reaching the top-level golden color!
Everything inside the crucible was covered by a dazzling golden light. In an instant, the three lights completely fused together, no longer distinguishable from each other. A radiant beam of light gushed out from the crucible, spraying to the top of the dragon's ice chamber like a golden firework, but was blocked by it, falling like a golden rain. In the midst of the golden rain, a "clang" dragon roar sounded, the crucible trembled, and a golden light, like a dragon, roamed the room, the light reflecting like water ripples.
...
In the city of Delson in the fifth volume of the royal challenge competition, in a room with a strong taste of the Austale Empire, two people stood inside. On the ground between them was a box with the lid already open, revealing a simple monster equipment inside.
It was quite cold in the northern part of the empire, with flames blazing in the fireplace. The young master gazed at the thing inside the box and asked, "Is it really a quasi-divine artifact?"
"I had the Adventurer Guild appraise it and I personally tested it. Indeed, it has reached the level of a quasi-divine artifact," replied the middle-aged man, dressed in noble attire, respectfully but not without arrogance towards the young master.
"Have we found the person?"
"The Adventurer Guild refuses to disclose, but there has only been one completed SS-level mission recently, and that's us. Only by completing an SS-level mission can a newly registered adventurer immediately become a five-star great adventurer. I have already sent someone to take care of it internally in the guild. Although finding his specific information is difficult, finding out where he registered should not be a problem..."