Book 6: Chapter 8: Forging

The Chaos Alliance’s Demiplane Trading Square was very organized, and the shops inside had clear specializations. Shops that sold cold weapons like swords and knives did not sell firearms or bows, and stores that sold physical attack Skill Scrolls did not sell magical skills. If the price of an item couldn’t be agreed upon, the staff would contact the consigning Apostles behind the product, trying their best to make the deal happen.

The consignment fees for equipment here were a bit higher than at the Auction House, but most of the gear here was more practical than what was found in auctions. Many Purple-grade pieces of equipment looked even better than the less versatile Dark Gold Equipment from the Auction House.

Of course, most of the physical goods available in these shops were of Purple or Shiny Gold quality. Equipment above Dark Gold Quality, as well as advanced Skill Scrolls, were mostly sold through projection consignment, making the trading method no different from the Auction House.

Qin Lun walked past the shops in the first and second rings of the square and headed toward the outermost third ring. The shops here were in more remote locations, but most of them didn’t sell finished products. Instead, they offered various professional services. For example: equipment repair, upgrades, enchantments, potion alchemy, Artifact Spirit socketing, Skill Scroll copying, summon sealing, and so on.

Finding the third blacksmith shop on the left side of the third ring, Qin Lun soon met the Master Francis that the Succubus had mentioned. This was an elderly Gnome whose graying beard hung all the way down to his potbelly. He wore a pair of goggles that looked like those of a mechanic, and a dirty apron was tied around his waist. He had none of the dignified bearing of a master.

“Your Burial of Light and Darkness is very unique. Each gun by itself is only Purple quality, but through the law connection of a set weapon, they reached Purple Gold quality…” Francis stroked his white beard, holding the guns and murmuring in admiration. “Angel’s Praise and Demon’s Song are made of excellent materials. With my skills, upgrading each of them to Dark Gold Quality would be no problem, but…”

“Master Francis, if there’s any issue, please speak frankly!” Qin Lun’s eyes gleamed, and he said with a smile.

“The law connection between set weapons is hard to grasp. I can upgrade them separately to Dark Gold as individual guns. However, there’s a certain chance it might break their law connection. In other words, even if each gun advances to Dark Gold Quality, their combined set properties might still not break through to the Legendary Domain!”

“I see!” Qin Lun frowned slightly. The gunsmith’s reasoning was logical, and he had no choice but to believe it, but Qin Lun didn’t want to give up just yet. “Master, what conditions do you think are needed for their set properties to break through to the Legendary Domain?”

“Hmm… first, suitable refining materials, and second, suitable Artifact Spirits. These two guns have opposing attributes. I feel that for them to break through to the Legendary Domain, a single Artifact Spirit isn’t enough. There must be two Artifact Spirits that are also relatively opposed!” the old Gnome said slowly. “And… even if everything is ready, I only have a seventy percent certainty!”

“Master Francis, do you think these things will work?” Qin Lun breathed a sigh of relief and dumped a pile of miscellaneous equipment materials from his Storage Space onto the gunsmith’s workbench. He also separately placed the card sealed with the Unicorn Soul and the Maiar Crystal Ball housing Witch Meisha’s soul to the side.

“Oh? White Shining Stone… no, wait, this is White Shining Stone alloy. This is… Lüying Iron, Silver Dragon hide, Hellfire Gold… the quality of these things has degraded a lot, and most of them are smelted mixtures! Where did you get so many precious… junk!” The Gnome’s eyes widened as he looked at the pile of equipment materials on the table, not hiding his surprise at all.

“Junk?” Qin Lun rubbed the bridge of his nose awkwardly.

“Their quality is undeniable, but they’re all smelted alloy products. If they’re not residues from equipment forging, then… you didn’t raid some Apostle’s scrap warehouse, did you?” Francis blew at his white beard toward Qin Lun.

“Pretty much!” Qin Lun gave a bitter smile. This pile of stuff came from the hill cave. Their original owners’ skeletons had become the Hill Giant’s dolls, and their age was impossible to determine. Calling it a scrap warehouse wasn’t wrong.

“Master, are they all useless?” Qin Lun sighed.

“Hmm… if I spend some time breaking them down, they could all be considered precious materials, but… right now, they’re no help in upgrading Burial of Light and Darkness.” Francis stared at the pile of equipment materials, licking his lips as he spoke.

“About how long would it take to break down the materials?” Qin Lun asked with a deep frown.

“Breaking them all down would take about a month and a half!” The old Gnome counted on his fingers and gave an approximate time.

“That’s too long!” Qin Lun shook his head helplessly. A month and a half meant three Quest Worlds would pass for him. He wanted to upgrade Burial of Light and Darkness to prepare for the Metropolis Domination War, and there was no time to waste.

“If you’re in a hurry, then there’s only one way!” Francis wasn’t surprised at all by Qin Lun’s urgency. Stroking his beard, he said, “I do have auxiliary materials suitable for Burial of Light and Darkness here, but their value certainly isn’t as high as your pile of stuff. If…”

“Deal!” Qin Lun didn’t let Francis finish and said decisively, “This pile of stuff in exchange for your materials. The labor cost will be separate.”

“Haha, I, Francis, won’t take advantage of you for nothing. Including the labor cost of breaking down your pile, it’s about 5,000 Shattered Crystals more than the materials I’ll provide. The labor cost for upgrading Burial of Light and Darkness is about 30,000 Shattered Crystals, so you only need to pay 25,000!” Francis puffed his beard at Qin Lun, seeming very displeased.

“Alright, then… Master, do you think the other two Artifact Spirits are suitable?” Qin Lun pointed ingratiatingly at the Unicorn card and the Maiar Crystal Ball.

“Hmm, I checked earlier. The Unicorn Soul in the Unicorn card has already had its consciousness erased, so it fits very well with Angel’s Praise. However, the other dark-attribute soul… seems to still have a clear consciousness?” Francis said hesitantly. “I’m a gun Blacksmith, not an executioner. You’ll have to erase this soul’s consciousness yourself, otherwise I won’t proceed with the forging!”

“Fine! As long as you teach me how to do it!” Qin Lun agreed without hesitation. After a moment’s thought, he took out three bullet molds from his Storage Space. “Master, after Burial of Light and Darkness is refined again, these bullet molds should still be usable, right?”

“You have these things too?” Francis’s eyes lit up, and he hastily snatched the three bullet molds of different qualities from Qin Lun’s hands. After looking at them for a while, he frowned tightly. “Do you have any bullets made from these molds on you? Show them to me!”

Qin Lun’s eyes gleamed, and he immediately took out all the bullets from his Storage Space, piling them on Francis’s workbench.

“Tsk tsk, such exquisite workmanship. The gunsmith who made Burial of Light and Darkness was truly a genius. No wonder I felt these guns were a bit odd earlier.” Francis’s eyes shone as he carefully stroked the guns and bullet molds.

“Master, what’s strange about Burial of Light and Darkness?” Qin Lun asked curiously.

“Hmm, the essence of Burial of Light and Darkness belongs to technological weapons, but magic runes are engraved on the gun bodies. Originally, these two sets of laws couldn’t be combined at all. But that genius gunsmith perfectly solved this problem using bullet molds. He integrated magic into the guns, while giving the bullet molds a technological mode for physical attacks…”

Francis said with admiration, “This is a genius design. It’s just that… Burial of Light and Darkness might only be his early work. He hadn’t fully merged these two laws yet. That’s why Burial of Light and Darkness couldn’t display the true power of Purple Gold equipment!”

“Master Francis, then can you bring out all the potential of Burial of Light and Darkness?” Qin Lun’s eyes shifted, and he asked cautiously.

“I can only do my best! But if we add the bullet molds into the process, the entire refining procedure will become very complex, and the success rate will drop. I’ll need more auxiliary materials, especially containers related to merging Artifact Spirits. Only high-evaluation cards from you Apostles can be exchanged from the Shattered Starry Sky…” Francis said with a serious expression.

“Master, the level of this thing should be enough, right?” A ruthless glint appeared in Qin Lun’s eyes. Before the old Gnome could finish speaking, he flipped his right hand, and a silvery card appeared between his index and middle fingers.

“Silver Card!” Francis licked his lips and said somewhat hoarsely, “It’s enough. Let me see… Oh, this isn’t even a Silver Card from a Low Magic World…”

“Sir, do you really want to use this thing?” Francis said with some regret.

Apostles who entered a Mid-Magic World and still obtained a Silver Card were usually High-Rank Apostles. Even if a Mid-Magic Silver Card wasn’t as precious as a Legendary Item, it was still very rare, and its exact value was hard to estimate.

“Burial of Light and Darkness is very important to me. As long as it can reach the Legendary Domain, any cost is worth it!” Qin Lun shook his head gently. “If the materials are sufficient, then I’ll come back in a few days to pick up the weapon!”

“In a few days? Oh, it seems this is your first time upgrading Apostle equipment!” Francis was taken aback, then smiled and said, “It won’t take that long. Come with me. Anyway, during the forging process, you’ll also need to help me erase the consciousness of that dark soul.”

Qin Lun was slightly surprised and followed Francis into the back hall of the blacksmith shop.

“What’s this?” Qin Lun’s eyes shone with curiosity as he stared at a large, glittering, completely transparent furnace in the center of the back hall. This thing looked just like a golden three-dimensional projection, with no physical substance at all.

“Haha, this is a Law Reactor separated from the city core. The reactor is actually a type of magic furnace, condensed from light elements. Only it can forge, upgrade, and repair Apostle equipment. Otherwise, did you think I would use a hammer to pound on your Burial of Light and Darkness!” Francis said cheerfully.

A short while later, with Qin Lun’s help, Francis piled all the materials onto the workbench in front of the reactor.

“Let’s begin!” Francis solemnly put on a luminous headset connected to the reactor. At the same time, he opened the central door of the reactor and placed Burial of Light and Darkness inside. Then he opened several smaller doors on the sides of the reactor and placed the equipment materials one by one into these attached furnace chambers.

Equipment materials, the reactor, and the forging master controlling the refinement process—this was one of the ways Apostle equipment was produced. Equipment made through this method had higher applicability than gear directly issued by the Shattered Starry Sky to Apostles, and they contained more complete World Laws.

“Add the bullet molds…”

“Add the Artifact Spirit container exchanged with the Silver Card…”

“Now! Remove the seal on the Unicorn card and drive the dark soul from the crystal ball into the reactor…”

“Ahhh…” Witch Meisha’s shrill, hateful screams and the loud whinny of a Unicorn interwove inside the reactor.

Burial of Light and Darkness floated and tumbled up and down in the colorful light of the reactor. The two gun bodies began to glow red and bright, scattering dazzling rays of light. At the same time, the three bullet molds also started to melt slowly, gradually forming two distinct masses of metal liquid, one white and one black.