Tang Jian endured the intense pain throughout his body, struggled to get up, bent down to pick up the broken sword embryo, and examined it carefully.
At first glance, he noticed that the break in the sword embryo was not neat; it had basically split along the lines of the Flame Charm pattern.
"Fortunately, I've cultivated to the eighth layer of the Qi Refining Stage; otherwise, if I had taken that hit, I would have ended up severely injured..." Tang Jian rubbed his somewhat stuffy chest, let out a bitter laugh, and muttered to himself.
It was only then that he suddenly understood why Chen Guang had been so meticulous in forging the sword embryo before, seeking the best degree of tempering. It was all for the purpose of performing the soul-opening carving step.
Only when the toughness of the sword embryo reached the requirements of a high-grade magical sword could it withstand the inscription of high-level charms. Otherwise, even if the sword embryo didn't break, the soul stone on the soul-opening carving knife would definitely explode.
Tang Jian shook his head, threw the broken sword embryo aside, walked over to the bed, and slowly lay down.
There was no way to continue forging swords tonight; he would have to wait until tomorrow night to continue.
...
After that, for several consecutive nights, there were muffled explosions and suppressed cries of pain alternating in this side hall.
Until the morning of the sixth day, when the sky in the distance had already turned light blue, suppressed laughter echoed in the courtyard of the Xieshan Main Hall.
In that side hall, Tang Jian, with a tired expression, sat slumped against the wall, his eyes filled with joy.
He was soaking wet with sweat, gently rubbing his slightly reddened right index finger, and glanced at the discarded soul-opening carving knife beside him, which had already been rendered useless. His previously racing heart gradually calmed down.
After several nights of constant attempts and failures, Tang Jian finally used materials such as Gold-Veined Mysterious Iron and Red Copper Ore Crystals to forge three slender swords with the same shape but completely different properties.
One of the swords was as clear and bright as snow but cold like ice crystals, emitting wisps of cold air just by being placed there. Another sword was as red as fire, with flames faintly rising from its surface. The last sword was green, with a breeze swirling around it.
Although their properties were completely unrelated, when placed together, they did not give any sense of conflict; instead, they complemented each other, giving people a harmonious feeling of being integrated into one.
To forge these three magical swords, Tang Jian utilized the internal flames within his body during the melting of the materials, removing all impurities from them. For every forging after the embryo formation, he wrapped the forging hammer with his magical power, infusing his magical power, bit by bit, into the sword bodies.
Therefore, the embryos of the three magical swords all possessed excellent toughness. So, when choosing the charms to inscribe, Tang Jian directly selected three extremely high-ranked charms, including the "Flame Charm," and forged this set of "Three Talents Magical Swords."
Among these three magical swords, each one, taken separately, was an excellent high-grade magical sword. When combined, they could unleash the Three Talents Sword Formation, greatly increasing their power.
If the sword user could utilize them reasonably and maximize their ice, fire, and wind properties, Tang Jian even believed that their power might not be inferior to that of the legendary extreme magical swords.
Seeing that dawn light was already faintly shining through the cracks in the window frames and door, Tang Jian got up.
He took out a prepared ebony sword sheath, which looked slightly thicker than usual sword sheaths, without excessive decorations, appearing simple and unadorned.
Then, he overlapped the three swords and combined them together. The triple charms on the sword bodies simultaneously lit up, and the sword bodies merged into one, transforming into a somewhat peculiar trichromatic long sword.
Tang Jian examined the trichromatic long sword from top to bottom, nodded satisfactorily, sheathed it, and hid it under his bed.
Afterward, he cleaned up the remaining embers in the fireplace and covered them with charcoal.
After carefully cleaning up other traces, Tang Jian dragged his tired body and lay back on the bed.
Soon, a uniform and subtle snoring sound echoed in the room.
After days of nighttime sword forging, Tang Jian had exhausted himself physically, mentally, and in terms of magical energy. He slept for a full day and night, only to be awakened by a rapid knocking on the door in the early morning of the second day.
Tang Jian crawled out of bed, rubbed his sleepy eyes, and opened the door.
A dazzling burst of sunlight shone in from outside, prompting him to instinctively raise his hand to shield his eyes.
Against the backlight, Xiao Dingdang stood outside the door, gazing at him with a slightly surprised expression, clearly unexpected that he had not gotten up yet.
"Oh, it's Xiao Dingdang. What's up?" Tang Jian asked.
"Today is the day of the Sun Family's sword forging challenge. Did you forget, Tang Jian?" Xiao Dingdang asked softly.
Tang Jian immediately snapped to attention, fully awake.
"What, are we leaving now?" he asked.
"Yeah, Miss has gone to pick up Master Chen Guang from the small pavilion. She asked me to tell you as well," Xiao Dingdang nodded and said.
"Just a moment, Miss."
Tang Jian said this, promptly closing the door with a "bang".
A moment later, under Xiao Dingdang's somewhat surprised gaze, Tang Jian reemerged, dressed in a clean short-sleeved brown robe.
At this time, Chen Guang and the other two had also crossed the small garden and walked out of an arched door.
Tang Jian immediately spotted Yan Zi walking on the left.
Today, she wore a snowy white robe, her slender figure gracefully curved. Her long, black hair was loosely tied up, forming a bun on top of her head, adorned with several silver-white bead hairpins. She looked like a pure and elegant snow lotus flower.
Compared to the last time they met, Tang Jian felt that Yan Zi seemed to have lost some of her girlish aura, but her demeanor had gained a sense of calmness and composure. However, deep in her eyes, there was a hint of melancholy.
Beside her, Chen Guang was wrapped in a white cloak, his face slightly pale, as if the injuries he sustained last time had not fully healed.
His gaze was lowered, seemingly weighed down by thoughts.
As for Yao Bin, who followed behind the two, he stared intently at Tang Jian and Xiao Dingdang, sparks already flying from his eyes. If Chen Guang and the others weren't present, he might have rushed forward to teach this annoying guy a lesson.
"Greetings, Miss, Master Chen, and Senior Brother Yao," Tang Jian, unperturbed, stepped forward and greeted them with a bow.
Yan Zi smiled slightly and nodded to him.
Chen Guang and Yao Bin either didn't hear or pretended not to hear.
"Let's go. The carriages are already waiting outside the shop to take us to the Craftsmanship Bureau," Yan Zi said.
Everyone then left the sword shop together, boarding two carriages separately, and slowly headed towards the imperial palace in the north of the city.
Yan Zi and Chen Guang rode in one carriage at the front, while Tang Jian and the other two followed in another carriage behind.
The clear sound of horse hooves came from outside the carriage as the wheels rumbled along.
"Xiao Dingdang, where are we going?" Tang Jian asked.
"Didn't you hear Miss just now? We're going to the Craftsmanship Bureau," Yao Bin answered coldly before Xiao Dingdang could respond.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Dingdang glared at him and explained,
"The Craftsmanship Bureau is the exclusive sword forging institution of the Yue Kingdom's royal family. As the most authoritative official institution in the country, it is led by a Spirit Swordsmith. Whenever there is a significant sword forging competition between major families in the country, the Craftsmanship Bureau is invited to preside over and arbitrate."
Upon hearing this, Tang Jian understood. Their own country, Jin, also had such an institution, but it was called the "Casting Pavilion" and was managed by the current national master, Feng Qingzi, who was also a renowned Spirit Swordsmith.