Chapter Twenty-Nine: Making the Most of Everything

Within the Diagram of Heaven and Earth, a vast and hazy space unfolded, and within it lay a massive Azure Dragon, its breath weak and faint. Both its soul and magical power were suppressed by the overwhelming force contained within the diagram.

Roaring feebly, the Azure Dragon sensed the sudden appearance of the Ancestor of Heaven and Earth, raising its head and gazing over with eyes filled with anxiety and fear.

“In the vast wilderness, few possess cultivation and supernatural abilities at your level. Who exactly are you?” the Azure Dragon growled in unwillingness.

“Why not take a guess and see if you can figure out my identity?” the Ancestor replied with a light laugh, then continued, “Truth be told, I am also curious—why did you try to kill my disciple? But I suppose it is nothing more than a dispute over treasures. You must have coveted my disciple’s Feng Shui Fan, perhaps even the Wind Spirit Pearl and Water Spirit Pearl I bestowed upon him. I’ve heard dragons are fond of treasures, and in my view, your kind is a treasure in itself. Since you love treasures so much, why not turn you into a magical weapon? What do you think?”

“To turn me into a magical weapon?” The Azure Dragon was momentarily stunned. Then, as if suddenly realizing something, terror flickered in its eyes with a distinctly human expression.

Seeing this, the Ancestor’s lips curled into a cold smile. “It seems you’ve guessed. Yes, just as you suspected, I intend to use every treasure within your body—dragon scales, bones, sinews, claws, horns, eyes, teeth, anything of use—to forge as many magical artifacts as possible. Rest assured, I will make the most of your worth.”

“You… you are a demon, a fiend!” The Azure Dragon trembled, crying out in grief and rage, “Even as a ghost, I, Ao Cang, will not forgive you! I curse you, I curse you!”

“A fiend? When I fought the Demon Ancestor Rahu to the death, you had no idea where you were!” The Ancestor sneered. “If killing you makes me a fiend, then what of your pursuit of my disciple? This wilderness is a place where the strong devour the weak. If you must blame, blame your greed and your lack of strength. Too weak. You say you’ll haunt me as a ghost? Do you think you even qualify to become a ghost before me?”

As he spoke, the Ancestor’s hands flashed, forming seals with lightning speed. Mysterious talismanic seals materialized out of thin air and struck the Azure Dragon’s head.

Roaring in agony, the Azure Dragon stiffened and convulsed, its mouth opening in a howl of unbearable pain. A phantom dragon shadow emerged from its body—its soul.

Upon the soul’s brow was imprinted a mystical seal. As the seal’s radiance grew, the soul trembled and collapsed, contracting into a ball of energy shimmering with the light of the talismanic seal.

Then, the Ancestor, the energy sphere containing the Azure Dragon’s soul, and its true form all disappeared simultaneously.

Within the internal space of the Heaven and Earth Cauldron, the Ancestor, the energy sphere, and the massive Azure Dragon’s corpse appeared together.

Leaving the energy sphere floating aside, the Ancestor strode over to the suspended corpse, stopping before its head. With a forceful tug, he broke off one of its enormous horns, as thick as a grown man’s thigh and several feet long.

Cradling the enormous horn, the Ancestor drifted to a nearby spot and sat cross-legged. With a thought, he suspended the horn before him, and with a wave of his hand, various rare minerals and spiritual materials from the wilderness appeared all around. A mass of chaotic-colored flame ignited beneath the horn, radiating intense heat that quickly softened its surface.

Under the unique chaotic divine fire within the cauldron, in less than half a day, the giant horn melted into a viscous liquid about a foot in diameter.

Next, the Ancestor began tossing the surrounding minerals and spiritual materials one by one into the chaotic divine fire, melting and infusing them into the viscous liquid. As more were added, the liquid’s volume grew larger.

Once all the materials were smelted, the Ancestor controlled the flame to continue refining the liquid.

Time flowed on. No one knew how long passed, but under the relentless tempering of the chaotic divine fire, the liquid gradually shrank, finally forming a basketball-sized, dense mass that seemed ready to solidify at any moment.

With solemn expression, the Ancestor manipulated the liquid, shaping and stretching it into a long sword. Both hands formed seals, quickly inscribing intricate talismanic arrays onto the blade.

After much time, as the Ancestor engraved the complex and profound talismanic arrays without pause, the sword slowly took shape—an ancient, dark-azure divine sword, its blade flickering with faint talismanic light and exuding a chillingly fierce aura.

“Come!” The Ancestor beckoned toward the distant void, summoning the energy sphere containing the Azure Dragon’s soul. It shot to his side.

With a touch, he extracted a portion of the Azure Dragon’s soul power and infused it into the ancient dark-azure sword.

With a resonant hum, the sword trembled, its surface glowing, sword radiance flickering, its aura becoming even sharper.

Grasping the sword’s hilt, the Ancestor drew two fingers along the blade. Instantly, two ancient characters—“Azure Dragon”—appeared, glowing subtly on the sword.

Holding the Azure Dragon Sword aloft, the Ancestor performed several sword maneuvers. As the sword gleamed, the surrounding space seemed to twist.

“Impressive power! My Heaven and Earth Cauldron can transform acquired materials into innate ones. This Azure Dragon Sword’s might rivals that of a top-grade innate treasure,” the Ancestor said, eyes bright with satisfaction as he gazed at the sword.

In today’s wilderness, perhaps none possess such refined weapon-forging skills. Even Ancestor Hongjun, who focuses solely on enlightenment and the quest for sainthood, pays little mind to forging magical treasures. Though he possesses many, most are gathered from the wilderness rather than crafted.

A single dragon horn could forge such a fine divine sword—what of the other spiritual materials from the Azure Dragon’s corpse? Looking down at the body, now missing a horn, the Ancestor’s gaze grew even brighter.

As time slipped by, the Ancestor dismantled every usable part from the Azure Dragon’s corpse, combining them with other rare spiritual materials and employing his mastery of arrays and forging techniques to craft a variety of magical treasures. This process also allowed him to integrate and elevate all he had learned within the Lin Meng Universe.

Unconsciously, the entire Azure Dragon’s corpse was used, leaving only a pile of flesh and blood. The Ancestor finally stopped, contentedly admiring the array of magical artifacts floating in the void.

Among them were divine swords, long spears, armor, rope artifacts, flying claws, whips forged from dragon bone chains, spirit pearl treasures crafted from dragon eyes, small daggers and throwing knives made from dragon teeth, divine bows forged from dragon bones and sinews, long whisk whips from dragon whiskers, dragon bone banners, and more—a dozen or so in all, each rivaling medium or top-grade innate treasures in power.