Category Archives: Martial Void King

[Arc 1] Chapter 7



Authors Note: Okay it’s the end of the combined chapters so enjoy!


Chapter 7 – The Pillars Warriors (1)

A serious look overcame Chu Shens face. He looked at the space in front of him. The leftmost pillar lit up with white light before a shadow appeared before him.

The shadow had a short sword in one hand and a dagger in the other. With such short range weapons it was obvious that this shadow specialized in speed.

Without giving the shadow time to react Chu Shen swung the huge hammer down like lightning. The shadow looked at the hammer and Chu Shen could have sworn he saw a smirk on its face.

The shadow didn’t block the hammer or jump away, it merely stepped slightly to the side. Seeing this Chu Shen smiled.

The hammer hit the ground, creating a dent in the ground. The shockwave from the powerful hit made the shadow pause.

Chu Shen used the hammers recoil to swing the hammer in a circle sideways. Without giving the shadow any room to counterattack the hammer smashed into it, blunt side first.

The shadow flew sideways when it was hit, flying outside of the circle of pillars. As the shadow flew out of the circle it merged with the gloominess of the surrounding air. The pillar stopped glowing.

“Impressive, I didn’t think you actually had some skills in using the hammer” Ti Wu exclaimed.

Chu Shen grinned at his master. As far as he knew, Ti Wu was very stingy on praise. His next sentence verified this.

“You are actually able to use the momentum of the recoil to increase your strength. Good, good. It’s too bad you’re not able to control it very well. You also need to work on your speed.”

Actually, it was only natural that Chu Shen was skilled with a hammer. Since Chu Shen knew that his only hope for power was through blacksmithing he had only practiced techniques that could help him during forging.

The first martial art he had learned, quite recently too, was called . This technique let you control all aspects of your weapon. It resulted in Chu Shen being able to control the rebound of the hammer.

This was extremely helpful during forging because of the precision needed but it had one requirement that stopped most people from practicing it.

Tremendous wrist strength.

Chu Shen did not have the greatest mastery over this technique, as he was just recently able to practice it and that was only with his inborn strength that Chu Shen was able to do so.

“You’ve passed the first pillar. In order to be considered an outer disciple you must beat 3 pillar shadows. If you pass 6 pillar shadows you will be an inner disciple. If you pass all 9 pillars you would be a core disciple.”

“What are the differences master?” Chu Shen asked. He had an idea because of his own sect but wasn’t completely sure.

“Do you think all the pillars will be this easy? Dream on! Naturally there are benefits but I will only tell you if you earn them. Now hurry up, I grow anxious.”

Steadying his mind Chu Shen nodded to Ti Wu. Recognizing that his disciple was ready to start, another pillar light up to the right of the previous one.

This time the shadow warrior carried a spear. As soon as Chu Shen saw the spear he started thinking. Spears, the blade was a long range but the shaft was a short range weapon. It was the natural enemy of a mid range weapon like Chu Shens hammer.

Shadow was cautious, keeping back from Chu Shen. It constantly made little thrusts with the spear though Chu Shen avoided all these with ease.

Finally the shadow committed to a full blow and thrust towards Chu Shen’s chest. Barely avoiding the deadly blow, Chu Shen thrust forward with the hammer, almost like he was trying to punch the shadow.

The hammer was barely avoided by the shadow however it did not expect a dart to suddenly embed itself in its head.

The whole point of Chu Shens thrust was not to kill it but to put it off balance. Then when it was off-guard to kill it with an arrow to the face. When the arrow hit the shadow it disappeared just like the other one.

Ting

A melodious bell like ring sounded out as the metal arrow landed on the ground.



 

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[Arc 1] Chapter 5 & 6



Chapter 5 – Trials (2)

In a desolate land of fire, everything was peaceful. Then all of a sudden a hand came out of the lava. Chu Shen stood on the bottom of the lava lake, looking around in astonishment.

‘Why did I not die?’ He wondered. ‘The lava wasn’t hot and it wasn’t deep either. Just what is going on.’

“Haha, I knew you were the right choice brat. “ Ti Wu appeared above him, floating like the spirit he was.

“Teacher, what’s going on? The lava didn’t kill me.” Chu Shen said with obvious curiosity.

“A test my dear boy, a test which you passed. A cultivator of the way of the void must have courage and confidence in oneself. If you hadn’t jumped within the time for an incense stick to burn you would have landed in real lava.”

Chu Shen gaped at Master Wu. So this whole thing was a test of his confidence that would have killed him if he didn’t try it fast enough. Pondering over the matter Chu Shen nodded his head.

A true test would have a consequence for failure, often on the path of cultivation a mistake meant death. This was both a test and a lesson. Do not expect anything to be easy.

Ti Wu looked at the thinking body of Chu Shen in exasperation. “If you’re just going to sit there you’re going burn to death. You still have to get the staff and the lava will become real soon.”

Chu Shen panicked, rushing towards staff. As he ran the lava clung to him like mud slowing him down. It seemed like forever and with each step the lava grew hotter. Finally he reached the island with the staff. Grinning as he saw victory in his grasp he grabbed the staff. Searing heat scorched the skin of his palm.

“ARGHHHH” Chu Shen quickly let go of the staff, waving his and around to cool it off.

“HAHAHAHAHAHA.” The grand elder of the Void Sect, respected since the ancient times, laughed at his disciple’s misery.

Nursing his hand, Chu Shen glared at him. Yes, he was his master but he didn’t give Chu Shen face at all. “I know this is the test master but at least warn me.”

Ti Wu stopped laughing for a moment and looked at him. “What, did you expect it to be easy?” Upon seeing Chu Shens face, full of fury and indignation he burst out laughing again. “HAHAHAH, it’s a puzzle, HAHAHA, find out the answer. HAHAHA.”

Realizing he couldn’t take out his anger on his floating master, Chu Shen promptly ignored him. Studying the staff he stared at it intensely but nothing was abnormal with the staff. It seemed to be just a normal bamboo staff.
‘Maybe its like the gauntlets?’ With that thought in mind he repeated what he had done with the gauntlets. Nothing happened however.

Chu Shen thought back to the voice he had first heard. “To practice martial arts is to transcend the natural order. It is to unflinchingly march forward and to harness the power of nature. Find your path to cultivation.”

‘Hmmm. The first part is simply a description of cultivation. The second part was the key to the first test. To “unflinchingly march forward” must be the jumping into the lava. Was the clue “Harness the power of nature”?’

Chu Shen shrugged.

There was only one way to find out….. but how could he harness the power of nature? His eyes wandered around looking for something of nature. The only stuff around though was a flat black surface and lava.

His face lit up. Grasping the desperate thought with both hands he rushed to the edge of the island and reached his hands into the lava. It had felt like mud earlier and just like mud it came up in a clump.

Cautiously he carried over the lava to the staff and smeared it on the handle. Carefully placing his hands on the staff he waited for a couple seconds.

Nothing happened. Overjoyed he firmly grasped the staff and yanked on it. The staff moved a little bit but no more.
Remembering his teachers reminder that the lava would become real soon made Chu Shen reckless.

He started frantically pulling and twisting and wiggling the staff before it finally came out. Chu Shen became impressed as he looked at the staff again.

At the end stuck in the ground there was unexpectedly a metal spike and on the spike was dozens of miniature hooks.

‘Ah, no wonder teacher kept laughing the more I pulled’

The ancient voice rumbled out once again after he had picked up the staff. “You have passed the test of courage, confidence, quick wit, usage of the elements, and finally determination. There is one more test, have faith practitioner.”

As soon as the voice finished speaking the world became black before lighting up once more.


Chapter 6 – Trials (3)

Blinking to clear his eyes Chu Shen looked around. He sighed. ‘Yet another cavern’ he thought dully.
This time he was in a cave and surrounding him was columns of jade.

‘When will this end?’ He thought. His master appeared in front of him.

“Okay brat, you are now in the last stage of the test. While the other tests was for me to test your character this last one is crucial for your future path.”

Ti Wu gestured behind him. “See these columns?” Chu Shen nodded. “Good. Inside these columns are formation arrays. When I activate it a phantom warrior made of heavens Qi will form.”

“Your goal is to fight these warriors. Each column’s warrior will become stronger when you beat the previous one. There is a set of weapons over there, choose one or tell me if you want a different one.”

Upon hearing those words Chu Shen looked over at the weapons. There was various swords, spears, armor, shields, bows, and various other bladed weapons.

Chu Shen shook his head at all these weapons. While he had not fought often with the other disciples when he did he tried to use his brute strength as often as possible. “Master, I am not suitably trained in any of these weapons.”

Ti Wu was stunned. “Lowly sects. You’d think they’d at least train you how to fight but nooo. I bet he can’t even swing a sword around.” Ti Wu grumbled underneath his breath.

Raising his voice he called out to Chu Shen, “Disciple, do you have any weapon you wish to use then?”

Chu Shen cupped his hands and bowed to his master. “Yes master, I wish to use a hammer and a sleeve crossbow.”

Ti Wu frowned. He had never used a hammer or a crossbow before so he naturally did not have the capability of reproducing them.

”I cannot make them so you will have to make the weapons you wish to have. They will be weapons of pure steel just like these with no inscriptions added.”

“How do I accomplish this master?”

“Merely imagine the weapon you wish to have and let me know when you have vividly captured the image. This is after all still an illusionary soul realm in the Voids Hand.”

“Yes master.” Chu Shen closed his eyes and thought of a hammer. It was to be one and a half meters long, making it a medium range weapon.

It was all metal with the hammer part being over 3/10 of a meter at the end. One end was shaped like a brick and was obviously meant for crushing, the other was a metal spike meant for stabbing into the opponent.

The crossbow on the other hand had a wooden base. It was mounted on a metal strip with leather straps to attach it to his arm.

The string though was made with tensile steel, making it extremely hard to notch letting the arrows reach tremendous speeds.There was a groove guiding the arrow to its target. Beside the string there was a curious device.

It looked like a gear with a handle attached to it that faced inwards towards the persons chest if the crossbow was worn on the left arm. Another curious thing was the arrows. They looked more like a miniature spear, they had no feathers to speak of.

If Chu Shen was able to craft a crossbow like this it would become a true marvel in the sect. It was unfortunate that though he had the talent to accomplish this he was not experienced enough in crafting to make a crossbow like this.
Trying his best to concentrate on these masterpieces Chu Shen called out to his master hesitatingly as his brow furrowed in concentration. “Master… I have succeeded.”

Ti Wu looked at his disciple in disdain. In mere moments he had come up with the style of weapons that would most likely follow him throughout his life.

“Remember that these weapons will be crucial in what I teach you, do not be hasty with their design.” Ti Wu said sternly.

“Master….I am….really….done.” Ti Wu sighed in exasperation at his disciples helplessness.

Ti Wu floated over towards Chu Shen until he was right in front of him. Reaching out with his hand Ti Wu touched the young boys forehead. When he did a glowing blue orb emerged from his head.

Ti Wu then took the orb and put it inside his own forehead and closed his eyes. After a short moment he looked at the Chu Shen in astonishment.

“He truly does have potential to be a great artificer, no wonder he was working at that place.” Ti Wu murmured to himself. Realizing Chu Shen was still concentrating hard he frowned.

Raising his voice he called out to him. “Boy, I have already received your souls image. You may stop.”

Chu Shen opened his eyes in relief. “Here are your weapons” With a wave of his hand the weapons Chu Shen had asked for appeared, completely as he had imagined.

He looked at them in awe, knowing that it would be some time before he could create anything of this perfection.
Before Chu Shen put on the weapons though he put on armor. First he put on a chest plate. After that he put on a helmet that only covered the top of his head and neck. And finally shin guards and greaves that covered a broad portion of the arms and legs though the left arm had nothing put on it.

Carefully Chu Shen strapped the crossbow on his left arm, lacing up the straps tightly.

Ti Wu looked at the crossbow with undisguised curiosity. “What does that gear do, as far as I know it has no purpose.”

“Yes master. I don’t believe I can properly explain, could I demonstrate it for you instead?”

Ti Wu waved his hand in dismissal. “Yes, yes. Just show me what it does.”

Chu Shen bowed “As you wish master.”

Using his right arm he strained at the gears handle. As he turned it in a half circle the metal string that had been
notched in the teeth of the gear was pulled back as well.

Within a matter of a half a second the metal string that someone a whole stage above him would struggle with was notched in the crossbow.

Ti Wu gained enlightenment as to the purpose of the gear. It was to allow someone weaker to notch the crossbow. With this method you could prepare a devastating attack way above your own strength, truly formidable.

Next Chu Shen strapped on the small quiver of metal arrow-spears, as he thought of them, around his leg like a belt. Chu Shen notched the arrow into the crossbow before picking up the hammer with both hands.

“Are you equipped with your weapons then disciple?”

“Yes master.”

“Then let your final test begin!”



 

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[Arc 1] Chapter 3 & 4



Chapter 3 – Master

Chu Shen was stunned. An expert wanted him to be his apprentice, at least he supposed the voice that sounded like an old mans that was coming from the gauntlets was a great expert. After all, he had managed to become a soul in the gauntlets and survive. Shen had never hear of someone doing that before even in the sect.

Hurriedly he kowtowed three times on the floor. “Yes master, this disciple hears you.”

“Humph humph. If not for your void constitution I would not even be able to teach you. Now where am I, a forge? WHAT! You would dare to melt down the voids hand like some cheap tool!”

Chu Shen, upon hearing the old man, as he now thought of the voice, anxiously kowtowed again saying, “I am sorry master, I am truly sorry. I had eyes but did not recognize Mount Tai.”

“Take me away at once. No better yet, put on the gauntlets.” Hearing the stern voice and wanting to please his newfound master Chu Shen quickly put on the gauntlets.

“Now I am going to test you, consider this punishment for trying to kill me, though I doubt you could even melt the leather.”

“Wait master, what do you me-“

Inside the Chu sects best forge a young man, renowned for crafting mid-tier Dragon weapons at the tender age of twelve, collapsed on the table next to him. As bits of metal and weapons clattered on the floor, the rusty gauntlets he

had on melted inside his skin.

Chu Shen woke up inside a cave. “What is this place?” Chu Shen asked in wonder as he looked around the cavern. Pieces of jade, black iron, dragons teeth stone, and other various crafting goods were strewn about like trash.

“This is your soul kid.” Chu Shen jumped as an ancient voice called out next to him. Turning his head he saw a middle aged man decked out in warriors clothes next to him. Chu Shen was curious as to why the voice sounded so old but that was not important now.

“My soul? How is that possible and why does it look like this.?” The man rolled his eyes.

“I am not going to say it twice to a brat the can’t hear. As to how it’s possible, it’s of course through the voids hand. It’s not called divine armor for nothing. It looks like this because the things you wish for is better items to forge with.”

“Now listen up kid. I wont repeat myself. I am from an ancient sect that was extremely powerful. We converted our Qi into Null Qi, this Qi can neutralize all other types of Qi, making it extremely useful in a fight.”

“Your void constitution would have been extremely valuable to the sect simply because your body naturally cultivates Null Qi. Not only that, you will be able to strengthen your body to the extreme as well, reaching strengths so that with your bare hands you can destroy entire mountains with a single blow. “

“The reason you are in your soul is just the first step. Next you will be transported to the testing realm contained within the voids hand for the sects test. I will not tell you more until you get there.”

“Master I don’t think….”

“No! You will take this test. I have told you I would take you as a disciple but there is a catch. In order for you to be considered my true disciple you must pass.”

“If you try and fail then you will simply learn basic techniques but if you pass or succeed above my expectations then I will grant you profound techniques that if cultivated properly can shake the heavens to its core. Let us begin”

“Wait master.”

“What now brat, I can’t dawdle time with idle questions otherwise my Qi will run out.”

Chu Shen cupped his hands in apology. “I am truly sorry master, I merely wanted to ask master his name.”

The middle aged man finally smiled, breaking his stern expression which he had kept the entire lecture. “Ah yes, I truly did overlook something didn’t I? Very well. My name is Ti Wu, elder of the Void sect. Try hard disciple, I truly hope you succeed.”

Suddenly Chu Shen was standing in the middle of a small island about 10 meters across either way. Surrounding him was a lake of lava and at the other end was a staff stuck in another island.

Gulp

Chu Shen looked nervously at the surrounding lava. “I didn’t think master Wu was this crazy” he whispered.


Chapter 4 – Trials (1)

Chu Shen looked at the lava helplessly. Even now he could feel the heat, his face was even starting crack, which startled him.

It must be known that as the apprentice for a blacksmith he had long since gotten used to intense heat. He had never experienced his skin cracking even when his master had forged with the divine fire. This heat must be on a different level than what he had been used to during forging.

An ancient rumbling voice boomed out all around Chu Shen, completely unlike Ti Wu. “To practice martial arts is to transcend the natural order. It is to unflinchingly march forward and to harness the power of nature. Find your path to cultivation.”

Chu Shen flinched when he heard the voice but upon hearing the words it spoke his heart grew firm and his eyes cold.

“I have been a genius who knew I could never reach the top, that no matter what I did it would be pointless. This is my chance to reach the peak and no matter what lies in my path I shall overcome it.”

As Chu Shen said this he strode forward towards the lava. As he neared the edge he condensed his Qi towards his legs, helping reinforce them. He paused at the edge of the lava, his eyes searching endlessly for a hint in this desolate land of fire.

He sighed in regret. There was nothing out there. No ropes, no hints, nothing that could help him with this challenge. Finally he accepted what he must do. He must unflinchingly stride forwards on his path. Chu Shen knew his path was

to be unique and he must embrace without hesitation or nervousness.

It was one thing to know what you must do and another to actually do it. Breathing deeply he once more tried to pierce the gloomy land. Taking a couple steps back he ran towards the edge of the lava pool. With a tremendous leap he sailed into the sky towards the pole.

Unfortunately no matter how strong your courage was, it still is not enough in the face of nature. As Chu Shen reached the peak of his leap he knew he would fall short, not by much, but enough.

Without closing his eyes he prepared for his legs to be burnt and possibly his entire body to directly turn to ash. He got closer and closer to the lava, heat radiating off it becoming unbearable.

Then his legs touched the lava. With a splash he landed in the lava, not even two meters from his goal. Ah, such a waste.



 

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[Arc 1] Chapter 1 & 2



Authors Note: I am a new author and this is my first story so be kind okay? When I first started writing I didn’t realize how short the chapters were so the first 6 chapters will be combined for a total of 3 chapters.


Arc 1: Hopeful Beginnings

Chapter 1
Memories

Dang! Dang! Dang!

Sparks flew as a hammer repeatedly smashed into a glowing metal lump. Continuous blows struck down on the metal, not letting up for a moment. The ferocity, speed, and accuracy of the hammers blows showed the skill of the blacksmith.

Chu Shen absentmindedly wiped the sweat from his brow as he put the metal down into the water. Steam billowed up before the metal was onto a table by the forge. The metal was now recognizable as a throwing disk used by the nearby Lin sect to train them in the arts of ranged weapons.

Taking the disk along with the others he had already forged Chu Shen took them to the shops inscription master who would reinforce the disk with Qi.

“Chu Shen, you have the throwing disks ready?”

“Yes Master Lang, I have prepared them.”

“How is you’re cultivation coming along, I heard you reached level 8 of the man stage yesterday?”

Without replying Chu Shen set down the disks and quickly left for cup by the well in the corner. Master Lang watched him leave with a pained expression.
As he filled the cup with cool well water he reminisced about his past.

Cultivation was separated into different stages with each stage having 10 levels. There was Man, Tiger, Dragon, Student, Practitioner, Scholar, Warrior, Army, King, Emperor, Earth, Nature, World, Cosmos, Celestial, and Heaven stages. Each stage had a difference in the quality of the Qi until the Student stage.

Upon reaching the student stage you would have to unblock the meridians until the Earth stage upon which the meridians would be used to explore the natural laws of the universe.

All this simply compounded young twelve year old Chu Shens problems. As a kid he had enormous potential, almost to the point of disbelief. When anyone heard that he had almost reached the Tiger stage at 12 they would gasp in awe but then sigh in regret.

With his talent it would have been natural to reach the Nature or even World stage. He could never reach past the dragon stage though, simply because he had no meridians to unblock. It also did not help that his Qi was abnormal and couldn’t be used for martial arts but only for internal and bodily cultivation.

As a young kid he was treated with mixed feelings, everyone knew that one of the most prominent elders son of the Chu branch sect was a genius who had his future cut short.

Knowing he could never have the power he desired at six he threw himself into finding a suitable occupation where he could reach the pinnacle.

Upon looking Chu Shen found himself entranced with blacksmithing, where all of the weapons including the ones the elders used was forged. He knew he could be of some use by making great weapons for the sect so Chu Shen was granted the chance by Master Lang.

Chu Shen always had the heavens gift of abnormal strength, he could as a six year old pick up 80 pounds, which he used to forge. Upon finding his talent for forging Master Lang took him as his direct disciple.


Chapter 2
The Pair of Gauntlets

“Junior brother Shen, I have some scrap metal for you.”

“Okay Senior brother Lan, just leave it on the table.” Chu Lan was a disciple of the Chu Sect who often visited the shop. He would bring with him old or useless armor and weapons to be melted down into new items.

On the table was a rusted pair of gauntlets, a sword broke in two, a helm with a dent in it, and a metal dagger in perfect condition. “Was there anything interesting in this batch Senior Lan?”

“No, all this is from that old man that managed the shop down the road. He ran out of all his goods except these so he decided to leave to someplace, no one knows where.”

“I have to go prepare for the sects trials, you should too if you want to become an inner disciple.”

“…”

“Oh come on, you cannot keep being depressed like this. A frog in a well does not know the extent of the earth. There may be a treasure that can give you meridians, but unless you are a core disciple the sect wouldn’t give it to you.”

“I thank you for your advice Senior Lan, but I must forge now. Please forgive my rudeness. “ Chu Shen said abruptly as he bowed to him. As he spoke Chu Lan frowned.

“Either way consider my words carefully. Goodbye, junior brother Shen.”

Chu Shen let out a sigh of relief when he left. Grabbing ahold of the sword that was broke he started melting it down, hitting it with his hammer to drive out the impurities that had accumulated on the outside of the blade.

He continuously melted down and forged the sword into ore. Right now Chu Shen had no time to forge weapons so instead he turned the broken items into pure metal ore.

Chu Shen worked his way down the line until he had refined all but the pair of gauntlets. As he reached down to grab it Chu Shen felt his Qi resonate with the pair of gauntlets. Curious he studied the pair of gauntlets but no matter how he looked at it, it was just a rusted pair of gauntlets.

Setting the pair of gauntlets down he stared at it cautiously before a light appeared in his eyes. “Ah yes. Some artifacts you have to supply Qi to them before they work or drip blood on it.”

Doing as he had said gray colored Qi appeared in his hands about the size of a penny. Until he unblocked his meridians this was the most Qi he could use outside his body. The penny sized Qi surged towards the pair of gauntlets in a formless wave.

When it came in contact with the pair of gauntlets it sucked up the Qi and a white circle lit up on the top part of the pair of gauntlets.

“Ah finally, someone with null Qi has gotten ahold of me.” A voice said inside his head. Chu Shen looked at the gauntlets in astonishment.

“You actually have a void constitution brat?” The voice said in astonishment. “I didn’t think such a small sect would have someone like you. Consider yourself lucky then, I have decided to take you as a disciple.”

Chu Shen leaned back on the wall in astonishment. Who would have thought the gauntlets would have a soul trapped inside it and it could absorb his Qi.

Nothing else had ever been able to absorb his Qi, as a matter of fact he destroyed any other type of Qi his came in contact with, frustrating his teachers efforts in teaching Chu Shen about laying formations.

“What brat, don’t want to become a disciple of the great me? Would you rather never be able to pass the King stage? I guarantee that without my instruction you could never pass this stage.”



 

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[Arc 1] Chapter 16



Chapter 16 – Cheating

Chu Shen walked up the path leading towards the blacksmithing area. Smoke billowed upwards as the clanging of metal rang out. Chu Shen smiled.

He walked into the side of the forge. There was his teacher at the forge, a rare occurrence really. Master Lang typically left the forging to the other blacksmiths or to him.

Because Master Lang was a great inscription master he typically wrote the inscriptions for Chu Shen. After all, his Qi destroyed an inscription when he tried to write one.

His master was forging several throwing knives at once. Each blow with his hammer was extremely strange. It seemed to hit all the knives at once.

Chu Shen stared at the strange sight before smirking. Master Lang truly was worthy of being called a master artificer. There is a difference between a blacksmith and an artificer.

A blacksmith forges weapons but that is all. While they can craft miraculously sharp and strong weapons with Qi or heavenly fire, it will always be worse than an artificer’s creation.

An artificer is an inscription master and a blacksmith. An inscription is a carving laid down by an inscription master that can have various effects. One is helping channel Qi into a weapon or even increasing the Qi’s efficiency and power.

Another effect would be to transform Qi into a different type of Qi. For example, a fireball inscription when powered by martial Qi can shoot a fireball at their opponent.

With the effect of an inscription a weapons combat ability can more than triple. However an artificer is different than both an inscription master and a blacksmith master. The reason for this is actually an extremely simple reason.

An artificer is both. Because an artificer has personally crafted the weapon they lay inscriptions upon, there is no flaw. They know everything there is to know about a weapon they craft and therefore can use an inscription that perfectly suits it as well.

Each weapon has its own personality and each inscription has its own. Only the most perfect union of inscription and weapon will be able to bring out a weapons true potential.

This is why when you compare two equal weapons made by a blacksmith and inscription duo and an artificer, the artificer will always win. He frowned. Of course, since he couldn’t lay down inscriptions because of his Qi erasing the inscription ink, he could only be called a blacksmith instead of an Artificer. He would have given up long ago but this was the best thing he could do with his Qi type

A sudden stop in the clanging of metal shook Chu Shen out of his stupor. Looking up he saw Master Lang standing in front of the throwing knives. Master Lang took out a couple vials stopped with a cork

Chu Shen recognized these vials. Each inscription required materials to be made into liquid called inscription ink. Using their Qi to manipulate this inscription ink the inscription master would then make the inscription.

Master Lang unstopped the vials. A glowing blue liquid floated out of the vial. The liquid collected into several balls of liquid in front of each knife. The liquid started twisting and turning, a powerful Qi permeated the air.

The liquid formed into symbols. These symbols gave off an indescribable sense of power. Finally the symbols were complete, the glow turning golden. The leftover liquid flowed back into the vials and Master Lang stopped the vials.

The symbols hovered mysteriously in the air over the knives. Finally with a gesture of Master Lang’s hand the symbols flew down to the knives. With a flash of light the symbols turned into a circle on the knives handle.

Chu Shen mentally applauded Master Lang’s control of the inscription symbols. It was a simple inscription, basic really.

However, even the most basic inscription took a long time. Only an expert could do it in a matter of moments.

Master Lang collected the knives and put them in a basket. Turning towards Chu Shen he smiled.

“Chu Shen, get in here and start forging. The Lin sect wants some inscription throwing knives for their disciples.”

“Yes master.”

Chu Shen stepped up to another forge and started working on the knives. He grabbed some iron ore and started to forge. As he did he started circulating his Qi according to <Voids Child>  technique.

As he did golden lights started floating towards him. These lights was the Qi of the world. The Qi was only visible to those who were currently cultivating. There was a whole lot of lights, it looked like a swarm of lightning bugs.

Suddenly Chu Shen put down the hammer. He stared at his chest in befuddlement. ‘What! Since when did my cultivation speed become this fast! I previously just broke through to the 8th level of the man stage but now I almost instantly reached the middle stage. Just what is going on!’

‘Brat, that cultivation speed is just because of that technique and necklace that I gave you. Previously you were practicing a technique you were unsuitable for, now you will advance more than ten times faster!’

‘Haha, this is great! I really can reach the Emperor stage in five years’

‘I would be ashamed to call you my disciple if you didn’t do it in three.’

‘Yes master. With this cultivation speed, its practically cheating.’

“Chu Shen, keep forging. We still have to make this order.”

“En” Chu Shen nodded in his agreement.

Chu Shen picked up his hammer again. He started forging the daggers. They kept at it, each time he made a dagger his master would put an inscription on it.

Finally they finished forging all the weapons. Over 100 daggers in total were made. The inscription was a simple burst inscription. Qi would be stored in the inscription before being released on impact, creating an explosion of Qi.

It was quite formidable though it had a limit of Qi it could store. It was only useful for low-level cultivators.

Chu Shen grabbed the baskets and took them outside the forge and set them down. Chu Lan would pick them up and deliver them to the Lin sect.

Turning around he saw Master Lang was watching him.

“Chu Shen, your father told me that you are going to the main sect to join them. I have a gift for you, from master to disciple.”



 

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