Bai Xuan said no more.
He first unwrapped the Goldsand Iron rod from the thick cloth on his back and handed the dark metal rod over to her.
Mora took it, and it felt slightly heavy in her hand.
She tapped the body of the rod with her knuckles, listening to the resonance, then carefully examined the breaks and the grain.
“Goldsand Iron,”
She confirmed, her tone flattening out. “Excellent mana conductivity, decent hardness. It’s suitable for a magic medium.”
“But it lacks toughness. As the main body for the kind of battle staff you want, it won't withstand violent impacts. It’ll crack. You need a harder, more load-bearing skeleton.”
“The skeleton is here.”
Bai Xuan took out the palm-sized, dark brown metal block—the Kunyuan Heavy Iron—from his leather pouch (actually transferring it from his Space Ring).
Just as he handed the metal block over, Mora instinctively reached out to take it.
The moment her fingers gripped the metal block, her entire body lurched forward. The muscles in her arm tensed instantly to prevent the small object from slipping and smashing into her counter.
She let out a low, surprised grunt, and the relaxed expression on her face vanished without a trace.
She lifted it with both hands, her arms steady as a rock, but Bai Xuan could see the muscle lines in her forearms bulging clearly.
Mora brought it close to her eyes, her fingertips cautiously stroking the seemingly rough surface, and then she gave it an extremely light flick with her fingernail.
“Ding—”
An incredibly low and deep hum, sounding as if it came from the depths of the earth, rang out and echoed faintly through the quiet shop.
Even the sound of the bellows behind the leather curtain seemed to be suppressed by this sound for a moment.
Mora’s pupils constricted slightly.
She held the metal block close to her ear, as if listening to the lingering resonance of the hum, then brought it to her nose and took a deep breath, as if sensing something.
She remained in this position for several seconds without moving.
When she looked up again, the way she looked at the metal had completely changed.
There was shock, fanaticism, and a pilgrim-like solemnity in her eyes.
She looked at Bai Xuan, her voice sounding a bit raspy from suppressed emotion. “…The texture of the Earth's Pulse after being imprisoned… this weight, this resonance… Kid, is this… Kunyuan Heavy Iron?”
“I’ve only seen it described on the legendary pages of the ancient forging manuals passed down in my clan! Where did you get…”
Halfway through, she abruptly stopped.
The pride and professional ethics of a dwarven artisan forced her to suppress the urge to ask about the source.
But her hands, which held the metal, and her breathing grew visibly heavy.
This seemingly unremarkable object was, to her, no different from a holy relic bestowed by the god of forging.
Bai Xuan did not answer, only asking, “As a skeleton, is it enough?”
“Enough?”
Mora squeezed the words out from between her teeth, carrying a sense of absurdity that he dared to be so casual. “It is practically the concept of endurance and stability itself!”
“With this as the core skeleton and Goldsand Iron covering it to channel mana, theoretically… the structural conflict between the two, which should be like fire and water, has a basis for harmony!”
Her thoughts were already soaring with the material itself, and she began to rapidly deduce. “But it’s not enough! You still need a bonding agent, something that can build a bridge between rigidity and flexibility, defense and offense, silence and activity!”
“Perhaps this will do.”
Bai Xuan picked up the crude staff that had been leaning by his side.
Under Mora’s confused gaze, he gripped both ends of the staff, exerted force from his waist, and the muscles in his arms bulged.
With a sharp “crack,” the sturdy hardwood staff was snapped in two by his bare hands!
At the break, a point of emerald-green metallic luster, like a sprout in early spring, was revealed.
Bai Xuan peeled away the shattered wood and pulled out a piece of metal about the size of an egg, flowing with a soft green light of life—Emeraldshade Gold.
This time, Mora didn’t have a huge reaction, but her eyes were incredibly bright.
She didn’t even reach out to take it, but just stared intently at the green light, murmuring, “The life metal, Emeraldshade Gold… No wonder, no wonder you said you wanted a healing bonus…”
“Using it as a medium, weaving it into the veins of the Goldsand Iron, and embedding it between the skeleton of the Kunyuan Heavy Iron… Brilliant! It might truly become the spirit that harmonizes all contradictions!”
She had completely entered the self-absorbed state of a master blacksmith.
Her gaze moved back and forth between the Kunyuan Heavy Iron, Goldsand Iron, and Emeraldshade Gold, her fingers gesturing unconsciously in the air as if she had already begun forging in a virtual furnace.
Bai Xuan waited for a moment before taking out the final item—the fist-sized Earth Element Heart crystal, which radiated a steady, heavy yellow light.
The warm, earthy yellow glow illuminated a corner of the counter.
Mora’s gaze was drawn to it, but her fanaticism quickly cooled, replaced by a deep sense of awe and caution.
She looked at it for a long time, then slowly shook her head, her tone absolute. “This, I cannot touch, and I do not recommend you forge it into any weapon.”
“At least not now, and certainly not with my skills.”
She looked at Bai Xuan with a serious expression. “Listen, kid. Those previous items are top-tier materials; they are dead things that an artisan can hammer and shape. But this.”
Mora pointed at the Earth Element Heart. “It is not a material. It is a core, a fragment of a natural soul, a Seal.”
“This is forbidden knowledge far beyond my understanding.”
“One wrong move, and you will create a monster that will backfire on you. Put it away, and don’t even think about it until you find a true master who can handle it.”
This warning came from the heart, carrying the instinctive reverence dwarves had for creations related to the earth.
Bai Xuan felt a chill in his heart and solemnly put the Earth Element Heart away.
Mora turned her attention back to the first three materials, excitement and distress interweaving on her face.
“With these three things… your whimsical battle staff, theoretically, actually has a sliver of possibility!”
“Kunyuan Heavy Iron as the bone, granting peerless weight and sturdiness; Goldsand Iron as the network, constructing the mana pathway; Emeraldshade Gold as the heart, harmonizing attributes, guiding life energy, and granting a healing bonus…”
“This is truly a genius and insane design!”
She suddenly looked up, her eyes burning as she stared at Bai Xuan. “But the problem is, with my forge and my skills, I cannot achieve a perfect fusion, awaken all the potential, and solidify it into its final form.”
“Their energy levels are too high!”
She explained rapidly, “I can only complete the first step.”
“Using all my techniques and the auxiliary materials I have in stock, I can perform a preliminary fusion and shape them into the battle staff form you want, granting it basic physical properties and preliminary mana conductivity.”
“What is created will only be a Rough Embryo with infinite potential. It will need to be finally tempered with a more powerful energy source, such as the legendary Dragon Breath Forge or Deep Earth Fire.”
“And then, a Grandmaster Rank Rune Master or alchemist must carve runes into it to let it transform from a Rough Embryo into a true Legendary Rank base, allowing it to then endure enchantment and become a complete magic weapon.”
Bai Xuan’s heart had already accelerated when he heard the word “Legendary,” and at this moment, he took a deep breath.
This had exceeded even his best expectations!
Rate on N.U.
