Chapter 780: Using Flesh and Blood to Refine a City
At the locations of the Nine Immortality Bells, the temperature there was scorching as different varieties of weaponsmithing furnaces appeared one after another, floating in the air, radiating with their own light as the experts respectively started to prepare their forging process.
Naturally, there were chosen who didn’t choose to forge a divine weapon. These people were well-versed in divine inscriptions and had already formed a strand of connection with the ancient bells. Right now, they were quietly sitting in front of the bells in contemplation, attempting to communicate with it.
Within these people, there were many from the major powers of the Cloud Prefecture.
"What strong flames, many of them are unusual varieties of fire. In fact, there are even people using immortal fire to forge a weapon." In the middle of the air, the eyes of the immortal experts occasionally flashed with sharpness as they surveyed the geniuses attempting to forge their divine weapons.
Pei Tianyuan, Ji Kong, and the City Lord of Driftsnow City stood together. Beside them, there were members from the various powers of the Cloud Prefecture as well.
"This time, it seems that the Jiang Clan treats this event more seriously compared to the Wondergate Immortal Manor, they sent more experts here to this event." Pei Tianyuan glanced to the side. Those of the Jiang Clan were standing in a formation as their gazes were focused on Jiang Yan and the other chosen of the younger generations from their Jiang Clan. At this moment, the flame Jiang Yan was controlling was undoubtedly a treasure. Tendrils of icy qi could be seen shimmering in and out of existence and there was a component of coldness within the fire. This type of fire were known as the Icy Underworld Flames and had extremely strong destructive properties. Just touching it slightly would cause great injuries to one.
"There are some disciples and a few elders from the Wondergate Immortal Manor, but the number of their people were by far fewer compared to the Jiang Clan."
Pei Tianyuan then shifted his gaze onto Cheron. Cheron’s flames were golden in color, specks of gold could be seen in his eyes as well. The flames coated the forging materials and there seemed to be a golden fire lotus blooming one after another as the forging process continued on.
"What precise control, seems like the forging methods of these geniuses are all far above the norm and can be considered extraordinary." Ji Kong murmured. Other than the two powers which focused on weapon forging, the Jiang Clan and the Wondergate Immortal Manor, there were also many other elite weaponsmiths of the younger generations present.
Qin Wentian was still in front of the eighth Immortality Bell. He sat there with his eyes closed as the runic lights of heaven and earth flowed in the darkness, congregating into a formless energy that remained hidden from sight, circulating relentlessly above the Nine Immortality Bell before directly transforming into law energy that was directly infused into the Nine Immortality Bell. At this exact instant, Qin Wentian sank his perception within as a city surfaced before his eyes.
This time around, Qin Wentian saw the Driftsnow Inn. The Inn of yesteryear was many times more beautiful compared to the Inn today. Although the scenery was the same, the atmosphere was different and more closely resembled a paradise on earth. The silence in the air caused one to feel a wisp of poignant-ness in their hearts, and what made him started was that on the top of the inn, there was an incomparably beautiful figure quietly lying there. She was in an elegant long dress and her beauty resembled a freshly bloomed flower, made even more prominent in the middle of all the snowflakes.
The snowflakes landed on her body before melting swiftly. That beautiful figure smiled with hints of sadness within and began carving a line of words in the man-made mountains beside her.
"Refining a city till we both die of old age. Lord husband was unwilling, your dear wife tried her best but the heavens were unwilling to grant her her wish. In this place where we fell in love, at the top of the Driftsnow Inn, I lie here waiting for lord husband to see the beauty of the construct created from our love."
Those graceful words were filled with an intense stirring of her emotions. At this moment, the mountains trembled, even the space shook. The snowflakes also ceased their fall as time itself grinded to a halt.
Only to see that at this moment on the stairway leading up to the top of the inn, an exquisite looking young man was walking with trembling steps, step by step upwards as he headed towards the figure lying in the snow. Both his hands and legs were shaking, his handsome countenance filled with alarm and fear as though he was enduring an extreme agony.
Finally, he reached the side of the woman. With a thumping noise, his legs gave way as he fell onto his knees. His trembling hands wanted to extend out yet he didn’t dare to for fear of what he might find. A second felt like an eternity, his eyes bled blood, this kind of pain was too cruel to him.
"Immortal Jade, why must you be so cruel to us?" The voice of the young man quavered, and as the sound of his voice faded the snow on the ground melted away as the mountains trembled even more violently.
"You said you wanted to create an unprecedented divine weapon in the form of a city, I accompanied you on a long and arduous journey, gathering extremely valuable materials and treasures to accomplish your wish. I only wanted was to admire the scenery of the world forever in your company, yet your obsession for weaponsmithing far exceeded the love you had for me and you refused to follow me." Blood dripped from his eyes, as the body of the young man shook uncontrollably, "And just for the sake of a single argument, why must you do this, why must you punish me so cruelly?"
The Driftsnow Master finally stretched his hands out, lightly caressing the face on his lover. But at the instant he came into contact with her, the body of the beautiful figure suddenly transformed into white light, becoming an illusory body.
The trembling of the Driftsnow Master’s body intensified. That illusory woman looked straight at the Driftsnow Master and flashed a smile of gentleness and sweetness, as though showing the willingness of her actions and she would do so with no regrets even if time could reverse. A moment later, that illusory body transformed into wisps of smoke that dissipated into the thin air.
The young man stretched his hands out futilely, failing to grab hold of anything. His countenance turned even paler, completely with no hint of color.
"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" That young man threw his head back and roared. The entire space started shaking as though on the verge of destruction, and the entire landscape seemed about to break apart.
"You truly used your flesh and blood to refine this, wanting it to reach perfection. But why must you be so cruel to me?" This young man was none other than the Driftsnow Master. He howled his heart out, enduring boundless agony. His gaze then turned to the city which he and Immortal Jade had jointly forged.
The cold wind gusted, the snowflakes fell again. The Driftsnow Master’s hair turned from black to white as he stood there in loneliness, staring at the empty city, the burial place of the woman he loved.
The scene then faded, gradually blurring out as Qin Wentian opened his eyes while sighing silently after his perception withdrew from the immortality bell.
"Seems like reality still diverged a little from the legends recorded." Qin Wentian mumbled. Immortal Jade wanted to use her life to refine a perfect city. Not because of her obsession towards weapon forging, but because of her love for the Driftsnow Master was so deep that it could be carved in bones and engraved in the heart. She wanted for them to die of old age together, forging something unprecedented at the peak of perfection that could last forever, as they spent their life together forever in the beauty of their creation.
Both of their ideals clashed, which led to an argument. To show the Driftsnow Master, she truly sacrificed her life essence to refine this city. At the very end, the Driftsnow Master only managed to see her one final time before she transformed into smoke and dissipated into the thin air.
The Nine Immortality Bells, showed him scenes, one after another. Within the bells, the true story between the Driftsnow Master and Immortal Jade was recorded.
"There’s one more bell remaining." Qin Wentian silently mused. He stood up and headed towards the direction of the last ancient bell.
At the same time, many geniuses have already fallen in a state of self-immersion as they gave it their all in the weapon forging process. Many embryonic forms of divine weapons gradually formed as the heat around the area continued rising.
"Forging divine weapons, by using the power of the runes to aid in the forging process, in hope of infusing one’s created weapon with a strand of immortality." One of the expert in the air spoke, reminding the geniuses below. But of course, the true reason was they wanted to acquire the secrets hidden within the bells, be it ancient forging methods or whatever. If not, why would they need to come here specifically just to forge a divine weapon. It would be more convenient for them to forge divine weapons at their own bases.
The myriad flames sparkled, growing even more intense as the radiance from them illuminated this space, giving rise to sighs of admiration from the crowd.
"Jiang Yan and Cheron are truly awesome. The weapons they forged are rapidly approaching immortal-ranked." Many people commented as they watched on.
"Other than them, the other members of their sects and clans, as well as the Battle Heavens Immortal Manor, Myriad Sage Academy, Ninepeak Immortal Court, are all extremely awesome." The gazes of the crowd turned to the other geniuses. Their proficiency with weapon forging was truly terrifying.
Different gorgeous and magnificent sights appeared throughout the divine weapon creation process, but Qin Wentian had no time to care about all of these. At this moment, he arrived at the last Immortality Bell and quietly sat there, sinking into a state of self-immersion. He started to form a connection with the runic inscriptions radiating of the last bell, and contemplating the unique law energy hidden within.
Boundless runic inscriptions flowed around but in Qin Wentian’s eyes, this wasn’t a single entity but was part of a complete whole.
Runic light flashed, as the runic inscriptions started to converge. The lines of the runic pathway were squirming, as the law energy activated. Qin Wentian’s perception sank into the last of the Nine Immortality Bells.
The Driftsnow Master was still sitting at the top of the Driftsnow Inn. His eyes were fixed despondently on a city in front of him as he sank into the abyss of self-guilt and agony.
"Since you have shown me the depth of your persistence, I’m willing to use my flesh and blood to refine this city, to stay with you here forever more." The Driftsnow City murmured, staring at the snowflakes. "I initially wanted to roam the world, pursuing an even higher peak. But because of you, I’m willing to remain here, giving up my life. Thousands of years later, would there still be people who remember me, the Driftsnow Master?"
After speaking, the body of the Driftsnow Master suddenly expanded, transforming into a primordial giant with a height over 30,000 meters. Even the city he and Immortal Jade forged, wasn’t that much larger compared to him.
"Immortal Jade, since this place is your burial ground...I shall join you and use my flesh to refine this city." The Driftsnow Master sighed in melancholy. He stretched out his palms, allowing countless snowflakes to land within, exuding an incomparable loneliness.
"ROAR!!!!!" The body of the Driftsnow Master expanded once more, so tall that it seemed he could reach the heavens.
"Immortal Jade, why must you do this to punish both yourself and me?" The Driftsnow Master continued roaring, his body continuously expanding larger and larger than before. Every tear he shed was akin to a river. His tears integrated into the skies, evaporating into vapor before transforming into snowflakes, drifting and dancing about with the wind.
"I shall use my flesh and blood and join you in refining our creation." Terrifying runic light circulated around every part of the Driftsnow Master’s body, it seemed as though at this moment, he himself was a fearsome divine weapon. Divine light flashed, it’s radiance knew no bounds. He expanded once more and after sometime, a booming sound thundered out as his body exploded into clouds of blood and pieces of flesh, falling from the skies integrating with the core of the ancient city, connected by the magical runic inscriptions which shone dazzlingly.
"GO!" The Driftsnow Master summoned nine towering ancient bells with the last of his will and tossed them into the city, seated in nine different locations. "The sound of these bell chimes shall protect this place. Whenever I think of you, the chimes will resound as a testament of my longing for you."
As the sound of his voice faded, the Driftsnow Master’s soul infused into the nine towering bells. The entire city was trembling intensely. but from the nine locations where the bells stood, boundless light radiated from them, illuminating this entire space!