The Fire Metal of the desert, the Fire Metal carrying the power of lightning within magma, and the Fire Metal of the great ocean... Qian Jin gazed at the various types of Fire elemental metals spread across the table. No wonder both the ancestral notes of the Qian family and the academy textbooks stated that powerful warriors are always monsters who devour money; the total value of these few pieces on the table already exceeded twenty million gold coins at market price!

With materials alone costing this much, if one were to truly forge a Soul Weapon—and one suitable for a warrior just shy of the Saint realm—twenty million? That would only be the base cost. To actually acquire it, one would be lucky to manage it for forty million. "How about it? When do we start forging? Do you need any tools? I'll go get them for you! If anyone refuses to sell, I'll take them by force! I will steal them!"

Qian Jin stared at Fabredis's eyes, burning with a fervor bordering on literal flames. It was the first time he had seen the City Guardian, usually so solemn and composed, lose his composure like this today. How could a Soul Weapon simply be forged whenever one wished?

"Uncle, it's true I am a Forging Master, but I still don't know what a Soul Weapon is. How can you expect me to forge one for you?" Qian Jin shrugged. "I need a general idea, and perhaps some ordinary metals to simulate the forging a few times, just to warm up?"

Fabredis repeatedly slapped his own forehead. "You are absolutely right, I was too hasty. How about this: 'Shall we immediately go to Everflow City?' They hold an auction there once every month; we should be able to purchase the necessary notes there."

"No rush, no rush. It's only the beginning of the month," Qian Jin murmured, secretly calculating. The Zhanmadao (Horse-Cleaving Blade) in his hand was forged back when he first became a blacksmith. His forging capability had vastly improved over the last two years; he was now a Forging Master. Perhaps he could make a name for himself at the auction and buy some fine metals to upgrade the quality of his Zhanmadao then.

Qian Jin then glanced at the trio who had recently committed crimes and killed alongside him: Fen Tu Kuang Ge. Duan Feng Bu Er's Bu Er Spear needed a complete re-forging. Otherwise, a spear with the ability to channel Dou Qi from both ends would be at a distinct disadvantage against a weapon that was also a Soul Weapon.

Fen Tu Kuang Ge and Czekliffit didn't even possess Soul Weapons. If there were rare metals at the auction, he should try to buy them all!

Buy them all? Qian Jin glanced again at the metals on the table. While the auction might not feature metals as expensive as these, even lower-tier rare metals were costly. The five hundred gold bars he acquired from the Demon Race last time would last him a lifetime if used for food and lodging, but when used to purchase rare metals...

For the first time, Qian Jin realized that the figure of fifty thousand gold coins meant very little when faced with rare metals. At least for the metals currently on the table, fifty thousand gold coins wouldn't even buy a small corner piece. He needed to figure out a way to earn much more gold.

"The auction... the auction..." Qian Jin tapped his fingers rapidly on the table. "If I can buy, I can also sell... Should I sell something? A Soul Weapon? A potion? Or perhaps a Mysterious Potion? Or maybe just forge a primary enchanted Soul Weapon with an inscription and try selling that?"

In the quiet hall, everyone was startled by Qian Jin's low murmuring. Fabredis even spoke up, "What did you just say?"

"Oh." Qian Jin snapped back to attention. "I was considering whether to forge something myself before the auction, perhaps sell some items to earn some gold and upgrade my own equipment in the process." "You mentioned Mysterious Potions? And primary enchanted Soul Weapons?" Fabredis felt that all the shock he would experience in his lifetime had been expended on the Qian Jin before him.

The Three Heroes of the Battle Hall—what hadn't Fabredis seen? Fabredis once believed that even if the current Great Demon King appeared before him wearing the Battle World Demon Armor and wielding the World-Ending Demon Spear, his composure would remain as calm as still water. Yet, a few words from Qian Jin nearly made him jump out of his skin.

Mysterious Potions? Alchemy, a field only studied by madmen? Qian Jin knew about it too? Inscriptions! Another discipline so profound it could drive people mad. Judging by the sound of Qian Jin's mumbling, he seemed to know a thing or two about that as well? Potions, Mysterious Potions, Forging, Inscriptions, Warrior... What was he planning? "Inscription Apprentice, Mysterious Potion Apprentice." Qian Jin smiled. "I haven't even properly begun studying those two disciplines."

Fabredis merely sank into contemplation. Both Inscription and Mysterious Potion studies required extremely high talent. Memory alone was enough to block countless individuals, so even being an apprentice in either was astonishing.

"Bu Er, I'll write a list. You buy according to the materials listed, as much as you can acquire." Qian Jin grabbed the feather pen from the desk, dipped it in ink, and rapidly scribbled on a piece of paper. "It's fine if you can't buy everything; just buy what you can. You take these gold bars first."

Five hundred gleaming gold bars clinked and piled up on the long table. Fabredis's heart jumped—these were bars worth tens of thousands of gold coins! Where did this kid Qian Jin get so much money? "Haha! My Bu Er Spear! It looks like there's a real chance to upgrade it properly." Duan Feng Bu Er stacked the gold bars and looked up at the other two. "Hey, you two, aren't you going to help?" The three of them loaded all five hundred gold bars into the carriage.

Fabredis watched the three leave, his eyelids twitching uncontrollably. It seemed these three were about to raid all the shops in Oakland City.

Fifty thousand gold coins! It was a good thing two of them were Bloodline Warriors and the other a Demon-Slaying Warrior. Otherwise, in Oakland City, it would have been difficult to deter those whose eyes turned greedy at the sight of so much gold.

Qian Jin walked around the hall, looking everywhere. "Uncle, could you prepare a room for me where no one is allowed to disturb me?"

"No problem!" Fabredis turned and walked toward the back door of the hall. "I have a basement. The only entrance to that room is through my personal quarters. If anyone wants to disturb you there, they'll have to kill me first."

Qian Jin picked up an apple from the table and took a bite, thinking how safe that was! In Oakland? Besides Fabredis, he wouldn't even find a warrior capable of killing him. And someone who could kill Fabredis? Was that even possible?

Fabredis's basement was about a hundred meters long and wide, situated twenty meters underground, with a ceiling height of over four meters. All sorts of supporting training equipment were very complete. It was clear this was Fabredis's usual place for secret cultivation.

Qian Jin closed the door, not bothering to inspect the amenities. Even the most comprehensive equipment could never compare to that place, the Endless World—a West Mountain filled with countless demonic beasts and thugs. Was there any training method better than actual combat?

Qian Jin opened the Dou Realm and took out the hat that led to the Endless World. He didn't close the Dou Realm immediately but observed its condition closely. The space, previously only ten cubic meters, was now the size of this basement, with a height of nearly a hundred meters.

The huge space could accommodate more items, but unfortunately, it was still a space that could only hold inanimate objects; living things entering it would likely die instantly. "Not bad, not bad. After entering the Demon Subduing Battle, the Dou Realm has expanded so much..."

Fabredis nearly stumbled as he walked away. He turned back to look at the thick door panel and shook his head lightly. Demon Subduing Battle? A Dou Qi rotation speed of one hundred thousand revolutions, extremely high-quality Dou Qi—only the sustained duration of the Dou Qi was insufficient. Strictly speaking, the current Qian Jin appeared to an outsider as a Demon Subduing Battle warrior, but he was actually a warrior comparable to the fifth level of Demon Subduing Battle.

"Pseudo-Demon Subduing Fifth Battle..." Fabredis nodded heavily. "That's right. This kid is a Pseudo-Demon Subduing Fifth Battle warrior whose Dou Qi volume is lacking. Anyone who mistakes him for a Demon Subduing First Battle warrior in a duel is seeking death. I truly don't know how he trained." "Sigh! Time to go train in the Endless World again..." Qian Jin sighed and murmured softly, his voice no longer carrying beyond the door panel. Carrying the magic hat, he found a bed and immediately lay down to sleep!

The black space gradually acquired some light spots, and then the familiar village appeared, along with the familiar cooking smoke.

Stepping across the threshold, Qian Jin was startled—a person stood right in front of him! Almost speaking literally, Uncle Black stood face-to-face, much closer than simply facing him.

His wrinkled old face was etched with endless vicissitudes. His cloudy eyes rotated slightly. "Having become a Forging Master, you have already mastered the fundamental forging techniques. The next thing you must learn is not forging skills, but reading. Understand what a blacksmith is..."

Qian Jin had the thought that perhaps Uncle Black had reversed the order. Usually, one should first study the most basic knowledge from books, understand the rules of a trade, and then learn the application skills from texts. By now, he was already a Forging Master...

Alas! Forget it! Qian Jin didn't want to dwell on it. Before a blacksmith of Uncle Black's caliber, a Forging Master truly felt like a child.

"This month, you don't need to hammer iron. Every day is for reading." Black said this as he returned to the corner behind the door to smoke his pipe. "Before you read, go ask Oulala for some Memory Potions; they will help you too." "Memory Potions?" Qian Jin was taken aback.

Black looked up at Qian Jin. "Why do you think those thick books on Alchemy can be memorized just by reading them? Your memory is good, but not that good, right?"

Images of Oulala brewing potions flickered through Qian Jin's mind, and layers of emotion welled up within him. Oulala, who seemed to brew potions like she was committing murder, had actually been secretly helping him all this time.

Qian Jin turned and headed straight for Oulala's Potion Room. Oulala, with her messy hair, sexy figure, yet perpetually wearing oversized robes, looked at the wall clock. "So early today? I haven't even had time to set a trap yet." Traps? Qian Jin shivered. While studying Mysterious Potion lore here, he had coincidentally picked up a great deal of knowledge about various strange traps. "Uncle Black told me to ask for some Memory Potions..." "Memory Potions?" Oulala stuck a feather pen in her messy hair, grabbed Qian Jin's wrist, and hurried him toward a room. "Speaking of Memory Potions, I need to see the effects right now."

Effects? Qian Jin followed Oulala, confused, wondering what this was about. He thought the Memory Potions worked very well; every time he left here, after drinking the potion and heading to the Alchemy section, he could recall everything clearly just by looking at it once.

Oulala busied herself in front of a collection of test tubes for a few minutes and produced a blue potion that smelled nauseating: "Here, drink this and let me check the effect."

"This... won't kill me, will it?" Qian Jin grit his teeth and poured the liquid down his throat. One minute... two minutes... ten minutes...

Qian Jin and Oulala stared into each other's eyes for over ten minutes. In the room, aside from the sound of burning flames, the only sound was the bubbling of the potion. "Do you have a headache?" Oulala pushed up her small, circular spectacles. "Or is any part of your body hurting?" Qian Jin was afraid of not being serious enough and incurring the wrath of this Mysterious Alchemist, so he carefully felt his entire body once, finally shaking his head blankly. "Not at all." "Then..." Oulala asked thoughtfully, "Do you feel excited, like you want to jump around randomly?"

Qian Jin secretly wondered what kind of Mysterious Potion this was. First, asking about pain? Then about excitement? Normally, anyone drinking the weird concoction of a Mysterious Alchemist would be terrified, not excited.

"Mmm! It seems the efficacy is acceptable," Oulala straightened up, patting her lower back to relax. "What you just drank was a potion to test the Memory Potion. You've been drinking potions for about two years now; the stimulation should have developed your memory, increasing it fivefold completely. Even without drinking the potion, your memory is five times what it was two years ago." "Then why test it just now?"

"Of course, I had to test it." Oulala rummaged through cabinets and drawers, pulling out a large bottle of Memory Potion. "If you had a headache, it would mean your memory didn't increase fivefold; the degree of pain could calculate the rate of memory growth. If you felt excited, it would mean your memory increased by more than five times..." "What if it didn't increase at all?"

Oulala glanced at Qian Jin, then at the floor. "Then you'd be rolling on the ground clutching your head, hurting for a whole day..."

Qian Jin's throat convulsed repeatedly. If the Mysterious Alchemist said he would hurt for a day, he definitely would. Fortunately, his memory had indeed grown fivefold! But... what if... what if my memory regressed? "What happens then?" Qian Jin pursued his curious questioning spirit. "If it regressed..." Oulala picked up an iron rod beside her and smashed it forcefully onto a fruit on the table, which was a hybrid grown from Spicy Poison Tomatoes and Three-Poison Watermelons!

On the table, there was a pile of sticky, crimson fruit pulp; the grafted fruit had burst upon impact. Oulala dropped the iron rod, not even looking at the sticky residue on the table, and stated flatly, "It would become like this."

Qian Jin stared blankly at the pulp on the table, utterly speechless, managing only a helpless, wry smile. Not long ago, he had startled Fabredis with his displays, yet now, anyone in the village in the Endless World could startle him. "Drink just a small bottle of this every time. If you get lazy and drink more," Oulala glanced again at the mud-like fruit on the table, "your head will end up looking like that."

Qian Jin's heart clenched. He had to be careful with the dosage when drinking potions. After being injured on the West Mountain and waking up, although his body hadn't burst open, scar marks remained. If he accidentally drank too much here and his head exploded inside, he truly couldn't guarantee his head outside would remain intact.

Returning to the blacksmith shop, Qian Jin drank the potion and plunged into the thatched hut piled high with bookshelves, grabbing a notebook and beginning to read.

These notes differed from the complete herbal guides in Alchemy. The herbal guides only required memorizing the effects and appearance. Forging notes, however, required understanding. Every page, every word had to be comprehended: the weight required for hammering at various points, why the hammer needed to fall that way, and what kind of mutation would occur in the equipment if the hammer blow was too heavy or too light.

After two hours of reading, Qian Jin hadn't finished a single notebook. He looked around at the surrounding shelves. Even with the help of the Memory Potion, he was reading this slowly. If he had to read everything, wouldn't his beard turn white before he finished? When would he find notes on Soul Weapons? "Uncle..." Qian Jin summoned his courage and walked out of the thatch hut. "I'd like to see books regarding Soul Weapons. Given my current level, am I permitted to read materials about Soul Weapons?"

Uncle Black set down his pipe and gazed solemnly at Qian Jin. Curiosity flickered in his cloudy eyes. Only the sound of the furnace fire burning echoed in the courtyard.

Qian Jin felt a prickly sensation on his back under the intense gaze. Was he still not qualified to make a Soul Weapon? Didn't Uncle Fabredis say a Forging Master could forge Soul Weapons? "Second row of shelves, bottom, far left." Black tapped the ground with his pipe, emptying the burnt ash onto the floor, and murmured quietly, "Entering Sainthood?" "Right!" Qian Jin rushed back into the hut, then turned and stepped out of the door into the courtyard. "Uncle, that blacksmith breathing technique..." "Focus on reading." Black held his pipe close to the furnace, lighting a fresh bowl of tobacco. As he repeatedly smacked his lips, the burning tobacco hissed softly.

Qian Jin turned and went back into the grass hut. Uncle Black had never meant him harm. His current strength and abilities were largely thanks to this solemn uncle. Since Uncle didn't want to talk about it, he would ask again later.

In the bookshelves, he found Primary Edict of Soul Weapon Techniques. The first page contained Uncle Black's definition of a Soul Weapon: 'The Key to the Soul; Dou Qi possesses a soul, and weapons likewise possess a soul.'

These simple words were imbued with an imposing, penetrating aura. Looking at them made one feel as if they were facing an endless ocean, the might washing over them.

Qian Jin turned the first page, reading the introduction to Soul Weapons, and further understood that Soul Weapons far surpassed Soul Weapons by too great a margin. Even a warrior without a Battle Soul, if wielding a Soul Weapon, had the opportunity to win against a stronger warrior and achieve an upset victory.