The village was enveloped in tranquility.

If not for the lingering scent of blood in the night wind, it would seem like a peaceful village asleep in the darkness, everyone retiring with the setting sun, quietly drifting into slumber.

In the inky blackness of the night, at the open space near the village gate, the blazing flames of a campfire illuminated the surroundings. Amidst the crackling sound of wood splitting, the horses tied not far from the gate snorted softly, adding to the atmosphere.

Gu Mo sat by the campfire, gazing at the smartphone in his hand, the fire's glow reflecting off his face.

The screen clearly displayed the time, date, and various applications. It seemed nothing out of the ordinary, and there were no noticeable changes. The signal connection was indicated as interrupted, making Gu Mo somewhat uncertain.

"...What is this thing?"

Returning from feeding the horses, the second young lady blinked her eyes, as if quite curious, and asked while sitting beside him.

The small object looked exquisitely crafted and emitted light, naturally catching her attention, especially since Gu Mo was staring at the small box with deep contemplation.

"This, ah, it's a smartphone..."

Gu Mo explained in a calm tone, handing the phone over as a demonstration. Strictly speaking, it was just an ordinary smartphone.

It was mainly used for internal communications within the Moon Ring City, so he, as an avatar, also carried one. Although it was a specially modified mobile device, it retained the original standard communication protocol functions and could send and receive data and communications from the lunar base.

However, the modifications were simple, and he figured that's how it was. So, the phone was indeed reshaped by the power of thought into a special device that met his needs...

Indeed, it was as simple as that. Buying one randomly or projecting it himself made no difference. Several backups lay unused in the technique space fixed within his sleeves, only one was kept on standby at all times.

"Smartphone...?"

The second young lady raised her delicate eyebrows, observing carefully, seemingly unable to figure out what this device was, the name was unheard of. Yet, the craftsmanship appeared exceptionally fine, and the mirror-smooth screen exuded an awe-inspiring beauty.

"Eh? It...it suddenly went off?! Could it be broken?"

At this moment, the display turned off automatically due to inactivity, causing the girl to pause, momentarily stunned.

She barely touched it, just held it for a closer look, and it suddenly turned off. Could she have broken it by being careless? It seemed like a precious piece of craftsmanship... Almost immediately, she felt a bit guilty.

"Oh, there's no problem, no need to worry..." Gu Mo smiled and shook his head, casually pointing out something, while internally contemplating the earlier events.

He suspected that his earlier perception was not a mistake, and perhaps the modified mobile device did momentarily receive a signal.

But then again...

What kind of signal would exist in this era? Radio had not yet been invented, and it couldn't possibly be signals from outer space, could it? He looked up at the deep night sky, squinting slightly, quickly thinking of another possibility.

Could it be that someone on the other side of reality asked Hiri to open the gate again?

Natural technology in the real world wasn't so advanced, but the moon surface city he personally built might be different.

The facilities of the entire future city were all matched up. After all, the original construction plan corresponded to an interstellar era orbital residence station. The blueprints were detailed and comprehensive. So, it wasn't just a hollow metal shell, but represented a complete space facility and a fully functioning grand interstellar project.

Hence...

From the semi-autonomous computer hub with various management functions, to the drone factories designed for production and maintenance tasks, to the ecodomes adapted through specialized atmospheric modifications... As long as they were strictly built per the blueprints via projection materialization, they could mostly operate normally.

Moreover, there were uplink nodes to reduce interplanetary delay, and sufficiently powerful satellite signal transceivers, and so on, etc., etc.

After all, these functions were typical for a giant orbital space station. It's a permanent spaceport, a testament to interstellar era artificial ecological architecture, operating as a strategic fortress in planetary orbit, also integrating artificial satellite functions - a natural result.

By establishing such a fortress on the far side of the moon, with such robust support in geostationary orbit, there was no reason not to use it, and Gu Mo thought the same. He considered upgrading the technology of his small group overall, with the supporting internal communication from the Moon Ring City as the first step.

Although it was built as a hidden base on the moon's far side, signals could be stably received almost anywhere on Earth, or even anywhere within the solar system...

If a teleportation gate were opened right in the lunar base, the transceiver's signal would likely be broadcast directly here... After all, he had done tests, and since Hiri became a functional NPC with instance management, while instance access became much more convenient, it also combined with her ability characteristics.

When the realm teleportation gate opens, the timespace on both sides gets stitched together, possessing a temporary continuity, allowing matter and information to pass through...

Two universes that should remain as parallel lines never meeting, were temporarily linked physically.

Unlike before, when the invisible boundary line spanning two different timespaces was almost entirely a unidirectional special passage, accessible only to him and system-approved units. This situation seemed to have its pros and cons, so he would tell Hiri not to try opening the gate during the times when strange items appeared in the shop.

The opposite side would also notice, and with bad luck, it might attract Dai Mao Evil God...

"This is so interesting..."

"Is there some kind of Immortal Technique inside?"

The sisters over there huddled together, pointing at the phone with great interest, snapping away aimlessly. It was mostly the younger sister who was amazed, marveling at functions like video recording, while the older sister, though surprised, remained relatively quiet.

When the second miss is not bewitched, she is not an enemy and holds no hostility toward her own sister. Instead, there's a feeling of familial warmth, and with her intentional outreach, their once unfamiliar sisterly relationship has been rapidly warming up.

This is actually nice. Ah Xiu isn't cold; she just doesn't initiate things...

Gu Mo withdrew his gaze from the two sisters sticking together, smiling slightly with comfort, yet unable to quell a sense of unease.

He had some suspicion that someone might have sneaked over to find him, and that person was likely Miss Tamamo no Mae...

— Hopefully, she doesn't cause any trouble, but I'm afraid she'll give me a big surprise.

......

...

Early the next morning.

Not long after the dawn broke, there was a flash of lightning and thunder, the wind rose, clouds surged, and a torrential downpour followed. Seeing this, the three in the group naturally didn't hurry to leave the Blacksmith's Village.

But just at this moment, a clumsy girl with her hands over her head shielding from the rain, riding a poor horse, galloped towards the village. Perhaps in a hurry to find shelter, she rushed straight into the village, seemingly unaware of the calamity it had suffered.

Upon charging in, she saw the village's dire state and was stunned in place, unmoving, letting the heavy rain drench her completely.

Then, she noticed the presence of Gu Mo and his companions, her face turned pale with fright... Naturally, upon seeing the obvious signs of a brutal massacre, her subconscious first assumption was that the three before her were the culprits.

This girl was dressed like an experienced blacksmith, with one eye covered by a black eyepatch, perhaps due to some mishap.

After a brief inquiry, it was learned that her name was Qian Zifeng, traveling around to become a skilled swordsmith, though along the way, she got separated from her mentor due to certain reasons. She had intended to seek shelter from the rain in this village, unaware of the misfortune that had already befallen it.

The general situation was much like what Gu Mo understood; she seemed to be a somewhat clumsy swordsmith girl...

However, being able to travel around with her mentor in such times, and even accidentally charging into this bandit and Demon Ghost-infested Blacksmith's Village yet coming out unscathed, she must have some skills, at least compared to ordinary people.

Though it was unclear if, like in game settings, this swordsmith girl could help forge a Divine Artifact—

Gu Mo still extended an invitation naturally, inviting the swordsmith girl to join them.

The girl didn't hesitate too much, knowing their identities and understanding the village's situation, her fear subsided. Moreover, she didn't know where her mentor was; without a target, she indeed needed a living. Helping them with work was reasonable.

She had to survive and couldn't starve herself to death.

After all, it was a Blacksmith's Village. Even if it wasn't a secluded village by a mountainous lakeside, the outer village had many furnaces and iron-smithing tools, which the prior bandits were using.

Waiting for the rain to stop anyway, the curious second miss simply had this swordsmith girl try her skills to see what she was made of...

"Can you forge a Demon Blade?"

Gu Mo asked with curiosity, having a particular fondness for Demon Blades.

Inside, the swordsmith girl adeptly stoked the furnace, smelting iron while wiping the sweat from her forehead, casually replying, "That's not possible, Demon Blades are either transformed from Demons or ordinary weapons accumulating too much demonic thoughts, turning into Demons. They can't be directly forged..."

A Demon Blade or a demonic weapon is either a weapon inhabited by a Demon, or the weapon itself is a Demon.

She couldn't forge one... She's merely a swordsmith, able to make sharp swords, but incapable of directly bestowing life, creating Demons.

"I see..."

Gu Mo nodded thoughtfully, then asked—

"Then can you forge Spirit Silver Earth Gold?"

The swordsmith girl, lifting a hammer, was slightly startled, her face momentarily pale, but quickly covered it up. As if unbothered, she stared at the furnace, saying in a low voice, "I don't know what you're talking about, never heard of such a thing."

A wave of unease surged in her heart, wondering why this person knew about Spirit Silver Earth Gold?