Chapter 216: Chapter 216: Tier Eight Divine Weapon, The World’s Ninth

"It was just a ginseng root. Its effects are just a little on the potent side."

The corner of Zhan Yan’s eye twitched as he dug his fingers into a crack in the rock wall to steady himself.

As the light from the will-o’-the-wisps on the stone wall flickered, the veins on his neck throbbed. "What you just fed me... that wasn’t an ordinary ginseng root, was it?"

It was beyond strong—it was practically inhuman. In the past, when others used ginseng to cling to life, even if they swallowed a whole root, it was anyone’s guess whether they’d even be able to take a few more breaths.

A metallic sweetness welled up in Zhan Yan’s throat. He recalled an old Elder at Divine Weapon Ridge who had tried to cling to life with old ginseng. Even after an entire centennial ginseng was crammed down his throat, being able to take three more breaths was considered a miracle.

An ordinary ginseng simply couldn’t provide much nourishment for the body of a Martial Artist.

But the scorching torrent now rushing through his flesh and blood was like a True Flame condensed from ten Ginseng Mountains. It was rapidly healing his physical injuries, and even the shackles of his Martial Dao, which had not budged for years, were now faintly beginning to loosen.

And Xu Yunfan had managed to pull him back from the brink of death with just a single ginseng root.

Moreover... Zhan Yan glanced at the Profound Steel Mechanism Box at Xu Yunfan’s waist, his expression dazed.

But he didn’t press the matter. Everyone has their own destiny, and he was naturally happy that his disciple had such good fortune.

Before Xu Yunfan could say anything more, Zhan Yan spoke. "Head for the tunnel on the far left... Inside lies the true legacy of Divine Weapon Ridge."

In the time it took to exchange a few words, Zhan Yan was already able to stand firm and move with ease.

Without further hesitation, the two pressed on. As they went, Xu Yunfan told Zhan Yan that a Grandmaster at the Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm had arrived.

Zhan Yan’s expression tensed. After a long moment, he let out a breath.

"Time is of the essence. We have to pick up the pace."

Seeing this, Xu Yunfan didn’t bring it up again. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

’If that person is an enemy, then Lv Cheng and the others are most likely done for.’

The deeper they ventured, the thicker the scent of sulfur seeping from the rock fissures became. The sole of Xu Yunfan’s boot crushed a few Red Crystal Stones, and the fragments burned scorch marks into the bluestone floor.

As they rounded the seventh serpentine bend, a wave of heat so intense it felt tangible slammed into them. A fine layer of frost instantly condensed on the surface of the Profound Iron Mechanism Box.

"Earth Lung Golden Qi," Zhan Yan warned. "Be careful. If you haven’t reached the Organ Cultivation Realm, inhaling it will scorch your organs."

Xu Yunfan’s breath hitched. He circulated his Pure Yang Inner Breath slowly through his body, trying to hold his breath for as long as he could.

Once he stepped into the Organ Cultivation Realm, his internal organs would be strengthened, and he would be able to hold his breath for three days and nights without difficulty.

As it was, he could last an hour at most.

The tattered clothes on Zhan Yan’s body whipped about in the searing current.

He showed no hesitation. His eyes gleamed with a hint of reminiscence.

"So, this place didn’t collapse after all."

This place was nearly two thousand zhang below ground. Without the map Lv Cheng had provided on the silk cloth, it would have been nearly impossible to find this spot in a short amount of time, given the labyrinth of twisting, branching underground caverns.

Gazing at the deep, dark tunnel ahead, Zhan Yan stepped forward and brushed away the loose dirt on the rock face, revealing the bas-relief of a Taotie.

He pressed his strong, weathered hand onto the eye of the Taotie.

The bronze beast’s eye sank three inches with a THUD, and the muffled sound of grinding gears echoed from deep within the stone.

Xu Yunfan felt the stone steps beneath him suddenly collapse as the floor split open, revealing a massive, dark chasm.

His entire body tensed. He reflexively grabbed his Thunderfire Qilin Hammer, about to activate it, when Zhan Yan said, "Let yourself fall. Below is the true forge of Divine Weapon Ridge."

Xu Yunfan immediately relaxed, his gaze fixed on the thick fog below, which was shot through with a fiery light.

He plunged into the churning crimson mist along with Zhan Yan.

Countless Profound Iron Chains loomed in and out of the mist, each link intertwined with the next like the sinews of a Qiu Long. They swayed slowly, and when the scorching Gang Wind swept past, they rang out with the sound of clashing armies.

They fell for nearly a thousand meters. To slow his descent, Xu Yunfan tapped his toes against the chains several times.

The rattling of the chains seemed to trigger an echoing dragon’s roar—deep, long, and chilling to the bone.

The instant his feet touched the ground, Xu Yunfan’s pupils constricted.

Stalactites of crimson gold hung from the thousand-foot-high domed ceiling, and a great vein of Earth Fire lay coiled like a Qiu Long in the center of the cavern.

Seventy-two Bronze Furnace Cauldrons were arranged in a circle, and one could faintly see dark red lava flowing within the Coiling Dragon Patterns etched onto their surfaces.

But the most horrifying sight was the nine Meteorite Iron Chains hanging from the cavern’s ceiling. Tethered to the end of each was a half-charred skeleton, its bony fingers still curled around a Forging Hammer.

"The Blood Sacrifice Technique is the easiest way to forge a Divine Weapon, but it also makes its properties unstable."

Zhan Yan’s voice drifted over on a wave of heat. "The founding Artifact Casting Masters of Divine Weapon Ridge voluntarily melted their own flesh and blood into the Earth Fire Array to forge a suit of Divine Weapon Armor."

Their arrival seemed to cause a slight ripple in the Earth Fire. Not far away, a red-hot iron chain shot out from the lava drawn from the depths, erupting like a Flood Dragon from the water and flinging a thirty-zhang-high wave of fire toward the ceiling.

As the molten crimson iron rained down, Zhan Yan’s palms fluttered like a crane’s wings. He used the Dissipation Technique of his Profound Steel Hundred-Forged Body to redirect the torrent of fire.

"Watch closely!"

With a thunderous roar, the muscles on Zhan Yan’s weathered arms knotted and bulged as he seized and yanked a chain on the high platform before him.

RUMBLE!

A sound like a tiger’s roar and booming thunder erupted from Zhan Yan’s throat. His bronze-hued muscles bulged like coiling dragons as his powerful knuckles gripped a heavy chain as thick as a man’s wrist.

The mechanism at the end of the chain let out a deafening BOOM, and the nine interlocking, crimson-python-patterned rings were pulled taut as a bowstring.

TWANG!

The Profound Iron Chain scraped against the mechanism, throwing off blinding sparks as the cavern itself began to shake violently.

Nearby, the crimson lava churned like a boiling sea. An obsidian platform at the bottom of the pool, engraved with ancient inscriptions, began to rise inch by inch through the scorching waves. A moment later, a nine-foot-tall, dark dais breached the flames, having risen from the very floor of the pool.

A suit of dark gold Armor was held fast by countless chains, suspended in mid-air. Every single one of its scales seemed to breathe, inhaling and exhaling the essence of the Earth Fire.

CLANG!

The ringing of metal echoed in waves. Several of the chains binding the Armor suddenly snapped, one after another, causing Zhan Yan’s expression to tighten.

He only let out a sigh of relief after seeing that nothing else happened.

Amid the sound of snapping chains, the dark gold scale mail suddenly contracted. Its one thousand, seven hundred and twenty Inverted Scales bristled, standing erect like the stingers of a swarm of venomous wasps.

The edge of each Dragon Scale glowed with a lava-like pattern, and they could automatically adjust their angle in response to flows of energy. The six silvery-white scales forming the Heart Protection Mirror over the chest flickered dimly, clearly pulsing in rhythm with the churning lava three zhang away.

"When a weapon develops a spirit, it enters the ranks of Tier Seven Divine Weapons. As for Tier Eight Divine Weapons, there are only eight in the entire world to this day.

"And this Dragon Scale Armor is a Tier Eight Divine Weapon that we at Divine Weapon Ridge forged with our own hands. It is the ninth of the world’s eight great Divine Weapons!

"Two thousand years ago, the Ancestral Master of Divine Weapon Ridge, Ou Ye Zi, subdued a Red Flood Dragon and forged this armor from its hardest scales. To temper it into a Divine Weapon, he poured his very heart and soul into the work. Many master smiths even sacrificed their lives, shedding their blood to complete it. Back then... it nearly wiped out Divine Weapon Ridge. It took a full twenty years for the clan to recover."

Zhan Yan stared unblinking at the Divine Armor on the platform, his expression filled with a mix of awe and melancholy.

"Two thousand years have passed. This Dragon Blood Armor, which has devoured the lives of nine hundred master smiths, is still waiting for a new owner who can suppress the soul of the Red Flood Dragon."