TL: Etude

“Quick, let’s go!”

Ye Tian didn’t linger. Using the Utmost Calamity Crow’s Blood, he severed the vortex’s connection on his own, which naturally caused the Forbidden Insect Nest to stir. The Forbidden Insect Race would surely notice the anomaly here.

Very soon, the Forbidden Insect Race would arrive.

Moreover, there were intelligent beings among the Forbidden Insect Race. If they realized that the Dark Dull Gold Vein had vanished, they might deduce that an outsider had infiltrated. After all, the Forbidden Insect Race wouldn’t take the Dark Dull Gold Vein—it could only have been taken by someone from outside.

This left Ye Tian with very little time. He had to leave quickly.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Ye Tian moved rapidly, shuttling through the area. Fortunately, his Forbidden Talent Concealment provided excellent stealth, allowing him to avoid detection by the passing Forbidden Insect Race.

Soon, a group of forbidden insects arrived at the place where the Dark Dull Gold Vein had disappeared.

Seeing that the pile of Dark Dull Gold Vein debris was gone, they were puzzled. However, lacking much intelligence, they simply reported the situation to the lord-level Forbidden Insect Race members.

Very quickly, the intelligent Forbidden Insect Race individuals learned of the situation and immediately ordered a search for the enemy’s whereabouts.

Within the Forbidden Insect Nest, lord-level forbidden insects also mobilized, beginning their hunt for the intruder.

At that moment…

Ye Tian had already reached the passageways of the Forbidden Insect Nest. He flew through at his fastest speed.

Before long, he exited the nest entirely and fled without a moment’s hesitation.

Not long after Ye Tian left, the two lord-level forbidden insects guarding the nest began searching the surrounding areas, expanding their scope into the neighboring territories.

Sensing the violent aura of the two lord-level forbidden insects from afar, Ye Tian immediately understood that the Forbidden Insect Race had realized an enemy had infiltrated. He felt fortunate to have escaped swiftly, as otherwise, success wouldn’t have been guaranteed.

…

The journey ahead was much safer. Without lord-level forbidden insects present, the other Forbidden Insect Race members couldn’t detect him.

On his way back to the base, Ye Tian even encountered a few forbidden insects and casually killed them.

Nine Rivers Base.

Ye Tian arrived at the base and entered Ouyang Jiu’er’s residence.

“Brother Ye, how did it go? Did you succeed?” Ouyang Jiu’er asked urgently.

“Success!” Ye Tian projected an image from a corner of his internal world, revealing the Dark Dull Gold Vein.

“It really is the Dark Dull Gold Vein!” Ouyang Jiu’er recognized it immediately, her excitement evident.

However, the Dark Dull Gold Vein had been contaminated with the Utmost Calamity Crow’s Blood and needed to be purified.

Ouyang Jiu’er and Ye Tian worked tirelessly for a long time before finally extracting the blood, though some of the Utmost Calamity Crow’s Blood was wasted in the process.

The Dark Dull Gold Vein was extremely tough and difficult to refine. Ye Tian used his Forbidden Weapon, the Heaven-Slaying Spear, and combined it with his Forbidden Talent, Dark Spear, to gradually cut through the vein. After a long effort, he finally managed to split the Dark Dull Gold Vein into two parts.

One part was given to Ouyang Jiu’er, while Ye Tian kept the other for himself.

Ouyang Jiu’er stowed away her share of the Dark Dull Gold Vein but casually handed Ye Tian an inheritance for crafting Forbidden Weapons.

“This is a top-tier Forbidden Weapon refining technique, extremely rare and valuable. Without a top-tier refining method, it’s challenging to forge a Forbidden Weapon at the top level. At most, you can only create a high-grade Forbidden Weapon!” Ouyang Jiu’er spoke.

“Thank you!” Ye Tian replied.

Afterward, Ye Tian returned to the Blackwind Mountain Base and began contemplating the crafting of Forbidden Weapons.

First, he studied and comprehended the top-tier Forbidden Weapon refining technique known as the Black Heaven Forging Art.

Once he fully understood it, Ye Tian extracted a small amount of Dark Dull Gold and began infusing it into his Heaven-Slaying Spear.

The Heaven-Slaying Spear was a middle-grade Forbidden Weapon, not too far from high-grade, but for his current strength, such a weapon was insufficient.

Now, with a substantial amount of Dark Dull Gold in his possession, he could forge a more advanced Forbidden Weapon.

In an accelerated time environment, Ye Tian refined his Heaven-Slaying Spear day by day. With the gradual addition of Dark Dull Gold and the mastery of the Black Heaven Forging Art, the spear’s sharpness and Forbidden Rules grew increasingly powerful.

One day,

Ye Tian’s Heaven-Slaying Spear finally advanced, becoming a high-grade Forbidden Weapon, vastly stronger than before.

However, Ye Tian continued to infuse Dark Dull Gold. After all, he didn’t care about the material’s value or waste. If it were anyone else, even a Half-Step Domain Ancestor, they would be reluctant to recklessly expend Dark Dull Gold.

With the consumption of a large amount of Dark Dull Gold, the Heaven-Slaying Spear underwent another upgrade, reaching the tier of a top-tier Forbidden Weapon.

“Not bad! The Heaven-Slaying Spear is now dozens of times sharper than before!” Ye Tian exclaimed with excitement.

Having such a Forbidden Weapon greatly enhanced his strength compared to before.

Of course, Ye Tian was not satisfied with just one top-tier Forbidden Weapon. After all, he had an almost inexhaustible supply of Dark Dull Gold and could easily forge several more top-tier Forbidden Weapons.

This time, he decided against crafting another offensive Forbidden Weapon and instead planned to forge a defensive armor set—one that covered the entire body.

Under normal circumstances, no one would create full-body defensive armor, as it was a massive waste of materials. However, Ye Tian had no such concerns.

Spending additional time, Ye Tian used a significant amount of Dark Dull Gold to forge a complete set of armor, which he named “Immortal Dull Armor.”

“Yue’er, Xingchen, Xingyue, and Xiao Yue also need Forbidden Weapons. However, giving them offensive top-tier Forbidden Weapons might not be the best idea. They often find themselves in battles, and if a top-tier Forbidden Weapon is exposed, it could easily make them a target. But if I equip them with defensive armor, they could activate it in dangerous situations to save their lives!”

Thus, Ye Tian forged four sets of top-tier Forbidden Weapon-level defensive armor for Xiao Yue, Ye Xingchen, Ye Xingyue, and Ye Yu.

When Xiao Yue, Ye Xingchen, Ye Xingyue, and Ye Yu arrived in front of Ye Tian and saw the four sets of Forbidden Weapon armor, they were all stunned.

As Dao Ancestors, they naturally understood the value of top-tier Forbidden Weapons. Even Invincible Dao Ancestors didn’t possess such items; typically, only Half-Step Domain Ancestors had top-tier Forbidden Weapons, and those weren’t full-body defensive armors! Such weapons were simply too luxurious!

When Ye Tian explained that he had obtained a large quantity of Dark Dull Gold and introduced its uses, the four of them quickly grasped the situation.

They gratefully accepted the defensive armors and assured Ye Tian they would never casually reveal them. Unless absolutely necessary, they promised not to use them.

Ye Tian also distributed a portion of Dark Dull Gold to them, allowing them to enhance their offensive Forbidden Weapons. At the very least, they could upgrade their weapons to the middle-grade Forbidden Weapon tier, which was more than sufficient for their current level.

In the future, if they wished to continue upgrading their Forbidden Weapons, they could return to Ye Tian for more Dark Dull Gold. This arrangement was both safe and practical.