857 The Mysterious Young Man at The Sea of a Thousand Furnaces
No wonder I didn't see her around Feng Chen earlier, it looks like she has been focusing all her attention towards increasing her own strength lately. Maybe she feels that her current strength is lacking when compared to Shu Yao and Feng Chen?
Thinking this to himself after seeing how much Zu Fei had improved in such a short period of time, Xuan Hao could not help wondering how talented Zu Fei was. After all, to go from the Fifth Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm to the Peak of the Nascent Soul Realm was not easy. Not to mention, she was already close to establishing her own pseudo domain and would soon be starting to prepare herself for breaking through to the Domain Lord Realm!
No matter what it was, it was a good thing for the sect if Zu Fei could break through to the Domain Lord Realm.
As for Feng Chen, who would once again have to deal with Zu Fei after she reached the Domain Lord Realm? That was a worthy sacrifice for the sect to have one more Domain Lord Realm Expert…
"Hm?"
Turning his attention back towards the blue deer that was still looking up at him with a wronged expression on its face, Xuan Hao could not help noticing that the scales on the body of the blue deer had grown more pronounced than before. Even the antlers on top of its head that had almost not been visible before had grown.
"Why do I get a feeling that you are not a deer that just so happens to be blue…" Muttering this to himself as he inspected the different changes of the blue deer, Xuan Hao felt even more certain than before that the blue deer was not just a deer that happened to mutate in a certain way, but instead a completely different animal.
"Elder Xuan? Is there something- D-did I injure it earlier…?" Seeing Xuan Hao suddenly focus all his attention on the blue deer, Zu Fei could not help asking this with a nervous expression on her face. Worried that she might have accidentally ended up injuring the blue deer earlier.
"No, it didn't get injured, I was just taken aback by how much it changed compared to the last time I saw it."
"Haaa… That is great! Shu Yao would have killed me if she found out I injured the little one. If you don't have anything you need from me, I will go back to what I was doing before." Letting out a sigh of relief after hearing what Xuan Hao said, Zu Fei turned around before making her way back inside the pavilion together with the interspatial ring where she stored the water lotuses.
Looks like she is going back to cultivating, I really hope she will keep up this good attitude and focus her attention on cultivating even after reaching the Domain Lord Realm…
Seeing Zu Fei disappearing inside the pavilion, Xuan Hao shook his head before turning around to look back towards the blue deer.
At first, he only wanted to come and check up on the blue deer and how it was doing, but now that he had discovered the changes that it had gone through over the past few months under the care of Shu Yao, he felt curious about what kind of race it belonged to.
Even if it could be something on the more common side like a scaled demon beast, a part of him still had a feeling that it should be something more amazing than that. Especially when considering that it had both scales and a pair of antlers. Making it more than possible that its race contained some sort of ancient dragon bloodline that had been diluted over the generations!
Ha… No matter what it is, there is no way for me to figure any of this out now…
Shaking his head as he turned to the blue deer that was staring towards the pavilion Zu Fei had disappeared inside in a state of confusion, Xuan Hao felt a bit taken aback over just how obsessed the blue deer was with the water lotuses.
Did they perhaps have some sort of beneficial effect for its hidden bloodline that had yet to show itself? Or maybe it was like Mui and just really liked the taste of the water lotuses-
Swish-!
Not knowing anything about what was going through Xuan Hao's head, the blue deer suddenly woke up from its state of confusion and soon disappeared behind a nearby building. Not wasting a second longer at the side of the Qi Spring Lake after discovering that there weren't any water lotuses for it to eat. Leaving Xuan Hao alone in front of the pavilion.
Did I just get left behind by that deer…? Whatever, I will just let Shu Yao continue taking care of it in the future. At least it seems like the two of them have been getting along quite well during the past few months, so it shouldn't be a problem.
Swoosh~
Leaving the pavilion, Xuan Hao made his way back towards his palace to wait for his disciples to return. Even if there was something else, he could do, like continue his exploration of the ruins at the Main Star Peak, they were all things that would at least take a few days or longer to complete.
…
"This is the Sea of a Thousand Furnaces?!" As Mui arrived at the entrance to the Sea of a Thousand Furnaces, she realized that it was nothing like what she had expected. Instead of a large building for the blacksmiths to work in, the Sea of a Thousand Furnaces was, as its name stated, a sea of a thousand furnaces!
Observing this vast network of thousands of different forges, each with its own team of disciples, materials, and techniques. In rare cases, there were also some of the forges that only had a single person standing beside it… But Mui quickly realized that the people at these forges were all elders who had a forge of their own. Out of all of them, the number disciples who had their own forge could be counted on a single hand.
Despite the difference between all the different forges, all of them shared a common purpose – the creation of powerful artifacts!
Understanding this, Mui could not help feeling a sense of excitement as she watched the different blacksmiths at work.
Cling~ Cling~ Cling~
Each swing of a hammer, each twist of the metal, everything seemed to be imbued with a kind of mystical energy, as if the blacksmiths were channeling the very essence of the earth into their work.
Before long, Mui managed to see all kinds of weapons taking shape. From swords with blades that glowed with a powerful flame to spears that crackled with lighting, Mui felt like the stories she had been told about blacksmiths and their powerful artifacts had been understated!
"Why is she so amazed by a few pieces of scrap metal made by those disciples in the Foundation Establishment Realm…?"
At the same time Mui was looking around at the different artifacts that were taking shape all around her, Chu Yang who was walking behind her could not help grumbling to himself as he watched the awe on the little girl's face.
"Oh~? Are you perhaps jealous that you couldn't make a good impression during your first meeting with your new junior sister and is currently losing to a bunch of low-level artifacts~?"
"O-of course not!" Hearing Qing Yi suddenly calling out to him in a teasing voice while giving him a knowing smile, Chu Yang could not help feeling a bit embarrassed as he responded.
No matter what, there was no way he would ever admit that he had indeed felt a little jealous after seeing how his new junior sister had responded with awe and amazement upon seeing the different artifacts!
"Hm~ I see~ So that is how it is~" Chuckling to herself as she saw the embarrassed expression on her junior brother's face, Qing Yi decided not to tease him anymore as she turned her attention towards the core of the Sea of a Thousand Furnaces.
Barely visible among the hundreds of busy forges in the core area of the Sea of a Thousand Furnaces, the lone figure of a handsome young man could be seen surrounded by a group of disciples that were watching his every move.
Cling~ Cling~ Cling~
His muscular arms flexing as he worked the glowing metal with precise, practiced movements. Sweat glistened on his forehead, but he paid it no heed as he poured his soul into the artifact that was slowly taking shape in front of him.
With each hammer blow, he imbued the artifact with power through some mystical blacksmithing technique until it started giving off a terrifying aura that spread out enough for even Mui who was standing close to the entrance to sense it.
"Hm?" Feeling a chill run down her spine after sensing the terrifying aura of the artifact, Mui could not help turning in the direction of the young man with a curious expression on her face.
