Chapter 4621 — A Letter from the Secular World

The scene inside the forging pool remained exactly as before—the same unsightly lump of iron, still locked in its tepid, listless state. Now and then a bubble or two rose to the surface, but most of the time it lay as stagnant as a dead pond, showing not the slightest sign of taking shape.

"No! No! Something's definitely wrong here—but what?" The Scrap King suddenly furrowed his brow and began muttering to himself, his face clouded with worry.

"Have something to eat first. A little change of pace might help clear your head." As he spoke, Wei Zhao set the wine and food down beside him.

"Mm, all right." The Scrap King nodded without turning around, grabbed the food and wine without so much as a glance, and wolfed it down—yet his eyes stayed fixed on the manuscript paper. Nearly half an incense stick's time passed; by the time he had nearly finished the food and drink, he finally registered what had happened, jerked his head around, and cried out in delighted surprise, "You're back!"

"Ha, you finally noticed me. If I'd been someone with ill intentions, you'd have died a dozen times over. You really must be more alert from now on." Wei Zhao was caught between laughter and tears.

"Heh heh, I couldn't help myself—I just drifted off without realizing it." The Scrap King scratched his head with an embarrassed grin.

The Scrap King, however, did not seem to think anything of it. At Wei Zhao's words he was instead startled. "Eh? Nearly two years have passed? I had no idea..."

"Uh..." Wei Zhao felt all the more guilty. The Scrap King had spent the whole year guarding this forging pool, never seeing the light of day, never stepping outside—that was why he had even lost track of time. Moved, Wei Zhao said, "Because of my affairs, you have suffered greatly, Brother Wang."

"Ha? You mean that? Brother Lin, you underestimate me. Patience is a required course for a forger—guarding this place is no torment but a rare opportunity for cultivation! Even without this business, I'd long since intended to take on something to test my patience. Two years is nothing—we've barely begun." The Scrap King looked entirely unconcerned.

Wei Zhao eyed him with mingled doubt and belief. It sounded rather like the truth, though it could also have been nonsense spun to comfort him—but true or false, he was deeply moved.

"Come, to your patience and perseverance—I drink to you!" Wei Zhao said no more; a thousand words were in the wine.

"I told you it's nothing..." The Scrap King chuckled, but clinked cups with Wei Zhao and drained his in one go.

"By the way, Brother Wang, what are you writing there? It looks rather profound." As Wei Zhao refilled his cup, he could not restrain his curiosity.

"Oh, this is an improvement plan that came to me in a flash of inspiration some time ago. It might just break this deadlock—and once the weapon takes shape, it could gain a very practical new property. But I haven't finished the calculations yet; at this rate it'll be a while more. Still, idling is idling—it can't hurt to try every idea that comes to mind, don't you agree, Brother Lin?" The Scrap King smiled.

"Mm, at any rate it beats this half-dead state. I have faith in your skill, Brother Wang." Wei Zhao nodded. In the matter of forging, compared to the Scrap King he was not even fit to be called a schoolboy. Sending him out to fetch materials was easy enough, but if he were to offer technical advice on a knotty problem like this—he might as well go wash up and sleep.

"Ah, actually, a great many interesting ideas have come to me lately. If I could realize them one by one, I could raise this weapon by several grades at least. It's just a pity that all of them demand extremely high precision and heat control—at my current level I fear I couldn't manage it. What a shame..." The Scrap King sighed.

This was likely the finest weapon he could ever forge in his life, and of course he wanted it perfect—but perhaps because the materials were simply too extraordinary, the demands this weapon placed on heat precision at the moment of shaping were staggeringly high.

"There's always time. Honestly, holding it steady this long without change is already remarkable. If it truly can't be done, then treat this as practice—forging materials can be obtained again, and we can start over." Wei Zhao consoled him.

"How could we do that? Ten-thousand-year tree crystal, primeval pure land—things like these won't come again in another lifetime. How can we call it practice? Rest easy, Brother Lin. Even if I can't bring it to shape for now, I'm confident I can at least maintain the status quo. As for a solution, I'll think it through and try it slowly—I believe the day will come!" The Scrap King's eyes blazed.

Seeing the Scrap King's firm and confident manner, Wei Zhao was briefly taken aback, then smiled and nodded vigorously. This man was a forging genius—and a single-minded forging genius at that. He had truly stumbled upon a treasure.

The two talked and drank through the entire night. Far from growing drunk, they grew more and more spirited—especially the Scrap King, whose face glowed with excitement. Some men find their literary inspiration flowing like a spring after wine; his was more like a bursting dam—every little while another bizarre idea would pop out, leaving the half-trained Wei Zhao gaping again and again.

In the end, the Scrap King grew so carried away that he simply abandoned Wei Zhao, threw himself back over the stone platform, and resumed his calculations—much to Wei Zhao's exasperation and amusement.

Just as Wei Zhao was at his wit's end, the Scrap King finally came to his senses and, seizing a spare moment, said to him, "Brother Lin, you'd best be going. One of me here is quite enough. This is the perfect chance for me to go into seclusion and cultivate my patience—a fine opportunity indeed."

Wei Zhao looked at him. By his reckoning dawn was near, so at last he nodded and rose. "Very well, then I leave it to you, Brother Wang. I'll come see you again in a few days."

Emerging from the Scrap King's secret base, Wei Zhao did not return to the Azure Cloud Pavilion but headed straight for the market district. He could hardly wait to see that letter Hong Zhong had spoken of.

Seeing Wei Zhao at his door so early in the morning, Hong Zhong was briefly startled; then, at Wei Zhao's urging, he produced the letter and placed it in his hands.