Quadruple split.

Chapter 2759 [Selio, King of the Mountains]

We must admit that the former lord of Burning Forge, the Dwarf King Northron Blackrock, was absolutely a top-notch craftsman. And here, "top-notch" doesn't mean the kind of exceptionally talented or godlike craftsman in a broad sense, but rather... the pinnacle of skill.

To put it more plainly, aside from freaks like Ruvi Fitzwarban from Tianzhu Mountain, Northron Blackstone basically represented the highest level of craftsmanship in the [Innocent Realm] worldview of that era.

In fact, even in the current year 9571 of the Holy Calendar, Northeron was still among the most outstanding and top-notch artisans.

That is why, despite the fact that the concept of 'spirit artifacts' is quite unfamiliar to most people, Northron was not stumped by the four spirit artifacts at the time, and even managed to overcome them in the shortest amount of time and find a solution.

The biggest problem during this process was that the four weapon spirits were in such poor condition. It's easy to see that even if the agent who brought back these four weapons wasn't a craftsman, he still had the foundation of a legendary rank and the status of an agent. If the four weapon spirits were in good condition, it would be impossible for them to have been overlooked.

In other words, although those artifact spirits have not completely disappeared, they are probably not far from being completely gone.

If that proxy had arrived two days later, the four spirits would probably have vanished into thin air.

As a result of a series of unfortunate events, the artifact spirits that were discovered and secretly protected by Northron before they dissipated were preserved and given an environment that, while unable to restore their vitality, at least prevented them from continuing to deplete their energy, until the agent left and the weapons they originally housed were completely dismantled.

On Northron's side, although there are many methods and means to nurture a spirit, there are two very real problems that prevent him from solving this matter using conventional methods—

First, this method is usually very time-consuming and generally requires a complete weapon and a highly compatible weapon user. Northron obviously wanted to inject a relatively 'healthy' weapon spirit into the weapon in the early stage. In addition, neither he nor the strong men and women around him were good at using swords, so he naturally could not choose this method, which would only result in a 'half-finished product' after the weapon was completed.

Secondly, as mentioned before, the existence of these four artifact spirits is very special. Not only can they directly affect the outside world, but the difficulty of nurturing them is also ridiculously high. For example, the gem that Northron used to house them is similar in nature to the [Soul-Guiding Bottle]. If it were an ordinary artifact spirit, being nurtured in such a gem for half a year would restore at least one to two-tenths of its power. However, under the same time and the same medium, these four artifact spirits only restored less than one percent of their power, and it is possible that they restored even less than one percent.

Ultimately, realizing that conventional methods were no longer feasible, Northron had no choice but to start thinking about more extreme and unorthodox approaches, and came up with two theoretically feasible methods.

Among them, the simplest and most successful method is the evil forging method of sacrificing a large number of living souls. Just like human transmutation in alchemy, there are also taboos in the field of forging that should never be touched. Directly throwing living people containing resentment into the forging furnace is an evil forging method with a very high cost-performance ratio.

The principle is that, regardless of the life form, the degree of binding between its 'soul' and its 'body' is the highest, without exception. Under this premise, if its blood, flesh, and bones are integrated into a weapon, then its soul will naturally have a very high probability of being attracted into the weapon. In addition, the resentment brought about by the extreme pain during the process means that, as long as the forging technique is used, even a second-rate craftsman has a very high probability of forging equipment with a 'weapon spirit'.

Of course, this method also has extreme side effects. First, because the 'spirit' itself carries extreme resentment, it is very easy to affect the user's mental state. Historically, 99% of the equipment created using this method will eventually backfire on its owner, either controlling them or driving them insane.

Since the spirit and the equipment are of the same origin, even equipment that has been blessed or whose materials have the property of exorcising evil cannot be immune to its influence, and any damage to the spirit will be directly reflected back to the weapon.

To give a simple example, from the player's perspective, suppose a piece of equipment forged by an artisan using evil methods has a durability of 100/100. Even if it is made with materials that ward off evil, the resentment of the weapon spirit will not be suppressed in the slightest. Instead, it will gain the same resistance as the weapon itself. However, if external forces are used to suppress it, such as holy water or prayer, any damage to the weapon spirit will directly consume the equipment's durability.

In other words, when the spirit of the weapon is completely suppressed, the equipment itself is basically rendered useless.

However, this method can indeed make up for the 'deficit' of the four artifact spirits. According to Northron's judgment, although most normal artifact spirits would refuse this kind of 'nourishment', these four artifact spirits, regardless of their previous personality or whether they had conventional moral principles, are now only driven by instinct. Therefore, in order to fill their own deficiencies, they probably would not refuse any soul that is offered to them.

Roughly calculated, Northron felt that only about four to five hundred living souls would be needed to meet the most basic needs of these four artifact spirits. In the entire Dwarf Mountain Range, the number of accidental deaths and disappearances caused by alcoholism each year far exceeded that number.

As for that unorthodox forging method, although it is no less difficult to master than human transmutation, it is no challenge for a master craftsman like Northoron Blackrock.

Just like the assumption that Ruvi Fitzgerald could not perform human transmutation, the probability is absolutely zero.

However, Northron ultimately did not choose to use this unorthodox forging method. The reason was simple: he was not only a good craftsman, a good patriarch, and a good ruler, but also a good person.

He's a good person, so he wouldn't do things in a bad way, it's that simple.

Therefore, just as Luvette abandoned the idea of ​​using the soul of a sentient being to power the rune body without even thinking about it, thus squandering his century-long research on the project (Cordova was just an unrepeatable accident), Northron also abandoned the idea just ten minutes after coming up with it.

He could accept that thousands of people would die in accidents every year in the Dwarf Mountains, but he was unwilling to let the souls of any of his fellow countrymen be disturbed for his own selfish desires.

Not just fellow countrymen, but even a passerby, an innocent person, or even a criminal, would not be sacrificed by Northoron for a weapon.

Forging a peerless weapon would bring him boundless glory, and his vanity made him willing to devote himself to this glory. However, in his eyes, a weapon built, sacrificed, and nurtured with sacrifices, no matter how powerful, is utterly devoid of glory.

Therefore, only one path remained before Northron—

The four spirits devoured each other, using themselves to replenish their own deficiencies.

Since the consciousness of these artifact spirits has long been completely destroyed, this kind of devouring is just like pouring two half cups of water into one cup, and there is no moral issue involved.

In the end, Northron made up his mind to recreate two of the four weapon spirits through the process of melting and reforging. In this way, even if he could not restore them to their full state, nor could he make them develop new self-awareness, he would not end up with only a half-finished weapon after it was infused into the weapon.

After that, Northron began his plan, and the first objects he chose to forge were the spirits of the spear and the pair of swords.

At the same time, he decided to put away the sword blank that had already been forged, and take out the previously shelved [α-1]. He planned to integrate it into the larger [α-1] after reforging the weapon spirit, and make a prototype first.

Although his ultimate goal was indeed to forge an unparalleled one-handed sword, Northron had a premonition that 'that sword would be the last and greatest creation of his life.' Therefore, to ensure success, he decided to practice on himself using the equally precious material [α-1]. Everything went smoothly. After completing the fusion of the two weapon spirits, Northron finally obtained a unique and powerful weapon spirit. It not only possessed those rare abilities and retained the qualities that could influence the outside world to a certain extent, but it also completely emerged from its weakened state, slowly and steadily strengthening itself.

[α-1] was forged into a heavy warhammer and imbued with a spirit the instant it was completed, becoming an undisputed legendary weapon—[Selio, King of the Mountains].

However, more than a weapon, this hammer is actually a forging hammer. Although it is indeed incredibly heavy, for a powerful figure like Northron, who is not only a 'Great Tinker' but also possesses the strength of an epic-rank warrior, using it for blacksmithing and other operations is simply too easy.

Indeed, in order to forge that divine weapon that would bring him endless glory and make him famous throughout history, even the legendary hammer [Thorio, King of the Mountains] was a prelude prepared by Northoron. In his plan, this warhammer would be the core tool for forging the next divine weapon.

However, he did not immediately begin work. The reason was simple: in order to forge [Thério the Mountain King], this dwarf king had almost burned himself out. Although it did not cause any permanent damage, it was still difficult to recover to its best condition in a short period of time.

Northeron, of course, would not allow himself to forge that 'strongest divine weapon' outside of his prime.

And so, after completing the warhammer, the Dwarf King rested while continuing to focus on handling various affairs in Burning Furnace City and the entire Dwarf Mountain Range, waiting for himself to recover.

As a result, this wait lasted for more than a decade...

When Northron snapped out of his daze, he found himself almost a capricious tyrant, and although he always adhered to all the bottom lines he was supposed to uphold, it brought him no comfort whatsoever.

The dwarf king was very clear-headed, so clear-headed that he could remember every decision he made, every outburst of anger, and every moment of reflection.

But this did nothing more than frighten Northron.

Because he didn't know why he had become like this.

However, after a brief moment of thought, the wise king found the answer almost immediately.

That was the warhammer he always held in his hand, placed on his lap, and on his bedside table—the monster named [Serio, King of the Mountains].

It is called a monster because Northron no longer acknowledges the warhammer as a weapon and has begun to suspect that it may contain some malevolent secrets that he has not yet discovered.

However, he soon realized he was overthinking things.

After a thorough examination of his hammer, Northron quickly identified the problem...

Contrary to his initial assumption, he had not infused the hammer with an evil spirit.

Although it is indeed related to the reforged weapon spirit, this weapon is actually just—overly intense in killing intent.

It did not awaken any so-called self-awareness; it was simply filled with the impulse of "fight, fight, fight, fight" and "kill, kill, kill, kill." Given its ability to influence the outside world, Northron was undoubtedly the one most deeply influenced.

This is not the worst part.

Most terrifyingly, Northron suddenly discovered that this emotion, which he called 'the urge to kill,' had already spread like a plague, radiating from him to the entire royal family, Burning Furnace City, and even the Dwarf Mountains.

Although Northron immediately abandoned his dream of a divine weapon upon realizing this and did not hesitate to melt down his own [Thério the Mountain King], unfortunately, due to the unconscious struggle against that 'killing impulse' over the years, the dwarf king failed this time, unable to return to his prime.

He couldn't melt that damn hammer.

In this way, no one in the world can melt it.

After all, even the powerful Tianzhu Mountain needed a proxy to entrust him with the task of melting.

In desperation, Northron made a courageous decision: to leave Furnace City and the Dwarven Mountains with Serio the Mountain King. Almost all the other royal members, except for himself, who were affected by the 'bloodlust', would also leave together.

They wanted to exile themselves, to find a place where they wouldn't endanger others, to spend the rest of their lives destroying that hammer, venting their inner impulses on the one who gave them those impulses—

When Northron made his decision public and apologized to his people without reservation, he not only gained the forgiveness of almost everyone, but also the almost unconditional support and following of his own clan, the Grey Dwarves.

"belch."

Old Dagland touched his bulbous nose and let out a burp—

"This is the origin of those madmen on the Gray Plains."

Chapter 2750: The End
(End of this chapter)