My Ares Son-in-Law

Ouyang Ye turned away with a flick of his sleeve, but did not leave. Instead, he said to his disciples behind him in a deep voice, "Open the box and set up seats! I will wait here today to see with my own eyes how this 'weapon-forging genius' will display his skills!"

The iron box was opened on the spot, and inside was a complete set of pear wood chairs and tea set.

The two disciples worked quickly and arranged everything neatly in a short time.

Ouyang Ye sat down with an air of authority, poured himself a cup of hot tea, took a sip, and looked at Xiao Chen with icy eyes, clearly intending to stay and watch the spectacle unfold.

Qin Xianglan was so anxious that sweat beaded on her forehead. She quickly walked to Xiao Chen's side and whispered, "Mr. Xiao, although Master Ouyang is a bit stubborn, his weapon-forging skills are indeed top-notch in the world. You...would you like to reconsider?"

Xiao Chen glanced at her sideways, his tone flat: "You also think I'm not good enough?"

"That's not what I meant..." Qin Xianglan gave a bitter smile, her tone full of helplessness.

"But forging weapons is different from cultivation. Without decades of experience, one cannot even master the most basic smelting temperature. What's more, this is the sharpening of an ancient divine weapon, which is a hundred times more difficult than forging a new divine weapon. The slightest mistake will lead to annihilation!"

Xiao Chen didn't explain further, but simply turned around and walked step by step toward the stone platform.

He reached out and slowly pressed his hand on the meteorite's core.

The touch was icy, yet strangely warm, like touching the skin of a living thing. Inside the star core, the starlight points swirled more and more rapidly, like a boiling galaxy, frantically responding to his touch.

“You’re right.” Xiao Chen suddenly spoke, his voice as soft as a breeze, as if whispering to the Reverse Scale Sword in his palm, or as if murmuring to himself, “Forging weapons does indeed require decades of honing skills.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he raised his other hand, and the floating Reverse Scale Sword seemed to receive a command. With a "clang," it flew into his palm automatically, and the blade trembled gently between his fingers.

"But who told you that..."

Xiao Chen gripped the sword hilt with both hands, firmly pressing the blade of the Reverse Scale Sword against the meteorite core, his eyes suddenly sharpening like a blade.

"I'm using the weapon-making techniques of your era?"

As he finished speaking, he slowly closed his eyes.

Within his dantian, his divine energy suddenly accelerated its circulation, but instead of transforming into a violent current as usual, it disintegrated into countless silver threads thinner than a hair…

That was the core inheritance that Xiao Chen brought out from the Ancient Sea Secret Realm, a divine forging technique that had long since disappeared from the mortal world: [Zhou Tian Xing Dou Forging Array].

Silver threads flowed continuously from his palm, like living star worms, and wrapped around the Reverse Scale Sword and the meteorite core.

They intertwine, shuttle, and entwine in mid-air, outlining an extremely complex three-dimensional array in the blink of an eye, with each line flowing with tiny glimmers of light, mysterious and majestic.

The moment the formation was fully completed...

"boom!"

A deafening roar exploded, and the entire underground space was suddenly engulfed in dazzling starlight!

This was not the warm yellow of lamplight, nor the crimson of a furnace, but the real starlight from the heavens, carrying the depth and vastness of the universe. In an instant, it illuminated the dark third underground level with every detail, even the dust in the air was tinged with starlight.

"Crack!" The celadon teacup in Ouyang Ye's hand slammed to the ground, tea splashing everywhere and shards flying. His eyes widened as he stared intently at the starlight array in mid-air, his lips trembling, his throat feeling as if something was blocking it, unable to utter a single word.

That is... that is the divine forging technique, which was only mentioned in fragments in the oldest weapon-forging books and had been lost for thousands of years!
At the center of the starlight array, Xiao Chen pressed his hands down, and the silver threads surging from his palms became increasingly dense, gradually weaving into a rotating three-dimensional star map in mid-air.

The star map slowly rotated, and starlight spread out like a tide, completely enveloping the Reverse Scale Sword and the meteorite core, forming an independent starlight barrier.

"Nonsense! What a nonsense!"

Ouyang Ye finally snapped out of his utter shock, abruptly stood up, his face ashen, and pointed at Xiao Chen, angrily rebuking him:

"The art of weapon forging emphasizes 'fiery forging and water quenching,' not some kind of superstitious trick! Xianglan, are you just going to stand by and watch this kid ruin an ancient divine weapon?!"

Qin Xianglan opened her mouth, but didn't know how to respond.

The Qin family has a thousand-year-old tradition, and their weapon-making techniques have long formed a complete system: material selection, smelting, forging, quenching, sharpening, and nurturing the spirit. Each step requires decades of experience, and even the slightest deviation from the proper technique will not work.

But what Xiao Chen did completely defied all expectations... no, it was on a completely different level.

“Master Ouyang, I…” Qin Xianglan shook her head with a wry smile, “Mr. Xiao may have his own methods.”

"A trick? I think it's some kind of unorthodox witchcraft!" Ouyang Ye laughed angrily, slamming his hand on the table. "Fine! I'll sit right here today and see how you get out of this mess! If you destroy this divine weapon, you won't be able to pay for it even if you have ten lives!"

The words have not yet finished...

At the center of the star map, a sudden change occurs!
Under the starlight, the surface of that pitch-black meteorite core began to peel away layer by layer.

It wasn't melted by the high temperature, but rather, like a silkworm shedding its shell, layer by layer, the dark outer shell turned into fine dust, scattering away to reveal its true form inside...

It was a translucent crystal, so pure it contained not a single impurity. Inside the crystal, billions of points of light flowed slowly, as if the entire Milky Way had been compressed within it, dazzling and brilliant.

Even more strangely, the trajectory of these flowing points of light perfectly matched the lines of the star map constructed by Xiao Chen, as if they were originally from the same source.

“Star Core Essence…” Ouyang Ye’s angry rebuke abruptly stopped. He stared intently at the crystal, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints, his whole body trembling uncontrollably. “How… how is this possible? This thing… ancient texts say it has been extinct for countless ages, how could it still exist in the world?!”

Qin Xianglan was completely stunned.

The Qin family's ancient records do indeed state that meteorites have a core, and within the core is marrow, which in turn nurtures the star's soul.

However, this has never been proven; it only exists in legends. Even when the Qin family ancestor forged the Zhenhai Halberd three hundred years ago, he only used the outer layer of the meteorite core, never touching the core essence of the star!

And now, the legendary divine object is vividly presented before our eyes.

Xiao Chen seemed completely oblivious to their shock, his mind completely absorbed in the resonance between the star map and the divine weapon. The vortex within his dantian had reached its limit, and silver threads, like a rushing galaxy, flowed out continuously, each thread carrying a wisp of his divine will.

This is not a worldly forging of weapons, but an awakening... an awakening of the star soul that has been sleeping for eternity.

"I know you've been waiting." Xiao Chen closed his eyes, his divine sense flowing along the threads into the star map, his voice so soft only he could hear, "Waited three hundred years, or five thousand? It doesn't matter, today, I'll take you home." (End of Chapter)