The Heavens: Man Covers the Heavens, Refines Treasures to Become an Emperor

……

Cuimingxuan, in that quiet little courtyard.

Liu Qingyan sat on the stone bench, her delicate hand supporting her chin, listening as Granny Feng, filled with frustration, recounted her previous "confrontation" with Jiang Xuan, especially how he had extorted a large sum of spiritual materials and gold coins from her.

To Granny Feng's surprise, Liu Qingyan was not angry at all; instead, she couldn't help but laugh.

She burst out laughing, her smile as bright and captivating as a hundred flowers in bloom.

"This Jiang Xuan... is really... cunning in a somewhat endearing way."

Liu Qingyan covered her mouth and chuckled softly, her beautiful eyes sparkling with curiosity.

All the young men she had ever met, whether they were noble talents from powerful families in the Forbidden City or geniuses from prominent families across the country, had tried their best to maintain a refined and polite image in front of her. She had never seen anyone like Jiang Xuan, who seemed gentle and calm but was actually as cunning as a fox and ruthless when it came to scheming against people. Even someone like Granny Feng had suffered a setback.

She laughed for a moment before noticing Granny Feng's increasingly unpleasant expression. She quickly stopped laughing and said with a hint of apology.

"Grandma Wind, please don't be angry. I just feel... I've never seen such a special young man before."

Granny Feng said in a dark voice.

"This old woman dares not be wronged. But Miss, this boy is exceptionally cunning. If he is not properly disciplined, I fear he will become even more unruly in the future, and may even take advantage of your kindness!"

Liu Qingyan blinked her clear eyes and teased.

"Oh? So how does Mother-in-law plan to teach him a lesson? To avoid being tricked by him again?"

Granny Feng was taken aback, feeling a little embarrassed, and said seriously.

“Miss! This young man is cunning and scheming. In his words just now, he clearly intended to delay the repair time, hoping to use the power of me and you to protect himself and deal with the possible retaliation from the Huang family! His intentions are despicable!”

Liu Qingyan, however, did not take it to heart and said softly.

"He's from a poor family, with no one to rely on. It's only natural for him to use some means to protect himself when faced with threats from powerful clans. As long as he can repair the Ancient Law Spirit Ocarina, what harm is there in lending him some influence?"

Seeing that Liu Qingyan didn't seem to take Jiang Xuan's "scheme" to heart, Granny Feng's alarm bells went off, and she quickly reminded her.

"Miss, please don't be fooled by that boy's seemingly innocent appearance! He's definitely not a good person!"

Liu Qingyan felt a little uncomfortable under Granny Feng's tense gaze, her pretty face flushed slightly, and she scolded playfully.

"Mother-in-law! What are you thinking! I'm just stating the facts."

She quickly changed the subject and asked.

"So, how do you plan to 'discipline' him, Mother-in-law?"

Upon hearing this, Granny Feng revealed a smug sneer and snorted.

"Don't worry, Miss, I have my own arrangements. In seven days, aren't we supposed to send him the spiritual materials and the reward? At that time, someone will naturally teach him a good 'lesson' for me."

If he can pull through, it proves he's qualified to continue relying on my 'protection'. If he can't... well, then let him fix the Ancient Law Spirit Ocarina first!

Liu Qingyan frowned slightly, looking somewhat worried.

"Mother-in-law, don't embarrass him too much. After all, he still needs to focus on repairing the Xun."

Grandma Wind waved her hand.

"Don't worry, Miss, I know what I'm doing. I will never take his life. At most... I'll make him suffer a little to teach him a lesson!"

……

Inside the room, Jiang Xuan did not rest, but sat quietly in thought, sorting out the events of the day.

Three things are on my mind.

Firstly, there are the lingering consequences of crippling Huang Jianxiong's cultivation. Although Granny Feng has temporarily shielded him from the disaster, she remains a hidden danger, and his strength needs to be improved as soon as possible.

Secondly, there's the matter of repairing the ancient Xun (a type of ancient Chinese wind instrument). This could be an opportunity for him to extort resources, but it could also bring new opportunities or troubles.

The third item is Xie Yutang!

The image of that icy blue longsword pressed against his throat, an inch away, and Xie Yutang's indifferent and emotionless words resurfaced in his mind.

"I can save you, and I can kill you too. Don't test my limits."

That look, that tone, was as if he were looking at an ant that could be crushed at will. The life-saving grace was real, but that condescending indifference and warning also genuinely stung Jiang Xuan's pride.

He remained silent, but a chilling coldness gradually gathered in his eyes.

"Xie Yutang..."

He muttered to himself, his fingers unconsciously brushing against the already healed, tiny wound on his throat.

"Today you point your sword at me, regarding me as an ant. One day, I will make you taste what it's like to have a sword pointed at your throat, to have your life and death out of your own hands!"

A sharp, blade-like will quietly gathered in his heart.

Just then, a slight ripple came from his palm, a red light flashed, and a round, plump chirp jumped out, affectionately rubbing against his fingers and making a "chirp chirp" sound, its big eyes curiously observing its owner who seemed to be in a bad mood.

Jiang Xuan looked down at the adorable little guy, the coldness in his eyes gradually dissipating, replaced by a hint of gentleness and calculation.

"You came just in time."

Jiang Xuan patted Qiuqiu's fluffy head.

"Next, it's time to get down to business."

He stood up and walked to the open space in the center of the room. With a thought, he took out the spiritual materials needed to forge the battle sword that Chu Feng had given him, as well as several kinds of spiritual ink with different attributes that he had mixed himself, from his storage ring.

With one trouble after another looming, he desperately needs a weapon that is truly handy and can greatly enhance his combat power!
And in forging this unique battle blade, the incredible "Shattering Star Golden Flame" of Chiu Chiu will play a crucial role!

He took out a dark red cauldron, about half a person's height, with an ancient shape and an intricately engraved spiritual pattern on its surface—one of the relics left by Mr. Lu.

The "Nine-Refining Furnace" produces furnaces of extremely high quality.

Several kinds of metallic spiritual materials, such as "Sinking Silver Iron Mother", "Wind Pattern Steel" and "Crimson Fire Copper", which are the main materials for the battle sword, were put into the furnace according to the precise proportions that had been calculated countless times.

Then, he patted Qiuqiu's round little bottom and pointed at the furnace, saying, "Little guy, it's your turn now! Breath fire and melt them!"

"Chirp?"

Chiu tilted her head blankly, her big eyes looking at the furnace and then at Jiang Xuan, seemingly not quite understanding.

Jiang Xuan had no choice but to demonstrate the fire-breathing action again.

Now Chiu Chiu understood, and immediately became excited. It hopped to the furnace and opened its little mouth—

"call!"

A blazing golden flame, containing specks of shattered gold light and seemingly capable of incinerating the void, suddenly erupted from its mouth, instantly engulfing the entire Nine Refinement Furnace!

"Om-!"

The spiritual patterns on the surface of the furnace suddenly lit up, emitting streaks of crimson light, forming a stable force field that confined the terrifying high temperature inside the furnace, refining the spiritual materials within with all its might.

The temperature in the room suddenly soared, and the air was scorched and distorted, making a sizzling sound.

"Beautiful! That's it!"

Jiang Xuan's eyes lit up, and he gave a thumbs-up.

Praised, Chiu Chiu worked even harder, opening its little mouth wider, making the golden pillar of fire surge even more fiercely, and the furnace began to tremble slightly, with the spiritual patterns on its surface shining even brighter.

"Alright, alright! Control the heat! The temperature can't be too high or too low! It needs to be even!"

Jiang Xuan quickly offered guidance, fearing that the little guy might vaporize the spiritual materials in his excitement.

Startled by the sudden burst of intense heat and spiritual energy fluctuations inside the room, Xue Jin looked over in surprise.

"Huh? Kid, you're starting to forge a sword already?"

Jiang Xuan shouted without turning his head.

"Senior, please keep an eye on the stove, don't let it explode!"

Xue Jin snorted in annoyance.

"Am I your attendant?"

Even so, he still spared a wisp of his divine sense to shroud the Nine Refinement Furnace.

"It's just melting down the material for a blade blank; there's not much technology involved. It's just to prevent it from exploding in the furnace."

Jiang Xuan gave an explanation, then stopped being distracted, turned around and walked to the desk next to him to begin the final check and improvement of the spirit pattern he designed.

Next, once the blade blank is formed, comes the most crucial step – inscribing spirit runes!
Xue Jin watched as Jiang Xuan instantly entered a state of focused concentration, his profile exuding an air of majesty, like a ruler wielding the Dao of Spiritual Patterns. She couldn't help but stroke her chin, a hint of anticipation flashing in her eyes.

"This kid... who knows, he might actually come up with something amazing someday."

His confidence in Jiang Xuan's future crafting of "spirit pattern battle armor" increased even further.

Although Xue Jin couldn't quite tell what Jiang Xuan was doing inside the room because the door was closed, he knew that forging a battle blade that perfectly suited him was of paramount importance to Jiang Xuan.

Previously, Jiang Xuan had consulted him many times about the structure of the battle sword, the distribution of the center of gravity, the techniques of exerting force, and the influence of different materials on the transmission of spiritual energy. The questions were so detailed that they were almost unbelievable. He even repeatedly examined the subtle angles of the anti-slip texture on the hilt.

This aroused the curiosity of Xue Jin, a powerful warrior with incredibly rich combat experience. What kind of battle sword did this kid want to forge? He had a vague premonition that this forging might create a new type of battle sword that the empire had never seen before.

Time slipped by unnoticed in their focused concentration. In the courtyard, the Nine Refinement Furnace, scorched by the continuously spewing golden fire of shattered stars, maintained a steady glow on its surface spiritual patterns. From within the furnace came the subtle humming sounds of various spiritual materials being smelted, like the collision of stars, and rose up a dazzling and misty radiance.

Chirp's tiny body hovered beside the furnace, its big eyes unblinking as it focused intently on controlling the output of the flames.

Surprisingly, after the initial excitement and somewhat rough handling, it seemed to have an innate ability to control this terrifying Heavenly-level strange fire, controlling the fire's speed and intensity, sometimes fierce and sometimes gentle, precisely coordinating with the operation of the furnace's spiritual patterns to maintain the furnace's internal temperature at an extremely delicate balance.

Xue Jin watched from the side and nodded to herself, relieved, but also amazed by Qiu Qiu's talent once again. "This little thing is simply born for smelting! Unlike other spirit pattern masters, it doesn't need to spend a lot of energy to construct complex fire control spirit patterns. It is completely integrated with the Shattered Star Golden Fire, and the fire is automatically controlled by its thoughts."

This is far, far superior to those Heavenly-grade spiritual flames that require the combined efforts of several people to barely control! If those old fogies at the Imperial Divine Crafts Academy knew about this treasure, they'd probably be green with envy and risk their lives to snatch it!

Before we knew it, the sky had darkened and night had fallen.

The various rare metal materials inside the Nine Refining Furnace were finally completely melted into a ball of liquid essence the size of a basketball, constantly churning and displaying a chaotic yet incomparably pure color, under the continuous burning of the Shattered Star Golden Fire. It seemed as if countless tiny stars were being born and dying inside.

Chiu Chiu, who had been spewing flames for several hours, now appeared somewhat listless. Its little belly bulged as it panted, and its round body seemed to have shrunk a size. However, its big eyes remained fixed on the furnace without the slightest slackening.

Xuejin looked at its clearly weak yet trying to put on a brave face, feeling both heartache and surprise.

"This kid is just as tenacious as Jiang Xuan; neither of them is willing to admit defeat."

Just then, the Nine Refinement Furnace suddenly emitted a deep, dragon-like roar! The spiritual patterns on the surface of the furnace shone brightly, and streams of crimson light, like living things, rushed into the liquid essence inside the furnace!
Guided and shaped by the power of the spirit runes, the liquid essence began to writhe, stretch, and condense violently! Amidst the hazy light, the prototype of a battle blade was slowly taking shape at a speed visible to the naked eye! On the blade, faintly visible, naturally formed, mysterious patterns darted through the flowing light, exuding a chilling sharpness and a sense of power!
"Squeak-"

Jiang Xuan's door was pushed open, and he came out. Although his face showed a hint of fatigue, his eyes were surprisingly bright.

He immediately saw the scene inside the furnace, and the exhausted Chiu Chiu beside him.

"You've worked hard, little one, that's good."

Jiang Xuan spoke softly to Qiuqiu.

Upon hearing this, Chiu Chiu felt as if she had been granted a pardon. She closed her little mouth, and the terrifying golden flames instantly disappeared.

It shook its little head and then collapsed onto Jiang Xuan's outstretched palm, too weak to even utter a soft "chirp".

Jiang Xuan swiftly formed a hand seal with his other hand, striking the Nine Refinement Furnace. The furnace emitted a muffled hum, the spiritual runes on its surface slowly receded, and the lid slid open automatically.

Instantly, a scorching wave of air mixed with pure metallic sharpness rushed towards him! Jiang Xuan reached out and grabbed at the air, his spiritual power transforming into an invisible hand that reached into the furnace and slowly took out the already formed battle blade blank.

It was a battle sword blank, two feet and seven inches long and about four fingers wide, with a deep, dark, and jet-black color throughout.

The blade's lines are fluid yet powerful, its edge as thin as a cicada's wing, reflecting a chilling glint in the night, forming a perfect and sharp arc. A straight blood groove runs from near the guard to the tip of the blade, adding to its menacing aura.

Although no spirit patterns have been engraved yet, this pitch-black blade blank, simply lying quietly in Jiang Xuan's hand, naturally exudes a dormant ferocious aura, like an ancient beast that may suddenly erupt and devour people, inspiring fear in all who behold it!
Xue Jin looked at the blade blank, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

Judging solely from its form and the inherent "momentum" it exudes, this embryo already far surpasses ordinary standard spirit swords. (End of Chapter)