It doesn't matter what the lord is.

It really looks like a monster.

Especially when a smile appeared on his lips, he looked exactly like a villain who had sold his soul to the devil. Black smoke rose slowly from the anvil, and blood flowed from his knuckles. His chest rose and fell, and every time he inhaled, he wanted to fill his lungs. There was a long time interval between each exhalation and the next inhalation.

In this state, it is normal to faint at any time.

I could see the brilliance in his eyes, like a crazy artist, who had abandoned all the trivialities of the world to be so pure, with a reckless passion. The weapon took shape in his hands, the tools in the toolbox were scattered all over the floor, the materials were almost gone, and this symphony of the soul was gradually coming to an end.

Suddenly, Liu Shi's hands stopped.

He was a little confused at first, then his eyes quickly swept over the things in front of him, as if he was eager to find some material.

I also noticed that he used a variety of materials to maintain the chaotic state of the weapon's core, but lacked several balancing props.

Don't blame him. I deliberately tampered with the materials just to lure him into the trap at this moment.

Liu Shi drew out his knife again. This time, he first looked at his wrist, drew a line on it with the knife, and then shook his head. Ordinary blood could not control this complex change, and it would take a purer one.

Liu Shi also realized this.

He lowered his head and looked at his chest.

Apical blood.

Use your own life as material and use your three souls and seven spirits as the bargaining chips for refining.

That's enough.

Realizing this, Ryuuseki calmly raised his sword.

Without any hesitation, he stabbed himself in the heart.

Although the movement was fast, it was still within my tolerance. I stood up suddenly and grabbed his wrist when his knife was less than a centimeter away from my chest. Liu Shi raised his head and looked at me coldly. His eyes were completely like those of an irrational beast. He couldn't recognize me, or rather, he couldn't think about anything other than forging.

I smiled a smile as ferocious as his, baring my teeth, and said to him:

"Without a life, there is no way to forge it. Don't you want to complete this work? I'll teach you. Just use someone else's life to fill the gap. Just use the life of your wife who has been having a lot of affairs outside and has cheated on you countless times!"

39. The answers we need from each other

It is extremely difficult to communicate with Liu Shi now, because he has no rationality at all.

I can only be as crazy as he is and give him a sense of fellowship.

After I made the cruel suggestion with a smile on my face, I don't know if my words had any effect, but Liushi's hand holding the knife suddenly lost its strength.

I slowly let go of my hand, and he didn't continue to struggle. Instead, he looked at me blankly, as if he understood but also didn't understand.

It was not until the sword on the chopping block made a crackling sound that Liushi woke up from his dream.

The first thing he did after he came to his senses was to pick up the knife and smash it against his chest again.

This time I was a little late to stop him, and the tip of the knife cut through his shirt, leaving a shallow cut on his chest. The blood that gushed out soaked his shirt, and Liushi shook his head and twisted his body desperately. With his arm held by me, he simply rushed directly towards the tip of the knife, but I pulled his arm, causing him to lose balance and his forehead to hit the hot anvil.

The sound of meat being seared is terrifying.

The wound caused by the collision was instantly scalded by the high temperature, and the blood could not flow out at all, but the pain level increased exponentially. Liu Shi leaned against the wall, and perhaps because his vision was black, he squinted his eyes, stretched out his hand to grope in the air, and slowly moved towards the forging table.

Because he couldn't grasp the distance, when he approached the forging table, the palm he used to explore the way directly stuck to the red-hot anvil. When he lifted it up, part of the skin and flesh stuck to it, and the whole palm was torn into a bloody mess.

The blood on the forging table was quickly absorbed by the unfinished sword, but the sword was far from satisfied and was still making a clacking sound, as if urging the flowing stone to give it more blood.

Liu Shi also seemed to be encouraged.

He took the chisel from the forge and stabbed himself in the eye, but I stopped him.

He picked up the wood-chopping knife and chopped at his arm, but to no avail.

He tried to cut his artery with a file, tried to break his neck with pliers, tried to use all the sharp objects in front of him to hurt himself, and dedicate his blood and soul to his greatest work. But as long as I was by his side, these were just delusions.

Having used up everything that could be used, Liu Shi gasped for breath, his eyes falling on the sword that was gradually losing its luster.

Just when I thought he had run out of tricks, Liushi let out a wild laugh, opened his arms, and flew towards the forging table without hesitation.

At that moment, death seemed as fragile as a piece of blank paper in his eyes.

Naru was right. Liushi was like a brainwashed cultist. He was unreasonable and could not be judged by common sense. His indifference to life was really chilling. If he suddenly pushed his wife into the fire pit in such a state, there would be no sense of disobedience at all. After all, people who are cruel to themselves will not be kind to others. This is a truth recognized by the world.

But once you look closely, it's easy to see that something is wrong.

When I advised him to use other people's lives to forge it, Liu Shi didn't even look around.

In other words, he didn't even subconsciously think of looking for this "someone else".

Moreover, when we were snatching various sharp tools, he never used the sharp tools in his hands to attack me. If the tools in his hands were snatched away by me, he would change them, and if there was nothing to change, he would rush to the forging table.

He did have a fanatical demeanor, a ferocious smile, and exaggerated movements, and he did not take his life seriously, but this was only for his own life. He was willing to fulfill his obsession regardless of life or death, and this was his freedom.

What does this sword on the anvil mean to Flowstone?

In the past, it might have been a direction to move forward, something he wanted to do, but after his wife's death, it had become his reason to live. When he came to Yuxi City, Liu Shi said that as long as he was given some materials and allowed to do some research of his own, he could be used like a tool without considering his human rights.

It can be said that his desire to accomplish this task is now stronger than ever before.

Even at this point, when he had lost his mind, Liu Shi still would not harm anyone who approached him.

I just couldn't believe that he would push his wife into the fire.

Following this line of thought, the murder case that happened to the Yoshihirata family back then was probably very suspicious.

Just before Liushi was about to embrace the hot chopping board, I slapped him on the face, grabbed his head and threw him back. Because of the excessive force, Liushi's nose and mouth were bleeding, and he fell into the corner and lost consciousness instantly.

I glanced at the sword whose light had dimmed and sighed.

If I hadn't tampered with it, Liushi's forging would have been successful. But in order to test what kind of means he would use to deal with unexpected situations, I forcibly changed the result of this forging.

In that case, let me help him complete this final step.

I took out a small reagent bottle from my bosom, which contained bright red liquid. I opened the lid and dripped a little bit of liquid into it.

The strong wind instantly swept away everything in the house.

Except for me, who was standing there, nothing in the house that was higher than the forging table was spared. Even the roof was flipped to an indistinct height and disintegrated in the air. A red light shot straight into the sky, and the blood-colored mist was scorching hot.

This was the dragon blood from the ninth son of the Dragon King, Ofland. It could be said to be the most valuable forging material. The blood of Flowstone could not suppress the restless weapons, but Ofland's blood was fully capable of doing so. It was a pity that there were only three or four drops in total, and if you used them, it would be a little less.

Dragon horns, dragon scales, dragon blood, and the heart thrown to the little slime were all the supplies they got from Ofland. The most valuable of them was dragon blood, because it was the blood of the orthodox Dragon King. No matter how powerful other dragons were, their blood was not as noble as Ofland's blood.

After the blood mist dissipated, a red and black sword floated in the air.

I instinctively reached out my hand and wanted to touch the sword, but after thinking it over, I decided not to.

Although I am also full of curiosity about what Liushi worked so hard to make, if I use it now, Liushi will see a used sword when he wakes up. How should I put it... the result of such a long period of hard work, whether it is success or failure, the answer should be revealed by him personally.

I glanced at Liushi, who was still unconscious, and left the ruined forge without looking back.

40. The End of Obsession

What I didn't expect was that Liu Shi came to me the next day with the red sword in his hand.

The wounds all over his body had been bandaged, but because of the serious injuries, he still looked miserable. Especially with his head and hands wrapped in heavy gauze, it seemed that he would not be able to get on the forging table for a while.

If Liu Shi's injury yesterday was not properly treated, he would definitely suffer sequelae. In serious cases, his right hand might be disabled. This serious situation was not something Naru could handle, but there were no decent doctors in Yuxi City. In the end, they had no choice but to call all the doctors in the city. Everyone worked together and took turns to save him.

After all, Liushi's realm of cultivation is too low. It can only be said that because of years of iron forging, he is not as fragile as he looks. However, his healing ability is not much higher than that of ordinary people, and he cannot cope with slightly more serious injuries.

After seeing me, Liu Shi pushed away Naru's hand that was supporting him, limped to me and raised his head.

From the look in his eyes, it can be seen that he has returned to normal. At least he is not as irrational as yesterday.

"There is new progress in my research."

Liu Shi said this, his eyes falling on the sword lying flat in his hand.

He seemed to be very emotional, and his voice was a little more trembling than usual:

"The last time I made any progress was three years ago...! So much time has passed in a flash. Now I am finally able to master this level of forging, but unfortunately... Lord Mayor, I have a request. Let that blonde girl try this sword."

I glanced at the red sword in his hand and found that it was exactly the same as when I left it yesterday.

So I asked:

"Is this really okay? You've been pursuing this for so many years and finally completed this work. Don't you feel regretful if you don't test it yourself?"

Liu Shi lowered his eyes and answered calmly:

"Of course I will. I'd rather say that I'm already regretting it now. However, I'm a blacksmith, not a swordsman. This sword is not a random test piece, no matter how fine the materials used or how fine the forging is. If I use this sword for the first time, and I can't make a better sword later, I'll regret it for a longer time. After all, how can someone like me who is not even worthy of living have the qualifications to use such a good sword..."

He spoke in a rambling manner, but his tone was firm and unquestionable.

So I took Liushi to the scarred backyard and asked Liushi to hand the sword to Alayya in person. Liushi's actions were very solemn, handing the sword with both hands, and Alayya also took it with both hands and made a sword flower.

I pulled the flowing stone back to a far place.

The air was eerily quiet, even the wind stopped blowing in this direction. The sword stayed in mid-air, and the temperature around it began to rise abnormally.

Alayya gripped the hilt of the sword, lowered the sword, took a deep breath, and swung the sword fiercely into the sky.

At that moment, the sword in her hand made a crackling sound, like the sound of bones cracking when a beast that had been sleeping for a long time shook its body. The sword body trembled violently, Liu Shi clenched his fist suddenly, and the blood soaked the gauze. Compared with me and Alaiya, he was the most nervous, because he had seen countless similar scenes, and each time ended with the explosion of the sword.

Now, the sword seemed to be resisting Alayya, unwilling to be easily changed by her.

Wind blades gathered around the sword and bit back at Alayya's arm, cutting her wrist armor, ripping her sleeves, and stabbing her skin, trying to force her to let go.

Alayya was like taming a wild horse, ignoring the shaking of the sword and swinging it down forcefully. This sword blew up the backyard wall cleanly, shattered my bedroom, blasted the mud on the ground into the sky, and then poured all over me and Liushi.

After this sword strike, the red sword fell silent.

Blood flowed down Alayya's arm onto the sword, and then dripped from the tip of the sword to the ground.

I rushed forward without saying a word, snatched the swords from Alayya, threw them in front of Liushi, and said:

"You're doing explosion tests here?"

Then he hurriedly checked Alaya's injuries. Fortunately, the injuries were not serious, and the tendons and veins were basically not injured. It just looked scary, but in fact, they were just superficial injuries. However, it was also thanks to her habit of wearing wrist armor and elbow guards, otherwise it would be hard to say.

I held Alayya's hand and she whispered:

"It's alright, Master. But the sword..."

Sword, right? Got it!

You piece of junk, I'm going to smash it to pieces right now!

I turned around to take the sword back from Liushi and help Alaya get revenge, and then I saw Liushi's face full of tears. Tears dripped onto the sword that was still warm. He held the sword, opened his mouth, knelt down with a plop, and repeated loudly as if to declare to the world:

"It worked, it worked--!! Did you see it? Did you see it..."

Alayya looked at her palm and said:

"Master, when I first started using that sword, my sword energy was absorbed by the sword and couldn't flow out. So I swung the sword towards the sky with all my strength, and the sword energy seemed to break through a barrier, but the sword also began to resist me. I could only try my best to swing the sword again. This time, the sword energy carved more marks in the sword body, and the sword became stable. Finally, when I held the sword, I don't know how to describe it, but I had a very wonderful feeling."

Alayya raised her head, looked at the sword held in Liushi's hand, and added:

"It's like the sword has become a part of me. When the young master used the term 'as if one's arm were at your command' before, Alayya never understood it... But just now, I really felt it."

I looked at the sword Liu Shi was holding and found that the red blade was no longer pure red. There were silver-white lines interwoven on the blade, like a road that led in all directions, forming a complex and beautiful pattern. Liu Shi bit his lips tightly, stood up shakily, handed the sword to me, wiped the tears from his eyes with his sleeve, and said:

"I'll give this sword to her... When I get back, I'll make a scabbard with the materials I have."

I handed the sword to Alayya, and when I turned around, I saw Liu Shi turning around and leaving.

It was as if all the blood in his body had burned out. There was no light in his eyes, and he no longer had the indomitable spirit he had when forging. It was better to say that at this moment, he was more depressed than ever before. That kind of depression was deep in his bones. Liushi walked away step by step, the wind blew up his clothes, and his back looked so thin and lonely.

It suddenly occurred to me that what I had done before was far from enough to solve the problem of flowing stones.

Because for the three years after Carissa's death, these studies were the whole meaning of his life.

The moment he confirmed that his forging was complete, his last obsession disappeared and he no longer had any reason to live.

41. I will keep it a secret for you

Liushi's depression and confusion continue, but Yuxi City is still developing rapidly.

Bai Huang's follower Heji had been missing for some time. When I saw him today, I found that he had broken through the sixth level of perfection in the sword art and entered the threshold of the seventh level. In fact, he could have been promoted to the seventh level a long time ago, but he had been suppressing his realm cultivation.

Heji is a smart man. He knows that his early strength was built up by natural resources and treasures, and his realm is not particularly stable. Therefore, he has been practicing hard in this way for so long, which is equivalent to completely consolidating the foundation before continuing to climb upward. In this way, there will be no realm bubble, and his strength is also relatively high in the same realm.

As for why he chose to break through at this time, I guess it was because of the trip to the royal capital that stimulated him.

Alayya's growth rate was very fast, so fast that she was already on par with him in terms of realm. In the past, his realm was the sixth level of perfection, firmly suppressing Alayya, and Alayya was already at this level. Moreover, when Alayya was still at the fifth level, Heji would have a hard time dealing with her if he suppressed his realm. Now that Alayya has reached the sixth level of perfection, Heji may not be able to beat her unless he reaches the seventh level.

"That day, amidst the flying dragons, I protected the young lady as she fled, putting her in danger several times. This is not what a guard should do. Lord Bai Feng entrusted the young lady's safety to me, and this is the only thing I must do well no matter what."