Zombie Bodyguard-Chapter 1508 - 1505: Smelting, the Glorious End

"What the hell is this noise? It’s so unbearable!" Ling Shuiyao frowned, feeling displeased.

The screeching sounds had a bizarre frequency, resembling ghostly wails mixed with teeth grinding, truly unnerving, even causing Lin Tian to frown deeply.

Tang Banqing, however, remained calm. She focused on the flames inside the sword furnace and remarked quietly, "Although the predecessor of Ghost Orb was the Tang Sword, it was refined by an Onmyoji. If I’m not wrong, the blade contains evil energy."

As soon as she finished speaking, a wisp of black air burst from the fireball, breaking through the flames and crashing into the furnace wall. The Fire Suppression Talisman flashed suddenly, a stream of flames swept across, striking the black air precisely and burning it to nothingness instantly.

Shortly after the black air emerged, the surface of the Ghost Orb gradually softened, then melted, turning into a puddle of molten iron that flowed down the furnace wall. Tang Banqing activated a mechanism, and the trough channel at the bottom closed immediately. The molten metal from the Ghost Orb did not escape but remained in the grid at the bottom of the sword furnace.

Seeing the mechanisms of the sword furnace, Lin Tian couldn’t help but be impressed, marveling at how much more ingenious it was compared to modern steel furnaces, proving that ancient times also possessed advanced technology.

In particular, the "Mo Jing" and "Lu Ban’s Book" documented the most advanced mechanical knowledge of ancient times, though only parts of these ancient texts have survived. Lin Tian had read many ancient texts but had never had the chance to see these two.

Rumor has it that "Lu Ban’s Book" is divided into two parts, the upper part containing craftsmanship methods, and the lower part with Lu Ban’s secret technique. It is said that anyone who reads the lower part would suffer family misfortunes, but Lin Tian believed there was another truth, perhaps the lower part held some Heavenly Mechanism or secret.

"What powerful talisman work, the Zhang Family, being a family of exorcists, truly lives up to their reputation." Ling Zishan praised.

"Sword of the King, throw it in," Tang Banqing continued to direct, and this eccentric old lady seemed to become a different person once she started forging, focusing solely on the task.

Lin Tian picked up the Sword of the King and threw it in, when suddenly the voice of the Sword Spirit echoed in his mind: "The once glorious days have come to an end, what a pity..."

"You’re awake?" Lin Tian communicated in his mind.

The Sword Spirit did not respond, and Lin Tian figured it was feeling melancholy. After all, it had witnessed the glory and demise of the Sword of the King. However, the Sword Spirit suddenly said, "Lin Tian, if this sword is successfully forged, would you let me inhabit it as its Sword Spirit?"

"You want to become the spirit of the new sword? Did I hear you right? Don’t you seek freedom? By becoming the spirit of the new sword, you’ll be eternally bound to it, unless this new sword suffers the same fate as the Sword of the King." Lin Tian expressed surprise.

The Sword Spirit was silent for a moment, seemingly in thought, then said, "The destiny of the Sword Spirit is such, and even I cannot change it."

Lin Tian pondered for a moment and said, "Alright, I will consider it. Once the new sword is forged, I’ll give you a reply."

The Sword Spirit, unusually, did not nag or urge Lin Tian for an immediate answer, and instead fell silent. Lin Tian paid no further mind to it and focused again on the sword forging.

The Sword of the King was enveloped by flames as soon as it entered the furnace, but unlike Ghost Orb, it did not turn red-hot. Instead, a faint golden glow emanated from its surface, preventing the fire from melting it.

Observing this through the viewing port, Tang Banqing slightly furrowed her brows. She hadn’t expected that the broken Sword of the King was still so mystically powerful.

"Carbon crystals, four pieces," Tang Banqing instructed solemnly. Lin Tian used both hands to add four carbon crystals.

The addition of new fuel caused the flames to surge. Lin Tian could even hear the sounds of wind and fire clashing within the furnace, like a bellows being vigorously pumped, but in this furnace, the air was completely controlled by the mechanism.

Any mechanism needs a power source, whether spring, water, or manpower. Lin Tian was curious about the power source inside the sword furnace, but now clearly wasn’t the time to inquire.

The Sword of the King was damaged after all, and the golden light, akin to a candle’s last flare, couldn’t last long against the heat of Earth Fire and the Fire Suppression Talisman.

With a soft "pop," the Golden Light Shield of the Sword of the King shattered, dissipating within the sword furnace. Without the protection of the golden light, it still couldn’t escape the fate of being melted like the Ghost Orb.

However, the Sword of the King melted much slower than the Ghost Orb. It started with the break point melting, then, like a candle burning, it eroded bit by bit.

The resulting molten metal was a faint golden color, dripping down and gathering in another grid at the bottom of the sword furnace. By the time the Sword of the King had completely melted, two hours had passed, and another pool of pale golden liquid had formed at the bottom of the furnace.

Realizing the duration it took to melt the Sword of the King, Lin Tian suddenly remembered something extremely important and couldn’t help but ask, "Old Tang, I’ve heard that forging a sword can take several months, even a year, is that true?" 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

The reason Lin Tian was concerned about the time needed to forge the sword was because he simply didn’t have that much time. Besides the later search for the zombie bloodline, the university freshman registration in early September was already imminent. This trip to the Ancient Martial World would end just as the new semester began, making it impossible for him to stay in Tang City for months, not to mention a year.

Tang Banqing kept her gaze on the sword furnace and replied without turning her head, "The long time to forge a sword is due to two reasons: first is the difficulty of melting the minerals. It is said that when Gan Jiang and Mo Ye forged a sword, it took three years just to melt a piece of Sky Blue Iron, and even then, it didn’t melt until they used blood and flesh to consecrate the furnace."

"Whether the consecration method is true or not, I cannot say, but we definitely won’t need to consecrate the furnace. With Earth Fire and the Fire Suppression Talisman, the melting step won’t consume much of our time."

"The second reason is the prolonged time spent on shaping, and in ancient times there was a lost skill known as the Hundred Refinement Method, where the iron billet was repeatedly heated and forged to remove impurities, resulting in Hundred-refined Steel. We can burn out impurities during melting, so this won’t take much time."

"Overall, if things go smoothly, it should take between three to seven days to forge this sword. Of course, unforeseen events could shorten or extend this duration." Tang Banqing explained in detail.

"Three to five days is acceptable," Lin Tian exhaled a sigh of relief.

"Do you have something to take care of, Lin Tian?" Ling Zishan asked.

"Uh, isn’t there a sword appreciation gathering? I’m curious and thought I’d take a look." Lin Tian stammered, casually coming up with an excuse.

Tang Banqing snorted lightly, "What’s there to see at a sword appreciation gathering? Once you successfully forge this sword, it will surpass Purple Lightning and Blue Frost. At that time, it will be the Supreme Divine Sword, and you won’t even notice other swords."

"Alright, focus on forging. Get the Heart of the Meteorite ready." Tang Banqing commanded sternly with a serious expression.