A Forging Grandmaster was someone even the Star Moon Kingdom treated with utmost caution.
For ordinary players, gaining even a sliver of rapport with such a figure was harder than reaching the heavens. Yet here was Shi Feng, on such impossibly good terms with Celuola that they might as well have been old friends reuniting after years apart…
"I've obtained a treasure. I'd like you to take a look at whether it can be reforged," Shi Feng said in answer to Celuola's question.
"You've obtained a treasure?" Celuola's eyes lit up at once. "Then come in."
"Oh, right — these are my friends. They completed a quest with you, so they've come to turn it in." Shi Feng gestured toward Youlan and the others behind him.
When Celuola heard this, her gaze shifted to Youlan's group, making all of them tense up.
"So it was you lot. Come in together, then — I happen to need those materials." Celuola nodded and led everyone inside.
The moment Shi Feng stepped into the smithy, the sight before him stole his breath.
The room was not large, yet it was packed with all manner of exquisite weapons and equipment. Before the counter, several pieces of armament radiated an overwhelming pressure, each protected behind its own magic barrier. Even with the barriers muffling the aura, he could still feel it — which meant that without them, the sheer oppressive force those weapons exuded would be staggering.
The weakest equipment in this room was Dark Gold grade. Most of it was Epic grade, and the weapons displayed in the counter were clearly Celuola's proudest works — absolutely top-tier among Epic items.
A room full of Epic-grade weapons and equipment outnumbered everything the
One had to admit — a Forging Grandmaster was something else entirely. Crafting Epic items was child's play to her. If a Master Blacksmith produced even a single Epic item, they would treat it as a family heirloom.
In the Divine Realm, Master Blacksmiths could indeed craft Epic-grade items, but the success rate was terrifyingly low. It required mountains of materials to brute-force a result, making it far more difficult than obtaining Epic items from monsters and quests. The one advantage was compatibility — a player could draw out more of an Epic item's power when it was custom-made for them.
With Legendary items and Legendary fragments being exceedingly rare in the Divine Realm, this was one of the few ways a player could boost their combat strength. That was why the major guilds spared no expense commissioning Master Blacksmiths to forge Epic weapons and equipment.
"Lady Celuola, here are the Moonlight Spring Water and Black Gold Ore you asked for." Youlan stepped forward and produced the materials from her inventory.
Shi Feng's lips parted slightly as he took in what she laid out.
Both Moonlight Spring Water and Black Gold Ore were super-rare forging materials. Moonlight Spring Water imbued materials with greater magical energy, raising the success rate and quality of crafting. Black Gold Ore, meanwhile, was a top-tier Epic auxiliary material — only certain hundred-man dungeon raids and open-world bosses dropped it, and one never knew how many kills it would take to obtain a single piece.
If Youlan had produced just one bottle of Moonlight Spring Water and one piece of Black Gold Ore, he wouldn't have been all that surprised. Zero Wing had its own supply, after all. But the quantity Youlan brought out was frankly terrifying.
One hundred bottles of Moonlight Spring Water and fifty pieces of Black Gold Ore — several times the total Zero Wing possessed.
"Not bad. You managed to gather the materials I asked for in such a short time." Celuola swept her gaze over the items on the table, then retrieved a thick, ancient tome and handed it to Youlan. "This is the Forging Secret Record I promised. If you can master every technique within, becoming a Master Blacksmith will come much more easily."
"The Forging Secret Record?" Shi Feng's eyes widened in realization.
No wonder it required such a staggering number of precious materials in exchange.
The Forging Secret Record documented a multitude of forging techniques — much like the secret runes that architects had to study. It was the holy grail for any blacksmith. Whether one could learn from it, and how much, depended entirely on the individual.