Cultivation: I have an equipment slot

Chapter 166 Sword Formation and Nascent Soul (6000 words)
After the quenching was complete, Zhang Yan picked up the flying sword and said to Lei Kunhai with a smile.

"Is this it?"

Lei Kunhai's expression at this moment was quite interesting. On the one hand, he was surprised by Zhang Yan's success, but on the other hand, he felt that the other party's success was inevitable.

It wasn't that he had much confidence in Zhang Yan, but rather that the other person felt so much like himself that he unconsciously began to empathize with him.

It has to be said that watching Zhang Yan forge weapons was incredibly immersive. If Lei Kunhai weren't sitting here, he would have thought that he had personally crafted that flying sword.

It's truly authentic.

If others didn't tell him, he probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference himself.

Therefore, Lei Kunhai's expression became uncertain for a moment. He didn't know whether this was a good thing or a bad thing.

Even a sense of worry arose in my heart.

Zhang Yan has an exceptional ability to imitate, which is a good thing for ordinary people, since masters all start by imitating. However, for a super genius, it may not necessarily be a good thing.

The reason is simple: imitation is for getting started, but once you get started, if you still imitate and can't find your own path, you'll only ever become a craftsman, not a master.

Lei Kunhai now felt that Zhang Yan's craftsmanship was too heavy on the craftsman's touch and lacked spiritual energy when making magical artifacts. If he continued like this, then his path of artifact crafting would probably come to an end.

So, after a moment's consideration, Lei Kunhai couldn't help but speak to Zhang Yan.

"Too much of a craftsman's touch?"
"Is the imitation too obvious?" Zhang Yan rubbed his chin. He also felt it. This was indeed not good. It wasn't that he thought he wouldn't become a master in the future.

After all, whether or not he becomes a master is not up to him, but up to Lei Kunhai. When Lei Kunhai becomes a master, then he will be a master too.

Although he was just a master who copied others.

However, after we copied it, our condition was even better than his. After all, Lei Kunhai would still make mistakes, but as long as Zhang Yan entered the equipment slot, he would never make a mistake.

This can be considered a permanent certificate.

This is another use of the equipment slot.

Others might worry about their status or skill level, but Zhang Yan has no such worries. As long as the stats on his equipment are good, he's fine!
However, Lei Kunhai's words were also a reminder to him that he really couldn't imitate too closely, otherwise he might get arrested.

So, in front of Lei Kunhai, Zhang Yan nodded, indicating that he understood and would definitely correct this flaw, striving to make sure that his future works would be imbued with spirit.

To convince Lei Kunhai, Zhang Yan even reopened a forging furnace, intending to reforge a flying sword.

"You're going to forge a second flying sword right now? Are you in the right condition?"

Can it hold on?
"You succeeded with your first flying sword, but don't you need to summarize your experience before immediately starting to forge a second one?"

Lei Kunhai felt that Zhang Yan was being a bit too hasty. After all, he had finally forged a top-grade spiritual weapon, yet he didn't even review the process before starting the second forging.

Although he had some complaints in his heart, Lei Kunhai still didn't say anything. He just stood aside, helping Zhang Yan keep watch. As long as Zhang Yan didn't make any obvious mistakes, he would go with Zhang Yan.

After all, everyone has their own ideas, especially geniuses who prefer to be unrestrained. Some people can say what they want, and some people can't.

If this were Lei Wanbao, he would have slapped him across the face long ago, but unfortunately, this is Zhang Yan, so he chooses to believe Zhang Yan.

As Zhang Yan forged his second flying sword, Lei Kunhai's expression gradually became serious. He noticed that the hammer marks were different when Zhang Yan forged this second flying sword.

More than just hammer marks.

The entire forging style is different now. Although it can be seen that the overall style is still dominant, a clear distinction has been made.

In some places, the handling was even better than what he did.

"this……

"Is he a genius?"

Lei Kunhai rubbed his eyes, somewhat incredulous. For a moment, he even had the urge to cut open Zhang Yan's head to see what was inside, and why it was so simple for him to forge weapons, while it had taken him so long!

You really can't compare people.

This was Lei Kunhai's last thought.

In fact, what Lei Kunhai didn't know was that the reason Zhang Yan was able to achieve such a level was quite simple: he integrated the strengths of various schools of thought!

Lei Kunhai is indeed the most skilled weapon refiner in the Qingheng Sect, at least the most skilled master currently existing. But that's all. Although his weapon refining skills are impressive, others are not far behind!

Although there are gaps overall.

However, some weapon refiners take a different approach, specializing in one area. Through their relentless training day and night, they can catch up with or even surpass Lei Kunhai in a particular aspect.

This is not a difficult problem.

It could even be said to be quite simple.

Zhang Yan also collected their magical artifacts and equipped them to his equipment slots, thus naturally gaining their blessings.

Equipping a single piece of Lei Kunhai's gear would indeed leave traces of imitation, but what if you add someone else's gear as well?

The traces of imitation were naturally gone. Although it was still in Lei Kunhai's style overall, the finished product was completely different, even a completely different thing, and far surpassed Lei Kunhai's own.

After all, some of the shortcomings of Lei Kunhai have been made up for by others. Lei Kunhai can achieve a score of 90 overall, while Zhang Yan, with the support of other weapon refiners, can achieve a score of 95 overall.

So at this point, what makes you think you can say that I was just imitating?

What makes you say it has a strong sense of craftsmanship?
Even if we take a step back and assume it's just a craftsman's work, so what? I can guarantee that I can make a magical artifact 100% perfect, and every single one of them will be 100% perfect. Isn't that much better than any kind of spirituality?

"Bang bang bang~"

The series of blows gradually subsided. Zhang Yan looked at the top-grade flying sword in his hand and nodded slightly. This time, the harvest was quite good.

Moreover, this flying sword can be considered complete.

"Senior Lei, how do you think I did?" Zhang Yan asked Lei Kunhai with a smile. "With my skill level, I shouldn't have any problem forging a set of top-grade spiritual weapons, right?"

Lei Kunhai: "..."

Hearing Zhang Yan's words, he couldn't help but roll his eyes. This guy in front of him was really too damn annoying and a bit hateful.

He even felt that Zhang Yan's visit this time was not to provide any support or reassurance, but purely to humiliate him.

So annoying!

However, Lei Kunhai had no choice but to accept this situation. After all, he was an elder, and could he really turn against his junior just because the junior was too outstanding?
So he could only take a deep breath and slowly say, "Not bad, very good, quite like my old self back then."

As long as you maintain your skill level, forging a complete set of spiritual weapons won't be difficult. I suddenly remembered there are still clothes drying in the cave; I'll head back now.

Lei Kunhai was spouting nonsense with great enthusiasm.

After saying that, he left without looking back!
I simply can't stay here any longer!

Zhang Yan is a total show-off, and what's worse is that he doesn't just show off directly; he even asks you with a sincere heart.

But somehow, he stabbed me all over, making me extremely uncomfortable!

"Really, how did they just leave like that?"

Seeing Lei Kunhai leave, Zhang Yan sighed helplessly, but he was also somewhat excited because he knew that he could now refine that set of Divine Wood Sword Formation.

So he notified Musen and asked him to come.

Because he had been waiting for news from Zhang Yan, Mu Sen hadn't left the sect for missions recently. Upon hearing news from Zhang Yan, he naturally rushed over immediately.

Along the way, he felt a mix of emotions.

He didn't know if Zhang Yan could succeed. After all, Zhang Yan had said he needed to prepare, but now he had called him over so quickly. Did Zhang Yan think it was unreliable and impossible to do?
Even after arriving at Zhang Yan's cave, he hesitated and dared not knock on the door.

Only after being invited in by Zhang Yan did he nervously ask, "Junior Brother Zhang, how is it? Can it be refined?"

If you can't, you can just say so.

With a hint of expectation on his face, Mu Sen asked Zhang Yan.

"Of course it can be refined."

"To be honest, Senior Brother, before you came, Senior Lei had just left. He personally watched me forge two top-grade spiritual weapons, and they were even flying swords. He also said that as long as I don't do anything reckless, forging a set of spiritual weapons is very simple," Zhang Yan said to Mu Sen with a smile.

"Is that really what Senior Lei said?"

Upon hearing this, Mu Sen couldn't help but laugh. However, perhaps because he had been suppressing his emotions for so long, his usually expressionless face looked rather unpleasant when he laughed.

In fact, the safest way for Mu Sen would naturally be to ask Lei Kunhai to refine it, but unfortunately, Lei Kunhai is a Golden Core cultivator.

Moreover, he is a cultivator in the late stage of the Golden Core realm. Each time he makes a move, the cost is extremely high. Furthermore, Lei Kunhai has long since stopped refining spiritual artifacts. It can be said that he no longer makes moves except for refining magic treasures.

Mu Sen was merely an ordinary disciple of Zhuge Wan, and Lei Kunhai wouldn't give him the same face as Zhang Yan. But now that Zhang Yan had gained Lei Kunhai's recognition, it was indeed the most appropriate solution for Mu Sen.

"Alright, Senior Brother Mu, hand over the materials to me. I'm going to start forging a flying sword for you," Zhang Yan said to Mu Sen with a smile.

"Thank you very much, Junior Brother." Lei Kunhai took a deep breath, nodded, and then handed a storage bag to Zhang Yan.

"Senior Brother Mu, are you coming with me to observe, or...?" Zhang Yan asked Mu Sen after taking the storage bag.

"what?

Can I still observe from here?

Musen asked incredulously.

It should be understood that, generally speaking, the forging of magical artifacts by weapon refiners is an extremely private matter that ordinary people are not allowed to watch. Moreover, if others are present during the forging process, it is easy for something to go wrong.

So Musen never even considered staying to observe.

But to his surprise, Zhang Yan took the initiative to ask him if he wanted to stay. This caught him off guard; he didn't know what to say.

“I’m short one helper here. After all, forging a set of top-grade spiritual weapons is not easy. If you’re not willing, Senior Brother Mu, I can go and find someone else.” Zhang Yan thought Mu Sen had something to do, so he immediately spoke up. Actually, he still wanted Mu Sen to stay, since this was a complete sword formation, and Mu Sen was the master of the sword formation. He could make some modifications during the forging process.

After all, sword formations are rigid, while people are flexible. With Mu Sen here, problems can be corrected directly, which is definitely better than trying to fix them afterward.

"No, no, no, if you can let me stay, that would be wonderful." Mu Sen nodded hurriedly, his heart filled with joy.

Letting him stay means that Zhang Yan will customize a magic weapon for him with high precision, which is not a privilege that ordinary people can enjoy.

……

With Mu Sen staying behind, Zhang Yan didn't waste any time and immediately began forging.

A complete set of flying swords is indeed difficult for others to master. After all, if there is even the slightest mistake in a complete set, the scaled-up sword formation will be drastically different.

This is why no one wants to craft a complete set of equipment, but fortunately Zhang Yan has the equipment slot cheat code here.

For him, building it was much simpler.

With the help of the entry, he can copy the previous step every time and never make a mistake.

in this way.

He went into seclusion for a full 180 days.

Zhang Yan finally completed the creation of Mu Sen's Divine Wood Sword Formation.

Looking at the streaks of green light floating in the sky, Mu Sen's eyes almost turned red.

The Divine Tree Sword Formation!
With this Divine Wood Sword Formation, Mu Sen is already a top-tier existence in the Foundation Establishment stage; ordinary people are no match for him.

"Thank you, Junior Brother Zhang! Thank you, Junior Brother Zhang!"

"From now on, I will obey any orders you give me," Mu Sen said to Zhang Yan with some excitement.

On the surface, Zhang Yan and Mu Sen only had a mutually beneficial relationship; he gave Zhang Yan a reward, and Zhang Yan set up a sword formation for him.

But in reality, for Mu Sen, this sword formation was the foundation for his future livelihood, so he naturally had to thank him.

"Senior Brother Mu, if you say that, we'll be too distant!" Zhang Yan smiled and shook his head, helped Mu Sen up, offered a few words of comfort, and then saw him out the door.

They waited until Musen left.

Zhang Yan sat cross-legged in the weapon-refining room, carefully pondering and slowly reflecting on his gains during this period, during which he worked tirelessly day and night to forge spiritual weapons.

He has gained a deeper understanding of weapon crafting, and it is no exaggeration to say that he can now forge high-grade spiritual weapons on his own, even without the aid of those special attributes.

Although it's still some distance from being a top-grade spiritual weapon, this speed is already terrifying!

It took a full two weeks to sort out the results.

"We should strike while the iron is hot!" After calculating his gains, Zhang Yan opened the forging furnace and began refining flying swords.

This time, he plans to create the Five Elements Heavenly Gang Sword Formation for himself.
Just thinking about it gives me a headache.

The Five Elements Heavenly Gang Sword Formation requires a full 180 flying swords.

Each type of flying sword requires thirty-six swords. Even if Zhang Yan forges one sword a day, it would still take him half a year to forge them all.

Moreover, there can be no mistakes in the process.

Although this task is indeed difficult, it also has many benefits. As long as he can forge these 180 flying swords, Zhang Yan's combat power will increase dramatically.

He himself doesn't know exactly how high it can go.

Crafting 180 flying swords would require a large amount of spiritual materials, but for Zhang Yan, although it was a bit expensive, it was still within his means.

After all, he has accumulated a considerable fortune over the years.

Moreover, he is a true disciple of the Qingheng Sect. What does being a true disciple mean?
This means he is one of the shareholders of the Qingheng faction, and he receives dividends from the Qingheng faction! Moreover, he gets some discounts!
In addition, he borrowed some from his master, some from Sect Leader Mo Changqing, and some from Lei Kunhai, and he actually managed to gather all the resources!

Having gained experience in helping Mu Sen refine the Divine Wood Sword Formation earlier, Zhang Yan was able to refine it exceptionally quickly and smoothly this time.

in this way.

Almost a year has passed.

Zhang Yancai finally completed the forging of this sword formation.

"This is the Five Elements Heavenly Gang Sword Formation!" Zhang Yan looked at the 180 flying swords floating in front of him with tired eyes, but a smile appeared on his face.

"Hurry!" With a low shout, the multicolored flying swords in front of him immediately seemed to come alive, and began to weave through the weapon-refining room.

Sometimes it forms a net of swords, sometimes it forms a formation, and sometimes they attack each other, creating quite a lively scene. As Zhang Yan continued to adapt, he also gained a clear understanding of the power of this sword formation.

This sword formation.

The power was beyond his expectations, but that was normal. After all, there were 180 flying swords. Putting everything else aside, when facing an enemy, he could do nothing but release these 180 flying swords and turn the opponent into a hedgehog.

not to mention.

These 180 flying swords are not simply one plus one equals two, but can form a sword formation to achieve an effect greater than three.

"With this set of flying swords, I'll have a guarantee when that matter begins." Zhang Yan looked at the flying swords in front of him and smiled.

If nothing unexpected happens, this set of flying swords should accompany him for a long time.

"Go back." Zhang Yan gently waved his hand, and as his voice fell, the flying swords in the sky flew into his sleeve one after another.

His wide sleeves seemed to be bottomless.

He put away the flying sword.

Stepping out of the weapon-refining room, Zhang Yan looked at the sky outside and suddenly felt a sense of relief, unable to resist letting out a long roar.

However, with his long roar, the entire mountain suddenly began to tremble, and the fourth-order spiritual vein underground seemed to come alive, with spiritual energy from heaven and earth gushing out as if it were free.

They continuously gathered in the sky, forming auspicious clouds.

Seeing this, Zhang Yan was stunned. He was just coming out of seclusion for a short while, was it really necessary to make such a fuss?
However, he quickly realized what was happening.

This is not his fault at all. Right now, the only person in the Qingheng Sect who has the ability to cause such a disturbance is probably only Grandmaster Qingluan!
"Grandmaster Qingluan has successfully broken through to the Nascent Soul stage!"

This was the first thought in Zhang Yan's mind.

As if to confirm his idea, several figures suddenly appeared in the sky. Upon closer inspection, they were Mo Changqing, Lei Kunhai, Zhuge Wan, and other Golden Core cultivators.

After they came out, each of them held a jade ruyi (a type of scepter), activated the magic array, sealed off the surroundings, and looked around with serious expressions.

With their appearance, the spiritual energy between heaven and earth surged even more violently, with massive amounts of spiritual energy continuously pouring into the distant mountains. That place, however, was like a bottomless black hole, devouring all the spiritual energy, no matter how much there was.

"Is this what it means to become a Nascent Soul cultivator?" Zhang Yan was somewhat astonished as he felt the oppressive aura emanating from afar.

Fortunately, the spiritual energy tide came and went quickly. Before long, the strange phenomenon disappeared, and the auspicious clouds that had gathered earlier turned into a shower of spiritual rain that fell to the ground.

With the arrival of the spiritual rain, some plants that were originally just weeds actually developed some spirituality and evolved into spiritual herbs.

"this……

Is this the Nascent Soul stage?

Zhang Yan was somewhat alarmed when he saw the changes in the weeds around him.

The gap between the Nascent Soul stage and the Golden Core stage might be greater than he imagined!
Now it seems that the Nascent Soul stage has a feeling of "when one person attains enlightenment, even their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven."

And then the vision ended.

Mo Changqing, Zhuge Wan, and others also accepted the jade ruyi, and then issued a decree instructing the disciples present to ensure that this matter was never spread outside.

At the same time, Zhang Yan also received a message from Mo Changqing:

"Let's go and congratulate Junior Uncle."

"As expected, it has been successful."

Upon hearing Mo Changqing's message, Zhang Yan chuckled and transformed into a streak of light to follow.

Zhang Yan was somewhat excited throughout the journey.

It's not easy!

Zhang's wish has finally come true!

He had always wanted to become the most powerful second-generation member of the Qingheng Sect, and now!
It’s finally done!

He cured Qingluan's illness, and Qingluan successfully became a Nascent Soul cultivator. From then on, Zhang Yan could do whatever he wanted, not only in the Qingheng Sect, but also in the Zhao Kingdom.

Do you even know what it means to have a Nascent Soul stage cultivator backing you up?

Although he was secretly pleased, Zhang Yan still obediently followed behind Mo Changqing and the others until they arrived at a grand hall.

They stood respectfully in a row.

Then they shouted in unison, "We pay our respects to Junior Uncle (Grandmaster Uncle!) and congratulate Junior Uncle (Grandmaster Uncle) on achieving the Nascent Soul stage, taking another step closer to becoming an immortal!"

"come in."

A sound came from inside the main hall, then the hall doors opened, and everyone filed in, entering the hall and looking up at the person sitting in the main seat.

Grandmaster Qingluan remained expressionless, her white hair making her seem even more unapproachable. Only when she looked at Zhang Yan would she unconsciously reveal a slight smile.

……

(End of this chapter)