I have the face of a great demon.

Niu Wei was basking in his own smugness, as if he could already see Zhou Tianyi making a fool of himself in front of the beautiful woman.

He couldn't help but laugh out loud, but his sweet dream was suddenly interrupted by shouts from outside the door.

"Niu Wei, Niu Wei, are you there?" It was the voice of the deacon of the Sutra Repository, his tone serious.

Niu Wei's face darkened; he knew that the steward coming to see him was never good news.

He cleared his throat, feigning composure, and replied, "Yes, I am. What brings you here, Deacon?"

The steward pushed open the door, his face not looking too good: "Niu Wei, the jade slips you borrowed from the Scripture Pavilion a few days ago should be returned today."

Niu Wei was taken aback: "Oh dear, steward, when did I borrow the jade slip?"

The deacon frowned: "Don't try to fool me. You borrowed the jade slip that day and looked at it on the third floor. Then you ran away with diarrhea. You haven't borrowed the jade slip yet."

Niu Wei was immediately alarmed. Losing the jade slips was a serious matter, especially the jade slips on the third floor, which contained extremely important cultivation techniques that could not be lost.

Niu Wei hurriedly waved his hand in defense: "Sir, when I ran out that day, I really didn't take the jade slip. That jade slip must still be in the Scripture Pavilion."

The deacon's brows furrowed into a deep frown, and his voice carried an undeniable air of authority.

"Nonsense! I searched the entire library, inside and out. Everyone else's jade slips are here, only yours are missing. If you didn't take it, who else could it be?"

Cold sweat beaded on Niu Wei's forehead as he continued to argue:

"Sir, I'm innocent! The jade slip is still in the Scripture Pavilion. It must have been taken by someone in the chaos. It has nothing to do with me."

"Too many people, too much chaos? It got stolen?" The deacon's face grew even uglier; he clearly didn't believe Niu Wei's explanation.

"According to the sect's rules, whoever borrows the jade slip is responsible for it. If you can't get the jade slip back, I can only handle this officially and report it to the higher authorities."

Niu Wei watched the steward's retreating figure, inwardly groaning.

He knew he was in big trouble.

In that rush, who had time to think about the jade slip?

It's too late to regret it now; he's destined to take the blame.

The loss of the cultivation technique jade slip caused a huge uproar within the Tianhe Sect. Even with his grandfather, an elder, backing him up, Niu Wei was not able to get away with it easily this time.

The Heavenly River Sect doesn't lack this jade slip, but the sect values ​​the secrecy of cultivation techniques above all else. The strict rules of the Scripture Pavilion are precisely to ensure that these precious cultivation resources are not leaked.

The disappearance of a cultivation technique jade slip may mean that the sect's cultivation techniques have flowed into the outside world, which is a considerable loss for the Tianhe Sect.

The sect searched high and low, but couldn't find the jade slip anywhere.

That day was so chaotic that no one noticed where the jade slip went.

Everyone present was questioned, including Liu Xingchen.

But he was just a lowly servant disciple, and no one believed he had the ability to steal the jade slip without anyone noticing. They simply asked him a couple of questions and that was it.

In the end, Niu Wei had no choice but to take the blame.

A few days later, Niu Wei was severely punished.

Not only did he have to pay a large amount of spirit crystals in compensation, but he also had half a year's monthly allowance deducted. What's worse, he also had to do three months of forced labor.

This fueled Niu Wei's hatred for Zhou Tianyi. After receiving the custom-made black robe, he tried it on and found it did indeed resemble the Great Demon King. He then ordered his underlings to monitor Zhou Tianyi day and night, preparing to find an opportunity to take revenge.

Liu Xingchen has not been to the Sutra Repository for the past few days, as the Sutra Repository has been forced to close its doors due to this "diarrhea" incident.

This incident caused a foul stench to permeate the Sutra Repository, enough to deter even the most diligent disciples.

No one could tolerate such a stench while reading in the library, so the library was temporarily closed until the unpleasant smell was completely eliminated.

In the past few days, the doors and windows of the Scripture Pavilion have been wide open, and the elders and deacons have taken turns using the Gale Technique, as if they were waging an invisible battle to drive the stench to the ends of the earth.

However, the stench was very stubborn and refused to leave for a long time. It would take at least ten days to half a month for the library to open.

With no one going to the Scripture Pavilion, there was naturally no need for servants or disciples, so Liu Xingchen had nothing to do.

He should have returned to the servants' quarters and, like the other servants, picked up an axe and joined the ranks of lumberjacks.

However, because he promptly moved the foul-smelling chair out during this diarrhea incident, he performed a meritorious service, so Zhao Wuji treated him well and exempted him from the strenuous work of logging.

After discussing it with the various halls in the sect, they decided to send him to work in the weapon-refining hall.

Liu Xingchen was immediately welcomed upon arriving at the weapon-refining hall.

In the weapon-refining hall, the menial disciples' job was to move all sorts of materials.

These materials were all incredibly heavy, and ordinary handyman disciples found them extremely difficult to move. Even with two or three people working together, they could only move a few pieces.

Liu Xingchen made all the difference. With his massive size, he could easily carry even the heaviest black iron on his shoulder and deliver it wherever he wanted.

Therefore, all the disciples and elders in the weapon-refining hall liked to order Liu Xingchen around, making him move all sorts of materials here and there. It could be said that there was no place he couldn't go.

Liu Xingchen ran around the weapon-refining hall and witnessed all sorts of weapon-refining techniques.

He pretended to be honest and simple, and after finishing his work, he would stand aside and stare blankly at others refining weapons with his seemingly bewildered eyes.

But in reality, he was quickly memorizing every step and technique of weapon crafting.

He observed how the weapon refiners adjusted the heat, how they precisely added various auxiliary materials, and how they used special incantations to unleash the potential of the materials.

Every hammer blow and every quenching process embodies the profound principles of weapon crafting.

As time went by, Liu Xingchen's understanding of weapon crafting gradually deepened.

He discovered that the essence of weapon crafting is to take pieces of material and, through skillful crafting and inlaying, give them unique shapes and functions, making them into powerful magical artifacts.

It sounds simple, but it's difficult in practice.

During his time in the weapon-refining hall, Liu Xingchen witnessed countless failures.

Some magical artifacts, just as they are about to take shape, suddenly collapse and disintegrate, and all the efforts are in vain.

In some cases, the materials are inexplicably damaged during the process of inlaying rare materials, causing great distress.

He began to ponder to himself that the path of cultivation was inherently long and arduous, and there was simply too much to learn.

The art of weapon crafting is profound and complex, but it is not a skill he necessarily needs to learn.

All he wanted was to add some rare materials to his magical black sword to enhance its power; he didn't need to spend time learning weapon crafting techniques.

So, an idea popped into Liu Xingchen's mind.

Why not find an opportunity to "bluff his way in" and let the experts in the weapon-refining hall strengthen this black sword for him without his knowledge?

Of course, this is just a preliminary idea, and we still need to plan how to implement it properly.