Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

The old man halted for a moment before he grimaced in indignation.

“Your witty remarks, will not safe your life,” he spoke imposingly and pulled out his sword. It was big, straight, thick, long, and of a deep gray color. It was obviously a special material, but it was the first weapon that looked displeasing to his eyes.

Seth had already noticed that the weapons of the people here were made of a special material. With the force of their attacks, simple steel would have shattered and dulled when being smashed against the Scorpion Armor.

However, Guardian Ho's sword looked another step above the others. Before he didn't have the time to process the appraisal results, but since the old man took his sweet time, Seth took a look. To his surprise, it was something he knew. His gaze was not missed.

“Hehe, to think a savage like you could recognize the greatness of my sword. Yes, it is a sword made of meteorite steel, forged by the great master Hu!”

<Meteorite Sword

Epic

Damage: 1450

Durability: 2222

1. +20% Fire Attack

2. +20% to Energy Attacks

3. +15% to Aura Attacks

4. +10% Energy Saving

The work of an alleged Master, imbued with the power of fire. It holds a small amount of sentience but the chance to develop an ego is almost extinguished, due to the way it was alloyed and forged.

Requirement: 250 Strength, 250 Agility>

Seth frowned in displeasure when he saw the stats of the weapon. Someone had squandered the potential of the <Meteoric Iron> and alloyed it with regular steel, only to make a big and heavy sword.

Not only was it ugly, it was unwieldy with little to show for the massive requirements. The blacksmith felt thoroughly offended by the sight of that sharpened chunk of metal.

“How dare you call that messy metal bar a sword in front of me,” his hollering echoed across the court.

“Messy metal bar?” the Guardian mumbled flabbergasted. “Haha, of course, a savage could never understand the greatness of true craftsmanship,” he laughed it off.

He should have felt sad for the man, but he couldn't get over the fact that he had been looking high and low for epic iron while some amateurish numskull was going around, mixing it with common or uncommon steel to make something so crude. When he could refine it into <Bones of Seth> and make legendary ego weapons with it.

“I will show you what a sword is supposed to look like and when this is over I will find this great master Hu and beat him up for being wasteful with precious materials,” Seth stated coldly.

The Giant's Meteor Rod vanished from his hands. In its stead appeared a long silver sword. The sunlight reflected brightly on the pristine, slender blade. It was a stark contrast to his opponent's dark block.

“Haha, I admit that you have considerable skill with the spear, but now you want to face me with a sword? Even if you had the same skill with the sword, you can not overcome the difference in our technique,” Guardian Ho announce proudly.

Taking a stance and an intangible bright aura enveloped his sword. Gasps and outcries came from the audience. Seth could hear the crowd break out in excited mumbling.

“Guardian Ho mastered sword aura.” “Who knew Guardian Ho broke through:” “How lucky for the Silk River Sect.”

It seemed like this was a big thing for the cultivators when it simply looked like the old man used energy manipulation to envelope his sword in his aura. Whether it was the same or not, Seth suddenly had a fun idea. With a smirk, he used <Energy Manipulation 3> to infuse magic power into the Ravenous Sog. He didn't wait for the reaction and mixed in his pale blue spirit flame, turning the Ravenous Sog, into an almost white Light Sabre.

“Let's see how your sword aura will hold up,” he mocked the old man, who had been so proud only moments later.

“Hmph! The inept imitation of a savage. I will show you the power of true Sword Aura!”

Incensed, the cultivator attacked with incredible speed. So fast, that Seth instinctively evaded the charge using <Scorpio Escape>. He had been distracted the the “sword” and underestimated his opponent. Guardian Ho had a reason for his arrogance, as he was a step above the previous guys. His physical stats even surpassed those of Seth.

Despite looking like an old man, he was a monster in the body of a human. Checking with <Theia's Discerning Eyes>, his physical attributes were all around 1200, even a good chunk above Seth. No wonder he didn't mind the requirements of the sword.

This created an unprecedented situation, Seth was not able to keep up with his opponent. Even if he was able to see him with <Theia's Vision> he was not fast enough to hit or block him. It was another stalemate. Sword Aura did not count as weapon damage, but ti still didn't get through the layers of armor. The only difference was that point for point, his armor lost durability.

The blacksmith had to admit, that he could not compete with the man in an open fight of pure weapon proficiency. It was a good thing he didn't intend to anyway. The next time the old man charged at him, Seth raised his shield, and the cultivator was blasted by <Blinding Light>.

Using the short moment of distraction, Seth stepped aside and cleanly cut the Meteor Sword with his blazing lightsaber.

<Ding! Lame One’s Walk lv.9 has become Lame One’s Walk lv.MAX !>

<Ding! Lame One’s Walk lv.MAX has become Gate of the Lame lv.1 !>

An unexpected windfall. His movement skill had actually reached max-level and evolved!

When Guardian Ho regained some of his vision he looked at his halved sword in shock and despair. Seth smiled even happier. This was it, this was why Seth didn't kill him in that moment.

“What have you done!?”

“A savage could never understand the greatness of true craftsmanship, “ he gloated

Using <Charon's Soul Snare> to lock the shocked elder in place, Seth proceeded to perforate his body with Fire Lances. With his body dying, his Nascent Soul was forced out. So this guy was definitely a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Seth had actually started becoming doubtful, seeing how the ones with the sword formation did not have a soul escape their bodies. Were they a step lower? This made it even more impressive how big the differences within the same level could be.

Quickly using <Spirit Capture> Seth was able to get a hold of the nascent soul. He had learned his lesson, not to give them a chance to escape and with <Soul Capture> on level 9 he had the skills to do so.

“No! How can this be!” the little soul Ho cried out.

The spirit blacksmith lacked understanding of how exactly the Nascent Soul worked, but when he had it in his grasp, he instinctively felt that he could extract a soul from it. It was weird and felt very similar to how he was able to extract a soul from someone close to death.

“Spare me, great lord! Spare me!”

“Nah.” He had spent a lot of souls preparing for this war with the Scene. It was time to get some back.

“If you kill me, the Silk River Sect will never let you go!” he threatened when he saw that begging didn't work.

“I didn't feel like having amicable relations with kidnappers and murderers anyway,” he shrugged. He theatrically acted like he broke the little Ho's neck, attempting to extract his soul. Suddenly his hand was deflected and Soul Ho fell to the ground. There was red fog rising from the elder's dead body that enveloped the nascent soul and shaped a face.

“Do not dare to touch by disciple, you dirty savage!” a visage formed from smoke roared at him.

The crowd around him was looking on in shock. They were not his concern. Seth momentarily faced the apparition.

“Smoke and mirrors won't save his life,” Seth said coldly. He was not interested in negotiations.

“Insolent fool! I will kill you myself!” the imposing showy figure, spoke with hatred. Seth didn't get another chance to speak when the fog attacked him.

<Ding! Someone is trying to give you an unknown mark with possibly negative effects. Accept? Yes/No.>

This was new, he couldn't remember ever being asked whether he accepted a Mark or not. Obviously, he clicked no, and nothing else happened from the fog whirling around him. Seth was a little confused about what exactly just happened, but it didn't seem like anything really happened anyway.

“How is that possible? To resist the Secret Silken Seal! Tsk, my time is up. For touching my little Ho, I will come and raze your little world!” he threatened a last time before the smoke sped into the distance, taking the nascent soul along.

His bounty was stolen from him, but he couldn't change that. he turned to the crowd. There was more to harvest-

“Activate the formation!” an old man suddenly screeched and the world in front of Seth's eyes changed.