The First Immortal of Destiny

To perfectly create the Big Dipper Array, it's necessary to forge seven Dao swords named Tianji, Yaoguang, Kaiyang, Yuheng, Tianquan, Tianxuan, and Tianshu, respectively. Shen Mo currently lacked Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures that contained extreme elements, so for now, he could only forge Dao sword prototypes. His initial goal was to forge seven sword embryos; once set up in a Sword Array, they could still offer offensive and defensive capabilities! In the future, he would gradually smelt and imbue various properties into them, continuously transforming them into finished Dao swords. By then, he might be able to recreate the peerless style of the old, white-bearded man's "Big Dipper Demon Slaying"!

「Stars Peak, the Forge Hall.」

This wasn't Shen Mo's first time coming to Stars Peak to freeload off the disciple benefits, so he knew his way around.

The Big Dipper Dao Sword is only an inch or so long. Ten pounds of Divine Iron should be enough for me to attempt forging it multiple times.

Unlike offensive swords like the Dragon Sparrow Sword, the Big Dipper Sword is primarily used for formations. It serves as the core of the Sword Array, so its design is very unique. Each Dao sword is only as long as a finger. Taken individually to fight an enemy, they wouldn't be particularly handy. However, unleashing the power of all seven swords by setting up the Sword Array would truly demonstrate its might!

However, this also came with unexpected advantages. For instance, when forging Dao sword prototypes, there was no need to consume a vast amount of Divine Iron. The quantity of raw materials Shen Mo had obtained at the auction in Jiyun Town Market was enough for him to attempt crafting sword embryos thirty times. This made him suspect that it was precisely because of the high price of Divine Iron that the grandmaster who created the Sword Array, or perhaps later cultivators, had deliberately sought ways to reduce the specifications of the seven Dao swords.

Shen Mo suppressed the stray thoughts in his mind. Let's begin! he silently resolved.

He took out the Divine Iron, placed it in the forge furnace, and activated the Earthly Fire. The deep blue flames blazed intensely, continuously licking the dark mineral iron. The quality of the Divine Iron was no less than that of the Profound Gold Stone Shen Mo had brought back from the Mountain River Realm.

After the flames had burned for five hours, the Divine Iron gradually began to glow red, its entire body turning a dark crimson, like lava flowing from a volcano.

Seeing this, Shen Mo promptly channeled his Mana to retrieve it. He then took out the Dragon Sparrow Sword and swiftly slashed at the red-hot, softened Divine Iron.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Soon, the entire piece of mineral iron was evenly divided into more than thirty portions.

If it weren't for the Earthly Fire's assistance, it truly wouldn't be easy to cut this piece of Divine Iron! Even the Dragon Sparrow Sword would take significant damage cutting such metallic materials.

When the Dragon Sparrow Sword was upgraded previously, even if the upgrade had failed, all that would have been wasted were some inexpensive auxiliary ores.

Forging the Big Dipper Sword Embryo is different. Once the forging fails, the Divine Iron, along with the other ores, will be reduced to valueless dross and scrap iron!

So I can't refine the entire piece of Divine Iron in one go!

Shen Mo glanced at the Destiny Panel.

[Destinied Lord: Shen Mo]

[Cultivation: Qi Gathering Realm - Layer II]

[Talisman Path: Grade II (1,120/3,000)]

[Alchemy Path: Grade II (1,211/3,000)]

[Blacksmithing: Grade I (987/1,000)]

In terms of Blacksmithing, he wasn't far from advancing to Grade II. Even if he failed a few times initially, he could still improve his Blacksmithing skill through the experience gained from failure.

A small piece of the cut Divine Iron ore was thrown back into the Earthly Fire furnace. As the ore was heated up again, eventually turning red, it gradually melted into a viscous iron liquid.

After that, Shen Mo added the Tiangeng Mine, Qiling Iron, and other auxiliary ores he had prepared, putting them into the furnace one after another, allowing each to melt and fuse into the molten liquid of the Divine Iron.

"Fuse!" Shen Mo's expression was solemn, his hands rapidly forming a series of forging seals. These were mainly common seals used in artifact forging, supplemented by specialized techniques for crafting the Big Dipper Swords, taken from the Sword Array's jade slip.

GURGLE!

BUBBLE! BUBBLE!

The mixed molten iron seemed to be boiling, constantly churning and rolling.

SPUTTER!

Accompanied by a strange, abrupt noise, the molten iron in the forge furnace suddenly congealed, transforming into a dark, lumpy mass of metallic impurities.

[You attempted to use Divine Iron, Tiangeng Mine, Qiling Iron, and Mica Essence to forge a Big Dipper Sword embryo, but failed.]

[You attempted to forge a Big Dipper Sword embryo. During the process, you gained significant forging experience. Your understanding of the Forging Path has deepened. Forging Experience +40.]

As Shen Mo had expected, his first attempt at forging a Dao sword prototype ended in failure! However, his Blacksmithing skill successfully advanced to Grade II.

With the panel's experience bar, there was always some gain, one way or another. Moreover, even if he continued to fail, Shen Mo could always increase his experience in the relevant areas until he succeeded. After all, isn't it said that failure is the mother of success? With enough attempts, success was bound to follow. The only difference lay in the amount of spiritual materials and valuable ores consumed!

The ores, worth more than sixty Spirit Stones, had turned into dross, but Shen Mo was not discouraged.

He continued to forge the Dao sword prototypes needed for the Formation!

Failure. More failure. And still, failure!

A dozen more lumps of dark, metallic dross piled up beside Shen Mo.

It wasn't until he had consumed half of the raw materials that a clear, crisp sword hum resonated from the Earthly Fire furnace.

[You attempted to use Divine Iron, Tiangeng Mine, Qiling Iron, and Mica Essence to forge a Big Dipper Sword embryo, and succeeded.]

[You have successfully forged a Big Dipper Sword embryo. During the process, you gained significant forging experience. Your understanding of the Forging Path has deepened. Forging Experience +200.]

Shen Mo hurriedly opened the Earthly Fire furnace. Inside, an inch-long sword embryo, as brilliant as a star, floated quietly.

Not bad. Although it's only a low-grade profound level Dao sword embryo, its foundation is excellent!

Once I gather Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures containing extreme intent, I just need to smelt them into this sword embryo, and it can be upgraded to a low-grade profound level Dao sword.

If I smelt in enough materials with extreme intent, allowing each sword to transform, they might even reach the high-grade profound level.

At that time, to deploy a Sword Array with seven high-grade profound level Dao swords... the power...! HISS!

Shen Mo gently caressed the slightly cooled Big Dipper Sword embryo, as if stroking the skin of a loved one, his heart filled with joyful anticipation.

Then, he set the sword embryo aside. He continued to stoke the Earthly Fire, constantly melting Divine Iron and other auxiliary ores, using the method of forging to create new sword embryos.

「A cultivator engrossed in his work loses all track of time.」

In the blink of an eye, a whole day and night had passed!

Shen Mo looked slightly weary, but his eyes shone with excitement. Ten pounds of Divine Iron, along with large quantities of Tiangeng Mine, Qiling Iron, Mica Essence, and other auxiliary ores, had finally been successfully forged into seven sword embryos!

Thanks to Shen Mo's continually improving Blacksmithing skill, with the latter half of the raw materials, he successfully forged the remaining six sword embryos, and even had some Divine Iron and other ores left over.

He originally wanted to forge a few more Dao sword prototypes, just in case. But unexpectedly, it seemed as though the already formed sword embryos exerted some strange influence... All subsequent forging attempts failed without exception!

Shen Mo wasn't annoyed. In any case, once the sword embryos were formed and the Sword Array was set up, ordinary methods would find it nearly impossible to destroy them. Whether it was spiritual techniques, profound artifacts, talismans, or combat skills, anyone wishing to damage an active Sword Array would first have to contend with its vast and terrifying sword intent!

As soon as he returned to the cave mansion, Shen Mo couldn't wait to refine the seven sword embryos. At the same time, he took out the Big Dipper Seven Star Sword Formation jade slip. He wasn't proficient in Formations, so he could only meticulously follow the instructions recorded in the jade slip to set up the Sword Array.