# Chapter 14: Blacksmith and Awakening
After closing the communication platform, Su Xiao exited the half-collapsed building and walked along the main street of the white town.
The insect tower, the forging shop, and the bookstore—three buildings were distributed on both sides of the main street. Su Xiao first entered the forging shop.
The outer wall of the forging shop was black. Though it appeared to be made of rock, it felt metallic, with cracks in the wall revealing a scorching dark red glow.
Clang, clang, clang...
The sound of hammering iron came from within the forging shop. As Su Xiao stepped inside, a wave of heat rushed toward him. Even with his constitution, he felt a scorching dryness, as if flames were about to ignite in his blood.
The most conspicuous items in the forging shop were the anvil and furnace. Against the inner wall was a workbench, and hanging on the walls were many weapons, most of them semi-finished.
"The white town hasn't had visitors for a long time."
A deep voice came from a figure standing over two meters tall before the anvil, hammering a glowing red iron bar.
This figure was burly, with well-developed muscles all over his body, but without the feel of a bodybuilder. These were denser muscles, like steel tempered through countless strikes.
The blacksmith's skin was dark red and rough, and curved ram horns grew from his head. He turned his head to meet Su Xiao's gaze, and Su Xiao saw eyes that seemed to have magma burning within them—a member of the Demon Race!
"You are..."
A flash of disbelief passed through the demon blacksmith's eyes, then he calmed down.
"So the Law Destroyers aren't completely extinct yet. You have the Supreme Blade. What do you want from me?"
The demon blacksmith stopped paying attention to Su Xiao and continued forging. From his earlier gaze, it was clear he wasn't calm inside.
Encountering a member of the Demon Race in the white town was unexpected for Su Xiao. He couldn't quite understand—why would a demon not stay in the Void and instead come to a primordial world like Dark Star?
"Wobol sent me to find you."
Su Xiao decided to test the waters. Wobol was a big shot among the Demon Race, an old immortal of their kind.
"That little brat. After all these years, he still remembers me? The Demon Race, the Law Destroyers, Arcane Eternal Star—my grudges with all of you are long settled. I'm just a blacksmith who can't die even when he wants to, living without purpose.
The Azure Steel in your body... Mawen Hua'erzi? Green Gillian? That generation—the most complete, the strongest, and the most unreasonable generation. You little brats."
The demon blacksmith's origins were astonishingly deep. Heaven knows how many years he had spent in the Dark Star world.
"I've got nothing better to do anyway. Give me your blade."
The demon blacksmith put down his hammer. Seeing this, Su Xiao drew the long blade from his waist and handed it to him.
"Oh? Paradise's certification? A Law Destroyer entered Paradise? Or did a Paradise traveler become a Law Destroyer? How intriguing."
The demon blacksmith observed Dragon-Slaying Flash for a moment, then nodded with considerable satisfaction. Back then, the Law Destroyer who developed the Supreme Blade ability had invited him to provide input. Naturally, he was pleased with Dragon-Slaying Flash now.
"The gems on it are too poor. Go find three decent gems. This blade has been well-maintained. The Forging Light lineage's technique? Hmph, they're not great at making weapons, but they're excellent at repairs. I can't match them in that regard."
The demon blacksmith tossed Dragon-Slaying Flash back to Su Xiao, and a prompt appeared.
[Prompt: The Hunter has reached an agreement with ??? Rank unit · Demon Blacksmith. Current relationship: Neutral/Friendly.]
[The Demon Blacksmith has promised: Gem Inlay.]
[Due to this promise, friendliness has decreased. Current relationship: Neutral.]
[The Hunter must obtain 3 gems of Holy Spirit Rank quality or above. Upon meeting this condition, the Demon Blacksmith will inlay the new gems you've obtained into Dragon-Slaying Flash (Immortal Rank). After completion, the gem inlay effects will be enhanced by an additional 30% over the original!]
[Prompt: If the Hunter leaves this world without obtaining 3 gems of quality above Holy Spirit Rank, the Demon Blacksmith will consider you untrustworthy and will never provide any form of assistance to you in the future.]
[If the Hunter meets this condition, the Demon Blacksmith will recognize your trustworthiness and ability, gift you a ??? item, and be willing to provide a certain degree of assistance should you encounter him in the future.]
[You have activated the Achievement Task: Former Friendship.]
[Task Content: Before leaving this world, obtain 3 gems of quality above Holy Spirit Rank and complete the inlay at the Demon Blacksmith's (free inlay).]
[Task Reward: ???]
[Penalty: The Demon Blacksmith will leave this world and go to the end of the Star Sea.]
...
"Law Destroyer, you're not thinking of taking anything from me by force, are you? That's your kind's consistent style—if someone's an enemy, anything can be taken. Now, you and I... perhaps we can no longer be called friends. Too much has happened. Your era has ended, and this blacksmith is of no use anymore."
The demon blacksmith was very calm, but in his words, one could faintly hear a trace of loneliness.
"Leave this place. Seeing you reminds me of them. Go."
The demon blacksmith picked up his hammer again and began striking rhythmically. Su Xiao turned and walked out. At this point, continuing to ask anything would be an insult. Everyone has things they never want to speak of.
Exiting the forging shop, Su Xiao felt a headache coming on. The demon blacksmith's requirements were very high. Obtaining three gems suitable for Dragon-Slaying Flash in this world—the difficulty was imaginable. Fortunately, this world had a well-developed gem industry.
Currently, Su Xiao had several channels. First was the Kodo School, then through the world communication platform to ask merchants from Apocalypse Paradise, then establishing trade with the insect side, and finally the Beast Clan side.
All three Immortal Rank gems had to be suitable for Dragon-Slaying Flash, and preferably with high ratings.
Su Xiao had no complaints about the demon blacksmith's requirements. The ultimate beneficiary was himself. After completing this task, the demon blacksmith would also gift him an unknown item, the value of which should be astonishingly high.
There's no such thing as kindness without reason in this world. From their earlier exchange, Su Xiao sensed that the demon blacksmith harbored apology and guilt toward the Law Destroyers.
This windfall was more like the demon blacksmith's consolation and compensation for certain past events. All the other Law Destroyers were dead. He had encountered Su Xiao, so he passed this compensation to him.
This wasn't surprising. Although the Law Destroyers were formidable and had many enemies in the Void, they were astonishingly united internally. By the end, it was just those few people sharing life and death—it was hard not to be united.
Lost in thought, Su Xiao walked into the bookstore across from the main street. It was very simple inside, with only a row of bookshelves holding several dozen books. He picked one up and opened it but couldn't understand it—it was written in some special script from the Void.
Unable to read the content, Su Xiao could look at the covers. Among the dozens of books, the covers depicted either weapons or forging hammers. Nine times out of ten, they were related to forging.
From this inference, these dozens of books were probably brought by the demon blacksmith and stored here.
"Blacksmith, I'm taking the books."
Su Xiao called out to the forging shop across the street.
"Take them."
The demon blacksmith replied somewhat perfunctorily and continued forging, sending sparks flying inside the shop.
Lide should be interested in these books. If Lide's forging level improved, that would be good for Su Xiao as well. With this thought, Su Xiao collected all the books.
Leaving the bookstore, Su Xiao arrived before the insect tower. This tower wasn't tall, shaped like an oval. Pushing open the iron door, he saw rows of Hollow Sound Insects on the walls.
These Hollow Sound Insects were the size of walnuts, several times larger than those outside. Having just awakened, they were crawling around everywhere.
Su Xiao approached a stone platform about 50 centimeters square. On it were seven or eight metal discs that could be rotated, surrounded by scale markings.
From the writing on the wall, Su Xiao learned the characteristics of this white insect tower. As long as there was an insect tower somewhere, this white insect tower could connect to it. By setting the scale markings, one could teleport there. However, there was one catch—it was absolutely impossible to teleport from other insect towers to the one in the white town. This white insect tower's teleportation was one-way.
Su Xiao took out [Directional Coordinates] from his storage space. Using this item, he could construct a small spatial coordinate. If two small spatial coordinates were connected, they could teleport to each other, but the established small spatial coordinates couldn't be moved.
Su Xiao's idea was to use [Directional Coordinates] to establish a "small spatial coordinate" in the white town as a marker.
With this "initial coordinate," relying on his and Baha's spatial knowledge, he could establish "temporary spatial coordinates" elsewhere, connect them to the "initial coordinate," and return to the white town.
The white town had an insect tower, so he could go anywhere. This would be very convenient, saving a lot of travel time. A perfect plan.
"Baha."
"Right here."
Baha flew over, and Bubu Wang and Amu also arrived.
Su Xiao explained his plan to Baha. The more Baha heard, the more alarmed he became.
"Boss... ahem, our spatial knowledge is absolutely top-notch for combat. But long-distance teleportation... well, this, this, uh—"
Baha panicked. Bubu Wang and Amu also shook their heads repeatedly.
"Probably... ahem, definitely possible."
Hearing Su Xiao say this, Baha's expression nearly twisted into a grimace.
"Boss, do you really have to think this over?"
Baha grew more and more flustered. He had unwavering faith in Su Xiao's combat skills and potion-making, but spatial knowledge...
"I've recently made a breakthrough in spatial studies."
"R-really? Last time we set up a spatial array diagram, my stomach nearly flew out through my rear end."
"There won't be any problems."
Hearing Su Xiao's calm response, Baha was still somewhat suspicious but could only offer his support. Seeing this, Bubu Wang let out a long howl. In the journey ahead, anti-nausea medicine would be very important.
The exploration of the white town was mostly complete. The remaining intact buildings on both sides of the main street all required keys to open. Forcing the doors would bring dire consequences.
To activate these buildings, one didn't need to find keys but rather find their original owners and bring them back to the white town. There would be unexpected rewards. Reincarnation Paradise had provided hints about this.
Su Xiao pushed open the door of a two-story stone building. There was no owner here, and all kinds of furnishings were complete. The second floor had three bedrooms, and the first floor was very spacious. For some reason, Su Xiao felt something was missing here, but he decided to use it as his residence.
Sitting cross-legged on the floor, Su Xiao began to meditate, waiting for the Light King to awaken. At that time, he could obtain key information to activate the second ring of the main mission.
Time passed quickly. A few hours went by in no time. Bubu Wang hurriedly ran into the small building.
"Woof."
"The Light King is awake?"
"Woof!"
Bubu Wang circled anxiously, meaning that not only had the Light King awakened, but the Ancient God had also awakened, right inside the Pale Palace.
Understanding Bubu Wang's meaning, Su Xiao rushed outside. The Pale Palace was very special, blocking his perception of the Ancient God. But the container had completely shattered? This puzzled Su Xiao. He didn't think the container would break so easily.
"Boss, not good. The Ancient God has already come out, right inside the Pale Palace."
Baha flew low, while Amu stood guard before the steps below the Pale Palace.
Su Xiao stopped before the steps, looking up at the Pale Palace above. Wisps of black smoke were drifting out from the main gate of the palace.
Clang.
Su Xiao drew the long blade from his waist and strode up the steps. Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha followed behind him. The Ancient God had awakened? Very good. Su Xiao's thoughts were simple—either he would slay the Ancient God, or the Ancient God would kill him.