Chapter 32: Time to Show Real Skills

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

In the 78th Workshop of the Forging Division, Superintendent Li Hongyuan’s courtyard had now become the place of Zhou Shu’s competition.

Ever since the competition began, Li Hongyuan, Xiao Zongshui, and the others had never shown their faces again.

But Zhou Shu knew that his every move here would be reported to them at any time.

He could sense that there were no less than five people around the courtyard monitoring the situation.

Zhou Shu didn’t care too much about this. As long as the other party didn’t lack the materials he needed, they could see for all they wanted. After all, they couldn’t see the Legendary Armament Canon.

In addition to Zhou Shu and the group of distressed apprentices, there were also the two boys Zhu Chuanfeng had left behind and Sun Gongping!

The three of them were probably the most relaxed people in the courtyard. In particular, Sun Gongping treated this place like a resort!

It was unknown where he had found a rocking chair. He sat not too far from Zhou Shu’s furnace. Every day, besides eating and sleeping, he would tease Zhu Chuanfeng’s two boys. His life was quite enjoyable.

Zhou Shu was the busiest of them all. He was constantly forging weapons from morning until night. Of course, what he forged was the Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Saber.

The Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Sabers he had forged already filled a huge box. Sun Gongping’s eyes were red with envy.

Zhou Shu even suspected that he wanted to steal the Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Sabers to exchange for money!

But thinking about it, it was probably not that serious. Selling the country’s strategic resources was a serious crime of treason.

On the other side, the apprentices all had bitter looks on their faces. They were not constantly forging weapons like Zhou Shu, nor were they as relaxed as Sun Gongping and the two boys.

They felt bitter. How could they have the ability to develop new standard weapons?

But if they didn’t develop new weapons, after this matter blew over, their superintendents wouldn’t let them off.

They didn’t know where to start developing.

Every day, they didn’t know what else to do except to comfort themselves.

“Old Zhou, is it useful for you to forge these Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Sabers all day long?” Sun Gongping opened his mouth and spat out a grape seed into a trash bin.

He said lazily, “I remember you guys are competing to see who can forge the better new standard weapon, right?

“If you don’t forge a new weapon, what’s the point of forging so many Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Sabers?”

Half of the ten days had already passed. Sun Gongping couldn’t understand why Zhou Shu was working so hard to forge Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Sabers.

If he couldn’t win, he might as well admit defeat.

“You don’t understand,” Zhou Shu said without even raising his head. As his hammer descended, another Hundred Refinements Ring Saber gradually took shape.

“I don’t understand?” Sun Gongping didn’t know how many times he had heard such words. He couldn’t even be bothered to retort. He was a genius martial artist, so how could he not know about weapons?

“As long as you’re happy. What a pity, my ranked weapon,” Sun Gongping said.

Originally, Zhou Shu had ownership of the Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Saber. In the future, he would become a tycoon, and Sun Gongping would also benefit a little. Unfortunately, now, if Zhou Shu lost, the ownership of the Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Saber would change…

The corners of Zhou Shu’s mouth curled up slightly. He completely ignored Sun Gongping’s words. What a joke. Me losing?

Ding Dang!

As Zhou Shu threw the last Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Saber into the box, the Legendary Armament Canon appeared in front of him.

The page flipped without any wind. On the page of the Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Saber, the number had changed to 100.

The page continued to flip. After flipping through countless pages, words and drawings began to appear on a blank page as if an invisible hand was writing something.

Although this wasn’t Zhou Shu’s first time seeing this scene, he was still slightly excited.

As expected, after reaching the limit of the Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Saber, the next weapon appeared in the Legendary Armament Canon.

With this weapon, he wanted to see how Xiao Zongshui and the others could win!

With my own efforts, I finally did it!

Zhou Shu threw his hammer down and walked over to Sun Gongping. He grabbed a chair and sat down.

Sun Gongping looked at him in surprise. “You’ve thought it through?”

“Thought what through?” Zhou Shu asked.

“Didn’t you decide to admit defeat because you felt that forging Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Sabers is useless?” Sun Gongping asked.

“You shouldn’t have said that it’s considered your loss if both parties can’t forge anything. Look at what’s happened now. They won without doing anything…”

“Who said I wanted to admit defeat?” Zhou Shu glanced at the Forging Apprentices. “Someone who can make me admit defeat probably hasn’t even been born yet.”

“How arrogant. I like it!” Sun Gongping burst out laughing.

“I’m taking a nap. Don’t let anyone disturb me!” Then Zhou Shu entered Li Hongyuan’s residence and found a random bed. A moment later, he fell asleep.

Sun Gongping was dumbfounded. This brother of his was even more carefree than he was!

They didn’t notice that when the drudger delivered the food to the apprentices, he also handed them a piece of paper filled with words.

For the next few days, Zhou Shu didn’t forge any more weapons. He didn’t leave the residence and caught up on his sleep.

On the other hand, the Forging Apprentices who had been slacking became diligent. Like Zhou Shu previously, they began to forge day and night.

In Sun Gongping’s eyes, they were constantly trying and failing. After a few days, the pieces of metals hammered by a few apprentices had already begun to take shape.

No matter how slow Sun Gongping’s reaction was, he realized that something was amiss. Did these apprentices really develop a new standard weapon?

Thinking of this, Sun Gongping could no longer sit still. He jumped up and somersaulted into the residence.

“Old Zhou, don’t sleep anymore. This is bad!”

Being woken up by Sun Gongping, Zhou Shu was annoyed. “Did the sky collapse?”

“You’re still in the mood to sleep! Your opponents are really forging a new standard weapon!” Sun Gongping said loudly.

“I expected it,” Zhou Shu said calmly.

“But you still have the mood to sleep! If they succeed, you will lose!” Sun Gongping said.

“Didn’t you think I lost long ago?” Zhou Shu smiled indifferently.

“That’s different! If everyone can’t forge one, then it’s not really considered a loss!” Sun Gongping shouted. “Now that the other party has forged theirs but you haven’t, then you’ll really lose!

“If you lose, Her Highness will be affected. Won’t it be telling everyone that Her Highness made a mistake?”

“Turns out you weren’t worried about me.” Zhou Shu shook his head.

“Of course I’m also worried about you!” Sun Gongping said. “When the time comes, others will also think of you as a cheat. How can you still be the superintendent of your workshop?”

“Alright, Divine Constable Sun, I appreciate your kindness.” Zhou Shu laughed. “I’ve told you. I won’t lose.

“However, I’m curious about Xiao Zongshui, Li Hongyuan, and the others are up to.”

Not only would Zhou Shu not believe that the Forging Apprentices had developed a new standard weapon, but even the apprentices themselves also wouldn’t believe it.

Needless to say, Xiao Zongshui, Li Hongyuan, and the others must have obtained a secret weapon forging formula from somewhere and secretly sent it to these apprentices.

This was their territory, and it would be as easy as flipping their hands if they wanted to do this.

Zhou Shu didn’t doubt that Xiao Zongshui and the others had the ability to obtain the secret forging formula for a new standard weapon.

They could even invite Grand Craftsman Zhu Chuanfeng over. Asking a Forging Master to help develop the secret forging formula of a new standard weapon shouldn’t be a problem.

In any case, they didn’t require this new standard weapon to be powerful.

It wasn’t easy to create a weapon stronger than the Huben Saber or the Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Saber. But creating a decent standard weapon wasn’t too difficult for a Forging Master.

But Zhou Shu believed that even a Forging Master wouldn’t be able to create a good standard weapon in a short period.

It was only possible to beat Zhou Shu if Zhu Chuanfeng personally did it.

But even if Zhu Chuanfeng personally did it, it was only a possibility to win. Even a Grand Craftsman wouldn’t be able to forge a strong weapon from ordinary metals.

It wasn’t that easy to be stronger than the Huben Saber and Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Saber.

In the past, there were also Forging Masters who had tried to increase the strength of standard weapons. But due to the limitations of ordinary metals, the results were never satisfactory. Gradually, no Forging Masters were willing to waste their energy on this.

To Forging Masters, only ranked weapons were worth their efforts. Some precious materials could only be used to forge ranked weapons. Standard weapons had reached their limit, and there was nothing left to develop!

“Great Divine Constable Sun, let’s go take a look. Let’s see what sort of trash these fellows have forged.” Zhou Shu jumped up from the bed and walked outside.

Sun Gongping frowned. It was already the ninth day. He didn’t understand how Zhou Shu, who had already slept for around three days, had the confidence to win.

There was only one day left. Could he really create a new standard weapon?

How could creating a weapon be so easy?

Seeing that Zhou Shu had already walked out, Sun Gongping frowned and hurriedly followed.

…

“Look, they’re really going to forge weapons. What do you say we do now?” Sun Gongping pointed at the Forging Apprentices. “We will lose a lot of face this time!”

“After all this fuss, you’re just afraid of losing face? This has nothing to do with you. You won’t lose face even if I lose,” Zhou Shu said. “Moreover, if they want to beat me with this kind of trash, they’re underestimating me!”

“What do you mean?” Sun Gongping asked in confusion.

“It means that I’m getting to work.” Zhou Shu shrugged his shoulders and grabbed a hammer. “It’s time to show them what real skills are!”

“You mean?” Sun Gongping said in disbelief.

“Great Divine Constable Sun, are you ready to witness a miracle?”

Zhou Shu swung his arm, and the hammer flew through the air in a profound arc before landing heavily on the anvil.. Sparks flew in all directions, and a crisp clang rang out.