Chapter 77: Celestial Weapon Sect

Chapter 77: Chapter 77: Celestial Weapon Sect

In the main hall of the Yan Residence, Lu Yuan faced a portrait and performed the grand ceremony of three kneelings and nine kowtows.

"Our Celestial Weapon Sect inherits its legacy from Chi You, the Ancient Ancestor of Weapon, and we stand at the pinnacle of the world’s Weapon-Forging Dao," Yan Qing introduced.

"The term ’Celestial Weapon’ implies drawing upon the Essence Qi of the Nine Heavens to forge a supreme and peerless Divine Weapon.

"Every generation of the Celestial Weapon Sect shares the exact same goal: to forge a Divine Weapon. Only then can one qualify to have their name recorded in the Celestial Weapon Register.

"Even the most untalented successor of the Celestial Weapon Sect must forge a Spiritual Weapon before they are permitted to graduate and leave. Otherwise, they are forbidden from claiming to be a successor of the sect in the outside world."

This rule, of course, strictly applied to official successors—Outer Disciples did not count.

"Is it easy to forge a Divine Weapon?" Lu Yuan asked, puzzled.

"Huh?" Yan Qing immediately furrowed his brow. "It is hard! Incredibly difficult!

"The Celestial Weapon Sect has passed down its inheritance for over a hundred thousand years, yet we have only ever forged eleven Divine Weapons.

"To forge a Divine Weapon, one must gather the collective power of all living beings in the world.

"In other words, only a religious sect with over a billion followers, or an imperial dynasty commanding a territory of millions of miles, is capable of forging a Divine Weapon. Without that, it is absolutely impossible. The conditions are extremely harsh."

Over a hundred thousand years to forge just eleven Divine Weapons meant an average of more than ten thousand years per weapon.

"And here I thought every generation of Celestial Weapon Sect disciples had to forge a Divine Weapon," Lu Yuan muttered to himself.

He had wondered why the number of Divine Weapons in the world was so pitifully small, easily counted on one’s fingers. Yet, the way Yan Qing had spoken earlier made it sound incredibly easy.

Yan Qing rolled his eyes.

That was just a goal. Did he not understand what a goal was? It was exactly like the great vows made by the Buddhist Sect; one didn’t necessarily have to fulfill them, as their main purpose was simply to temper one’s willpower. Without a grand objective, how could a person push themselves to improve rapidly and achieve greatness?

"Then what about all those Divine Weapons our Celestial Weapon Sect forged? Don’t tell me not a single one was left behind?" Lu Yuan asked again, overflowing with curiosity.

The power of a Divine Weapon was said to be capable of destroying heaven and earth, rendering its wielder completely invincible. A Third-Grade Powerhouse armed with one could even fight a First-Grade Powerhouse, entirely bridging a massive gap in Cultivation. If the Celestial Weapon Sect had a Divine Weapon...

"That is... a secret!" Yan Qing looked a bit embarrassed.

The Celestial Weapon Sect only forged Divine Weapons. As for who actually owned the rights to those weapons... it was better left unsaid.

"Are they really all gone?" Lu Yuan thought, completely unconvinced.

However, with his current Cultivation Realm, he wouldn’t even be able to wield a Divine Weapon if it were placed right in front of him. Therefore, bringing this up now was much too premature.

"A man is innocent, but harboring a treasure makes him guilty!" Yan Qing’s expression turned entirely solemn. "Our Celestial Weapon Sect possesses a peerless Weapon-Forging Skill, but this has also drawn the covetous and prying eyes of other sects. We also have sworn enemies: the butchers from the Earth Weapon Lineage and the puppeteers from the lineage that forges Human Weapons."

"Earth Weapons?" Lu Yuan was perplexed.

A Human Weapon Puppet was easy enough to understand, but an Earth Weapon...

"An Earth Weapon is forged by gathering and condensing the Essence Qi of mountains, rivers, and earth veins. They are mostly in the form of seals, signets, or cauldrons," Yan Qing explained. "The process is extremely harmful to all living creatures, so it’s no exaggeration to call them butchers."

Once the earth vein essence was plundered, the affected region would be entirely ruined. It would suffer perennial drought, completely cutting off all life. This practice was heavily despised by the Celestial Weapon Sect.

"Can the Earth Weapon Sect forge Divine Weapons too? Does this destruction only happen when they are forging a Divine Weapon?" Lu Yuan asked.

From what he understood, a Spiritual Weapon only required Awakening Spirit and Attaching Spirit; it didn’t need to absorb an excessive amount of Heaven and Earth Essence Qi.

Yan Qing’s expression shifted, and he nodded. "Yes. Every time the Earth Weapon Sect forges a Divine Weapon, a hundred thousand miles of earth veins dry up, and all life is extinguished. They are a scourge upon this world! A cancer! Absolute scoundrels!"

Lu Yuan could clearly feel Yan Qing’s anger and resentment. It seemed the deep-seated hatred between the two sides had festered for a long time. By joining the Celestial Weapon Sect, he had unknowingly gained some formidable enemies.

"Then can a puppet become a god?"

"No!" Yan Qing shook his head decisively. "At its absolute peak, the Puppetry Art can only create a Second-Grade Warrior. It is impossible for them to reach the divine level. It directly goes against the Celestial Dao."

"Oh." Lu Yuan understood. The Puppetry Art still had fundamental flaws.

"By the way, where is our master? What is his Cultivation level?" Lu Yuan suddenly asked again. Surely, the master had to be at least a Third-Grade Powerhouse, right?

"Our master is no longer with us. The Celestial Weapon Sect now only consists of the two of us," Yan Qing said, a trace of sorrow appearing on his face.

He had been taken in and raised by their master, who had passed down the Weapon-Forging Skill to him. However, when he was sixteen, their master’s enemies came knocking and killed him. Naturally, Yan Qing wouldn’t go into detail about this with Lu Yuan; he fully intended to avenge his master’s death on his own in the future.

Lu Yuan’s heart stirred with surprise.

With their master gone and only the two of them left, the Celestial Weapon Sect was truly in a shabby state. However, the most crucial aspect was the technical skill itself. As long as the inheritance of the technique remained, that was all that mattered.

"Junior Brother, you must remember that while forging weapons is important, Cultivation is even more vital," Yan Qing warned solemnly. "Without Cultivation, you cannot forge a powerful Spiritual Weapon. If you want to forge a Divine Weapon, you must possess at least a Second-Grade Cultivation."

Cultivation was the foundation of everything. One of the primary reasons he had accepted Lu Yuan into the sect was because of his extraordinarily outstanding talent in the Martial Dao. A Weapon Master could not solely practice the Weapon-Forging Skill.

"Yeah, I understand," Lu Yuan nodded.

He was only practicing the Weapon-Forging Skill to supplement his Martial Dao, not the other way around.

"Alright, I’ve told you everything you need to know. Now, I will pass on some basic knowledge regarding the forging of a Profound Weapon..."

Yan Qing began to teach Lu Yuan how to forge a Profound Weapon. A Mortal Weapon mainly required refining the materials and shaping them. The Little Heavenly Gang Meteor Hammer technique could easily handle that and forge the best possible Mortal Weapon, so there was absolutely no need to teach it. The Celestial Weapon Sect typically started their real training with Profound Weapons.

The difference between a Profound Weapon and a Mortal Weapon was essentially one key addition: the utilization and conversion of Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi. Only with Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi could a weapon be considered profound and unleash immense combat power. The most crucial aspect of this process involved runes. Runes were simplified versions of Dao Patterns that could carry and convert Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi.

Forging a Profound Weapon required the mastery of thirty-six basic runes. Following that was the knowledge of how to arrange and combine them, and finally, how to imprint them onto an Artifact Embryo. This was an incredibly detailed and complex set of theories.

Lu Yuan listened intently, but he only half-understood the concepts.

"Senior Brother, are there any relevant books or ancient texts? Please bring them all out for me to read," Lu Yuan requested.

He was preparing to activate his Prodigy Moment to fully digest what he had learned. He was worried that Yan Qing hadn’t covered enough material, so he wanted to read more.

"Naturally, there are many books and texts." Yan Qing turned and went into the house. A moment later, he brought out over a dozen volumes. "Once you can understand all of these and learn everything inside, you will be able to forge the absolute best and most powerful Profound Weapons."

"Really?" Lu Yuan’s eyes instantly lit up.

Every single Profound Weapon was worth at least a thousand gold pieces.

"Naturally," Yan Qing chuckled.

This standard was exceptionally high. He had studied for over ten years and could only now be considered to have barely learned and mastered it all. Even if this junior brother was a peerless genius, it would still take him at least two or three years.

He looked up at the sun outside. "You can read them here. I have to head to the Demon Suppression Bureau now. Remember, these books cannot be taken outside; they can only be read within this courtyard."

"Yeah, I understand," Lu Yuan nodded.

He had only just joined and had yet to earn complete trust.

"It’s not that I don’t trust you, but your Cultivation is simply too low. Taking them outside could easily lead to unforeseen accidents," Yan Qing explained.

Although these were not the core texts of the Celestial Weapon Sect, they were still invaluable in the outside world. More importantly, it would be disastrous if they were discovered by the Earth Weapon or Human Weapon lineages.

"I understand," Lu Yuan smiled. He didn’t think much of it.

"For lunch, you can go find Uncle Yuan," Yan Qing left one final instruction before departing.

Lu Yuan picked up a book.

"Prodigy Moment, activate!" he thought.