"Good materials, quite rare and difficult to obtain." - Lu Feng commented, watching my actions.
"I obtained them personally." - I replied calmly.
"Ha, don't talk nonsense, I know you're only at the first stage of the middle level. And here there's only one material of the highest servant level; everything else belongs to the true pack leaders. How did you manage to kill them?" - he doubted in response.
"With my hands." - I replied briefly, concentrating on preparing the crucibles for melting.
After placing them in the special holes, I began to adjust and regulate the fire, which took a considerable amount of time and mental energy. When the fire was adjusted, I handed over further control to the Lu brothers, who assured me that they knew the theory of fire adjustment and control, and could also monitor the correct functioning of the furnace. However, I still ordered them to tell me at the slightest change in the fire.
The very first alloy was supposed to melt for about three days, and for proper melting, control was required only in the first eight and the last eight hours. So, everything should go quite smoothly. I, having offloaded all the boring work to my assistants, began to create artifacts directly from raw materials, without melting and forging. Mostly these were prototypes of what I was going to make after melting; I needed this to check the correctness of the magical formulas I had chosen and their harmony with each other. I made a shield, gauntlets, and two swords; I naturally didn't make armor, it was too complicated, and if everything goes smoothly with this, then everything else will be fine too.
After finishing work in about twelve hours, I looked at the stove, which created an incredible stuffiness in the room. The Lu brothers had worked hard; the initial flame settings were stabilized, and it was supposed to stay that way for another three days. The brothers had already left by then, leaving one behind. Jiaxing Er and Zhou Ming had been warned that I might not return, so after resting, eating, and sleeping for about eight hours, I began my secret work. If anyone found out what I was about to do, the magic court would sentence me to death and destroy all my developments. But that was just in words; most likely, they would catch me and force me to do similar things for the powerful, if they didn't kill me during the arrest. In the end, my life would be irrevocably ruined, so I didn't need any extra eyes.
Locking the doors and informing the brothers that their help was not needed today, I got down to business. The idea for this device was inspired by a mask that an old man gave to me and Jiaxing Er, specifically its mechanism for forcibly subjugating a soul by contract. It was clearly his own development, because if anyone had known about it earlier, the world would be completely different. And the mechanism itself was quite simple and clearly unfinished, created by someone who understood little about it. How the old man even made it, I don't know.
Over the almost nine months that the mask was with me, I studied the mechanism thoroughly, gradually finding a way to remove it completely from the mask, not just seal it. But besides that, I understood the principle of its operation. The main structure was the human soul, yes, that's right. The old man killed someone to create these masks, and why am I not surprised? Cruel? Yes! Inhuman? Naturally! A good idea for subjugating someone? Definitely!
During this time, together with Asura, I developed a way to transfer this mechanism into an artifact, bypassing human souls by replacing them with the artifact's core, that is, an animal soul, and also improved the effect, durability, and stealth of the contract being created. It now literally wove itself into the soul, becoming one with it. Even a high-level mage could not get rid of such a thing on their own, well, maybe a spirit mage of that level could manage it. Unfortunately, if the mage is at least at the semi-seal level, nothing will work; the contract cannot be activated, and upon reaching this level, the mage will be destroyed. But we are working on it, and there are certain developments that I want to test further. Another drawback of this mechanism is that it requires quite a lot of time to deploy. From a month to six months, depending on the target, although according to calculations, everything will take about two months on average, and a sharp jump in duration is observed only towards the peak of the highest level.
As you may have guessed, I intend to embed such mechanisms into the artifacts of the old man and Lo Sun. The former is the originator of this idea, and currently, we have parity with him, a mutually beneficial relationship in which we have leverage over each other. However, the problem is that this cannot continue for long; to achieve our plans, we must not be allies, but ruler and subordinate. Our pride will not allow us to bow our heads to each other, which means whoever subjugates the other first will rule over all. The old man tried to do this from the very beginning and recently received information that made him realize he had made a mistake, which means we need to act as soon as possible. Only, I intend to make him a special, the best model that I can. And although I will make the blank for his artifact first, I will finish working on it last.
As for the second, Lo Sun is my key to the Lo family. If he comes under my control, I can extract resources from them. But what if, using his help in gratitude for a good artifact, I make similar artifacts with a secret for the entire leadership of the family? Then the whole family will be under my complete control, and if we believe the level of power and the presumed development of events, then by the battle for resources, everything will be ready! And then, hiding behind the Lo family, I can subjugate all of Shanghai, the magical capital of China! And this is truly immense power, and resources will flow into my hands, allowing me to achieve greater strength and cultivate stronger henchmen. Thus, protecting myself, my loved ones, and even Shanghai itself from future upheavals. Perhaps I will even manage to avoid its destruction during the attack of the oceanic race. Of course, I will not interfere personally unless I find it amusing. But the consequences of my actions will definitely be there. Although it's not worth looking that far ahead; it's too complicated.
After successfully completing experiments with already finished artifacts intended for mages who had just reached the intermediate level, I switched to simpler ones, honing my skill in creating the mechanism and experimenting with it. Unfortunately, without real test subjects, all measurements were mostly theoretical, but I am practically sure of them; I will have many rabbits from the Lo family. The level I have reached is enough to subjugate them all.
On the third day of my research, I brought the brothers back, entrusting them again to watch the stove, while I myself began making guards for three swords. For this, I used the chitin of three types of scorpions. A lot of time was spent on engraving and decorating, but I didn't regret it, as I decided that I didn't want to make cool things tasteless. Observing my work, Lu Feng was quite surprised by my skills.
The total making of the guards took me about seven hours, after which I replaced the brothers at the stove, letting them go. They wanted to stay and watch me work, especially Lu Feng, but I said they would only get in my way if they watched. This, by the way, was the absolute truth, as no one in the workshop knew that I possessed internal energy, and I wasn't planning to reveal it anytime soon. Moreover, my statement was completely safe for me, as I am considered a genius and a talent here, according to the master himself, and as they say, all geniuses have their quirks, I will rely on this if necessary.
Pouring the contents of the first container into the mold, I gained time to rest before starting to forge. And I had a lot to forge. Although it was one artifact, special brass knuckles for the old man, I think it would suit his fighting style well. But I had to forge them separately for each hand, and only then bind them together using a paired magic formula. According to my assumptions, with such brass knuckles, an ordinary mage with good physical condition could easily kill a monster of the junior chieftain level, being at approximately my level. According to the design, they would also accelerate the strike itself, releasing magical energy in the opposite direction, creating something like a reactive thrust. And they would also have serrations that would pierce the flesh or armor of the enemy.
For one hand, four to five tempering processes were planned, which means a total of eight to ten tempering processes would be required, with no breaks between them; as soon as I finished with one, I would immediately start with the other. Taking the hammer in my hands, I began the first one. My hand had gotten out of the habit of this feeling over the past month, but my internal energy remembered well what it needed to do: a strike, then another, and another. A total of ten strikes, after which it went back into the furnace.
The Heart Hammer technique is very complex, requiring a large amount and quality of your internal energy, as well as its control. But at the same time, it can be used at any level and will improve you in all directions. So, it can be said that it is practically ideal for both body tempering and forging, but I am more than sure that the Tang family has a lot of other useful techniques that are applied to special materials and in special cases for maximum effectiveness. And the Heart Hammer technique is a teaching and basic one for the family's masters.
After about five hours, I finished forging, covered in sweat not only from the heat but also from extreme fatigue. My hands were trembling, remembering the feeling of the hammer in my hand again and being quite tired from the unfamiliarity. It was already night outside, so deciding to finish everything tomorrow, I went to sleep again right in the workshop, having no desire at all to waste time going somewhere or returning to the hotel. The next day, the brothers were again watching the stove; today, the material for Lo Sun's earth sword had to be prepared, so tonight I had another forging session. After resting and eating, I started finishing the brass knuckles, making a leather base in the form of gloves and securing the metal parts.
"Aren't you going to apply magic formulas?" Lu Feng chuckled, seeing me put the brass knuckles into a spatial bracelet.
"Not today, for sure," I replied confidently, continuing to rest before another sleepless night this time.
Standing by the stove, when there was only an hour left until the material for the sword was ready, I sent the brothers to rest, as it was already evening. After finishing the melting and cooling the blank, I took up forging again. This time, ten to twelve forging stages were required. This time, things went better; firstly, I had rested, and secondly, my hand had gotten used to the activity again. Immediately after forging, I attached the guard and began applying magic formulas, finishing the artifact by morning and embedding the soul into it.
The shield was ready on the sixth day and required fifteen forging cycles. It was also completed by morning after applying all magic formulas and embedding the soul. I embedded the subjugation mechanism into all three artifacts intended for Lo Sun, coordinating their overall work. This, in theory, could speed up the contract creation, but I will check it in practice.
Next was Zhuo Ming's sword, ready on the seventh day of melting. It required fifteen cycles, which was quite difficult after the previous sleepless night, but I managed thanks to my internal energy, which circulated through my body without any restrictions this time. After successfully completing the tempering, I took out an ice blade from the spatial bracelet, finished both swords by placing guards on them, and also applied magic formulas, partially linking the swords but leaving them as separate artifacts, after which I implanted the prepared souls. Finally, the swords for Zhuo Ming were ready. They should be enough to harm junior commanders, and with their help, the released magic can be amplified by one and a half times, a good effect.
The last artifact was the armor, completely ready on the tenth day and twenty tempering stages, after which came the tedious forging of the armor plates, and in conclusion, connecting them all on a leather base made from the hide of an earth Qinling panda. In the meantime, besides resting, I also made several artifacts for the tournament, and also started creating a couple of special ones to put up for auction during it.