Addicted

Xuanye hurriedly caught the flying Star-Shattering Sword. The moment it landed in his hand, his pupils constricted sharply.

This... what is this...

The originally dazzling starry patterns now flowed like a galaxy, and the special halo on the blade pulsed slowly as if it had a life of its own.

How did it become so powerful?

Xuanye channeled spiritual power to test it. An aura of pressure, at least ten percent stronger than before, instantly swept out. The Star Spirit phantom at the sword's guard even danced joyfully along the blade, emitting crisp, clear chirps.

"This... this is far more than ten percent! The flow speed of spiritual power has increased by thirty percent, and the hardness of the blade has improved too!" Xuanye's voice trembled as he repeatedly ran his fingers over the edge, looking at Ye Chuan with eyes full of fervor.

"Master! Your craftsmanship is truly unfathomable, divine and ghostly!"

Ye Chuan: "..."

Ten percent is ten percent. The rest is probably just your imagination, right?

"Never mind." Ye Chuan couldn't be bothered to explain. As long as the customer was satisfied, it was fine.

The money wasn't getting refunded anyway.

Xuan Yan, standing to the side, could no longer contain himself. His previous dismissiveness towards Ye Chuan had already transformed into urgent desire.

He took a fierce step forward, pulling out a heavy black iron axe from his storage pouch. The axe blade was engraved with ferocious beast patterns, though its luster seemed somewhat dull.

"Master! Please, enhance my Mountain-Splitting Axe as well! Name your price in spirit stones!"

Ye Chuan glanced at the Mountain-Splitting Axe, and the forging function automatically displayed its information—

[Item: Mountain-Splitting Axe

High-Grade Spiritual Axe

A fine weapon for cleaving mountains and splitting earth.]

He said casually, "Same price. Ten thousand low-grade spirit stones for one enhancement, increasing its power by ten percent."

Without another word, Xuan Yan shoved his entire storage pouch into Ye Chuan's hands, afraid he might change his mind. "Master, the spirit stones are yours! Please, take the trouble!"

This Mountain-Splitting Axe had followed him for several hundred years. Although it was a high-grade spiritual axe, it wasn't considered top-tier among Nascent Soul stage cultivators' weapons, but he couldn't bear to replace it.

If its power could be increased by ten percent, it would be like gaining an extra trump card in battle.

Ye Chuan took the storage pouch and casually tossed the Mountain-Splitting Axe into the furnace. His movements were still as casual as if he were throwing an ordinary stone.

Xuan Yan watched, his heart leaping into his throat, his hands clenched tightly, feeling more nervous than when he had broken through cultivation realms in the past.

Xuanye patted his shoulder from the side, signaling him to calm down, yet his own gaze was also fixed intently on the shaking furnace.

After just a moment, a clear, resonant hum emanated from the furnace, deeper and more substantial than the clear ring of the Star-Shattering Sword.

Ye Chuan reached in and fished it out, and the Mountain-Splitting Axe landed in his hand.

Now, the entire axe gleamed with a dark golden luster. The beast patterns on the blade seemed to have come alive, opening their mouths in silent roars. A faint halo of spiritual power coiled around the axe handle. It felt heavy and solid in the hand, yet not lacking in agility.

Hmm, success.

After all, it was a thing with a hundred percent success rate. Ye Chuan's heart really couldn't stir up any waves.

Xuan Yan eagerly took back the Mountain-Splitting Axe. The moment he channeled spiritual power into it, a vast, mighty force surged from the axe body, causing his arm to tingle slightly.

He swung the axe to chop at the empty air beside him. The air tore with a sharp shriiip sound, noticeably more fierce than before.

"It worked! It really worked! Master, you are too incredible!" Xuan Yan's face flushed red with excitement as he bowed deeply to Ye Chuan.

"Earlier, I failed to recognize a true master. Please forgive my offense!"

Ye Chuan waved a hand, completely unconcerned. "It's fine. Just doing a job for pay."

He leaned against the forging platform, watching the two excited Nascent Soul elders before him, no ripples in the depths of his eyes.

For him, these were merely simple operations on the system panel. An income of five hundred thousand spirit stones plus twenty thousand was far from the amount of money he wanted to earn.

All of this now was just an appetizer.

It was also to hook bigger fish.

"Your weapons can be improved further. Would you like to try?" Ye Chuan spoke up.

Xuanye and Xuan Yan were taken aback. "They can still be improved...?"

"To be precise, they can be improved indefinitely. It's just that each subsequent enhancement requires more spirit stones," Ye Chuan said with a slight smile.

"Even increasing a weapon's power tenfold is possible."

Though that would probably require +15 or higher, right?

Whatever, it's possible anyway.

"Tenfold?" Xuanye, Xuan Yan, and even Zhang Yuefeng, who had been silently observing from the side, all felt as if the world had gone mad. How could there be a forging master capable of increasing a weapon's power tenfold?

Was this real?

If it were anyone else, the two elders would have thought Ye Chuan was insane. But having witnessed what he just did, they forcibly swallowed their words.

Xuanye couldn't wait to ask, "Master, how many spirit stones for the next level?"

"One hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones," Ye Chuan stated casually. After all, he set the prices; he was spending real money to enhance their weapons for them.

"One hundred thousand..."

One hundred thousand was no small sum for an elder. However, if it meant he could further strengthen his Star-Shattering Sword, Xuanye still took out the spirit stones. "Master, please proceed!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Chuan took the spirit stones and the spiritual sword, tossing them into the furnace once again.

Xuanye's eyelid twitched, because he could even hear the clang as the spiritual sword was thrown into the furnace. Ye Chuan's method was still a bit too rough.

It gave him the feeling of his meticulously cared-for treasure being casually manhandled.

"Hummm—" The furnace began to shake, then emitted a pleasant sound.

The Star-Shattering Sword was pushed out once more.

[Equipment: Star-Shattering Sword Gold

Enhancement Level: 3

Attribute Bonus: 25%]

Ye Chuan tossed the sword back to Xuanye. The moment Xuanye felt his spiritual sword again, he stood frozen for a good while.

"What's wrong, Xuanye?" Xuan Yan, seeing him dazed, asked.

Had something gone wrong?

"It's like a divine miracle!" Xuanye murmured, because he could feel the Star-Shattering Sword's power had climbed another step!

He immediately looked at Ye Chuan. "C-can it still be improved?!"

"It can," Ye Chuan smiled.

This was exactly the feeling of getting hooked that he wanted.

"How many spirit stones this time?"

"Three hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones."

Three hundred thousand...

Although it was extremely expensive, Xuanye almost emptied his life savings, producing another storage pouch. "Master!"

"Easy, easy."

Xuan Yan, watching from the side, simply felt Xuanye had gone mad. Spending five hundred thousand to repair the sword, and now hundreds of thousands more to enhance it?

After accepting the spirit stones, Ye Chuan once again threw the Star-Shattering Sword into the furnace—

When it reappeared, the halo on the Star-Shattering Sword was even more pronounced.

[Equipment: Star-Shattering Sword

Enhancement Level: 4

Attribute Bonus: 35%]

"Here." Ye Chuan returned the sword to Xuanye.

Xuanye took it, his body trembling uncontrollably. "Th-this... the power actually..."

"Master, how much for the next stage?!"

"Xuanye, have you lost your mind?" Xuan Yan, seeing Xuanye's frenzied state, was also greatly alarmed.

"I haven't lost my mind. See for yourself!" Xuanye shoved the sword into Xuan Yan's hands!