Chapter 187: Unveiling the Heavenly Creation Art
Roughly thirty minutes after Su Tianhao began the process, the Voidtemper Obsidian had completely melted—reduced to something akin to liquid mercury, glowing with an intense reddish-golden hue.
"H-How…?" Master Shen Bao's voice trembled with awe.
The Voidtemper Obsidian wasn't as tough as Nightiron ore—but it was still a genuine Spirit Rank material. Melting it would normally take several hours of sustained effort, even for him. Yet Su Tianhao had done it in half an hour.
'He isn't even a real craftsman yet!' Master Shen Bao cried inwardly. 'With this kind of knowledge and technique—why would someone like him even need my help at all?'
"Focus!"
Su Tianhao's firm voice cut through his thoughts like a blade.
Master Shen Bao snapped back and stared at the liquified Voidtemper Obsidian floating in the heart of the furnace. Something had changed. The flames were no longer raging wildly—the heat had softened considerably. Instead of a raging inferno, the fire now moved with quiet, precise control—gentle, stable, almost alive. It flowed around the molten material with warm deliberateness, neither melting it further nor letting it cool.
"This—"
This was the Purgatory Sovereign Flame Art—a supreme fire manipulation technique created by the fifth son of the Undying Phoenix Emperor, known as the Purgatory Blacksmith. It granted the user absolute dominion over flames: the ability to raise or lower temperature at will, shift fire between destructive fury and gentle transformation, and impose their own will upon the flame itself. At its peak, the user could become the unrivaled sovereign of all fire.
Su Tianhao had barely touched its initial mastery—but he was already satisfied. He had melted the Voidtemper Obsidian in under thirty minutes and was now holding it in perfect, stable suspension.
Now came the most crucial part.
"I'm about to elevate the quality of the material," Su Tianhao said, his expression turning deadly serious. "Prepare yourself."
"Okay…" Master Shen Bao steadied himself. "What do you need this old man to do?"
"Give me absolute control."
"W-what—?"
Before he could finish, his body slipped out of his own reach. Su Tianhao's foreign energy surged into the very core of his being.
The Marionette Sovereign Art—fully activated.
Master Shen Bao's brows tightened. His muscles tensed involuntarily. It was deeply uncomfortable—and entirely beyond his power to stop.
Su Tianhao guided Master Shen Bao's spiritual energy and used it to raise the liquified Voidtemper Obsidian, lifting it a few inches above the furnace. Although he had never done this in practice, his inherited memories made it feel like something he had always known—instinct rather than instruction.
The material hovered precisely above the flames, their tips still licking its underside.
"What are you trying to do exactly?" Master Shen Bao asked, his craftsman's curiosity winning out over his unease.
"Purify the material," Su Tianhao answered, eyes still closed as he focused inward on the Heavenly Creation Art. "By doing so, I raise its quality."
"But no matter how thoroughly you purify it, low-quality is still low-quality," Master Shen Bao muttered. "A low-quality material contains roughly thirty-percent purity and seventy-percent impurities—that's what makes it unsuitable for serious craftwork and greatly reduces the chance of success. To even raise it to mid-quality, you'd need to reach fifty-percent purity. And no weapon craftsman technique can do that. The best I could manage would be thirty-five."
"Don't compare me with your mortal standards," Su Tianhao said, the faintest smile touching his lips. "Just watch and learn."
Like pills, craftsmanship materials were graded by density and purity—with purity being the deciding factor above all else. Thirty-percent was low-quality. Fifty-percent, mid-quality. Seventy-percent, high-quality. Ninety-percent, peak-quality.
What Su Tianhao needed was a technique within the Heavenly Creation Art that could take the material all the way to peak-quality.
He didn't need to search long. With his soul power sharpened and amplified by the Ethereal Mind Crystal, it took only minutes to find it.
True Origin Refinement Art—A powerful weapon refinement technique that allows the user to forcefully purge impurities from any material, elevating its quality. When fully mastered, the user can elevate any material to peak-quality regardless of its original grade.
Su Tianhao's lips curved slightly.
His eyes opened and fell on Master Shen Bao. "I'll hand partial control back to you now. Keep the fire stable and hold the material exactly where it is—just a little above the flames. Don't let it drift."
Without waiting for a response, he sat down cross-legged, placed the Ethereal Mind Crystal beneath his abdomen, and closed his eyes.
His mind sharpened to a razor's edge.
"True Origin Refinement Art… let's see what you bring me."
Even as he focused on the technique, Su Tianhao kept part of his awareness on Master Shen Bao—monitoring the old craftsman's energy without interruption. A testament to the depth his soul power had reached.
Though the technique was not the most profound thing within the Heavenly Creation Art, it still took nearly six hours to fully comprehend. Even with the Ethereal Mind Crystal and his own heaven-defying talent, six hours was the minimum.
When his eyes finally opened, clarity flashed in their golden depths.
He glanced at Master Shen Bao. The old craftsman was still fixed on the forge before him with absolute focus, as if his life depended on it—tracking every flicker, every shift, every barely perceptible change in the flame currents.
His back was soaked through with sweat. His shoulders sagged. His Qi reserves were running dangerously low.
"I'll take over from here," Su Tianhao said.
Master Shen Bao flinched—he hadn't expected the voice so suddenly.
When the words' meaning settled, he frowned. "This old man is tougher than he looks. I can endure a few more hours."
Su Tianhao shook his head slowly. "You don't understand. I don't need your help for the refinement process. Use the time to recover your spiritual energy. We have a long night ahead."
Although the forge was dimly lit and the hour was impossible to read, he already knew it was well into the evening.
Master Shen Bao considered that for a moment, then gave a single nod. "Alright."
He sat down cross-legged. Even with Su Tianhao still maintaining partial control over his body, settling into recovery was easy enough. But he intended to be fast about it—there was a thrill running through him, the kind he hadn't felt in a long time. The excitement of working toward something that shouldn't be possible. He wasn't about to let that spirit cool.
He reached into his spatial ring and withdrew a vial of blue liquid radiating strong medicinal potency. A peak-quality grade six Qi recovery potion—worth at least five hundred spirit stones. He drained it in a single gulp and tossed the empty vial aside, then settled into a perfect lotus position. A rush of invigorating energy swept through him almost immediately. He closed his eyes and focused entirely on recovery.
Su Tianhao turned back to the liquified Voidtemper Obsidian still hovering above the flames. He extended his hand toward it and tapped into the True Origin Refinement Art. A focused suction force spread outward and locked onto the material.
He began.
Following the precise methods recorded in the technique, he started the refinement process—slow, deliberate, exacting. With every completed cycle, black smoke sizzled free and impurities bled out. With every wisp of smoke that curled away, the purity rose.
Three minutes. Mid-quality.
Nine minutes. High-quality.
Twenty-seven minutes. Peak-quality.
It took a total of thirty-nine minutes to raise the material from low-quality to peak-quality.
At that exact moment, Master Shen Bao's eyes snapped open. His spiritual energy was fully restored. He turned toward Su Tianhao—
And went completely still.
"What the hell—how is he doing that?!"
His aura flared without warning, the air trembling around him as composure abandoned him entirely.
"H-How… can this be?"
---
Su Tianhao ignored him completely.
His focus held on the material—and on something else. A thought that had surfaced and refused to leave.
'This technique is oddly similar to how my innate ability works. It devours things—refines them. What if I find a way to send that refinement outward? Doesn't that mean I can take the material beyond peak-quality? To flawless—one hundred percent purity?'
The more he turned it over, the more certain he became.
He activated the Devouring Dragon Tactic. Attempting this theory alone without the technique built to control his bloodline would be reckless. He needed the framework.
He breathed in slowly, his mind narrowing to a single point—the Devouring Dragon Tactic and the swirling vortex in his dantian. He reached through the technique into something deeper, something intimate.
His very bloodline.
The Devouring Dragon Tactic guided the entire process—simultaneously deepening his mastery and elevating the reach of his innate ability. His lips parted for a single word.
Not devour.
"Purify!"
A fierce, precise suction force surged outward—but this time it did not seek to consume. It chose to refine. His innate ability was responding directly to his will, moving in a direction it had never moved before.
His mastery over his innate ability reached a new height. His comprehension of the Devouring Dragon Tactic elevated to Small Success.
Whoosh!
Within seconds, the last traces of impurity tore free from the material in a final curl of black smoke.
Master Shen Bao watched with wide eyes as the already-impossible peak-quality material before him transformed into something beyond classification—Flawless-quality. A grade recorded only in ancient legends, dating back even before the Great Sundering Calamity of ten thousand years ago.
Master Shen Bao stepped forward. His hands were trembling. His eyes narrowed as he tried to read Su Tianhao's features beneath the mask.
"Just who are you?"
Su Tianhao turned to him with a flat look, whatever excitement the unexpected breakthrough had stirred already gone from his expression. "Don't ask useless questions. Come here and help me."
Master Shen Bao straightened instinctively and snapped back to attention. "What do you need?"
"Purity alone doesn't decide a material's quality—especially for something like the Voidtemper Obsidian. It also requires—"
"Density," Master Shen Bao finished.
"Exactly." Su Tianhao's lips curved. "And I know a way to handle that while we move on to the other materials."
**Eternal Static Refinement Art**—*A profound technique that reinforces a material in its molten or liquid state by imposing the user's will upon it. The material condenses, folds, and reforges itself repeatedly—each cycle increasing density and overall quality. The lower it sinks through this process, the stronger it becomes.*
*Warning: This technique places significant strain on the user's soul power. Prolonged refinement causes the material to grow increasingly resistant.*
Su Tianhao had already studied this one—drawn to it the moment he first came across it within the Heavenly Creation Art. But the warning had stayed with him too.
He turned to Master Shen Bao with a serious expression. "I'll start the process now, but I can't use you for this part. This method draws on soul power—not spiritual energy. Since I can only control your body and energy…"
"Then I'm useless for this one. I get it," Master Shen Bao finished, his tone flat and surprisingly calm. Whether it was the Ethereal Mind Crystal's influence or simply that he had begun to accept Su Tianhao's rhythm, Su Tianhao couldn't tell. "I'll focus on preparing the beast cores. Just do your thing."
Su Tianhao nodded. "We'll work on the cores next."
He turned back to the liquified Voidtemper Obsidian and shut down everything else—senses, awareness, distraction—narrowing his entire existence to one thing.
His soul power.
He activated the technique.
The air around the material trembled. The changes were immediate. The liquid flickered, twisted, folded, condensed—repeating over and over in a cycle of ethereal refinement, guided by invisible hands.
When Su Tianhao's eyes finally opened, sweat was running freely down his temples. The process had looked effortless from the outside. Inside, it had been an exhausting battle of will.
"Success." His voice was quiet, but the satisfaction behind it was absolute. "Since the first one worked, nothing stops me from forging the perfect blade. A sword free of impurities—something truly extraordinary."
His eyes gleamed with something that bordered on obsession.
He returned to Master Shen Bao. The old craftsman had already washed and meticulously arranged all nine beast cores across the workbench, waiting in silence for Su Tianhao's next instruction.
Knowingly or unknowingly—he was already beginning to defer to this young man.
Su Tianhao examined the cores with quiet intensity, golden eyes moving from one to the next.
"It's going to be a long, long night," he grinned.