Chapter 415: Chapter 415 The Swordsmith
The blade embryo gradually took shape, thin yet sharp, narrow and slightly curved, looking immensely impactful. Although not yet sharpened or polished, one could already sense its ferocity.
The white-haired Celestial dipped the hot blade embryo into the nearby pool, instantly triggering steam to fill the cavern once more.
When the blade embryo was lifted from the pool, a strange scene unfolded.
The blade embryo seemed to come to life, the hammer marks on it automatically smoothing out. The once-rough blade quickly became as shiny as a mirror, except the blood-red patterns branded into it grew even more vivid.
Above the blade edge, a streak of bloody light, like a bead of blood, flowed along the blade's edge. Wherever the bloody light passed, the previously edgeless blade embryo naturally developed an edge, its chilling gleam downright spine-tingling.
"Has this sword come alive?" Lin Shen stared, dumbfounded, having never seen sword forging like this before.
After the Blood Knife was edged, the white-haired Celestial casually swung it a few times. The blade didn't even touch the materials, but just a flicker of light from the blade tip split the incredibly tough materials as easily as cutting through tofu, leaving a cut surface smooth as a mirror.
"Back in my Base Mutation level, if I had such a blade, who could rival me among my peers? Taking down Ascenders would have been no difficult feat. This blade, it should be considered forged, right?" Lin Shen thought to himself.
But the white-haired Celestial tossed the blade carelessly to the ground while cursing, "Trash... another piece of trash... garbage... all garbage..."
"Holy shit, such a sword is still trash, what kind of sword is he trying to forge?" Lin Shen was shocked, the "trash" in the other's eyes was an unparalleled divine blade in his view.
Then he thought it made some sense. This white-haired Celestial could command so many modified Vajra Bulls; how could this be the work of an ordinary person? He was like a deity.
And naturally, the sword a deity wished to create would be beyond a mortal's imagination.
"The Ten Directions Ghost God Slaying Blade, what kind of sword would that be?" Although Lin Shen was eager to keep watching, he calculated the time until dawn, realizing there wasn't much of it left, and it would take him time to leave this place.
Lin Shen turned quietly, preparing to leave.
He had just carefully taken a small step when suddenly everything before his eyes blurred, and somehow, the white-haired Celestial appeared in front of him, looking at him with a cold gaze.
"I mean no offense, and I ask for forgiveness for inadvertently intruding." Lin Shen hastily explained his position, hoping for a peaceful resolution, as the Celestial's power was unfathomable.
"What race are you?" The white-haired Celestial asked coldly, eyeing Lin Shen.
"There are some humans in the Celestial Race, this Celestial doesn't know that, I wonder if he has stayed here too long or simply never paid attention to small races such as humans." Lin Shen quickly said, "Human race, working on Sky Pinnacle Star, currently in charge of developing Golden Star."
Not knowing the details about this Celestial, Lin Shen dared not mention he worked at the Celestial Master Institute.
The Celestial Master Institute had made plenty of enemies before; if the Celestial had been wronged by the Institution, and Lin Shen revealed his position as Dean, he could end up in serious trouble.
"A person from the Celestial Master Institute?" The white-haired Celestial furrowed his brows slightly.
"Yes." Since the other party mentioned the Celestial Master Institute, Lin Shen couldn't deny it without exposing himself, which would make things even more difficult.
After admitting his affiliation with the Celestial Master Institute, the white-haired Celestial's expression seemed to soften a bit, "What position do you hold in the Institute? Do you work under that minister? Why were you sent to develop Golden Star? How many others have come with you?"
Lin Shen's thoughts churned as he slowly spoke, "I am the current Dean Tian of the Celestial Master Institute. May I ask how you are addressed?"
"The head of the Celestial Master Institute?" The white-haired Celestial was first taken aback, then burst into laughter, "Boy, you, a mere Ascender, dare to impersonate the head of the Celestial Master Institute? You certainly have some nerve."
"If you say I'm an impostor, then so be it, but may I know your name?" Lin Shen said indifferently.
Hearing Lin Shen speak thus, the white-haired Celestial seemed to harbor some doubts as he sized him up and said, "That can't be right. If you are from the Celestial Master Institute, how dare you impersonate the Dean? If you are not from the Celestial Master Institute, how could you have made it to Golden Star?"
"I have no need to impersonate anyone." Seeing that the white-haired Celestial kept his identity a secret, Lin Shen also refrained from asking further.
However, from the tone of the white-haired Celestial, it seemed he bore no hostility towards the Celestial Master Institute.
"Are you truly the head of the Celestial Master Institute?" the white-haired Celestial asked, frowning.
"This is my identity card. It shouldn't be fake." Lin Shen took out his identity card, holding it up for the white-haired Celestial to inspect.
"It really is. How could you, an Other Race and merely at Ascension Level, become the head of the Celestial Master Institute?" The white-haired Celestial glanced at the identity card with a look that suddenly became subtle.
"You have been here quite some time, haven't you? The Celestial Master Institute is no longer the glorious place it once was." Lin Shen put away his identity card and recounted the current state of the Celestial Master Institute without the need to exaggerate—the bleak situation was dire enough.
"Haha... The Celestial Master Institute has actually fallen to such depths... Truly, what goes around comes around..." After listening, the white-haired Celestial laughed heartily, seemingly pleased.
Lin Shen initially thought the white-haired Celestial might be a member of the Celestial Master Institute or have a very good relationship with it. Yet seeing his reaction made him seem otherwise, and Lin Shen couldn't help but become more cautious.
Fortunately, he had Fei Zai (Fatty) in his backpack. Throwing him out to fend off trouble first, making his own escape should not be difficult.
If it really came to a desperate situation, he could always use the watch to teleport away. After all, the countdown had already ended, and he could leave at any time.
Lin Shen had yet to teleport away because he was searching for a way to enlarge himself. Now, although he had not found a method to grow, if his life was indeed in danger, he would have no choice but to teleport back.
"You can't teleport out from here; save yourself the effort. Besides, if you teleport out in your current state, you'll never return to normal again." The white-haired Celestial saw through Lin Shen's thoughts. However, he showed no intent to attack and turned to walk into the cavern, saying as he went, "Come in and sit. It's been so long since I've seen anyone; tell me about the outside world."
After hesitating for a moment, Lin Shen followed him in.
The temperature inside the cavern was very high, and even someone with Lin Shen's physique felt somewhat overwhelmed.
Thankfully, the Carapace provided protection; otherwise, he might have been baked dry by the intense heat.
"Who exactly are you? Why are you here?" Lin Shen asked.
"I am merely a blacksmith, my name and such have long been forgotten. Feel free to call me anything," the white-haired Celestial responded and then proceeded to inquire about the outside world from Lin Shen.
The questions he asked were mostly about the Celestial Race, and what Lin Shen knew was not very comprehensive; he shared all that he knew with him.