I am submissive in Journey to the West, I strike hard at the gods

"Weapon refining?"

Ao Tie yawned, revealing a set of sharp white teeth. "Of course I can. I personally carved half of the restrictions on the 'Overturning Sea Fork,' the treasure of the East Sea Dragon Palace back then."

Jiang Wang's eyes lit up.

Ao Tie held up three fingers and slowly shook them: "However, even a low-grade acquired treasure will not be fully formed without a thousand years."

Success rate? One in ten would be considered good.

One in a thousand years, with a success rate of one in ten.

Jiang Wang quickly did the math in his head: 5,500 pieces, even if all were graded as low quality, would take 55 million years.

If we take into account the losses from failures, it could take at least a billion years.

The smile on his face gradually disappeared, like smoke being blown away by the sea breeze.

Seeing his expression, Ao Tie offered a rare word of comfort: "Actually, it's not that slow. In the primordial era, many old monsters would spend several eons in seclusion. Unlike you, who wished to become a saint overnight."

Jiang Wang didn't speak, but looked down at his palm. After a long while, he gently exhaled.

"Teach me."

Ao Tie was stunned: "You're a true disciple?"

Jiang Wang nodded.

Ao Tie scratched his dragon horn and suddenly laughed, his shoulders shaking with laughter: "Alright, how dare I refuse a Daoist partner from the true lineage who makes a request? But let me make this clear beforehand, the art of weapon forging is the most expensive, time-consuming, and labor-intensive. With your temperament... tsk, you're probably going to suffer a great loss."

Jiang Wang had already closed his eyes, his voice calm but unquestionable: "Just pass on my top-notch method, don't hold back."

Ao Tie clicked his tongue, but ultimately didn't try to persuade him anymore. He simply raised his hand and pointed, and a beam of cyan-gold light entered Jiang Wang's brow.

The system's cold, impersonal notification tone then sounded.

The system has detected that the host has accepted "The Complete Guide to Refining Weapons by the True Dragon of the East Sea" (full version). Do you wish to consume 500 million experience points to directly achieve perfect enlightenment?
Jiang Wang almost immediately chose "yes".

boom!
Countless secrets of weapon crafting, restriction patterns, incantations of spiritual flames, properties of spiritual materials, and methods of furnace and cauldron refining... flooded into his sea of ​​consciousness like a burst dam. Under the system's strange power, they were forcibly sorted out, deduced, and integrated. In an instant, they were all imprinted deep within his soul and transformed into instinct.

Jiang Wang opened his eyes, and a thin, emerald-green dragon flame spontaneously ignited at his fingertips. In the center of the flame, a piece of black iron essence melted silently, turning into a silvery liquid droplet that floated in mid-air without emitting a trace of smoke.

Ao Tie was dumbfounded.

"...That's outrageous."

After a long pause, he finally managed to utter, "It took me a full 30,000 years to learn this level."

Jiang Wang frowned.

He has already identified the problem.

The system bestowed upon Ao Tie the highest achievement he could currently attain: the true essence of dragon weapon crafting at the mid-stage of Quasi-Saint level.

The success rate remains a pitiful one in ten.

He personally tried to refine the simplest "Mysterious Water Pearl", selecting only the top-grade spiritual materials. The furnace he used was Ao Tie's treasured "Dragon Abyss Furnace", and the flame was the True Dragon Flame of the East Sea. The restriction patterns were exactly as taught in the true transmission 3,600 times.

The result was that it still collapsed in an instant, turning into a sky full of iron filings.

System notification: Refining failed, no experience points will be returned.

Jiang Wang was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Can weapon crafting skills be improved further?"

The system unusually provided a clear answer.

The level of weapon crafting can be increased using Primordial Spirit Crystals (small), with a success rate of approximately 3%-5% per increase, and the upper limit is unknown.

Alternatively, one can directly elevate their cultivation to the corresponding realm using the Origin Spirit Crystal, with the success rate increasing as the host's cultivation level rises.

Jiang Wang closed his eyes.

He doesn't even have a single small Primordial Spirit Crystal right now.

The Primal Spirit Crystal was something I'd only ever seen by name in the attribute panel; I'd never actually owned it.

The path of weapon forging is temporarily blocked.

Outside the bamboo grove, seagulls cried softly, and sunlight filtered through the bamboo leaves, casting dappled patterns of light on the jade cushion.

Jiang Wang seemed not to see it, only looking down at his attribute panel, his gaze fixed on the new light purple text at the bottom, which he did not look away from for a long time.

Spatial Origin Dao Technique: Great Void Technique (Initial Stage)

That was the compensation bestowed upon him by the system the moment the Devouring Heaven Gourd was upgraded to a Chaos Spiritual Treasure.

Looking at it now, it's like seeing it for the first time.

When the technique is completed, it can slay chaotic spiritual treasures, kill evil spirits, and break through the chaotic spatial layer.

Consumption: Each activation consumes more than 90% of the host's current mana and leaves the host in a state of weakness for seven days.

Jiang Wang slowly exhaled, his fingertips lightly touching the words, as if afraid of disturbing something.

He suddenly laughed.

The laughter was very soft, yet it carried an almost satisfied contentment.

So what if he fails to refine the weapon? He still has the Great Void Technique.

He stood up, put his hands behind his back, and walked towards the open rocky beach at the end of the bamboo forest, his purple robe fluttering in the sea breeze.

Ao Tie called out to him from behind, "Hey, where are you going?"

Jiang Wang didn't turn his head, but his voice, carrying a hint of laughter, drifted on the wind:

"Go try out the new toy."

The rocky beach was deserted, with only the sound of waves crashing against the shore, one after another, like the primordial heartbeat.

Jiang Wang raised his hand, and a palm-sized green gourd appeared in his palm. The gourd's mouth was slightly open, and its interior was as black as ink, yet its depths were unfathomable.

The World-Swallowing Gourd.

He murmured softly, "Swallow."

There were no earth-shattering phenomena, no world-destroying pressure.

In an instant, it seemed as if a piece of the world was missing.

The twenty-second heaven, the few broken continents closest to the Earthly Immortal Realm, along with the remaining palaces, spiritual veins, restrictions, and even the scattered immortals who had not yet escaped, were all drawn by an irresistible force, transformed into long dragons, and thrown into the mouth of that small gourd.

The whole process was eerily quiet; not even the surface of the sea was disturbed.

Only the system notification sounded softly in Jiang Wang's ear:

The Devouring World Gourd has devoured twenty-two layers of heaven (remnants) and is expected to be completely refined in three hundred years.

After refining, one will receive 20,000 strands of fortune and one share of Great Dao merit.

Jiang Wang lowered his eyes to look at the gourd in his palm. A hair-thin crack appeared on the surface of the gourd, which then quickly healed, with faint traces of chaotic energy flowing through it.

Three hundred years later, this chaotic spiritual treasure will completely recognize him as its master.

At that time, fortune, merits of the Great Dao, and perhaps even some of the remaining creations of the Twenty-Two Heavens will all fall into his hands.

All he had to do was wait.

Wait three hundred years.

Compared to the weapon forging process that took hundreds of millions of years, he almost burst out laughing.

Three hundred years is but a fleeting moment.

A sea breeze blew by, and Jiang Wang, dressed in purple robes, suddenly looked up at the hazy, undeveloped gray expanse at the edge of the sky.

He stretched out his finger and lightly drew a line in the air.

There was no light, no thunder, and not even the slightest fluctuation of magical power.

In that instant, the sky seemed to be sliced ​​open by an invisible knife, with a straight crack. Within the crack, chaotic energy surged, and countless fragments of space could be vaguely seen falling like glass, then strangely stopping in mid-air, suspended as if forgotten by time.

Even though the Great Void Technique is only in its initial stages, it already possesses the rudiments of a world-destroying force.

Jiang Wang looked at the crack, then gently closed his fingers. The crack healed silently, as if it had never existed.

Only the ancient being deep beneath the sea suddenly opened its eyes, its pupils reflecting the fleeting void rift from moments before, and remained unsettled for a long time.

On the rocky beach, Jiang Wang withdrew his hand.

He looked down at his palm, which was empty, yet it felt as if he were holding the pulse of the entire primordial world.

So what if I fail to forge the weapon? So what if I lack the power to kill?

He possesses a gourd that can swallow worlds, and can slowly cook the heavens over a low flame.

He possesses the Great Void Technique, capable of shattering boundaries with a single strike.

Three hundred years later, he will be blessed with good fortune and his merits will be remembered.

Further on...

Jiang Wang raised his head, his gaze passing through the bamboo forest, across the East Sea, across the endless mountains and rivers of the Immortal Realm, and landing on the distant Western Paradise.

He chuckled softly, the sound fading into the wind, barely audible.

"enough."

"That's enough."

Seagulls circled in the bamboo grove, bathed in the perfect sunlight.

Everything was quiet and slow, like the gentlest moment of time in the primordial world, specially paused for him alone.

Jiang Wang sat cross-legged outside the dark passage, the bluestone floor already worn with shallow marks from his robes.

March passed by silently, like water.

He thought his heart was already as still as a deep well, but for the past three months, he had stayed by that tightly closed stone door day and night, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the jade pendant at his waist, on which was engraved the extremely fine character "妄" (wang, meaning delusion).

The characters were carved by his own hand, and now the edges have been worn smooth.

A wind blew from the depths of the passage, carrying a chilly dampness that made his robes flutter, but it couldn't dispel the faint anxiety between his brows.

He closed his eyes, trying to immerse his mind in the Three Thousand Great Daos.

Road to Road, very Avenue.

He kept pondering that sentence, trying to completely forget about time.

The more he forced himself to forget, the more the silence behind the stone gate felt like a fine needle, slowly piercing his heart.

Until this day, the long-absent, cold voice of the system suddenly rang out in his mind:
[Ding! Side quest "Tang Sanzang has been the spirit of the Vajra Bracelet for thirty years"]

completed.

】

[Rewards: 3 Innate Spiritual Treasure Upgrade Cards, 1 Experience Points Lottery Chance]

】

Jiang Wang suddenly opened his eyes, a hint of surprise flashing in them.

Thirty years?
He almost subconsciously raised his hand, his fingertips lightly tracing a line in the air, and a pale golden light screen appeared, clearly displaying the mission progress: 100% complete.

He stared at the words for a long time before slowly exhaling, as if he had finally woken up from a long dream.

He forgot.

He had forgotten about Tang Sanzang for a full thirty years.

That person was personally refined into the spirit of the Vajra Bracelet by him, enduring the tempering of the Five Elements Metal Qi day and night for thirty years, living a life worse than death... while he sat here in vain for three months, just waiting for an answer that might not appear for who knows when.

Jiang Wang chuckled softly, but his laughter was colder than the wind deep inside the passage.

At the same time, behind Jindou Mountain in Xiniu Hezhou, a cold pool that had never seen the sun all year round suddenly began to boil.

The water in the pool seemed to be stirred by an invisible giant hand, emitting a deep rumble.

Beneath the water's surface, a golden figure slowly rose, initially blurry like a flowing mass of gold, but gradually solidifying into a human form.

Facial features, hair, knuckles... every inch of flesh and blood is being reshaped at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Thirty years as a spirit of the bracelet had allowed Tang Sanzang's soul to become completely integrated with it. Now, with the help of a Spirit Transformation Pill, he finally regained his physical body.

When he fully opened his eyes, the pool had returned to calm, and moonlight streamed down from the crack overhead, falling on his bare shoulders.

The skin was no longer the pale white of ordinary people, but had a faint golden sheen, as if countless tiny golden runes were slowly flowing beneath the skin.

He looked down at his palm, and with a slight exertion of his fingertips, he heard a clear, resonant clanging sound from his bones.

He actually ascended to the realm of the Great Luo Golden Immortal after thirty years of painful tempering.

Even more terrifying is that the metal element within his body has been completely transformed into his own essence, condensing into an indestructible golden body.

Tang Sanzang slowly stood up, and the water in the pool parted automatically, allowing him to step barefoot on the surface.

He looked up towards the direction of Jindu Cave in the distance, a complex and indescribable emotion flashing in his eyes.

He actually survived thirty years.

Just then, a furious dragon roar suddenly came from the depths of the icy pool.

A snow-white dragon suddenly burst out of the water, its whiskers bristling, its eyes bloodshot, and it spewed out icy breath that froze the air for dozens of miles around into ice crystals.

"You audacious bald thief! How dare you steal my priceless treasure!"

Huanglong's voice carried centuries of resentment and killing intent, and his sharp claws, like five divine blades, aimed straight at Tang Sanzang's crown.

Tang Sanzang stood on the water, not even wearing a robe, and only raised his eyes slightly.

In that instant, a golden light suddenly shone from between his brows.

boom!
The yellow dragon's claws slammed heavily onto Tang Sanzang's head, but it was as if it had crashed into an unshakeable sacred mountain.

Not only did it fail to harm him in the slightest, but it also caused its own five dragon claws to bleed profusely, with scales flying everywhere.

Huanglong roared in pain, and with a flick of its tail, it stirred up waves in the vast, cold pool, which transformed into countless ice spears that shot towards Tang Sanzang.

Tang Sanzang finally moved.

He turned slightly to the side, his movements as slow as if he were taking a stroll. With each step he took, a golden lotus flower condensed in the pool beneath his feet.

Before the ice spears even got close, they melted inch by inch in the golden lotus light, turning into a sky full of water vapor.

Seeing this, Huanglong went completely mad. He opened his mouth and spat out a long, gleaming silver spear, which pierced straight into Tang Sanzang's heart.

Tang Sanzang extended two fingers and gently pinched them together.

clang!
The silver spear was caught between his fingers and could not be advanced any further.

The gun trembled violently, emitting mournful cries.

Tang Sanzang looked down at the spear, then at Huanglong, his voice so calm that no emotion could be discerned: "Three hundred years ago, this humble monk passed through this place and discussed the Dao with you for three days."

You said at the time that the Vajra Bracelet was originally a manifestation of your spiritual practice, and you wished to share it with those who were destined to receive it.

What, are you turning your back on me now?

Huanglong's whiskers trembled, and a hint of shame and anger flashed in his eyes, yet he was also shocked and afraid.

It clearly sensed that the monk before it was no longer the Tang Monk who had just achieved enlightenment thirty years ago.

That golden body was several times harder than a primordial spiritual treasure!
"Give me back my treasure!"

Huanglong roared, forcefully pulled out his spear and retreated, turning into a streak of white light as he fled in a sorry state toward the distant mountains, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.

The cold pool returned to its silence.

Tang Sanzang looked down at his naked body, sighed softly, and golden light flowed from his fingertips. A brand new scythe appeared out of thin air, as white as ever, yet faintly shimmering with a metallic luster.

He took one last look at the cold pool, then turned and sped off towards the Golden Gourd Cave.

In front of the Golden Gourd Cave, Sun Wukong was idly drawing circles on the ground with his golden cudgel. (End of Chapter)