The Heavens: Man Covers the Heavens, Refines Treasures to Become an Emperor

In the following days, Jiang Xuan's name spread throughout Camp 39.

His ranking rose sharply, and he successfully entered the top tier.

The details of his battle with Wen Mingxiu have been discussed repeatedly.

"I heard that even the referee praised Jiang Xuan's punch."

"After returning home, Wen Mingxiu went into seclusion; it's said she suffered a considerable blow."

"There are only three days left in the quarterly assessment. Do you think Jiang Xuan can make it into the top ten?"

"It's hard to say; Qi Can and the others won't let him have his way so easily."

……

Dark clouds loomed overhead above the Bloodthirsty Camp, as if foreshadowing an impending storm.

"Have you heard? This quarterly assessment requires us to kill barbarians on our own!"

A thin, pale-faced student spoke to his companion in a trembling voice.

"Shh, keep your voice down! The instructors hate it when people discuss the assessment content behind their backs."

His companion glanced around warily and lowered his voice.

"But you're right, this time it's really difficult."

Similar conversations continued to unfold throughout the camp. The once bustling training grounds were unusually quiet today, with only the clanging of weapons and heavy breathing echoing through the air.

Inside the canteen, Shi Yu poked at the spirit beast meat in his bowl with his chopsticks. Ning Meng, sitting opposite him, also had a solemn expression, his spoon unconsciously stirring the soup in his bowl.

"Hey, if you keep stirring, the soup will get cold."

Shi Yu finally couldn't help but speak up.

Ning Meng then came to her senses and put down her spoon.

"Do you think the camp is serious this time? Are they sending us True Martial Realm cultivators to fight against Spirit Realm barbarians?"

Shi Yu sneered.

"When has the Bloodthirsty Camp ever faked anything? Remember that group from the Western Camp last month? Thirty-seven people, not a single one survived."

Li Qiu carried the tray over and sat down next to the two of them.

"What are you talking about? Why so serious?"

"What else can we talk about?"

Ning Meng rolled his eyes.

"The assessment is in three days."

Li Qiu took a bite of the spirit fruit, and juice dripped down the corner of his mouth.

"I think there might still be a chance."

Shi Yu and Ning Meng both looked at him at the same time.

"Think about it."

Li Qiu wiped his mouth.

"Although the camp is brutal, it never sets up situations where certain death is certain. The barbarians are also ranked; I guess the highest rank they've prepared for us is Level One, equivalent to the early stage of the Human Astral Realm."

Shi Yu was somewhat excited.

"That makes sense! Besides, we can use points to exchange for magical artifacts."

"right!"

Ning Meng slammed his hand on the table and stood up, drawing stares from those around him. He sat down awkwardly and lowered his voice.

"I've saved up over 300 points, enough to exchange for a low-grade spiritual weapon."

"I suggest switching to an offensive type."

Li Qiu analyzed.

"Even the strongest defense can't outlast the barbarians; a single, decisive blow is better."

The three were having a lively discussion, but they didn't notice that Gong Ming was watching them coldly from the corner.

The plate in front of him was spotless, not a single grain of rice was left.

"madness."

Gong Ming rose and left, his black robes fluttering even without wind.

True power never needs external things.

Meanwhile, within the Spirit Pattern Battlefield.

Jiang Xuan stood on a vast ocean, with surging waves beneath his feet.

This is his seventh time challenging "Thousand Waves of the Sea" in the nearly three months since he joined the Bloodthirsty Camp.

"bring it on!"

Jiang Xuan's internal energy circulated wildly.

In an instant, towering waves surged from the calm sea, each wave containing the power to tear apart steel.

Jiang Xuan moved like lightning, weaving and dodging through the waves, his long sword flashing with cold light.

"The seventh wave!"

Where Jiang Xuan's sword pointed, a waterspout shattered instantly.

But then, an even more powerful eighth wave followed.

Jiang Xuan's forehead was covered in cold sweat. Three months ago, he was defeated by this very wave.

We must not repeat the same mistakes!

Jiang Xuan bit his tongue, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the sword.

The longsword suddenly emitted a blinding blood-red light, and its sword aura surged.

"break!"

The sword light shone like a rainbow, piercing through the giant waves.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Jiang Xuan leaped up, stepping on the crest of the wave, and rushed to a higher place.

His clothes were already soaked with seawater, and his wounds burned with pain from the salty seawater, but the fighting spirit in his eyes burned even more fiercely.

The ninth wave, and also the final one.

The sea suddenly calmed down, but this calm was more unsettling than any raging storm.

Jiang Xuan held his breath, his entire body tense.

"boom."

A water column with a diameter of over ten zhang shot into the sky, like a giant dragon emerging from the sea.

Instead of retreating, Jiang Xuan advanced, charging straight up into the water column.

"Open it for me!"

The sword light collided with the water column, unleashing a deafening roar.

Jiang Xuan felt a violent tremor in his arm, and his tiger's mouth split open, but he gripped the sword hilt tightly, pouring out his true energy without regard for the cost.

“Crack.”

The water column cracked and then collapsed with a roar. Amidst the spray, Jiang Xuan fell exhausted, but just before he hit the water, he was lifted up by a gentle force.

"Congratulations, you've passed the test."

A clear, cool female voice echoed between heaven and earth.

"By passing the test of a thousand waves, you can obtain the reward for the second stage of the Azure Cloud Path."

Jiang Xuan lay exhausted on the water's surface, but a smile played on his lips.

Three months of arduous training finally paid off.

The scenery before my eyes changed; the vast ocean disappeared, replaced by a mountain peak shrouded in clouds and mist.

Jiang Xuan found himself standing on the mountaintop, with a rolling sea of ​​clouds below.

"This is."

Jiang Xuan looked around, his heart filled with shock.

Two orbs of light rose from the sea of ​​clouds and hovered in front of him. Within the orbs of light, two jade scrolls could be vaguely seen, radiating an ancient and powerful aura.

Choose one from either the first part of the *Dongxuan Tunhuang Jing* or the first part of the *Tianyuan Daojue*.

Jiang Xuan was stunned.

"Can I only choose one?"

"That's the usual practice."

The woman's voice remained cold and aloof.

"However, since you passed the test in less than three months, you will be exceptionally granted two cultivation techniques."

Jiang Xuan was overjoyed and quickly reached out to touch the ball of light.

The two jade scrolls transformed into flowing light and disappeared into his brow.

In an instant, a flood of information rushed into my mind.

The "Dongxuan Tunhuang Jing" allows one to devour the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, refine the essence of all things, and, upon reaching its peak, swallow mountains and seas.

The Heavenly Origin Blade Technique is so powerful that its strikes are like the collapse of the heavens, with the force of ten thousand jun (a unit of weight), capable of severing rivers with a single blow.

Jiang Xuan closed his eyes to process this information. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself back at the entrance to the Spirit Pattern Battle Realm.

"That's it?"

Jiang Xuan was somewhat dazed, but the two cultivation techniques that were clearly present in his mind told him that everything was real.

"The next opening of the Heavenly Realm will be in one year."

The woman's voice gave a final reminder.

"The third trial of the Azure Cloud Path is called Hundred Battles, and you have three chances to attempt it. If you fail, the Heavenly Secret Realm will be sealed and may not reopen for another thousand years."

At night, in Old Mo's warehouse, a few lamps emitted a soft glow.

"You broke through?"

As soon as Xiaoman stepped into the warehouse, she keenly sensed that the aura surrounding Jiang Xuan was different from usual. The faint fluctuations of spiritual energy were more solid and substantial than before.

Jiang Xuan's lips curled slightly, his eyes gleaming.

"Slight improvement."

Xiaoman circled around Jiang Xuan, marveling at his appearance.

"It's only been a few days, but your aura has grown so much stronger. It seems you're confident about this quarterly assessment?"

"A head-on confrontation is not the best strategy."

Jiang Xuan shook his head, his gaze falling on the workbench deep inside the warehouse.

"I need some special magical artifacts."

Xiaoman frowned slightly.

"Then you'd better hurry. I heard that students from other camps are frantically exchanging for equipment in the warehouse, especially short crossbows; they're almost all gone."

Jiang Xuan chuckled lightly, confident of success.

"With Old Mo here, why bother going to the warehouse to cash out?"

"You're quite the strategist."

Xiaoman blinked and revealed a sly smile.

"Old Mo owes you a favor, and you're making him pay it back!"

"It's just a mutually beneficial arrangement."

Jiang Xuan remained noncommittal, his gaze fixed on the hunched figure deep within the warehouse.

At this moment, Old Mo was staring intently at the spirit fire furnace in front of him.

Purple flames surged inside the furnace, illuminating his wrinkled face.

The transformation of the Spirit Fire Furnace has reached its final stage. Once this hurdle is overcome, the core power of the Purple Ying Warship will be completely transformed.

"Almost there."

Old Mo muttered to himself, his rough fingers tracing patterns on the surface of the spirit furnace.

With each stroke of the brush, the flames inside the furnace changed color, from purple to blue, and then to crimson.

Just as Lao Mo was engrossed in his thoughts, Jiang Xuan's footsteps interrupted him.

Old Mo was about to explode when he turned around and saw that it was Jiang Xuan, and his expression softened.

"You've come at the perfect time."

Old Mo wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"The spirit rune you repaired for me last time worked even better than I expected."

Jiang Xuan smiled.

"It was nothing."

Old Mo snorted.

"Don't give me that. Just tell me, what do you want?"

"I would like to ask Elder Mo to help me forge a short crossbow."

Jiang Xuan got straight to the point.

"A short crossbow?"

Old Mo got interested.

"Is it for the quarterly performance review?"

Jiang Xuan nodded.

"Exactly."

"Haha, no problem at all!"

Old Mo rubbed his hands together.

"You helped me a great deal last time, so this time I'll definitely go all out. How about the Seven-Star Crossbow? It has a long range and strong penetrating power. Or how about the Divine Arm Crossbow? That thing has a lot of recoil, but its power is astonishing!"

Jiang Xuan did not answer immediately, but instead took out a piece of white paper from his pocket and laid it flat on the workbench.

Then he took out a seal-writing brush, dipped it in specially made spiritual ink, and began to outline on the paper.

Old Mo curiously stepped forward, initially not taking it seriously, but as the spirit patterns under Jiang Xuan's brush gradually took shape, his expression changed from nonchalant to shocked.

"This is"

Old Mo's voice trembled slightly.

Jiang Xuan continued writing without stopping, and soon completed an extremely intricate spirit pattern, along with a simple and ancient-looking short crossbow.

The crossbow looked ordinary, but the patterns on its body were in harmony with the principles of heaven and earth, and each line contained a mysterious power.

"Flying Star Crossbow."

Jiang Xuan put down his seal script brush and said softly.

Old Mo stared intently at the blueprints, his wrinkles smoothing out, his eyes gleaming with fervor.

"These spirit runes, this structure... marvelous! Absolutely marvelous!"

Xiaoman, who was standing to the side, was completely confused and couldn't help but ask.

"Is this crossbow special?"

"special?"

Old Mo was so excited that his beard was trembling.

"This is an ancient, long-lost spiritual rune technique! Look at the direction of these runes; they completely break free from the framework of modern spiritual runes, yet they subtly align with the laws of nature. If it can be successfully refined, its power will be at least three times that of an ordinary crossbow!"

Xiaoman looked at Jiang Xuan in surprise.

Where did you learn that?

Jiang Xuan's gaze dimmed slightly.

"It was left to me by Mr. Lu. He had an ancient animal-hide scroll containing many lost spiritual runes. The method for forging this Flying Star Crossbow was developed by him based on the scroll."

Old Mo couldn't wait to ask more questions.

Where is that Mr. Lu now? Could you please introduce us?

He is no longer here.

Jiang Xuan's tone was calm, yet it revealed a barely perceptible sadness.

Old Mo paused for a moment, then patted Jiang Xuan on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry. But don't worry, with this blueprint, I'm sure I can forge the Flying Star Crossbow!"

For the next three days, Lao Mo devoted himself almost to the forging of the Flying Star Crossbow.

The warehouse was filled with the sounds of roaring spirit fire and clanging metal, and occasionally Old Mo's excited laughter.

Meanwhile, a tense atmosphere prevailed throughout the training camp ahead of the quarterly assessment.

Trainees from all twenty camps were making frantic preparations, and the supply warehouse became the busiest place.

"Make way! Make way!"

A burly student squeezed through the crowd and headed straight for the shelf displaying armor.

"Don't try to take it! I was the one who wanted that pair of black iron bracers first!"

Another student clung tightly to a pair of wrist guards that gleamed with a cold light.

In the corner, Ye Xiaoqi coldly observed the chaos, her fingers unconsciously stroking the armor-piercing crossbow at her waist.

He bought this dark red crossbow from the black market at a high price. The crossbow was covered with fine blood patterns and was said to be able to easily penetrate the protective aura of barbarians.

"Brother Qi, aren't you going to exchange for equipment?"

A thin student came over and asked.

Ye Xiaoqi chuckled.

"With the armor-piercing crossbow, why would we need those junk?"

The skinny student looked at the blood-stained crossbow with envy.

"I heard that this assessment will pit us against barbarians comparable to the Spirit Realm experts; good equipment is essential."

"Hmph, standard short crossbows are only useful against ordinary barbarian soldiers."

Ye Xiaoqi said disdainfully.

"True strength comes from one's own abilities."

Even so, Ye Xiaoqi knew in his heart that even he would need to go all out when facing a barbarian at the Spirit Realm.

While the armor-piercing crossbow is powerful, it's unrealistic to expect it to kill someone in one hit.

Ultimately, the outcome will depend on how well they perform on the day.

……

"It's done! It's finally done!"

In Lao Mo's warehouse, an excited shout broke the silence of the night.

Old Mo held a short, silver-white crossbow in trembling hands; the spiritual patterns flowing across its surface shone with a mysterious light under the lamp.

Flying Star Crossbow!
This crossbow is even more exquisite than the design on the blueprints. The lines of the crossbow body are as smooth as flowing clouds and water, and every spirit pattern is perfectly engraved on it.

Even more astonishing were the twenty-four spirit-patterned star frost arrows placed next to them. The spiral spirit patterns on the surface of the arrows were as fine as silk, and their cold light was terrifying, as if you would be cut if you looked at them.

"This...this is far beyond the level of a low-grade spiritual weapon for ordinary people."

Old Mo muttered to himself, his rough fingers carefully stroking the crossbow.

"The structure of these spirit patterns alone is more than three times more complex than that of ordinary spirit artifacts."

He calculated that the spiritual materials and ink alone cost eight hundred silver coins, not even counting the effort he had put in for three days and three nights without sleep. If it were on the market, the value of this Flying Star Crossbow would be immeasurable.

"Young Jiang, just who is your master?"

Old Mo looked up and asked, his eyes filled with shock. (End of Chapter)