Uncle Nine: You were supposed to drive corpses, so you summoned the Monkey King!

Lin Chen ignored Xiao Ming's flattery.

Holding the purple bamboo pen, dipped it in the finest cinnabar, and followed the copper wire toward the Gathering Yang Rune.

With each stroke, magical power seeped into the copper wire from the tip of the brush, causing the surface of the golden copper wire to glow with a golden-red light.

"Mercury is yin in nature and can guide the most yin energy the fastest. Pure copper conducts electricity and heat. With the addition of the yang-gathering talisman to suppress it, the yin energy that is stagnant in the earth's veins can be forcibly suppressed and dispersed into the depths of the earth through the eight ventilation openings."

Lin Chen explained without looking up, his hands still moving, "As long as the earth's crust doesn't crack, this place will remain clean for hundreds of years."

Zhuge Kongping held a new compass, watching the pointer gradually stabilize from its wild spinning motion, finally pointing steadily south.

"Brother Four Eyes, how exactly did you teach this disciple?" Kong Ping lowered his voice, his tone full of sourness. "His mastery of formations is even better than my great-grandfather's Hidden Dragon Trapping Water Formation."

The Taoist priest with his nose in the air said, "The authentic Maoshan school emphasizes comprehension. I usually just give him a few pointers, but it's mainly the child who proves himself."

Lin Chen finished the last stroke and put away the purple bamboo brush.

The chill in the underground palace dissipated considerably, and the air became drier.

"The formation is complete."

Lin Chen stood up, shook his wrist, and turned to look at Zhuge Kongping. "Uncle-Master, now that the matter of the underground palace is settled, it's time to settle my personal accounts."

Kong Ping's heart skipped a beat, and he clutched his money pouch: "Weren't the offerings reimbursed?"

"That's one thing." Lin Chen pointed to the underground palace. "The lightning-struck wooden sword was damaged a bit last night. I'd like to borrow your iron door for a bit. I just need to cut off about ten pounds of it."

Kong Ping breathed a sigh of relief and waved his hand dismissively: "I thought it was something serious. You can take the whole iron gate with you!"

Lin Chen didn't stand on ceremony and led Xiao Ming straight to the Ghost Sealing Warehouse.

The solid iron gate lay on the ground, icy cold to the touch. Because it had been locked in an extremely yin place for many years, the iron had been permeated with yin energy, making it extremely tough.

Lin Chen used the Crimson Flame Copper Greatsword to cut off a fist-sized lump of iron, and then had Xiao Ming start a fire in the blacksmith's furnace in the backyard.

The furnace was blazing. Lin Chen threw in the pig iron block, then took out the bluish-black scale he had dug out from the ashes of the Red-haired Fiend from his pocket.

"Senior Brother Lin, what is this?" Xiao Ming came closer, his face full of curiosity.

"Red-haired Fiend's bone scales." Lin Chen tossed the scales into the crucible, mixing them with the pig iron. "This stuff is harder than Crimson Flame Copper, perfect for quenching sword tips."

Lin Chen took off his Taoist robe, revealing his well-defined muscles.

He lifted the eighty-pound iron hammer with one hand, channeling his magic power into his arms, and the hammer slammed into the red-hot iron block with a whooshing sound.

when!

Sparks flew everywhere.

The anvil was shaken and sank half an inch.

What followed was an hour of tedious hammering.

Lin Chen treated blacksmithing as a daily wage, and with each swing of the hammer, the magical power within his body would vibrate.

Impurities were forcibly expelled, and the extremely yin iron and the bone scales of the red-haired demon gradually fused together under high temperature and brute force, turning into a dark blue alloy.

Lin Chen took the damaged lightning-struck wooden sword.

The wooden sword was intact, except for the tip, which was corroded by the poisonous blood of the Red-haired Demon.

He used a carving knife to smooth out the crack, then softened the dark blue alloy by heating it, forcibly wrapped it around the sword tip, and carefully tapped it with a small iron hammer to make it fit.

The final step is quenching.

It's sizzling!

Water vapor evaporates.

A brand new lightning-struck wooden sword appeared on the table.

The sword blade is still made of century-old lightning-struck wood with lightning patterns. The righteous energy of heavenly lightning flows through it, and the tip of the sword is covered with a layer of dark blue metal three inches above it, making it exceptionally sharp.

Lin Chen waved his hand casually.

The sword tip pierced through a two-inch-thick solid wood cutting board next to it with the ease of cutting tofu.

"Good stuff." Lin Chen put away his sword with satisfaction.

Heavenly thunder, righteous energy, overcomes evil. This dark blue sword tip pierces armor, so in the future, when encountering hard-shelled monsters like the Ironclad Corpse, there will be no need to summon gods for hand-to-hand combat.

Midnight, in the west wing guest room.

The system's crisp notification sound rang in Lin Chen's mind.

[Ding! Defeat a mutated red-haired demon (half-step flying yaksha) that is above your level, triggering a special reward.]

[Gain +2 to Constitution, +2 to Strength, +2 to Agility, and +1 to Spirit]

[Completed the modification of the Extreme Yin Earth Vein Formation, gained +1 Spirit, and mastery of Maoshan Qimen Formation Techniques.]

[Completed the repair of a top-grade magical artifact (alien fusion), gained the magical skill: Maoshan Artifact Refining (Proficient).]

Lin Chen opened his eyes, feeling the magical power within his body. The energy vortex swirled within his dantian, and his physical strength increased once again.

The next morning.

Master Simu yawned as he walked out of the guest room. Zhuge Kongping's family had already prepared a sumptuous morning tea in the front hall.

"Brother Simu, Junior Nephew Lin, won't you stay a few more days?" Zhuge Kongping asked, holding a teacup.

"I can't stay here. Jiale at the Taoist temple is still suffering from corpse poison. Although the poison has been removed, I have to go back and keep an eye on things." Master Simu waved his hand, grabbed two meat buns from the table, and stuffed them into his mouth.

Wang Hui handed over a heavy red cloth bag and stuffed it into Simu's hands: "Brother Dao, I am deeply grateful for your kindness this time. Take this money for your journey and buy some good tea."

Master Simu squeezed the thickness of the cloth bag; it must have contained at least a hundred silver dollars. He immediately beamed with joy.

He feigned reluctance for a moment before casually stuffing the paper crane into his pocket: "Hey, Fatty, you're too kind. If you ever encounter any tough opponents you can't handle, just call me anytime."

Lin Chen stood aside, looking at Zhuge Xiaoming with eyes full of reluctance.

"Senior Brother Lin, I still don't quite understand the formulas for calculating the cross-sectional area of ​​the copper wire and the voltage in your array..." Xiao Ming asked.

"Try it yourself a few more times. Don't always experiment with the big electric gate; you might just kill yourself." Lin Chen patted his shoulder, slung the lightning-struck wooden sword over his shoulder, and picked up his luggage.

The two bid farewell to the Zhuge family, left Shatian Town, and embarked on the mountain road back to Qingshan Town.

As the sun rose higher, the mountain mist dissipated.

Master Simu was panting slightly as he carried the fifty-pound Crimson Flame Copper Greatsword. Although the sword had been repaired and its power greatly increased, the physical exertion was real.

"Master, want to take a break?" Lin Chen noticed that Si Mu was tired and pointed to the large blue stone by the roadside.

"What's there to rest for? Your master could drive corpses for eighty miles in one breath without even breaking a sweat back in the day." Master Four Eyes was too proud to admit it and forced himself to keep walking.

Lin Chen didn't expose him, but slowed down and followed behind, absorbing the spiritual energy of the mountains and forests while traveling.

After walking for an hour, a pine forest appeared ahead. The sunlight was blocked by the tree canopy, and the forest was cool.

Lin Chen suddenly stopped.

A breeze blew by, carrying a strange smell.

It wasn't the stench of weasels, nor the bloody smell of wild animals.

It was a putrid smell, a mixture of aged yellow earth and dried leaves, with a hint of opium.

Lin Chen frowned and looked at a fork in the road deep in the pine forest ahead.

There was a string of very shallow footprints on the fallen leaves on the ground.

The footprints were extremely far apart, not left by a normal person walking, but rather looked like the marks left by jumping with legs together.

But there was no chilling, corpse-like aura in these footprints.

Even more strangely, Lin Chen heard a faint, tinkling sound of bells.

Ring... Ring...

Seeing Lin Chen stop, Master Four Eyes also stopped. "What's wrong?"

"Master, there are people transporting corpses in the woods ahead." Lin Chen looked into the depths of the pine forest.

Master Four Eyes pricked up his ears and listened: "Fellow travelers? In the middle of nowhere, transporting corpses in broad daylight?"

"There are colleagues." Lin Chen's gaze turned slightly cold.

"However, the bell and the footsteps are wrong, and there isn't even a trace of corpse energy."