Starting from Ainz Ooal Gown, simultaneously traveling through time

A gray fog swirls above the shared space.

Ainz Ooal Gown said, "I'll tell you your story later. Let's stop here for now."

Dragon Leylin, who was engrossed in his speech, retorted upon hearing this, "What's wrong? I've only gotten halfway through my story, and you're already giving up?"

"My story is not yet finished, so let's put yours aside for now," Ainz Ooal Gown explained.

"Alright."

Then, the group of Leylins left the shared space.

Leylin blinked, his consciousness completely withdrawing from the distant gray fog space and refocusing on the reality before him.

His wife, Anne, sat opposite him, sipping her black tea with an elegant posture. The afternoon sun made her look exceptionally serene.

"It seems only a moment has passed here."

Lei Lin understood, feeling the newly integrated power within his body.

Time flies, and more than a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

Deep inside a secluded cave, a roaring fire illuminated the cave walls in a fiery red glow.

Leylin stood before the scorching alchemical furnace.

He reached directly into the raging flames that would ignite an ordinary person at the slightest touch, and steadily retrieved a sword blank that had just been shaped.

He immersed it in the icy cold quenching liquid that had been prepared beforehand.

"laugh--"

White vapor rose.

As the fog dissipated, an ancient-style, straight-lined, eight-sided Han sword quietly appeared in his hand.

The sword is cast in bronze, with a dark and heavy metallic luster.

"【arrogant】."

Leylin whispered its name.

This is the first of the legendary dragon-slaying weapons, the Seven Deadly Sins – Pride.

For the past month or so, he has devoted most of his energy to this.

"However, it's just an empty shell right now."

He examined the sword, his fingertips brushing against its still somewhat rough surface.

"The most important soul, those extremely complex alchemical matrices and spiritual imprints, haven't even begun to be inscribed yet."

The highest-level alchemical weapons are by no means easy to create.

In one month, he only completed the basic shaping and initial tempering of [Arrogance].

As for the core process of giving it true dragon-slaying properties, it will probably take much longer to complete meticulously.

Moreover, the Seven Deadly Sins doesn't just consist of this one weapon. On the stone platform beside him, six other weapons, already in their nascent stages, are laid out in order:

The Tang sword, with its fluid and graceful form, is described as "jealousy."

The imposing and powerful horse-slaying sword – [Rage].

The elegantly curved samurai sword – [Sloth].

The Kramer longsword, resembling a medieval knight's sword, is called "Greed."

The Atkan longsword with exotic curves—[Taotie].

And the short and sharp wakizashi—[Lust].

These seven swords, each with a different form but originating from the same source, are collectively known as the "Seven Deadly Sins".

They are the pinnacle of the King of Bronze and Fire's alchemical masterpieces.

Leylin estimated that it would take a very long time to complete all seven weapons.

"It will probably take several years to complete, unless my alchemy skills can be improved further, which might shorten the time required," he thought with some helplessness.

It took far too long.

By the time all seven swords are forged, the matter with the Rotten Coffin Dragon King will probably have been settled long ago.

"However, it is, after all, a [divine artifact] weapon, so a long forging period is completely understandable," he comforted himself.

Based on the game standards in YGGDRASIL, Leylin estimated that the forged Seven Deadly Sins would undoubtedly be an item of the Divine Artifact level or higher.

That is, equipment of level 80 or above.

Moreover, Leylin had a premonition that the level of each individual weapon in the Seven Deadly Sins set was above level 80, and the level of the seven weapons combined into the Seven Deadly Sins set would probably be above level 90.

At this point, the Seven Deadly Sins, though described as a "divine artifact," was actually comparable to many "guild weapons."

Especially in that game, countless players reached the maximum level, only to find themselves unable to collect a single powerful artifact even after the game shut down.

Its rarity is evident.

Only a super-large guild like Ainz Ooal Gown, ranked ninth in the entire server, can possess a certain number of artifact-level collectibles.

Being able to forge a weapon of this caliber by hand in this world, no matter how much time it takes, is a huge win as long as you succeed.

"Moreover, one of the greatest advantages of the Seven Deadly Sins is that it has very low requirements for basic materials; it uses the most common bronze."

Leylin weighed the [Arrogance] sword embryo in his hand.

Under the unparalleled alchemy of the King of Bronze and Fire, ordinary bronze was imbued with spirituality and underwent a fundamental sublimation, thus becoming the cornerstone for forging divine artifacts.

Those who lack skill are helpless even with the same materials.

The advantage is that it is less dependent on precious materials, but the disadvantage is the troublesomely long forging cycle.

"This world is quite barren, and high-level magic materials are scarce. Although this drawback slows down the progress, this advantage is a godsend for me."

Leylin recently secretly dispatched his men to search for rare materials, but with little success, and those materials were of limited help to him at this stage.

The resources in this world are a limitation for "players" who pursue rapid growth.

But for him, who had mastered the Dragon King's alchemy technique of "turning stone into gold," the limitations were actually much smaller.

"In this environment, my advantage as a master of top-level alchemy is even more obvious," he thought to himself.

My thoughts drifted back to the discussions I had with other "selves" in the shared space.

At the time, Game of Thrones' Raylin suggested, "The requirements for blood magic offerings are naturally that the higher the quality, the better."

"According to the ancient methods I have researched and tested, if dragon blood can be used for a blood sacrifice, then the finest dragon steel in Valyrian steel can be forged."

"It not only possesses all the advantages of Valyrian steel, but may also have some of the divine properties of dragons."

Ainz Ooal Gown (himself) immediately noticed something amiss: "Your recipe sounds like it came from that 'A Song of Ice and Fire' mod in Minecraft?"

Game of Thrones' Raylin readily admitted, "It certainly played a part in the inspiration, after all, there's a subtle connection between the two settings."

"But I later tested it with dragon blood in my own world, and the effect did exist, just not as exaggerated."

Ainz Ooal Gown, Raelin: "So, you're suggesting I also capture a few real dragons and try bleeding them out?"

Game of Thrones' Rayleigh nodded: "The high-energy biological bloodlines on your side are far superior to the dragons on my side. You might actually be able to forge something extraordinary."

Ainz Ooal Gown, Rayleigh, then put forward an even bolder idea: "By the way, I have an idea, like the forging of the [Demon Sword] in 'The Legend of Sword and Fairy'."

"Could we use blood magic to perform a large-scale blood sacrifice on living beings, preferably powerful ones, to forcibly enhance the quality of Valyrian steel or similar weapons?"

Game of Thrones' Rayleigh was somewhat speechless: "...Dude, forging a Demon Sword requires sacrificing your own sister. Are you planning to sacrifice a close relative to forge the sword?"

Ainz Ooal Gown, Rayleigh, dismissed it: "Surely not? Theoretically, if you sacrifice enough powerful enough lives, you can simply temper them with their essence and resentment, right?"

Game of Thrones' Rayleigh shook his head: "According to my research, that kind of extremely vicious sword-forging method may require the soul of a close and beloved person to anchor the sword spirit, otherwise the first thing the vicious sword will do to the wielder himself."

"Moreover, our blood magic is a low-magic version, which probably can't handle the high-end operations of the Xianxia world, making it difficult to safely create a controllable [magic sword]."

Ainz Ooal Gown, Leylin, considered it and found it reasonable. He then shifted to another line of thought: "What if we combine it with the forging techniques of the Seven Deadly Sins? Would using high-level blood sacrifices to assist in forging weapons of the Seven Deadly Sins level have miraculous effects?"

Game of Thrones' Rayleigh shrugged: "You'll have to ask an expert." He pointed to Rayleigh, the dragon who was listening intently to the conversation.

Dragon Leylin stroked his chin and offered his expert opinion: "The idea is interesting, but it's unlikely to work."

"The reason why the Seven Deadly Sins is the supreme masterpiece of the Bronze and Fire King is that it was purely created by Norton with his absolute authority over fire and metal, combined with his unparalleled alchemy, without the aid of any external materials, bit by bit."

"Its alchemical domain is complete and restrained. If you forcibly introduce the resentment of external blood sacrifices or foreign energy, it's like pouring sand into a precision clock, which will most likely disrupt its internal balance."

"Not only will it not improve the quality, it may also damage the weapon's spirit, or even lead to forging failure."

Ainz Ooal Gown, Rayleigh, pressed further, "Then why did the quality of our weapons improve after we combined forging techniques from several worlds?"

Dragon Leylin said, "The past is the past, and the present is the present. Don't mistake the past for the present."

Ainz Ooal Gown, Rayleigh, said expressionlessly, "Speak like a human."

Dragon Clan member Raylin quickly explained, "Back then, we were still in the learning, referencing, and innovating stage. It's like using various good ingredients to make a new dish; there's always room for improvement no matter how you combine them."

"But it's different now. The method of forging the Seven Deadly Sins is a perfect recipe that has reached a certain extreme. Before you have fully understood and mastered all its principles, adding other strong ingredients indiscriminately will only destroy its harmony."

"More importantly—"

He paused, then continued, "Right now, I've only learned how to forge the Seven Deadly Sins according to Norton's method, like having the standard blueprints and process flow. But I don't yet have the ability to improve upon these blueprints."

"The balance here is too delicate. I dare not touch it at all. Give me decades or even hundreds of years to study it in depth, and maybe I can try to make some changes."

"Now? Let's just stick to the original recipe."

Ainz Ooal Gown, Rayleigh, summarized at the time: "To put it bluntly, it means you won't change for the time being."

Dragon Raylin readily admitted, "Yes, I dare not change it, and I will not change it."

As the memories faded, Leylin's consciousness refocused on the unfinished "Arrogance" in his hand.

The cold bronze sword reflected the flickering fire in the furnace, and also his pensive face.