I'm not just human!

"Right now, we can defeat them, but they're incredibly hard to find. However, five Sacred Leyline Giants represent five fist-sized pieces of Sacred Metal! We absolutely must obtain them and bring them back to Xiafa!"

As the undisputed captain of this two-person team, she surprisingly toned down her liveliness and appeared quite composed.

[Nyakoru also clenched her little fists, quite excited:]

"Yes, to give Master a surprise!"

The two continued searching across the icy plains, and before they knew it, more than an hour had passed.

"Sister Benedict, look, what's that?"

Suddenly, Nymph pointed forward excitedly, her sky-blue eyes lit up, and her ears perked up instantly.

Following the direction she pointed, Benedict carefully examined the surface and immediately spotted a huge horizontal crack on the horizon.

The fissure was thousands of miles long and tens of thousands of meters wide, extending all the way into the ground, as if it could reach the very depths of the earth.

[Benise carefully compared the treasure map with her own, and her little face suddenly turned rosy with excitement:]

"This is it! It's exactly the same as the treasure map. Let's go, Meowkor, let's go!"

The ink stopped abruptly there.

Clearly, they were heading towards the massive rift, so the notes didn't record anything for the time being.

Xia Fa closed the notebook, but was pleasantly surprised. He never expected that Benedict and Meowkor's adventure in the Endless Realm would lead them to the lair of the Sacred Leyline Giants!

Sacred Leyline Giants are a collective term for giants that have been transformed by sacred metals absorbing the energy of the ley lines. The pure silver giant in the giant egg world was one such example.

"A full five sacred ley line giants..."

"Well, if there's danger, I'll bring them back. But if there's no danger, and they can defeat them all, then I'll probably only be missing three fist-sized pieces of holy metal..."

With this in mind, Xia Fa, who had a good rest last night, decided to enter the small world right now!

First, absorb the sacred metal I received as a gift, then master the Rhine Secret Forging Technique, and tomorrow, I'll train my body again!

If he hadn't just exercised yesterday and his muscles hadn't fully recovered from fatigue, and if his spiritual intuition hadn't told him that exercising today wouldn't be effective, he really wanted to exercise today.

However, there's only one day left, so I might as well get some rest tonight.

I'll try my best to do 100 pull-ups tomorrow during my workout!

Xia Fa was very much looking forward to seeing what incredible changes would occur.

……

The universe, the vast and boundless universe.

This is an unknown place in the universe, neither the real world nor the Astral Realm, seemingly belonging to no one at all.

In the hazy distance, one could vaguely make out dozens of figures clad in golden heavy armor, riding golden warhorses, each wielding a giant golden weapon, battling against another imposing figure in silver.

That towering, silver-white figure was incredibly brave and unstoppable; even when fighting against dozens of opponents, he held his own without being at a disadvantage.

All that could be seen was the bursting and surging of spatial turbulence, the annihilation and restoration of the void, the overlapping of time, the constant existence of past, future, and present states, the raging flames of countless black flames, and all sorts of strange phenomena that seemed to not exist in the real world, colliding with each other.

Outside this place, there were three figures whose bodies seemed as large as the universe, standing in three different directions, each with their hands outstretched, trying to maintain the stability of this area and prevent any possible aura from dissipating.

Indeed, the three true gods: [Paradox Joker], [First History], and [Silver Universe]!

"Pity."

The Paradox Joker spoke, his voice filled with deep regret:

"If it were the old [Absolute Defense], what would these thirty-odd Golden Cleaners be? There are less than a few hundred of them, and they wouldn't pose any threat to Him at all."

The voice of "[Silver Universe]" rang out, melodious and pleasant, like a young girl's whisper:

"【First History】, it's been almost ten thousand years, and you still haven't found it?"

[First History] The figure, as colossal as the universe, shook its head, a look of shame on its face:

"No, that's an 'absolute defense' shell, naturally isolated from all divination and prying, and it's beyond the scope of my authority. Besides, for most of these ten thousand years, I've been barely able to protect myself. Alas..."

The Paradox Joker offered words of comfort:

"This isn't your fault. Back then, the [Absolute Defense] was too strong, forcing the fake Nine Great Gods and the Golden Cleansers to fight tooth and nail to forcibly separate His 'power' from His 'body.' Now, His 'power' represents His return to our side, but this 'body'..."

There was something He didn't say: if [Absolute Defense] were to return to its peak and personally teach Xia Fa... both of them would be Silver Throne signatories, which would be of great benefit to Xia Fa's development and future.

Putting everything else aside, the fact that Xia Fa was taught the three divine battle techniques of [Absolute Defense]—namely, [Sighing Barrier], [Supreme Will], and [Conquering Stance]—is already quite remarkable.

[First History] exclaimed:

“Yes, if we can find the ‘body’ of [Absolute Defense] and let the ‘body’ and ‘power’ merge, [Absolute Defense] can immediately return to its peak state, and we… will have more options and responses.”

【Silver Universe】also lowered her head, her girlish voice filled with deep self-reproach:

"Actually, I've been searching for ten thousand years, but I still haven't found that 'shell' that looks like a young miner without features, with 'absolute defense'..."

Chapter 349 Forging an Ancient Treasure Exclusively for Myself! I actually encountered Axor and Cardan?

"call--"

Xia Fa let out a long breath, then leaned back and lay down in the hammock between two palm trees.

This hammock was woven by Benedict from the silk of a spider called the "cold-striped spider" found in the jungle. Lying on it is not only soft and comfortable, but also cool and refreshing, making it quite pleasant.

Now, in their own little world, Beneath and Meowkor have gone on an adventure to the Endless Realm, Nature Bee is still traveling and exploring the Protoss Realm, and Chestnut is still in that white cocoon of light.

Fortunately, Xia Fa had a feeling that Chestnut should wake up by tomorrow at the latest.

But in any case, at this moment, it's as if he's the only person in this little world.

Of course, there are many supernatural creatures in the island jungle, but none of them dare to approach this area. It is estimated that those who dare to approach have been hunted down and cooked by Benedict and Meowkor.

Thanks to the efforts of Benedict and Meowkor over the past few days, a large base nearly a kilometer square has been cleared out in this island jungle. In the center is a large treehouse, with crop fields and aquaculture fields on the sides.

In the crop fields, seeds such as wheat, strawberries, watermelons, peanuts, peppers, etc., have long been sown and planted, and they are all growing very well now.

Perhaps due to the abundance of extraordinary power in this small world, some of the crops have shown a tendency to mutate, and may very well become extraordinary plants that bear extraordinary fruits.

As for the breeding fields, they were enclosed by a circular fence, with the middle section specially divided by a fence, where giant egg chickens, woolly sheep, spotted cattle, and other supernatural creatures were raised.

Of these supernatural creatures, some were captured by Beneath and Meowkor in the island's jungle, while others were bought and brought back by Shafa in the City of Ten Thousand Stars. Of course, the two women also bought them themselves.

Besides farmland and pasture, there is a large open space in front of the cabin, furnished with barbecue grills, beach chairs, copper pot tables, and other furniture, clearly intended for relaxation, leisure, and dining.

Now, Xia Fa was lying in a hammock between two palm trees on the right side of this large clearing. The fresh air in the jungle, carrying the scent of grass and trees, soothed his tired nerves, and the breeze made him feel drowsy.

Even Xiafa himself had to admit that his little world was now too well-made by Benes and Meowkor, suitable for both vacations and retirement.

If it weren't for the fact that the Golden Cleansers would collectively awaken a year later, if it weren't for the fact that there were already nine fake Gods eyeing them covetously, if it weren't for Alm the Greatbow having officially declared war on all the extraordinary beings in the universe on behalf of the Cleansers... he would really like to live here forever.

If you run out of supplies and food, you can go to the City of Ten Thousand Stars or the City of Augustus to buy them whenever you want. If you're really bored, you can go out and meet up with your friends, or even invite them to come and play here.

Unfortunately, Xia Fa understood that unless they could completely overcome the unprecedented disaster that would occur a year later, all of this would be just empty talk.

After resting for a while, he had a sudden thought and rose from the hammock, landing smoothly on the ground.

Now that he's just one step away from becoming a god, he could have already flown using his physical strength without needing the wind from the "Etheric Source."

Just over ten minutes ago, he finished absorbing the sacred metals he had received from distinguished guests from all over the universe at this family head's grand banquet. There were tens of thousands of grains, but they were only about the size of two fists.

Moreover, some of them were things he couldn't absorb, such as the Primal Explosion Secret Uranium, the Lamenting Hymn Gold, the Absolute Cutting Copper, and so on.

Of course, after absorbing what he could, the improvement was also huge. Except for the sacred metal [Gathering of All Miracles], which no one gave him, he received everything else, which increased the power of his various overlord-level secret abilities by 10% to 20%.

Don't underestimate this one to two percent increase. It's an improvement of his current strength, which already allows him to fight against gods, by one to two percent. This shows the effect of the sacred metal.

"Hmm... for now, the only thing I haven't mastered is the Rhine Secret Forging Method. Then, I need to get some rest tomorrow and train to try and break through one hundred pull-ups..."

Xia Fa suddenly felt incredibly relieved. There were just too many things piling up before, such as advancing the understanding of the Miracle Fantasy, mastering the Origin Secret Technique, cultivating the critical second loss of control, etc. Now, he was finally almost done, with only one thing left to do.

He was actually quite curious about what would happen in the third and final stage of his physical training, after he could do 100 pull-ups every time.

Running 1,000 meters is only equivalent to running two and a half laps around the track. It's not like running 10,000 meters or 25 laps. It shouldn't be too difficult, right?

However, considering the insane difficulty of pull-ups, Xia Fa felt that he would have to experience it for himself to know.

Gathering his fleeting thoughts, without much deliberation, he flicked his sleeves, and two tiger-tooth folding knives of roughly the same size and shape appeared in his hands.

After carefully examining the two tiger-tooth folding knives, Xia Fa discovered that the hollow cavity on the back of the left tiger-tooth folding knife contained a white iron-colored steel ball, and the hollow cavity on the back of the right tiger-tooth folding knife also contained a white iron-colored steel ball.

Composing himself, he gripped the hilts of the two tiger-tooth folding knives, and suddenly poured his immense, extraordinary power—like a vast ocean—into them.

With a "hum", both tiger-tooth folding knives were fully activated, transforming into the Rhine Horse-Slaying Sword and the Catastrophe Horse-Slaying Sword respectively. Immediately afterwards, fine strands of chaotic lightning rose from the massive blades, with silver mercury vapor swirling within them.

Xia Fa suddenly felt his strength increase dramatically, as if he had inexhaustible power. At the same time, a burst of explosive intent filled his mind, as if he were holding a pair of swords and could cut down all enemies in the world.

"The spirit of the treasure? The spirit of the treasure? Has it awakened?"

Xia Fa tried calling out in his spiritual intuition, waited a while, and seeing no response, shook his head.

It seems that the spirit of this treasure was greatly depleted last time at the old forge in order to suppress the three bronze cleaners and the silver cleaners that appeared later.

Chestnut is the same; in order to "reverse" the sneak attack on him by the two Bronze Cleaners, it is still asleep.

"Those cleaners are all damned..."

After uttering his usual curse, Xia Fa had no choice but to immerse himself in the task of searching for the Rhine Secret Forging Method among the two swords.

His reason for wanting to master the Rhine Secret Forging Technique was simple: it was, after all, a secret technique left behind by an Old One, equivalent to a secret technique created by a being of godhood.

Even if you haven't signed the "Secret Treasure Apprentice" and "Secret Treasure Craftsman" contracts, just taking a look at them and understanding them will definitely be of great benefit.

After all, he was about to become a god, albeit a subordinate god, but by referring to the thinking of an Old One, he could learn something.

Suddenly, Xia Fa's mind stirred, and he saw half a dark golden orb of light inside the Rhine Blade.

The dark golden orb looked ancient and weathered, yet simple and unadorned, just like a dark golden metal ball that had been cut in half.

With a target in mind, he quickly found the other half of the dark golden orb in a similar location within the Calamity Slash Blade.

With a slight flick of his wrists, the two halves of dark golden light emerged from the back of the blade.

As soon as they appeared, they were immediately and strongly attracted to each other, suddenly merging together and instantly becoming a complete dark golden sphere of light.

The dark golden sphere spun in the air and suddenly turned straight toward Xia Fa. Then, a face similar to [Rhine Calamity] emerged from it, its eyes like cold lightning, staring sharply at him.

Xia Fa, however, was not particularly afraid; he simply looked at the human face that appeared on the dark golden sphere.

"Your Excellency... are you a wisp of soul left behind by the [Rhine Calamity]?"

He tried to ask questions cautiously, but after waiting for a long time, he still didn't receive a response.