Chapter Twenty: Named Red Lotus

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Han’s combat talent is exceptionally high, but even more remarkable is his tenacious character. That perseverance, I suspect, is the true trump card that will help him reach the pinnacle of strength. In the outer lands of the beast domain, Blue Rain’s voice sounded like heavenly music.

Red Flame nodded in agreement, “That’s right. The boy’s talents are extraordinary, and he’s able to endure hardship. He’s ruthless enough, too—just look at the battle three days ago against the Black Serpent Python. He knew he was outmatched, yet he fought with all he had, sustaining serious wounds but still managed to subdue the creature. Then he spent the night in meditation and comprehension, finally breaking through to the Third Talent Realm.”

At this point, Red Flame couldn’t help but praise, “Four years—just four short years. For most people, advancing a single rank would already be impressive, but this boy has risen three whole ranks, and he cultivates all five elements simultaneously! Truly a child of destiny, a rare anomaly among cultivators!”

“What anomaly? Han’s achievements are entirely the result of his own hard work and diligence. In these past two years, he’s shed blood and sweat—who among ordinary people could compare?” Blue Rain glanced at Red Flame, disagreeing. “Besides, you saw it yourself: Han’s dagger is damaged again. He’s been fighting intensely every day, and three daggers have already been destroyed. This can’t go on. Why don’t you forge him a better one using superior materials?”

“Superior materials?” Red Flame heard something in Blue Rain’s words and sensed trouble.

Blue Rain smiled at Red Flame, “I remember five hundred years ago, you ventured deep into the Demon Prison and brought back a piece of Red Lotus Secret Iron from the Demon Weapon Mountains. What, are you unwilling to give it to Han?”

Red Flame was momentarily speechless, retorting, “Just a piece of Red Lotus Secret Iron—why wouldn’t I?” Seeing Blue Rain’s teasing gaze, Red Flame made a show of generosity, lest he be mocked for stinginess.

After rummaging through his spatial scroll for some time, Red Flame carefully took out a chunk of ore, about the size of a stone. The ore was a dark red, shaped exactly like a blooming lotus, with a tiny lotus seed embryo at its center.

The entire red lotus shimmered with radiant light, emitting strange energy fluctuations—a true treasure.

“Blood Grade, lower quality?” Seeing the lotus seed embryo at the center, Blue Rain was somewhat surprised. She knew Red Flame possessed a high-quality piece of Red Lotus Secret Iron, but hadn’t expected it to be blood grade. Even though it was lower quality, it was already extremely rare. Blood grade items—there were fewer than a hundred across the whole continent!

Blood grade treasures are born of heaven and earth, absorbing spiritual energy to grow. When enough spiritual energy is gathered, they develop intelligence on their own. Though this Red Lotus Secret Iron was lower quality, it had begun to nurture intelligence—the lotus seed embryo was proof!

When a treasure possesses intelligence, it gains vitality. If one forges a weapon from it, the weapon might even manifest a weapon spirit!

A weapon spirit, as the name suggests, is a weapon’s soul. When the weapon spirit resonates with its master’s mind, the weapon’s power multiplies!

“Of course. The things I, Red Flame, seek are never low grade,” Red Flame said with pride. Back then, to obtain this Red Lotus Secret Iron, he not only spent much time but fought a fierce battle with the Red Scaled Python guarding it.

He summoned the forging cauldron, infused flames, and looked at the Red Lotus Secret Iron with a hint of pain. Ultimately, he gritted his teeth and threw it into the blazing cauldron.

After all, he had the Fire Cry Halberd; keeping the Red Lotus Secret Iron served little purpose. Better to forge a fine weapon to aid Han’s cultivation.

With that in mind, Red Flame focused his entire attention on the cauldron, intent on forging a weapon that would strike fear into future generations.

Half an incense stick’s time passed leisurely. After long meditation, Han finally awoke and slowly opened his eyes.

He let out a long breath, feeling the slightly purer source energy within his body, and smiled in satisfaction. Every time he fought across ranks, he gained considerable benefit. If this continued, breaking through would be inevitable.

Standing, Han brushed dust from his clothes and looked back to see Red Flame forging a weapon with the cauldron.

Han hurried over. Red Flame rarely used the cauldron for forging—in the past, he only taught Han by directly melting metals with flame.

After half an incense stick’s time refining, the Red Lotus Secret Iron showed no change, though the energy fluctuations it emitted became dreamlike under the intense heat.

Red Flame wasn’t anxious, nor could he be. Red Lotus Secret Iron was a blood grade treasure—it would not be so easily refined.

Two days passed quickly. Red Flame never left the cauldron, controlling it and the flames with utmost care. Even for him, forging blood grade Red Lotus was not guaranteed success.

After enduring high temperatures for two days, the Red Lotus Secret Iron finally began to change.

Its outer layer gradually melted into liquid, dripping downward.

Another half day passed, and the Red Lotus Secret Iron fully melted, becoming a pool of dark red liquid, swirling with strange halos that rippled and spread—truly enchanting.

“It’s melted! Next is shaping!” Having waited anxiously for two days, Han was excited to see the Red Lotus Secret Iron finally liquefied.

Red Flame dared not relax for a moment. He knew the most complex part of forging had only just begun.

The art of forging consists of three main steps: melting, shaping, and tempering.

Shaping is the most intricate and demanding. During this phase, the forger must control the cauldron’s flame temperature while continuously injecting source energy to manipulate the liquid metal into shape. Such multitasking is extremely difficult.

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Massive amounts of source energy were gradually infused into the cauldron. Red Flame carefully controlled the energy, and as it reached the Red Lotus liquid, he willed it to envelop the molten metal.

But unexpectedly, a sudden change occurred!

The previously quiet Red Lotus liquid seemed enraged by Red Flame’s source energy. With a “whoosh,” it spread out, forming a perfect circle!

As the liquid dispersed, the source energy was instantly repelled, some of it even dissipating!

Red Flame frowned, outputting large amounts of source energy again to surround the liquid!

The Red Lotus liquid clearly resisted the source energy, causing ripples that gradually formed a dark red vortex. The vortex spun rapidly, strong energy waves swirling and colliding with the incoming source energy!

“Bang!”

A low sound echoed within the cauldron, which trembled slightly.

Inside, the two forces refused to yield, struggling back and forth—one striving to envelop, the other resisting with all its might.

The deadlock persisted for nearly two hours. With the massive drain on source energy, Red Flame activated his Illusion Formula cultivation, absorbing five-element energies from the world to replenish himself.

The sky darkened as night quietly descended.

Red Flame absorbed elemental energies while outputting source energy and controlling the flames. Even with his abilities, multitasking for so long left him fatigued.

Inside the cauldron, the Red Lotus liquid continued resisting, though its energy fluctuations grew weaker.

Red Flame’s brow furrowed, his face weary. After a moment, he seemed to make a decision, unleashing all his source energy without reservation, flooding the Red Lotus liquid!

“I refuse to believe I can’t refine you!”

Vast source energy surged madly, and the Red Lotus liquid responded in kind, churning and surging as powerful energy waves spread!

“Bang!” “Bang!”

Low collisions echoed continuously within the cauldron.

Red Flame focused intently, controlling his energy as it relentlessly invaded the liquid.

Without replenishment, the Red Lotus liquid struggled for a while before finally weakening, its volume shrinking.

Seeing this, Red Flame’s spirits lifted, pressing his advantage.

The Red Lotus liquid’s resistance faltered further, shrinking under the siege of source energy.

Retreating as it shrank, the liquid reduced to the size of a fist, then ceased changing, hovering quietly as if surrendered.

Red Flame was pleased and prepared to channel energy into the liquid, but suddenly it jolted, then shot upward—escaping the cauldron and fleeing into the distance!

Startled, Red Flame quickly spread his source energy outward, rapidly closing in to surround the liquid and prevent its escape.

The liquid made a desperate dash eastward!

“Hiss!”

Upon contact, Red Flame quickly willed his energy to scatter, forcibly gripping the liquid!

The liquid struggled fiercely, but the energy held tight, making escape impossible!

After a prolonged struggle, the liquid finally surrendered, abandoning its resistance.

Red Flame’s energy surged again, fully enveloping the Red Lotus liquid and pulling it back into the cauldron.

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After this, Red Flame pressed on, splitting off a strand of energy to penetrate the liquid. The energy lingered at the edge for a moment, then slipped inside.

Once entered, the liquid trembled slightly, then gradually calmed.

Having gained control, Red Flame quickly manipulated the liquid, spreading it into the shape of a short dagger.

With the embryo formed, Red Flame focused even more, knowing a single misstep would ruin everything.

“Han, draw blood,” Red Flame suddenly instructed after a while.

Han understood immediately, taking out a small knife and slicing his wrist. Blood flowed freely.

Red Flame pointed at the blood, drawing it in with a gentle pull. The blood formed a thin line and shot into the cauldron.

Inside, the blood landed on the dagger embryo, and as it touched, the color deepened to an even darker red.

Fresh blood drawn, the cauldron’s flames continued to burn, tempering the dagger at high heat.

Half an hour passed swiftly. Finally, Red Flame judged the timing right. With two fingers, he summoned forth the dark red dagger!

“Blue Rain, temper it!” Red Flame held the dagger suspended and called out.

Blue Rain nodded, quickly producing a prepared medicinal solution and splashing it onto the dagger.

“Sss~”

The white solution hissed as it evaporated, sending wisps of white vapor into the air.

Moments later, after the solution had fully evaporated and permeated, Red Flame moved his fingers and the dagger slowly descended before the three.

Han gazed at the rotating dagger. It was about a foot long, a little longer than a typical dagger. Its body was dark red, marked by strange patterns extending to the tip. The guard was formed of two slender red lotus petals, and the handle was intricately etched—exquisite and clever.

“See if it suits you,” Red Flame said as he extinguished the flames and put away the cauldron.

Han did not hesitate, taking the dagger and testing it in his hand. It felt perfectly balanced, and he sensed a faint connection with it, as if they could communicate—he couldn’t bear to put it down.

“It’s a pity no weapon spirit was forged.” Red Flame looked at the dagger in Han’s hand, his weary face showing both satisfaction and a hint of regret. If a weapon spirit had formed, Han’s cultivation would advance faster, but there was no trace of one—the forging had failed in that regard.

“With blood grade Red Lotus Secret Iron, in your current spiritual state, forging a weapon at all is already quite impressive,” Blue Rain said.

Red Flame chuckled at her words.

“Han, give your dagger a name,” Blue Rain turned to Han.

Han did not stand on ceremony. After thinking briefly, he said, “Since this dagger was forged from Red Lotus Secret Iron, and its guard is shaped like lotus petals, let’s call it ‘Red Lotus.’ Is that alright?”

Blue Rain and Red Flame nodded in agreement.

“It’s late. Let’s rest for the night. Tomorrow, we return to the Mortal Realm,” Red Flame said.

“Return to the Mortal Realm?” Han stirred at the words.

“Yes. Now that you’ve entered the Third Talent Realm, your cultivation is no longer inferior to others. Go back and gain some experience,” Blue Rain added. “Besides, don’t you want to see your sister?”

Han’s heart trembled. A petite figure instantly filled his mind—the girl who always wore the butterfly bow he’d woven. How has she changed now?