Apotheosis

As a level one weapons refiner, Evil Lan always refined weapons using very sinister refining methods, and it was those same principles he employed to create three mysterious weapons of the highest caliber. Although Evil Lan was impressed with them all, he was proudest of the 'Hell Fire Sword' one of the top three he produced.

Hungry as he was, Evil Lan wanted to refine something stronger than mysterious weapons. His greatest ambition was to perfect some beyond that. He aspired to create spiritual weaponry!

Currently, in the world, graded weapons were worth a big fortune which only proved how desirable they were. Spiritual weaponry was much more valuable!

As one of the powerful and wealthy families in C County, the Luo Clan possessed only one top grade mysterious weapon," the Green Wind Rider Sword" which belonged to Zen's father, Mike Luo. The first-rate enigmatic sword had no equal in the C County, and Mike rarely used it. So, most of the time, it was well kept in a top secret spot at the Luo Clan, which only served to make the sword appear more incomprehensible. It was a highly sought treasure. Since killing Mike, Bryson Luo had been searching for the unique sword, but, his efforts had been in vain so far, with no trace or clues to where it might be found.

Although the sword was the highest quality for mysterious weapons, it was not a spiritual weapon after all. Every clan vied to own one, however, if an individual from an ordinary family were to obtain even one spiritual weapon, it would be devastating not only for the person who had it but for the entire clan. If someone in the Luo clan were to get a hold of one, the weapon would have to be obediently handed over, or catastrophe would befall the whole family!

Along with cons there were pros to owning a spiritual weapon, and they brought equally wondrous treasure as they did devastation. The special qualities the spiritual weapons could be imbued with varied, and some possessed the ability to accelerate the speed Kung Fu was learned, while others improved the owner's combat skills exponentially... the remarkable abilities they each held made people greedily try to secure them despite the possibility of ruin to their entire family tree.

While Zen listened to Evil Lan, he smiled bitterly. Zen's voice dripped with cynicism as he said," Crucial components to optimal weapons refinery are the best materials and the hottest fires. Since you lack either, there's no way to refine the most perfect treasure. These are universal principles to refining weapons, which I'm sure you understand better than I do. So, it's difficult to understand how you expect to be able to refine a spiritual weapon using only my flesh and blood! You can't be serious? That's beyond ridiculous..."

Although there was a time when Zen was able to indulge in reading books on many topics, including ones about alchemy and the known weapon refining theories, he wasn't very knowledgeable about either alchemy or weapons refinery. Ze

n was so obsessed with mastering martial arts that he didn't pay any particular attention to other matters.

However, with the situation he was in now he was desperate, and if there was even just the slightest flicker of hope to persuade Evil Lan to change his mind, he would take it.

"Well, it appears you grasp a little information concerning refining weapons! No matter what, it won't help you," spat Evil Lan contemptuously. Evil Lan was busily unlatching the chains from the inside of the furnace as he spoke. When he had the clanking chains freed, he yanked hard, making Zen stumble after the insane man. Evil Lan pulled Zen out of the copper furnace, and when Evil Lan hurled him into a nearby cage, he made a deafening "thud" sound that echoed through the cavern as he landed heavily. Looking up at his captor as he was propelled into the small metal prison, Zen saw a smile growing on Evil Lan's face as he proclaimed," The rare, precious materials I require are too far away and I am not strong enough to procure them. The fire I am using is second rate. To be able to cultivate a spiritual weapon, I have to utilize a more creative route and employ dark magic since it is the only chance I will have in producing a spiritual weapon. Throwing you in the weapon refining furnace is merely another step to refining the spiritual weapon. Hey! Let's hope for the best! After all, your flesh and blood are very special indeed. Who knows, maybe I will be lucky as always."

Let's hope for the best...

This was a truth every weapon refiner believed, and the phrase they uttered worldwide.

No one would deny that refining weapons with fire relied on ninety percent strength and ten percent luck.

To most people, it would seem that luck did not play much of a factor in the process.

Still, some weapon refiners created some of the best treasures because of that ten percent luck.

Others however, spent a lifetime following the standard rules, only to end up with nothing to show for their work. In the long run, it all came down to fortune, and some refiners had none or ran out of their luck.

From that angle, luck was slightly relevant while at the same time, it might be considered the most critical part of the whole process.

Weapon refiners would say," Let's hope for the best" while refining the weapons because in their hearts, luck was important.

The tradition was the same as uttering "God bless us" which was used by some religious factions.

As he thought about everything, Zen couldn't believe how his life came down to just being a gamble on luck to Evil Lan. A profound unwillingness to accept the reality arose in Zen's heart, but, he laughed bitterly to himself, thinking, 'There's nothing I can do to change this.'

All he could do was sit there and blame himself for being too weak.

Although Zen was making fast progress in the past month, and he was able to improve from the flesh refining level to the organ refining level, it wasn't enough.