I Can Strengthen Infinitely

Chapter 418 - 274: Celestial Fire Divine Blade (Extra 3/8)

"Since this blade became so extraordinary after being fused with the power of Celestial Fire, I’ll call you the Celestial Fire Divine Blade." Qin Yuesheng laughed.

He casually swung the blade at a nearby iron ingot—just like slicing through tofu, it was instantly chopped in two. At the point of the cut, the metal even melted, drops of molten iron dripping onto the ground with a hissing sizzle, blue smoke billowing up.

Though the Celestial Fire Divine Blade was remarkable, it also had a major flaw.

Namely, the blade’s temperature was so high that it was truly difficult to find a suitable scabbard.

After all, materials like leather, wood, or iron clearly couldn’t hold the Celestial Fire Divine Blade for long.

It was likely that the moment he strapped it to his back, the scabbard would be burnt and melted away, injuring Qin Yuesheng himself.

Staring at the crimson Celestial Fire Divine Blade, Qin Yuesheng couldn’t help but remember the Cold Frost Winter Snow Sword, which had once been grasped together with the Celestial Demon Evil Blade by the remains of the Celestial Demon. If only he could use the materials of that sword to forge a scabbard, storing the Celestial Fire Divine Blade would be no problem at all.

Unfortunately, heavenly treasures and wondrous minerals are things that come by fate, not by searching. For Qin Yuesheng, finding suitable materials for a scabbard on the spot was truly not easy.

Stabbing the Celestial Fire Divine Blade into the ground, as soon as Qin Yuesheng let go, the blade, losing the suppression of his Inner Strength, immediately erupted with blazing flames, rising like a torch on the spot.

"Until I can find something suitable to use as a scabbard, it’s really not safe to carry this on me," Qin Yuesheng muttered to himself.

He piled dirt up around the Celestial Fire Divine Blade. Once Qin Yuesheng confirmed the flames wouldn’t spread, he left the mansion, putting away the Mountain Ghost Pearl.

Having stayed in Yangzhou Prefecture for so many days, he figured it was about time to remove the Life-and-Death Cold Ice Talismans from those of the Tai Sui Alliance and Twelve Linked Rings.

Although none of them were real martial artists, bit by bit, they were at least a part of the Sanhuang power base.

After informing Liu Xian that he’d be gone a few days, Qin Yuesheng flew out of Yangzhou Prefecture, heading straight for Cyan Yang City.

Liu Xian still had the Life-and-Death Cold Ice Talisman planted within him, so Qin Yuesheng wasn’t worried that the guy would try any funny business while he was away.

...

Letting Sanhuang use Meteor Mountain as their foothold—Qin Yuesheng had his reasons.

Since ancient times, to fight a war, what you need most are soldiers and money.

With soldiers, you can make war; with money, you can buy weapons, armor, horses, provisions, and pay; all so soldiers are willing to risk their lives for you.

Though Qin Yuesheng was born to the Qin family and had some wealth, it was just pocket money. If he tried to fund an army with it, it would be like poking a finger into a water tank—no hope of plugging the flow.

Even if Qin Yuesheng had scraped together a lot of money from Gold Dragon Silver Phoenix Hall, it was clear that to maintain an army on it, he couldn’t last more than a few days.

Historically, the sources of wealth for rebel armies came from three ways.

First, they might have wealthy backers, supporting them with cash and grain, just like a force such as the Gold and Silver Pavilion.

Second, they live off war itself—plunder every city, rob every county, leaving nothing but devastation in their wake, like a swarm of locusts passing through.

Third, the rebels themselves come from illustrious backgrounds, loaded with money.

Sanhuang was set to follow the second road, but Qin Yuesheng truly felt that couldn’t last; there was no destiny of ruling the realm with such chaos. That’s why he’d thought of the massive gold mine deep within Meteor Mountain—even after the previous explosion buried it, he remembered exactly where it was. With just a bit of excavation, he could bring that gold mine back to light, providing Sanhuang with endless military funding—the proper path forward.

Using the ultimate speed of "So Close Yet Worlds Apart," Qin Yuesheng reached Meteor Mountain in just half a day and began searching for the whereabouts of Sanhuang’s men.

After some scouting, luck was with him: Qin Yuesheng finally found signs of life at the former Tai Sui Alliance base—a sizeable crowd, unmistakably belonging to Sanhuang.

No one failed to recognize Qin Yuesheng’s face. That day, he single-handedly defeated Liu Xian’s navy; whether bandits from Twelve Linked Rings or navy soldiers, everyone had seen it loud and clear.

Seeing this harbinger of doom swoop from the sky, the crowd instinctively scattered in fear.

Qin Yuesheng had no intention to exchange pleasantries; he headed straight for the highest spot in the fort, which was formerly built by the Tai Sui Alliance. From his years of experience, the top brass usually gathered there.

Sure enough, as Qin Yuesheng approached, Sanhuang, Du Xiaoqing, and the others, having heard the news, immediately rushed out the door.

Sanhuang exclaimed with delight, "Master, you’re here!"

"So, are you all settled in here?" Qin Yuesheng asked.

Sanhuang nodded, "No problems. Just as you instructed, Master, we set up camp in Meteor Mountain. Never expected to find a spot like this within the mountain—we took it over and saved a lot of time and effort rebuilding."

"Don’t get too comfortable. Your reason for coming ashore isn’t to settle for a change of scenery." Qin Yuesheng entered the house, which had already been rearranged as Juyi Hall.

Walking in through the door, he saw two rows of chairs lined up neatly, and further inside, directly facing the entrance, a big tiger-skin throne—clearly reserved for Sanhuang.

"Master, please take the seat!" Sanhuang hurried up to greet Qin Yuesheng.

Qin Yuesheng didn’t stand on ceremony, plopping right onto the tiger-skin throne.

Sanhuang stood respectfully beside him, while Du Xiaoqing and the others took their seats on the side, all eyes on Qin Yuesheng, awaiting his orders.

"You’ve been at Meteor Mountain for a while now; have you scouted out the terrain?" Qin Yuesheng asked.

"Bring out the map," Du Xiaoqing called out to the doorway.

Soon, two water bandits carried in a table and set it down three paces from Qin Yuesheng.

Qin Yuesheng took a look and saw that on top of the table was a sheet of white paper; in its center, a detailed map drawn in black ink, depicting the interior of Meteor Mountain.

He immediately noticed a large circle, pointing straight at it: "Is this the giant Celestial Star deep inside Meteor Mountain?"

Sanhuang replied, "Yes, Master, this marks the Celestial Star."

Qin Yuesheng had planned on leading them to the gold mine’s location in person, but with this detailed map in hand, no need for the hassle. He promptly dismissed everyone except Sanhuang and Du Xiaoqing, then pointed at the Celestial Star’s location, "A massive gold mine is buried here—absolutely enormous. Find a way to extract it. If you can dig up that gold mine, you’ll never have to worry about army funds and pay again."

Du Xiaoqing’s eyes lit up instantly, never expecting Qin Yuesheng had already covered this angle.

When Qin Yuesheng named Du Xiaoqing Sanhuang’s Military Advisor earlier, the issue of army funds had already weighed on his mind—their numbers were pushing ten thousand, with daily food and drink a costly drain. Without a source of cash, forget conquering Jiangnan; they’d be lucky to even eat.

Back when he was the leader of Twelve Linked Rings, Du Xiaoqing had a keen interest in military treatises, and knew full well, "Before the troops march, provisions must go first"—secure the logistics, and you secure the lifeblood of the army.

Taking Sanhuang and Du Xiaoqing out back to the yard, Qin Yuesheng tossed out the Mountain Ghost Pearl, instantly revealing the mansion’s stockpile of golds, silvers, jewels, and treasures.

Sanhuang had never laid eyes on so much treasure before, and was immediately stunned.

Du Xiaoqing, as the head of Twelve Linked Rings, managed to keep his composure.

"Use these for daily expenses for now, but don’t slack off when it comes to the gold mine," Qin Yuesheng said. With a wave of his hand, two whole mountains of gold shifted out from the mansion, landing outside.

Gold ingots scattered from the mountain tops, rolling everywhere.

With these two piles of gold, Sanhuang and the others could live comfortably for a while; as long as they were willing to work hard, uncovering the gold mine wouldn’t be difficult.

"Ah!!"

"Monster!"

As Du Xiaoqing was about to raise his expansion plans for Sanhuang, just then, a rumble and shake, flying debris and sand, swept through the area.

The daylight seemed to dim. Qin Yuesheng was baffled and took to the air, intent on seeing what the hell was going on.

Outside the fort, a huge shadow came slithering closer—a thick, long body crawling forward, making the ground tremble, crashing through thick trees as they toppled before its bulk.

Qin Yuesheng widened his Biluo Eye’s field of vision, instantly seeing the creature’s true form.

Black-scaled all over, tongue flicking from its jaws, its eyes grey and empty.

A giant serpent!

The closer the serpent came to the fort, the more the water bandits screamed in terror—though reckless in their former lives, none had ever seen such a monster, and their nerves couldn’t take it. Panic scattered them in every direction.

Qin Yuesheng suddenly recalled something: when training Tiger Crane Double Form Fist with Qin Yue, he’d heard a tale.

There were three dangers in Meteor Mountain: bandits, "Here I Come," and the man-eating serpent.

Everyone said that those who saw the serpent never left its mouth, so most people only spotted its shadow from afar, never witnessing its true form.

Could it be that the very serpent before his eyes was that legend?

How odd—Qin Yuesheng had roamed Meteor Mountain countless times and had never encountered any hint of such a creature.

Yet now, Sanhuang’s group had barely arrived, and already they got a close-up encounter. Who knew if that was luck or misfortune.

The serpent slithered up to the fort, raising its head to smash through the gates and break in.

The water bandits guarding the gates were utterly demoralized, spirit broken, unwilling—even afraid—to fight back, scurrying to hide wherever they could.

Qin Yuesheng said, "I’ve just forged my Celestial Fire Divine Blade, and now here comes a monster for me to test its edge on—splendid! Today, I’ll rid Meteor Mountain of its final terror myself!"