Chapter 130
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 130
Chapter Title: Surpassing the Sacred Flame Artisan
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A high-end Chinese restaurant nestled in the bustling streets of Borsippa.
While waiting for their ordered dishes to arrive, the middle-aged man sitting across from them, Li Wen, opened his mouth with a serious expression.
"My father, the Sacred Flame Artisan, is trash."
"Pfft! Cough! Cough!"
Louise spat out her tea at Li Wen's bombshell statement.
Lee Se-hun pulled out a tissue and handed it to her while eyeing Li Wen, who sat there utterly unfazed.
"The Sacred Flame Artisan?"
"Yes. The world might hail him as humanity's greatest blacksmith, but that's far from the truth."
Li Wen spoke casually about something that would horrify anyone else if they overheard. Seeing no change from his pre-regression self, Lee Se-hun asked calmly,
"In what way is he trash?"
"If I had to pick the biggest issue... he has no clue about the true value of the weapons he creates."
Li Wen took a sip of his tea and fixed Lee Se-hun with a grave look.
"Do you know what's going on in China right now?"
"Seven S-rank heroes are pulling the Chairman's strings, aren't they?"
"Exactly."
Not long after the Hero's Tower and Myriad Demons' Mire appeared, the entire world descended into chaos from the emergence of heroes and monsters.
Superhumans who could utterly disregard existing social structures. Mysterious beasts endlessly spawning, corrupting the land.
Nations teetered on the brink of paralysis amid the internal and external turmoil, and many ultimately shattered. China was one of them.
"They shone in the war against the Myriad Demons' Mire, gaining immense power and fame, which naturally led to political influence. And the Sacred Flame Armaments drove the final nail in that coffin."
Sacred Flame Armaments.
Weapons personally forged by the Sacred Flame Artisan—all legendary grade, famed for maximally amplifying the user's abilities.
To what extent? Heroes barely rated A-rank would acquire one and be recognized as S-rank within three months.
Thus, among heroes, Sacred Flame Armaments were must-haves, commanding immense prestige.
"The Sacred Flame Armaments aren't just weapons; they're badges of endorsement from the Summit Climber himself, the Sacred Flame Artisan. No one in China dares challenge them because of it."
"......"
"Thousands of heroes have vanished, and the civilian death toll is beyond counting. They're committing atrocities rivaling the Myriad Demons' Mire, all in the shadows."
Li Wen spoke with undisguised contempt, wetting his throat with tea before continuing.
"Yet my father shows no sign of withdrawing their power—in fact, he couldn't care less. He's holed up in his forge, too busy smelting materials they bring him."
"......"
"And a few years ago... Sigh. Never mind. No need to delve that deep."
Calming his boiling emotions, Li Wen regarded Lee Se-hun with steadier eyes.
"In short, I don't believe my father deserves the pedestal he's on."
"Even Summit Climbers aren't flawless," Lee Se-hun replied.
Li Wen nodded.
"Precisely. It's an obvious truth, yet too many fail to reflect on it."
Summit Climbers are never perfect.
A novel concept to most, but self-evident to Lee Se-hun, who had witnessed their deaths pre-regression.
Far from perfect.
Overwhelmingly powerful yet not invincible; resolute, yet their gazes twisted somewhere.
Recalling what Summit Climbers truly were, Lee Se-hun asked,
"So, what do you want from me?"
"How about surpassing my father, the Sacred Flame Artisan?"
"Pfft! Cough! Gah...!"
This time, Louise truly choked, hacking violently as if dying.
One might wonder why the fuss, but this was the normal reaction.
Even an S-rank hero would scoff at such words—let alone a first-year freshman who enrolled this year.
Anyone else in Lee Se-hun's place would peg Li Wen as delusional.
And pre-regression, that's exactly how he was treated.
Lee Se-hun patted Louise's back while eyeing Li Wen, who tossed out madness so nonchalantly, then and now.
"Are you scouting me?"
"That works, or even simple sponsorship or a deal. What I ask is that you resolve to surpass the Sacred Flame Artisan."
"Hmm. And what's in it for me?"
Not questioning feasibility, but rewards. At that pragmatic response, Li Wen's eyes gleamed.
"Anything needed to achieve that goal? I'll stake my life to procure it."
Li Wen spoke with utter conviction. Lee Se-hun pondered briefly before replying,
"I need some time to think."
"Of course. Whichever way you decide, just contact me via the card I gave you."
As Li Wen rose, Lee Se-hun looked puzzled.
"Not staying for the meal?"
"Haha. I'm perceptive enough not to crash a date."
"Pfft!"
"......"
"......"
After the third tea spray, both Li Wen and Lee Se-hun stared at Louise with odd expressions as her face flushed crimson. She exploded,
"It's because you keep saying weird stuff!!"
"......Ahem. Anyway, I'll take my leave."
As Li Wen bowed and headed out, something clicked for Lee Se-hun.
"If we sign on, is it with MT Industries?"
Pre-regression, Li Wen ran LW Company under his own name.
So what was this MT Industries he worked for now?
Li Wen paused, then shook his head.
"No. I'm planning to go independent from MT Industries soon, so it'd be with my own company then."
"Is the current MT Industries president...?"
"Kaden Miller. My father's disciple."
Kaden Miller—the name from the Dream Demon's lips. Lee Se-hun's eyes sharpened.
"Any idea what they're exhibiting at the expo?"
Li Wen answered, puzzled but obliging.
"A device to control surrounding flames. Apparently modeled after the lost Five Elements Armament, the Flame Heaven Blade's ability."
"......I see."
With the puzzle pieces falling into place, Lee Se-hun nodded impassively.
"I'll contact you once I decide."
Li Wen bowed and exited. Once the door closed, Louise asked Lee Se-hun,
"You're really gonna work with that guy?"
"We'll see."
Pre-regression, Li Wen eased access to the Sacred Flame Artisan, but issues lingered.
The Artisan himself is indifferent, but Li Wen despises him—starts off hostile no matter what.
His words painted a noble grudge, but a personal one lurked beneath.
How dare he say I lack parental rights... after snatching a babe not even weaned from her parents?!
A drunken confession post-contract pre-regression.
The Sacred Flame Artisan had suddenly appeared years ago, claiming he'd raise his granddaughter himself, and whisked her away. Li Wen hadn't seen his daughter since.
Timing-wise... she's about five now.
Losing his daughter overnight to his inhuman-seeming father—who wouldn't snap?
Thus, without planning outright hostility toward the Artisan, his ties with Li Wen needed careful thought.
And Kaden Miller's a concern too...
A Flame Heaven Blade mimic. Zhuque byproduct. Gongyang's special ritual device.
As the mental puzzle aligned, a knock sounded. The door opened, and staff began setting dishes on the table.
An extravagant spread at a glance. Lee Se-hun tabled his thoughts.
"Let's eat first."
"Yeah. Ugh, all that coughing dried out my throat..."
Despite the drama, Louise's expression softened at the food. As she reached for tea, Lee Se-hun slyly remarked,
"Dig in, babe."
"Gulp...?!"
"Tch."
Louise froze mid-sip. Foiled, Lee Se-hun clicked his tongue.
She whipped around, eyes narrowing, then steeled herself and took a deliberate sip.
"Pfft!!"
"Argh!"
She blasted tea full-force at Lee Se-hun's face.
With tasks set for each event, Lee Se-hun's routine settled into a pattern.
Spar with active heroes in Aqar Quf to sniff out Gongyang's mole, then hit the expo for Lan Fei's explanations on exhibits and setups.
Evenings, he'd borrow a private forge in the Forging Department main building to craft mass-producible sword aura gear for the show.
Scraaaape—
Each grind on the whetstone honed the blade sharper.
After edging and rinsing the blade clean, Lee Se-hun infused mana into its core.
Voooong!
Mana seeped in, refining once, then channeling through the surface enchant for a second pass.
After dual refinement, optimized mana coalesced along the edge, manifesting as:
Kiiiiing—!
A faint hum accompanied the surge of pristine white sword aura.
Lee Se-hun narrowed his eyes at the white-light-based mass-producible aura.
Hmm... performance is solid enough.
Aura integrity was decent, and mana efficiency—once an issue—much improved via Leah's enchant.
D-rank heroes could squeeze out several sword techniques at full throttle.
Durability's fine too, and scalable without much hassle.
In an era dismissing mass-producible auras as fiction, demoing this would stun everyone.
Yet an odd dissatisfaction nagged him. He pinpointed it easily.
It doesn't satisfy my eyes.
Benchmarking against himself—a regressor, not others—made this straightforward.
He'd seen future iterations refined through endless trials. What couldn't he replicate?
To satisfy himself, mere replication wouldn't cut it; it needed evolution.
It's my first anyway—why not push performance further?
If someone had already succeeded, churning these out would backfire.
Unleashing decades-ahead tech amid mediocrity? Instant alien suspicions.
But not now.
No one had cracked mass-producible auras yet—his creation would set the bar. No issues.
Resolved, Lee Se-hun scrapped his mental blueprint and redesigned from scratch.
Too generic first off.
Mass-producibles prized versatility, but didn't need mediocrity in power.
Pulling Leah's enchant schematics, he gripped a pencil after ages and tweaked the runes.
"Refine the compression formula... mimic mental image application in manifestation..."
He'd only formally studied enchanting post-regression, but past glimpses gave him intuition over theory.
Sensing viability intuitively, he polished Leah's work, redesigning the sword blueprint mentally to match.
Special whetstone for the blade works. Costly mana stone liquid coating boosts output.
Prior design leveraged standard mass facilities cheaply; now, dedicated setups were needed.
Budget implosion unknown, but Lee Se-hun ignored it.
Not my money anyway.
With Myers footing the bill, he freely innovated unbound for ages.
Unfettered by cost or materials, pure optimization birthed a blueprint skeleton swiftly. Last: which aura to emulate?
Best sword aura type?
White Light was fine, but this design suited another.
Recalling known auras, one surfaced naturally.
Origin.
The sword left by Myers' great-grandpatriarch, infused with Aria's aura.
Its form, pulse, pre-regression traits—visualizing aligned the structure mentally.
Forces any blade to its hue.
Unyieldingly overwriting with its color, brooking no alternatives—like dictating aura's true form.
Structure solidified into blueprint. Lee Se-hun's eyes gleamed.
"This is it."
Now, forge and test.
He fetched iron, heated it in the furnace, hammered away.
Clang! Clang!
Forging shaped it into a longsword.
Gazing down, an ages-old, familiar-yet-loathsome sound echoed in his ears.
Roooooar—
Waves crashing faintly from afar.
His mental image conveyed it—the sound of the world perishing. Amid that eerie calm, Lee Se-hun forged silently.
A straight longsword emerged. He engraved the upgraded Leah enchant, infused mana.
Voooong!
Mana raced inward like a vortex.
Instantly refined, it spun in the enchant as golden cogs whirred vibrantly across the blade, erupting light.
Then, like a volcanic blast, fully processed mana surged outward along the edge.
Shwaaaak!
Golden sword aura drowned the wavesurge, blazing upward.
"Oh..."
Imperfect yet unmistakably Myers clan gold—flawless prototype. His lips twitched upward when:
Skill 'Shallow Charge Sword (S)' adds 'Gold Origin'.
"......Huh?"
The abrupt alert. Too apt for coincidence. Sensing more, Lee Se-hun dismissed the mass aura and tested Gold Origin.
"......No way."
Vooooong!
Mana refined internally exploded outward as sword form.
Power surged, threatening to shatter the blade.
Shwaaaaak!!
Brilliant Myers gold—vastly superior to the mass aura—unfurled perfectly from Lee Se-hun's hand.