This was the fruit of their hard work these days.

When Meng Bai and the others arrived at the camp, not only did they bring more than ten Forging Masters, but they also brought forging furnaces and True Fire fire seeds.

Now, even without Zhou Shu’s Iron Smelting Hands Technique, Shi Songtao could still have a forging furnace to carry out forging activities.

“Not bad.” Zhou Shu nodded. “It just so happens that we have enough manpower now, so we can start forging.”

“Your Highness,” a man with gray hair said.

“You are?” Zhou Shu asked, slightly embarrassed.

“I am Li Chengliang, an unknown grand craftsman in the Forging Division.” The man cupped his hands.

“So you’re Grand Craftsman Li. I’ve heard a lot about you,” Zhou Shu said politely. “What’s the matter, Grand Craftsman Li?”

“Your Highness.” Li Chengliang didn’t stand on ceremony and continued, “There’s no problem with forging, but with the current situation on the battlefield, it seems too late for us to forge now, right?”

Under normal circumstances, forgers could take months to years to forge a ranked weapon.

The higher the grade of the weapon, the longer it would take to forge it.

There was even a Grand Craftsman who had spent decades forging a heaven-grade weapon.

Now that war could break out at any moment on the Ten Nations Martial Arts Tournament battlefield, how could they have the time to forge weapons slowly?

If it was just forging some standard weapons, it would be fast, but what was the point?

“It’s not too late.” Zhou Shu smiled. “I’m not capable enough. I will need everyone to sacrifice yourselves.

“Under normal circumstances, we naturally take a longer time to forge. But have you ever thought that when we forge, we actually spend most of our time processing forging materials?”

The forgers nodded. Forging a ranked weapon required at least dozens of forging materials and at most hundreds. Just processing the various forging materials would take more than half the time.

“Your Highness, do you mean that we should deal with the forging materials separately and then become one and forge together?” Li Chengliang pondered.

This method had been used before.

Within a group of forgers, a Grand Craftsman usually had many assistants. These assistants ranged from Forging Apprentices to Forging Masters.

The assistants’ job was to do the initial processing of the forging materials.

But it was only the initial processing. If they really started smelting all kinds of forging materials, the difference would be huge. Grand Craftsmen and Forging Masters usually wouldn’t delegate such jobs to others.

This was because only by personally smelting the forging materials would they be able to understand their structure. In this way, the success rate of fixing the star paths would be higher.

“Exactly.” Zhou Shu nodded. “It might take months for us to forge a ranked weapon alone, but if the dozen of us work together, we can even shorten this time to a few days.

“I know what you’re worried about, Grand Craftsman Li.”

Zhou Shu smiled. “That’s not a problem. As long as everyone does as I ask, they will definitely not fail.”

Zhou Shu looked confident.

Li Chengliang was a little dazed.

Strictly speaking, Zhou Shu’s forging rank was far inferior to his.

He was a Grand Craftsman, but Zhou Shu was only able to forge black-grade weapons.

In the past, Li Chengliang would definitely not take a Forging Master of this level seriously.

However, the King of the South could not be judged by common sense.

It was true that he wasn’t a Grand Craftsman, but the weapons he forged had already dominated the Yellow-grade Armament Manual. Even the first place in the Black-grade Armament Manual was the black-grade Destroyer Sword that he had personally forged!

Even Li Chengliang couldn’t do this!

No one dared to say that their forging techniques were stronger than Zhou Shu’s.

Besides, his title spoke a thousand words.

The King of the South of Great Xia, the Side-by-side King of Great Qin, and the Country Protector King of Great Liang. Any one of them could crush a Grand Craftsman.

Moreover, this was a branch of the Huaxia Pavilion. It was impossible for him not to listen to Zhou Shu’s instructions.

Countless thoughts flashed through Li Chengliang’s mind, but he still nodded in the end. “It’s worth a try.”

He nodded. The other Grand Craftsman and Forging Masters had no objection.

Li Chengliang was the most experienced and capable person among this group of forgers.

Zhou Shu smiled. “Okay, then let’s start now.

“Previously, I borrowed Great General Meng’s weapon, and it was accidentally destroyed by a demonic beast.”

Zhou Shu’s gaze swept across everyone. “Great General Meng is the commander-in-chief of the army and a first-rank expert. On the battlefield, his role is indispensable. Without a weapon, it’s impossible for him to lead.

“So, I want to forge a weapon for Great General Meng.”

“We will definitely cooperate fully!” Li Chengliang and the others cupped their hands.

They didn’t ask about the grade of the weapon. Anyway, no matter what grade it was, the weapon forged by the King of the South would definitely not be bad.

“Your Highness, please tell us what we need to do.” Li Chengliang seemed to have returned to the days when he was learning under his teacher as a Forging Apprentice.

His posture was very straight. So what if he was being treated like a Forging Apprentice? What right did he have to be proud in front of a forging legend like the King of the South?

“We have many people. As long as everyone smelts a few forging materials, I can fuse them into one and save a lot of time.” Zhou Shu was confident. He had considered this method many times.

He distributed the process to Li Chengliang and the others.

Everyone was at least a Forging Master. After Zhou Shu told them all the precautions, they would go and smelt the forging materials.

After Zhou Shu assigned the tasks, Lu Wenshuang, who had been following Zhou Shu, whispered, “Master.”

“What is it?” Zhou Shu said without looking back.

“Master, can you forge me a weapon too?” Lu Wenshuang whispered, “My original weapon was also destroyed…”

Zhou Shu looked up with a mocking expression.

“You wish. I have to forge a weapon for you because you call me master?

“Dream on. I’m not your father. Why should I spoil you?

“I’m already being very polite by not charging you fees. You still want benefits? If you can acknowledge me as your master for the sake of the God of War Catalog, will you also join the Demon Realm if they have any divine skills in the future?”

Zhou Shu smiled faintly.

After Sun Gongping’s incident, there were few people Zhou Shu could trust. At least Lu Wenshuang wasn’t one of them yet.

“How is that possible!” Lu Wenshuang was embarrassed and angry. “That’s because it’s you. If it were anyone else, I would never…

“I, Lu Wenshuang, swear to the heavens—” She held up her finger.

“Stop. There’s no need to swear,” Zhou Shu said. “If you want me to trust you, then prove it with your actions.

“Remember, I’m your master, not your father. I have no reason to raise you. You want me to forge a weapon for you just because you call me master? My weapon isn’t so cheap!

“I’ll give you what I want. If I don’t give you anything, no one can take it away!”

Lu Wenshuang’s eyes turned red. She knew that Zhou Shu was trying to warn her about the God of War Catalog, but she knew that she was in the wrong, so she couldn’t refute him. “I understand.”

“I’m glad you understand,” Zhou Shu said coldly, “Since you’ve become my disciple and learned my cultivation technique, you can’t reap without sowing.

“As of today, you will help in the forging room.”

Zhou Shu pointed at the forgers. “You’re also a first-rank martial artist. Your spiritual essence is rich. If anyone here doesn’t have enough spiritual essence to support the True Fire, you can help catalyze it.”

Usually, forgers needed to use their spiritual essence to stimulate the True Fire in the forging furnace. This process consumed a lot of spiritual essence. This was also one of the reasons why it was more time-consuming for forgers to forge ranked weapons. After all, their spiritual essence couldn’t support them to forge weapons all the time.

“Also.” Zhou Shu paused. “I’ll teach you the Astounding Heavenly Eighteen Swords first, and then I’ll lend you the Great Destroyer Sword for the time being. Every day, you’ll go out of the camp to kill demonic beasts to practice. This is my test for you!”

Lu Wenshuang bit her lip, and a look of determination flashed across her eyes. She took the Great Destroyer Sword and said solemnly, “I understand. In the future, I’ll help out in the forging room half a day and go out to kill demonic beasts half a day. I definitely won’t disappoint you, Master.”