From Abyssal Invasion to Bursting Stars with a Single Sword-Chapter 177 - 148: Ruthlessly Squeezing the Conglomerates Who Want to Enter Quenching Castle

"Really shameless, we were dealing with the fog problem to save the Liu River nuclear power station; we had no time for a fight. But that son of a bitch actually says we are scared to fight!" Lin Zeyu was very angry.

He just got back, and people from various circles had already sent him messages about this.

Now the rumor that the Da Xia swordsmen were too scared to accept the challenge, using official power to expel the Fusang Sword Master, was spreading like wildfire.

Lu Heng originally didn't know about this until Lin Zeyu told him. After hearing it, he wasn't the least bit angry.

When your opponents start to use public opinion as a weapon, it means they dare not take action.

Lu Heng's usual approach was, if you can fight, then don't waste time talking.

Moreover, fog had appeared all over the world.

Fusang was no exception; many islands in Fusang had also been enveloped in fog.

That Kashima Sword Master from Fusang wasn't thinking about protecting nuclear power stations or anything like that; he was just fixated on how to regain face for his disciple.

Lu Heng wasn't interested in responding to such things; if the other party dared to challenge him, he'd simply fight.

In a duel, whoever wins is right.

The person who loses, the more rumors they spread, the more they look like a clown.

So, as long as Saito Takeji dared to issue another challenge, Lu Heng would accept it.

...

The next day.

The weather was clear, and the temperature was pleasant.

After over two months of development, the existence of the ninth tunnel under Century Bridge had already spread within the Superpower User circles.

Therefore, there were always people guarding beneath Century Bridge.

With the mid-phase of the Abyss invasion, there were already double-digit Quenching Masters within Da Xia's borders.

So, not only the Chunshang Group, but many other conglomerates entered the fray, spending huge sums to cultivate Quenching Masters.

However, these Quenching Masters all needed to enter the Abyss World and use the Abyss World's Quenching Furnace to perform quenching.

Thus, Quenching Castle, this quenching channel on Blue Star, remained a scarce resource.

This is why all the major conglomerates wanted to send people into Quenching Castle to gain this channel for weapon quenching.

It had made Century Bridge a contested strategic location, with all of them engaged in an unending overt and covert struggle.

Under these circumstances, it was not suitable to leave the door open anymore.

Lin Zeyu also had a headache: "Quenching Castle seems to have been closed for many days now, what should we do? Can we still go in? The company has taken on a lot of orders lately; if we can't complete them, we'll have to pay penalties."

As the Abyss invasion reached the mid-phase, the number of Superpower Users who had been to the Abyss Battlefield was increasing.

The number of Abyss Creatures appearing around the world was also on the rise, as were the drops of Crystal Cores and quenching materials.

Consequently, the number of Superpower Users in need of quenching began to increase.

And Huan Yu Company was currently the only one in Da Xia that dared to offer a 75% guaranteed success rate for quenching.

This kind of temptation was irresistible to Superpower Users.

Hence, quenching orders came fluttering in like snowflakes.

After being out for ten days, he had already accumulated more than thirty orders, which needed to be completed as soon as possible.

Lu Heng had planned to go to Quenching Castle today to perform the third forging on the Aurora Blade.

The Black Crystal Forging Stones extracted from the Flame Demon were B-grade forging stones, suitable for forging C-grade and B-grade weapons.

However, if B-grade weapons were to be forged, one Black Crystal Forging Stone wouldn't be enough.

If forced, the success rate was very low.

Luckily, Lu Heng had another set of forging materials, the Fusang Name Blade "Izumi no Tora Cuts," which was also a B-grade Tachi, with quite impressive attributes itself.

But Lu Heng had no use for keeping it, so it was better used as forging material.

After getting ready, he took his forging materials and was about to leave when he waved to Lin Zeyu, "Come on, I'll take you to Quenching Castle."

Lin Zeyu quickly sprang up from the couch and asked, "Through Century Bridge? You can't get there anymore; several conglomerates have started stationing people there twenty-four hours a day."

Lu Heng smiled and said, "Just follow me. Bring the materials."

"Okay!" Lin Zeyu's eyes sparkled with inexplicable excitement.

He didn't know what method Lu Heng had to enter Quenching Castle, but he was sure Lu Heng had a way.

The two of them drove to the river embankment road. When they were 500 meters away from Century Bridge, Lu Heng asked the driver to stop.

Lin Zeyu hurriedly followed, glancing toward the direction of Century Bridge.

One glance was enough to spot several Superpower Users guarding the embankment; they weren't regular pedestrians or tourists, they were definitely sent by the conglomerates.

Lin Zeyu took the box down from the car and asked curiously, "Are we going to use invisibility to get there? But Su Muyu isn't here."

Lu Heng didn't answer his question, getting out of the car and directly entering the old clock tower on the embankment road, climbing the stairs.

Lin Zeyu realized they weren't going to Century Bridge, his eyes lighting up, "Is this a new entrance?"

"Right, you might consider taking over this clock tower," Lu Heng said offhandedly.

"I'll have someone buy the clock tower as soon as I get back," Lin Zeyu responded immediately upon hearing it was a new entrance. Such an important asset of course had to be secured.

It would be a major loss if, like the ninth tunnel of Century Bridge, it were to be watched by other conglomerates.

The large clock in this clock tower had actually been out of use for a while, in a state of disrepair.

There had been rumors a couple of years ago that the clock tower was going to be demolished for redevelopment.

However, for some reason, nothing came of it later on.

Lu Heng climbed to the top of the clock tower, wound up the big clock, set the hour and minute hands to twelve, and then turned and stepped into the wall beside him.

Lin Zeyu had already experienced this kind of wall-penetrating event before, so he hurriedly followed, stepping into the wall.

The next second, they entered the front courtyard of the Quenching Castle.

This time, Master Gulu wasn't playing with cockroaches in the front courtyard, with no idea where he had gone.

Lin Zeyu shouted out loud, "Master Gulu, we've come to see you, and I've brought the best pastries from Coastal."

Hearing the voice, Gulu appeared lethargically at the castle entrance.

"What's going on?" Lu Heng asked curiously.

"It's so boring. As soon as Quenching Castle opened, a bunch of strange people came in. Last time, someone even sneaked into the castle trying to steal something. Now I dare not open the door anymore. But then, it's boring without anyone coming in," Gulu began to complain.

Lu Heng thought for a moment and asked, "When do you want people to come in, and how many at a time? Tell me, maybe I can think of a way to help you."

Gulu tilted his head and thought for a while, saying three days would work, letting in about ten people at a time, but it would be better to pick and choose who came in.

Hearing his request, Lu Heng smiled and said, "That's easy. We could simply open up two fixed days a week. Let's set it for Wednesday and Saturday.

"As for who to invite, we can let Lin Zeyu be in charge. Create a Quenching Castle Club that operates on a membership basis. Only those who have been screened can come in."

On hearing such a great offer, Lin Zeyu eagerly agreed, "I can do it. I'll make sure to satisfy the master. Whether they want beauties or great beauties, it's not a problem."

Lu Heng gave him a disdainful look. Was he planning to ensnare Gulu with the promise of beautiful women?

If delivering beauties could've worked, those tycoons would have occupied Quenching Castle long ago.

After all, to those at the pinnacle of the pyramid, beauty was not a scarce resource.

Seeing Gulu interested in the idea, Lu Heng took the box from Lin Zeyu's hands, "I'll go to quench, and you discuss the details with the master."

"No problem. Master, let's go in and discuss the details. I'll take notes of your requirements to make sure everything's perfectly managed," Lin Zeyu said, looping his arm around Gulu's shoulder as they walked inside the castle, preparing to get the Quenching Castle Club up and running.

If this project succeeded, he would hold the pass to enter Quenching Castle.

This authority, if used well, could lead to an instant rise.

...

Lu Heng arrived at the forging room and began by completing the orders he had taken.

There were a total of 37 orders, of which 35 required quenching, while two involved spirit injection.

Lu Heng started with quenching first, succeeding in 32 out of the 35 attempts.

The quenching success rate was 91.4%, far above the Huan Yu Company's guaranteed success rate.

This content is taken from freёnovelkiss.com.

The high success rate was also because the quenching levels of the weapons in these orders weren't very high.

The lower the weapon quenching level, the higher the success rate of quenching indeed tended to be.

After completing the quenching, he proceeded with two spirit injections, both of which were successful.

Huan Yu Company did take spirit injection orders, but they didn't guarantee success.

That's because spiritual injection materials are too scarce, and there are too many types.

For example, there's only one set of Melt Armor spiritual injection materials on the market, with no second set to be found.

Even if a guarantee were offered for spirit injection, a second set of materials for reattempt couldn't be found in case of failure.

Moreover, spirit injection is more difficult than quenching, and while the major conglomerates are competing in the quenching business, none have yet entered the spirit injection market.

Therefore, only Lu Heng could take spirit injection orders. Whether the process was successful depended on personal luck; if it failed, the client had to bear the consequences.

For those unwilling to take that risk, the solution is simple.

Just decline the order.

Fortunately, both spirit infections succeeded this time.

[Spirit Injection Completed, Quenching Master Professional Experience +50]

After 35 quenching attempts plus two spirit injections, the Quenching Master Professional Experience finally maxed out.

[Quenching Master experience reached (2000/2000), promoted to Advanced Quenching Master.]

[Vice Profession: Advanced Quenching Master (10/3000)]

[Advanced Quenching Master: Quenching success rate +30%, Spirit Injection success rate +20%, Flame Resistance +30%]

With the upgrade in the vice profession, the success rates for quenching and spirit injection both increased, and flame resistance also increased to 30%.

Huan Yu Company had recently changed the payment method for taking orders; now, the counterparty is required to pay with quenching materials.

So from these 37 orders, Lu Heng earned five Quenching Essences.

He then proceeded to quench the Aurora Blade, feeding in Quenching Essence, melting, pouring, quenching, cooling...

After two consecutive quenching attempts, which were successful, the Quenching Level of the Aurora Blade increased from +7 to +9, reaching the maximum quenching level.

[Superior Aurora Blade+9 (Abyss Integration)]

[Item Level: B Grade]

[Specifications: Length 132 centimeters, blade width 3.6 centimeters, weight 1.8 kilograms]

[Attribute: Attack Power 230]

[Special Effect: Spirit Slash LV2, Sharp Blade]

[Evaluation: A weapon crafted from Aurora Original Stone, inflicting Sharp Blade damage during an attack. Extremely high quality; a rare sword-type weapon.]

After completing the quenching, Lu Heng swung the Aurora Blade to test the effect after reaching the maximum quenching level.

Then, Lin Zeyu and Gulu entered the forging room, laughing and talking, clearly having a great time.

Taking advantage of Gulu's good mood, Lu Heng said, "Master Gulu, I've brought forging materials today. Let's perform a three forging on the Aurora Blade."