Chapter 428: Is There Anything Easier Than Combining Materials?
"You can stare as long as you want—no charge—but could you at least give me an answer? Can it be done or not?"
Steven noticed the way Nian kept eyeing him—and the sword—as if she wanted to devour them both. He quickly sheathed Yamato and looked seriously at the dragon-not-dragon girl covered in tattoos.
He needed a clear answer. If even she couldn't do it… he'd have no choice but to rely on his Mods.
"Hah~ If you want a definitive answer, then—at least for now—there's no method I know of that can achieve what you're asking. That already surpasses the limits of my forging authority."
After taking a deep breath to compose herself, Nian shook her head, giving him a blunt but honest truth.
And if she couldn't do it—then no one else on Terra could. Not other blacksmiths, not even other Feranmuts. It simply wasn't something within their reach.
"Buuut…"
Steven was just about to stand up and leave, disappointment evident—when Nian suddenly dangled a hopeful-sounding word.
"But what? Don't start talking like that green-furred lynx who only speaks in riddles. I hate dealing with people like that."
Steven casually threw shade at a certain hardworking green medical operator currently still in the office.
"I mean—I can't do it. And no one else on this land can, either. But that doesn't mean the sword itself doesn't know."
Nian pointed at the now-docile katana resting obediently at Steven's waist.
"If it really has the all-cutting authority you described—why not just ask it? Didn't you say it already has a will of its own?"
After all—just because everyone else was clueless didn't mean the weapon itself was.
"…You know, that actually makes a surprising amount of sense."
Steven froze for a moment—then realized he had completely overlooked something obvious. The Yamato he owned wasn't the genuine article—but it also had features the original never did.
Like… getting jealous over his other swords.
A ridiculous trait that was somehow very real.
As for those diamond swords and netherite swords that mysteriously vanished from his inventory… Steven had long given up trying to locate them.
Right now, what mattered was testing whether this katana truly had the intelligence to communicate with him.
Gripping the sheath firmly, Steven drew Yamato once more—this time studying it with rare seriousness.
The long blade gleamed without a speck of dust. The phrase "sharp enough to cut a falling dust" almost felt like an understatement—its murderous aura didn't belong to any ordinary weapon. A will to cut down anything that blocked its path radiated from it, making his grip subconsciously tighten.
"If you really share a bond with me… then tell me. What do you need in order to regain all of your original authority?"
Like some stereotypical chuunibyou anime protagonist, he lowered his voice and whispered to the blade.
He wasn't sure if the thing could actually understand him.
Steven had never seen anything like the mutation Yamato had undergone. He had no idea what its upper limit might be—or whether it even had one.
Just as he was starting to wonder if he'd misjudged the situation… Yamato suddenly gave a light tremor.
Then he felt a presence—an awareness—reach into his inventory. Like a glowing cursor, it clearly pointed toward one item:
That bottle of so-called [Incomplete Pure Blood of the Sea God].
"Tsk— You sure know how to pick the good stuff. Even I haven't figured out what that thing fully does yet."
With a helpless sigh—though not surprised in the slightest—Steven pulled out the vial. Its power was so dense that even Nian, who had been silently watching the whole time, involuntarily shifted her gaze toward it.
"What—? How did you even get that?!"
As a fragment of Sui, Nian instantly recognized who that drop belonged to. What shocked her even more was that Steven casually carried it around—like it was some trinket he found at a souvenir shop.
Was he not afraid of its original owner coming for his head?
Her mouth twitched twice. She wasn't supposed to meddle in Steven's affairs… but she simply couldn't keep quiet.
"This has nothing to do with what I'm trying to accomplish. Let's just say I picked it up off the street."
Steven shrugged. Their relationship wasn't nearly close enough for him to reveal what he had done. All she needed to know was that the blood currently belonged to him.
As he spoke, he uncorked the vial and tilted it, intending to pour the drop directly onto Yamato.
"Hey—stop! Are you trying to blow up my entire realm?! If that rule-laden essence gets released without control, it'll destroy this whole pocket space. And letting that much power leak out would be a massive waste!"
Unable to bear watching Steven squander such a precious material, Nian jumped in to stop him. What he was doing could only be described as… destructive extravagance. If the sword absorbed even a tenth of that blood's power, it would be a miracle.
"Oh—right. I totally forgot I have something perfect for this. Why bother with forging? I've got an even better fusion tool."
Steven smacked his forehead—and a confident grin returned to his face.
Fusing materials? Please. Was there anything simpler, cruder, and safer than a Minecrafter crafting system?
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Note: Character Illustration is in this Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iuyfwNVFHzIi9H4rWNT_lAm7jTSiah_M
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