Chapter 82 - Unnamed Sword [Kugutsu]

"You really only need three iron ingots to make this kind of axe?"

Fu Xuan still found Fu Zhu's words somewhat hard to believe. Although she wasn't an expert in craftsmanship, an axe with such capabilities requiring only the most basic materials?

Faced with Fu Xuan's disbelief, Fu Zhu also felt a bit helpless. "At this level, if it were a lie, it definitely wouldn't fool our Great Diviner, right?"

Fu Xuan's delicate cheeks couldn't help but turn a shade قرمز (qermez - red, though the original is 粉嫩 fěnnèn meaning pink and tender, the emotion is blush), her gaze wandering. She pressed a fist to her lips and coughed lightly to ease her inner embarrassment.

"Indeed! I knew from the start that every word you said was true. I only asked repeatedly because I was somewhat surprised."

Sitting beside Fu Zhu, Xing, who had been observing with folded arms from beginning to end, noticed the change in Fu Xuan's expression. She couldn't help but frown and leaned over to whisper in March 7th's ear.

"March, why does the Great Diviner give me a bit of a Bronya vibe?"

"Bronya?"

March 7th stared at Fu Xuan for a moment, puzzled, but didn't notice any resemblance between Fu Xuan and Bronya.

"I don't see any resemblance. Are you mistaken?"

If there was any similarity, it might just be the aura that comes from holding a high position for a long time.

Xing folded her arms, frowning in deep thought.

She was sure her feeling wasn't wrong, but she just couldn't pinpoint what it was.

Fu Xuan carefully examined the two iron axes, one in Fu Zhu's hand and one in her own. After confirming there was no difference, she hesitated for a moment.

"Fu Zhu, this iron axe in my hand, could I borrow it to take back as evidence for the General to inspect?"

The iron axe Fu Zhu crafted seemed to possess a power that countered [Abundance]. This was a grave matter that had to be reported to Jing Yuan, and the iron axe itself would serve as the most direct piece of evidence.

Fu Zhu agreed without a second thought. After all, he was the one at fault for mistakenly cutting down the Ambrosial Arbor. Being able to make amends with an iron axe that had already lost half its durability was an absolute bargain.

"Of course, you can. It's just an iron axe. Consider it a gift to the Luofu."

Fu Zhu's generosity, in turn, left Fu Xuan unsure how to respond. After hesitating for a long moment, she came up with an idea.

"Thank you. In that case, I will accept it as a gift. Later, if you have time, I'd like to treat you to a meal."

After Fu Xuan said this, she couldn't help but inwardly praise herself. She had been worrying about how to ask Fu Zhu out to get to know each other better.

After all, she didn't want to be completely unfamiliar with her fated person. Now that Fu Zhu had given her the iron axe, wasn't this a perfect opportunity?

"Alright, just let me know when you're free."

Fu Zhu nodded in agreement. Although he didn't quite understand why Fu Xuan was treating him to a meal when he was technically giving the axe to the Luofu, and by rights, Jing Yuan should be the one treating him, he figured it out.

But this was a minor issue, irrelevant. The main thing was, he was profiting.

An iron axe not only made up for his mistake but also improved their relationship and even scored him a free meal. This was a huge win.

Just then, there was a knock on the interrogation room door.

"Great Diviner, Mr. Welt has arrived."

"Let him in."

The door was pushed open, and Welt walked in. His gaze immediately fell on Fu Zhu's trio, who were sitting bolt upright opposite Fu Xuan. What was rather strange, however, was that there was no table between the four of them, just four chairs facing each other.

This didn't look like a proper interrogation scene at all.

However, for him, this was good news. When he received the call earlier, he had already prepared himself for a jailbreak.

"Lady Fu Xuan, could you tell me what happened to these three?"

Fu Xuan stood up, a smile on her lips as she explained, "It was just a small misunderstanding. These three didn't know that the Ambrosial Arbor was off-limits and rashly went over to take pictures. Something else also happened in between, but let's leave these matters for tomorrow at the Seat of Divine Foresight. Mr. Welt, you can take them away for now."

Although Fu Xuan's explanation was rather vague, it reassured Welt considerably. At least Fu Xuan was still smiling at him, which meant the relationship between the Astral Express and the Luofu hadn't soured.

"Alright, then I'll take them back first."

Welt gave Fu Zhu's trio a look. The three of them quickly stood up from their chairs and obediently followed Welt out.

After the four of them left the Cloud Knight Detention Center, Welt turned to the three youngsters trailing behind him and asked.

"So, what great trouble did you three get into this time?"

Last time it was capturing a Stellaron Hunter. This time, surely they didn't directly find the Stellaron, did they?

Fu Zhu scratched the back of his head, somewhat embarrassed. The current atmosphere always gave him the awkward feeling of a child caught misbehaving by a parent.

"Well, while taking pictures, I accidentally chopped down the Ambrosial Arbor. But don't worry, Uncle Yang, I restored it! Besides, the Luofu side seems to have some issues with the Ambrosial Arbor too. Fu Xuan isn't planning to hold us responsible for cutting it down."

Fu Zhu's words briefly filled in the gaps from Fu Xuan's earlier explanation, allowing Welt to understand the cause and effect of the situation.

But after hearing it, he couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

Didn't Dan Heng say this Fu Zhu kid was very reliable?

How did he start causing trouble along with little March? Could it be that he was corrupted by little March?

As Welt thought this, he couldn't help but cast a suspicious glance at March 7th.

March 7th noticed the suspicion in Welt's eyes and immediately pouted aggrievedly, but she didn't know how to argue back.

On their previous Trailblaze journeys, she had indeed been the one to cause the most trouble.

"Alright, since it's nothing serious, let's head back to the guesthouse and rest. We still have to go to the Seat of Divine Foresight to see General Jing Yuan tomorrow. I've also ordered a grand meal for you at the guesthouse as a reward."

"Yay!"

Hearing there was a big meal, March 7th and Xing, who had been dejected, instantly perked up.

"Then let's go quickly!"

…

Late at night, after Fu Zhu's group had enjoyed the grand meal Welt prepared for them, they went back to their respective rooms to rest early.

Fu Zhu rested for a short while, then took out his phone to check the time. It was already close to the appointed time to meet with that group of Disciples of the Medicine King.

Back at the detention center, because he wasn't entirely sure about things, he hadn't mentioned this matter to Fu Xuan.

He might as well investigate tonight. If that group was indeed related to the Stellaron, he would inform Jing Yuan and the others tomorrow morning and let them handle it.

However, if the other party was truly connected to the Stellaron, a conflict was highly probable, and a battle might be unavoidable.

Fu Zhu felt that his current strength was not yet sufficient to run rampant on the Luofu. He needed to make some preparations before setting out.

First was upgrading his weaponry.

Previously, Fu Zhu had already purchased the SlashBlade MOD, but because he couldn't craft the advanced SlashBlades, he hadn't used it for the time being.

But now, it was absolutely necessary to craft a SlashBlade to deal with different types of attacks. Although the Godfall Sword had high damage and hadn't been fully repaired, leaving room for improvement.

Ultimately, the Godfall Sword was just a weapon without any special mechanics. In terms of mechanics alone, it couldn't compare to any of the SlashBlades.

Fu Zhu glanced at the materials in his Inventory, then placed down the Crafting Table. Currently, the only SlashBlade he could craft was the very first one in the series—

Unnamed Sword [Kugutsu]

As the most basic sword in the SlashBlade series, the Kugutsu only required a wooden sword with a bit of durability consumed and two logs to craft.

Even though it was a beginner weapon, it still possessed all the characteristics of a SlashBlade. Just its high attack speed and low crafting cost alone were enough to crush an ordinary diamond sword.

[Achievement Unlocked: Unnamed Sword [Kugutsu]]

[Achievement Points Acquired: 1]

"I didn't expect that after adding the SlashBlade MOD, there would be specific achievements related to SlashBlades. This is quite good news."

Fu Zhu had originally planned to just pick a powerful SlashBlade from the MOD to craft, but now it seemed that collecting all of them was quite necessary.

With his weapon preparations complete, Fu Zhu took out his phone and sent a message to Xing, telling her he was going out for a bit. If she received any further messages from him later, regardless of the content, she should immediately use his location to come and support him.

Having secured his backup, Fu Zhu placed the [Kugutsu] in his item slot, ready to be equipped at any time.

Just as he was about to leave, the door to his room was suddenly pushed open, and Xing burst in, phone in hand.

"Old Bro! Why aren't you taking me when you're going out to do something important! I want to go play too!"

Seeing it was her, Fu Zhu walked over speechlessly and gave her a light chop on the head. The girl immediately clutched her head and let out an aggrieved "Ouch."

"I made it very clear in the message. I'm going out on serious business! Not to play!"

Xing clutched her head, aggrieved. "Isn't progressing the main storyline something I should be brought along for! If you're the protagonist, Old Bro, then I'm at least the female lead, right!"

Fu Zhu rolled his eyes, not wanting to waste any more breath arguing with her about this.

"Then have you ever considered what would happen if we both went out and got wiped out?"

"No problem!"

Xing immediately grabbed her phone and typed furiously, slightly editing the message Fu Zhu had sent her earlier before forwarding it to March 7th and Welt. Then, as if presenting a treasure, she turned her phone around and showed it to Fu Zhu.

"Look, I told March and Uncle Yang about this. If anything happens, they'll come bail us out!"

Fu Zhu had initially wanted to say something more to refuse Xing, but seeing Welt reply to Xing with a "Be careful," he could only nod in agreement.

"Fine, but you're not allowed to speak without my permission when we're outside!"

"Okay!"

Having received Xing's assurance, Fu Zhu then took out a Golden Apple from his Inventory and handed it to her, instructing her to eat it immediately if she got injured.

He himself had the Saturation effect from the Trailblaze Blessing, allowing him to naturally regenerate health. For him, the Golden Apple's main use was providing temporary health, which was far less effective than giving it to Xing.

After instructing Xing, Fu Zhu finally left with her. The two had just stepped out of the guesthouse main door when the Iron Golem, which had been standing guard outside, immediately moved to follow them.

Fu Zhu immediately turned and ordered the Iron Golem to stop. "Iron Golem, you stay here and protect March 7th and Uncle Yang."

Although the Iron Golem would be a huge asset if it came with him, its size was too large, making it too conspicuous and unsuitable for this operation. It was better to leave it at the guesthouse to protect March 7th and the others.

Anyway, as soon as he took any damage, the Iron Golem would immediately rush to his side.

The Iron Golem, upon receiving Fu Zhu's command, retracted its advancing steps and continued to stand like a statue at the guesthouse entrance, fulfilling its duty as a doorkeeper.

"Let's go."

Fu Zhu called Xing, and the two of them headed towards the teahouse they had agreed to meet the Disciples of the Medicine King at.

Although it was deep into the night, many shops in Changle Heaven were still lit up, and there were occasional pedestrians on the streets.

In a short while, the two arrived in front of the appointed teahouse. Even though it was already late, there were still two tables set up in the open area outside the teahouse, with four people sitting at each table, drinking tea.

Although they were drinking tea, Fu Zhu and Xing both noticed that the gazes of these eight people were constantly scanning the surroundings. When the two of them appeared, the gazes of these eight people fell upon them, filled with scrutiny.

Fu Zhu took a quick glance at his minimap. The names of these eight individuals all had the "Disciple of the Medicine King" prefix, just like Lu Renjia whom he had encountered at the Ambrosial Arbor, only lacking the "Alchemy Commission" prefix. But it was clear they were part of the same group.

Fu Zhu gave Xing a look, signaling her not to speak recklessly, and then calmly walked over.

As soon as the two of them approached, two people immediately stood up from their seats.

"Are you two here for the appointment?"

Fu Zhu feigned a cold nod. Since Lu Renjia and his group had mistaken him for some important figure, he had to maintain that persona.

The more arrogant, the better!

"Honored guests, this way, please."

The person in front didn't ask any further questions. Seeing Fu Zhu nod, he led the two of them into the teahouse, all the way to a private room on the second floor.

After Fu Zhu and Xing entered the room, the person closed the door and left.

Inside the room, a woman was sitting at a table, sipping tea. Hearing the commotion, she looked up, only her eyes were bound by a strip of silk.

"You're earlier than expected. Did you bring the Stellaron successfully?"

Stellaron?

Fu Zhu and Xing couldn't help but exchange a glance, a flicker of surprise in their hearts.

They didn't expect to stumble upon a key plot point by sheer luck.

"Why aren't you speaking?"

The woman waited for a long while but received no reply from Fu Zhu. Her tone began to grow somewhat cold.

Fu Zhu also noticed that quite a few yellow markers had gathered outside the room. It was clear the other party didn't fully believe he was the person they were waiting for.

Fu Zhu thought for a moment, then reached out and took the Stellaron from Jarilo-VI out of his inventory, holding it in his hand.

"What? With just your lot, you dare to doubt me?"