One night passed.
At the hour of Mao, as the sun just rose in the east.
On the rooftop, Tang San, after circulating his Purple Demon Eye to absorb the dawn's purple energy, rushed to the door of Lou Gao's exclusive forging room.
At Lou Gao's request, he required a quiet environment without any disturbance when forging.
Therefore, once this forging room was locked from the inside, only the mechanism buttons inside the room could open it.
Moreover, the soundproofing of this forging room was excellent; the outside couldn't hear any sounds from within, nor could the inside hear anything from the outside.
"However, I am the Sect Master of the Tang Sect. How could there be a place in the Tang Sect that I cannot enter?"
Tang San approached the wall on one side of the forging room and, with his right fist, knocked on the wall several times following a specific rhythm.
Then, with a faint sound, a secret underground passage slowly appeared at the corner of the wall.
Seeing the passage appear, Tang San walked down the steps.
About two minutes later.
Tang San reached the end of the secret passage and lightly pushed open the brick above his head, emerging from under the carpet.
"Strange, why is the forging so quiet? Does Elder Lou Gao also have time to rest?"
As soon as he entered, Tang San sensed something was wrong. Disregarding the risk of the secret passage being exposed, he hurried towards where the forging platform was.
"..."
What greeted his eyes was an empty scene. The person who should have been there, along with the rare metals that should have been piled there, had all vanished.
Seeing this scene, Tang San was instantly petrified on the spot, feeling that his dream of revitalizing the Tang Sect had been shattered.
...
"This is? Cold Heart Iron Essence!"
In the Lin Clan's manor, Lou Gao was pressed against a piece of black ore over a meter tall, his eyes filled with extreme fervor.
"No mistake, this is Cold Heart Iron Essence, hundreds of kilograms of Cold Heart Iron Essence!"
"Ahahaha! I can continue forging the Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus again!"
After a long while, the fervor in Lou Gao's eyes subsided slightly. He turned to look at Lin Rong, who was sitting to the side sipping tea, and asked eagerly:
"My Lord, you were able to obtain such a large piece of Cold Heart Iron Essence, do you have Deep Sea Silver here?"
"As long as you can obtain the Deep Sea Silver, my lord, I guarantee I can manufacture the Rain of Pear Blossom Needles."
Lou Gao's tone was full of confidence, making Lin Rong feel an urge to hand over the piece of Deep Sea Silver in his hand to Lou Gao.
But Lin Rong suppressed this impulse, put down the teacup in his hand, and asked Lou Gao in return:
"You're thinking too much. As the president of the Blacksmith Association, you've never even heard of Deep Sea Silver among metals before."
"And I, as an outsider, haven't even heard of it, so how could I possibly obtain this thing?"
Lou Gao showed no obvious disappointment on his face after hearing this.
Because he also understood this principle. Before learning about the Rain of Pear Blossom Needles, he, the president of the Blacksmith Association, had never even heard the name Deep Sea Silver.
If it weren't for the fact that the hidden weapon blueprints for the Rain of Pear Blossom Needles seemed genuine, Lou Gao would have doubted whether such a metal as Deep Sea Silver existed in this world.
Among the Tang Sect's three ultimate hidden weapons.
He had successfully produced the Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus, and the Peacock Plume was also nearing completion of his forging.
However, only the Rain of Pear Blossom Needles, due to the lack of Deep Sea Silver, had never allowed him to glimpse its mystery.
The reason he asked just now was also with a mindset of giving it a try.
What if Lin Rong had it, then he would have no regrets.
"My Lord, I still need to forge the remaining parts for the Peacock Plume. I shall take my leave now."
Before he finished speaking, Lou Gao put away the piece of Cold Heart Iron Essence and excitedly left the room.
Seeing this, Lin Rong said nothing.
After all, Lou Gao's temperament was like this, the same towards everyone.
And geniuses, who doesn't have their own little temper?
After Lou Gao had been gone for a while, Lin Rong took out an inconspicuous piece of gray ore and muttered to himself:
"I have Deep Sea Silver, but for greater benefit, I cannot give it to you."
Lin Rong not giving Lou Gao the piece of Deep Sea Silver in his hand naturally had his reasons.
Not to mention.
Given the toughness of Deep Sea Silver, in this era, the only people capable of forging it were those three from the Clear Sky Sect.
And among these three, Tang Xiao was dead, Tang Hao was severely injured, and Tang Chen had also fallen into the Slaughter City and lost himself.
At this stage, no one could successfully forge this Deep Sea Silver.
Secondly.
Deep Sea Silver, as the material for forging the Rain of Pear Blossom Needles, needs to have its inherent sharpness activated by the blood and spirit of the blacksmith when the hidden weapon is taking shape. Only then can it be truly forged.
In the original story, Lou Gao's attempt to blood sacrifice for the Rain of Pear Blossom Needles resulted in his complete annihilation.
Lin Rong didn't want Lou Gao to repeat his suicidal act after taking out the piece of Deep Sea Silver he had.
For any faction, a living Divine Craftsman like Lou Gao was far more valuable than a consumable, single-use hidden weapon.
Even if the hidden weapon was something as powerful as the Rain of Pear Blossom Needles, its value paled in comparison to Lou Gao.
With Lou Gao alive, as long as there was enough time and materials, he could continuously forge the Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus and the Peacock Plume.
This alone was far more valuable than a single Rain of Pear Blossom Needle, which required Lou Gao's own life to be exchanged for it.
Furthermore, Lou Gao's value extended far beyond that.
Leveraging Lou Gao's connections and reputation within the Blacksmith Association to secretly assemble a complete hidden weapon production team in the shortest possible time was Lou Gao's greatest value.
"Speaking of which, Lou Gao truly lives up to his name. As long as you offer him something that excites him, he won't hesitate to ditch anyone, no matter how good they were to him before."
"Once the Cold Heart Iron Essence was presented, he abandoned the Tang Sect without me even needing to say a word, not even a hint of hesitation."
"People like him are convenient and easy to work with; they complete tasks beyond expectations without being told."
"However, you can never completely control such people or make them truly loyal."
"Fortunately, my offer is high enough. Unless Tang San goes to Sea God Island and steals those Deep Sea Silver pillars, he won't be able to find anything that truly tempts Lou Gao."
With this thought, Lin Rong felt at ease.
Currently, Tang San was unaware of Sea God Island's existence. Even if he were to find out, if he dared to act, Bo Saixi would immediately show him the consequences of blaspheming the Sea God.
Lin Rong put away the piece of Deep Sea Silver in his hand, walked to the window, and gazed in a certain direction, thinking:
"There's still no news from Moon Xuan's end. I wonder if Tang Yuehua has heard about her elder brother's death yet?"
"Logically speaking, the aftermath of that battle in the Star Dou Great Forest affected such a vast area. Spirit Masters traveling in and out should have discovered the traces of the battle there."
"Although the scene was cleaned up, such a massive battle would basically confirm that it involved at least Soul Douluo-level combatants."
"Others might not know what happened, but by the time the news reaches Tang Yuehua, even if she's unwilling to believe it, she'll have to accept the fact that Tang Xiao is dead."
"However, communication is so poor in this era. By the time the news reaches Heaven Dou City, who knows how long it will take."
"It all depends on when Tang Yuehua can hold back before she can't stand it anymore and sends people to search for her brother."
Lin Rong hoped that Tang Yuehua would send people to search for Tang Xiao's whereabouts as soon as possible.
The sooner these matters were resolved, the sooner he could get his hands on what Tang Hao possessed.
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