"This guy... he's a forger too?" Ye Fan muttered to himself as he watched Zhang Yuanji pull out some forging tools.
"The Star Meteorite should be enough to craft the scabbard for this sword," Zhang Yuanji said quietly, taking out a pitch-black ore.
Without wasting any time, he began forging with his tools.
After working tirelessly for an entire day and night, a brand-new scabbard was completed.
For a Martial God-level warrior, crafting a scabbard wasn't too difficult, especially for someone as skilled in forging as Zhang Yuanji.
He slid Boundless into the scabbard.
As soon as the sword entered the scabbard, the overwhelming killing aura and terrifying sharpness of Boundless vanished.
"Perfect," Zhang Yuanji said with satisfaction, observing the effect.
"But how should I explain this to Master?" Zhang Yuanji furrowed his brow, deep in thought.
His junior disciples had seen him take the sword. It was impossible to lie to his master and claim he hadn't retrieved it, and saying it was lost would be far too suspicious.
"I've got it! I'll forge an identical sword," Zhang Yuanji's eyes gleamed as a plan formed in his mind.
"Luckily, I still have these rare materials."
With a thought, he retrieved a variety of precious forging materials from his storage space. These materials were incredibly rare and could be used to forge an SSS-grade weapon.
Zhang Yuanji had spent decades collecting them, intending to craft a powerful weapon for himself.
"Even an SSS-grade weapon can't compare to Boundless," Zhang Yuanji thought with a cold sneer, though he did feel a small twinge of regret for using his prized materials.
In the next moment, he began forging a new sword, one that would look identical to Boundless.
"This guy is actually a pretty skilled forger," Ye Fan commented, watching Zhang Yuanji work.
However, Ye Fan didn't plan to intervene for now, confident in his own dignity as a sword.
Seven days and seven nights passed.
Forging this sword took Zhang Yuanji an entire week of effort.
"Finally, it's done," he gasped, lying down on the ground, utterly exhausted.
Forging the sword had drained a lot of his energy.
He took a moment to compare the new sword with Boundless, drawing them both.
The two swords were indistinguishable.
"Not bad, seems my replication skills are still top-notch," Zhang Yuanji muttered, squinting at the swords in satisfaction.
"The appearance is indeed identical," Ye Fan thought to himself, also impressed by the craftsmanship.
Zhang Yuanji tested the replica by slashing the air, sending a powerful sword aura flying toward a massive tree in the distance.
The sword aura easily cleaved the tree in two.
"Indeed, it's an SSS-grade weapon. Although it's mid-grade, it's still quite remarkable," Zhang Yuanji remarked, admiring his own work.
After a brief rest, he crafted a scabbard for the replica and prepared to return to his sect.
The next day, carrying the replica sword, Zhang Yuanji headed back to his sect—Holy Sect.
The Holy Sect was a powerful force within the Martial God Realm.
Within the sect, there were several mountain peaks, each overseen by an elder.
Zhang Yuanji's master resided on one of these peaks, called Yuanming Peak.
"Senior Brother!" Some passing disciples greeted him respectfully as he walked up the mountain.
Zhang Yuanji nodded slightly and continued toward the peak.
"Senior Brother, did you finish the scabbard?" Several of the disciples who had accompanied him to the Canglong Empire appeared along the way.
"Yes," Zhang Yuanji replied. "The scabbard was forged from Star Meteorite, and it took quite a bit of time."
He drew the replica sword from its scabbard.
Zheng—
A crisp sound echoed as the sword was unsheathed, its sharpness evident.
The group gasped in awe at the sight.
The sword was incredibly sharp. Just unsheathing it emitted a terrifyingly sharp aura.
"I didn't realize it was an SSS-grade weapon," one of the disciples remarked.
The others nodded in agreement.
Zhang Yuanji smiled slightly, pleased with their reactions.
It worked.
They hadn't noticed that the sword had been swapped. Now, the only hurdle left was to deceive his master.
Once he got through that, Boundless would be his forever!
"Let's hurry and deliver the sword to Master," Zhang Yuanji said seriously, eager to proceed.
The others nodded and followed him toward the top of the mountain.
In the grand hall at the peak, they found an elderly man standing there.
"Master," Zhang Yuanji called out respectfully as he entered.
The old man, Zhao Yongsheng, was a powerful seven-star Martial God—an incredibly strong figure.
"You're back," Zhao Yongsheng said calmly.
"Yes, Master," Zhang Yuanji replied. "The weapon you asked for has been retrieved from the mortal realm."
He respectfully presented the replica sword to Zhao Yongsheng with both hands.
"Let me see," Zhao Yongsheng said, taking the sword.
"Hmm?" Zhao Yongsheng frowned slightly as he examined it.
Uh-oh!
Zhang Yuanji's heart skipped a beat, but he quickly composed himself.
He hadn't considered that some of the materials used to forge the replica sword were only available in the Martial God Realm.
"That explains why a mortal wielding this sword caused so much slaughter. It turns out it's a weapon from our Martial God Realm that fell into the mortal world," one of the disciples remarked thoughtfully.
Hearing this, Zhang Yuanji let out a silent sigh of relief and chimed in, "Yes, it seems that someone brought this weapon from the Martial God Realm down to the mortal world."
Zhao Yongsheng looked at the sword again and nodded slightly.
"An SSS-grade mid-tier sword. In the mortal realm, it would indeed be considered a divine weapon," Zhao Yongsheng mused.
"I thought, with all the rumors surrounding this sword in the mortal world, it must have been a divine artifact," Zhao Yongsheng added.
"Master, divine artifacts probably wouldn't exist in the mortal world, right?" one of the other disciples chuckled.