Chapter 180 | The Forge Queen’s Heat

Chapter 180: 180 | The Forge Queen’s Heat

The five figures finally closed in near a bend where the alley narrowed into darkness.

Lin Tian did not stop walking.

"Clean up the trash, Yun-er," he said quietly. "I want to return quickly."

Lady Yun’s body blurred.

One moment she walked at his side. The next she had melted into the shadows along the walls. The Abyssal Void-Shadow Empress Art erased her presence so completely that even the killing intent of the pursuers failed to lock onto her.

A soft, wet sound came from the darkness behind them. Then another. Then three more in rapid succession.

By the time Lin Tian reached the end of the alley, the five assassins lay scattered across the filthy stones, throats opened cleanly, eyes still wide with confusion. Not a single scream had escaped. Not a single pulse of spiritual energy had flared.

Lady Yun stepped out of the shadows a moment later, wiping her dagger on a dead man’s robe. Her expression remained cold and calm.

"It is done, Master."

Lin Tian gave a small nod and continued forward without looking back. Lady Yun followed in silence, her footsteps leaving no trace on the damp stones. The corpses behind them would not be discovered until morning, and by then both of them would be long gone.

---

The underground forge of the Artifact Pavilion burned with deep crimson light.

Heavy Earth-Fire roared inside the wide furnace, casting long shadows across walls lined with hammers, tongs, and racks of rare ores. The air was thick with the scent of molten metal and hot stone. Sparks drifted upward like restless fireflies every time the furnace breathed.

Aunt Lin stood waiting beside the main anvil, her golden-brown artisan robes already marked with soot. When Lin Tian entered, her eyes lit up with restrained eagerness. She had kept the forge burning at peak temperature for nearly two hours, waiting only for his arrival.

He removed the storage ring from his finger and poured the two dark ingots of Void-Steel onto the anvil. The metal drank the furnace light, remaining almost black even under the intense glow.

"Tonight we forge a new sword," Lin Tian said. "Tier 3 artifact. It must withstand a full-power strike from a Peak Foundation cultivator without cracking."

Aunt Lin’s fingers traced the surface of the Void-Steel with careful reverence. Her spiritual sense sank into the metal, testing its weight and density.

"This material is excellent. Hard, dense, and full of spiritual weight. With my current arrays and your strength, we can push it to the limit of Tier-3."

She looked up at him, a faint flush already coloring her cheeks from the furnace heat.

"I am ready, Master. Tell me how you want the blade balanced."

"Heavy. Wide. Built to crush rather than slice." Lin Tian rolled his shoulders once. "I will handle the tempering. You lock the structure with your arrays."

Aunt Lin nodded and moved to the side of the anvil, preparing her engraving tools and a set of fine spirit needles.

---

The forging began.

Lin Tian removed his outer robe and tied his hair back. He lifted the heavy forging hammer that ordinary disciples needed both hands to raise. In his grip it looked almost natural. Each strike fell with controlled, crushing force, pure Yang energy sinking into the metal alongside the physical blow.

*Clang!*

*Clang!*

*Clang!*

Sparks exploded across the anvil in bright orange fans. The Void-Steel slowly heated from black to deep red, then to a fierce, glowing orange. Impurities rose to the surface in dark streaks that Aunt Lin carefully scraped away with specialized tongs.

She worked in perfect rhythm with him. Every time he lifted the hammer, her fingers moved across the metal, guiding fine threads of her own Qi into the surface. The Myriad Heavens Engraving Mandate shone faintly around her hands as intricate array patterns began to take shape—lines of containment, reinforcement, and spiritual conductivity.

The first layer of runes settled into the metal with a low hum. Aunt Lin wiped sweat from her brow and immediately began the second layer, her movements precise despite the rising temperature.

Lin Tian’s strikes never slowed. The hammer rose and fell in a steady, relentless rhythm. Each impact drove more of his Yang energy deeper into the Void-Steel, forcing the stubborn material to accept the shape he demanded. The blade slowly lengthened and flattened under his hands, taking on a broad, imposing form.

Sweat soon beaded on both their brows.

The furnace roared hotter. Lin Tian’s Primordial Yang-Tyrant Body released a steady, scorching heat that mixed with the Earth-Fire until the entire chamber felt like the inside of a living volcano. The air shimmered. The stone floor beneath their feet grew warm.

Aunt Lin’s breathing grew heavier. Her thick outer artisan robes clung uncomfortably to her skin. After another long series of heavy strikes, she finally stepped back and loosened the ties.

The heavy outer garment slid from her shoulders and fell to the stone floor.

Beneath it she wore only a thin golden-brown silk inner robe. The fabric was already damp with sweat and clung tightly to her mature curves, outlining the full swell of her breasts and the soft dip of her waist. Every time she leaned forward to engrave another rune, the silk grew more transparent against her heated skin.

Lin Tian’s next hammer blow slowed.

He set the hammer down for a moment and stepped behind her. The heat of his body washed over her back before he even touched her. His voice came low beside her ear.

"Look at you, Lin-jie... melting faster than the steel on my anvil."

A violent shiver ran through Aunt Lin. Her fingers trembled against the half-formed blade, and deep inside her body a sudden, aching emptiness clenched hard. The combination of the forge’s fire, his Yang heat, and those quiet words made her knees weaken.

"Master..." she whispered, her voice thick. "If you speak like that, I cannot concentrate on the arrays."

Lin Tian’s hand rested briefly on her hip, thumb pressing through the thin wet silk.

"Then finish them quickly."

He returned to the anvil and raised the hammer again.

The work continued. Strike after strike, rune after rune. Their Qi slowly synchronized. His heavy Yang force tempered the metal from within while her refined Yin-guided arrays locked the structure in place. The blade began to take a clear, lethal shape—long, wide, and filled with restrained power.

Aunt Lin’s silk robe had grown almost completely translucent. Sweat traced slow paths down her neck and disappeared into the deep valley between her breasts. Every time Lin Tian’s hammer fell, her body seemed to react, a faint tremor passing through her as if the force of his strikes traveled straight into her core.

She forced herself to focus, engraving the final containment array with steady hands even as her breathing grew uneven.

Crimson runes flickered across Lin Tian’s golden eyes as the Insight Eye activated for a brief moment.

[System Notification: Supreme Forging Synergy Active. Host’s Yang Qi and Target 3’s Yin Qi resonance stabilizing the Void-Steel’s spiritual structure.]

The final major array sealed with a soft pulse of light.

Aunt Lin staggered back, breathing hard, her silk robe almost completely soaked through. The newly formed broadsword still glowed a dangerous, uneven red on the anvil. Heat radiated from it in visible waves.

She stared at the blade with a mixture of pride and exhaustion.

"Master..." she said between breaths, "the runes are set. The structure is stable on the surface. But the metal is still restless inside. If we quench it with ordinary water, the blade will crack. It needs something far stronger to lock everything in place."

Lin Tian looked at the glowing sword, then at the flushed, sweat-drenched woman standing before him. A dark, hungry smile curved his lips.

He reached out and slowly pulled the soaked collar of her silk robe lower, exposing the upper curves of her heaving chest. His fingers brushed against her heated skin, leaving a trail of even greater warmth.

"Ordinary water will not do."

His eyes lifted to meet hers, golden and unblinking.

"It needs my pure Yang essence."

He stepped closer until the heat of his body wrapped around her completely.

"And so do you."