Chapter 9: The Setting Sun Melts Gold

Which one present is not an expert? At the moment of seeing the sunset bow, everyone's gaze inevitably fixates, clearly recognizing its extraordinary nature

Zhang Fan found it difficult to focus on the medicinal garden that would only yield benefits after more than a hundred years, so he decided to hire this junior brother Li at a price of five low-grade spirit stones per month. When he was out, Li could also help convey messages, so why not take advantage of this opportunity

"The fifth attempt, and it has finally succeeded." The man tenderly caressed the ancient-style longbow and murmured, "Let it be called the Sunset Bow"

Upon entering, I found that it was the last one again. Zhuo Hao, Jiang Tuo, and the others were standing in a row, listening to the master's lecture.

Indeed, the spirited young man before us is our protagonist, Zhang Fan

In the room, a young man sits cross-legged, treating the high temperature of the furnace as if it were nothing. He directly places his palm against the wall of the furnace, as if he is sensing something.

Ginger indeed is as spicy as it gets; arrows made purely of spiritual energy cannot unleash the full power of this bow. Zhang Fan silently praised as he handed over the black arrows that had long been prepared.

The disciples in the green attire who oversee the caretaker's quarters assist Zhang Fan in taking care of Junior Brother Li in the medicinal garden. They are all outer disciples with poor talents, and the treatment provided by the sect is insufficient to meet their cultivation needs. Thus, they have no choice but to take on some menial tasks to earn a few spirit stones and medicinal pills to aid their cultivation

"Disciple pays respects and presents books to the master," Zhang Fan said loudly, then with a composed expression squeezed behind Zhuo Hao, pretending not to see the junior disciples rolling their eyes behind him.

The young man did not even glance, simply pulling out a pill and shoving it into his mouth. Then, with a flick of his hand, a mass of lava-like substance shot out from the half-melted furnace, hovering abruptly between his hands without falling.

As soon as the words fell, the setting sun trembled slightly, as if rejoicing for its name.

In the depths of the furnace room of the Dharma Realm School, a massive furnace is slowly rotating, emitting astonishing heat under the scorching geothermal fire, transforming the entire room into something akin to an oven

Taking a deep breath, the young man halted his incantation, his hands, which resembled blooming flowers, came together just in time to catch the descending great bow. With a casual flick, a torrent of golden flames surged from the bow's body, coalescing in the air into a massive three-legged golden crow

He then sighed and said: "The senior brother is courageous and diligent, never relying on external sources. In this regard, you are different from him, but rather similar to your teacher."

In the mundane world, where the ground fire appears, the area within a radius of one thousand miles is devoid of human and animal life, and not a blade of grass grows; this is considered a great calamity. However, in the eyes of cultivators, ground fire is an excellent aid for alchemy and artifact forging. With Zhang Fan reaching the peak of the seventh layer of the Qi Refining stage, without the assistance of ground fire, it would be impossible to forge a top-tier magical artifact like the Setting Sun Bow.

Suddenly, the man's hands erupted with countless hand seals, and before him were the residual images of his palms. Waves of restrictions surged toward the great bow, which had just reached its highest point and was now turning to descend.

Han Hao took a look and showed a look of surprise on his face. He gently shook his hand, causing the arrow to tremble violently, and black wind blades appeared out of thin air at the arrowhead

"Go!" he hissed, and the upper half of the furnace flew out in response, landing with a "thud" on the ground, visibly changing shape.

After Han Hao finished laughing, he casually drew the sunset bow. An arrow, entirely composed of spiritual energy and glowing with a golden-red hue, was nocked onto the bowstring. It was then released, flying forth to strike the wall, resulting in an explosion of flames that caused the barrier to ripple with wave-like patterns, persisting for a long time.

The transformation of spiritual power into form is precisely the characteristic of top-tier magical artifacts

In a moment of triumph, a single remark from Han Hao left Zhang Fan drenched in cold sweat

The restrictions set by Han Hao, who is nearly at the Jiedan stage of cultivation, are certainly not trivial. The outcome produced has already left Jiang Tuo and others secretly astonished.

Upon receiving the communication talisman handed over by the disciple in blue, Zhang Fan probed with his consciousness and understood everything. He patted the disciple on the shoulder and said gently, "Thank you very much."

"Fan'er, have you finished refining the tools and books in the workshop? What good items have you produced? Bring them for me to see," Han Hao said, not commenting much on Zhang Fan's tardiness, but instead showing concern for the results of his refining.

"Haha, you child," Han Hao said, stroking his beard and laughing, appearing quite cheerful

As he stepped out of the geothermal chamber, a wave of cool air greeted Zhang Fan with the heavy stone door closing behind him, completely isolating him from the intense heat of the geothermal environment

The Earth Fire, it is the fire of the earth's veins

After a moment, the flames subsided, revealing a dark red bow with an ancient and powerful appearance before my eyes

Suddenly, his gaze sharpened, and without any sign of preparation, a towering black flame erupted around him. Immediately afterward, using his palm as a bridge, the black flames flowed into the furnace like water.

"Yes, Master." Zhang Fan said with a hint of pride as he presented the Sunset Bow, saying, "This bow is called Sunset, and it is a recent creation of mine."

Day after day, as if in the blink of an eye, five years have passed and vanished without a trace

That is, over the years, as a disciple following my master and under your influence, I have made some progress, which is naturally all due to my master's efforts. Zhang Fan's horsewhip cracked loudly, showing no signs of embarrassment at all

Han Hao, however, seemed somewhat dissatisfied. He frowned and said, "Fan'er, the power of this Sunset Bow seems to be more than this. Is there anything else to bring out?"

With both hands pulling, the exposed and somewhat darkened liquid was drawn into a half-arc shape about a person's height, and without waiting for it to cool, the man directly reached out to grasp the middle section of the half-arc.

"The setting sun melts gold, a beautiful name," Han Hao praised as he took the bow, gently caressing it for a moment before sighing, "I did not expect your craftsmanship to have reached such a level, a top-tier magical weapon. At your age, I was not as accomplished as you."

He casually took out a Qi-boosting pill and tossed it over, not caring that he was taken aback and repeatedly thanked him. Zhang Fan patted his Qiankun bag and summoned the Flying Cloud Boat, heading towards Han Hao's cave dwelling.

This is ... ... " The astonishment on his face grew more intense. After pondering for a moment, he said: "Fan'er, I have already tried my best to regard you highly, yet I still underestimated you.

As he witnessed the sunset bow exuding such vitality, the young man felt a surge of joy and solemnly placed it into the purple-gold universe bag, alongside three arrows imbued with a menacing aura.

This time, Zhang Fan was not modest; he secretly felt pleased with himself. It is worth noting that the restriction on the black arrow was something he learned from analyzing a rare high-level spiritual talisman—Thousand Blades Break—through the Great Five Elements Restriction-Breaking Technique. He cleverly adapted this knowledge to the crafting of magical tools, which can be regarded as a remarkable achievement in the integration of tool-making and talismanic arts.

"Flatterer." Jiang Tuo, Xu Ying, and Shen Tu Hong silently cursed in their hearts, while simultaneously reflecting on whether their own efforts in currying favor with the library were insufficient; otherwise, how could they not be favored by others?

The speed of the Flying Cloud Boat was astonishing, and moments later, Zhang Fan appeared at the entrance of his master's cave dwelling

As soon as he left the workshop, a disciple in green approached him with a smile and said, "Senior Brother Zhang, you are out! Junior Brother Li just came looking for you. He heard you were busy with refining tools and didn't dare to disturb you, so he left this."

The present Zhang Fan is no longer the inexperienced beginner who stood at his master's door, feeling at a loss. With a casual gesture and a flick of his finger, a flash of white light appeared, and the restriction vanished.

The great bow suddenly seemed to be struck by the earth's spring, instantly halting its descent, and thus it hovered in mid-air, passively enduring the baptism of various prohibitions, gradually emanating a dazzling dark golden glow all around.

He spoke as he returned the setting sun bow and the black arrows, then continued: "The restrictions on this arrow are unprecedented. In terms of the crafting of magical artifacts, there is nothing more I can teach you."

The young man showed no signs of relaxation; instead, his expression appeared somewhat tense. He swiftly attached a similarly dark red bowstring to the bow body, then tossed the already formed large bow into the air and sat down cross-legged on the ground.

The black flames erupted once more, enveloping the entire semicircular area, continuously emitting a hissing sound. The occasional flicker of fire further distorted the surrounding space.