Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

---Deep under the Guardian Tree of Little Gamma---

“Annoying.”

That thought was on her mind as she wound her body. One of the small ones had just informed her that her strength was needed and she didn't have much time. Her stomach was still full from all the faith and energy of the tiny demon. She didn't want to move.

With just a little more time, she would be able to incorporate all this power and her foundation would be solid. She would finally be able to fulfill her long-cherished wish and overcome the wall that had kept her back for so long.

Originally she thought she would be able to break the chains of destiny through her child, she had never expected to do it this way, but now she was this close. If she stopped now, what if she was held back again?

Banging against those doors again, unable to ever cross? She knew what the blacksmith, her creator planned. It was not a bad plan, but she was afraid to stop now. Maybe she could use a little trick to buy her time?

The energy of the demon she swallowed. She compressed it into a tiny ball. She already had enough pure energy of faith to manifest her divinity, and there was still coming more. She didn't need this tainted one. The ball of energy became a ball and ultimately an egg.

This would be enough to buy her time. She was sure.

...

Seth wearing a casual suit entered the arena. Behind him followed Rayki, the Faer bard, carrying a tabled. On it were four trophies of simple design, but forged from epic , as well as three white crystal cards and a card of similar size, but made from .

The white crystal cards were the credit card equivalent of the System Bank. Those for the two participants in third place, Caleb and Bartholomew, held 150 Gold. The one for the second place, Ibelin Godfrey, was worth 200 gold. The card forged from was the representation of the promise to create a legendary item for the winner of the Grand Tournament.

Congratulating the 3rd, 3rd, and 2nd place with a trained smile, Seth handed them their trophy and prize money. Caleb's smile was a little strained. understandably so. Compared to the money he had invested in his attempt to win, this was peanuts.

Seth ignored him and continued. Ibelin didn't show much emotion, simply taking his prize. 200 Gold was a lot, when one didn't invest several thousand into trying to win. Finally, he came before Dowloon.

Now, she didn't look like the poison-drenched dreadnought that had bashed her dagger into Ibelin's barrier. The fair young woman, looked almost benign as she reciprocated his gaze emotionless. It was hard to believe that she could fight in desperation like a berserker.

“You can come visit our branch of the Turquoise Anvil tomorrow and we can talk about what item you want,” he whispered so only she could hear him. If it wasn't for the impending attack, he would have invited her to the lounge later that day.

She simply nodded, her eyes glued to the card and trophy, as she took them from his hands. It seemed like it was true, that epic-rated or “earth-grade” materials were even more scarce on the Cloud Continent than on Urth.

Bartholomew's, Ibelin's, and Caleb's reaction to the trophy was not as exaggerated. But maybe that was because they didn't quite know what they were given. It seemed like cultivators did not necessarily need an appraisal skill to identify high-grade materials.

Dowloon didn’t answer out loudly but simply gave a silent nod to show that she had understood. She was still in a weird state of mind by the feeling of dying to her own poison, so she couldn’t quite hide her emotions when she saw the luxurious prices.

She could feel her spiritual energy react to them, the moment they were in her hands. She didn’t know about other properties, but the affinity to spiritual energy was exceptional. These had to be at least earth-grade materials.

A statue and card made of earth-grade materials… How many energy crystals could get for the card alone? Of course, she couldn’t let go of the card, but the trophy was the same. There was enough material to make an earth-grade sword or spear. In the hands of the right craftsman, they might even become low heaven grade!

Her hand wound tightly around the black card, with a golden letter imprinted on it. She was about to think about what things she could do with the trophy but realized how empty such thoughts were. In her hands, she had the promise of a heaven-grade item, just for her. One made especially for her to her specifications. How grand was that? The trophy was just paltry compared to that. She would finally be able to fulfill her long-cherished wish and-

Whooooo

A siren interrupted her thoughts, and several things happened at the same time. Several transparent layers of barriers covered the eye of the arena, the Pythian Village, and the audience. Flying ships, barges and other vessels appeared in the sky, accompanied by a swarm of cultivators and the sound of explosions.

Various people in the stand jumped up from their seats, weapons in their hands.“What in the world was going on?!” was her first thought, but she quickly surmised that the stadium was being attacked. Storing the trophy and card in her cosmos pouch, she brought out the pair of daggers, ready to defend herself.

The other people on the podium were no different from her, each taking a vigilant stance, ready to defend or attack. The only one who didn’t seem surprised or disturbed at all was the Tower Master, who had just whispered to her. He simply looked to the sky, with a serious expression.

Following his gaze, her eyes widened, After she was forced to become a loose cultivator in the XiGuang Province, she came to know a good bit about the greater and minor powers in the region. She recognized the vessels of the Silk River Sect crowing the sky, painted with shiny but muted varnish, and the distinctive tail of silken tubes, that made them look like they drew a silk river in the sky.

The Silk River Sect wasn’t a great power across the province, but they were still a medium-sized sect, someone like her couldn’t pick a fight with. Dowloon also recognized some of the identifying features of other, smaller sects among the people in the sky. This was crazy. Did they attempt to start a war with Minas Mar, or Urth? Didn’t the Immortal Summit discourage hostile actions?

In the time it took her to try and grasp the situation, the scene in the stadium had changed. The people that had drawn weapons in the stand, had been subdued in an instant by some kind of invisible force.

The big screens everywhere in the stadium showed scenes of the fleet of cultivators hovering above the Pythian Village and Little Gamma. They looked tiny compared to the alien metropolis of giant, inhabitable trees, connecting to the lower branches of the giant tree’s crown that covered them all.

Why would they show this to so many people that they were currently under attack? Shouldn’t they try to hide it? Unless... was this a show of power?