Chapter Sixty-Four: Identity Token

Beads of sweat formed on Jiang Yan’s brow as he kept his eyes fixed on the two merging azure flames, his nerves taut with concentration. This was already the fourth flame he was fusing; if he succeeded, his Fire Condensation Art would finally reach minor completion. Though Jiang Yan found the smoothness of this fusion somewhat unusual, it didn’t stop him from relying on instinct to control the temperature in every part of the merging flames, deliberately raising or lowering the heat as needed.

He watched the two flames intently, despite knowing deep down that the fusion would inevitably succeed. Still, he scrutinized every detail of the process.

A faint crack sounded from within the merging flames.

Slowly, an azure fire lotus appeared before Jiang Yan. As it rotated gently on his fingertip, its petals opened and closed in turn, revealing their intricate beauty within.

At long last, it had taken shape. Jiang Yan let out a long breath of relief; the formation of this fire lotus meant he had finally mastered the Fire Condensation Art.

The entire lotus was a brilliant azure, crystalline and breathtaking. As it spun, delicate wisps of blue flame drifted from its petals, dispersing into the air. For all its elegance, the fierce heat contained within was enough to make even Jiang Yan, its controller, anxious. He saw clearly that some of the stray blue flames, before fading away, landed on stones below and instantly bored black holes into the rock.

If the scattered flames could melt stone in an instant, one could only imagine the searing temperature the fire lotus itself harbored.

With a thought, Jiang Yan controlled the lotus, and a plume of blue fire spurted forth.

Now, with this lotus condensed, an apprentice in the art of forging could simply direct it to emit flames and adjust the temperature within the furnace as needed, thus commencing the practice of refining all manner of materials.

“Ding! Task complete: Construction of the Forging Hall. Reward: ten spirit stones and one Construction Rune Scroll for the Array Dojo.”

While Jiang Yan was cultivating the Fire Condensation Art, the Forging Hall had finally been completed.

He carefully carried the gently rotating fire lotus and made his way to the newly built Forging Hall.

The hall itself was shrouded in a faint black hue, its towering walls built of massive dark stones. The flat roof shone, and along one wall stood a tall black chimney, right beside the deep pool at the base of West Waterfall Cliff. One corner of the hall’s wall was set directly above the pool’s edge.

Above the massive entryway hung a large plaque, its white background inscribed with bold, archaic black characters declaring the name of the Forging Hall. The imposing black doors were tightly shut; arriving before them, Jiang Yan looked up and found he was barely half their height.

He reached out to push the doors, but as expected, they were sealed with a ward. Before his hands could even touch the doors, a shimmering blue barrier blocked his way.

With a flicker of blue light at his fingertip, a drop of fresh blood appeared. Without hesitation, Jiang Yan pressed his bloodied finger to the thin barrier. The ward of the Alchemy Hall required blood to unlock; he surmised the Forging Hall’s ward would be the same.

As soon as blood touched it, the light vanished. The doors, which had blocked him moments before, now swung open, and the blue barrier disappeared without a trace. As the doors creaked wide, Jiang Yan was struck by a strange sensation—as if every brick and blade of grass beyond was intimately familiar, as though he had entered this place many times before.

Now the hall’s interior was exposed: a vast, soaring chamber with more than a dozen furnaces for forging tools arranged in neat rows. At the very center stood a raised platform, about half a foot square, just large enough to hold a single furnace.

Jiang Yan approached the platform, holding the gently spinning lotus steady in his right hand. With a thought, the forging furnace granted by the Sect Master System appeared atop the platform. A flick of his wrist, and the azure fire lotus dropped into the furnace chamber.

With a booming roar, a fierce blaze ignited within. The gifted furnace evidently contained spirit stones meant for refining materials. As Jiang Yan’s natal spiritual flame entered the chamber, the furnace’s spirit stones began to supply a constant stream of spiritual energy, fueling the fire, which grew instantly more intense.

With a bubbling, hissing sound, the black substances inside the furnace began to melt and boil under the sustained heat.

Jiang Yan’s spiritual power flowed outward, naturally enveloping the boiling black liquid and pouring it into a vessel by his side.

A sharp hiss sounded as the thick black liquid was poured into a square-mouthed vessel, releasing a pungent white vapor that stung Jiang Yan’s nose.

He lifted the vessel and tossed it into a nearby pool. Clouds of white steam erupted from the water, and after a moment, he retrieved the cooled vessel with a sweep of spiritual power.

With a crisp crack, the container split open, revealing several dark tokens inside.

Each token was jet black. On one side was a towering, cloud-piercing mountain, upon which the words “Mount Hua” were engraved—majestic and imposing. The other side bore the image of a sharp sword, its tip pointed outward, exuding a menacing sharpness. Beneath the sword was a large character: “Jiang.”

Examining the other tokens, Jiang Yan found they all had the Mount Hua design on one side, but the opposite sides differed. One bore a cloud above a pool, another depicted a shield.

These were the identity tokens with protective functions from the game—marks of sect disciples, superior even to the jade identity tablets. Jiang Yan remembered clearly: tokens with the sword marked a disciple as a Spiritual Warrior of the sect; the cloud and pool signified a core female disciple; and the shield, a core male disciple. Possessors of these tokens could freely travel within the sect’s great formation, and even enter restricted areas such as the Alchemy and Forging Halls.

Beyond identity recognition, the tokens’ protective enchantments were formidable. The sword token contained two rune arrays—one for attack, one for defense. As for why the defense array bore the character “Jiang,” Jiang Yan could only guess it was because he, as the Sect Master, had the array marked with his name.

The core female disciple’s token had two runes as well: one for water travel—allowing the bearer, with but a drop of water nearby, to use the token’s power to escape a thousand miles away—and one for cloud escape, which was single-use. After activation, the rune would vanish, but its power was great; regardless of the bearer’s location, it would return her instantly to Mount Hua.

The core male disciple’s token bore only a single rune: a powerful protective shield.

These three types of tokens were gifts from the system; Jiang Yan could forge as many as needed, provided Mount Hua had enough disciples. The number of tokens could not exceed the number of disciples. Currently, with only three second-generation disciples, only three tokens could be made. To forge more, Jiang Yan would have to recruit new disciples.

He stored the tokens in his Sect Master’s ring, set the vessel back in place, and began to inspect the hall.

The Forging Hall was spacious, with over a dozen forges available—enough for many smiths to work simultaneously. The central platform’s furnace, however, was reserved for the hall’s master; those without sufficient authority could not use it.

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Today, Mount Hua was recommended on the Sanjiang list. I checked earlier, and thanks to everyone’s support, Mount Hua has already received thirty-five votes. My sincere gratitude to you all.