Chapter 279 - Crazed Jing Wei

"Oh? Good news, I presume?" Xukong asked curiously.

Lin Mu nodded in response before speaking.

"Indeed, Senior. Jingming Shang delivered the material required to repair the ring about two weeks ago, and he has just been finishing up. Old man Jing Wei told me that he was just about to contact me when I did it first instead." Lin Mu replied.

"That's good, another thing off your mind," Xukong said.

Lin Mu hummed in agreement before leaving the room and heading out to the streets. He had already gotten used to leaving Little Shrubby at home and did not worry much. No matter where he was in the Town, Lin Mu could sense him through his connection, especially after it has strengthened even more.

And it was not like Little Shrubby would get into trouble either. There were not really many people that were as strong as it was, and the ones that were actually stronger than him would not be able to catch him anyway. Even now Lin Mu was unable to match the speed of the small beast.

Lin Mu made his way to the desolate alley where the Jing Wei's emporium was located in and triggered the formation to make it reveal itself. He then walked into the shop only to find it empty.

"Hmm, looks like Duan Ke is in the courtyard." Lin Mu muttered to himself.

He took a look around and found everything to be the same except for a few things that had been added. These things were sacks and large packages that were yet to be opened. The packages were wrapped in canvas, and the contents of it could not be perceived from outside.

Lin Mu curiously scanned it with his spirit sense and got the shock of his life. There were about three large packages kept in the room, and all of them looked common. But its contents were anything but simple.

"Gold… So much gold…" Lin Mu uttered with shock.

All of the packages were filled with solid bars of gold which had no stamp or engravings on them. Usually, the gold issued by the kingdom or any other organization had some markings on it which proved its authenticity. But there did not seem to be anything on these gold bars, and they actually seemed to be a bit crudely made as they had dents and unequal edges.

"Why is this gold lying here?" Lin Mu wondered.

He knew that there was no chance of the gold ever getting stolen, but it still seemed unusual for it to be kept here.

Just as he was thinking about that, the door behind the shop opened, and out walked Duan Ke.

"Oh, you're here just in time. Grandfather is nearly done, and now we have the final ingredient as well." Duan Ke said.

"Let's get to him then," Lin Mu said in an impatient tone.

"Wait, we have to get the final material," Duan Ke said before walking to the three large packages.

Lin Mu was a bit surprised at first before understanding what she meant.

"That gold is the final material?!" Lin Mu asked, feeling a bit overwhelmed.

"You'll see. Grandfather can explain it better, he's the expert here. I didn't inherit grandfather's skill, I specialize in investigational skills." Duan Ke replied in a nonchalant tone.

Lin Mu nodded before following behind Duan Ke into the back room where she blew out the lamp making the scenery shift. They were now standing in the courtyard, but its look had drastically changed.

"Wh-what? What happened here? Why is there smoke everywhere? And is that a tear in the barrier?!" Lin Mu shot a string of questions.

In front of Lin Mu, the courtyard had changed by a lot. The grass in the ground had become brown and wilted, there was smoke everywhere and a strange smell of charcoal and metal was spread in the air. There was even a small tear present in the barrier that protected the Myriad Armament Canopy abode.

~Sigh~

Duan Ke let out a sigh as she rubbed her head in frustration and fatigue.

"This is what happens when grandfather gets too obsessed with his work. He hasn't had a challenge like this in years, thus he is giving it his all." Duan Ke explained.

"Hahaha!" Xukong laughed in Lin Mu's mind. "As I expected, that man is a league above others."

"Huh?" Lin Mu felt confused after hearing senior Xukong's sudden laughter.

"Don't mind me. You'll see it yourself." Xukong said, mysteriously.

Lin Mu could only hold his curiosity in for the time being and followed behind Duan Ke to the mansion. Unlike the outside though, the mansion was the same as before and impeccably clean. Lin Mu and Duan Ke went downstairs into the workshop he had visited before.

The door of the workshop was already open when they got there and thus Lin Mu could get a direct sight of what was happening inside.

The entire room was covered in a black layer, which seemed like soot. There were formations glowing everywhere, and Lin Mu could even see a stream of sparks flowing in the air. Then at the end of the room was the forge he had seen before.

The last time Lin Mu had seen it, the forge looked abandoned and cold. But right now it was glowing with heat and an entire formation array was circling around it. The stream of sparks would enter into its top end from time to time, and the fire would rage at the bottom part.

There were scraps of metal fallen all around the room, and when Lin Mu got closer, he could see that all of them were emitting faint waves of spirit qi. Looking at the shapes of the scraps, Lin Mu could tell that they had been forcefully damaged, and they looked quite similar to the fragments of his weapons from back when he sparred with Duan Ke.

Then at the side of the forge was none other than Old man Jing Wei himself. His clothes burned in places with his hair and beard all messy, covered in the same soot as the rest of the room.

But the thing that garnered the attention most was his face. Jing Wei had a crazed expression on his face that looked no less than insane.

"AHAHHAAHHA!"