THE MARTIAL KING, VOLUME 8 - Season 20 Episode 17

If the power of the hammer hadn’t been evenly spread throughout Zen’s body, it would’ve probably split him into two.

But this power wasn’t meant to take Zen’s life.

At this moment, Holy Drew’s sole eye narrowed in intense concentration. There was a trace of crazy absorption in his orb.

From his perspective, Zen was no longer a living person — he was a weapon waiting to be forged.

After turning into a Holy Being, Holy Drew’s refining skill had already reached its peak.

The skills of weapon refiners naturally varied greatly from each other, depending on the degree of control over their strength.

No ores nor any other substance could withstand the refinement of preternatural flames regardless of their solidity. For instance, the Magic Golden Stone was a good kind of material for divine weapons because of its tenacity. But after being heated by some special types of flames, the ores’ properties could change, turning delicate and fragile. Possibly, a whole piece of the Magic Golden Stone could be rendered useless if the refinement was even slightly more powerful.

Therefore, weapon refiners’ skills were extremely important here.

The grading standards for a weapon refiner’s skill in the divine land were mainly based on half-consummation and full-consummation. Half consummation was when the refiner’s power could spread evenly throughout the material — it was relatively easy to grasp. Most practiced weapon refiners in the divine land had already reached this level of skill.

But those who could do full-consummation were rare in the divine land.

The skills of full-consummation required not only a precise control over their strength but also the ability to keep a certain level of strength.

The three strikes Holy Drew had launched with his hammer had almost shaken the entire Divine Refinement Forbidden Land.

If someone else had used the same level of strength, they’d have probably smashed a huge hole, thousands of miles deep. But Holy Drew had the skill.

Because the power of his strike was evenly distributed throughout the entire ground of the Divine Refinement Forbidden Land, Holy Drew’s strikes were precise.

The skill he used was excellent enough to be evaluated as full-consummation. Although the strike was truly powerful, Zen’s body could easily withstand it when it was evenly spread.

But to Zen, it was like a pot of boiling lava was being poured into his body.

The burning feeling didn’t come from the burning of the green flame but from the primordial energy inside his body.

Arms, legs, belly, heart, brain…

Form every pore, every vein, and every crack in his bones, a massive amount of primordial energy surged ceaselessly.

His body was like a dam that had its gates opened. The great amount of primordial energy began rushing within his body at an unprecedented speed.

Small amounts of primordial energy could often alleviate Zen’s pain, making beatings tolerable to the point of him even being comfortable with them.

But when there was too much primordial energy, it was anything but pleasant.

With such a great amount of primordial energy gathering in Zen’s body, he felt an intense burning sensation, an aching and numbing pain.

But Holy Drew still seemed unsatisfied with the amount of primordial energy. With this strike of his hammer, Zen was sent flying into the air. But before Zen fell to the ground, Holy Drew’s second strike came and hit Zen right on the head.

Clang!

The large golden hammer smashed down on Zen’s head and it rang with a sharp sound. With Holy Drew’s skills of full-consummation, smashing his hammer on Zen’s head was no different from smashing Zen’s finger. He had distributed his power evenly all over Zen’s body — it didn’t matter where his hammer landed. All that mattered was that he had no intention of letting Zen go.

When the second strike smashed down, Zen shot up into the sky like a cannon.

He continued flying until he crashed into the ceiling of the cave before falling down once again.

“Again!” the weapon refiner exclaimed.

Then came the third strike.

The power of each strike was very even as it activated the primordial energy within Zen’s body.

By the time of the fourth strike, the primordial energy had already filled every corner of Zen’s body. If anyone watched Zen closely, they’d see how his body began swelling up like a balloon. His originally thin face was now swollen as though he had received a terrible beating — his cheeks bulged out like those of a fat pig.

“It’s painful…” he groaned.

The primordial energy was also a kind of power as strong as it could be. Now that a massive amount of primordial energy had been squeezed into Zen’s body without a way to get out, it caused him great pain.

The sensation grew more and more unbearable.

“The fifth strike!”

As Holy Drew refined Zen’s body, he paid close attention to the boy.

Although he would have liked to regard Zen as a weapon, he still had to consider his particularity. Zen was still a living man, after all, which was far different from a lifeless piece of refined iron.

Iron was dense without any empty space inside. Zen, however, had all his organs, bones, and cavities within his body.

If the weapon refiner refined his body the same way he dealt with normal metal, Zen’s body would explode.

It was because Holy Jay had promised him a reward that Holy Drew came. This boy was his old friend’s son, after all. Even if he seemed indifferent in front of Zen, he made sure to refine his body with great caution.

After five strikes, Holy Drew suddenly dropped his hammer.

He stretched out his hand and turned it over gently. Then, his hand flashed with the power of Space Law. After the light disappeared, a golden wine jug appeared in his hand. He then tilted the lip of the jug toward Zen, pouring a mysterious liquid down onto Zen’s body.

There was a hissing noise as it flowed out, the same sound of water pouring onto a piece of heated iron.

Whatever was in the wine jug was something extraordinary. Even though the place was ablaze with abnormal flames, the liquid wasn’t affected in the slightest. Once it touched Zen’s body, clouds of white mist rose in the air.

As he lay quietly on the ground, Zen felt extremely weak. He felt as though his body was a ticking bomb that could explode at any moment. There was simply too much primordial energy flowing within his body — it was totally out of his control. Some of it even rushed right into his brain, clouding his mind.

But just then, he suddenly felt a cool sensation.

Like a parched man who happened upon an oasis in a desert, Zen couldn’t help but gulp down as much water as he could — his body began to desperately absorb the mysterious liquid.

Meanwhile, the primordial energy within his body began gathering at the parts of his body that had been poured over with the liquid. As the energy dissolved in the fluid, it fused with his muscles and bones completely.

“What is this?”

After regaining consciousness, Zen opened his eyes and took a look around, only to find the one-eyed man pointing a jug right at him. At this moment, he had a strong urge to snatch the jug from the man and drink it all in a single gulp.

But he knew that in his current state, any such actions would be futile. Now, all he could do was to lie obediently on the ground, hoping for the torture to pass quickly.

But unfortunately for him, the situation wasn’t in his favor this time.

A so-called divine weapon must always be forged a thousand times. But Zen had only been hit by the golden hammer five times — it was just getting started.

After Zen had absorbed the liquid completely, Holy Drew brandished the golden hammer in his hand and struck the ground next to Zen with it. Once again, Zen bounced up from the ground because of the impact.

Thump!

He couldn’t help but let out a muffled grunt.

Before he could even react, the primordial energy began flooding within his body like a torrent, flowing wildly through his limbs and bones.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Holy Drew’s strikes were consecutive.

And Zen, who had managed to slim down for a short while, grew swollen and fat once again.

The pain he was experiencing was far beyond most people’s imagination. But no matter how much he suffered, it still couldn’t compare to the pain Zen felt when he had been practicing the Primal Chaos Technique — that was both physical and mental strain. At least his current pains only affected his body.

Splash!

Once again, Holy Drew pulled out the wine jug and poured the mysterious liquid onto Zen’s body, triggering the rise of heavy white mist.

As the refining process continued, Holy Drew gradually increased his number of strikes for every set.

At first, it was five consecutive strikes a set. After three of those, he added another, and then another after three more sets.

Time passed slowly for Zen as the refinement continued.

The crowd outside the cave had been waiting for a long while. On the other side, Rocher and Holy Jay stood together in silence as they watched Zen undergo his painful training.

“I think Zen is suffering too much… how long must the torture last?” Rocher asked.

Rather flatly, Holy Jay replied, “Anyone who wants to achieve great things must withstand the pains that ordinary people cannot.”

All the Holy Beings in the divine land had experienced such pain and suffering — Holy Jay believed that Zen had to go through the same.