Chapter 26: A Week of Refinement and a Master’s Test

The speed and simplicity of crafting this firearm far exceeded Su Yun’s expectations. With the presence of molds, as long as Su Yun’s molds remained flawless, the components would be free of error. Moreover, with the advanced tools available, parts that were once impossible to craft by hand could now be produced with remarkable ease.

Yet, this sudden proficiency left Su Yun feeling a sense of aimlessness. Having mastered the Art of Refinement, manufacturing ordinary firearms was no longer a challenge. With these molds at her disposal, she could even produce them in massive quantities.

Although this automatic pistol was undeniably more refined, its power had not significantly increased. Su Yun realized this alone was insufficient; she needed to amplify the pistol’s destructive force.

Consequently, she resolved to focus her efforts on the ammunition itself. Her plan involved replacing the standard bullet tips with harder variants, such as armor-piercing rounds.

A week passed in the blink of an eye.

Throughout that entire week, Su Yun remained secluded within the Refinement Chamber. The chamber itself was now a chaotic mess, littered with spent bullet casings. The tables groaned under the weight of numerous firearms of varying models.

These were not mere prototypes, but actual weapons Su Yun had meticulously crafted over the past seven days.

Pistols, rifles, submachine guns, shotguns, machine guns, sniper rifles—she had produced them all.

Any firearm for which Su Yun possessed the blueprints, she had successfully replicated. The underlying principles of these weapons were largely similar, with only the components differing. With her molds, this presented no obstacle.

A metal plate now adorned one of the walls, scarred by countless bullet impacts, with several projectiles still embedded within its surface.

At her workbench, Su Yun sat lost in thought, propping her chin in her hand, her mind seemingly adrift in the void. What troubled her so?

The answer was simple: in just one week, she had achieved the very dream that had driven her since arriving in this world.

She had successfully manufactured every type of firearm known in her previous life, even upgrading the ammunition several times over.

Rows of bullets lay arranged on the table, ranging from standard rounds to potent armor-piercing projectiles. Yet, Su Yun remained unsatisfied.

“Have I reached the limit?” Su Yun murmured, her eyes distant. “I never imagined the advanced weaponry of my former world could be so easily reproduced in this seemingly ancient one, simply by using the Art of Refinement. It seems I’ve gravely underestimated this world. What should I do next? How can I imbue these firearms with the Art of Refinement from this world?”

She had attempted to engrave weapon patterns onto the bullets, but to no avail; the patterns appeared to offer no increase in power. Applying them to the firearms themselves had yielded similarly disappointing results.

Su Yun felt she had hit a bottleneck, or perhaps her approach was fundamentally flawed.

“I’m completely stumped. What now?” Su Yun pondered for a long time, yet no solutions came to mind.

She decided to temporarily halt her experiments. Persisting without a clear direction held little meaning; perhaps stepping out to relax would spark an idea.

True to her word, Su Yun immediately began to pack away her firearms and ammunition. She meticulously collected all the spent casings and bullet fragments from the floor. After a thorough cleanup, ensuring nothing was amiss, she finally opened the door and stepped out of the Refinement Chamber.

As she emerged, the familiar clang of hammers on metal echoed once more from the surrounding area.

“Oh! Little apprentice, you’ve finally emerged. How was your week?” The moment Su Yun stepped out, Lei Yan sensed her presence. With a whoosh, he appeared directly before her.

Su Yun let out a profound sigh.

“Master, there’s something I don’t quite understand. Could you perhaps enlighten me?” Su Yun asked.

Lei Yan paused, surprised. He had assumed Su Yun had encountered an obstacle in her refinement work.

“Speak your mind,” Lei Yan gestured. “Anything I know, I will certainly explain to you.”

Su Yun then began to broadly outline her query.

Essentially, she was asking Lei Yan how the Art of Refinement could be used to amplify the power of ordinary projectiles once they were launched.

After listening, Lei Yan stroked his chin, then motioned for Su Yun to follow him.

The two of them exited Refinement Peak and stepped outside.

Once outside, Lei Yan bent down and picked up a stone from the ground.

“Little apprentice,” Lei Yan said, holding the stone between his fingers. “Your question actually has little to do with refinement. Watch closely.” He then flicked the stone towards a protruding rock some distance away.

The small pebble struck the rock accurately, yet it generated no discernible force.

However, when Lei Yan launched a second pebble, it effortlessly shattered the protruding rock into fragments.

Witnessing this, Su Yun’s eyes suddenly brightened with understanding. She realized that her immediate task was to find a way for her crafted firearms to channel her own power, thereby enhancing their lethality.

“Master, I’ve forged a new type of hidden weapon myself. Could you help me test its power?” Su Yun asked abruptly, after glancing around to ensure they were alone.

Lei Yan looked puzzled once more.

“A hidden weapon? Girl, ordinary hidden weapons pose no threat to cultivators. Why test such a thing?” Lei Yan inquired.

“Master, please don’t ask yet. You’ll understand once you try it,” Su Yun replied with a mysterious smile.

Lei Yan nodded.

“Very well, proceed. Strike me with your hidden weapon, and I will roughly assess its power based on its destructive force,” Lei Yan said, nodding calmly.

Su Yun retreated a short distance, positioning herself within the pistol’s effective range.

Only then did she retrieve her automatic pistol.

Lei Yan stared, dumbfounded, at the contraption in Su Yun’s hand. He pondered, ‘Just how much power could *that* thing possibly generate?’

“Master, this hidden weapon attacks very quickly, and I’m a little worried about injuring you,” Su Yun cautioned. “You can choose to dodge or use your cultivation to block it, but please, do not try to withstand it directly.”

Lei Yan chuckled.

“Go ahead, don’t worry. I am a Core Formation cultivator. If your hidden weapon could injure me, then I would have lived all these years in vain,” Lei Yan declared.

After a moment of contemplation, Su Yun decisively fired a shot at Lei Yan. A loud report echoed as a bullet rocketed from the barrel, hurtling towards him.

The instant the bullet was fired, Lei Yan paused, momentarily stunned. However, just as the projectile closed to less than a meter from him, he suddenly raised his hand, extended two fingers, and effortlessly clamped the bullet between them.

Su Yun hadn’t even registered when Lei Yan had moved his hand. By the time she processed what was happening, the bullet was already securely caught between his fingers.

‘What the — is this the power of a Core Formation cultivator?’ Though she had anticipated such a reaction, witnessing it firsthand left Su Yun utterly stunned.

Lei Yan, still holding the bullet, examined it with considerable surprise.

Its power and speed were certainly sufficient to easily wound a Qi Condensation realm cultivator.

“Interesting,” Lei Yan mused. “I never expected a hidden weapon, one not even a magic treasure, to possess speed and power comparable to a ninth-level Qi Condensation cultivator.”

Still, for such a contraption to injure him was virtually impossible.

“Master, I’m going to fire continuously now,” Su Yun warned.

Lei Yan dropped the bullet, his expression unperturbed. “Proceed,” he stated calmly. “This time, I won’t block.”

Su Yun squeezed the trigger repeatedly. With a rapid succession of ‘bangs,’ she emptied the entire magazine. Over a dozen bullets flew forth, each striking Lei Yan’s body with unerring accuracy.

However, Lei Yan’s body was like steel. The bullets flattened upon impact, utterly crushed. It was clear that the physique of a Core Formation cultivator was far beyond what ordinary ammunition could affect.

Witnessing this, Su Yun could only imagine the chaos that would ensue if a Core Formation cultivator ever appeared in her original world.

“Your hidden weapon is quite impressive, indeed,” Lei Yan remarked. “However, its maximum power can only injure Qi Condensation cultivators. For Foundation Establishment and above, it’s insufficient.”

Su Yun did not stop there; instead, she spoke again.

“Master, I also have an enhanced version of the hidden weapon. Please try this one,” Su Yun said, producing a rifle. She aimed it at Lei Yan and fired. The rifle’s speed and power were undeniably far greater than the pistol’s.

As the shot rang out, Lei Yan’s eyes narrowed slightly. Under the scrutiny of his divine sense, the bullet’s velocity seemed to slow by countless magnitudes, ultimately allowing him to once again trap it between two fingers.

This time, however, Lei Yan had clearly become a little more serious.

“How was it this time, Master?” Su Yun inquired.

After a brief silence, Lei Yan offered his assessment.

“Its power is roughly equivalent to an early Foundation Establishment cultivator’s strength, though its speed is slightly slower than an average early Foundation Establishment cultivator’s reaction time. It could probably injure a Foundation Establishment cultivator’s body if used as a sneak attack, but it’s not strong enough to penetrate an early Foundation Establishment cultivator. At most, it would cause some pain,” Lei Yan replied.

Su Yun smiled, then swapped the rifle for a submachine gun.

“Master, be careful. This time, it’s a burst fire,” Su Yun warned. She aimed at Lei Yan and unleashed all the submachine gun’s bullets in one continuous stream.

“Zzzzt… zzzzt…” After a rapid succession of sounds, Su Yun ceased firing.

Before Lei Yan, another scattering of deformed bullet tips lay strewn across the ground.

“Hmm, the attack density is quite high,” Lei Yan evaluated. “However, its individual power doesn’t compare to the previous hidden weapon, though it is considerably stronger than your very first one. Its overall might falls somewhere between a Qi Condensation cultivator and a Foundation Establishment cultivator.”