"That's great!"
Hearing the little blacksmith's words, Hu Ke'er replied with a delighted look on her face.
"If that's the case, then I'll leave the construction of the blacksmith shop to you. Also, I might trouble you to forge some other spiritual energy weapons for me," Hu Ke'er said softly.
"No problem. Leave it to me!"
The little blacksmith said, patting his chest.
"Don't worry, senior sister. I'll just find a few capable foremen for the construction of the blacksmith shop. I'll forge the weapons you want myself."
"Okay, then I'll have to trouble you!"
Hu Ke'er said, smiling slightly at the little blacksmith.
Originally, her purpose of coming here was to find the little blacksmith to help her forge weapons. If everything went smoothly, her weapons should be upgraded before the inner - sect test.
She'd start with the simple ones. The easiest thing to make here was actually the detonation beads, since they were just small beads with inscriptions engraved on them. So, she'd start the modification from this simple item.
The detonation beads were indeed quite powerful, but their power was rather limited. In previous battles, they hadn't achieved particularly good results. So, Hu Ke'er's basic requirement for upgrading the detonation beads was to amplify their power!
After coming up with the goal of the modification, Hu Ke'er's thoughts became much clearer. Since she just needed to increase the power, simply increasing the spiritual energy content of the detonation talismans would do. But since the small beads could store only a limited amount of spiritual energy, Hu Ke'er considered making the detonation beads larger.
Thinking this way, Hu Ke'er quickly started drawing on the blueprint. However, when she finished the drawing, she stared at the weapon depicted on the blueprint for a few seconds.
"No way! Isn't this just a real - world grenade?"
Hu Ke'er stared at the blueprint she'd drawn, lost in thought. After all, she hadn't intended to copy the design of a grenade, but unexpectedly, she'd ended up with this shape.
It seemed that the influence of her original world on her was still quite significant.
But since the drawing was already done, there was no reason not to make it. So, Hu Ke'er simply threw the grenade blueprint to the little blacksmith.
"Little blacksmith, do you think you can forge this?"
"A piece of cake!"
Seeing the blueprint Hu Ke'er had handed over, the little blacksmith nodded.
"Then I'll have to trouble you, little brother!"
Hu Ke'er said politely.
"Please forge dozens of these spiritual energy grenades for me first. Later, I can add some pepper powder into them. Then they'll become smoke bombs!"
Hu Ke'er said, smiling as she thought about it.
Although Hu Ke'er had probably completed the blueprint of the spiritual energy grenade by this time, she clearly knew that the combat power of the spiritual energy grenade was still limited. She couldn't possibly join the inner sect just by throwing grenades. So, the next thing to modify was Hu Ke'er's close - combat weapon.
Currently, Hu Ke'er had no close - combat weapons on her, which was her real pressing issue. Otherwise, when someone got close to her, she might be knocked down before she even had time to shoot.
However, even if Hu Ke'er had a knife, she probably wouldn't be able to last a few moves against her fellow senior brothers and sisters. So, the short knife to be forged needed to be unexpected.
So, Hu Ke'er fell into deep thought again.
"Little junior sister, what's wrong with you?"
Just as Hu Ke'er was deep in thought, someone patted her on the shoulder. It was Chen Tianyi, who had been in charge of the repair of the spiritual stone refining room earlier.
"Well, I'm thinking that I may need a close - combat weapon. Otherwise, it'll be difficult for me to pass the inner - sect test!"
"I see. Then have you decided what kind of weapon you want to forge, junior sister?"
Hearing Hu Ke'er's words, Chen Tianyi asked softly.
"Well, about this... A short knife? It's small and convenient, and its combat power seems to be good too."
"Well... I don't really recommend a short knife."
Chen Tianyi frowned and shook his head.
"Huh? Why?"
Hu Ke'er asked in confusion.
"Because you're not an expert in using a knife, little junior sister. In that case, a short knife in your hand can only serve as a decoration at most. It can't play any offensive or defensive role at all!"
"Um, I still don't quite understand."
Hu Ke'er still didn't understand why a short knife would be completely useless to her just because she wasn't an expert in using it.
"Even if I've never used a short knife before, randomly waving it in my hand should still have some combat power, right?"
"Little junior sister, you're oversimplifying things," Chen Tianyi said softly.
"Huh?"
Hu Ke'er looked extremely puzzled.
"The situation you mentioned, where randomly waving and slashing can increase combat power, may only happen in the mortal world. You should know, little junior sister, that in front of cultivators, your speed will be relatively slower. In that case, randomly waving the short knife in your hand will only increase the probability of stabbing yourself and have no other effect."
"I see!"
Hearing Chen Tianyi's words, Hu Ke'er nodded thoughtfully. She finally began to understand that what she needed was definitely not just a short knife, but a weapon that was simple and easy to operate.
"Well, it seems I have to think about it again—"
Hu Ke'er said, stretching.
"If a short knife won't work, there may not be any more suitable close - combat weapons."
"Little junior sister, I have an idea. Why don't you consider it?"
"Hmm?"
Hearing Chen Tianyi's words, Hu Ke'er asked in confusion.
"If you have any good ideas, senior brother, just say it. Given our relationship, I won't mind."
"Well, actually, I think it'll be more convenient for you to make a fan. In this way, it can be used for both attack and defense, and it'll be a small advantage in the inner - sect exam."
"Yeah, that's a good idea!"
Hearing Chen Tianyi's words, the corners of Hu Ke'er's mouth curled up slightly, and she exclaimed in surprise.
"Thank you, senior brother. Thanks to your reminder, I finally know what kind of weapon I need!"
Hu Ke'er started drawing excitedly. After finishing the drawing, she handed the blueprint in her hand to the little blacksmith.
"Little blacksmith, please try to forge this for me?"
"Are you sure you want me to forge this, little senior sister?"
"Yes. Start working!"
"Okay then!"
Hearing Hu Ke'er's words, the little blacksmith stopped working on the spiritual energy grenades and started forging according to the blueprint Hu Ke'er had just given him.
"Well, this is the first time I've forged a thousand - mechanism umbrella. It's really troublesome..."
The little blacksmith sighed softly as he forged according to the method written on the blueprint and shook his head.