Heimdall inserted the greatsword into the hole, and the spherical hall closed, then spun rapidly, shooting out a beam of colorful light.
On the synchronous orbit of a star, a special steel structure had been erected.
This was a massive ring-shaped forge powered by stellar energy, its surface serving as the forging workshop of the dwarf kingdom, Nidavellir.
Deeper within the workshop was a large, rough, honeycomb-shaped metal city.
That was where the dwarves normally lived.
Of course, dwarves weren't actually small. They were called dwarves because they were shorter than the giants born alongside them.
At least here, Qingshui hadn't seen a single dwarf shorter than himself. Many were three or four meters tall, and King Eitri was an impressive five meters.
"Aha, so you're the High Priest appointed by His Majesty Odin? Clear Water, Thor mentioned you once, I think. Is he the new All-Father now?"
Eitri placed the freshly quenched halberd he had just finished into a nearby weapon rack and curiously sized up Qingshui.
"Yes, I heard that the dwarves' forging techniques are the strongest in the universe, so I wanted to come and learn. Also, the Destroyer, Thor broke it on Earth. I'll send the pieces over in a couple of days, and I'll need you to see if you can fix it."
"Burp... No problem. Many famous forging masters from across the universe have come here to study. Care for a drink?"
Eitri picked up a large vat with one hand, as if it were a normal-sized cup, took a swig of the liquid inside, let out a burp, and asked Qingshui.
Beside him, several other large vats were placed on steaming machines, keeping their contents warm.
"Is this... alcohol?"
Qingshui watched the constant bubbles rising in one of the vats, the liquid resembling magma. He sniffed it, dipped a finger, and tasted it.
The taste was surprisingly good.
"That's right! This is dwarf liquor, it gives us the most passionate forging inspiration!"
Eitri's eyes gleamed as he spoke.
Qingshui tried it again.
It tasted genuinely good, so good it barely seemed like alcohol; it was more like a carbonated drink that, after consumption, promoted blood circulation and nerve excitement.
Though called liquor, it seemed that due to constant heating, the ethanol had evaporated, leaving a very low alcohol content.
With the metabolic rate of his body, enhanced by the Extremis Virus, this small amount of alcohol was already metabolized before it even began to take effect.
That was quite nice.
Under Eitri's expectant gaze, Qingshui took a big gulp and wiped his mouth.
"Not bad. This is Bor's Wine that Thor gave me a while ago. There's still some left, you should try it too."
Qingshui waved his hand, opening a Teleportation Halo, pulled out a jar of wine from within, and tossed it to Eitri.
Eitri opened the seal on the jar, sniffed it first, a look of intoxication on his face, then took a small sip.
"That... this wine..."
"It's yours. If it's not enough, I have other wines from Earth. While the quantity isn't large, my friend has collected all the top-tier wines from the entire planet, and I can grab some for you when I have time."
Qingshui then casually opened another portal and took out a few bottles from Watt Manor's storage, giving them to Eitri.
"Alright! Whatever forging techniques you want to learn, I'll personally teach you until you master them!"
Eitri patted his chest, making a guarantee, then picked up a bottle of brandy and drank it all in one go, like a small oral solution, commenting:
"Hmm, a natural, primitive, yet refined brewing process. It's just that the raw materials are a bit lacking. If they could add those well-known ingredients used for brewing, it would be considered top-grade.
High Priest, come with me. If you want to learn to forge weapons, the best place is the Forge Throne. To this day, every single one of my artifacts has been forged there."
Eitri carefully tucked the Bor's Wine into his pocket and placed the other bottles Qingshui had given him on a nearby steel platform, then motioned to Qingshui.
The two walked towards the so-called Forge Throne.
Though called a throne, it wasn't a literal throne, but rather implied it was the best place for forging—the base of a towering, ring-shaped tower structure.
By opening the gap in the ring structure at the top of the tower, the power of a star could be drawn into the tower, finally releasing plasma flames capable of melting almost anything.
This was also the core technology the dwarves mastered for melting and forging Uru Metal.
Artifacts like Mjolnir were ultimately truly formed here.
"We usually don't need to fully open the Forge Throne, because at such high temperatures, most metals would burn away as impurities. Only a very few rare materials suitable for artifacts can withstand it. The last time this thing went full power was thousands of years ago."
The Dwarf King picked up a few pieces of metal from a pile next to the furnace, weighing them in his hand.
"So, High Priest, where do you want to start?"
"I heard that dwarves have the ability to perceive the frequency of materials and then guide energy into them to assimilate and improve the material's properties."
"Yes, but only dwarves can do that; others can't learn it. But don't worry, even without that, our forging techniques are still the best in the universe... Hmm?"
Eitri paused, watching Qingshui take the smallest piece of metal from his hand and inject energy into it.
This was a refined piece of Mithril, a metal whose crystal structure had been altered through alchemy or certain technological means, changing its density, hardness, toughness, and energy conductivity.
Because of its excellent energy conductivity, it was a very good magical material for mages.
Qingshui was quite familiar with this metal, having also refined it with Divine Mechanism Hundred Refinements in the past, so the speed of Materialization was quite fast.
Within a few minutes, Qingshui had completed the Materialization of this piece of Mithril.
Eitri's eyes widened.
"How did you... uh, do that so fast? Try this one next, Dragonstone, one of the hardest alloys in the universe.
And this one, Yaka Metal, a specialty of Centauri, is extremely sensitive to vibrational waves. It can use sound waves combined with energy to control its flight path..."
A few more pieces of metal were materialized by Qingshui using Divine Mechanism Hundred Refinements.
Two of the metal structures were slightly more complex and took a bit longer, but the total time spent didn't exceed an hour.
"Genius!"
Eitri picked up a piece of Dragonstone metal and examined it, exclaiming in surprise, which even drew the attention of many nearby dwarves forging weapons.
"Eitri, what are you two up to?"
A stout dwarf, a head shorter than Eitri, with braided pigtails, walked over, carrying a small hammer.
Compared to him, it was quite a small hammer.
"Old Borg, look at this! Dragonstone metal strengthened by High Priest Watt!"
"Metal strengthened by an outsider? High Priest?"
"Newly appointed by Lord Odin today."
Borg, the dwarf, finally understood. He first bowed slightly to Qingshui in greeting, then took the metal, rubbing it with his large hands and perceiving its energy with the unique talent of dwarves.
"The energy is very abundant and special, though it can't compare to the power of a star. But it can indeed serve as a good forging material. It's a completely different strengthening method from ours, but I'm not sure about its capacity to carry Rune Magic."
Old Borg assessed.
"I haven't mastered the Rune Magic summarized by Lord Odin yet, but I'm also a mage proficient in rune magic. I can try it now."
Qingshui smiled faintly, took the Dragonstone metal, and activated the power of the Extremis Virus to release high temperatures. Combined with Separation Release, which also generates high heat, he ignited a blue, superheated plasma flame in his palm, quickly melting the Dragonstone metal.
Eitri quickly selected a mold from nearby.
"This is a mold that hasn't had Rune Magic carved into it yet."
As the molten metal flowed into the mold, Qingshui used his other hand to draw a Talisman in the air, imprinting it onto the embryonic dagger already forming in the mold.
Qingshui had been pondering the integration of Talismans and Magic Tools for a long time.
In Yi Ren World, there was already a related field; the Magic Tools crafted by Ma Xianhong and others had some runes. In the past, in Yi Ren World, forging a Magic Tool took several years, and drawing a high-level Talisman was also not an easy task.
Only by mastering both Divine Mechanism Hundred Refinements and Tongtian Lu could these two be deeply combined.
Otherwise, the integration of the two skills would be limited.
Before long, a brand new dagger emerged from the quench.
"Let me try."
Borg took the dagger and struck the anvil next to him.
A not-too-deep, not-too-shallow mark appeared on the anvil. As he swung the dagger, flames blazed from its blade.
"The sharpness and hardness are quite good. Is the rune's effect a fire enchantment? The quality of this sword is already comparable to that of many of our young, skilled blacksmiths."
Eitri eyed the mark on the anvil, praising it.
This anvil, used by the dwarves to test weapons, was not made of ordinary iron. To be able to forge such a weapon was already a rare and excellent feat for a blacksmith.
"Ahem, that... High Priest."
Old Borg rubbed his hands, his bearded face full of smiles.
"We can learn from each other's techniques, complementing our strengths."
Qingshui said with a smile.
Borg and Eitri exchanged glances and burst into laughter.
"Then it's settled! I promise to teach you everything I know!"
Eitri thumped his chest.
Just then, a rainbow beam descended from afar, revealing the figures of Thor and Loki.
Both of their expressions were different from before: sorrow, solemnity, anxiety, among others.
However, Loki had an added layer of worry, while Thor had an extra surge of drive when facing a challenge.
Clearly, Odin had already explained everything that needed to be explained to them.
"Eitri, Watt! And Borg!"
Thor strode over quickly, shouting loudly.
"Lord Thor... and Prince Loki."
Eitri responded upon seeing them, but his address for Thor had changed to "Lord," fitting for a King of Gods.
"Father said Asgard will face the danger of Ragnarök, and that he's asked you to prepare a new weapon to deal with the danger, and also to modify the Casket of Ancient Winters to make it more suitable for Loki to use."
"And that we should train with the High Priest, if your training proves useful within this short month."
Loki took out the glowing blue Casket of Ancient Winters, looking at Qingshui with flickering eyes.
Qingshui smiled faintly.
"It will be effective, I guarantee this one month will be worth fifty months, and they will be very fulfilling and useful months, where you'll learn new things."
He was already prepared to turn up the heat on that kid, Loki.
Loki's ominous premonition grew stronger.
He still wasn't convinced by Qingshui, but he was afraid of getting beaten in front of everyone, so he wisely stopped talking.
After all, Qingshui was nominally the High Priest of Asgard, his teacher, so beating him was perfectly justifiable.
Eitri replied, "The materials for the new weapon are ready. The Uru Metal ore that Lord Odin sent last year has been refined into finished Uru ingots. Only the molds are still being forged. Before, we weren't sure if a month would be enough time to engrave the corresponding Rune Magic on the molds, but now…"
Eitri and Borg exchanged another glance, looking at Qingshui.
Borg continued, "Perhaps the High Priest can help, if he can master the corresponding runes within a month."
"I don't think that's a problem. As I said, we have a full fifty months, at least when you're around me."
Qingshui smiled confidently, forming hand seals.
The Eye of Agamotto, hanging on his chest, opened, and the Time Stone glowed with a brilliant green light, forming a magic circle that enveloped a kilometer of the sky.
"Are we moving faster now?"
Loki looked at the dwarves hammering away at a snail's pace in the distance, glancing in astonishment at the Time Stone hanging on Qingshui's chest.
"The first ring of this magic circle provides a fifty-fold acceleration. From the second ring outwards, it gradually slows down until the outermost ring, where time flows normally. Just imagine we're on a spaceship traveling at 99.98% the speed of light, experiencing time dilation without using a sub-space wormhole."
"That… dear teacher, this amazing Magic Tool and spell, I wonder…"
"No, you're not getting it, give up. Don't even think about stealing it while I'm sleeping; you won't be able to. And in the end, I'll take off your pants and hang you at the main gate of the palace for all Asgardians to admire your size."
Loki's expression changed.
Thor grinned widely.
"So, at least there's enough time to forge the artifact, right?"
"Definitely no problem."
Eitri affirmed.
Immediately after, Qingshui formed hand seals again, splitting into two Shadow Clones.
"Thor."
One of Qingshui's Shadow Clones suddenly spoke, unleashing a palm lightning strike towards Thor.
The latter reacted instantly, reaching out with Mjolnir to counter with an even thicker bolt of lightning.
"Very good. Next, I'll teach you how to generate lightning like mine without a hammer, so you can unleash even greater power when using weapons."
Then, while the remaining Shadow Clone and Eitri Borg went to another side to discuss forging, Qingshui's main body smiled at Loki, who was sweating cold beads on his forehead.
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