From Abyssal Invasion to Bursting Stars with a Single Sword

Even resorting to the despicable act of assassinating Quenching Masters.

After monopolizing the market, Western countries began controlling market prices, reaping wealth.

In the previous life,

Da Xia had lost the Quenching Market, and Quenching Masters were assassinated.

As a result, many of Da Xia's Quenching Masters, when invited by the ASE alliance magnates, chose to join foreign Quenching Companies.

This further led to a situation where Da Xia's domestic Quenching field had neither market nor talent, becoming a desert at one point.

Knowing well what those robbers would do, Lu Heng did not want the same things to happen again, so he had to establish Da Xia's dominant position in the Quenching field.

Lu Heng added, "After the Engraving market picks up, bundle it together too, I need to establish dominance in all three fields. If the Academy of Sciences wants to get involved, they can collaborate, handle these matters as you see fit."

Lin Zeyu's eyes lit up upon hearing this vision.

Previously, he hadn't thought so much, only focused on how to make money and enhance his strength.

As for establishing dominance in the Quenching field, it seemed a distant matter.

However, he could understand why Lu Heng was doing this and asked, "You haven't yet told Gulu about the origin of the Quenching Furnace from Lion Heart Empire, have you?"

Lu Heng nodded and replied, "Right, I haven't told him yet."

Lin Zeyu scratched the back of his head and remarked,

"When I saw the photo of the Quenching Furnace in the newspaper, I felt that the one from Lion Heart Empire looked very similar to the one in Quenching Castle, almost identical.

"It turns out both Quenching Furnaces were built by the Black Iron Dwarfs, so of course, they look exactly alike."

When Lion Heart Empire started to publicize its Quenching Furnace, they made a huge splash and spent crazy sums to dig for Quenching Masters.

At that time, media from various countries were reporting on this Quenching Furnace, and its photo could be seen in practically any newspaper.

So the nature of this matter was somewhat delicate.

It was essentially like Lion Heart Empire stealing a Quenching Furnace from Gulu's kin, not much different from robbing him.

Lu Heng had not yet figured out how to explain this to Gulu, as it was a tricky issue.

Regardless, establishing Da Xia's dominant position in Quenching was necessary.

Currently in the Forging field, there is only Gulu, a Forging Master.

For human Superpower Users who arise as Apprentice Forgers, reaching Gulu's level isn't something that can happen quickly.

Comparatively, in the Engraving field, foreign Superpower Users do possess competitiveness.

Judging by the time, it's about now that Engravers would start appearing.

In Quenching Castle at the moment, there is only Su Muyu, an Apprentice Engraver, who is at the same starting line as foreign Engravers.

So the competitive pressure will be greater.

Lu Heng had considered this and arranged, "Under the name of Flame Emblem and Quenching Castle, recruit Engravers, I want dominance in all three fields.

"Initially nurture Engravers with Forging and Quenching, do not skimp on Engraving Materials, push the Engravers' levels up.

"Just relying on Mu Yu alone isn't enough, recruit a batch of Engravers with potential.

"With the brand of Flame Emblem, it will definitely be attractive to Engravers."

Lin Zeyu noted everything down, "Okay, I'll handle it as soon as I get back."

He then remembered something and asked, "By the way, about the acquisition of the Cyber Batteries last time, I did acquire a batch and indeed the price really went up, those lunatics really mirror whatever I acquire and they overpay excessively."

Lu Heng had merely mentioned in passing, "The goal is to teach them a lesson. How much we earn is not too important."

Lin Zeyu clenched his fist and said, "We need to cut them deep for them to feel the pain. Hmm, at what price should we start selling?"

"Five to six times the cost should be sufficient. Any higher, and those conglomerates might become wary," Lu Heng replied.

"Alright, once the price has risen sufficiently, I'll sell off this batch of cyber batteries and make a quick buck. What should we buy next?" Lin Zeyu was particularly eager to fleece those mega-conglomerates; if successful, he could practically laugh himself awake in his sleep.

"You decide based on the situation, but as long as they dare to follow, keep cutting until they fear us. When they stop following, we'll pick up the items we actually want. If there's going to be a second round, we could consider the Abyss Black Iron Ore which is abundant and allows for bigger plays," Lu Heng replied.

"Alright, the next wave will target the Black Iron Ore," Lin Zeyu nodded in agreement.

...

With the news spreading that Quenching Castle had created an S-Level Divine Weapon, the Flame Emblem representing Quenching Castle began recruiting top-tier Quenching Masters, Forging Masters, and Engravers.

During the acceptance of orders, the three types of orders were bundled together and allocated proportionally.

This had dealt a heavy blow to the Lion Heart Empire's recently funded quenching industry, as Quenching orders began to focus more towards the Coastal area.

With an increased number of Quenching orders, the levels of Quenching Masters in Da Xia also rose.

Lu Heng's Advanced Quenching Master professional experience increased to (2250/3000), moving him increasingly closer to promotion.

Thanks to a continuous supply of engraving materials, Su Muyu's Apprentice Rune Master professional experience was also increasing rapidly.

In less than half a month, she had maxed out her [Apprentice Rune Master] professional experience and was promoted to an official [Engraver].

After her promotion, she took Lu Heng's [Spirit Resistance Ring].

Two days later, Lu Heng received the new ring, which now had an Energy Crystal embedded in it, and the attributes of the ring had changed.

[Spirit Resistance Ring]

[Item Level: C-Level]

[Specifications: Diameter 20mm, Weight 19g]

[Attribute: +2 Spiritual]

[Engraving: +10% Flame Power]

[Special Effect: Spirit Resistance]

[Spirit Resistance: Improves resistance against spiritual attacks and spiritual pollution, reducing the effect by 50% when subjected to spiritual attacks or pollution.]

The level of the ring had increased, and in addition to its existing spirit resistance effect, it gained 2 points in spiritual attribute and an additional 10% in flame power.

This meant that the power of Dragon Breath Slash had increased by 10%, and its already fearsome power had become even more terrifying.

Upon seeing the upgraded attributes, Lu Heng asked with a smile, "Is this a gift for your promotion in your vice profession?"

Su Muyu flashed a proud smile and nodded, "Yes, this is a gift for you. When I reach Advanced Engraver, I'll replace the Energy Crystal with a Dragon Eye Gem. I'm not quite there yet."

"Keep it up," Lu Heng encouraged, putting on the ring and feeling a strange sensation flood his mind; then he saw his spiritual attribute increase from 83 points to 85.

At this stage, even among Spiritual Superpower Users, few could reach 85 points in spiritual attribute.

Lu Heng was not a Spiritual Superpower User, but he had gained a spiritual skill [Spirit Control] from a previous World Task reward.

Using this skill required a spirit check with the target, and the higher the spiritual attribute, the stronger the skill effect.

Thus, these two points of spiritual power greatly enhanced this skill.

Once Su Muyu was promoted to Advanced Engraver and inlaid the Dragon Eye Gem into the ring, the added spiritual attribute would be 8 points, giving an even greater boost.