Master Ou’s reaction rendered Han Wu speechless. Wasn’t he supposed to have been here before? How could he know nothing? Is he lying?

Nonetheless, the gate before them could be the exit they needed.

Han Wu glanced at Qin Shuang for her opinion. She said, “I will follow your lead. If you want to open it, let’s do it. Whether it’s an exit or a trap, I’ll face it with you.”

Han Wu felt a surge of warmth and wanted to kiss her, but Master Ou approached and ruined the moment. “I will too.”

Han Wu didn’t feel like kissing Qin Shuang anymore. With Master Ou as a third wheel, even if he didn’t mind, Qin Shuang would. Han Wu pushed the thought aside and examined the gate.

“Then let’s open it.” He pushed the gate while Qin Shuang readied her Fulther Blades to strike at any threat. Master Ou hoisted his hammer and prepared to attack.

Unexpectedly, no matter how hard Han Wu pushed, the gate refused to budge. It was completely immovable, as if sealed shut. At last, Master Ou lost patience and shouted, “Let me do it.”

He took Han Wu’s place, gripped his hammer, and gathered his strength. With a thunderous boom, he struck the massive gate. The impact made it shudder, and chunks of stone and dust fell away, exposing the layer beneath. The gate was not stone at all. It was metallic.

As an accomplished blacksmith, Master Ou drew in a sharp breath when he touched the surface. “Such extravagance!”

The entire gate was made of pure Essence Gold. No matter the civilization, Essence Gold was exceedingly rare and valuable. Civilizations that excelled in forging or crafting prized it as a material of astronomical worth.

Almost 90% of all known Essence Gold was controlled by Divine Weapon City. Its value stemmed from its role in forging God-grade Divine Weapons, most of which required at least some Essence Gold. Some even used it as their primary material.

How much Essence Gold has gone into this gate? Master Ou had no idea.

Han Wu examined the gate, and his greed flared up. “Master Ou, this entire gate is made of Essence Gold, right?”

His Small Locust Blade was a versatile Divine Weapon and could absorb most metals to rank up. Essence Gold was among them, so he suggested, “Since we can’t open the gate, why don’t we use our Divine Weapons to absorb it?”

Master Ou was reluctant. He didn’t want such a vast quantity of Essence Gold to strengthen outsiders’ Divine Weapons, but he knew that he couldn't defend it alone. In fact, without their help, he wouldn’t even be able to obtain a single piece. In that case, there was no reason to stop them. He stepped aside and allowed them to absorb as much Essence Gold as they wished.

Han Wu placed his Small Locust Blade onto the gate and started absorbing the Essence Gold. Dense golden essence flowed into the blade, and it ranked up rapidly.

Qin Shuang confirmed that two of her Divine Weapons, the coin and the Fulther Blades, could absorb the Essence Gold. She placed them against the gate as well. Although Essence Gold was not the ideal material to awaken their innate potential, it remained an excellent resource. She set aside further consideration and let her weapons absorb freely.

As they continued, the gate started to show signs of cavities. Soon, a small hole appeared.

Master Ou was curious and peered through it. Beyond the gate lay an empty space, at the center of which floated a glowing orb. He could not identify it.

Han Wu and Qin Shuang continued absorbing Essence Gold until Han Wu’s Small Locust Blade reached rank 100. If he couldn’t find the necessary materials to upgrade it to the God grade, it couldn’t absorb any more Essence Gold.

He quickly used one of his quotas to ask the Divine Weapon Civilization about the required materials. As usual, its Will provided several options.

He searched his Dimension Bag and found the materials for one of the upgrade paths. It wasn’t the optimal option, but the chance to absorb Essence Gold was rare. Without this gate here, it would be hard for him to find the necessary materials in the future. Thus, he decided to proceed with the upgrade on the spot.

With Master Ou’s experience and help, he added several complementary materials to increase the chances of achieving a stronger result.

Once completed, Master Ou returned the Small Locust Blade to him. Han Wu accepted the newly upgraded weapon and saw the familiar three options for its new effect.

[1: Golden Strength (God): Increases durability by 100-fold. Massively improves the quality of the Divine Weapon.]

[2: Eternal (God): Locks durability at its current value. Durability will never change, resulting in an unbreakable Divine Weapon.]

[3: Split (God): Removes the upper limit for durability. Durability will slowly recover. When durability reaches 200%, the Divine Weapon will split into two, with each copy possessing 100% durability. After splitting, subsequent generations can continue to split. Upper limit: 10 generations.]

Han Wu salivated with greed when he saw two exceptionally powerful effects. The first one was mediocre in comparison, so he dismissed it.

The second effect, Eternal, reminded him of his own Microcosm. Locking durability meant the weapon could never be destroyed. Even if applied to scrap metal, the effect would be unimaginably powerful, let alone on a Divine Weapon.

The third effect followed a different path, one of multiplication. Controlling a single Small Locust Blade differed greatly from controlling 21 simultaneously. If he chose this option, he could command up to 1,024 Small Locust Blades even before using Triplicate and Seven Killings.

He imagined controlling 21,504 Small Locust Blades in a single attack and recalled that this was similar to the Ten Thousand Sword Array he had once seen!

He was in a dilemma between the two options: quality or quantity. Both effects were too good, and he couldn’t decide. He looked at Qin Shuang once more. She understood at once and handed him her coin. He flipped it, and the result settled his choice.

He chose the third effect. With that decision, the Small Locust Blade completed its transformation into a God-tier weapon.