Writeup

Update: dropped crafting choices to be more combat focused

Update: Small changes to blessings, drawbacks, and treasures.

Methods

Litany of the Living Forge- my main method that I am most dedicated to. This method seemingly has it all, strength, speed, defense, combat effectiveness, etc. It’s just really cool and is the main consideration behind all my other choices. I am particularly interested in being able to integrate artifacts and armor into myself.

Stone Titan Ascent-Forge has good defense, but Titan truly excels at it and with both of them together it should be even greater. The real gem on the Titans side is the eventual ability to translate physical defense into esoteric defense. On the ability side Titan’s size changing ability could be very interesting combined with Forge’s shapeshifting arsenal. Also, the methods have similar resource requirements (rare ores) which makes things easier overall.

Sword-Singing Sermon-For my third method I strongly considered a third body method as with Primordial Essence their benefits are greater. However, the utility of energy methods won me over anyway. On a pure comparative level I feel Eternal Frost Pages is the most powerful melee energy method but it is likely RE intensive and finding a successor method would be very difficult (part of why my other build took Mentor Ring) and the real weakness of my build is that it is a living weapon but compared to dedicated energy gathering weapon cultivators it might be at a skill disadvantage even with its freaky ass physical bonuses. Taking a dedicated weapon method of my own is the obvious solution. Lots of synergies but two odd ones I wanted to mention are that this method relies on singing and vibrations and one of my methods gives magic vocal cords and the other seismic sense. Not sure how they would interact, but it could be interesting.

Blessings

Weapon God Physique (body)- An amazing choice as being a living arsenal with the Forge Method essentially means I can be a master of almost all weapons and learn a wide variety of weapon techniques. Didn’t go Sword even as a dedicated sword cultivator because once I integrate my Dharma Sword it will count as part of my body.

Imperial Ancestry (Bloody Blade Clan)- I enjoyed the build of “Artist”, which is quite similar to mine but with a crafting emphasis and thought he made very good use of this blessing. I will use it to obtain the secrets of a clan/sect dedicated to the path of the sword with a variety of secret sword techniques, recipes, and insights. The improved body is the icing on the cake.

Heaven-Blessed (Stolen) and Lowly Junior- just straight up among the best choices as most anons know and it fits almost any build.

Decentralized Organs- truly makes my body without weakness

Warhound-Can't go wrong with a raw combat aptitude boost on a living weapon.

Iron Will- incredibly powerful defensive boon and explicitly synergizes with other defensive boons.

Perfect Conduit- it is great as it could potentially allow for me to integrate metals, ores, and artifacts I wouldn’t be able to otherwise, and despite it no longer making pills work better, it now allows for pills to never lose effectiveness which is potentially more powerful (some of the rarest most powerful pills have limits on how many times they can be used normally).

Innovative-Since I dropped the mentor ring being able to adapt methods is more important for my build now. I also thought my discussion with an anon on pulling forward the gained benefits of Stone Titan even if I move onto another method was quite insightful. I MAY stick with a Titan continuation, but I may just switch to another. It depends.

Kind Tribulations-I know ironically the last version of this build took Vengeful Tribulations and now I am taking this. The reason is in most Xianxia not only do tribulations get exponentially deadlier by stage but by the power of an individual cultivator. Ergo an abnormally powerful cultivator for their stage will get a much more deadly tribulation which applies to me due to Primordial Essence. I had forgot about this. The bonus energy (which should stack with Heavenly Conqueror) is also a nice bonus and many MC’s best upgrades come from tribulations.

Seventh Sense- the sort of power that is guaranteed to save me at some point and spidy sense is amazing for a melee specialist. Synergizes with Sword Sermon’s flow of battle ability as well.

Treasures

I dropped Market Ticket, Extradimensional Library and, the Spliced Tree as I agree with the anon who said obtaining the market ticket and library is more fun narratively later and the spliced tree is such a cheat that I want to slum it on Earth for a while.

Pocket Dimension-I would have liked to wait on getting a storage treasure as they are pretty common but escaping the facility with a giant essence forge is my first priority. Also something big enough to hold the spoils of the Treasure Hunt.

Essence Forge- Might be critical for my methods to be able to break down rare items, also very valuable with the purifying function.

Omni-Compass- Very useful for finding opportunities especially Ore

Power Concealer-To help with drawbacks mostly

Spirit Lantern-amazing utility item with many of the benefits of third eye and then some, and I intend to integrate it into myself with the Forge. Will aid with my nemesis and help dampen the effects of pseudo fallen as well.

Grand Inheritances

Heavenly Conqueror Foundation- Wanted a third method (see methods for more info), the other benefits are nice, and I respect the Nerf but the third method is the real meat and potatoes of this, especially since this applies forever (I will always be able to use 3 methods).

Primordial Essence (Jötunn)- The main reason I want this is the pure bodily superiority it provides, slower cultivation be damned (with lowly junior this isn’t so bad anyway), combining this with several dedicated body methods it should have spectacular results, and even my energy method benefits as my techniques are improved. I picked Jötunn as it meshes with the stone/metal giant thing I got going on. My alternate form is a mighty primordial giant that combined with the stone giant body will allow me to grow to truly titanic sizes.

Dharma Weapon-I have been torn on what my third inheritance should be. Lost Legacy is the easy answer but it’s kind of boring and arguably many of its benefits can be gotten later. I chose Dharma Weapon so that I can integrate it into myself with the living forge (which will further enhance it). Besides the obvious benefits and synergies, it also means that I can focus my forge efforts on other artifacts, I can focus 100% of my integration efforts on armors and utility artifacts.

Companions

Worth getting protagonist aura to keep my companion's viable long term as they all contribute to make the perfect team. Didn’t have a spare blessing to spend on power of friendship but it was tempting.

Dr. Nalka- the perfect companion for addressing several of my drawbacks and I am very interested in her ability to “improve” metaphysical organs as well. Alchemy will also be critical for advancement.

Yesod- a critical party member given my crafting deficiency

Marie Su- the most powerful companion by far and I could really use someone who matches me in power.

The Wandering Swordswomen- Spent a drawback to get her. Between myself, Marie Su, and her, our party has 3 sword cultivators to make a powerful combat team and share insights and techniques with each other. Also, my Dharma weapon can copy the powers of her Sword.

Quests

Unstable Rifts- The reward is essentially a perfect prison which could be perfect for dealing with powerful enemies (such as the dragon or nemesis).

Passing Through-very useful as having 3 favors from an actual sect could be invaluable and joining them might be worth considering.

Corrupted Zone-The corrupted materials will be invaluable and with Perfect Conduit I should have no issue using them

Treasure Hunt-My ticket to the good life and my most important quest, success here will make or break me. The lantern will be very useful here.

Wandering Temple- My last quest and my ticket out of here and given the descriptions of other worlds nearby I might want to leave sooner rather than later.

Complications

Fading Away- shouldn’t be too bad as I intend to be a dedicated cultivator (description makes it sound like as long as you keep cultivating it will be held back even with my slowed cultivation), and importantly it is finished for good at level 10 RE.

Parasite- only a temporary inconvenience and I am hoping Dr. Nalka can take care of it and my decentralized organs will make the surgery easier.

Possession-also temporary as I can eventually exorcise it. With that in mind I am hoping I can obtain a talisman or pill of exorcism or something (I have to be careful though since according to Rake I am technically the second spirit to inhabit the body and it could target me if I don’t get the right kind) and Perfect Conduit means once I get it out it will stay out.

Minotaur's Lair- I will have to use Seventh Sense and the Compass to carefully move through and then it is done.

Youthful- Irritating but temporary

Defective Meridians- Rake has made it clear that most drawbacks can be beaten and I have the perfect solution; Dr. Nalka. She can eventually (after much study and acquiring rare reagents of course) perform surgery to fix this.

Toad Lusting After a Swan- Rake said transformation can remove this and Living Forge comes with shapeshifting

Deviated Form (Glowing Red Eyes)- semi-permanent but it is kinda cool and more of an inconvenience than a true bane

Pseudo Fallen-An issue that I will eventually overcome with Stone Titan, Iron Will, and others.

Incompetent-definitely sucks but the thing about auxiliary disciplines is you either go big or go home, so if you don’t take auxiliary master, it isn’t so bad. Not being able to make mediocre pills isn’t the end of the world. I know the last version of this build took Auxiliary Methods and I very much respect the power of a dedicated crafter, but I want the living forge for combat reasons and the idea of fighting for artifacts or treasure to then have Yesod craft and integrate is more appealing to me than a massive crafting side quest.

Courting Death - one of my more serious drawbacks but dealing with the odd assassin here and there is par for the course. The Power Concealer will help enormously, and I am hoping I might be able to use one of my favors from Passing Through to contact this clan and negotiate. If not, it is still a temporary drawback once I slaughter the clan.

Fated Nemesis (Urul)-It's a bit of an issue that he is so intelligent, but he is mostly pacifistic, seventh sense would detect any ambushes he tries, he won’t be able to get any allies, and ultimately I can use his desire to leave Earth against him (one way or another).

Incursion-last of the big boy drawbacks, I have the skills to evade with the likes of seventh sense and the Power Concealer. Longterm, I have options, for one the Titan method allows for changing to a size that could challenge him.

Plan

Wanted to make a pure combat Living Forge build that has to fight for its good fortune. This version is riskier initially but if it succeeds it very well could be stronger long term. This build will have a REAL adventure on Earth but still eventually end up at the Crossroads, War-Torn World, or Immortal Realm where opportunity is more plentiful.

Edit

Pub: 22 Oct 2025 21:36 UTC

Edit: 26 Oct 2025 06:12 UTC

Views: 34