C16 Nine Abyss Netherworld Fire!

Zhang Heng offered a slight smile before responding, "We're meeting for the first time. The Great Master is said to be as elusive as a dragon, rarely seen even by many of the academy's instructors. How could I possibly be that fortunate?"

The elder's curiosity deepened. "If that's the case, how do you know who I am?"

Zhang Heng's smile was faint, yet he remained silent, exuding an air of confident knowledge.

"Go on, tell me who you think I am. If you're correct, I'll grant you a request."

"If Zhang Heng isn't mistaken, you must be the master who single-handedly forged three of the Empire's Ten Great Origin Weapons, striking fear into demons and foreign races alike. You are the revered Master Qing Tu Zi, whose work is admired by countless citizens and brave warriors."

Upon hearing Zhang Heng's words, the old man's demeanor brightened. With a sweep of his right hand, a transparent barrier of origin energy instantly surrounded them, sealing off the Hall of Valor from the space within the barrier.

In this way, outsiders could neither see nor hear anything inside the barrier. Those who approached would, without realizing it, steer clear of its perimeter.

The elder finished his hot tea in one gulp and fixed his gaze on Zhang Heng. "Fascinating, truly fascinating. You must be a new student, am I right?"

"It's surprising that neither the senior students nor the Hall of Valor's instructors have uncovered my identity, yet you've managed to see right through me."

"Tell me, how did you discern my true identity?"

Zhang Heng remained silent, his gaze meaningfully settling on Master Qing Tu Zi's right hand.

Before arriving at the academy, Zhang Heng had thoroughly researched Valiantheart Academy in Lanta to ensure a successful infiltration. He learned that, aside from the typical combat-oriented bravehearts, there were also support bravehearts.

Combat bravehearts, who wielded their elemental weapons in battle, would naturally have pronounced knuckles.

Only the hands of support bravehearts, who engaged in intricate and precise tasks year-round, could not afford the slightest error. Thus, they required the same meticulous care and cleanliness that distinguished the elder's hands.

Just as doctors often have a penchant for cleanliness, which could be considered an occupational hazard, so too could this be said for those who assist the brave.

There are two types of Auxiliary Bravehearts: the Weapon Crafting Bravehearts, who specialize in forging elemental weapons, and the Pill Refining Bravehearts, whose core focus is concocting medicinal pills.

Here in the elemental weapon trading zone, it would defy logic for a Pill Refining Braveheart to appear without cause. Therefore, the elderly man could only be a Weapon Crafting Braveheart.

Based on the intelligence Zhang Heng had gathered, there were only five Weapon Crafting Bravehearts at Lanta's Valiantheart Academy. The most renowned among them was Master Qing Tu Zi, who had four disciples, the eldest of whom was just over forty.

Beneath these four disciples were over a thousand Auxiliary Braveheart apprentices, with the oldest being under twenty. Clearly, the old man could not be one of Master Qing Tu Zi's four disciples, nor could he be one of the numerous apprentices.

The conclusion seemed self-evident, didn't it?

Upon hearing Zhang Heng's deduction, Master Qing Tu Zi suddenly felt as though he was indeed riddled with flaws!

"But how is it that no other students have noticed my presence, despite my many oversights?"

"Perhaps this young man's perception is exceptionally keen and his attention to detail remarkable!"

"He's quite the intriguing young chap."

Lifting his cup for a sip of aromatic tea, he felt a wave of relaxation wash over him. As he turned his gaze back to Zhang Heng, Master Qing Tu Zi's expression grew serious as he solemnly admitted, "Indeed, I am Qing Tu Zi."

He gestured towards the young instructor outside the origin energy barrier.

"I've crafted a new Origin Weapon and have come today to see what everyone thinks of it."

His gaze, as profound as the ocean, returned to Zhang Heng.

"I promised that if you guessed my identity, I would grant you a wish. So, what is it that you desire?"

Zhang Heng, too, took a sip of his hot tea without hesitation and said plainly, "In a battle a couple of days ago, my Origin Weapon spear was destroyed."

"I currently possess two high-grade yellow-ranked Origin Weapon swords. I'd like to trade them for a high-grade yellow-ranked spear."

If Zhang Heng were exchanging for a high-grade yellow-ranked spear crafted by someone else, he would have only offered one sword. But since he was requesting the services of Master Qing Tu Zi, even trading two swords for one felt like he was getting the better deal.

Legends had it that anything Master Qing Tu Zi touched, regardless of its grade, possessed an ineffable and unique efficacy.

While discussing, Zhang Heng presented two high-grade yellow-ranked swords. One was the Pine Pattern Ancient Sword acquired from Taoist Pu, and the other was the Crimson Blood Sword, blood-red throughout with a forked tip. These were the finest weapons in Zhang Heng's possession.

Upon revealing them, Master Qing Tu Zi glanced at the swords and immediately furrowed his brow deeply. It reminded Zhang Heng of the disdainful expression a state banquet chef might have upon encountering fast food from KFC in his past life.

Master Qing Tu Zi couldn't contain his dismay, muttering, "Such a waste of heavenly treasures! To think such fine materials were used to forge these subpar swords! If I find out one of my disciples made these, I'll have to spank them!"

After turning his head, Master Qing Tu Zi's deep, oceanic eyes suddenly sharpened as they settled on Zhang Heng. In that moment, a flash of insight crossed Qing Tu Zi's gaze, and Zhang Heng felt as if the old man had seen right through him.

He had thought it was just his imagination, but the old man was already appraising him with a sense of wonder, exclaiming, "Impressive, indeed! You're truly exceptional!"

"Your physique is naturally extraordinary! Your dantian and Qi Sea are exceptionally refined!"

"At the pinnacle of the first Qi Refining level, an ordinary person's Qi Sea is barely larger than a fist, yet yours is already larger than a bowl, nearly the size of a bamboo hat!"

"Hmm, with such a robust physique and abundant vitality, you're bound to possess immense strength and swift reflexes. Let me consider which spear would be the perfect match for you now."

Master Qingtu Zi sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, deep in thought. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, and he chuckled, "I've got it. Out of the nine hundred and eighty-one spear types I'm familiar with, the Overlord Spear is the one that matches your talent and is most suitable for your current yellow-tier Qi Refining level."

"You're practicing the Overlord Spear technique, aren't you?" he inquired.

Upon hearing Qingtu Zi's question, Zhang Heng quickly nodded in agreement, then asked, "Thank you for forging a weapon for me, Master. When will I be able to receive the Overlord Spear?"

The trial for newcomers was fast approaching, and it would be rather embarrassing if he didn't have the Overlord Spear by the time it started.

To his relief, Qingtu Zi immediately reassured him with a smile, "Don't worry. I'll start the refining process right now. It'll be ready in no time and won't delay your trial."

With that, Qingtu Zi made a hand gesture and sharply commanded, "Swiftly!"

A transparent orb of vital energy, the size of a fist, shot out from Qingtu Zi's sleeve and floated between him and Zhang Heng. Within the orb, a wisp of ethereal blue flame danced and flickered.

The flame seemed sentient, shaping itself into a tiny humanoid figure with distinct facial features, arms like wings, and discernible legs. The blue flame being curiously surveyed its surroundings.

Moments later, the blue flame entity bowed respectfully to Master Qingtu Zi and spoke as a human would, "Disciple Du Song Ling greets the Master."

Zhang Heng watched, wide-eyed and full of wonder. He had assumed the flame merely resembled a humanoid, a natural treasure that had absorbed the essence of the sun and moon over centuries, gaining sentience. But a flame like this one, claiming to be Du Song Ling and speaking human language, was indeed a rare sight.

Master Qingtu Zi, however, appeared quite accustomed to such phenomena. Upon hearing Du Song Ling's greeting, his face softened with a mix of tenderness and profound compassion. He addressed the flame, "Song Ling, there's no need for formalities. Are you feeling any discomfort today?"

When the blue flame shook its head in denial, Master Qingtu Zi turned to Zhang Heng, who was still processing the extraordinary exchange, and asked, "Judging by your expression, is there something on your mind?"

Master Qing Tu Zi turned his head to face Zhang Heng, who was watching the conversation with a look of astonishment, and spoke up, "By the look on your face, do you have a question?"

Zhang Heng nodded and gestured towards the small blue flame figure within the sphere of elemental energy, stammering, "This... is this individual... your disciple?"

"Indeed," Master Qing Tu Zi confirmed with a nod.

"May I ask which number disciple he is for you?"

"He is my very first disciple."

"But isn't Elder Wan your first disciple?"

"You're familiar with Myriad Echo? He was the first disciple I took on at the Valiantheart Academy in Lanta."

"So this one... is the disciple you accepted before that."

"Correct."

...

The blue flame humanoid, who called himself Du Songling, was curiously observing his master and the young man seated across from him, Zhang Heng.

A mysterious silence suddenly descended between Qing Tu Zi and Zhang Heng. Zhang Heng attempted to speak several times but ultimately failed to utter a single word.

"You're wondering why I ended up like this, aren't you?" Du Songling, the blue flame humanoid, suddenly turned to Zhang Heng and asked with ease.

Zhang Heng was indeed curious, but he felt the topic might be too grave and private. Since it was their first meeting, he doubted he had the right to know such details.

"It's nothing serious."

"I was young and eager to prove myself, so I attempted to condense the Nine Abyss Netherworld Fire. Unfortunately, the Netherworld Fire consumed my body instead."

"If my master hadn't discovered it in time and fused my soul with the Netherworld Fire, my soul would have scattered by now. How else could I be here talking to you?"

After Du Songling finished his story, Qing Tu Zi let out a long, regretful sigh, "It's my fault for not noticing sooner..."

"Don't blame yourself, Master. Besides, aren't you going to forge a weapon for this young man? We shouldn't keep him waiting."

Du Songling cut off Qing Tu Zi, knowing his disciple was trying to prevent him from feeling guilty. Without any anger, Qing Tu Zi simply repeated "good" twice.

Then he commanded, "Quick!"

The sphere between them suddenly grew several feet taller. It expanded like a balloon, inflating to the size of a watermelon before coming to a halt.

The sphere between them suddenly rose a few feet higher. Then, the energy ball began to expand slowly, like a balloon, swelling to the size of a watermelon before it stopped growing. Du Songling became clearly visible at that moment. Zhang Heng observed that Du Songling was now seated in a cross-legged position. Hovering above his legs, between the palms of his hands, and in front of his chest, a ball of ghostly blue flame was slowly morphing. Eventually, it took the form of a peculiar Tai Chi sphere, ablaze with dark blue flames on one side and seemingly ethereal on the other.

Outside the energy sphere, Qing Tuyi nonchalantly grabbed two long swords and tossed them toward it as he witnessed the formation of the strange Tai Chi sphere, which began to rotate slowly in front of Du Songling's chest. Given the length of the swords, it was impossible for them to be fully immersed in the energy sphere. Before Zhang Heng could voice his confusion, the parts of the swords that had pierced the sphere abruptly deformed and melted, transforming into droplets of purple, red, and iridescent liquid metal. These droplets began to whirl around Du Songling at an astonishing speed.

In an instant, the two high-quality yellow-grade weapons had completely merged into the energy shield, turning into a series of brilliant, glittering metal droplets. These droplets spun rapidly, their brilliance outshining even the Milky Way. During this rapid rotation, bits of impurities were flung into the Tai Chi sphere at Du Songling's chest, vaporizing into wisps of blue smoke that floated out of the energy sphere.

Subsequently, all the metal droplets coalesced into one, forming a fist-sized silver orb. With a slight tremble, the silver orb entered the fiery Tai Chi sphere at Du Songling's chest. This time, the silver orb rotated slowly at the center of the Tai Chi sphere without evaporating.

Du Songling exhaled slowly, a sign of relief, and looked up at Qing Tuyi. "Master," he said, "the five gold elites have been refined and formed. Please proceed with the weapon's refinement."