C17 Weapon Refining
"How did everyone rest? The next assessment will be weapon refining. You may choose any of the rooms to enter. Everything you need for the task is fully prepared. From here on out, it's up to you."
To everyone's surprise, Lau Suifeng had predicted correctly; the next test was indeed weapon refining.
Upon hearing the chief examiner's announcement, Lau Suifeng gave Huah Yunfei a smug look and snorted, "I was about to offer you some advice earlier, but now you must be regretting not taking it. Humph, some people just don't know a good thing when they see it!"
While he was speaking, the usually silent young man made a beeline for one of the rooms.
Lau Suifeng, noticing someone getting ahead of him, quickly strode toward the room, clearly intending to make the most of the time available.
Huah Yunfei was now truly concerned.
"They never mentioned that the Golden Stone Token required weapon refining! I have absolutely no experience with this!"
Refining weapons wasn't completely foreign to Huah Yunfei, as he had come across some related materials in his family's library. However, he had only skimmed through them to familiarize himself with the world and had not studied them in detail. Now, faced with this challenge, he felt like he was scrambling at the last minute.
As the others entered their respective rooms, and with the revelation that the task was weapon refining, those who had been anxious before now breathed a sigh of relief.
It was clear that among the six of them, Huah Yunfei was probably the only one who lacked the skill to refine weapons.
With a sense of determination, he entered one of the vacant rooms. The moment he stepped inside, a wave of intense heat hit him, making him feel as though his facial hair had been singed off in an instant.
A blazing furnace roared before him, surrounded by several Spirit Stones and pieces of ordinary refined iron.
These were the materials for weapon refining. Huah Yunfei glanced at the refined iron and the Spirit Stones, clueless about where to begin.
"Don't rush, just take a moment to remember," Huah Yunfei told himself as he sat down next to the hot furnace, closing his eyes. He knew he needed to stay calm and recall what he had read in those books; it was the only way to help himself now.
The image of the bookshelf in the library rapidly spun through Huah Yunfei's mind, and he swiftly recalled the tome on weapon refinement.
Regrettably, just as he remembered, the instructions were frustratingly vague, detailing only the basic steps.
"First, melt the refined iron, then use spiritual energy to forge the weapon's body. Next, dissolve a spirit crystal within it, and forge again using inner strength. Then, return it to the furnace for another round of melting, and finally, quench it to set the shape."
Having recollected the process, Huah Yunfei exhaled deeply, yet he remained perturbed by the furnace before him.
"Begin with melting the iron!" he declared, following the memorized steps. He tossed two chunks of iron into the furnace, causing sparks to scatter as the metal quickly turned cherry-red.
As the once-solid iron softened under the heat and began to trickle down the furnace's rack, Huah Yunfei sensed that something was amiss. The steps were correct, but there were undoubtedly other factors to consider that the book, not being a dedicated manual on weapon forging, had omitted.
"Rise!" An epiphany struck Huah Yunfei, and he thrust his palms forward, channeling spiritual energy into the belly of the furnace.
Guided by his will, the spiritual energy cradled the near-molten iron, lifting it aloft.
The iron hovered, melting further, swirling in the furnace's heart like a fiery liquid.
A glowing orb of molten iron sought form, presenting yet another challenge for Huah Yunfei. With no mold in sight and nowhere for the molten metal to settle, he was stumped.
After much deliberation, he realized that shaping the metal required mental control.
But Huah Yunfei's mind held no image of a spirit weapon, and time was not on his side. Hesitant, he thought of his own longsword and then of the swordsman's saber.
As these thoughts flickered through his mind, he was astonished to see the iron liquid beginning to assume a rudimentary shape.
Witnessing the unfolding scene, Huah Yunfei gestured with a swift motion, and the two Spirit Stones soared into the furnace.
"Bang!" As the Spirit Stones made contact with the flames, they unleashed a tremendous force, repelling one another with surprising intensity.
"This is unexpected!" Huah Yunfei's brow furrowed as the unforeseen complication left him scrambling for a solution.
A closer inspection revealed the cause of the repulsion: the Spirit Stones possessed water and fire attributes—elements known to all as inherently incompatible. Now, Huah Yunfei was faced with this very dilemma.
The energies released from the Spirit Stones clashed within the furnace, whipping up fierce gusts of air and disrupting the tranquility.
The Spirit Weapon, which had been taking shape, was now distorted by the tumultuous forces.
"What a predicament! What should I do?" Huah Yunfei's concern deepened. This was his first experience with weapon forging, and it was proving to be a formidable challenge.
As the energies grew increasingly wild and uncontrollable, Huah Yunfei was struck by a recollection of his earlier words.
"That's it! The harmony of Yin and Yang!" The solution dawned on him in an instant.
With the two forces in opposition, the only way to achieve peace was to balance their attributes. Only through harmony could they coexist.
Drawing from his knowledge, Huah Yunfei began to extract parts of the Spiritual Energies using his own Spiritual Energy.
In an instant, the two raging forces were enveloped by Huah Yunfei's Spiritual Energy and divided into four distinct parts.
To Huah Yunfei's surprise, the division intensified their mutual repulsion, causing the furnace to tremble with increasing ferocity. He braced for the worst-case scenario: a furnace explosion.
"No, not that!" Huah Yunfei silently prayed for success as he delicately manipulated the Spiritual Energy, coaxing the forces to integrate.
Boom! At last, the four tumultuous energies spiraled beyond Huah Yunfei's control, colliding violently within the heart of the furnace.
Following the deafening blast, the furnace shattered, unleashing a maelstrom of Fire Attribute Spiritual Energy into the surroundings.
"What happened?"
The sudden explosion startled not only Huah Yunfei but also the other artisans nearby. They all jumped, their hands shaking, nearly losing control and reducing their Spirit Weapons to junk.
"Who's the idiot that blew up the furnace? You gave me a fright!"
"Damn it! My weapon's shape changed because I trembled!"
Many were affected by Huah Yunfei's mishap, which, to his advantage, turned out to be a stroke of luck.
The chief examiner, who had been waiting for their results, heard the noise and glanced over at Huah Yunfei's refining chamber. Shaking his head in resignation, he remarked, "In the realm of raw stone appraisal, no one holds a candle to Huah Yunfei. But in the field of refining, this must be a first! It looks like there's no hope this time around."
While the chief examiner was losing faith in Huah Yunfei, Huah Yunfei himself couldn't help but feel a surge of secret delight.
Following the furnace explosion, Huah Yunfei felt as though he was standing inside the blazing furnace itself. But he soon realized that the four tumultuous streams of Spiritual Energy had undergone a complete transformation. The collision had drained much of their power, which now played to Huah Yunfei's advantage.
Huah Yunfei took action once more, effortlessly taking control of the four streams of Spiritual Energy. With his formidable intent, he began to merge them into one.
Upon the delightful discovery that he had indeed succeeded, he immediately channeled the unified Spiritual Energy into the forming weapon.
Blue and red lights danced within the Spirit Weapon, which, after merging, appeared incredibly stable.
Overjoyed by the sight, Huah Yunfei quickly submerged the Spirit Weapon in water to complete the final quenching process.
With a sizzling sound, the glowing red Spirit Weapon gradually revealed its true colors, undergoing its ultimate metamorphosis.
"Not bad, not bad at all. I truly am a genius!" Huah Yunfei mused over his accomplishment. He was exceedingly pleased that his first attempt at weapon refining had gone so smoothly. Moreover, as he scrutinized the Spirit Weapon, he could see that any imperfections were virtually negligible. Even if he tried to shatter it using the Sword Breaking Style, it would undoubtedly require a considerable amount of effort.
Gazing at his Spirit Sword, Huah Yunfei was immensely pleased. Dusting himself off, he promptly exited the sword forging chamber.
"Hey, everyone, look! The kid's coming out!"
Huah Yunfei's emergence instantly caught the attention of the others. They had all completed their own reforging just moments before and were now waiting for Huah Yunfei.
"Let's get started!" The chief examiner glanced over at Huah Yunfei and addressed the group before him with a detached tone.
Lau Suifeng was quick to approach the chief examiner, presenting a long blade for inspection.
The blade was slender, intricately patterned, and its edge gleamed with a chilling light. The constant emanation of Spiritual Energy was a clear testament to its remarkable quality.
"A high-grade Rank Two Spirit Weapon," the chief examiner declared upon examining the blade.
"A middle-grade Rank Two Spirit Weapon."
"A middle-grade Rank Two Spirit Weapon."
"A middle-grade Rank Two Spirit Weapon."
...
The grades of the Spirit Weapons crafted by the others were swiftly assigned. Lau Suifeng's high-grade Rank Two Spirit Weapon stood out as the finest, positioning him as the frontrunner among the four.
Now, only Huah Yunfei and the taciturn man remained.
"Huah Yunfei, what's that in your hand? A stick for stoking fires?" Lau Suifeng's eyes naturally drifted to what Huah Yunfei was holding, recognizing him as his main rival.
Huah Yunfei glanced down at the Spirit Weapon in his grasp, his brow furrowing. He approached the chief examiner and placed it down with a sense of gravity.
