Hao Ren stood before the doors of a huge city set at the foot of a black mountain that reached beyond the clouds. The young man had spent a few days in this place, and he knew how things worked. If you wanted power, then you have to be an artifact refiner. Even the people from World Overlord level didn't dare to make any moves here.
At this moment, he had just come out from a small hunting trip. He entered the city, walked through the crowded streets before he finally reached a reclusive building where sounds of hammer didn't stop at all. Two days ago, when Hao Ren had come to this place, he found out about the terrifying reputation of a person called Grandmaster Hephi, this man was an artifact refiner and could make the highest level of spirit artifacts in the city.
Hao Ren entered the premise, and the people looked at him calmly. Suddenly, a calm voice called out to him, "Yo, Apprentice Brother Ren, did you get the task done?"
Hao Ren turned to look at the young man walking over with a smile. This guy was called Den, he was also an apprentice with Hao Ren, but he was a local and very haughty in his demeanor. He walked over to Hao Ren and asked, "Did you find my quota as well?"
Hao Ren sighed and said, "Apprentice Brother Den, did I not tell you that I wouldn't give you anything?"
Den frowned and then he asked, "Are you sure you want to do this?"
Hao Ren said, "I am, what do you want from me now?"
Den replied with a cold face, "Then I hope you can still speak when I am done with you."
That said, Den reached over to attack Hao Ren, who sighed and raised the back of his hand to smack the guy.
A loud sound echoed through the reception lobby, and Hao Ren said, "Next time you want to fight, at least have some skill or you might end up dying in the sewer like a loser." Googlᴇ search novel·fiɾe·net
Dropping these words he left the place calmly, but until he had vanished from the spot, Den had yet to regain his senses and yelled, "Hao Ren! I will kill you!"
Hao Ren didn't bother about the roar and many other people were the same, the young man then appeared next to a counter where a young lady was handling the abacus, and he said, "Senior Sister Lin, I have completed the task."
Lin raised her head and asked, "Where is your token and the evidence?"
Hao Ren took out a jade token and passed on a space ring as well. Lin frowned and Hao Ren said, "The evidence is inside the space ring."
She nodded and ran a spiritual scan through it before she opened her eyes wide, and she asked, "You know the result of cheating?"
Hao Ren nodded, and took out a small stone and said, "Here, senior sister."
Lin looked at him and then she nodded before checking the video recorded inside it. She sighed and said, "I didn't expect that apart from the theoretical knowledge of artifact refining, you also are well versed in sword art."
Hao Ren bowed slightly and asked, "Do I pass the test?"
Lin nodded and replied, "Yes, you do, now you can get into the forge and learn the techniques."
Hao Ren nodded and replied, "Thank you."
Lin gave him a token and said, "You can go to the basic forge for apprentices, and it just so happens that today is the day when Grandmaster Hephi is coming to guide you all."
Hao Ren was surprised and asked, "I was told that he would come once in six months."
Lin smiled and replied, "Today happens to be the sixth month completion."
Hao Ren smiled faintly and made his way to the apprentice forging hall. He found that at least three dozen people were standing in lines, all manning an anvil, while some apprentices took the task of a wind blower to control the fire under the furnace. Hao Ren's arrival didn't catch much attention as there were many people coming and going inside the forging hall.
Some elder apprentices were walking around monitoring the youngsters. Hao Ren came to a shelf and picked up a book to read through the technique, and then he went on to read other techniques as well. After he finished reading them all he placed it back on the shelf and found an empty working station.
He took out a few metal blocks from his space ring and then he tossed them inside the furnace, then he waved his hand and a ball of spiritual flame moved under it. This time the people were shocked, Hao Ren didn't bother, he waited for the elements to smelt properly before he waved his hand to manipulate the spiritual energy and caused the furnace to tilt and gradually deposit the molten metal inside a mold.
Then he waited for the metal to set down and grabbed a hammer from the side, before he raised it high and swung it down, and it caused a ding to ring throughout the forging hall. Following that, Hao Ren began to swing the hammer with great focus and refine the metal.
Ten, hundred, five hundred, thousand.. the swings continued, and the fetus of the broad sword reduced into a long sword. After a few minutes, the young man used his spiritual energy to inscribe runes on the blade while the metal was hot. There were many people who watched him with great shock.
These were the moves similar to a seasoned forging master. Hao Ren checked the blade one time before he dipped it inside water to quench the hot metal. After a few seconds, he took it out and everyone saw a black blade gleaming with deadly luster.
Hao Ren gave it a swing and then he took out a carving knife from the space ring to decorate the blade, however, just when he was about to do this, a loud voice shocked the entire forging hall, "Stop! What the fuck are you doing!"
Hao Ren turned around and saw an old man with a lean physique walking over. The people all noticed the old man and they bowed down. Hao Ren could guess the identity of the old man and said, "I have seen Grandmaster Hephi."
The old man nodded and came to stop when he was two meters away from Hao Ren. He asked, "What were you doing?"
Hao Ren looked at the sword and said, "I wanted to carve my seal on the hilt."
Hearing this the old man frowned and then he nodded as he asked, "May I see?"
Hao Ren nodded and handed over the blade with both hands as he said, "Here."
Grandmaster Hephi raised the blade in his hand and gave it a thorough check before she said, "Good, it looks nice. Let's see if it would last other tests as well."
He channeled his spiritual energy through the balde, and he found that the channeling was seventy percent, and the old man opened his eyes wide, as he looked at Hao Ren and asked, "Come with me, we will test the strength output as well."
Hao Ren nodded and under the gazes of the people around him, he followed behind the old man and came to a pillar inside the central hall. The old man didn't waste anytime, and slashed the blade against the pillar, and a formation barrier was activated. The sword attack landed and the vibrations caused the people to shiver a little.
The old man looked at the sword as if it was a treasure. After a few moments, he asked, "Which technique did you use?"
Hao Ren replied calmly, "Continuous Refining Hand."
Hephi frowned and then he stroked his beard as he asked, "Have you forged in the past?"
Hao Ren nodded and said, "I used to forge in the forging back at home but nothing major."
Hephi nodded, gave back the sword to Hao Ren and said, "You should follow me from tomorrow onwards."
Hao Ren bowed to the old man and said, "Thank you for your generosity."
Hephi shook his head and said, "I will see you in the morning."
Hao Ren bowed to the old man before holding his sword and vanish from the place. The old man sighed and said, "You all have been here for a few months, and even then, your skills haven't improved even a bit. What do you feel when a youngster man who came here two days to study and he was able to cast a middle-level spiritual artifact. Do you now see the difference between him and you? Go back and work, dimwits."
Then he walked back to his residence, and Hao Ren lay in his bed, thinking about what he should do to counter Hephi, and also push the hand in the shadows to come out in the darkness, so ho could have a face to face battle.