Ninth-Rank Refiner

Chapter 81: Hot pancakes burn your mouth

Qian Duoduo's blue robe exposed his identity.

He nodded and followed the attendant inside.

Inside the tall tower was a large hall, filled with various Magic Treasures. Beyond the hall were hundreds of Artifact Refining Rooms, divided into three levels.

In the center of the hall, a middle-aged man stood with his hands behind his back, passionately lecturing about something.

Upon closer inspection, it was Master Wang Shuhuo. In front of him were three men, all wearing robes embroidered with furnaces, indicating they were Artifact Refiners.

"You must have ideas, you must pursue the ultimate, you cannot be satisfied with refining one or two Magic Treasures. What's the point of completely imitating and equipping materials according to an Magic Treasure? You must express your view of this world, otherwise, you will forever remain a first-grade Artifact Refiner!"

Master Wang's voice grew louder and louder as he spoke, almost roaring by the end.

Amidst the roar, the three Artifact Refiners lowered their heads further and further.

"You," Wang Shuhuo stepped forward, "lift your heads. Why aren't you refuting me? What I say isn't necessarily correct."

The Artifact Refiners lifted their heads slightly, but their backs bent even lower, their faces flushed, and sweat beaded on their foreheads, looking like large shrimp in a steamer.

The attendant coughed softly, and Wang Shuhuo's fiery gaze immediately swept over.

However, when he saw Qian Duoduo, his gaze quickly cooled. He waved his hand, dismissing the three Artifact Refiners who were being lectured. Just as the three of them wiped the sweat from their foreheads and took two steps, he called them back.

The Master pointed at Qian Duoduo and said, "Look at him, he isn't even an Artifact Refiner yet, but he can purify materials to the point of sentience. This is the ultimate, do you understand?"

The three Artifact Refiners nodded vigorously, their faces blank.

Wang Shuhuo's eyes widened, but then he fanned his hands a few times, urging them to leave quickly.

"Jin Zhendian, shall we chat for a bit?" Turning to Qian Duoduo, Master Wang's face was full of warmth.

Qian Duoduo quickly replied, "I am willing to listen to Master's teachings; I always gain something new."

This was not flattery. Liu Boli taught Qian Duoduo Artifact Refining by never saying an extra word, just letting him practice, repeatedly practice, and at most giving an "Mm" when he got it right. Although he had only met him twice, what Master Wang had taught already far surpassed Liu Boli.

Hearing Qian Duoduo's words, the light on Master Wang's face grew brighter.

Upon reaching the Master's office, after Wang Shuhuo had Qian Duoduo sit down, he suddenly asked, "Jin Zhendian's Artifact Refining techniques are skilled; may I ask who his Master is?"

"I am ashamed to say, I have no Master. I merely memorized a few volumes of Artifact Refining encyclopedias by rote." Qian Duoduo could not expose Liu Boli. How to hold materials, how to open the furnace lid, how to circulate Spiritual Qi to ignite the fire—Qian Duoduo imitated Liu Boli's movements for all these Artifact Refining details. However, Liu Boli, as his Master, could not be known to others.

"Oh? Jin Zhendian's techniques are quite extraordinary..." Master Wang's gaze sharpened, his eyes, which could penetrate a cauldron, seemed to want to penetrate Qian Duoduo's heart.

Qian Duoduo blinked, looking at the disheveled Master, secretly sighing that despite his rough exterior, he was actually very observant. This might be an occupational hazard for Artifact Refiners.

Seeing no unusual expression on Qian Duoduo's face, Wang Shuhuo chuckled twice, the 'sword' in his eyes retracting into its sheath. He took a book from the bookshelf behind him and handed it to Qian Duoduo. The cover read "Hundred Item Recipes."

"As the sole authoritative institution for Artifact Refining, our Association has collected countless Magic Treasures. This 'Hundred Item Recipes' contains one hundred Mortal Weapon Magic Treasures, a treasure sought after by first-grade Artifact Refiners."

An Magic Treasure is a guide for an Artifact Refiner, detailing the materials and key techniques for refining Magic Treasures. The value of an Magic Treasure is often tens of times that of a Magic Treasure of equivalent grade. A Mortal Weapon is worth at most a thousand gold coins, while a Mortal Weapon Magic Treasure is worth tens of thousands of gold coins.

This "Hundred Item Recipes" was worth at least a million gold coins!

Seeing the fiery hooks extending from Qian Duoduo's eyes, Wang Shuhuo humbly said, "This is merely a Mortal Weapon reading material. The Association is not lacking in artisan artifact and Dan artifact recipes; as long as you contribute to the Association, you can obtain them—"

"Contribution?" Qian Duoduo did not understand.

"Actually, it's not much of a contribution. You just need to register your name on the Association's roster when you register."

"Register on the Association's roster, what does that mean?"

"It means you are a member of the Association," the Master patiently explained.

"A member of the Association? Does that mean leaving the Sect and being managed by the Association?" Qian Duoduo still didn't understand. Leaving the Refining Spirit Sect was something he had never considered. He also had no intention of leaving.

"No," Wang Shuhuo shook his head, "You don't leave your Sect, nor do you betray your Family. It simply means helping the public when the Association needs it. The Magic Treasures you refine will be prioritized for sale by the Association."

"Besides the 'Hundred Item Recipes', what other benefits are there?" Qian Duoduo felt that Master Wang's persuasion surely had an ulterior motive, so he might as well press for more details.

"Free Artifact Refining Rooms, materials at fair prices, and personalized guidance—which of these isn't appealing?" Wang Shuhuo painted a very tempting picture.

"I'll consider it. First, I'll take the Artifact Refiner exam." The hot cake was too hot to eat immediately, so he decided to set it aside for now.

In the Artifact Refining Association's examination room, there was a cauldron, a small table, and on the table, three Jade Slips.

"One Magic Treasure for a Mortal Weapon is in each Jade Slip. Choose any one, and as long as you refine it successfully, the assessment is complete," Wang Shuhuo introduced. The two Artifact Refiner examiners beside him were specifically responsible for grading.

Sitting down calmly, Qian Duoduo took the middle Jade Slip into his hand and used his Spiritual Awareness to read the task within: use profound iron, blood pear wood, and Spirit Wolf Tooth to create a Mortal Weapon Magic Treasure, the Wolf Fang Black Iron Hammer.

The examiners handed over three sets of materials. During the examination, two failures were allowed. Succeeding once out of three attempts was considered the average standard for an Artifact Refiner.

Lighting the cauldron, Qian Duoduo began to consider the properties of these three materials. The profound iron was for the hammerhead, in a block shape. He needed to forge it into a hammer shape, leaving space in the middle for the handle. The blood pear wood was for the hammer handle. Not only did it need to be perfectly shaped, but it also had to be embedded into the hammerhead, enduring the impact of Advanced Mortal Weapons without breaking or coming loose. The Spirit Wolf Tooth was for the hammer tip, to be embedded in the hammerhead. One side of the hammerhead was round, for defense. The other side was the Spirit Wolf Tooth, for offense.

From raw materials to finished product, the process tested refining, shaping, and embedding techniques. The difficulty was neither too high nor too low, making it a suitable threshold for an Artifact Refiner.

The black profound iron slowly melted in the furnace. Qian Duoduo opened a small gap in the cauldron lid, allowing Impurities to float out.

"This method of opening the furnace can be used with low-grade furnaces to improve the quality of Magic Treasures. However, it's not necessary with Advanced furnaces, because Advanced furnaces have a separate space for perfectly storing different materials and slag," Master Wang instructed from the side. He had already considered Qian Duoduo a member of the Association.

Opening and closing the furnace three times, Qian Duoduo concentrated his Spiritual Qi to a bean-green color, causing the molten profound iron to spin at high speed, purifying the profound iron to its utmost. When the furnace was opened, the profound iron was black with hints of purple, possessing a rare spirituality.

The two examiners showed astonished expressions, clearly not expecting him to be able to purify it to such an extent.

Picking up the blood pear wood, it felt hard and resilient. After careful inspection, Qian Duoduo carved a hammer handle just over three feet long, following its thirty-year growth rings. Wood of the same growth ring could ensure the handle retained its optimal properties.

Properly embedding the Spirit Wolf Tooth was crucial for Artifact Refining. A Spiritual Wolf only had four fangs, and those that were perfectly intact, without cracks or damage, were even rarer.

The Spirit Wolf Tooth in Qian Duoduo's hand was undoubtedly an excellent specimen. Its ivory-white substance, with a body like a crescent moon, was as sharp as a blade. His task was to embed it into the profound iron, ensuring that the root of the Spirit Wolf Tooth perfectly matched the profound iron, as if it had grown in the mouth of a Spiritual Wolf.

Only then could it withstand a hundred, or even a thousand, strikes without breaking. The degree of fit tested the Artifact Refiner's Spiritual Awareness.

All three materials were refined, and it was time for the final assembly stage.

The two examiners sat upright, casting suspicious glances at Qian Duoduo. "Could an untrained individual without a Master successfully refine a Magic Treasure on the first try?"