Chapter 1204: The Blacksmith Guild
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
Knowing that it would be a bitter fight against the Vicious in the Marshlands of the Northern Meadows, Zhang Xuan did not dare hesitate. After leaving the Master Teacher Pavilion, he headed straight to the Blacksmith Guild.
Logically speaking, Vicious had already lain low for many years, so he should not have taken such brazen actions at this juncture, especially given the fact that he would risk bringing the wrath of the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters on him. However, it seemed like the death of the Qingtian Emperor and the emergence of a Celestial Master Teacher had really heaped a great amount of pressure on him, forcing him to show his hand.
Without a doubt, the first person that the other Vicious would go for once he was freed of his bindings would be him, Zhang Xuan.
Thus, he would be better off taking the initiative and making the first move instead of waiting for the enemy to arrive at his doorstep. Not only would it be safer for him, more importantly, it would also limit the casualties among the master teachers.
The Golden Origin Cauldron is currently at Half-Leaving Aperture realm. If I fuse the Black Goldcrystal Ore into the Golden Origin Cauldron, I should be able to raise its tier significantly. Even if I’m unable to bring it up to the level of a Saint high-tier artifact, I should have no trouble raising its cultivation to the Leaving Aperture realm! Zhang Xuan hypothesized as he made his way forward.
He had obtained the Black Goldcrystal Ore from the treasure Wu Yangzi had left behind in his old residence. After splitting a portion of it with Luo Qiqi, he still had a slice of it left. It was just that he had been too busy recently, and he had not found the required materials to perfectly fuse it into the Golden Origin Cauldron.
Since he had already decided to set off to the Marshlands of the Northern Meadows, he would really have to equip himself well in advance.
The Blacksmith Guild was roughly ten li away from the Master Teacher Pavilion, so it did not take too long for him to arrive at his destination.
Zhang Xuan had not challenged the 7-star blacksmith examination ever since clearing the 6-star examination back at the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy, so he was still a 6-star blacksmith. He took out his 6-star blacksmith emblem and pinned it on his chest before walking in.
The Qingyuan Empire Blacksmith Guild was extremely crowded, just like the other guilds in the city. Every day, countless cultivators would pay the guild a visit to browse through their array of weapons to select one that was handy for them.
Only Saint low-tier weapons were on display in the public section. If a cultivator wanted a Saint intermediate-tier weapon, they would have to fork out a hefty sum and make a personal request to a 7-star blacksmith personally, provided that the 7-star blacksmith was able to successfully smith one.
“Zhang s.h.i.+? Is it really you?” Just as Zhang Xuan was about to ask at the receptionist where the head of the Blacksmith Guild was, he suddenly heard an exclamation amid the crowd. Turning around, he saw Chu Xiang, whom he had met at the Terpsich.o.r.e Guild a while back, waving at his hands excitedly.
“Chu gongzi!” Zhang Xuan greeted with a smile.
It was thanks to the other party that he had been able to enter the Spring Pavilion back then and successfully obtain his 7-star terpsich.o.r.e emblem.
“Zhang s.h.i.+, it’s really a delight to meet you here. I have been wanting to thank you for your help back then. It’s due to your words that I have managed to recover fully from the wounds on my soul.” Chu Xiang bowed deeply as he spoke.
Back at the Terpsich.o.r.e Guild, it was due to Zhang s.h.i.+’s words that Fairy Zi Yan did her best for him during the Exclusive Dance, thus allowing him to recover fully from his wounds.
“It’s not a big issue; there’s no need to stand on ceremony.” Zhang Xuan quickly helped Chu Xiang up.
He had just offered a word on behalf of Chu Xiang, so it was really nothing much. Just that, he could not help but feel his heart bleed whenever he thought about the concentrated high-tier spirit stone the other party had spent on the Exclusive Dance. If Chu Xiang had allowed him to dance for him instead, he would have surely recovered way faster!
“I heard about Zhang s.h.i.+’s cras.h.i.+ng of the Master Teacher Pavilion, and I honestly have nothing left but reverence for you!” Chu Xiang looked at Zhang Xuan with eyes twinkling with admiration.
“It’s really nothing much. I only crashed it on a whim…” Zhang Xuan shook his head.
He had simply caused too great of a commotion during his pavilion cras.h.i.+ng. For one, his declaration had resounded throughout the whole of Qingyuan City, so it would only have taken a little bit of investigating for Chu Xiang to make the link between him and the pavilion cras.h.i.+ng.
“You only crashed it on a whim?” Chu Xiang rolled his eyes.
The Qingyuan Empire Master Teacher Pavilion has stood proudly on the Master Teacher Continent for many years without any issue, and yet, you ended up cras.h.i.+ng it just days after your arrival, leaving Pavilion Master Gou with no choice but to step down. If this was done on a whim, wouldn’t the entire Master Teacher Pavilion be completely eradicated as long as you made plans beforehand?
A thought suddenly came to Chu Xiang’s mind, and he looked at Zhang Xuan doubtfully. “It can’t be that Zhang s.h.i.+ has an issue with the Blacksmith Guild, so you have come here to crash it today as well?”
Based on what he had found, it seemed like Zhang s.h.i.+ had not allowed Qingyuan City to have a single day of peace ever since his arrival. First was the enchantment of the Spirit Awakener Guild’s building, and after that, he crashed the Master Teacher Pavilion. For him to suddenly pay a visit to the Blacksmith Guild… it could not be that he was up to something, could it?
“Cough cough!”
Not expecting Chu Xiang to have such a horrendous impression of someone as honorable and upright as him, Zhang Xuan choked. With a slightly awkward tone, he asked, “How could someone as humble as me possibly do something of that sort? You are really thinking too much…”
“Humble?” Chu Xiang’s lips twitched wildly. He had seen plenty of humble people in his lifetime, but this was the first time he was seeing someone that ‘humble’.
“Since you aren’t here to crash the Blacksmith Guild, you must be here to watch Master Lin Jie’s smithing then?”
“Master Lin Jie?”
“Yes. Master Lin Jie is a half 8-star blacksmith from the Qianchong Empire. He happened to be pa.s.sing by the area, so Guild Leader Qin specially invited him over to conduct a public lecture for the 7-star blacksmiths of Qingyuan City. I was honored to have received an invitation letter for this occasion as well!” Chu Xiang explained.
“You are a 7-star blacksmith?” Considering how the young man before him was a regular at the Spring Pavilion, Zhang Xuan had automatically a.s.sumed that he was a profligate scion. Who would have thought that he was actually a 7-star blacksmith?
“Of course! I might seem nothing much, but my talent in smithing is unquestionable!” Chu Xiang boasted gleefully. “Zhang s.h.i.+, if you face any problems in smithing, feel free to ask me. Given our relations.h.i.+p, I’ll do my best to answer any queries that you have!”
“Thank you, I will definitely find you if I have any questions in mind.” Knowing that the other party was saying those words out of goodwill, Zhang Xuan replied with a kind smile. “Right, I happen to have something that I need your help on at the moment. Can you bring me to meet the head of the Blacksmith Guild?”
“You want to meet Guild Leader Qin? No problem, leave it to me,” Chu Xiang replied confidently as he led the way forward. “Follow me!”
“Un.” Zhang Xuan nodded.
With someone to bring him around, he would be spared from much trouble.
From Chu Xiang’s introduction, Zhang Xuan came to learn that the name of the head of the Blacksmith Guild was Qin Chong, and he was a 7-star pinnacle blacksmith.
It did not take long for them to arrive at the Guild Leader Office. After reporting their presence, the duo made their way in.
“Guild Leader Chong, this young man over here is 7-star Master Teacher Zhang Xuan, the individual who successfully crashed the Master Teacher Pavilion a few days back!” Chu Xiang introduced.
“I see. It’s an honor to meet you, Zhang s.h.i.+.” Guild Leader Qin quickly got to his feet and bowed.
A master teacher who could successfully crash a Master Teacher Pavilion was indubitably an extremely talented individual who was bound for great things in the future. Even as the head of the Qingyuan Empire Blacksmith Guild, he knew that the other party was not someone whom he could underestimate.
Zhang Xuan clasped his fist and responded, “Guild Leader Qin, you are too polite.”
Swiftly getting into their seats, they traded a few pleasantries to get acquainted with one another before Guild Leader Qin asked with a worried expression on his face, “Zhang s.h.i.+, may I know the reason behind your arrival? Our Blacksmith Guild has been abiding by the law all this while, and I have maintained a tight watch over every single one of the subordinates, so…”
Knowing that Guild Leader Qin was thinking about, Chu Xiang slapped his hand on his forehead before clarifying, “Guild Leader Qin, Zhang s.h.i.+ isn’t here to crash the Blacksmith Guild!”
“Ah, that’s a relief.” Guild Leader Qin heaved a long sigh of relief, and the tension that had been on his face ever since Zhang Xuan was introduced to him finally alleviated.
On the other hand, hearing the conversation between the duo, Zhang Xuan was rendered speechless.
All he had done was crash the Master Teacher Pavilion! Did they really think that he was a G.o.d of Destruction, destroying everything in his path wherever he went? He was really a humble a person, a really, really humble person! Why wouldn’t anyone believe him?
“To be honest with you, I really do have a few things that I’ll have to trouble Guild Leader Qin with.” Knowing that it would be futile even if he explained himself, Zhang Xuan shook his head helplessly and got straight to business. “I have a Saint intermediate-tier artifact that I would like to fuse some Black Goldcrystal Ore into. May I know if you have any time to help me in the forging process?”
Hearing Zhang Xuan’s request, Guild Leader Qin was visibly taken aback for a moment before asking, “May I ask what kind of weapon your Saint intermediate-tier artifact is? Does it have any spirit? Also, what’s its current cultivation realm?”
“It’s a Half-Leaving Aperture realm weapon cauldron, and it does have a spirit,” Zhang Xuan replied.
“This…” A frown emerged on Guild Leader Qin’s face. “Zhang s.h.i.+, I’ll be frank with you here. If your weapon cauldron was only at Primordial Spirit realm primary stage, I might still have been able to help you reforge it and fuse it with your Black Goldcrystal Ore, but Half-Leaving Aperture realm… I haven’t even reached that level of cultivation realm yet, so I fear that your request is beyond my ability!”
“If that’s what you are worrying about, there’s really no need to. I’ll be giving you some guidance from the side during the forging process, and as long as you follow my instructions strictly, there won’t be any problems,” Zhang Xuan replied.
No matter what, he was determined to overlook the Golden Origin Cauldron’s forging personally. Otherwise, no matter who did the job, he would not be able to put his mind at ease.
“You will be giving guidance?” Guild Leader Qin was taken aback. “Zhang s.h.i.+ is a blacksmith?”
“Un. I studied it for a while in the past. I am currently a 6-star blacksmith,” Zhang Xuan replied.
He had collected all the books concerning smithing in the Master Teacher Pavilion and read the compiled 7-star Heaven’s Path Smith Art too, thus raising his understanding on smithing to 7-star pinnacle, which was comparable to most 8-star primary blacksmiths.
However, it was just that he never had time to practice forging before, so with his current proficiency, he could only make metal blocks at the very most. Fearing that he would end up misshaping the Golden Origin Cauldron, he had sought Guild Leader Qin’s help instead.
“6-star blacksmith?” Guild Leader Qin and Chu Xiang exchanged a glance as frowns emerged on their faces.
There was a huge gap between a 6-star blacksmith and a 7-star blacksmith. For a 6-star blacksmith to actually speak of guiding a 7-star blacksmith like Guild Leader Qin…
Was this a joke?
Noticing the peculiar gaze in the duo’s eyes, Zhang Xuan realized what was going through their minds, and he swiftly clarified, “Actually, my proficiency in smithing has already reached 7-star. It’s just that I have been too busy recently, so I haven’t been able to find time to take the examination.”
“I see!” Guild Leader Qin nodded in comprehension. “Since that’s the case, allow me to invite Zhang s.h.i.+ to follow me to our Forging Hall. Only the earth flames there will be able to produce sufficient heat to melt a Saint intermediate-tier artifact and the Black Goldcrystal Ore.”
“Sure!” Zhang Xuan nodded.
Most Blacksmith Guilds tapped into the earth flames underground for their smithing.
There were differing tiers to earth flames as well, and the Black Goldcrystal Ore was known to be exceptionally difficult to process while the Golden Origin Cauldron had reached Half-Leaving Aperture realm and had been tempered by lightning, so ordinary earth flames would not do the job.
The trio swiftly arrived at the Forging Hall, only to meet with a huge crowd. Astonis.h.i.+ngly, every single one of them had seven stars on the emblem pinned conspicuously on their chests. They were all 7-star blacksmiths!
“This…” Zhang Xuan frowned.
He had thought that the Forging Hall would be empty. If that were the case, he would have been able to go all out in the reforging of the Golden Origin Cauldron. But with just a swift glance, he could see at least several hundred 7-star blacksmiths in the room.
Noticing Zhang Xuan’s unhappiness, Guild Leader Qin quickly explained, “Zhang s.h.i.+, pardon me. Only the flames of the Forging Hall are sufficient to process the Black Goldcrystal Ore, and it just so happens that Master Lin Jie will be conducting a lecture on smithing for us today. If Zhang s.h.i.+ is willing to wait, why don’t you listen to Master Lin’s lecture first? He’s a half 8-star blacksmith, so his understanding of smithing is bound to have reached an unfathomable level. Through his teachings, your grasp of smithing could improve by leaps and bounds.”
“I fear that I don’t have that much time to spare,” Zhang Xuan replied with a frown.
Vicious could make another move at any moment, so he had to quickly raise the prowess of the Golden Origin Cauldron so that he would be prepared to face him. Thus, he really had no time to spare on a lecture.
Right after Zhang Xuan said those words, a displeased voice suddenly sounded from the center of the room.
“Do you mean to say that listening to my lecture is a waste of your time?”