‘First time? Why does it sound wrong when they say it…’ Zhang Zhi found their use of words strange.
Then, Han Ling’er acted like she was a veteran and said, “Seniors, I was nervous during my first time as well but you must believe in Zhang Zhi’s craftsmanship. After you get used to it, it won’t hurt that much. On the contrary, you might even enjoy the process a lot.”
“Ahem!” Zhang Zhi choked on water and he blushed after hearing what Han Ling’er said.
“Did I say something wrong?” Han Ling’er asked with an innocent look.
“Nope, you are absolutely correct.” Zhang Zhi took the flying swords and fled to the rear.
The Golden Core seniors treated their own flying swords akin to their lives. Every single hammer strike on the blade felt like it was hitting on their hearts instead as if Zhang Zhi was not hammering their swords but their bodies themselves.
Of course, Zhang Zhi’s craftsmanship never disappointed, all the flying swords that he refined had ascended to high-tier. The bearded Golden Core seniors were delighted when they received their swords, they cheered and danced as if they were children who were just let off school.
Zhang Zhi watched his customers dance happily. It was the other kind of reward that he enjoyed other than spirit stones.
…
The inner sect ranking battle continued in an orderly fashion. Han Ling’er, with her new high-tier artifact, destroyed everyone who stood in her way and made it into the top 100, top 50, top 20…
She was like the walking signage of the blacksmith. As long as she continued winning, the reputation and popularity of the blacksmith continued to soar.
A ridiculous amount of Golden Core experts came to the blacksmith after they heard about Han Ling’er’s victory and the number of customers who squeezed themselves into the blacksmith almost broke the blacksmith’s door frame.
After all, everyone wanted an invincible weapon for themselves.
Zhang Zhi started to get busy again. It was tiring but the profit and experience fueled his motivation every day.
While everyone was busy with their own matters, two foreign visitors approached Lingtai Town.
“Senior brother, why did the sect send us here? This place is in the middle of nowhere!” The girl asked in disdain.
“The eastern domain is weak by nature. After the domain war, the situation worsened, especially the decreasing number of capable blacksmiths. I heard only one out of ten made it back alive.” The man chuckled.
“This is the golden opportunity for Heavenly Soldier Pavilion to further its conquest. As long as we can settle in Lingtai Town, it will do the sect a great deed!”
The girl felt a little better after hearing what her senior brother said but she remained disgusted as they approached Lingtai Town.
Back at the blacksmith, several Golden Core experts were nervously looking at Zhang Zhi refining their swords. A while later, Zhang Zhi carried the newly refined high-tier flying swords to the counter and they sighed a breath of relief.
The Golden Core experts were nervous because the higher the tier, the higher the chance for failure during refinement. Even though Zhang Zhi had never failed before, the Golden Core experts could not afford to lose their weapon because they practically invested a fortune in the service.
There was also a widely acknowledged rule about smithing: when asking others for refining services, be it artifacts or pills, the requestor should bear all the responsibility whether it failed or succeeded, hence the worries.
The cultivators praised Zhang Zhi’s craftsmanship as usual but it raised a question among them.
“Owner Zhang, how high is your failure rate?”
After all, to the cultivators, forging artifacts had a certain percentage of failure. The cautious cultivators assumed that with every successful forge or refinement, the failure rate for the next one would increase indefinitely.
“I still don’t know about that.” Zhang Zhi did not say 100% success rate even though it was the fact, he did not want to explain because it would save him a lot of trouble.
However, if Zhang Zhi said he did not know about his own failure rate, it must mean that he had never failed before, which increased people’s trust in him. The cautious cultivators were more cautious than ever because they might hit the ‘jackpot’ on their turn and it would be the worst thing that could happen.
Every cultivator had their own thoughts and intentions and Zhang Zhi did not want to overly explain himself. He preferred to speak with facts.
One of the Golden Core experts made up his mind and mustered enough courage to be the next. He paid the spirit stones and gave Zhang Zhi his flying sword. “Owner Zhang, refinement please.”
Han Ling’er had to attend the top 10 matches of the ranking battle, so she took a day off. Zhang Zhi had to do everything in the blacksmith, but it was just taking money from the customers, nothing much.
After Zhang Zhi accepted the job and wanted to start refining, one of the cultivators asked, “Speaking of which, Owner Zhang, if a mid-tier can go up to high-tier through refinement, then it wouldn’t be worth it if we bring our own materials to forge a high-tier directly.”
One of the rules of the blacksmith was it would only provide materials for refinement and restoration, any other forging of flying swords required the customer to provide the corresponding materials. 10 high-tier spirit stones only included the working fee, hence the question.
Zhang Zhi thought about it before answering, “Mid-tier can be refined into high-tier and that’s it.”
His answer was brief but the cultivators were smart enough to understand the meaning. After a mid-tier artifact went through refinement, its full potential would be brought out and there would be no more space for improvements.
If one forged a high-tier artifact with Zhang Zhi, it could still be refined and reach a higher tier.
One of the cultivators seized the moment and asked another question, “Owner Zhang, will a high-tier artifact become a spirit artifact after refinement?”
“Why don’t you give it a try?” The question had been asked many times and Zhang Zhi answered with the same ‘question’ every time.
The curiosity made their heart itch. Even though they strongly believed a high-tier artifact could be boosted further after refinement, without Zhang Zhi’s answer, they dared not risk it.
After all, normal artifacts and spirit artifacts were different. If they had to spend 10 high-tier spirit stones just to get 10% to 20% of increment, the cost-performance ratio would be too low.
There were a few of them who wanted to give it a try but they ought to wait for someone else to try it first before they dare to take the risk.
Zhang Zhi started hammering in the rear again. The cultivators dared not ask or talk about refinement anymore because Zhang Zhi made it clear that he did not like being disturbed when he was working.
Even though he was just a Qi Refining cultivator on the outside, the Golden Core experts knew how to follow the rules. Some of them even upheld the rules themselves because if Zhang Zhi’s refinement failed because someone disturbed him, they would be the ones who had to bear the consequences.
A while later, a young man and girl arrived at the blacksmith.
The girl looked at the blacksmith in disgust. “Senior brother, I heard this is the only blacksmith in town that provides forging service.”
The man also sized up the blacksmith in disdain. “Being in a rural town is hard enough, these bumpkins should be grateful that they have a working blacksmith at all.”
The two of them scoffed. To the disciples of Heavenly Soldier Pavilion, the artifacts forged by a blacksmith was nothing more than a joke.
Amid their disdainful scoffs, they noticed the price listed on the signage, and it shocked the girl. “10 high-tier spirit stones? Are all bumpkins this rich?”
The man frowned and said, “I guess this blacksmith must have monopolized the blacksmithing service in Lingtai Town. The service is highly in demand, yet this blacksmith took advantage of others. It seems like we Heavenly Soldier Pavilion should step in and save the people from this difficult situation.”
The two of them exchanged a quick glance before they went in.
“Who is the owner of this blacksmith? Come out right now!” The man bellowed. He thought he was being strong and intimidating but his bellow did not attract the owner of the blacksmith, instead, a group of Golden Core experts turned around with furious glares.
They gestured to the man to keep it down.
The man and the girl were shocked by the number of Golden Core experts in the blacksmith. They thought as Early Golden Core themselves, they could do whatever they wanted but it seemed like they were lacking something.
Zhang Zhi finished restoring a mid-tier flying sword and brought it out to the counter. He noticed the presence of the man and girl but he did not care because idiots were everywhere.
The Golden Core expert took his sword and expressed his gratitude. “Owner Zhang, I did not expect it to really have a 10% boost in power! Your craftsmanship is perfect!”
“Hmph! A mere 10% boost in power from refinement and you call that perfect?” The man scoffed.
“I guess bumpkins are easily surprised,” the girl said with a cold grunt.
Before Zhang Zhi could say anything, the Golden Core expert stepped out and glared at the two uninvited customers. “Refinement? Stop making me laugh. I’m just restoring my flying sword! It didn’t drop in power and got a 10% boost instead! If this isn’t a perfect restoration, what is?”
It was not refinement? The man and the girl were shocked. As the disciples of Heavenly Soldier Pavilion, they were also good at restoring artifacts and the best restoration that they knew of was to restore the artifact back to its former glory and prevent its power from dropping. They had never heard of a power boost after restoration.
Then, the man and the girl reacted to the situation. They assumed that the Golden Core bumpkins were idiots, the blacksmith must have secretly refined it and claimed it was restoration instead so that he could advertise his skills.
After all, the blacksmith charged 10 high-tier spirit stones, a simple refinement could earn him a big buck.
The man scoffed. “Imbecile, you are lied to! The owner must have secretly refined it to advertise his own skills!”
The girl added, “10 high-tier spirit stones for 10% boost in power through refinement? Garbage!”
The moment the Golden Core experts heard what the man and girl said, they were stunned and reacted strangely.
The Golden Core expert who got his sword restored bowed at the two and said, “I am sorry for being rude before, please forgive me.”
The man and the girl grunted coldly. “It’s fine if you know your mistake.”
Then, the Golden Core expert got up and told the others, “We cannot look down or discriminate against people with mental disabilities, we should show them care and love and make them understand the warmth of society.”
“Hahaha, Li, you are being hurtful now.”
The bunch of Golden Core cultivators burst out in laughter, even Zhang Zhi found it amusing and chuckled.
“YOU!” The girl was agitated and almost started a fight.
The man held his junior sister back and stepped up. He showed the Golden Core experts the token at his waist, “I am Yin Wenbin, a disciple from Heavenly Soldier Pavilion!”
The term Heavenly Soldier Pavilion stopped everyone’s laughter. The sect was a formidable force in the ester domain, all its disciples were extremely skilled in forging artifacts.
Legend had it that an expert from the sect forged something stronger than a spirit artifact; it was known as a king artifact.
The man and girl were from Heavenly Soldier Pavilion, no wonder they were already a Golden Core cultivator at such a young age.
Yin Wenbin felt proud when he saw the surprised look on everyone’s faces. The reason he revealed his identity was because he wanted the bumpkins to know who they were talking to and stopped them from doubting him. Showing the token of the sect was the most convincing move.
To his surprise, after a moment of silence, the Golden Core experts burst out in laughter again and they were louder than before.
“What the heck! Heavenly Soldiers Pavilion is here to look like an idiot?! Geez, let me have a look at my high-tier artifact… Hmmm, yup, it’s still a high-tier artifact…”