From Family Fisherman to Water Virtue True Immortal-Chapter 15: Smithing Assessment

Artifact Refining Hall.

Li Quanqing walked in the outermost fire hall area, where the air was still scorching hot but lacked the usual clang of iron forging.

He entered the grand forging hall, where fifty or sixty young men and women stood nervously; they were, in fact, his classmates.

Three months ago, they had finished their assessments at the Yellow-level academy, becoming Xuan-level apprentices, and began personally forging mortal weapons.

Today was the day of the assessment.

If they did not pass, they would need to continue learning iron forging in Fire Hall, and might even get scolded and disgraced by those mortal artifact masters.

Li Quanqing swept his gaze around and spotted a dozen senior students in the corner who had been "held back" for two or three years.

He found his artifact refinement platform and stood firm, right next to Li Quanshu, who looked slightly nervous.

Li Quanqing checked his artifact forging tools while he caringly inquired, "Senior sister, have you heard any definite news about those Bright Moon Shells I asked about?"

"You scamp, asking about that in such a serious occasion, do you think having talent means you can do whatever you want?"

Li Quanshu bit her silver teeth; even with her good temperament, she felt somewhat annoyed: "What if you don't pass?"

"Then I'll just wait another half year. I haven't been learning in the Artifact Hall for long, so failure is quite normal."

Li Quanqing shrugged his shoulders, showing an indifferent demeanor.

The passing standard for the Fire Hall's assessment was to imitate two types of magic artifacts, the Green Carp Sword and the Green Scale Shield, and forge a sword embryo on a one-to-one basis.

This significantly reduced the difficulty.

With a cultivator's brain and perception, as long as one had a bit of artifact-refining talent, they could pass after a few months of study.

Upon hearing this, Li Quanshu could no longer believe the words of this junior brother.

During the last Yellow-level apprentice assessment, he also took it lightly, and it was said that he was still feeding fish the night before the exam without reviewing.

Yet, he effortlessly secured the first place in the academy.

This made her even more annoyed.

Li Quanqing noticed the ever-changing emotions on the girl's face, and felt somewhat puzzled, "Don't you want the artifact-refining experience left by our ancestors, senior sister?"

Looking at his smiley and handsome face, Li Quanshu struggled to resist the urge to punch him and squeezed out a word through her clenched teeth: "Yes!"

"Well, I'll wait for the news from senior sister!"

Li Quanqing nodded in satisfaction; he was indeed very interested in the Bright Moon Shells that could nurture precious pearls.

Dong!!

The Jade Chime was struck, emitting a serene and melodious sound, causing all the students to instantly sit up straight, avoiding any whispering.

The examiner walked into the hall; it was Li Quanlin, the gentlemanly figure who once led Li Quanqing to meet the Third Elder, and he looked cultured and refined.

"Good day, senior brother!"

Li Quanlin graciously accepted the greeting ritual, his authoritative gaze sweeping over everyone: "Each person will receive two portions of spiritual material; the assessment duration is unlimited, but anyone with dishonest intentions or attempts to deceive will be expelled from Artifact Hall!"

At this moment, Li Quanqing also stood solemnly, recalling the steps of refining the two magic artifacts in his mind.

Fortunately, he truly possessed considerable talent in artifact refining, in addition to the rewards from the light group previously.

Advantage is mine!

Dong! Dong! Dong!

Several mortal servants began bustling about in an orderly manner, starting to move various artifact-refining materials for the examinees.

Some iron ores looked only as big as a palm but were extremely heavy, making a deep sound when placed on the stone platforms.

Li Quanqing felt each one and suddenly his eyes lit up.

[First Rank Middle Grade Yangming Gold, appears yin but is actually yang, created from Leaving Fire Yang Gold tainted by mysterious yin evil qi, has miraculous effects on the growth of Iron Crabs.]

Li Quanqing had already mastered the detecting function of Golden Finger.

Only materials beneficial to the spiritual beasts he bred would trigger the item description tips.

"Yangming Gold, a fine item, but not necessary for refining the Green Carp Sword or Green Scale Shield at all; seems it's meant to deceive!"

Li Quanqing chuckled inwardly.

It seemed the assessment included not only the ability to forge artifacts but also the basic knowledge of identifying spiritual materials previously learned.

He effortlessly chose the Sea Heart Copper for forging the Green Carp Sword and then pulled out a fish bone streaked with green from the materials.

According to orthodox artifact refining techniques, one should use Spiritual Fire to forge a sword embryo from both Sea Heart Copper and the spine of a Green Jade Carp, then fuse the fish scales.

Currently, not only was the copper ore inferior, but even the fish bone was just from a big green fish, not of the same grade.

He'll just make do.

Li Quanqing held his breath and concentrated, heating the copper and the fish bone in succession; then, swinging the hammer, he struck down hard.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

For a moment, the entire hall echoed with the piercing sounds of iron forging.

Li Quanlin and the other two examiners wandered around the hall from time to time, occasionally exchanging glances and nodding silently.

With a hiss, the red-hot sword embryo was plunged into the water for quenching, and billows of steam rose up, resembling a sea of clouds billowing.

Li Quanqing flicked his wrist and pulled out a sword radiating a chilling glint, crafted from Green Scale material.

The sword blade was covered with fine serrations, humming silently in the air, revealing its sharpness; its swings resembling a green Flood Dragon churning through the mist.

A truly extraordinary phenomenon.

Although it had no inscribed spiritual patterns and couldn't be considered even an inferior Magic Artifact, in the mundane world it was definitely a peerless sword capable of cutting through iron like mud.

Li Quanqing was quite pleased with his creation; after swallowing two Fasting Pills, he rested briefly before starting on the forging of the Green Scale Shield.

The shield, being much larger than the sword, naturally made the forging process even more challenging.

With numerous ore materials and precise skill required, each scale had to be inlaid on the shield at specific angles.

Not only was its defensive power astonishing, but when spun, it could also serve as a saw, capable of both attack and defense.

Li Quanqing spent a full two days and one night to successfully forge it.

A sword and a shield side by side, their green glimmers reflecting off each other, an indescribable sense of accomplishment.

Especially when he looked around and realized he was the first to pass the assessment.

That sense of achievement instantly peaked.

"Good job, lad!"

Li Quanlin came over right then, picked up the two weapons to admire for a moment, and quietly encouraged, "You passed the assessment, keep it up, junior brother!"

Li Quanqing's joy was evident, as he also breathed a sigh of relief.

What thrilled him most, however, were the unused ore spiritual materials, which now belonged to him personally.

This was a complete steal!

Having nothing else to do and unable to leave, Li Quanqing could only look around idly.

Next to him, Li Quanshu couldn't help but shoot him a fierce glare.

Those beautiful eyes seemed to say—Don't bother me!

Li Quanqing grinned at his older sister and shifted his gaze, quickly finding a new target.

His cousin, Li Quanzhu.

This somewhat affected youth, possessing a Middle Grade Fire Spirit Root, was indeed suited for Artifact Refining and had some grounds for pride.

He had just finished making the Green Carp Sword and was cautiously forging the Green Scale Shield.

Cultivators have keen spiritual senses, and Li Quanzhu quickly noticed someone peeking at him.

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He glanced up briefly, and upon realizing who it was, his eyes filled with disdain.

Li Quanqing showed a bright, innocent smile, his shiny white teeth expressing full goodwill.

Li Quanzhu originally wanted to ignore him, but the feeling of being on pins and needles was truly torturous, so he inevitably glared back.

One glance, two glances, three glances...

Bang!!

The Green Scale Shield embryo, unevenly heated, suddenly faced a violent strike and exploded into pieces.

"That unlucky kid, still not skilled enough, is forging really that hard?"

Li Quanqing coolly withdrew his gaze.

Mainly because he caught a warning look from Li Quanlin, and he definitely had to give face to his senior brother!

Bored, Li Quanqing suddenly thought of trying to forge a piece of Green Jade Armor.

Named after the Li Family's "Green Jade," the preciousness of this Spirit Armor was evident; each piece was a top-notch Magic Artifact.

Wearing it was enough to make one invincible in Qi Refinement!

Even more, from those Artifact Refining books, Li Quanqing faintly speculated that Magic Artifacts weren't the limit of the Green Jade Armor.

If the materials were precious and the Artifact Master highly skilled, it was even possible to craft a Green Jade Armor at the Spiritual Artifact Level.

Spiritual Artifacts bear a hint of sentience, exclusive to Foundation Establishment Cultivators, far surpassing top-notch Magic Artifacts in power.

Thus, the structure of Green Jade Armor is exceptionally complicated, and even using these Low Rank materials to create a mundane weapon-level replica.

The difficulty was frightening.

Having nothing better to do, Li Quanqing simply picked up the hammer and got to work!