Chapter 284

Xu Yang felt a secret sense of alarm in his heart; he finally had a preliminary understanding of the world at large.

To the Great Xia as a whole, the Purple Sun Gate was no different from the White Stone Workshop where he had stayed before; to the true upper echelons, both were nothing but rural drainage ditches.

"The Second Dragon Ascent happens once every five years. The last one was held two years ago," Jiang Fan said.

The implication was that if Xu Yang wanted to participate in the Second Dragon Ascent, he only had three years.

"What are the conditions to participate in the Second Dragon Ascent?" Xu Yang furrowed his brows.

"Under twenty-eight years of age, with a Heaven Origin cultivation base."

Xiong Kun said in a deep voice, "Heaven Origin is merely the threshold. It doesn't mean that having a Heaven Origin cultivation base guarantees a successful ascent."

To break through to Heaven Origin in three years, both talent and resources were indispensable.

In his view, among their current batch, only the top three of the Ten Heroes—including Jiang Fan—had any hope, as they possessed both talent and resources.

As for Xu Yang, it wasn't that he looked down on him, but the possibility was truly minuscule.

"Three years, Heaven Origin realm..."

[Mountain-Bearing Bear Scripture Marrow-Cleansing Chapter · Minor Accomplishment (1372/6000)]

Xu Yang glanced at the panel; he still had great confidence in breaking through to the Heaven Origin realm within three years.

After dinner, Xu Yang went down from Leaving Fire Peak.

He hadn't seen Xu Qing for a long time and needed to go down to check on her. Soon, he found her in her courtyard, and the siblings sat down in a quiet spot.

"Brother, how are you doing on Leaving Fire Peak?" Xu Qing asked with concern.

Xu Yang smiled. "It's alright."

Xu Qing nodded. "Have you started cultivating the Way of Weapon Forging? How is your talent? I heard from a senior sister at Medicine King Peak that weapon forging is even more demanding of talent than alchemy."

"Master said my talent for weapon forging is average and it's hard to achieve much," Xu Yang said, repeating Elder Huoyun's words.

Xu Qing's expression dimmed instantly. "It's okay, Brother. Your martial arts talent is good, so it doesn't matter if your forging talent isn't. Once I become an alchemist, I'll earn money to support your cultivation."

Xu Yang was speechless. "By the time you become an alchemist, the day lilies will have wilted. Don't worry, Brother won't be short on resources."

After asking about Xu Qing's cultivation and life and confirming everything was fine, he parted from her to go find Sun Tao.

Unfortunately, Sun Tao had left to help Zhang Yong catch a Phantom Leopard cub and had been gone for nearly a month without returning.

Xu Yang had no choice but to return to Leaving Fire Peak!

The next day, he went to the Weapon Forging Pavilion as usual to keep up appearances.

"Xu Yang is still coming to the Weapon Forging Pavilion? Didn't Elder Huoyun already say he has no talent for forging?"

"He's just unwilling to give up. Being third in the Outer Sect Grand Competition, he still has some pride; he probably doesn't believe it."

"What's third in the Outer Sect Grand Competition? On this Leaving Fire Peak, more than half the disciples have placed in the top three of the Outer Sect Grand Competition. You have to accept your fate when it's time."

Seeing Xu Yang still coming to the Weapon Forging Pavilion, many people began to gossip.

In the Inner Sect, third place in the Outer Sect Grand Competition really wasn't a dazzling achievement; most Inner Sect disciples entered the Inner Sect through the Grand Competition.

The number of people who entered the Inner Sect by completing assessment missions was only about half.

Xu Yang turned a deaf ear. He only came here to keep up appearances, laying the groundwork for the Thousand Forging Art to reach minor or even major accomplishment in the future.

Time passed, and Lu Ren, who had also joined Leaving Fire Peak, appeared in the Weapon Forging Pavilion to cultivate the Thousand Forging Art.

However, unlike Xu Yang, because his reputation was ruined, although he joined Leaving Fire Peak, he didn't even have a master.

In truth, there was no difference; although Xu Yang had a master, that master didn't teach him anything, nor were there any resources tilted his way.

"Three hundred forgings! This is the Thousand Forging Art at minor accomplishment!"

"What high forging talent!"

"It hasn't even been twenty days!"

"It's like this without guidance; if he had a master teaching him, it would be unimaginable."

That day, Xu Yang was forging with his head down when he suddenly heard a commotion.

Looking up, he saw everyone in the Weapon Forging Pavilion put down their hammers and crowd around Lu Ren, with a piece of forged black iron being passed around among the disciples.

He listened carefully for a while and learned that in less than twenty days of cultivating the Thousand Forging Art, Lu Ren had reached minor accomplishment and produced a piece of three-hundred-forging black iron.

"This guy, his forging talent is actually this good?"

Xu Yang was slightly surprised.

Having cultivated the Thousand Forging Art for so long, he naturally knew how difficult it was to reach minor accomplishment.

This thing had little to do with comprehension; the most important thing was true qi. If one's true qi was suitable for forging, cultivation would yield twice the result with half the effort.

If the true qi was not suitable for forging, every step forward was fraught with difficulty, and the true qi would only ruin the materials.

Lu Ren was in high spirits, constantly accepting compliments from the surrounding disciples, his gaze sweeping toward Xu Yang from time to time.

Reaching minor accomplishment in the Thousand Forging Art in less than twenty days—this talent could be called terrifying.

One had to know that under normal circumstances, being able to reach minor accomplishment in the Thousand Forging Art in two months was considered having forging talent.

In less than twenty days, while many people were flattering him, they began to say that Lu Ren would surely become a master weapon forger in the future. As for his character issues, no one cared at this moment.

"Lu Ren, hurry! My master, Elder Tie Fu, wants to see you!"

After a while, a figure walked in from outside the Weapon Forging Pavilion and joyfully grabbed Lu Ren's hand.

"Okay!" Lu Ren showed a joyful expression, hurriedly tidied his clothes, took the piece of three-hundred-forging black iron, and left quickly with Elder Tie Fu's disciple.

As he passed by Xu Yang, he didn't forget to sweep a glance at him.