Chapter 392: 366 The Sword Casting Appointment

Regardless, this session of the four-department joint examination has finally ended!

According to the plan, teachers and students are to disperse on the spot after the exam ends. The students can now enjoy a vacation of over a month and return to the Training Camp after the New Year to collect their employment certificates.

During this month, the Training Camp will compile the students' grades and send the data, along with the employment preferences previously filled out by the students, to the Land Inspection Offices across Yunzhou for their reference. Then, they will calculate the recruitment intentions and vacancies in various regions, while balancing geographical distribution, to assign students to their positions.

Generally speaking, the Training Camp holds a certain amount of initiative in the distribution of graduates, which is also the most important power of the Training Camp.

However, this has nothing to do with Tang Zhao.

He is an Instructor and only has teaching duties; the power of distribution lies in the hands of the Mountain Chief and the full-time Head Instructor. He has already written comments for every student, and he cannot intervene in other matters.

It can be said that he is on vacation along with the students.

Tang Zhao has his own plans; he will recuperate at his old family home, and then wait for Black Widow to find him to complete the "Gu Fight" previously agreed upon at Jingzhe Villa.

Then, he will begin his next journey.

Returning to his old home, the house is still the same as it was, clean and tidy, with no extra furniture or decorations added besides a few necessities.

During the few days Tang Zhao was at the front line, Wei Se stayed at the old home to watch the house for him; it was quite leisurely and uneventful. Usually, besides sweeping the courtyard and sleeping, there were no other activities. Wei Se seemed to be hibernating, and he looked a bit like he had just woken from a big dream when he saw Tang Zhao return.

Tang Zhao asked about the recent situation and learned that the people from the Five Poisons Society had not come to the door, knowing that the other party already knew he was not at home, so they did not come to disturb him.

It was also because he had beaten them back before, so the Five Poisons Society had misgivings; ordinary gang members dared not come to the door again, and they did not even dare to casually send rice or oil to curry favor.

If they come to the door again, it should be when Black Widow comes in person in a few days.

Putting this matter aside, Tang Zhao greeted Wei Se to come inside, closed the door behind him, and said, "There is good news, you... come, let's try it."

He wanted to say directly that your sword has a lead, but thinking that he was not sure if there was a suitable one among the six Sword Seeds, it was better not to speak too full.

He took out the six Sword Seeds contained in Strange Stones, lined them up on the table, and said with great momentum, "Come, pick whatever you want."

Wei Se was stunned, his shallow pupils staring at these Sword Seeds. After a moment of silence, he looked up and asked, "What are these?"

So you don't recognize them.

Tang Zhao's attempt to act cool failed, and he felt slightly embarrassed, saying, "Nothing... just Sword Seeds."

Glancing at Wei Se's expression, he breathed a sigh of relief—no need to continue explaining, he knew.

Wei Se had followed Tang Zhao for a year, so he still knew this bit of common sense for a Sword Smith. He only felt his mind shaken, and a surge of heat rose from his internal organs. He wanted to say something, but he felt a bit timid; as the saying goes, worrying about gains and losses leads to a loss of words.

He swallowed his saliva and said, "What you mean by pick is..."

Tang Zhao said straightforwardly, "It means picking a Sword Seed that matches you. If there is a suitable one, I will cast a sword for you."

Wei Se resisted his excitement and said, "This... this isn't very good, is it? You still have relatives and friends, and fellow disciples. How can you let me pick first? It would be better to..."

Tang Zhao looked at him strangely and said, "If you are truly willing to give up, I will of course respect your opinion."

Wei Se hurriedly said, "I didn't mean that... that..."

Tang Zhao laughed out loud, got up and pressed Wei Se onto the chair, saying, "You can pick generously. Why are you being so polite with me?"

At this moment, he found the joy of teasing people in the Xing Ji Style.

Wei Se was rarely embarrassed, lowered his head to look at the Sword Seeds, and wanted to reach out to sense them, but he was so nervous that his palms were sweating. One must know that this is a rare opportunity; if he missed it, he wouldn't know when he would get a Sword Seed again.

Tang Zhao patted him and said, "Don't touch the Sword Seeds with your hands, otherwise if the Sword Seed drills into your Soul, it will be very troublesome for me to take it out. Just sense them like this, and I'll go out for a stroll. Don't worry, as long as there is a little bit of resonance, I will strive to tune a suitable sword for you; this is what a Sword Smith does. Relax, it doesn't matter if it doesn't work this time, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future. I have great skills."

After saying that, he pushed the door and went out.

Wei Se looked up and gave a wry smile: Not to mention whether to worry or not, you left six such precious Sword Seeds with me, someone who is not a Sword Guest; how can your heart be so big?

Tang Zhao went out the door and sat down in the courtyard—he said he was going for a stroll, but of course, he wouldn't really leave Wei Se and the Sword Seeds alone at home. Moreover, having been to the front line for so long and having so many things happen, he wanted to be quiet for a while.

He sat alone on the rocking chair under the vine trellis, facing the noon Sunlight.

The December Sunlight was not very warm, but it was mild and harmless, gently spreading over his whole body, fueling his drowsiness.

Gradually, the sound of the wind, the sound of leaves, and the human voices coming from the street all faded away, and he slipped into a haze.

"Knock, knock, knock—"

In a trance, there came a knock on the door.

Tang Zhao opened his eyes and was about to get up, but heard a creak; it was Wei Se who had come out to open the door.

He lay back down, opening his eyelids a crack, and saw that the sun had already shifted to the west; he had actually slept for quite a while.

At this time, his sleepiness was still coming back in waves, and the sound from a few steps away seemed very far away. He heard Wei Se say, "Why are you here?"

Is it an acquaintance?

Listening to Wei Se's tone, there was no guard. There are not many people in this world who do not make Wei Se guard. And this tone was very familiar, not at all like an outsider, without the humility that Wei Se always deliberately maintained.

Who is this?

"Good day, Teaching Assistant. Is the teacher in?"

Oh, Qin Yongcheng.

Tang Zhao recognized the student's voice and finally got up, rubbed his temples with his fingers to wake up a bit, and said, "Yongcheng, come in."

Wei Se moved aside to open the door, and it was indeed Qin Yongcheng who had come. At this time, he had changed into plain clothes, dressed like an ordinary street youth.

As soon as he entered the door, Qin Yongcheng bowed and said, "Teacher, forgive the student for being presumptuous..."

Tang Zhao said, "Cut the crap, sit."

Qin Yongcheng sat on the small stool opposite him with a grin and said, "Teacher, I came to ask you for something today."

Tang Zhao laughed and said, "I told you to cut the crap. Did you run out of hair dye? Let the Teaching Assistant give you some more. You have to use it sparingly; applying too much makes you prone to premature balding. Look at your hairline, it's getting worse by the day..."

Qin Yongcheng hurriedly touched his hair, waved his hand, and said, "Please don't make fun of the student. My hairline is still fine. Teacher, is there anyone else here?"

Tang Zhao looked up and exchanged a glance with Wei Se. Wei Se walked out the door without a word, returned after a while, and said, "No one, I'll go outside and watch."

Tang Zhao nodded, and Wei Se went out and closed the door. Qin Yongcheng said solemnly, "Teacher, you are a powerful Sword Smith, right?"

Tang Zhao was startled and said, "Powerful is not the word, I am a Sword Smith. Wait, do you want to..."

Qin Yongcheng said, "I want to ask you to cast a sword."

Tang Zhao looked him up and down and said, "Sure, you kid." Since he was actively asking for a sword, he must have a Sword Seed; this is a rare thing. He recalled the context and asked, "Was it taken from the Ash Demon Cave?"

Qin Yongcheng said, "Yes, I was quite lucky. I dug it out of the Ash Demon Cave. At the time, you could say I dug three feet into the ground."

Tang Zhao had to admire Qin Yongcheng's luck; one had to know that the Ash Demon Cave was already a stable Demon Cave. Never mind digging three feet, even digging thirty or three hundred feet might not yield anything. Perhaps Qin Yongcheng's compatibility with this Sword Seed was exceptionally high, or perhaps he entered some special state when stimulated and awakened by the yin energy of the Demon Cave, which allowed him to be so incredibly fortunate as to find such a supreme treasure.

Of course, it was possible that Qin Yongcheng's words were not entirely true, and the process of him finding the Sword Seed was not that simple. But Tang Zhao did not ask deeply; everyone had their own opportunities and might encounter miracles, so why get to the bottom of it?

Tang Zhao said, "Do not mention this to outsiders, otherwise there will be trouble at the Prison Suppression Division. Are you sure it is compatible with you?"

Qin Yongcheng said, "It was my Soul that guided me to find the sword."

Tang Zhao nodded, not doubting this claim, as there would indeed be a resonance between a person and a sword. He said, "I can perform Sword Casting for you. And Sword Casting does not require money."

Qin Yongcheng hurriedly said, "Sir, please do not do this. I am already very fortunate that I could have you take action. Whatever you charge outsiders, I should offer double..."

Tang Zhao laughed, "There is no market price yet. I have not entered the market. I have not finished speaking; I will not charge you for the Sword Casting fee, just consider it practice for myself. But I cannot provide the materials for you. In a moment, I will study your Sword Seed and then write you a list of materials. I will say the ugly words first: the cost of the materials is not cheap, enough for you to save for several years. Perhaps in the time it takes to save for the materials, you could have earned enough merit to apply for a sword trial."

Qin Yongcheng said, "I still want this sword, and I trust you more. I entrust my sword to you; regardless of success or failure, I will have no complaints."

Tang Zhao nodded and said, "It is better if it succeeds. Let me first examine the Sword Seed and write you a list."

Qin Yongcheng's sword would naturally not be ranked before Wei Se, but fortunately, collecting materials also took several years, so it would not be crowded. In fact, Tang Zhao would not provide all the materials for Wei Se either; he would also need to collect them himself, though Wei Se had his own channels and might collect them a bit faster.

The two then entered the room, and inside the secret chamber, Qin Yongcheng took out his Sword Seed. Sword Seeds all looked the same, and outsiders would feel nothing when looking at them.

However, Tang Zhao had extremely strong Inspiration in the direction of "Fire," and he felt a faint resonance with this Sword Seed. If the Sword Casting materials were matched well, he could also use this sword. It was just that he did not need to.

He did remember to admonish this student a few words; this Sword Seed was not obscure, and many people were compatible with it, which might attract quite a bit of covetousness, so he should keep it well. Immediately after, he felt it was redundant—could it be said that if a Sword Seed were obscure, one would not need to keep it well?

Everyone would treat a Sword Seed as their lifeline, would they not?

Tang Zhao took out various Art Tools to test the Sword Seed while constructing various Sword Casting plans in his mind. He deleted and modified as he tested, listing the material list over and over.

If this were an outsider coming for Sword Casting, Tang Zhao might list every material that could possibly be used and let the client find them one by one; since they were already doing Sword Casting, would they care about this bit of money?

But Qin Yongcheng was his student, his family background was not wealthy, and the Sword Seed was even harder to come by, so Tang Zhao could not help but delete and modify, choosing the most suitable, most economical, and highest success rate plan for him.

This deliberation lasted until late at night. Qin Yongcheng watched Tang Zhao working at the desk in the room quietly; his expression was calm, but his heart was burning like a fire.

By the third watch, Tang Zhao stood up and handed the list to him, saying, "That is all, take it away. Forget it, it is too late today, do not go out at night, just stay here for the night."

Qin Yongcheng naturally would not refuse and smiled, "I am disturbing you, Sir."

Tang Zhao then sent him to the next room to rest. As soon as he stepped out, he frowned and glanced outside the wall.

Wei Se was already on the roof, saying coldly, "Who is there!"