Chapter 100

One month later.

In a stone chamber similar to a warehouse, Wang Yu held an open book, squatting in front of a pile of metal ingots of various colors, occasionally picking one up to compare with the book and touching it a few times.

In an artifact refining room a few stone chambers away.

Xiao Wei stood in front of a furnace emitting raging flames, using the golden inscription blade in her hand to continue inscribing the third silver inscription on the giant blade above the furnace. Sweat stains were faintly visible on her forehead, showing the immense pressure.

"Zzzzt."

The first two inscriptions on the giant blade flashed simultaneously, causing the short-haired woman's wrist to sink, and the lines under the inscription blade deviated.

The woman's face immediately turned dark.

In another artifact refining room not far away.

A pale-faced young man was laboriously swinging the iron hammer in his hand. Several metal ingots of different colors on the anvil were faintly fusing into one, beginning to emit a faint white light.

Suddenly, the white light on the surface of the metal ingots flared brightly. The young man struck it with a hammer, his expression changed drastically, and the iron hammer in his hand rebounded directly, flying out of his grasp.

The metal ingots that had already fused together split apart once again.

The young man immediately had a look of frustration on his face.

That evening, in the earth fire chamber, Xiao Wei handed a white jade box to the gray-robed old man opposite her and said something respectfully.

This Master Sun took the jade box, opened it to take a look, and a satisfied expression appeared on his face. He threw a thin manual from his bosom to the other party.

One and a half months later, in the afternoon.

In front of a wooden table in the artifact refining room, Wang Yu was pouring some colorful powder into a wooden bowl, and then pouring some fragrant, bright red liquid from a small bottle beside it.

A miraculous scene appeared.

The powder in the bowl dissolved rapidly, and the color of the liquid also quickly changed from bright red to pale silver.

Witnessing this scene, Wang Yu revealed a satisfied expression.

That evening, in the artifact refining room, Wang Yu's eyes flashed with a faint crystalline light. One hand grasped a wooden strip, while the other held an ordinary iron needle similar to an inscription needle. He was concentrating intently on using the iron needle to dip into the silver liquid and carve something onto the wooden strip, his hands as steady as Mount Tai.

After a short while, rows of ant-like silver characters appeared on the wooden strip, as neat as if printed by a machine, without the slightest deviation.

At the same time, in a bedroom at the end of the stone cave.

The short-haired woman was sitting cross-legged on the bed with her hands forming seals, faint spiritual light flickering on her body surface, a pale blue spiritual pattern faintly visible on her forehead, and her eyes becoming a few degrees colder.

In another bedroom, the young man was already fast asleep on the bed, with a gourd emitting a thick smell of alcohol thrown at the head of the bed.

One day, two months later.

In the earth fire chamber, a streak of red light circled and danced in the air, then suddenly flashed and disappeared, transforming into sparks dancing all over the sky. Then, the sparks condensed in the middle, and a short sword flashing with red light appeared again.

The black-robed old man below beckoned, and the short sword slowly landed in his hand. His other hand wiped across the sword body, and seven spiritual patterns emerged, flickering incessantly.

"Congratulations to Master Sun for the perfect artifact refining!"

Wang Yu and the other two below congratulated the old man in unison.

"Haha, finally managed to refine this Fire Dragon Sword within the final deadline. With this successful experience, it will likely not be so troublesome to refine such sword artifacts in the future." Master Sun stroked the short sword, a satisfied expression appearing on his face.

"Among all magical artifacts, sword artifacts are one of the most difficult to refine. I believe that once the news of Master refining entry-rank sword artifacts spreads, your status in the sect will definitely be very different in the future." The young man said flatteringly.

"Hehe, what is this little skill of mine? There are at least a handful of people in this sect whose artifact refining skills are above mine; I can only rank in the middle-lower tier. Alright, since the magical artifact has been refined, according to the agreement, you will each receive one hundred spirit stones, but the material loss during this period must be deducted. You can go to the General Affairs Hall to collect them later." After Master Sun said two humble words, he spoke to the three of them with a serious expression again.

Wang Yu and the young man naturally had no objections, but Xiao Wei, this inner sect disciple, cupped her fists at the old man and said respectfully:

"Master Sun, if this junior remembers correctly, you once issued a piece of news at the General Affairs Hall back then, wanting to recruit an artifact refining apprentice and intending to pass on your own artifact refining arts. May I ask if this news is still valid now?"

Ning Yuan's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

Wang Yu, however, could not help but be stunned.

"That is correct, such a matter exists. I have never withdrawn this news, so it is naturally still valid. Why, do you intend to be my apprentice?" Master Sun, however, seemed to have anticipated this, asking calmly without any surprise.

"Yes, this junior has liked artifact refining since childhood and considers myself to have some talent in artifact refining arts. I hope Master Sun can fulfill this wish. This junior is willing to give up those one hundred spirit stones, only hoping that Master can give me a chance." The short-haired woman bowed deeply to the black-robed old man.

Seeing this, although the young man tried his best to keep his expression calm, he could not help but let a trace of jealousy flash in his eyes.

Wang Yu's gaze flickered slightly.

"It seems that you took this mission specifically to become an apprentice. Hehe, since you are so sincere and even purchased secret arts here at my place, if I don't give you a chance, it would be too heartless.

How about this: just as I said in the news I issued, as long as you can choose an artifact embryo here and inscribe three inscriptions on it within one day, I will accept you as an apprentice.

The two of you are the same; if you are willing to give up those one hundred spirit stones, I will give you the same opportunity." After Master Sun laughed, he said to the crowd with composure.

The short-haired woman was overjoyed and immediately agreed.

The young man Ning Yuan's expression changed repeatedly, but in the end, it turned into a bitter trace at the corner of his mouth, and he said nothing.

"Since there is such a good thing, this junior will also give it a try." After Wang Yu's thoughts turned rapidly, he also said with a smile.

These words made Xiao Wei somewhat surprised, and she took an extra look at him.

"Good, the two of you come with me. You can leave first." The black-robed old man nodded and unceremoniously issued an eviction order to the outer sect young man.

Then he took the woman and Wang Yu away from the earth fire chamber.

After a long while, a helpless sigh came from the earth fire chamber.

In a stone chamber where the restriction had just been lifted by Master Sun's spell, there were two rows of long wooden shelves. On the shelves were artifact embryos of various sizes, from giant axes about a zhang long to beads about the size of an egg, all neatly arranged, colorful, and numbering as many as thirty or forty.

"These are some ordinary artifact embryos I have accumulated in the Four Symbols Sect. Although they are not high-quality goods, they are enough for you to practice with. Each of you choose one."

"This junior chooses this one."

Xiao Wei immediately took a giant blade from the wooden shelf, its appearance and dimensions similar to the one she had used when practicing inscriptions before.

"Can."

The black-robed old man saw this, nodded calmly, and took another look at Wang Yu.

At this moment, Wang Yu's gaze was attracted by an artifact embryo with a unique shape on the wooden shelf.