Chapter 2941 — The Forging Flame
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
He knew well enough that Rome was not built in a day and that all things must advance step by step. But his earlier training in martial techniques had gone exceptionally fast, giving him the confidence that whatever he set his hand to, he would master. Now that confidence had taken a beating, and he felt rather dispirited.
Fortunately, when he thought of his sorry attainments in alchemy, this small setback seemed to count for nothing.
"Elder Jiao, this forging business... it's simply too hard. A forging flame of three attributes, and on top of that you have to be able to alter any one attribute's intensity and temperature at will—only a madman could pull that off!" Wei Zhao had been at it for half a day, and refining the forging flame was itself a task that consumed great physical strength and true qi. So after exhausting both, he returned to the jade pendant space to replenish his losses, and upon seeing Jiao Yazi, he could not help venting his complaints.
"Hard? You call that hard? You truly have no idea how hard it is to be an Artifact Forger," Jiao Yazi sneered, casting Wei Zhao a look of contempt. "Falter at a trifling difficulty like this, and a real Artifact Forger might as well give up living!"
"What do you mean by that?" Wei Zhao was rather put out by Jiao Yazi's attitude. This old fellow was always the same—if you did not ask, he would not answer; and once you did ask, he would either claim his memory was incomplete or give you a round of sarcasm... truly insufferable!
"My memories have not yet fully returned," Jiao Yazi said instead.
"...Could you not toy with me?" Wei Zhao smiled bitterly.
"Still, do you not have the crafting method for the Spirit Essence Necklace in your possession? It should contain the Artifact Forger's incantation. Look at it yourself and you will understand," Jiao Yazi said.
Though Wei Zhao was grinding his teeth in frustration at Jiao Yazi's manner, he knew that the Jiao Yazi before him was only a phantom, and that brooding over it was nothing but tormenting himself for nothing. So he had no choice but to let it go.
Yet his curiosity about what Jiao Yazi had said remained keen, so he opened the drawer, took out the crafting method for the Spirit Essence Necklace he had obtained earlier from the Taganlong family's scripture pavilion, and began leafing through it.
The beginning was much the same as the jade pendant's refining method—explanations of the required materials, a description of Artifact Forger ranks... and so on. Artifact Forgers had ranks too? Wei Zhao stared at the introduction to the Spirit Essence Necklace's refining method, his eyes wide.
No such introduction appeared in the jade pendant's refining method. Either the Xuanyuan Dragon Taming Art classified Artifact Forger ranks differently from ordinary Artifact Forgers, or the refining of the jade pendant space could be accomplished by the lowest rank of Artifact Forger alone—which would explain why the jade pendant's refining method contained no such explanation. After all, that method was aimed solely at cultivators of the Xuanyuan Dragon Taming Art, not at Artifact Forgers.
For an Artifact Forger could never possess the jade pendant that Wei Zhao carried.
It turned out that Artifact Forger ranks were the same as cultivator ranks, divided into the four tiers of Heaven, Earth, Mystic, and Yellow—Heaven the highest, Yellow the lowest. The only difference from cultivator ranks and alchemist ranks was that Artifact Forgers had only these four tiers! (To be continued)