HCB Chapter 128 Boasting
Chapter 128 Boasting
The voice wasn't loud, but it was full of energy. The entire workshop trembled slightly.
The weapon refiners who were working stopped at the same time and turned to look in the direction from which the sound came.
The oppressive aura of a seventh-tier psychic master spread out as if it were a tangible force, making it hard for people to breathe.
An old man emerged from the depths of the workshop.
He was about sixty or seventy years old, with a full head of silver hair and eyes as sharp as an eagle's.
He was wearing a gray robe.
His fingers were long and slender, with thick calluses on the tips.
Those are the marks left by decades of diligently carving spirit arrays.
His imposing presence made him instantly recognizable.
Ouyang Nan.
Dean of the Daoyuan Shanhefu Branch!
Seventh-tier psychic!
Grandmaster of weapon crafting.
The only weapon refiner in Shanhe Prefecture capable of crafting sacred artifacts.
He ranks among the top in the entire weapon-refining industry of the Great Xia Dynasty.
He lived for nearly seventy years, spending his entire life dealing with weapon crafting.
Beside him was a young man, about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, who was none other than Ouyang Tian from earlier.
The young man supported the old man's arm, his expression arrogant.
He had just lost face in front of Ye Feng, so he went to his grandfather to complain about Ye Feng.
Xiong Chumo quickly stepped forward to greet him, bowing respectfully with a humble posture and a hint of flattery in his tone.
"master."
Ouyang Nan glared at Xiong Chumo.
The gaze from that single eye was as sharp as a knife, scraping across his face.
"Useless thing." Ouyang Nan's voice wasn't loud, but his tone was harsh.
"Someone questioned your master, and you didn't say a word? I've taught you for so many years, and all I've taught you is to be a coward?"
Xiong Chumo's face turned bright red, and he opened his mouth, wanting to explain.
But Ouyang Nan was too lazy to listen to him anymore.
The old man turned his gaze to Ye Feng, looked him up and down, and frowned slightly.
A mid-stage fifth-tier mental energy master, with decent cultivation, but nothing particularly special.
His student, Xiong Chumo, was also at the peak of the fifth rank, a small step higher than this young man.
A young man with this level of cultivation, and you just said his production methods are problematic?
He said his invention of the war puppet was flawed?
Does he mean that his prized weapon-refining system needs optimization?
Ouyang Nan has never submitted to anyone in his life, and he has every reason to be proud when it comes to weapon forging.
He entered a Taoist academy to learn weapon crafting when he was a teenager.
He was able to independently craft low-grade spirit-level artifacts in his early twenties.
He broke through to the sixth level of mental energy master at the age of thirty and became a grandmaster of weapon crafting at the age of forty.
He invented the War Puppet series at the age of fifty.
He deserves much credit for the Daoyuan Shanhefu branch's current status.
"This production method is my own creation." Ouyang Nan's voice was calm, yet it carried an undeniable authority.
"These puppets were also invented by me. From design to finalization, from material selection to spirit array inscription, I personally designed every step of the process."
"Young friend, what advice do you have for me?"
The old man's tone was polite, but the meaning behind his words was anything but.
In other words.
You, a mere greenhorn, dare to point fingers at my weapon-refining?
Xiong Chumo stood to the side, sweating profusely with anxiety, constantly giving Ye Feng meaningful glances.
"My master has a bad temper, so don't argue with him. Just say a few nice words to smooth things over."
Ye Feng ignored him.
The old man in front of me clearly had a bad temper and was very stubborn.
If reasoning doesn't work, then let's prove it with results.
There's only one way to deal with this kind of person: to subdue him with concrete actions.
Ye Feng did not directly answer Ouyang Nan's question.
Instead, he reached into his robes and pulled out a long knife from his spatial ring.
Sever the Soul.
Top spiritual level.
The blade was entirely black, about three feet long, and a blood-red gemstone was inlaid at the hilt.
A dark red light flowed across the blade.
This is a loot seized from Demon Flame's spatial ring: a high-grade spirit-level Soul-Slaying Longsword.
Ever since he learned weapon crafting, he had been wanting to upgrade it, and today was the perfect opportunity.
He then took out a few more pieces of material.
Crimson Blood Black Gold, Netherworld Cold Iron, Star Meteorite Iron.
Each piece is priceless.
Ouyang Nan's eyes lit up when he saw these materials.
The purity of Crimson Blood Black Gold, the color of Netherworld Cold Iron, and the luster of Meteorite Iron.
These are all top-quality items, the very best.
He had rarely seen materials of this quality in the Taoist temple's material storeroom.
"Ye Feng, you..." Xiong Chumo realized what Ye Feng was about to do.
"Lord Xiong, please take a look first."
Xiong Chumo opened his mouth, as if to say, "Are you crazy?"
But in the end, he didn't say anything and just stepped aside.
He knew Ye Feng was very skilled at weapon crafting, but this was a Daoist academy.
His master stood by and watched.
Ye Feng wants to forge weapons here, right in front of his master. Isn't that like showing off one's limited skills before an expert?
His master was a grandmaster craftsman who had forged top-grade sacred artifacts.
Ouyang Nan watched Ye Feng walk to the refining platform, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
Is he going to forge weapons in public?
In front of him, a grandmaster of weapon crafting?
Ouyang Tian whispered something in his ear.
"Grandpa, he wants to forge a sacred artifact, a sacred artifact."
Ouyang Nan's lips twitched even more violently.
He knew perfectly well what the young man in front of him wanted to do.
He's seen arrogant and conceited young people before.
This is the first time I've seen someone so arrogant.
What is the concept of a sacred artifact?
In the entire Great Xia Dynasty, the number of weapon refiners capable of forging sacred artifacts can be counted on one hand.
He can forge sacred artifacts himself, but his success rate is less than 30%, and each forging requires at least a whole month of preparation.
That's his teacher!
The foremost weapon refiner in the Great Xia Dynasty.
Master Lu Ban, known as the "divine craftsman".
To forge a sacred artifact, one must make all the necessary preparations.
This young man, not even twenty years old, dared to claim he was refining a sacred artifact in front of so many people, holding just a few pieces of ore.
Ouyang Nan did not stop him.
He wanted to see for himself what this young man was capable of.
Ye Feng stood in front of the weapon-refining platform, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, calmed his mind, and cleared his mind of distractions.
The complete structural diagram of the Soul-Slaying Blade appeared in his mind.
The structure, materials, and distribution of spirit arrays of each part were clearly presented in his mind.
He opened his eyes, a flash of golden light passing through them.
Mental energy surged from his mind, simultaneously enveloping the Soul-Slaying Longsword and the pieces of material.
Ouyang Nan's brow twitched slightly.
At the mid-stage of the fifth rank, his spiritual power could be released in such a solid manner.
A typical fifth-tier psychic can only project their psychic power to cover a very small area, which is already the limit for crafting small tools.
Ye Feng's mental energy had a wide range, encompassing the entire longsword and all the materials within it.
The quality of this mental power far surpasses that of ordinary fifth-order beings.
Ouyang Nan was a seventh-level cultivator and had seen all kinds of geniuses, but this was the first time he had ever seen a fifth-level cultivator like this.
"This little guy's got some skills!"
"Could it really be possible to forge a sacred artifact?"