The Refined Obsidian Dragon returned to the workshop several hours later with a leather pouch filled with materials.
He tossed the bag before Yuan and said, "If you can craft a treasure while using half of the materials in there, I'll consider you worthy."
Yuan grabbed the bag and poured all of the materials out. There were twenty-one materials in total, and he didn't recognize any of them.
However, instead of panicking, Yuan smiled and muttered, "Interesting. This will be fun."
He suddenly sat before the materials, grabbed one of them, and started inspecting it in silence.
"..."
The Refined Obsidian Dragon's eyebrows twitched at Yuan's actions, and he sneered inwardly, 'At least he isn't completely incompetent.'
After spending several hours examining every single material there in great detail, Yuan closed his eyes and began doing ntal simulations. "What's he doing?" Long Yejun asked the Refined Obsidian Dragon. Despite being a blacksmith himself, he didn't understand Yuan's actions.
The Refined Obsidian Dragon narrowed his gaze at Yuan and pondered for a mont before responding, "I believe he's doing ntal stimulations. He's basically crafting the treasure inside his head right now."
"What? You can do sothing like that? I have never even heard of this until today." Long Yejun couldn't fathom crafting treasures inside his mind.
"It's possible, but it's extrely difficult to achieve since you need to know the materials perfectly, and you also need to be incredibly knowledgeable and experienced in blacksmithing." The Refined Obsidian Dragon clenched his fists in frustration as he spoke.
'ntal simulations? Hahaha! Even I cannot do ntal simulations! There's no way he's doing it properly! This is just a waste of ti!' he mocked inwardly.
A few hours later, Yuan stood up and said, "Okay, I am ready to craft the treasure. Do you have a hamr I can borrow?"
The Refined Obsidian Dragon grabbed an old hamr and tossed it to him.
Yuan looked at the worn hamr with a slight smile and said, "It'll only make you look worse if I pass the test with this half-broken tool."
"Here, you can use mine." Long Yejun retrieved his personal hamr and offered it to Yuan.
However, he shook his head, refusing to accept it.
"Thanks, but I don't need it."
He walked to the anvil and controlled the materials from afar with his Qi Manipulation, throwing all of them into the furnace. "What the…?" Long Yejun's eyes widened at his bizarre actions.
"Hahaha! What the fuck is he doing?! How can he throw all of the materials in her at once?!" The Refined Obsidian Dragon burst out laughing.
They were taught to deal with one material at a ti, so Yuan's actions made him look like a complete fool who knew nothing about smithing.
"I can't believe I actually thought he was competent even for a second! He had fooled in the beginning!"
Yuan completely ignored the Refined Obsidian Dragon's loud mockery and focused on the materials inside the furnace.
A few days later, Yuan retrieved a single piece of material from the furnace. This material had no impurities and was perfectly refined.
When the Refined Obsidian Dragon saw this, his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
"What the fuck?! That's impossible!" he cried out loud.
"He actually managed to refine that many materials at once, even though each one needed to be handled differently and required a different refining ti?" Long Yejun muttered in disbelief, struggling to comprehend the feat.
The Refined Obsidian Dragon felt an intense urge to rush over and inspect the refined material up close, but he held back. It wasn't out of respect for Yuan but rather because of an unspoken rule among blacksmiths to never interrupt one once they have begun their work.
After inspecting the refined material and being satisfied with it, Yuan placed it on top of the black anvil before him and started hamring away with the damaged tool.
The Refined Obsidian Dragon felt his heart skip a beat with every strike Yuan delivered to the material, his ears captivated by the mythical sound that resonated each ti the hamr made contact.
"What is this sound? How is he creating such a beautiful lody with that tool?" Long Yejun muttered, his eyes wide with awe.
Even Yingzi, who knew nothing about smithing, could sense that sothing extraordinary was unfolding before her. She found herself completely absorbed by the performance, unable to look away.
"The refined material… his hamring techniques… the sound it produces… it's beyond even my understanding…"
The Refined Obsidian Dragon fell to his knees as the crushing reality of the vast difference in skill between himself and Yuan set in. It was an unfathomable gap, leaving him overwheld and humbled.
"It turns out I was the ignorant one all along…"
Tears flowed from his eyes.
After striking the anvil for several hours without pause, Yuan finally completed the treasure, which took the form of a sword. It radiated a powerful aura that would easily be graded as a peak-quality Empyrean-grade treasure in the Nine Heavens.
Yuan walked to the Refined Obsidian Dragon, who was still on his knees and placed the treasure before him.
"I'm done. Please examine it."
"..."
"..."
"You're done…? Already?"
The Refined Obsidian Dragon muttered in a dazed voice.
"It's a bit slower than usual, but it can't be helped since I am still rusty, so thank you for giving this chance to warm up."
The Refined Obsidian Dragon slowly reached for the sword before him, but he stopped himself centiters away and withdrew his hand.
"I don't deserve to touch it, let alone examine it. I am also not qualified to test you. I apologize for my ignorance and disrespectful behavior earlier. I hope you'll forgive , Master Yuan." The Refined Obsidian Dragon apologized in a sincere tone as he kowtowed respectfully before Yuan.
Long Yejun stared at the scene, his face filled with bewildernt. He could never have imagined witnessing the Refined Obsidian Dragon behave in such a manner.
"He's showing Brother Yuan more respect than he does to the Dragon God…" he sighed with a bittersweet smile.
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