Looking at the Armored Earth Dragon King below, which seed intent on dragging him into a mutual destruction, a faint smile curled on Liu Bai's lips.
In the next mont, spiritual power within his body surged violently, and a massive flood dragon erged behind him.
This flood dragon's entire body was covered in scales as gray-white as stone. Most striking of all, it possessed three heads, each crowned with a single spiral-patterned gray-white horn. Three pairs of gray-white pupils, brimming with boundless killing intent, locked onto the Armored Earth Dragon King. The terrifying oppressive might belonging to a superior-ranked spiritual beast instantly enveloped the entire valley.
Mo…
The originally resolute Armored Earth Dragon King let out a cry filled with fear. Its massive body actually recoiled, and the spiritual power it had been gathering showed signs of dispersing.
This scene truly surprised Liu Bai. He had not expected that his Three-Headed Stone Flood Dragon actually possessed such an ability — to make even the Armored Earth Dragon King cower in fear and willingly face death.
"This should be because both are dragon-type spirit beasts. The Three-Headed Stone Flood Dragon's draconic bloodline is clearly far superior to that of the Armored Earth Dragon, hence such a powerful bloodline suppression…"
Having figured this out, Liu Bai naturally felt delighted. Since that was the case, this battle could now be brought to an end.
"Flood Dragon Devours!"
With a single punch, the giant flood dragon hovering above his head let out an earth-shaking dragon roar and then charged ferociously at the already demoralized Armored Earth Dragon King. The three enormous dragon heads bit savagely at its neck and head, and in just monts, they tore its massive head clean off.
Gazing at the blood-soaked, chaotic battlefield in the valley, Liu Bai frowned slightly. He extracted the spiritual beast essences from the five Armored Earth Dragons and sealed them with spiritual power before storing them in his mustard seed bracelet. As for the corpses of the Armored Earth Dragons, he placed them separately in another mustard seed bracelet.
After finishing all this, Liu Bai surveyed the surroundings. Once he confird that there was nothing else of value in the valley, he soared into the sky and headed toward the Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy.
By the ti the fourth day arrived, Liu Bai had already returned successfully to the academy.
This mission had taken a total of only three days, of which two and a half days were spent traveling and searching. The actual combat had taken less than half an hour.
When Liu Bai once again stood before the middle-aged ntor, the latter was visibly stunned and asked a question that left Liu Bai both amused and speechless.
"You… haven't left yet or have you already returned?"
Liu Bai gave a wry smile and replied, "I'm here to hand in the mission."
The middle-aged ntor: "!"
"So fast?"
One had to know that the mission deadline was one month, yet Liu Bai had completed it in just three days. Wasn't that a little too outrageous?
Liu Bai said nothing further. He simply took out the mustard seed bracelet containing the Armored Earth Dragon corpses.
Just as the middle-aged ntor was about to inspect it, Liu Bai suddenly said, "By the way, inside are the corpses of five Armored Earth Dragons, one of which is the Armored Earth Dragon King."
The middle-aged ntor froze for a mont, then quickly realized the implication. His gaze toward Liu Bai was now akin to looking at a monster.
"All right, this mission was issued by Elder Chi Huo of our academy. I'll ask him if he wants them all. If he does, you won't need to go to the Spiritual Value Hall."
Very soon, the middle-aged ntor used his communication jade slip to inform Elder Chi Huo.
Monts later, Liu Bai saw a gray-robed old man with hair and beard entirely fiery red rushing over.
"Where is it, where is it, where's the Armored Earth Dragon King?" The mont he appeared, the old man's voice rang out, imdiately drawing the attention of many in the Mission Hall.
At a glance, quite a few senior students recognized him. This distinctive-looking, rather unkempt old man was none other than Elder Chi Huo of the academy's Weapon Refining Institute.
"Huh, what's he doing here in the Mission Hall? I heard that Elder Chi Huo usually never even leaves his refining chamber." So could not help but voice their curiosity.
"I think I've heard the reason…" a student who knew so inside information began explaining. "It's said Elder Chi Huo is currently preparing to forge a Mountain-Suppressing Spear and needs the horn of an Armored Earth Dragon as the primary material for the spear shaft. That's why he issued this mission."
"Judging from his reaction, it seems soone has completed the mission."
"Just one Armored Earth Dragon and Elder Chi Huo makes such a big deal out of it, even coming here personally?"
"I just heard ntion of the Armored Earth Dragon King. Could it be that soone has hunted and brought back one of those?"
In an instant, the entire Mission Hall was abuzz with discussion.
Liu Bai, with his sharp hearing, caught from these murmurs so information about Elder Chi Huo.
"So he's actually an elder in weapon refining?"
Thinking about it, that made sense. The entire body of the Armored Earth Dragon was composed of top-grade weapon refining materials. Since the mission only requested the corpse, it was naturally for the purpose of collecting such materials to forge spiritual artifacts.
Seeing Elder Chi Huo approaching in such a rush, the middle-aged ntor quickly stepped forward to greet him and handed over Liu Bai's mustard seed bracelet.
After inspecting it with his spiritual sense, Elder Chi Huo's face lit up with joy, and even his red beard seed to bristle with energy.
"Good! It really is the Armored Earth Dragon King."
"With this, my Mountain-Suppressing Spear can be raised to the rank of a Peerless-grade spiritual artifact!"
Sweeping his gaze, Elder Chi Huo's eyes landed on Liu Bai. With a cheerful smile, he said, "These five Armored Earth Dragons were all hunted by you, young one? In that case, I'll take them all. For the four ordinary Armored Earth Dragons, I'll give you two hundred thousand spiritual value, and for the Armored Earth Dragon King, I'll add another hundred thousand."
Elder Chi Huo spoke with great generosity. After all, these were rely corpses, worth less than spiritual beast essences. Offering three hundred thousand spiritual value at once was indeed a high price.
If it had been before, Liu Bai would naturally have been overjoyed.
But after eting Elder Chi Huo, a different thought arose in his mind.
"These five Armored Earth Dragons can all go to you, Elder, but this student would like to exchange the spiritual value for so weapon refining blueprints from you. I wonder what Elder thinks of this?"
Liu Bai's sudden request left Elder Chi Huo montarily stunned. Looking at him in surprise, the elder could not help but ask, "What do you want weapon refining blueprints for? Don't tell you're also a weapon refiner?"
Elder Chi Huo's words carried a hint of jest, but when he saw the youth before him nod in all seriousness, his eyes nearly bulged out.
"Don't try to fool , boy. Weapon refining is different from other pursuits. For a beginner to complete their first refinent, it takes no less than ten years of effort!"
"Young one, at your age, could it be that you co from a weapon refiner clan, or that you already have over five years of apprenticeship experience?"
Liu Bai simply shook his head.
Seeing this, Elder Chi Huo's beard practically bristled in frustration, feeling as if the boy were deliberately making a fool of him.
Yet Liu Bai remained calm, smiling as he said, "Please don't be angry, Elder. If you don't believe , you may test to see if I am speaking nonsense."
"Good, good, you're certainly confident, young one. In that case, co with …"
With that, Elder Chi Huo stord out of the Mission Hall in a huff.
Seeing this, Liu Bai naturally followed quickly.
It was only then that the middle-aged ntor, who had been dazed since earlier, finally snapped back to his senses. He had just been about to reach out to stop them and remind Liu Bai that the mission had yet to be formally handed over. But considering that the mission issuer himself had personally taken Liu Bai away, he decided to hold his tongue.
Even so, a strong sense of curiosity rose in his heart. He was truly wondering whether what Liu Bai had said was real. Could it be that this youth was genuinely a weapon refiner?
If that were the case, this boy would likely stir up yet another great commotion in the Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy.
The Weapon Refining Institute was located in the depths of the southeastern region of the Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy.
To Liu Bai's surprise, the Weapon Refining Institute was actually built in a land of ice and snow, sothing completely beyond his expectations.
"What's the matter, surprised?" Elder Chi Huo asked with a smile as he glanced at Liu Bai beside him.
"It is indeed a bit surprising," Liu Bai replied honestly.
Judging by Elder Chi Huo's expression, it seed that many who ca here for the first ti had reactions similar to his own.
"Hehe, co along. Once we get inside, you'll be even more surprised."
With a touch of curiosity, Liu Bai followed behind Elder Chi Huo into this world of ice and snow.
As they went deeper, Liu Bai finally understood what Elder Chi Huo had ant.
Beneath his feet rose towering weapon refining cauldrons, each situated above natural Earthfire Springs. Waves of scorching heat rushed toward him. Even with Liu Bai's cultivation, he could feel an almost unbearable sweltering heat.
Of course, if it were only this, it would not be so wondrous. What truly astonished Liu Bai was that right beside these Earthfire Springs, separated by only a thin boundary, there were Ice Springs exuding bone-chilling white mist.
"Ice and fire coexisting… this is truly a miraculous place."
Hearing this, Elder Chi Huo let out a hearty laugh before leading Liu Bai to land beside one of the Earthfire Springs.
"Hehe, the temperature of these Earthfire Springs here is higher than that of many famous Spirit Fires in the Great Thousand World. With the Ice Spirit Cold Springs right next to them, this place is an absolute paradise for weapon refiners."
Liu Bai nodded at these words. Although he had not personally refined any artifacts before, he had already fully mastered the Foundational Principles of Spiritual Artifact Forging. Regarding these basic matters, he naturally had so understanding.
At the very least, refining here would surely be far superior to using the Two Extre Cauldron he had exchanged for.
Thinking this, Liu Bai once again surveyed the surroundings and saw quite a few people tending to their weapon refining cauldrons, utilizing the Earthfire Springs and Ice Spirit Cold Springs to refine their spiritual artifacts.
"Well, what do you think? The conditions of our Weapon Refining Institute are not bad, right? These students are the pillars of our institute. Each of them can refine at least one low-grade spiritual artifact every month. By discussing and exchanging insights with their seniors, they continuously improve their refining skills and cultivation. In less than three years, they can beco mid-grade weapon refiners."
A glimr of amusent appeared in Liu Bai's eyes, and a faint smile tugged at his lips.
So the old fox is already laying the groundwork ahead of ti…
Although Elder Chi Huo still harbored doubts about Liu Bai in his heart, that did not stop him from planting a favorable impression now. That way, if Liu Bai later displayed sufficient talent in weapon refining, he could imdiately extend an invitation.
Before long, the two arrived at a stone chamber deep within the area. Inside, Liu Bai saw piles of various tals, as well as massive bones, horns, and scales.
At the very center of the stone chamber stood a half-man-high weapon refining cauldron. Beside it was a stone well, from which billowed bone-chilling white mist — the Ice Spring water.
With a splash, while Liu Bai was still examining the stone chamber, Elder Chi Huo tossed over more than a dozen different pieces of tal.
"All right, young one, let the show begin."
Liu Bai understood. This was clearly a test to slt these tals, the most basic skill of a weapon refiner. If he could not even pass this stage, there would be no need to speak further — his earlier words would be nothing but empty boasting.
Unfortunately for Elder Chi Huo, the scene he was expecting did not occur. Facing these tals, Liu Bai's expression did not change in the slightest. He even picked up a piece of purple-colored tal and said, "Hmm, this Purple Crow Gold is of excellent quality. However, it has only undergone the first forging. After a second and third forging, it will be ready for use. When forging sword artifacts, adding a small amount of it can increase the weapon's toughness by fifty percent."
Hearing Liu Bai's assessnt, Elder Chi Huo's eyes lit up.
It seed that this young man truly had so skill. Not only could he recognize the properties of Purple Crow Gold, but he could even determine the exact number of forgings it had undergone at a glance.
"In that case, I'll have you perform the second and third forging yourself."
Liu Bai nodded without hesitation, his face still full of confidence.
Very soon, he tossed the Purple Crow Gold into the refining cauldron, then channeled his spiritual power to control the Earthfire and began the second slting process.
tal forging might appear simple, but in truth it involved countless subtleties. The changes within the tal and the precise control of temperature were both extrely important. Even the slightest mistake could cause a severe drop in the Purple Crow Gold's quality, rendering this fine material useless.
Liu Bai carefully manipulated the temperature within the refining cauldron, focusing all his attention on the piece of Purple Crow Gold.
After all, this was his first ti personally operating the process. Even though it was only the most basic slting stage, he dared not be careless in the slightest.
Ti flowed by little by little.
The process was long and monotonous, yet Liu Bai showed no sign of relaxing his focus. Moreover, as ti went on, his movents beca more and more fluid. The initial nervousness gradually faded away.
Elder Chi Huo, who had been watching Liu Bai closely the entire ti, naturally saw everything.
However, the more he watched, the greater the shock in his heart grew.
Could it be that this young man was telling the truth? Yet he is neither from a family of weapon refiners nor has he apprenticed under any other weapon refiner. How could he possess such a solid foundation in refining?
From the initial nervous expression, it was clear that this was likely Liu Bai's very first ti using a refining cauldron. And yet, in less than half an hour, he was already working like soone who had been refining for years.
This was simply unbelievable.
...
For Advance Chapters
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