Wu Mayan gnashed his teeth and squeezed the words out of his sausage-like lips. "You've mistaken me for someone else."
Xie Anan smiled. "What are you talking about? I'm a refiner, and I always look at people's hands first. Although your face has been beaten beyond recognition by Master Sand, the distribution of your knuckles on your hands is obviously Senior Brother Wu Mayan's."
Wu Mayan was dumbfounded. He blurted out, "Who told you that my master beat me up? I bumped into you by accident. Also, who is your senior brother? Don't try to flatter me."
But he admitted his identity in a moment of carelessness.
Xie Anan chuckled. "Being taught a lesson by your own master is not something to be ashamed of. Why don't you admit it? You are quite a proud kid."
Wu Mayan was infuriated. He was about to burst into fury when his wounds were affected again. He grunted in pain. "Xie — Xie Anan, don't be outrageous. Who — who is a kid?"
Xie Anan rubbed her fists and walked close. She smiled and said, "Come on. Let me give you a massage. I guarantee that the swelling will be reduced and the pain will be relieved in ten minutes."
Wu Mayan did not buy it at all. His swollen face twisted again as he screamed, "Don't come any closer. What are you doing? I'm warning you, Xie Anan."
Wu Mayan felt like crying. If it were any other day, even ten Xie Anans would not be a match for him. It was a pity that the talented young man who was the center of attention was cramping after being taught a lesson by Li Yao. How could he summon his strength at all?
Although Xie Anan was not a battle-type Cultivator, she had been practicing the 'Swallowing Whale' and the 'Chaos Gale Hammer Arts' under Li Yao's guidance over the past half year. Her physical strength was a hundred times higher than before, and her hand speed was faster than ever, too.
Her hands were as fast as lightning, dazzling for a moment. She grabbed Wu Mayan's shoulder all of a sudden.
"Hiss."
Wu Mayan's natural reaction was to scream, but the excruciating pain that he expected did not come. Instead, he felt that his shoulder was numb.
Xie Anan's hands could reach. The excruciating pain turned into warmth, like bitter tea melting in his mouth. The only thing left was the sweetness and comfort.
"Eh?"
Wu Mayan's eyes widened. He didn't expect this silly woman to have such skills.
"How is it? Very comfortable, right?"
Xie Anan was determined to build a good relationship with her future big brother, or rather, 'little brother'. She tried her best to help him improve his blood circulation. He said with a smile, "This is also a secret technique that Master Sand taught me. He said that he found it in a very ancient jade slip that was passed down from the era of ancient Cultivators forty thousand years ago. It is called the Dragonization Art, and it has the most miraculous effect on the recovery after training."
"In the past half a year, I've been following Master Sand, and I've often been in a difficult situation like you. Therefore, Master Sand taught me this secret technique. It will allow me to recover quickly and deal with the next day's training. "
Wu Mayan was stunned. "You were often tortured so badly by Master? It can't be, right? How could he do it? Besides. Aren't you a refiner? "
Xie Anan raised her nose and said casually, "In the past half a year, you've been building your foundation in the Battlesuit Department. I've been training with Master Sand for a longer period of time. What happened to you today is nothing out of the ordinary for me."
"It's true that I am a refiner. But Master Sand said that the foundation of refining is a good physique.
"Master Sand also said that my talents were not good enough. I'm afraid that I can't become an intelligent refiner, but I can walk on the path of strength. I can develop myself toward forging.
"He couldn't bear to do it at first, but I asked him to increase the weight. I asked him to, because I knew that I was not smart enough to compare with such a genius as Senior Brother Wu Mayan. If I didn't work harder, I wouldn't have stood a chance at all. "
Wu Mayan was silent.
The brutality of the teaching battle half an hour ago still shocked him when he recalled it. He almost had the urge to run away right now and avoid the training the next night.
He stared at Xie Anan carefully. It was hard for him to imagine how such a girl who looked like a porcelain doll could bear his Master's inhumane training methods.
"What — what are you doing here?"
Wu Mayan's tone softened.
Xie Anan paused for a moment. She bit her lips and said, "I — I'm here for Master Sand. Just now, I had a fight with my family …"
Xie Anan told Wu Mayan the whole story. The fourteen-year-old boy didn't know how he should deal with such a thing, either.
"Is Master Sand inside?" Xie Anan looked at Wu Mayan expectantly with her watery eyes wide open.
Wu Mayan had never been stared at by a girl at such a close distance before.
His face, which was slightly less swollen a moment ago, turned red again.
"Forget it. A real man doesn't argue with a girl. I'm not going to argue with you."
Wu Mayan waved his hands in annoyance. "Master is still training inside. I'll bring you in later and put in a good word for you."
"Really? Long live you, little senior brother! "
Overjoyed, Xie Anan clenched her fists hard.
"Hiss."
Burning tears finally flowed out of Wu Mayan's eyes. He roared at the top of his voice, "Xie Anan, I hated you in my previous life, didn't I?"
…
The next morning, before dawn, the artificial dome was still dim.
But the garden where the Edge Sharpeners' Meeting was held was glittering with countless lights.
The once-in-five-years gathering of the top refiners of the trade was a rare opportunity. Many refiners had stayed up all night to communicate with each other.
Xie Qianhe had been in the circle of refiners for decades, and he had exchanged techniques with other refiners countless times. But he had never been as impatient as he was today. He paced back and forth anxiously in front of the door of the refining workshop.
Today, seven refiners would be exchanging techniques with Sand Scorpion. Naturally, they would not be exchanging techniques together. Instead, they would enter the fully-enclosed refining workshops one by one and talk in private.
According to the rules, the competition between refiners was a gentleman's competition. Before the exchange of techniques, they would have to make a Blood Oath and a soul contract, forbidding them from telling a third person about the process and result of the exchange. Even if the refiners completely grasped the techniques they exchanged, they would only be able to use the techniques themselves and would not be taught to anyone else.
The well-respected Master Xue Yuanxin was invited to be the witness for today's competition.
Therefore, the refiners who had entered the workshop before Xie Qianhe all kept their mouths shut and their eyes closed in silence after they came out. They looked rather mysterious.
Xie Qianhe felt that his heart was being scratched by a cat's paw. He wanted to ask, but he couldn't.
However, from the occasional shock and bewilderment in everybody's eyes, he vaguely sensed that Sand Scorpion's expertise in refining was beyond the imagination of the few seasoned refiners.
Very soon, the airtight door of the refining workshop was opened softly. After a 'chi' sound, a cluster of high-pressure air spurted out.
"Fellow Cultivator Yin is out."
Yin Yuanhua, the refiner who had just been exchanging techniques with Sand Scorpion, was also a specialist in the Crystal Suit Center of the Silver Heart School. He was Xie Qianhe's colleague, and the two of them were quite close.
Xie Qianhe hurried to step forward. "Old Yin."
Master Xue Yuanxin coughed softly.
Yin Yuanhua's face was complicated. He was both shocked and confused. "Old Xie, it's your turn to experience Fellow Cultivator Sand's expertise."
Xie Qianhe was greatly alarmed. He took a deep breath and strode into the refining workshop.
The airtight door was closed behind him. The gears on the two sides were slowly turning under the drive of the rune arrays, blocking the refining workshop from the outside world. Through the air circulation system, the entire workshop was filled with stable, non-explosive inert gas.
At the center of the refining workshop was a floating, ball-shaped furnace. Almost a thousand materials were placed in the open warehouses on the two sides.
Sand Scorpion was sitting behind the furnace.
The heat emitted from the crafting furnace distorted the air, making his figure look somewhat illusory.
Xie Qianhe observed the best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau carefully and felt that he was much younger than he had imagined. He did not have the calm demeanor of a grandmaster like Master Huangpu at all.
On the contrary, his hair was messy, his eye sockets were deep, and his eyes were bloodshot. His lips were chapped, and there was some foam on the corners of his mouth, indicating that he hadn't drunk any water for a long time.
Sand Scorpion's eyes were hollow, as if they had pierced through the thick wall of the furnace and reached the bouncing flames. He was mumbling to himself, calculating something wholeheartedly.
It was not until Xie Qianhe coughed that Sand Scorpion raised his head and glanced at him casually.
Xie Qianhe shuddered. He felt that Sand Scorpion's eyes were cold and crazy.
It was only a competition between refiners, but he seemed to be faced with a ravenous ferocious beast that would not stop until one of them was dead.
An absurd idea suddenly popped up in Xie Qianhe's heart.
He had once heard that among the ancient swordsmiths, there was once someone who, in order to forge a peerless sword, spent no less than ten years refining day and night. At the very last moment, he jumped into the refining furnace and sacrificed himself for the sword. Only then did he forge a peerless divine weapon.
Before, he had found it hard to imagine how crazy a sword forger could be to do such a thing.
But at this moment, he suddenly felt that if such a sword forger did exist, he would be exactly like Sand Scorpion in front of him.
Xie Qianhe's mouth was dry. He said somewhat awkwardly, "Fellow Cultivator Sand, thank you for saving my daughter's life. According to my daughter, you've been giving her a lot of enlightenment recently …"
"Fellow Cultivator Xie."
Li Yao was still dwelling in the soul-stirring competition just now.
The few refiners who had entered earlier were all the best of the best. The marvelous skills that they demonstrated made him feel that he was having a feast, too.
His computational ability had soared to the maximum. His brain was like a high-speed, burning mainframe crystal processor as he analyzed the techniques that he had just seen crazily.
His stomach was rumbling with hunger. How could he have the energy to talk nonsense?
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