Having his sword knocked away, the middle-aged man was taken aback. Turning around, he saw a young man walking over.
"Even ants live without purpose. Why did you commit suicide?"
Zhang Xuan said.
The middle-aged man's cultivation had already reached Transcendent Mortal 9-dan primary stage. In Firesource City, he could already be considered as an expert.
"Thank you for your concern, Senior. I only wish to die …"
Knowing that the other party was much stronger than him, the middle-aged man didn't look down on the other party just because of his young age. Instead, he bowed deeply with a desolate look in his eyes.
"To be able to cultivate to your level at the age of thirty, you can be considered a pretty good genius, right? Why are you in such despair? Are you willing to die? "
Zhang Xuan was puzzled.
Even though Firesource City was rich in resources, to be able to reach this level in his thirties meant that he possessed extraordinary talent.
With strength and talent, there was nothing one couldn't do. Why did he commit suicide because he couldn't get over it?
"Thank you for asking, Senior. I really don't have the motivation to continue living …"
The middle-aged man shook his head. "Firesource City is filled with earth flames, and the most famous occupation there is that of blacksmiths. I started learning at the age of seven and have been an apprentice of Grandmaster Blacksmith Sun Jin for twenty-four years. Initially, I thought that he would accept me as his disciple, but who would have thought that … I would fail the examination for ten consecutive years! With such poor talent and such stupidity, what was the point of living? I've let down my family and my profession. I might as well just die … "
"You have been an apprentice for twenty-four years?" Zhang Xuan was taken aback. "You aren't even a 1-star blacksmith yet?"
In terms of cultivation, a Transcendent Mortal 9-dan expert was at least a 5-star pinnacle blacksmith. Yet, he was only an apprentice … Was this for real?
How could there be such a stupid person in the world?
"Yes! Every time I forged a weapon, I would be unable to control the temperature of the earth flame properly, and eventually, I would end up destroying the core of the weapon … Blacksmith Sun Jin couldn't stand it any longer and expelled me from his lineage. Now, I am not even an apprentice anymore! My family hopes that I can become a blacksmith and make a name for myself. But in the end, I was chased out. How can I face anyone anymore... "
The more he spoke, the more miserable he felt. The middle-aged man was overcome with sorrow.
Zhang Xuan blinked his eyes.
He was a Transcendent Mortal 9-dan expert who had started learning smithing at the age of seven, but to date, he hadn't even passed the 1-star blacksmith examination. No matter how untalented he was, surely he shouldn't be lacking in the Way of Heaven's Path!
If it was true, it would indeed be hard for him to accept such a blow.
"What in the world went wrong for him to fail the 1-star blacksmith examination?"
Zhang Xuan was puzzled.
Even a Tongxuan realm cultivator would be able to forge a 1-star blacksmith. Considering how the young man before him was a Transcendent Mortal 9-dan cultivator who had cultivated his soul as well, how could he possibly fail to forge a 1-star blacksmith with such ease?
"I don't know either. All I know is that every time I take the test, I fail to successfully forge a weapon." The middle-aged man shook his head. There was not a shred of confidence in his eyes. It seemed that the repeated examinations had caused him to lose all confidence.
"Unable to successfully refine it?" After a moment of silence, Zhang Xuan turned to Zhang Xuan and asked, "Can you forge a low-tier weapon for me to see?"
For a Transcendent Mortal 9-dan expert to be unable to pass the 1-star blacksmith examination, this was something that he didn't even dare to dream of before. It was as if a fantasy story had been told to others.
"Elder, thank you for saving my life. However, I have already decided to die. Even if I were to continue forging, it would be futile. Why don't you allow a useless person like me to commit suicide?" The middle-aged man bowed deeply.
"You have plenty of time to commit suicide. I am quite knowledgeable in smithing as well, so I might be able to see through your problem and help you pass the examination."
Zhang Xuan.
If the other party really wanted to commit suicide, Zhang Xuan wouldn't have cared either. However, he felt that it was inconceivable for a Transcendent Mortal 9-dan expert to be unable to even pass the 1-star blacksmith examination.
"This …" The middle-aged man's face darkened.
"In any case, you are going to commit suicide anyway. If I can't solve your problem, you can just commit suicide then!" Zhang Xuan chuckled.
"Alright!" The middle-aged man nodded his head as he gritted his teeth.
Indeed, he was already a suicidal person, so there was nothing for him to lose. Even if the other party was unable to see through his problem, it didn't matter. At the very most, he would just die.
"There's a chamber over there that I specially use for smithing. Everything is there. Let's head over!"
After saying those words, the middle-aged man led the way. Not too long later, the duo arrived at an average-sized room.
There were earth flames, smithing cauldrons, and everything that one could possibly imagine in this room. Not too far away, there were many ores placed on the shelves, and most of them couldn't be found in the market. It seemed like even though the middle-aged man's smithing mastery wasn't too high, he had gathered quite a lot of rare metals.
Scanning the surroundings, Zhang Xuan's eyes suddenly fell on an ore, and his eyelids twitched.
"This is … Violetgilt Gold?"
Violetgilt Gold was an extremely rare ore. If it was melted into a unique artifact, the might of the artifact would be boosted significantly.
"Using this, along with the corresponding forging technique, I should be able to raise Jin Yuan Ding's current cultivation!"
Zhang Xuan's eyes glowed in agitation.
All along, he had been thinking of raising Jin Yuan Ding's cultivation, but he hadn't been able to find the ores he needed, so he had to put the matter aside.
He didn't think that he would find such an ore in the chamber of a suicidal person he had saved.
"I'll start now!"
Oblivious to the changes in Zhang Xuan's expression, the middle-aged man bellowed as he walked up to the cauldron.
Grabbing forward, the zhenqi in his body blazed furiously, and in an instant, the earth flames were drawn out.
The searing heat from the flames dyed the walls of the chamber crimson. Grabbing forward, the middle-aged man took out a massive metal hammer. Following which, he placed a piece of metal into it, and a moment later, the metal softened under the heat.
Ding ding dang dang!
Striking the surface of the metal hammer, it didn't take long for the metal to take shape, and it morphed into a sharp sword.
It must be said that the middle-aged man's mastery of smithing had already reached a level of mastery, far surpassing that of a 6-star pinnacle blacksmith like him.
It didn't take long for the core to take shape. Zhang Xuan grabbed it once more, intending to quench it once more. Who could have known that the earth flames would suddenly surge over, and in the blink of an eye, the newly forged sword was melted into a puddle of metal. All of his previous efforts had gone to waste.
"I failed again. I told you that I wouldn't be able to forge it …" Disheartened, the middle-aged man sighed in disappointment.
He thought that he would be able to change the outcome this time around, but it turned out to be the same as before.
"This …" In contrast to the middle-aged man's disheartened state, Zhang Xuan, who had been watching the entire smithing process intently, frowned.
With his current eye of discernment, even without using the Library of Heaven's Path, he was still able to see through the flaws in the other party's smithing.
There wasn't any mistake in the other party's tempering process, but during the tempering process, the zhenqi in his body and the earth flames seemed to clash against one another, resulting in the core melting away in the blink of an eye …
In other words, the tempering process wasn't wrong either. However, the zhenqi in his body just happened to be of the opposite attribute to the earth flames. If he were to proceed with the tempering process, it would cause the earth flames to become agitated, thus turning the core into trash.
"The clash of zhenqi and earth flames … Shouldn't 6-star pinnacle blacksmiths be able to see through it?" Zhang Xuan frowned.
It was one thing if the other party was unable to see through the fundamental flaws in the forging process, but as a 6-star pinnacle blacksmith, it was impossible for them to be unaware of it!
Since that was the case, why didn't the 6-star Blacksmith Sun Jin mention it? Why didn't he offer any pointers?
It was understandable that the middle-aged man was unable to notice it. After all, even though his cultivation had reached the required level, he hadn't even passed the 1-star blacksmith examination. As such, he wasn't qualified to browse through the higher-tier books.
Only 6-star pinnacle blacksmiths would be able to comprehend the clash of zhenqi.
No … Zhang Xuan pondered for a moment before his eyebrows suddenly shot up. The clash of zhenqi referred to the conflict between one's cultivation technique and smithing. Since the middle-aged man had been learning smithing since he was seven, how could he possibly make such a fundamental mistake?
"Unless someone did it intentionally …" Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes.
Incompetent physicians harmed others, and incompetent teachers misled their students. Unless someone intentionally made him cultivate the wrong cultivation technique right from the start, such a situation would occur.
But … what good would cultivating the wrong cultivation technique do the other party?
Perplexed, Zhang Xuan glanced at the shelves filled with ores, and a thought suddenly came to his mind.
"You were the one who collected these ores?"
"Yes!" Not knowing why Zhang Xuan would ask such a question, the middle-aged man nodded. "There are earth flames all around Firesource City, and the areas where the earth flames are concentrated contain a large number of ores. Through the zhenqi in my body, I was able to find quite a few ores each time."
"Through the zhenqi in your body?"
"That's right! Our cultivation technique was imparted to us by Blacksmith Sun Jin. As long as we cultivate diligently, we will develop a keen sense of the ores, and it's not too difficult for us to find them … "
The middle-aged man nodded.
"You? Are there many people who cultivate the same cultivation technique as you? "Zhang Xuan asked.
"There are indeed many. Back then, there were more than thirty apprentices who studied with me. However, most of them were devoured by the earth flames while they were searching for ores and were reduced to ashes. The only ones left are me and another person! "
The middle-aged man replied.
"Is that person unable to become a true blacksmith as well?"
As if coming to a realization, Zhang Xuan turned to look at the middle-aged man.
"That's right! He's a year older than me, but he failed the examination as well. Last year, he couldn't withstand the pressure and committed suicide … "Recalling his companion, the middle-aged man shook his head.
After studying smithing for so many years, he was unable to become a true blacksmith. It was unimaginable how dejected he must have been to have survived for a year. It was already a testament to his resilience that he was able to survive for another year.
"Committed suicide?" Zhang Xuan was taken aback. Scanning the surroundings, he continued asking, "Then … where did the ores you found go? There should be more than this, right? "
Since the middle-aged man possessed the ability to search for ores, he should have found quite a lot of them over the years. It was impossible for the ones in the room to be the only ones.
"We did find quite a lot of ores, but most of them were handed over to Blacksmith Sun Jin as my tuition fees. I have been learning from him since young, and he imparted a lot of knowledge to me, allowing me to reach where I am today. "
The middle-aged man nodded.
"Tuition fees? I see. I get it now! "
Coming to a realization, a glint flashed across Zhang Xuan's eyes, and his face turned frighteningly cold.
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