Chapter 1020: Purple Luo Gold

The longsword was knocked away. The middle-aged man was stunned, then turned his head to see the young man approaching.

"Even ants cling to life. Why do you seek death?"

Zhang Xuan spoke.

As he drew near, he also saw clearly that the middle-aged man's cultivation had reached the initial stage of the ninth level of Mortal Transformation, definitely a top expert in Fire Source City.

"I trouble you for your concern, but I only seek death..."

Knowing that someone who could flick his sword away from such a distance must be far stronger than him, the middle-aged man did not underestimate him despite his youth. He bowed deeply, his eyes filled with desolation.

"To have cultivated to your level around thirty years old, you're quite a talent. What reason makes you so desperate that you willingly seek death?"

Zhang Xuan found it strange.

Even if Fire Source City had abundant resources, reaching this level at around thirty years old was no small talent.

With strength and talent, what couldn't he do? Why would he be so set on seeking death?

"I trouble you for your inquiry, but I truly have no reason to live..."

The middle-aged man shook his head. "Fire Source City has abundant earth fire, and the most famous profession is that of the artificer. I started learning at the age of seven and was an apprentice to Grandmaster Artificer Sun Jin for twenty-four years. I thought I could be accepted as his disciple, but... I failed the assessment for ten consecutive years! With such poor talent and such stupidity, what meaning is there in living? I am a disgrace to my family and to this profession. I might as well die..."

"An apprentice for twenty-four years?" Zhang Xuan was taken aback. "You're not even a one-star artificer now?"

A Mortal Transformation ninth-level expert, by rank, should be at least a five-star peak artificer, yet he was still just an apprentice? Was that true?

Could there be such a stupid person in the world?

"Yes! Every time I forge, I can't control the temperature of the earth fire properly, and I end up ruining the weapon blank... This time, Artificer Sun Jin couldn't bear it anymore and expelled me from his tutelage. Now I'm not even an apprentice. My family hoped I could become an artificer and make a name for myself, but instead I was expelled. How can I face anyone..."

The more he spoke, the more distressed he became, and sorrow welled up within him.

Zhang Xuan blinked.

A Mortal Transformation ninth-level expert who started learning forging at seven and still hadn't passed the one-star artificer assessment—even if he had no talent, it couldn't be this bad!

If it were true, it would indeed be a hard blow to take.

"What exactly is the problem that you can't even pass the one-star artificer assessment?"

Zhang Xuan found it strange.

The one-star artificer assessment was simple in basics; even a Tongxuan realm martial artist could do it. This man, at Mortal Transformation ninth level, had also cultivated his soul and had fine control. How could he fail such a simple task?

"I don't know. I only know that every time I take the assessment, I can't successfully forge a weapon." The middle-aged man shook his head, his eyes devoid of any confidence. It seemed that repeated failures had shattered all his self-belief.

"Can't forge successfully?" Zhang Xuan paused and looked at him. "Could you forge the simplest weapon and show me?"

A dignified Mortal Transformation ninth-level expert who couldn't even pass the one-star artificer assessment—this was something he had never even dared to imagine before. It sounded like a fairy tale, hard to believe.

"Thank you for saving my life, but I have decided to die. Even if I continue forging, it won't help. Let me, a useless man, kill myself and stop bringing shame!" The middle-aged man bowed.

"There's always time to die. I have some knowledge of forging as well. Perhaps I can see what your problem is and help you pass the assessment successfully."

Zhang Xuan said.

If the man truly wanted to die, he couldn't stop him, but he found it utterly baffling that a Mortal Transformation ninth-level expert couldn't pass the one-star artificer assessment.

"This..." The middle-aged man's face showed uncertainty.

"Since you're going to die anyway, if I can't solve it, you can still die later!" Zhang Xuan smiled.

"Alright!" The middle-aged man nodded, clenching his teeth.

He was right. He was already a man about to die, with nothing left to lose. Even if the young man couldn't see anything, it didn't matter. At worst, he would die.

"There's a quiet room I use specifically for forging over there. It has everything. Let's go."

With that, he led the way. Before long, the two arrived at a small room.

Here, earth fire and forging furnaces were all available. On a nearby shelf were many ores, many of which were not seen on the market. It seemed that although this middle-aged man's forging level was low, he had collected many rare metals.

Looking around, Zhang Xuan's gaze suddenly fell on an ore, and his eyelids twitched.

"Is this... Purple Luo Gold?"

Purple Luo Gold was a very rare ore. When melted and incorporated into specific artifacts, it could greatly increase their power.

"Using this, along with the corresponding forging techniques, I can completely allow the Gold Origin Cauldron to break through its current strength!"

His eyes shining, Zhang Xuan was filled with excitement.

I had always been thinking about helping Jinyuan Ding improve his strength, but the required ores had never been found, so the matter was put on hold.

Unexpectedly, after casually saving a man who wanted to commit suicide, I discovered this kind of ore in his meditation room.

"I'm starting!"

Without noticing the change in his expression, the middle-aged man let out a low shout and approached the furnace.

He grabbed forward with his palm, and the true qi in his body blazed fiercely, instantly drawing out the earth fire.

The scorching flames roared, illuminating the walls of the meditation room red. With a grab of his palm, a huge hammer appeared in his hand, followed by a piece of refined iron placed into it. After a moment, it was softened by the heat.

Clang clang!

Striking it, the iron block soon took shape, becoming a sharp longsword.

It must be said that this middle-aged man had reached the pinnacle of forging the weapon body, far surpassing him, a six-star peak blacksmith.

Not long after, the weapon body took shape. He grabbed again, intending to quench it, but at that moment, the earth fire surged violently, melting the newly forged longsword into molten iron in the blink of an eye, destroying all previous efforts.

"Failed again. I knew I couldn't succeed..." The middle-aged man's face was full of dejection, and disappointment showed in his eyes.

He had thought this time might change the outcome, but it was exactly the same as before, with no change.

"This..." Unlike his dejection, Zhang Xuan, who had observed the entire forging process, frowned.

With his current insight, even without using the Library of Heaven's Path, he could see the crux and problems in the other's forging.

The steps and methods of forging the weapon body were flawless, but during quenching, his true qi and the earth fire exhibited a repulsion phenomenon, causing the successfully forged weapon body to melt away in an instant...

In other words, the quenching steps were also correct, but the attributes of his true qi and the earth fire were exactly opposite. Once quenching began, it agitated the earth fire, turning the weapon body into waste, leading to failure.

"True qi conflicting with earth fire... Shouldn't a six-star peak blacksmith be able to see that?" Zhang Xuan frowned.

If it were some major flaw that couldn't be seen, that would be one thing, but this was the most basic of practices. Anyone who had reached six-star peak should know it!

If so, why hadn't the six-star grandmaster Sun Jin mentioned it? Nor given any guidance?

It was understandable that this middle-aged man couldn't detect it, because although his strength had reached that level, since he had never passed even a one-star blacksmith exam, he wasn't qualified to read higher-level texts.

And this kind of conflicting force could only be known at the six-star peak level.

"No..." As he pondered, Zhang Xuan's brows suddenly jumped. True qi conflict meant that the cultivation technique and forging were contradictory. Since this guy had started learning forging at age seven, how could he make such a basic mistake?

"Unless someone did it on purpose..." His eyes narrowed immediately.

A quack doctor harms people, a mediocre teacher misleads students. Unless someone had deliberately made him cultivate the wrong technique from the start, leading to this situation.

But what benefit would there be in making him cultivate the wrong technique?

Full of confusion, Zhang Xuan's eyes fell on the shelves holding ores around the room, and a thought suddenly struck him.

"Did you collect all these ores?"

"Yes!" Not knowing why he asked, the middle-aged man nodded. "Fire Source City is full of earth fire, and places with dense flames contain many ores... By attracting them with my true qi, I can find quite a few each time."

"Attracting them with true qi?"

"Yes! Our cultivation techniques were all taught by Blacksmith Sun Jin. If we cultivate diligently, we naturally become sensitive to these ores and can easily find many..."

The middle-aged man nodded.

"You? Are there many people cultivating the same technique as you?" Zhang Xuan looked at him.

"There were many. Back then, over thirty apprentices studied together. But most were swallowed by earth fire while searching for ores and burned to ashes. Only I and one other remain."

After thinking for a moment, the middle-aged man said.

"Is that person also unable to become a true blacksmith?"

As if realizing something, Zhang Xuan looked at him.

"Yes! He was a year older than me and also couldn't pass the exam. Last year, unable to bear the pressure, he committed suicide..." Recalling that companion, the middle-aged man shook his head.

After learning forging for so many years, yet unable to become a true blacksmith, the disappointment was understandable. He had lasted an extra year, which showed his mental fortitude.

"Committed suicide?" Zhang Xuan was stunned. Looking around, he continued, "Then... where did the ores you found go? There should be more than these, right?"

Since they had the ability to find ores, after so many years, they should have found many, not just those in the room.

"We did find many ores, but most were handed over to Blacksmith Sun Jin as tuition. We learned from him since childhood, and he taught us a lot, giving us what we have today, so tuition had to be paid."

The middle-aged man nodded.

"Tuition? I see!"

Suddenly enlightened, Zhang Xuan's eyes flashed, and his face turned terribly cold.