Chapter 742: Examining an Artifact Forger

“Never taken an exam?”

Yuan Hong’s body swayed, nearly spitting out a mouthful of old blood.

The many renowned masters who had followed over also had their eyeballs nearly falling to the ground.

Not even an artifact forger, yet he came to take the five-star exam… and still said he wasn’t here to cause trouble?

Artifact forging, one of the nine upper professions, one of the most pinnacle professions on the continent—everyone present had studied tirelessly to become a member, each spending years of time just to get started.

Even the fastest required at least ten years of hard study; the slow, without thirty or fifty years, could not succeed!

A guy around twenty, not even a one-star artifact forger, comes over and opens his mouth to take the five-star exam?

Did he really think… this was a profession that could be accomplished casually?

Too childish!

“I’ve privately studied artifact forging, but I never had time to take the rank exam…”

Seeing the shock of the crowd, Zhang Xuan quickly explained, then asked: “How about this: I’ll start from one-star! Can… one-star exams be taken here? Also, before the one-star exam, do I need to take the apprentice exam first?”

Although his mastery of artifact forging was at least as strong as Wu Yangzi’s, he had never taken an exam; strictly speaking, he wasn’t even an apprentice now, let alone a formal artifact forger.

“Apprentice…”

His mouth twitching, Yuan Hong held his forehead.

If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn’t have believed it was real.

A person who wasn’t even an apprentice came to the Artifact Forging Academy, insisting on taking the five-star artifact forger exam, and not only that, he stirred up the whole academy, wrecking the recording channel and even the main hall…

Most critically… the dignified dean, one of the Ten Great Masters, Zhao Bingxu, wanted to take him as a student!

Even experiencing it firsthand, it felt like a dream.

“You don’t need to take the apprentice exam; go directly for the one-star artifact forger exam… try to succeed today. As for five-star… we’ll talk later!”

Suppressing the frustration in his heart, Yuan Hong turned to look at the group of renowned masters before him: “Who among you has an apprentice token?”

An artifact forger of his level, even if he had helpers, would not be below five-star; artifact forging apprentices were too low-level to be used. Having not dealt with them for a long time, naturally he had no such token.

“Apprentice token?”

“The ones helping me are all four-star artifact forgers. This thing is too low-level; I don’t have one!”

…

Everyone around shook their heads.

Almost everyone in the hall was a five-star artifact forger, at worst reaching four-star; finding an apprentice token here was very difficult.

“This…”

Yuan Hong was full of embarrassment.

What kind of situation was this!

Himself, a dignified six-star peak artifact forger, helping someone find an apprentice token, and yet… he couldn’t find one. The thought alone was intoxicating.

“Vice Dean, I… have one here!”

Just when they didn’t know what to do, a timid voice sounded. Zhang Xuan turned to look; it was Li Xuan, who had received him earlier.

Although she worked at the Artifact Forging Academy, her rank was not high, and she happened to have a token meant for an apprentice.

“Great…”

Nodding, Yuan Hong breathed a sigh of relief, took the token, imprinted Zhang Xuan’s name on it with his mind, and handed it over.

“Master Zhang, this is the apprentice token. Take it, and with the credits, you can activate the Artifact Sea and take the one-star artifact forger exam!”

“Thank you!”

Taking the token, Zhang Xuan nodded, walked forward a few steps, then suddenly thought of something and stopped: “Now I’m taking the one-star artifact forger exam. If I pass and want to continue taking the two-star exam, do I need to spend more credits?”

“If you stay in the Artifact Sea, you don’t need to. But once you come out, if you want to go in again, you’ll need to spend more,” Yuan Hong said.

Credits are the condition to activate the Artifact Sea. If you stay inside without coming out, two credits are enough. Once you come out, if you want to go in again, you need to spend another two credits.

It’s like tickets to some scenic spots: once you come out, if you want to go in again, you need to buy a new ticket.

“If I don’t come out? Then… can I continue taking the two-star exam inside after finishing the one-star?”

Hearing that coming out would require spending more credits, Zhang Xuan felt a headache and couldn’t help asking.

His two credits were taken from the old man’s student. For the sake of taking the five-star artifact forger exam, he couldn’t keep asking others to give him credits!

Such precious things—not to mention whether others had them, even if they did, constantly asking for gifts would incur too great a debt of gratitude.

Grace and favor are cause and effect.

Along the way, Zhang Xuan had never been indebted to anyone for favors, precisely because he wanted to avoid such entanglements.

"Of course you can, but... the Artifact Sea requires two credits to activate. No matter which level you test for, you can only stay inside for at most two hours. That means... within two hours, whether you succeed in forging a weapon or not, you will be automatically sent out... In such a short time, I'm afraid it's only enough to test for a one-star artificer. Even if you want to test for a higher level, it's very difficult!"

Yuan Hong explained.

The purpose of creating the Artifact Sea was to facilitate more people in testing for artificer and improve efficiency. If that were the case, what if someone took two credits and went in, refusing to come out, staying for half a year—how could efficiency be improved?

Therefore, entering for testing had a time limit, usually two hours.

In other words, one credit per hour. If one felt it was difficult to pass, they would need to spend more credits to purchase additional time.

And within the purchased time, no matter what level you tested for, whether successful or not, once the time was up, you would be automatically sent out.

If successful, the Artifact Sea would generate a new token based on the information from the token you submitted earlier and release it. If unsuccessful, it would be a waste of credits, and you would return empty-handed.

This Master Zhang had two credits, so he could only stay inside for two hours. In such a short time, it would be good enough if he could pass the one-star test. Continuing to test for two stars... the possibility was slim!

Moreover, artifact forging consumed a great deal of true energy. The amount of true energy in a person's body was limited. After forging one weapon, most of their energy would be depleted. Even if enough time were given, they might not have the stamina to continue!

Therefore, in his view, although this Master Zhang had good intentions, it was very difficult to achieve.

Not to mention him, even an artificer at the peak of six stars like himself could only forge at most two or three weapons within two hours. Any more, and he wouldn't be able to hold on.

Weapons were different from pills. No matter how low-level, they required countless strikes and tempering; otherwise, it would be impossible to transform from a shapeless weapon embryo into a weapon!

"Two hours, fine!"

Hearing that the time was so short, Zhang Xuan nodded, stopped dwelling on it, and placed his apprentice token and credit card on the stone platform in front of the door. With a flash of light, the Artifact Sea before him slowly opened.

He stepped inside.

The room of the Artifact Sea was somewhat similar to the previous recording passage, filled with darkness. Then the ground shook beneath his feet, and he was transported like a conveyor belt to a hall.

Inside the hall were all kinds of ores and metals, along with a huge furnace and a forging platform.

"This... is all fake?"

Looking around, he found that the scene before him was indistinguishable from reality, and Zhang Xuan couldn't help but admire it.

Earlier, the girl named Li Xuan had said that the Artifact Sea used the effect of an illusion array to give people a realistic forging experience, but in reality, everything before him was fake.

Looking around, he saw a pile of books on a table not far away. He casually opened one, and it contained the forging methods for various weapons.

Those who come for the assessment can choose any one to perform; as long as they succeed, they pass.

"I only have two hours, and I must strive to complete the assessment for five stars..."

Knowing that credits are hard to come by, and having finally obtained an opportunity, he was naturally not content with just assessing for one star. It would be best to complete the assessment for a five-star artificer in one go, so he wouldn't have to come again later and avoid the trouble.

"So... the simpler the weapon I forge, the better, and the more time I save!"

Forging a weapon blank into a longsword is clearly different in difficulty and time consumption from hammering out an iron hammer.

"Assessing as an artificer, like assessing as an alchemist, requires refining specific materials to a certain level to pass. The fineness of the refinement only adds a slight grade; there's no need to make it too exquisite..."

The grade of a weapon is evaluated from many aspects: hardness, flexibility, sharpness, transmission of true qi... and so on.

It's not that the more ornate and beautiful the hammering, the higher the grade.

Although forging neatly and thinly provides some enhancement to the weapon, it is not the key to assessing an artificer.

In that case... there's no need to waste effort on the weapon blank.

As long as the fusion ratio is appropriate and quenching succeeds, even low-grade materials can certainly be forged into a decent weapon.

"These weapons take too long to forge..."

Soon he flipped through the book and realized that given his current forging level, even if he could forge them, the most critical issue was that he couldn't afford the time.

In other words, no matter which one he chose to forge, even with his high forging skill, it would take at least over an hour to complete.

If so, how could he still assess for a two-star artificer?

"Forget it, let's begin!"

Instead of choosing from these books, Zhang Xuan walked around the room and quickly locked onto seven or eight types of metals and ores, forming an idea in his mind.

Having studied the Heavenly Dao Artificing, his understanding of artificing had already surpassed that of some six-star peak artificers. Although these metals and ores were very ordinary and used for forging low-grade weapons, in his hands, as long as they were properly combined, they could produce different effects and functions.

"Let's do it this way!"

A smile curled at the corner of his mouth. He gently grabbed with his palm, and true qi flowed like water. The seven or eight metals and ores he had just selected flew up, simultaneously heading toward the blazing furnace fire nearby.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

Under the infusion of true qi, the furnace fire burned a bright red. These metals and ores instantly melted completely, turning into liquid that flowed everywhere.

"Fuse!"

Raising his brows, Zhang Xuan smiled lightly. He suddenly grabbed at these liquids with his palm, and the seven or eight different liquids immediately separated, fusing in different ways.