Chapter 190 – Preparing to Forge Weapons

Translator: Coca5156

Editor: Drea

“Okay, I accept your offer,” Gu Lingzhi looked at Wei Hanzi from the corner of her eye, and Wei Hanzi could tell that Gu Lingzhi had seen through Zhang Kuihan’s intentions of talking her into accepting the offer so that he could gain from it. Her agreement made Zhang Kuihan so delighted for a moment that he immediately decided on a timing for them to forge weapons together.

Originally, he had wanted to find a Weapon Forgery Room so that they could start right away, but he was refused by Wei Hanzi. They agreed to start only after lunchtime.

He had accomplished what he came for so easily, which made him feel worry-free and happy. He glanced again at Gu Lingzhi, wanting to say something, before Yuan Zheng sent him off.

“Sorry but the Princess Consort is not feeling well and needs to rest. If there is nothing else, please take your leave,” Yuan Zheng said as he sent Zhang Kuihan out politely but firmly.

They waited for Zhang Kuihan to leave before they met in the room.

“When I look at you, I feel like I’m looking at myself,” Gu Lingzhi commented as she saw Wei Hanzi who was wearing the mask of the Black Thorn.

The mask that Wei Hanzi was called the ‘Thousand Illusions’ and it had been retrieved by Rong Yuan from the state treasury. It was rumored to be an Earth-Level Spiritual Weapon, and had the power to change one’s appearance into countless different forms. However, because it only had one function compared to other Earth-Level Spiritual Weapons, it did not have an exceptionally high value. Gu Lingzhi did not think that it would become so useful. With such a mask, Wei Hanzi could easily transform her appearance from the Black Thorn to her true self.

On the other hand, the news of Zhang Kuihan inviting a girl from the Xia Kingdom to forge weapons together with him had spread like wildfire in the First School. Even those that had come from other kingdoms to participate in the competition were shocked when they heard the news.

The North Qiu Kingdom had been flourishing for a very long time and they were more advanced in Weapon Forgery and Alchemy than any other kingdoms. Other kingdoms were no match for them at all.

Now, the top-ranking student in the First School had invited someone from the Xia Kingdom to forge weapons together instead of finding a person from the same school. It could easily be implied that Zhang Kuihan did not think that any of the students from the First School were better than the Black Thorn.

“Perhaps this is all a plan set up by the First School. If two people of the same Weapon Forgery Level can breakthrough to advance to a higher Level, then the whole Tianyuan Continent would already be full of Heaven-Level Weapon Forgers. Zhang Kuihan is probably just trying to make the Xia Kingdom look bad. When the weapon forgery fails, he will push all the blame to the Black Thorn,” an eccentric man who had come to participate in the competition rambled on.

“That’s hard to say, what if Zhang Kuihan truly wanted to cooperate with her?” someone else retorted.

“Cooperate? Ha, I do not believe that someone like him would work with country bumpkins like us,” a strange voice rang out. It came from a skinny man who was extremely talented in Alchemy in the Xia Kingdom. However, after arriving in the North Qiu Kingdom for just a few days, he had already been beaten by the Alchemy students here in the First School. The achievements that he was so proud of were insignificant to the people here.

The news had spread all over the Guest District, and it was only a matter of time before the students of the First School had known about this.

How could he work with a student from a small Kingdom rather than work with someone from his own?

“Old man, what’s wrong with that disciple of yours?” a bearded, frail-looking and old man from the Teaching Department commented. He stared at the middle-aged man sitting behind the desk who had both his legs propped up, his posture full of arrogance.

“It’s just two students of the same Level exchanging their knowledge, what’s wrong with that?”

“What’s wrong with that?” the old man was furious, pointing at the middle-aged man, “Do you know that the competition is drawing near? There are many people from other kingdoms in our territory now. Have you ever thought of how this might affect my students from the First School because of what your disciple did?” If it were a normal occurrence, he would not have cared. However, it mattered now because of the competition that was about to begin, and Zhang Kuihan’s actions were tarnishing the reputation of the students from the First School. He did not think that Zhang Kuihan could have come up with this scheme on his own.

The middle-aged pulled at his ear, before flashing the old man a cunning smile, “Don’t you worry, your students will be just fine.”

His words seem to calmed the old man down, but the old man was full of questions. However, the middle-aged man had no intentions of explaining himself and all he did was smile without saying a word.

Zhang Kuihan may be a sly person, but it was to their advantage. He was able to make high-grade Black Level Spiritual Weapons at such a young age and this was a feat that many Master Weapon Forgers could not achieve themselves.

However, it seemed that Zhang Kuihan’s ability to forge weapons had stalled and had maybe even decreased. Out of ten attempts, being successful twice at making a high-grade Black Level weapon was already out-of-the-ordinary. The middle-aged man did try to help him by combining their powers together, but it was to no avail.

That was until he saw the weapons that Gu Lingzhi had made displayed in the Baina Court.

Her strange-looking weapons had caught Zhang Kuihan’s attention instantly, causing his stagnant abilities to finally inch forward. In a short time, he had become extremely close to becoming an Earth-Level Weapon Forger. However, he had never been able to breakthrough and remained at being a Black-Level Weapon Forger. There was a limit to how much inspiration he got from Gu Lingzhi’s weapon forgery, and it was not enough for him to breakthrough yet.

Even if there was not an exchange program between the schools, the middle-aged man had also intended for his disciple to go to the Xia Kingdom to find Gu Lingzhi. Perhaps collaborating with her would yield higher chances of breaking through.

They did not think that the Black Thorn would come to the North Qiu Kingdom of her own accord. If he had not heard the rumors that the Black Thorn had been ridiculed at the Baina Court, he would not have believed in such a coincidence. He immediately instructed Zhang Kuihan to seek out Gu Lingzhi.

Zhang Kuihan’s talent in Weapon Forgery was exceptionally rare. The middle-aged man did not believe that there would be someone who was more outstanding than his disciple. Furthermore, he had already taught his disciple some tricks, such as misleading Gu Lingzhi whenever they interacted so that she would not advance to a higher Level before his disciple did. There was even a possibility that Gu Lingzhi’s Weapon Forgery skills would deteriorate.

On the other hand, Gu Lingzhi was with Zhang Kuihan in the First School’s Weapon Forgery Room, making weapons together.

It was not that the First School was petty and did not arrange a Weapon Forgery Room specially for Gu Lingzhi, but rather the fact that normal fire could not make Earth-Level Spiritual Weapons. Only Earthly Fire could be used to make such weapons, and it could not be started in a small room.

Wei Hanzi, who was disguising herself as Gu Lingzhi, walked into the Weapon Forgery Room with Yuan Zheng following close behind. On the other hand, the real Gu Lingzhi disguised herself as the Black Thorn.

Once Zhang Kuihan confirmed that no one else was coming into the room, he closed the door unhappily and walked to the furnace that was in the middle of the room. With a gesture of his hands, a green flame rose from the ground.

Watching the fire grow as it heated up the furnace, Gu Lingzhi, who was disguised as the Black Thorn, asked, “How do you intend to make the Spiritual Sword? What materials do you need?”

When they had previously agreed on working together, Zhang Kuihan had chased Yuan Zheng out of the room. Gu Lingzhi had no idea even until this point what kind of Spiritual Sword Zhang Kuihan had intended to make.

Zhang Kuihan pursed his lips before he pulled out a piece of paper. He pointed onto the plan on the paper before he smiled arrogantly, “We’re making this, doesn’t it look powerful? I intend to auction it off at a high price once we’ve successfully made it.”

...He is unexpectedly honest, Gu Lingzhi thought to herself as she received the piece of paper without a word.

On the paper was a picture of a broadsword, with a golden dragon engraved on the blade. It looked exquisite, fit for a king. On the back of the paper, about ten different kinds of materials were scribbled together with the methods of making the sword.

“These are the materials that my Master has picked out for me based on my Weapon Forgery skills. According to him, these materials will increase my success rate,” Zhang Kuihan smiled as he continued, “Let’s examine half the ingredients each and see which you are more familiar with and we can start with those.”

Gu Lingzhi nodded her head in agreement. Forging weapons was vastly different from Alchemy, one did not have to worry about a failed attempt by adding one wrong substance. Usually, additional materials can manifest in additional powers. The only thing that determined the grade of a Spiritual Weapon was fire control and the method of making it.

Looking through the list of materials, Gu Lingzhi randomly picked half of them and drew a circle over more than ten materials, “I’ll take care of these, you can take care of the rest.”

Zhang Kuihan looked at the materials that she had picked and was stunned for a while, because they were extremely hard to refine, he had failed multiple times to refine them previously. He had to prepare two portions of such materials in the event of failed attempts. Unexpectedly, Gu Lingzhi had succeeded on her first try for all of them.