Chapter 2273 The Astounded Grandmaster Smiths

The old man with disheveled hair was none other than Lian Feijia.

Seeing his state, Lin Xun, Lian Yuntian, and Lian Hongxiu could tell that the blacksmith had encountered a problem in his current forging process.

Lian Yuntian coughed dryly.

Lian Feijia, looking as though he was caught in an endless trouble that he could not extricate himself from, suddenly trembled. He quickly turned his head and roared, “Who let you guys in!?”

There was fury and frustration in his voice.

“Brother Feijia, why do you seem so annoyed? Let me guess, did you run into difficulties? If you tell us about it, then maybe we can put our heads together and come up with a solution.” Lian Yuntian walked up to him with a smile.

Lian Feijia grunted indignantly. “Come up with a solution? More like you’re eager to make fun of this old man! Huh, who is this person? How could you bring an outsider into my private zone?”

His voice grew more and more displeased with each sentence.

Lian Yuntian hastily told him about what had happened through voice transmission.

After hearing the whole story, Lian Feijia was skeptical, but seeing Lian Hongxiu’s and Lian Yuntian’s attitude, he could only hold back his doubt.

Even if this strange man was a scammer, he was definitely no ordinary scammer if he could convince the two of them like this.

Lin Xun paid no attention to the trio’s interaction. As soon as he had entered this secret realm, the bronze furnace cauldron suspended above the magma river had pulled his whole attention.

As he gazed at it, his eyes gradually took on a strange color.

Meanwhile, Lian Feijia got up and said, “These two told me that your attainments in smithing are out of this world, Fellow Daoist Lin. I wonder if you could give me some pointers?”

Lin Xun withdrew his gaze and said, “Sure.”

His response startled Lian Yuntian and Lian Hongxiu. They had worried that Lian Feijia's move was out of pocket and might upset Lin Xun.

Who would have thought that he would agree so readily?

“Hah!” Lian Feijia laughed. He had asked that just to be modest and never thought that the other party would take it so nonchalantly.

It felt as though in a situation where everyone was exchanging courtesies, one person just had to take the praises seriously and in turn peeved the rest.

“Alright then, please have a look at this, Fellow Daoist Lin. How should I improve this Emperor artifact prototype so that it can hold over fifty-nine Emperor dao runes at once?” Lian Feijia said, pointing at the bronze cauldron.

A prototype shrouded in flowing dao light was floating inside it, flashing with a dazzling, colorful glow.

Mythic-grade Emperor artifacts were divided into upper, mid, and lower tiers. Only those with more than fifty-nine Emperor dao runes on them could be called upper mythic-grade.

Apparently, what Lian Feijia was forging was an upper mythic-grade Emperor artifact.

“Bring me the materials and rune diagram for this artifact,” said Lin Xun as he evaluated the prototype in its embryonic form.

Lian Feijia hesitated for a moment before he handed over a jade slip.

The forging of an Emperor-grade tool concerned various aspects. In this specific case, it was an armor that required over a thousand divine materials and to be branded by nine large rune arrays. Each of these arrays was comprised of around ten thousand separate runes.

Here came Lian Feijia’s problem. While Lian Feijia was capable of forging this treasure, he could only assure that its grade would be mid mythic at the highest. Trying to increase this by just one tier became the tricky part.

This treasure was being made on the request of an old friend, and Lian Feijia had guaranteed that it would be an upper mythic-grade Emperor armor. If he couldn’t solve the problem at hand, then this production would be doomed to fail.

For any blacksmith, failure was a frequent occurrence. Oftentimes when an order was made, the customer prepared multiple sets of materials in case the blacksmith failed.

Even a grandmaster smith might not be able to succeed every time.

Not to mention that the chances of failure were much greater when refining an Emperor-grade tool. Sometimes, the element of luck played an important part in the successful production of a superior Emperor-grade treasure.

Taking the jade slip, Lin Xun read it carefully and got the clear idea.

“How is it, Fellow Daoist Lin?” Lian Feijia asked with an interested look. He would like to see what this young man who dared agree to give him pointers had to say.

Lian Hongxiu and Lian Yuntian also looked at Lin Xun.

Lin Xun thought for a moment and said, “How many Emperor dao runes do you think can be drawn on an armor like this during forging?”

Lian Feijia snorted out a laugh. This kid even had the guts to quiz him!

He answered without having to think, “Considering the materials and rune diagram required for this armor, the most desirable result is sixty Emperor dao runes if it can be refined into upper mythic-grade. Any more runes than that and the armor will crumble before it can even take form.”

“Okay.” Lin Xun casually acknowledged and said, “Another question, how long does it usually take you to forge an upper mythic-grade Emperor tool?”

Lian Feijia tried to tone down the look of conceit on his face. “As long as the materials, the rune diagram, and the aeth flame are ready, I am eighty percent sure to succeed within a month!”

Lian Hongxiu and Lian Yuntian nodded. From their knowledge of Lian Feijia's smithing skill, they knew that he wasn't boasting.

“Okay.” Lin Xun went straight to the bronze cauldron.

“Fellow Daoist Lin, what are you doing?” Lian Feijia's heart tightened. The prototype in the cauldron was still in the gestation stage and could not tolerate the slightest damage. He was worried that Lin Xun was messing around.

Lin Xun didn't even turn his head as he said indifferently, “Didn’t you want my pointers? Just watch.”

The next second, he waved his sleeve.

Boom!

From the long river of magma, an endless flame surged up into the bottom of the bronze furnace cauldron, immediately sending it into operation with an exploding noise. On the cauldron’s surface, miraculous diagrams appeared with flowing dao light.

Seeing this, Lian Feijia frantically rushed up to stop Lin Xun, but Lian Yuntian and Lian Hongxiu tightly blocked his path.

Lian Yuntian quickly said, “My old bro, don't be impulsive. Let’s just see what Fellow Daoist Lin is capable of. Even if he fails, I'll compensate you in full with the materials.”

He had been dying to see Lin Xun's skills in practice. After all, someone who was all talk and no action was bound to make people feel unsettled.

Lian Hongxiu also chimed in, “Fellow Daoist Lin is not the reckless type. Both Yuntian and I are dying to know how profound his smithing mastery is.”

Lian Feijia's expression shifted for a while before he finally said indignantly, “Fine, I’ll listen to you. But let's get one thing straight: if he fails, you two will pay me back with all the materials!”

Lian Hongxiu and Lian Yuntian agreed without hesitation. As grandmaster smiths, which one of them wasn’t filthy rich?

Boom!

Lin Xun’s sleeves flapped as his ten fingers made a gesture. Countless mysterious runes instantly appeared inside the cauldron, and as if alive, they densely covered the Emperor armor prototype from above.

A colorful drizzle of dao light filled the space with a special stunning beauty.

This skill that Lin Xun had executed so casually caused the three blacksmiths to stop breathing. They couldn’t help but reveal shocked expressions.

In just seconds, nearly a thousand types of rune diagrams had been interpreted and laid out!

Moreover, there was even some kind of magical connection between them, full of life and spirituality as if it was a product of nature!

The trio exchanged looks and saw unconcealable astonishment on each other's faces. Then, in unison, they redirected their gazes to the cauldron with a completely different mentality.

Unlike how skeptical they had been about Lin Xun’s skill before, the moment he had demonstrated his rune technique, they were unconsciously attracted and convinced.

Boom!

Above the steaming flames, the cauldron roared. Countless runes glowed in it, reflecting all sorts of phenomena. The runes then traced an unspeakably occult trajectory like an invisible hand was maneuvering them, and finally perfectly integrated into the prototype.

Lin Xun stood upright. The sleeves of his robe fluttered as his movements resembled drifting clouds and flowing water. From the gaps between his fingers, there seemed to be an invisible great dao power pouring out.

At this moment, he was like a god, interpreting the highest principles of runes!

Lian Hongxiu, Lian Yuntian, and Lian Feijia's eyes grew wider and wider. A look of passion and obsession slowly took over them.

If the big names in all Celestial Phoenix Nest saw them like this, their jaws would probably drop in shock.

After all, who of these three weren’t world renowned grandmaster smiths who would be surrounded with respect and admiration wherever they went?

Yet, they currently resembled apprentices who had just started learning about smithing. With shocked, intoxicated, and fervent expressions, they were immersed in the skills displayed by Lin Xun.

As a matter of fact, only grandmasters of their caliber could fully understand how marvelous and inconceivable Lin Xun’s performance was!

No one knew how much time had passed when a strange, rhythmic vibration resounded throughout the secret realm.

Jolted awake from their infatuation, the three grandmaster smiths saw a deep-red armor rising up from the cauldron. It was as dazzling and unparalleled as the rising sun, releasing a monstrous fluctuation of divinity.

The void around it was in disorder, seemingly unable to withstand the might of the armor!

The three grandmaster smiths froze on the spot and gawked like a miracle had just been born right before their eyes. They shivered uncontrollably in both body and spirit.

Was it a success?!

“But it’s only been less than four hours, if I haven’t lost track of time?” said Lian Yuntian dully.

Swish!

With a wave of his hand, Lin Xun put away the red armor. The furnace cauldron fell into silence.

“Around three hours, to be exact,” Lin Xun corrected him and tossed the armor to Lian Feijia. “Have a look. What do you think?”

“Three hours...” Lian Hongxiu felt her head spinning and her mouth drying up.

Isn’t that a little too fast?

And Lian Feijia hastily caught the armor with both hands. After a quick survey, he quivered and squeaked, “A...a whopping sixty-nine Emperor dao runes!”

The next second, both Lian Hongxiu and Lian Yuntian looked like they had lost composure as well, rushing over to check the armor.

Upon seeing the sixty-nine Emperor dao runes meandering through the armor like dragons, their hands trembled uncontrollably.

It wasn't because they had seen too little in their life, but because they were fully aware what it meant for a piece of armor to have sixty-nine Emperor dao runes.

This meant it was the best of the best amongst upper mythic-grade Emperor armor!