Chapter 620 - A Genius Refiner
The workshop of the three-star refiner was in the traditional style.
It had a coverage of a hundred square meters, and all kinds of weapons were hanging on the wall. Most of them were ultra-quality spiritual weapons. He was probably too ashamed to showcase high-quality spiritual weapons.
There was an enormous furnace in the workshop, but it wasn’t exactly the same as what one might see in a traditional blacksmith’s place.
It was more like a hollow container to make pills. It was about five meters tall, and the hollow was about three meters tall. Below the furnace was magma, and up above was a spiritual spring. It was supported by the thin pillars at the edge.
There were three tables on this furnace that seemed to have been left for forging purposes.
The three-star refiner that Han Fei visited was a middle-aged brawny man in his thirties who looked as intimidating as if he had just returned from a battle.
His six-star badge suggested that his identity was almost as high as Han Fei’s senior brother’s. Han Fei didn’t expect that he would receive a visitor for a ticket of only five thousand high-quality pearls.
Next to the man were two refiners who had four-star badges. Han Fei didn’t know their expertise in refining, but they both looked around twenty years old and were unlikely to be apprentice refiners.
The middle-aged brawny man glanced at Han Fei casually. “You want to watch my way of refining?”
Han Fei said with a smile, “Yes. I intend to get to know refining better before I decide whether or not to learn it.”
The middle-aged man chuckled. “What do you feel after watching refining with spiritual energy?”
Han Fei continued smiling. “I don’t think it’s very hard.”
“Oh?”
The middle-aged brawny man looked at Han Fei. “Aren’t you confident? You’re rather generous to spend five thousand high-quality pearls just to observe a refining session. If you think refining with spiritual energy isn’t hard, behold the normal way of refining!”
The middle-aged man didn’t look at Han Fei anymore, and his two assistants eyed Han Fei with disdain.
In their opinion, a man who wasn’t even an apprentice wouldn’t understand a thing but could only remember what he saw after watching the job of a three-star refiner.
Han Fei saw that a bunch of materials were placed on the two tables, and the middle-aged man declared, “There are no materials in this world that can’t be melted. It’s all about the amount of spiritual energy, the intensity of your tempering, and the way you melt them… Watch and learn.”
The middle-aged man tossed a purple ore into the furnace. As he unleashed his spiritual energy, flames sprang from the bottom of the furnace and filled the hollow in it. The fierce flames spurted out, and the assistants stepped back with their eyes fully concentrated.
Han Fei, on the other hand, was absolutely still five meters away even if the flames were blowing at his face, which slightly surprised the middle-aged man, but he didn’t think that it was a big deal.
A red light flashed in Han Fei’s eyes. He could clearly see that the purple ore was melting in the fierce flames.
However, whenever the purple ore was about to fully melt, the flames would be weakened, so that the ore would be kept on the tipping point of melting.
That was not easy to catch, but Han Fei noticed it. Ever since his eyelids were burnt up in the Abyssal Chasm, Han Fei had felt that his eyes were slightly different. This moment, he clearly sensed that he could see the ore’s status, the intensity of the fire, and even the softening core of the ore.
After the flames burnt for 49 seconds, they suddenly vanished, and the half-molten purple ore quickly hardened. The middle-aged man took out the hammer he had prepared.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Holding the hammer, the middle-aged man bashed 368 times. Han Fei saw that a huge amount of impurities were eliminated in each other, and that the hammer and the ore were both covered in spiritual energy.
After a round of bashing, the purple ore was half its original size.
Then, the middle-aged man repeated what he did. He said to his assistants, “You must complete the first round of polishing in fifty seconds. After fifty seconds, the material will be hardened, and bashing it will ruin it.”
After three rounds, the huge piece of ore had only one third left.
In the last time, the middle-aged man simply grabbed the ore with his hand of spiritual energy, squeezed it into a long bar, and washed it in the spiritual spring.
Following that, the middle-aged man melted and prepared another twelve kinds of materials.
He then said, “All of this is very simple. The key is the way of melting!”
The middle-aged man also glanced at Han Fei. Seeing Han Fei’s glazed eyes, he was rather disappointed as he thought Han Fei was only bragging earlier.
The middle-aged man continued, You need the Spirit Forging Technique in this step, but apart from that, you also need flames, temperature, and in-time replenishment of spiritual energy. All the details are what will make your ultra-quality spiritual weapon better than others.”
The two assistants dare not bat an eye at all as they watched the middle-aged man’s hand output spiritual energy and adjust the fire in the furnace…
After the ultra-quality spiritual weapon was crafted, Han Fei’s eyes gleamed. He was impressed by the sharp and perfectly-balanced weapon.
With his eyes flashing, Han Fei thought to himself, I’ve memorized the whole process, but the key is the control on power, fire and timing, and I need more practice.
After it was over, the middle-aged man looked at Han Fei. “Do you understand what you’ve seen?”
Han Fei slightly grinned. “More or less.”
The two assistants couldn’t be angrier. Even we haven’t understood anything, and you claim you have?
The middle-aged man was stunned too. Earlier, Han Fei had left a good first impression on him, but the guy pretended that he learned something when he was clearly stunned a moment earlier, so the middle-aged man lost interest in enlightening him.
The middle-aged waved his hand. “It’s over. You should go.”
Han Fei cupped his hands. “Thank you very much!”
Leaving the workshop, Han Fei said to the shopping guide who was waiting outside, “I’d like to buy the Spirit Fusing Technique, the Spirit Polishing Technique and the Spirit Forging Technique. Right, do you have books like collections of tips of the three-star refiners available?”
The shopping guide was delighted. “Yes, of course. The three basic refining techniques are very cheap. They’re almost half price.”
Very soon, the shopping guide took Han Fei to a room where refining books were sold. He pointed at the jade slips and said, “The prices are all listed there. You can buy all the basic techniques in refining for only a thousand high-quality pearls.”
Han Fei was shocked. “They’re so cheap?”
The shopping guide. “Everybody is encouraged to learn refining on the Scattered Stars Island, because spiritual weapons can be broken too easily and we have a high demand of such weapons. Also, the weapons produced on the Scattered Stars Island will be sold to the Thousand Star City and the 36 towns, whose demand is even higher! Therefore, the spiritual weapons made by the Refining Hall are always sold quickly, even including those crafted by the apprentice refiners.”
Han Fei was lost for words. “If you put it that way, this one Refining Hall isn’t nearly enough, is it?”
The shopping guide exclaimed, “Huh? You didn’t know? There are five Refining Halls on the Scattered Stars Island, one in each town. This is only the Refining Hall in the west town.”
Han Fei raised his eyebrows. He didn’t know that at all.
He immediately blushed. “Well, forgive my ignorance. I’m still new to this place. Wait a moment. Let me pick some books.”
Han Fei grabbed the three basic refining techniques and browsed through other books. He noticed a book entitled “Principles of Refining” written by a five-star refiner. Seeing that its price was only five thousand, he picked it too.
“Puchi!”
While Han Fei was picking books, someone laughed not far away from him.
He turned back, only to see a little girl who had two ponytails grimacing at him. She had two dimples and looked rather pretty. Her big eyes seemed innocent but had cleverness deeply hidden in them. She looked no older than Han Fei was.
The little girl remarked, “You dare to pick the book written by a five-star refiner? You won’t understand a word.”
“The day will come that I can understand it.”
The little girl picked two books and said, “This is “Quick Guide For New Refiners”, written by the three-star genius refiner Mu Jia’er. This is “Best Practices With Wildfire”, written by Guan Qingyan, another three-star genius refiner. They’re more suitable for you than what you’re holding. Put it down!”
Han Fei couldn’t help but ask, “Genius refiners? How genius are they?”
The little girl titled her head and said, “Well, it took Mu Jia’er only half a year to rise to be a three-star refiner from an apprentice, and five months for Guan Qingyan to do the same. They’re both geniuses.”
Han Fei thought to himself, the time cost seems to be too much.
He couldn’t help but ask, “Who might you be?”
The little girl grimaced. “Mu Jia’er.”
Han Fei: “???”
