Chapter 1021: The Despicable Sun Jin

After hearing this, he could basically confirm that the so-called Master Sun Jin had never intended to take him as a disciple, but instead used him as a tool for finding ores!

Rare ores are usually formed by crustal movements and accompany earth fire; therefore, where the latter gathers, ores are bound to be abundant.

This Sun Jin deliberately made him cultivate true qi that clashed with earth fire, making it easy to sense places rich in flames, thus finding ores with twice the result for half the effort. But having cultivated such a technique, he could not control earth fire, making it impossible to become a refiner!

In other words, from the very beginning, he never intended for him to become a refiner.

In Fire Source City, rare ores are extremely abundant. Even if refiners make a lot of money, it pales in comparison to selling these ores by many times.

"A teacher who does such a thing..."

Zhang Xuan was furious.

If he hadn't encountered it, so be it, but since he had, how could he let it go!

Such scum deserves to be killed by everyone.

Although the other party was not a master teacher, he used the guise of teaching to mislead students, which was even more detestable than irresponsible teachers.

Not to mention others, the thirty-plus apprentices like this middle-aged man, who received personal guidance from a six-star grandmaster refiner, thought they could make a name for themselves and go far, but never dreamed they would all die searching for ores. Even if this man survived by luck, he could not become a refiner in the end, and was so depressed he wanted to kill himself.

As for Sun Jin, he just took on a batch of apprentices, neither true disciples nor teaching... If they couldn't become refiners, his reputation wouldn't suffer much. If word got out, people would think it was these people who, despite following a six-star refiner, achieved nothing and were utterly useless...

This middle-aged man must have been unable to bear such accusations and thus wanted to end his life...

If he hadn't heard it with his own ears, he might never have dreamed that the Refiner Guild of Fire Source City could harbor such scum.

Those who impart knowledge, teach skills, and resolve doubts are all teachers.

As a refiner of the upper nine classes, if he truly wanted to recruit death warriors for ore searching, he could have done so, but that would tarnish his reputation if discovered. By taking on apprentices and nominally instructing them, he not only preserved his reputation but could also drive them better... After using them up, he kicked them away like weeds—truly ruthless.

"Having studied under a six-star refiner for so many years, I can't even forge the lowest-grade mortal artifact. Everywhere I go, I am ridiculed, and even my family is implicated. It's better to die than live like this!"

Seeing the senior who stopped him from suicide lost in thought, the middle-aged man thought he too had no solution, and his eyes were filled with disappointment.

If it were just him being mocked, it might be bearable, but the key was that his family was implicated—that was what he couldn't endure.

"Don't lose heart. I have already found the root cause of your inability to refine. If you trust me, I can not only make you succeed in refining but also make you a five-star refiner, or even reach six stars!"

Seeing him utterly demoralized and ready to die at any moment, Zhang Xuan comforted him.

Saying this was not a wild boast or deliberate consolation; he truly had the ability.

It is very difficult for others to change their cultivation techniques, but with his insight and vision, it is not impossible to create a new set of techniques for him to learn and correct the previous flaws.

Of course, the prerequisite is to know exactly what technique he is practicing.

Just now, while refining tools, he observed carefully with the Eye of Clarity. The technique the other party practiced seemed incomplete. Without finding the details, even if he knew, there was no way to solve it.

"Become a five-star or six-star artifact refiner?"

The middle-aged man was stunned and shook his head, the disappointment in his eyes growing even deeper.

He had thought that this person, with such strong strength, might really be able to help him, but he never dreamed that the first words would be somewhat nonsensical.

If he couldn't even become a one-star refiner and couldn't forge any weapons, how could he possibly become a five-star or even six-star artifact refiner?

Wasn't that a joke?

"Do you think I'm ridiculous and want to mock me before I die?"

Looking over, the middle-aged man's voice was weak, as if he had lost all fighting spirit.

"Mock?"

Not expecting the man to suddenly say this, Zhang Xuan was startled, then understood.

The other party was a waste who couldn't even pass the assessment for a one-star artifact refiner. Telling him about five-star or six-star was indeed too much.

To others, it clearly seemed like mockery, not help.

"Rest assured, if I say I can do it, I can definitely do it!"

Without explaining, Zhang Xuan's face showed strong confidence.

If it really couldn't be solved, at worst he could abolish all his cultivation and teach him a simplified version of the Heavenly Dao Technique. Being only at the Mortal Transformation Ninth Layer, even if he had to start over, it shouldn't take long.

"Definitely do it? Even Artifact Refiner Sun Jin couldn't do it. How can I believe you? Are you really an artifact refiner?" The middle-aged man's eyes showed suspicion.

Only a true artifact refiner knows the difficulty of refining. The other party spoke confidently and lightly—wasn't he bragging?

"Of course!"

Flipping his wrist, Zhang Xuan took out an artifact refiner's badge, on which six stars shone brilliantly.

"Six-star artifact refiner?"

Glancing at it, the middle-aged man shook his head: "I don't believe it. Badges can belong to others or be fake. Unless you refine a weapon for me to see... If you can forge a spirit-grade supreme weapon, then I'll believe you are a six-star artifact refiner!"

The other party was too young, only about twenty years old. He had seen six-star artifact refiners, but the youngest was no less than fifty, so naturally he couldn't believe it.

As for badges, you need to confirm the other party's specific name before you can verify if it's real. Now that we don't even know who they are, even if they're holding someone else's, he can't tell.

"This..." Zhang Xuan was taken aback.

He, as a refiner, had just taken the exam upon arriving at the Master Academy, genuine and authentic, so showing it to the other party wouldn't matter.

What he needed to do now was to make the other party believe him, so that the rest could proceed smoothly; otherwise, if the man was determined to die, no amount of eloquent talk would be of any use.

"What? Can't refine it? So, what you said earlier was also false, just to comfort me?"

Seeing his hesitation, the middle-aged man's expression grew increasingly gloomy.

"Of course not. Refining is nothing to me!"

Seeing that the other party had lost confidence and that his previous efforts would be wasted if he didn't show his skill, Zhang Xuan smiled slightly and stepped forward.

"Borrow your ores!"

He walked to the shelf in the corner, took two steps, selected four types of ores, and tossed them into the nearby refining furnace.

With a surge of true qi, the earth fire immediately flared up. The four ores were scorched by the flames and began to melt, revealing the pure metal within, sparkling.

These four types were rare ores in the outside world, each worth a fortune. Producing four at once was probably only possible in a place like Fire Source City.

Flicking his fingers lightly, he let the four metals come into contact in the flames and slowly fuse. Zhang Xuan smiled gently and looked over: "The simplest part of forging a weapon is hammering the weapon blank. This step takes the most time but shows the least refining skill, so I won't demonstrate it for you..."

As he spoke, he gathered true qi at his fingertips and jabbed sharply into the scorching earth fire. The fused ore flew straight out and landed in a nearby pool of water.

Sizzle sizzle sizzle sizzle!

Smoke rose. With a grab in the air, a fused lump of iron appeared before them.

"This... is a weapon?"

Seeing this lump of iron, the middle-aged man's mouth twitched.

Even if you brought a pig to refine, the result would look better than this...

With a strange expression, he casually took it. Just as he was about to see what the other party had actually refined, his pupils suddenly contracted.

Although his refining skill was not high, he had followed a six-star refiner for over twenty years, so he still had insight and experience.

This iron lump before him, though extremely ugly and nauseating, had already reached the level of a supreme-grade spirit weapon.

Picking up ores casually, without even hammering, the entire process took less than a minute, and he had refined a supreme-grade spirit weapon... This was too terrifying!

If he could be this formidable without careful refining, once he did it carefully... what kind of weapon could he forge?

"I was blind to see..."

He hurried forward and sincerely knelt down.

At this moment, he was completely convinced.

"Mm!" Zhang Xuan nodded.

Although he was a genuine six-star peak artificer, he was only skilled in fusion and quenching; as for the simplest forging of the tool blank... he knew nothing.

With his level, he could only forge iron lumps; anything more complex was beyond him.

However, relying on this skill alone was enough to make the other believe.

"Alright, since you've confirmed my identity, you must follow my instructions. If we succeed, not only will I help you become a true artificer, but I will also expose someone's hypocritical mask!"

Seeing that the other had no doubt about him, Zhang Xuan said.

"Expose a hypocritical mask?" The middle-aged man was puzzled.

"Exactly!" Zhang Xuan nodded. "Where is the artificer Sun Jin you mentioned?"

"He is... at the Artificer Guild!" The middle-aged man nodded.

"Take me to find him. Later, no matter what I say or do, don't interrupt; just follow my instructions!"

Zhang Xuan instructed.

As a master teacher, encountering a scoundrel like Sun Jin, he could not tolerate evil; he must expose his true face before everyone, otherwise, if he continued to harm others, who knew how many people would be deceived.

A master teacher must not only protect humanity but also uphold the honor of the 'teacher' title; they must never let a rotten apple spoil the dignity of the teaching tradition.

"Yes!"

The middle-aged man nodded.

As the other had said, at worst he would die; there was nothing to fear. If this person could work a miracle and solve his problem, then he would truly be saved.

"Take this ore; it will be useful later!"

Just as they were about to leave the room, Zhang Xuan pointed to the purple gold on the shelf.

The middle-aged man nodded, stored it in his storage ring, and then stepped forward to lead the way.

The Artificer Guild was not far away, only three streets away, and they arrived shortly.

Although it was already dark, as the most popular profession in Fire Source City, the place was still brightly lit and bustling with people.