Chapter 1410: The Making of a Brick Grandmaster

Just now, whether it was arranging a spirit-gathering array to increase the flame's temperature or concentrating the fire to focus its power, the opponent had demonstrated an understanding of artifact refining that had reached an extremely profound level, no weaker than his own.

But... how could the forging of the artifact blank be so careless?

This was a Purple Essence Skyfire Stone—even for him, it was exceptionally precious. Even if it wasn't enough for a large blade or spear, forging it into a short weapon like a dagger would have been more than sufficient. Yet, the result was that it had been forcibly turned into a brick...

His face twitched incessantly, and he felt suffocated holding back his breath.

As the Holy Son of the Artificer Guild, he had an almost pathological demand for perfection in weapons. When he himself refined, if even a single dimension was off, he would scrap it and start over. For the other party's assessment... even if the refined item was a bit ugly, he could tolerate it. But this thing had nothing to do with weapons at all, not even half a cent's worth!

He wasn't a construction worker—what was the point of making this?

"You should inspect it. It should reach the top-grade level."

Ignoring his expression, Zhang Xuan waved his hand.

"Top-grade?"

His face twitching, Wu Youdao could no longer contain himself: "A brick... even if it's top-grade, what use is it?"

Seeing his doubt, Zhang Xuan shook his head, reached out, and picked up the brick from the table: "Its uses are immense. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it the most formidable weapon."

Wu Youdao laughed in anger: "Then tell me, how formidable is it..."

Even lying should have limits. This thing was square and flat, without even an edge—how could it be used in battle?

"Do you have any weapons also refined from Purple Essence Skyfire Stone? Whether it's strong or not, we'll know by pitting them against each other."

Zhang Xuan looked completely calm.

"Of course!"

With a flick of his wrist, he produced three weapons.

A blade, a spear, and a sword!

All were refined from Purple Essence Skyfire Stone, exuding a chilling aura. As soon as they appeared, they gave a sensation of piercing the skin, as if they would suck out one's blood.

It was clear at a glance that their grade was not low and their power was extremely strong.

These three weapons, all refined from Purple Essence Skyfire Stone, had each cost him immense effort and consumed no small amount of work.

"If you can defeat my weapon with yours, I'll consider my challenge failed," Zhang Xuan said with a slight smile.

"Fine, let me see what power this brick of yours really has!"

Not expecting the man before him to speak so arrogantly, Wu Youdao snorted, flicked his wrist, and the long sword first rose into the air, flying straight over.

Zhang Xuan made no move, simply flicking his sleeve, and the brick met it.

Crack!

The brick and the long sword collided, and with a crisp sound, the latter snapped in two.

"This..."

Wu Youdao was startled.

This sword had been forged countless times, incredibly sharp and exceptionally sturdy. Colliding with the other's brick, it broke instantly—how was that possible?

Whoosh!

Having shattered the long sword, the brick did not stop. It charged toward the blade and spear as well. Crack! Crack! Two more crisp sounds, and Wu Youdao's painstakingly refined weapons all snapped in two, lying horizontally on the ground.

"You... you..."

His teeth chattering, Wu Youdao was speechless.

If one weapon couldn't withstand it, that was one thing. But three in a row, all easily shattered by the other's brick—even a fool would know that this brick, ugly as it was, was far superior to his refined weapons.

They weren't even on the same level.

"A brick, though it appears to have no edge, is extremely heavy. It overwhelms with momentum and attacks with force..."

With his hands behind his back, Zhang Xuan looked over calmly, with a tone of instruction: "Weapons are tools for killing; their purpose is to better enhance combat power. Whether they look good or not is unimportant. What matters most is... power! Purple Essence Skyfire Stone is extremely difficult to smelt. Weapons refined from it, though sharp, are themselves too brittle, like crystal, unable to withstand the attack of a heavy weapon! How can they win when colliding with it?"

"This..."

Wu Youdao was stunned.

He had refined many weapons from Purple Essence Skyfire Stone, but each one, as the other had said, was sharp but too brittle in its body. Of course, compared to other top-grade saint artifacts, this brittleness was not too great a gap. After all, a long sword's sharpness and flexibility were two different aspects, inherently impossible to achieve simultaneously.

He had thought that weapons refined from Purple Essence Skyfire Stone all had this flaw. He never dreamed that the other's brick would immediately solve it!

"So? Do I pass the assessment?"

Seeing him too shocked to recover, Zhang Xuan said no more and smiled slightly.

He was always modest, and his goal this time was to pass, not to humiliate others. There was no need to add insult to injury.

"Pass..."

His lips trembling, Wu Youdao was full of doubt: "A brick is not a weapon; it can't be engraved with array patterns, and I didn't see you carefully forge it. How could it be refined to such a level?"

Although the brick was heavy, the fact that it could so easily shatter his three weapons meant its grade was definitely not lower than his, if not higher.

To raise a weapon's grade, heat control and quenching were extremely important, but forging and array patterns were the main means of increasing power.

With the same ore, the more and longer it was forged, the greater its density, and after successful quenching, the higher its grade.

When the other party was forging the artifact blank, he had seen with his own eyes that in just three or four breaths, the hammer had struck all six sides, turning it into the shape of a brick... How could its grade be higher than his own, which had been forged a thousand times?

"Want to learn? I can teach you."

Zhang Xuan laughed.

"I humbly seek your guidance!"

Not daring to act arrogantly, Wu Youdao clasped his fists.

"Actually, refining a brick looks simple, but there is knowledge within. Each strike contains the Great Dao; it's not simple forging..."

Grabbing the brick, Zhang Xuan explained in detail.

His understanding of artifact refining had reached the eight-star level. As he casually instructed, touching on much knowledge, Wu Youdao was filled with admiration after just a short while.

The man before him, though young, explained the principles of artifact refining in a way that was profound yet easy to understand, leaving the listener enlightened and suddenly comprehending.

Soon, the other finished explaining all the techniques for refining the brick.

"I'll take my leave..."

Having said that, the other stepped toward the third floor.

"So my previous refining methods were all wrong. From now on, I'll never refine long swords or blades again. I'll focus solely on refining bricks..."

Watching the other leave, recalling the knowledge he had just learned, Wu Youdao's eyes gleamed.

What were long swords or blades compared to a brick?

Offensive and defensive—this was the goal he should pursue for life!

With this thought, he took out ore and began to study.

"Nearly ten minutes to pass the second floor—is that too slow? Hmm, I need to speed up from here on..."

Zhang Xuan sighed inwardly as he walked upward, then saw the Holy Son of the Diviner Guild.

He muttered to himself, unaware that he had inadvertently nurtured a grandmaster of brick refining, who for the rest of his life would refine only one type of weapon, and countless experts would consider it an honor to obtain a brick personally refined by him.