Sizzle-!
Zhao Yunxiao took a step back upon the appearance of the familiar cloud of steam, which was in turn accompanied by a familiar sizzling sound.
It did not take long before the steam dissipated to reveal the finished product hidden within.
Under the illumination of the flames, the black halberd glistened with a metallic sheen as it rested horizontally upon two anvils.
Zhao Yunxiao stepped forward and began scrutinising it without hesitation.
No blemishes – the workmanship was fine.
But that was just the basics. Next came the important part.
He picked it up and carefully started executing a few simple moves in the furnace room.
Huu-!
After he was done, Zhao Yunxiao let out a sigh and placed it down by the wall, right next to another identical-looking halberd that had been resting in that same spot for the past five days.
That's right, he had actually managed to forge two halberds in the span of ten days, completely using up all of his leftover materials. This was essentially half the time taken to forge his first Penta-Edge Grimoire Halberd.
Zhao Yunxiao himself had been rather surprised by this.
But on second thought, perhaps it was understandable as well.
Having gone through the entire process, he was now much more familiar with the forging methods, allowing him to perform each step in a swifter and more confident manner. Moreover, since he no longer had the necessary materials to inscribe any ancient array runes, that further reduced the time needed to complete the weapons.
Yet despite all that, the results could only be considered disappointing.
These two halberds were only of the uncommon quality – a tier below that of his first Penta-Edge Grimoire Halberd.
No, with the difference in quality, he should not be calling it the first Penta-Edge Grimoire Halberd. It was simply the Penta-Edge Grimoire Halberd.
As for these two newly forged halberds, they shall be named Halberd One and Halberd Two.
But why the difference in quality, especially when he was now more familiar with the process?
As Zhao Yunxiao slowly cleaned up the furnace room, he started to reflect on the past ten days.
Was it because of his mentality?
He had definitely put quite a lot of effort into the forging process, but had he really given it his absolute best?
Perhaps somewhere at the back of his head, there had been a subconscious thought that this was just a backup plan, and that faint bit of insincerity had somehow seeped out and influenced the result.
Yes, that must have been it.
It was no coincidence why there had been countless records that smiths must always put all their heart into their work if they wanted to obtain a good result.
Zhao Yunxiao let out a self-deprecating chuckle at this point.
Controlling an earthen clone while trying to forge a great weapon?
He had become far too arrogant just because of his recent successes with the Grand Annihilator and the Penta-Edge Grimoire Halberd.
What an expensive mistake.
As far as possible, he had to make sure not to repeat the same mistake in the future.
Well, what's done was done.
It was not all bad as well, considering how he had still managed to create two halberds that looked identical to the Penta-Edge Grimoire Halberd. Not just that, but the tough forging process also helped to refine his smithing skills further, which could be seen from how he had managed to greatly reduce the time taken.
After he was done with the halberds, Zhao Yunxiao also took the chance to forge several daggers while he was at the Forge. He had lost quite a number of daggers during his visit to the Armed Ape Tower, so it was necessary to replenish his arsenal.
That concluded this item on his priority list. But before moving on to the next, he had to get some food into his system.
Zhao Yunxiao finished up with the rest of the cleanup, then headed straight for the Lightwind Pavilion.
***
"Ah!"
The moment Lu Zhiying spotted Zhao Yunxiao approaching, she hurried over to the pavilion to pick up a big banner and started waving it around. "Congratulations, Senior Martial Brother Zhao!"
Under the bright rays of the morning sun, the words [Another step towards the pinnacle!] could be seen on the banner.
"What's this about?" Zhao Yunxiao raised an eyebrow in response.
"What else could it be? This is to congratulate Senior Martial Brother Zhao on successfully opening the Mind Gate!" Lu Zhiying announced proudly.
"Haven't you already congratulated me a few days ago? What are you trying to pull here?" Zhao Yunxiao narrowed his eyes at Lu Zhiying while proceeding to get some food.
"How's that the same? The one I congratulated was your clone. Now, I am congratulating you in person for the first time!" Lu Zhiying explained. "Aren't you the one who said that you can't truly experience everything through your clone?"
"So, that's why," Zhao Yunxiao chuckled before patting her lightly on the head. "Well then, thank you for your well wishes, Junior Martial Sister Lu!"
"Hehe, that's more like it!" Lu Zhiying answered proudly. "So, how did things go with your forging?"
"Could be better, but I guess I should be thankful that it did not turn out to be a complete disaster," Zhao Yunxiao shrugged while munching on his food. "Anyway, what are you doing here alone? Where's Gu Qiansi?"
"Senior Martial Sister Gu went to discuss the details of a sect mission with Senior Martial Sister Chang and Senior Martial Sister Luo," Lu Zhiying replied. "I wasn't too interested in the discussion, so I decided to come here and play with Little Hua."
"Play with... who?" Zhao Yunxiao felt the corner of his lips twitch.
Flower petals flew up at this moment, forming together into a familiar-looking young boy who was completely white from head to toe.
"She's talking about me," Hua Xian answered while landing on the grass.
"How shameless are you?" Zhao Yunxiao remarked in disbelief. "At your age, you actually let Junior Martial Sister Lu refer to you as Little Hua?"
"To set the record straight, I do not like that name. She's the one who insisted on it despite my protests," Hua Xian clarified. "I'd much rather be called Senior Hua Xian."
"But you look even younger than I do! It will feel really strange to call you senior!" Lu Zhiying protested.
"See? I am not lying," Hua Xian gestured indignantly towards Lu Zhiying.
Zhao Yunxiao let out a helpless sigh. "I guess the name doesn't matter, so go ahead and call him whatever you want. However, don't let your guard down around him. Remember that he is a demon who has taken the lives of numerous people."
"A reformed demon," Hua Xian clarified again. "And the name absolutely matters."
"Don't worry, Senior Martial Brother Zhao. Little Hua has been a good boy. He has only been telling me about the stories of his past and hasn't done anything strange," Lu Zhiying assured.
Hua Xian: "..."
The young girl was reassuring Zhao Yunxiao on his behalf, but why did it feel rather degrading to hear that?
"That's good to hear," Zhao Yunxiao nodded. "If anything changes, make sure to let Gu Qiansi know immediately."
"Hmm? Are you going somewhere again?" Lu Zhiying asked.
"You sure catch on fast," Zhao Yunxiao laughed helplessly. "I am indeed planning on taking up a sect mission, and will thus be away for a while."
"Again! What is this mission about? Can I come along?" Lu Zhiying's eyes lit up immediately.
"Nope, I need to do this alone this time," Zhao Yunxiao shook his head with a smile.
"Come on, Senior Martial Brother Zhao..." Lu Zhiying pouted in disappointment as she tugged lightly at Zhao Yunxiao's sleeves. "If you are afraid that I might get in the way, I can promise to only observe from behind and listen to everything you say!"
"Maybe next time!" Zhao Yunxiao remained firm. "But from the sound of it, Gu Qiansi might be planning to go on a sect mission as well? Why don't you tag along with her instead?"
It was not that he was afraid of Lu Zhiying screwing things up. In fact, his answer would have stayed the same even if Gu Qiansi, Nie Hanchang, or even other seniors were the ones asking right now.
The reason for rejecting Lu Zhiying was something entirely different.
This sect mission that he was about to take on, whatever it ended up being, would only be serving as a cover for his true intention for leaving the sect.
Now that he had broken through to the Advanced Essence Gathering realm, completed the Penta-Edge Grimoire Halberd, as well as opened the Mind Gate, he finally felt confident enough to investigate the leads that the Untethered Sage Jiang Taiming had left behind in his manuals.
It was a decision that he had made only after prolonged contemplation.
Yet despite the reputation and free nature of the Untethered Sage, there was undoubtedly still a fair amount of uncertainties involved. For that reason, Zhao Yunxiao did not want to risk burdening others with his own selfish decision to pursue this matter.
"Fine... but you have to bring me along on the next one for sure!" Lu Zhiying said reluctantly.
"Yeah, I promise."
***
After shooting Hua Xian another warning not to do anything strange, Zhao Yunxiao left for the Outer Disciples Hall to put his plan into action.
"You are back pretty soon this time. It has only been a month since your last mission," Qi Jiesheng remarked while looking at the scroll on his desk.
"Senior Martial Brother Qi's memory is as amazing as always. As expected of the man trusted with the important task of handling sect missions!" Zhao Yunxiao replied. "Well, as proud disciples of the Black Tortoise Sect, we all have to do our part to help the sect out. That's why I try to help with sect missions whenever possible!"
Qi Jiesheng looked up at Zhao Yunxiao, his eyes filled with doubt. "Anyway, have you already decided on this?"
"Yes, that's right. Please help with the registration," Zhao Yunxiao nodded without hesitation.
According to the mission details, a noble in Thousand Autumn City possessed an arhat idol statue that had started to show ominous signs in recent months. Concerned that it might be some sort of curse, they had no choice but to send a request for help to the Black Tortoise Sect.
The mission itself was rather straightforward. All he really had to do was deliver the sect administrators' assessment and recommended solutions to the mission requestor in Thousand Autumn City.
At the same time, it would be easy to explain the need to spend more time at the city, be it to assess the suitability of the recommendations or to check on the results. After all, the sect administrators could only give their recommendations according to the information provided by the requestor, and that alone might not have encompassed every single relevant aspect.
This made it the perfect cover-up mission.
"You can only take on this mission after passing a test on seals and arrays," Qi Jiesheng said before passing a thick stack of paper to Zhao Yunxiao.
"Don't you already know me, Senior Martial Brother Qi? I'm sure you know that I have all the basics down, so why don't we skip this part?" Zhao Yunxiao tried to negotiate.
"Rules are rules," Qi Jiesheng shrugged. "If you don't want to take the test, there are plenty of missions that do not require vetting for participation."
"Fine, fine, I will do it," Zhao Yunxiao picked up a brush and quickly started answering the questions on the papers.
Thus began a period of frenzied writing.
"Here, the completed test!" Zhao Yunxiao exclaimed in relief after hours of continuous writing.
"Good, you are now assigned the mission. Good luck and stay safe," Qi Jiesheng said while receiving the stack of papers from Zhao Yunxiao.
"Just like that?" Zhao Yunxiao felt the corner of his lips twitch. "Are you not going to check the answers?"
"Like you said, I know your capabilities. I'm sure the answers will be fine," Qi Jiesheng answered nonchalantly.
Zhao Yunxiao: "..."
If so, then what exactly was the point of making me answer all those questions?
Forget it; all that mattered was the outcome. Now that he had been assigned the mission, it was time to make his preparations!