Chapter 488: Forging a Defensive Artifac
After leaving the pagoda of enlightenment together with Song Jia, both of them soon returned to his pavilion, where Xuan Hao quickly arranged for Song Jia to play with the winged tiger. Even if it protested this. Unfortunately for the winged tiger, it had no way to refuse Xuan Hao and, in the end, could only obey him to play with Song Jia.
Making sure that Song Jia was properly entertained with the winged tiger, Xuan Hao didn't stay around for much longer and left her in the care of the winged tiger, while he made his way towards the place Bai Ning was currently located at.
Not surprising to him at all, Bai Ning was currently at the Blacksmithing Hall.
…
At the same time Xuan Hao had made his way back to his pavilion together with Song Jia, Bai Ning was excitedly staring at a large forge in front of him as he patiently pulled out a mixture of melted metals.
"Bai Ning… Are you sure this is going to work…? The last time you did this, you almost ended blowing up an entire forging area!"
Elder Teng, one of the elders from the Blacksmithing Hall that Bai Ning had gotten along with quite well during his visits to the Blacksmithing Hall nervously asked while staring at the molten metal slowly being shaped by Bai Ning.
"It's fine elder Teng! I'm sure it's going to work this time around!"
"I really hope so… Hah, if only I arrived before you had begun…"
Not fully believing in what Bai Ning had said, Elder Teng looked even more nervous than before, as he kept his attention focused on the artifact slowly forming under Bai Ning's hands.
Even if the artifact had yet to fully form yet, it still excluded a scary aura causing even Elder Teng, a Core Formation Realm Expert to feel a bit cautious.
The only reason why he was staying around, was to safe Bai Ning in case he failed once again and ended up causing a deadly explosion in the process…
Bang! Bang!
Along with the artifact slowly being formed under Bai Ning's control, Elder Teng could finally get an idea of what the artifact was supposed to look like when it was finished.
"It's a bracelet…? Not to mention a defensive artifact… And it should be somewhere between the Earth and Spirit Grade!"
Muttering this to himself, Elder Teng quickly began looking over the bracelet slowly forming in front of Bai Ning.
At this point, Bai Ning had already gone way farther than he had the last time and Elder Teng had already begun to relax, as he realized that Bai Ning might actually succeed this time around without blowing anything up in the process.
Fwoosh~!
However, just as Elder Teng had begun relaxing and the artifact was about to fully form. An all too familiar thing happened, as the half-formed metal bracelet began violent absorbing the surrounding qi between heaven and earth.
"The final step has started, but it's absorbing way too much and too quickly for an Earth Grade Artifact!"
Whoosh!
"Ah?!"
Frowning to himself as he narrowed his eyes at this scene, Elder Teng dashed over and grabbed Bai Ning before escaping from the forging room together with the young boy.
Given that the artifact had entered the final step and had begun absorbing the qi between heaven and earth, there was no need for Bai Ning to stay around and potentially ending up staying next to it in case it blew up…
FWOOSH!
The moment both of them left the forging room, the absorption speed of the metal bracelet seemed to have increased another level, as it greedily devoured all the qi rushing towards it. Growing stronger and stronger with each passing moment.
"What is happening over there!? Is one of the elder's perhaps forging a Spirit Grade Artifact!?"
"No, that is the location of junior Bai Ning's forge…"
"Again!? Is he perhaps trying to blow up the Blacksmithing Hall!?"
"I hope the explosion this time around won't affect any of the nearby forges… Mine is located only a few meters away from junior Bai Ning's forge…"
As Bai Ning and Elder Teng had arrived outside the forge, they were instantly greeted by a large group of blacksmithing disciples who had gathered to see what was happening.
"Oh no! Elder Teng came out with junior Bai Ning! Everyone! Run!"
Spotting Elder Teng and Bai Ning who had come out from the forge, one of the blacksmithing disciples screamed fearfully before running away.
"Oh no… My forge!"
"Run everyone!"
Soon enough, all the blacksmithing disciples gathered around Bai Ning's forge realized that the place would most likely blow up shortly and began scattering in all directions. Trying to get as far away from Bai Ning's forge as possible.
Only when they had gotten a few hundred meters away did they come to a stop before cautiously glancing in the direction of Bai Ning's forge.
"…"
I just blew up my forge a few times, okay!? Nobody got injured in the end…
Only able to smile wryly when he saw this scene, Bai Ning could only blame a few incidents that had happened over the past month on the other blacksmithing disciple's fearful behaviour…
Rumble~
Seeing the forge behind him suddenly begin shaking violently as the absorption of qi by the bracelet he had made seemed to have reached the peak, Bai Ning quickly followed the footsteps of his seniors and hid behind a large crate a few hundred meters away from his forge, Elder Teng following closely behind him.
Fwoosh~
"D-did it succeed-"𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺
BOOM!
Just as Bai Ning was about to get out from his cover and go to check out the bracelet inside his forge following the absorption of qi stopping, a violent explosion suddenly erupted with his forge at the centre.
Instantly reducing the closest forge to rubble in the process.
"Nooooo! My forge!"
Ignoring the painful cry from one of the senior blacksmithing disciples, Bai Ning remained focused on his forge as the smoke from the explosion slowly lifted.
"Hahaha! It succeeded!" Seeing the bracelet inside the ruins of what had once been his forge, Bai Ning happily exclaimed to himself before rushing over towards the ruins of his forge.
In the first place, the forges of the Blacksmithing Hall used by the blacksmithing disciples, were not worth much in the first place and could easily be rebuilt in a day or two.
What Bai Ning truly cared about at this point, was the fact that the defensive artifact had survived the explosion! Not only that, but upon getting closer, Bai Ning realized that the bracelet did not have a single scratch on it.
Even after being at the centre of such a large explosion, it had not sustained the slightest bit of damage!
"Elder Teng, Elder Teng, what grade do you think this artifact is!?"
Filled with excitement, Bai Ning turned towards Elder Teng who had been following closely behind him with an amazed expression on his face. Clearly not expecting for the bracelet to survive the explosion.
"From what I can see, it should at the very least have reached the Peak of the Earth Grade, there is even a chance that it managed to reach the Spirit Grade!"
Saying this, Elder Teng felt surprised at what he had just said. After all, if the bracelet had reached the Spirit Grade, it would mean that Bai Ning had broken through and reached the Expert Blacksmithing Realm!
Not to mention that it had taken Elder Teng a good decade or two to reach the Expert Blacksmithing Realm, Bai Ning was still only thirteen years old!
A thirteen-year-old Expert Blacksmith? How terrifying would that be?
Even with the thousand-year history of the Flying Sword Sect, there had never been a thirteen-year-old Expert Blacksmith…
"What is all this ruckus?! Just what is happening out here and who blew up a forge!?"
As Bai Ning walked forward to pick up the bracelet now laying in the middle of what had once been his forge, an old voice echoed out from behind. Followed by an old grumpy looking man appearing.
"Grand Elder…"
"Hm? Elder Teng? What happened here…?"
Discovering who the old man was, Bai Ning no longer paid any attention as he entered the ruins of his forge to get the bracelet that he had made. Leaving Elder Teng to explain what had happened to the old man.
The old man in question, was none other than the Grand Elder of the Blacksmithing Hall, Elder Lou Wei! A Peak Core Formation Realm Expert and an Artisan Blacksmith!
His status inside the Flying Sword Sect could be said to be comparable to the Core Elders who had reached the Nascent Soul Realm!
"Bai Ning, come over here and show me what you made, I will check it out and determine its grade for you."
The moment Bai Ning came back out from the ruins of his forge, the Grand Elder Lou no longer seemed as grumpy as before and was instead looked towards him filled with excitement.
"Yes, Grand Elder…"
Obediently handing the defensive artifact in the shape of a bracelet that he had made over to the Grand Elder, Bai Ning pertinently stood on the side and waited for his judgement.
No matter what, Bai Ning knew very well that other than his master's identity helping him out, the only reason why he could continue blowing up forge after forge inside the Blacksmithing Hall, was because the Grand Elder had helped him after seeing his immense talent for blacksmithing…