Immortal Path to Heaven

Ai Hongli continued to smile bitterly because he was also puzzled. He could not figure out when Qu Zhengde obtained a peculiar stone with such excellent properties.

At the spur of the moment, a thin elder made his way up to the high platform.

He walked over to Tiandao the Venerable One and bowed slightly, then he whispered something to the Venerable One. His voice was dispersed by the Venerable One’s overbearing spiritual power as soon as he spoke, to the extent that even Yuqi the Venerable One did not hear anything.

Tiandao the Venerable One was stunned at first, then he was surprised yet overjoyed. He cupped his hands and apologized, “Venerable One Ai, I was being too rude just now. Please don’t take it to heart.”

Ai Hongli’s heart was itching as he was extremely curious, but he asked softly, “Tiandao the Venerable One, did you find out about the Blood Condensation Ore already?”

It was not a secret that Ou Yangming and the 2 other blacksmiths headed to the Beyond Heaven Pavilion, but they had a tacit understanding, such that they did not mention it to anyone else. Even when Ai Hongli questioned Qu Zhengde that night, the blacksmith only expressed his strong confidence and kept the Blood Condensation Pill a secret.

“You’ll find out later.” A strange look could be seen on Tiandao the Venerable One’s face. He lamented, ‘Given that Master Ou even stumbled upon a Five Elements Ore, I must admit that he’s incredibly blessed!’

He had a bit of an evil thought. ‘I wonder if they’ll be surprised when they see the Cold Water Ore later…’

It was worth noting that when Tiandao the Venerable One’s disciple informed him about the news just now, despite being a steady Venerable One, he was utterly shocked, which was evident how precious a Five Elements Ore was. Nonetheless, since he was surprised by the news, how could he not let his peers feel the same? As such, the Venerable One curled his lips playfully, but his smile quickly went away as he cleared his throat.

Ai Hongli the Venerable One forced himself to suppress his curiosity. He swallowed the words at his throat.

Inside the Bluestone Square, when Qu Zhengde shaved with his saber, a fifth of the Blood Condensation Ore’s Qi and blood were drawn. Consequently, the red light on the ore dimmed, whereas the white veined patterns on the shoulder pad lit up and interlaced into a net.

Qu Zhengde then pressed with his left hand, causing something red to be injected into the equipment.

As a result, the veined patterns on the shoulder pad seemed to have come to life. A red light circulated and overlapped with the net-like boxes, then a long red flag was finally carved. It was as red as blood, and it looked like it was carved on the shoulder pad by a knife. Moreover, the long flag gave off a weird feeling as though it was constantly swaying in the wind.

Qu Zhengde felt dizzy by taking only a look at it. Various peculiar images appeared in front of him.

It was as if his soul might even be sucked into the shoulder pad if he were to take a few more looks at it.

He forced himself to curb his thoughts, and he bit the tip of his tongue to break free from the odd state.

‘It’s the Blood Condensation Ore indeed—I almost got lost because of the illusory conception.’ He sighed.

Before long, the shoulder pad was completed. The reflection of Qu Zhengde’s fire faded away from his eyes as the floating Severe Winter Flame above his palm went away.

Upon seeing this, Li Qinghou slowly approached Qu Zhengde. When he glanced at the shoulder pad, he only felt like several long red flags were swaying in front of him, hence he immediately confirmed that the equipment had an unordinary quality. The elder cupped his hands and expressed with a smile, “Congratulations, Master Qu, for winning by a stroke.”

Qu Zhengde was breathing heavily with a reddened face. After adjusting his Qi momentum, he said softly, “Thanks for the trouble, Elder Li!”

Li Qinghou waved his hand and responded, “It’s not a problem; it’s within my duty.”

Following that, a domineering mental power was released into the shoulder pad. The red flag on the equipment lit up intensely at once. Furthermore, a colorful light was seen floating above the equipment as a row of neat data was displayed to everyone.

[Item: Blood’s Shoulder Pad]

[Equivalent Rank: Magic Tool, High Grade, Rank Five]

[Attributes: Toughness +35, Power +1 (White Silver), Agility +1 (White Silver), Durability 35]

[Skill: Blood Kill (Shoulder pad releases red shadows)]

“That’s amazing. He smithed a magic tool of High Grade Rank Five in just the blink of an eye. This smithing master from Zhangzhou has a notable strength!” The face of a blacksmith from one of Danzhou’s Nine Great Sects chance. He looked rather worried.

The Big Smithing Competition had been going on between Danzhou and Zhangzhou for a long time. Both parties did not say it out loud, but they had the urge to win. The blacksmith that spoke was a cultivator from Danzhou, thus he naturally hoped that ou Yangming would be victorious. Now that Qu Zhengde’s first equipment was a magic tool of High Grade Rank Five, he could not help but have a bad feeling about this.

“Who said that he’s not?” A man that was over 50 years old said in a deep voice, “That’s a magic tool of High Grade Rank Five. My current equipment is… Ah!” While he spoke, he glanced helplessly at the arc saber at his waist. ‘Why is there such a huge gap between people? He can easily smith a magic tool of High Grade Rank Five, whereas I don’t even have a piece of Half-Silver Equipment.’

Heated discussions could be heard in every corner of the square. Instead of stopping the people, the Venerable Ones watched with smiles.

Tiandao the Venerable One gasped on the high platform. “Venerable One air, congratulations.”

Ai Hongli shook his head and sighed. “Tiandao the Venerable One, you’re overpraising us. Hehe, let’s wait and see Master Ou’s performance.”

Tiandao the Venerable One nodded hard and looked away.

In the square, Ou Yangming suddenly beamed and thought, ‘It’s almost time.’

He then lifted his right hand and combined his middle finger and thumb to make a flower hand gesture.

Subsequently, he pushed his hand down abruptly. An intense palm wind was stirred up, then the air around his hand shrunk rapidly and exploded.

“Condense!” Ou Yangming uttered softly. His eyes were as sharp as lightning, so much so that one would not dare to look him in the eye.

Ou Yangming’s Heavenly Phoenix Fire seemed to have been affected as well. Its momentum expanded, then a light green helmet slowly took form inside.

The young fellow later waved his sleeve forward. While stirring up the mist in front of him, he was already holding the Cold Water Ore in his hand. The green light in his hand grew.

Accompanied by the green light, a cold intent spread without warning. It was so strong that snowflakes filled the square, so it was white everywhere. Soon enough, the northern wind whistled while the snowflakes fell like reed catkins. They were scattered and beautiful in the wind, but a penetrating chillness spread in all directions.

Ou Yangming was in high spirits, but his figure could only be vaguely seen amidst the big snow.

“Wh-what’s going on?” Someone exclaimed!

“Why are there snowflakes all of a sudden? Also, why are they only appearing around Master Ou?”

Only for a small bunch of people, their arms were sometimes tensed up and sometimes relaxed. Their eyes gleamed, which was clear that they thought about something, but they dared not be too certain.

As for the Venerable Ones on the high platform, they widened their eyes as if they were possessed, but they shut their mouths without saying a word.

It was not until after some time Ai Hongli asked with a trembling voice, “Is that… Is that a Cold Water Ore?” He was asking instead of making a statement, so one could imagine how shocked he was. It was likely that there were countless sudden claps of thunder in his head at the moment.

Yuqi the Venerable One was dumbfounded at first, then his eyes shone brighter as he mumbled, “It’s actually a Cold Water Ore—one of the Five Elements Ores!”

The other Venerable Ones had different expressions, but they were all envious.

Ai Hongli smiled bitterly after a moment and asked, “Tiandao the Venerable One, can you reveal the mystery now?” The top-notch powerhouse from Zhangzhong had an untypical style, by which he liked anecdotes and gossip from a young age. As long as something triggered the “greedy insect” that flowed inside his blood, he would feel uncomfortable until he got to the bottom of it.

Tiandao the Venerable One turned to look at him and responded with another question, “Ai Hongli the Venerable One, have you heard of the Beyond Heaven Pavilion?”

Anyone that became a Venerable One was as smart as a demon. As such, Ai Hongli instantly captured the keyword and asked probingly, “Is it related to the Beyond Heaven Pavilion?”

Tiandao the Venerable One nodded. “A few days ago, the 3 finest smithing masters from Zhangzhou and Danzhou went to the Beyond Heaven Pavilion together and were all well-rewarded.”

Ai Hongli’s eyes glowed. “Master Qu found a Blood Condensation Ore while Master Ou found a Cold Water Ore?”

Tiandao the Venerable One nodded. “That’s right!”

Ai Hongli pondered for a while, then he asked softly, “Forgive me for being bold, but may I ask if Master Yu found any peculiar stone?” Since Tiandao the Venerable One said that they were all well-rewarded, their gains must be exceptional. Even if Yu Xiuming’s ore was inferior to the Blood Condensation Ore and the Cold Water Ore, it could not be too poor.

Tiandao the Venerable One lamented, “It’s of similar value with the Blood Condensation Ore, but it’s slightly poorer than the Cold Water Ore.”

He stopped and paused for a while to keep Ai Hongli in suspense again. Whether it was the Venerable Ones from Danzhou or Zhangzhou, they were curious, so they looked over half-intentionally.

Tiandao the Venerable One smiled faintly. His lips parted as he breathed out lightly, then he revealed the answer with a slightly husky voice. “An Interspatial Spirit Ore!”

“Hiss, hiss…”

The Venerable Ones gasped again and wondered, ‘Why are there so… So many bizarre stones from beyond heaven with these Unique Attributes?’

Whether it was the Blood Condensation Ore, the Interspatial Spirit Ore, or the Cold Water Ore, they were very rare items. In particular, any of those treasure ores could release their endless wonders with a blacksmith’s help. Any one of them could normally cause a sensation, so now that all 3 of them appeared together, one could imagine the impact that they brought.

Ou Yangming did not know how shocked the Venerable Ones were by what he and the 2 other blacksmiths did.

He had a grave look on his face at the moment. After breathing out the cold air inside his mouth, he brushed his middle finger steadily outward. A light emerged from his fingertip, and it took a fifth of the Cold Water Ore’s cold intent in a split second. Next, a clear sound was suddenly heard coming from the young fellow’s finger as the cold intent was incorporated into the helmet in a queer state.

The second the cold intent entered the helmet, a green light spread like a green dragon, where it spiraled into the sky.

A green veined pattern could also be seen on the helmet. It looked as gorgeous as a flower outside the window during winter, and it was constantly changing.

With a flash of thought, Ou Yangming put the Cold Water Ore away. With that, the dancing snowflakes around him disappeared too.

The exquisite women’s helmet had been completed, and it sat on Ou Yangming’s palm while giving off penetrating cold air. The young fellow could sense the chillness, but it did not hurt and was comfortable instead.

Li Qinghou’s eyes gleamed. He flashed toward Ou Yangming and cupped his hands. “Master Ou, I truly admire your brilliant smithing skills!”

Ou Yangming returned the salutation with a fist salutation as well. “Elder Li, you’re overpraising me!”

Afterward, he shifted sideways and gestured to the elder to proceed with the appraisal.