Longevity: Starting with an infant's innate growth potential

Chapter 281 Win
"With this little guy choosing so many materials, won't refining them take too much time?"

Seeing that Zhou Ling had put several times more ore into the refining furnace than the other two, Cheng Pu frowned slightly and spoke up.

The main purpose of this trip was to observe Zhou Ling's specific situation.

After all, he was the leader of the Heavenly Guard and a key figure being cultivated by the Heavenly Crafts Bureau.

As for the matter of taking charge of Qingyun Immortal City this time, that is secondary.

In his view, it seemed impossible for Zhou Ling, with his current Foundation Establishment cultivation, to defeat the other two Golden Core cultivators.

Although Zhou Ling had already successfully crafted a third-tier magic weapon during the Heavenly Craftsmanship Department's assessment.

However, Li Feng and He Shen are not only Golden Core cultivators, but have also been trained by the Heavenly Crafting Bureau for many years and are already capable of refining third-grade high-quality or even top-quality treasures.

In just seven months, it would be difficult for Zhou Ling to refine a high-grade third-tier magic weapon.

Seeing Zhou Ling select so many materials, he was filled with doubt.

Generally speaking, the lower the cultivation level of a weapon refiner, the more cautious they should be in choosing materials.

Focus on quality over quantity, so as to save mana consumption during refining and use more mana for inscription refining.

"It seems Zhou Ling wants to forge the Five Elements Sword!"

Looking at the materials being thrown into the refining furnace, Qin Zhizheng smiled and said.

He was very familiar with Zhou Ling's situation, and from the selection of these materials, he immediately guessed Zhou Ling's refining plan.

"The Five Elements Sword?"

Upon hearing this, Cheng Pu's expression of doubt deepened.

It should be noted that if Zhou Ling, at his age, could comprehend the three realms of sword intent, he would already possess top-tier swordsmanship talent.

If one could comprehend the Five Elements Sword Intent, that would be truly astonishing.

Even with extraordinary talent, it would take at least one or two years to comprehend a third-tier sword intent.

Zhou Ling is only sixteen years old. Even if he had been practicing swordsmanship since birth, it would be very difficult for him to comprehend the third-order five-element sword intent.

"Cheng Tingzhi, although this kid's cultivation level isn't high, his talent in weapon crafting is exceptional!"

Qin Zhizheng smiled and said.

Based on his understanding of Zhou Ling, he knew that Zhou Ling was a steady and cautious person and would not waste his magic power on refining.

"Yes, Cheng Tingzhi, Zhou Ling is still an outer court instructor at the Nine Heavens Sword Academy."

“A while ago, Courtyard Master Gong came to me personally asking for people. If it were anyone else, I naturally wouldn’t agree, but I still have to give Courtyard Master Gong face!”

Zhong Yuanzi smiled and echoed her sentiment.

"Oh, could he really be a third-realm sword cultivator!"

Upon hearing this, Cheng Pu nodded slightly.

I'm somewhat looking forward to seeing if Zhou Ling will be able to forge the Five Elements Sword.

With a casual glance at the other two, he said with a smile, "Li Feng has chosen the third-grade top-quality Fire Refined Gold as the main material. It seems he is going to forge a metal-attribute sword."

"The finished product can basically be considered at least a high-grade Tier 3!"

"He Shen's is a top-grade third-tier Thunderclap Wood. Once he masters it, he can basically guarantee that it will be a top-grade third-tier Wood."

"Of course, the specific power of the forged sword depends on the chosen inscription and the level of sword intent it incorporates."

Upon hearing this, both Zhong Yuanzi and Qin Zhizheng nodded.

Although both men were optimistic about Zhou Ling, they also knew that it wouldn't be easy for him to defeat these two veteran rivals.

After all, the difference in cultivation level was simply too obvious.

However, Zhong Yuanzi and the others were not too worried.

After all, Zhou Ling is at an age where he will have plenty of opportunities in the future.

This victory is certainly cause for celebration.

Even if we lose, it won't have a big impact.

Of course, they still hoped that Zhou Ling would win.

Half an hour later, Zhou Ling finally refined all the different colored ore materials in his refining furnace into Five Elements Refined Gold.

These refined gold pieces weigh approximately thirty-six jin (about 18.5 catties).

"If I can get this Five Elements Sword after it's successfully forged, I'll have hit the jackpot!"

While condensing the True Fire of Qianyang to temper the form of the materials inside the refining furnace, Zhou Ling pondered to himself.

Although he had refined quite a few materials, thanks to the Qianyang True Fire and his [Six Revolutions Transformation] talent, it didn't actually consume much of his mana.

His expression was relaxed, as if he were completely at ease.

Seeing that Zhou Ling's speed in refining materials was in no way slower than the other two Golden Core cultivators.

Cheng Pu couldn't help but look somewhat surprised.

He observed Zhou Ling carefully.

At this moment, Zhou Ling's body was flashing with flame-like light.

A quick glance revealed that the fiery power released by the crimson spirit flame in his hand was extremely concentrated.

It resembles fiery magma deep underground.

With his cultivation level and experience, he could naturally tell that this was a fourth-grade spiritual flame.

He couldn't help but marvel inwardly at how a Foundation Establishment cultivator could control a fourth-grade spiritual flame so skillfully.
In contrast, although the other two were a whole level higher than Zhou Ling in cultivation, the spiritual flames they controlled were only third-grade spiritual flames.

"They even used an extremely rare technique called 'Mastery Link'!"

As the sword body gradually materialized inside Zhou Ling's forging furnace, Cheng Pu couldn't help but speak up.

The method of refining is a relatively rare method of crafting weapons.

The reason this method is so difficult is that it allows one to use their own magical power to condense materials with opposing attributes together.

This requires extremely high magical power and consumes a great deal of energy.

If there is even the slightest mistake, and the materials are not fully fused, the power of the resulting magical artifact will be greatly reduced.

This is also where the difficulty of this refining method lies.

Of course, this refining method has another advantage that other methods do not have.

It means that if one material is damaged, it will not affect the other materials.

Simply put, if this is a Five Elements Sword, as long as the blade is not completely destroyed...

Even if one part breaks, it can still exert considerable combat power.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Ling, despite his young age, possesses such exquisite refining skills. No wonder he was able to become a Heavenly Craftsman's Guard.

He had initially been quite puzzled by Zhou Ling's choice of the Five Elements Sword, but after seeing Zhou Ling's forging technique, his opinion of him greatly improved.

Just a stick of incense.

Under the intense burning of the Qianyang True Fire, the five sword essence embryos with the five elements of the Five Paths are taking shape.

His speed was in no way inferior to the other two.

Cheng Pu was even more surprised.

In that case, if Zhou Ling were to refine a sword embryo, wouldn't he be four times faster than these two Golden Core cultivators?
Unbelievable!

After another incense stick's time, the flames in the three people's furnaces on the competition stage gradually dimmed.

With a flick of his wrist, Zhou Ling summoned the Five Elements Sword, now fully fused, to float before him.

The entire sword shone with dazzling five-colored sword light, and its aura was extremely astonishing.

Although it has not yet been infused with inscriptions and sword intent, the Five Elements Sword Light is already enough to intimidate late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators.

"Is Instructor Zhou going to forge the Five Elements Sword?"

"A third-tier Five Elements Sword? How is that possible?"

"Yes, Instructor Zhou is only at the Foundation Establishment stage, how could he possibly possess the Five Elements Sword Intent?"

"Without the ability to condense the Five Elements Sword Intent, the power of this Five Elements Sword will be greatly reduced!"

Seeing the Five Elements Sword embryo in Zhou Ling's hand, the cultivators present could roughly discern Zhou Ling's intentions. Although there were many Qi Refining cultivators present, they were all somewhat knowledgeable within the Dao Academy and understood the difficulty of creating a third-tier Five Elements Sword.

Looking at the sword embryo, Zhou Ling smiled broadly, but he did not rush to inscribe the mark or integrate the sword intent.

Although he had the help of [Six Transformations] and [Meticulous Detail], about 20% of his mana was still depleted.

There's still an hour and a half left, which is plenty of time.

He first took out the pill bottle, took a Qi-boosting pill, and recovered.

With the help of the [Restore to Original State] and [Essential Medicine Stress] talents, his mana was fully restored in half a quarter of an hour.

Because the sword body is forged using the refined continuous forging method, each of the five elements sword seals can be engraved individually when forging the sword seals.

However, synchronization is required when connecting, which is the most challenging aspect for a weapon refiner.

This is not only related to divine sense and magical power, but also tests the experience of the weapon refiner.

With the Three Pure Creation Techniques and the Six Transformations, the difficulty will be greatly reduced for Zhou Ling.

Feeling that his internal magical power had been fully restored, Zhou Ling first saw the Five Elements Sword Imprints in his mind.

With his current cultivation level, he could at most refine a low-grade third-order sword seal.

However, thanks to the [Six Transformations] talent, he already possesses the ability to refine top-grade third-tier sword seals.

Of course, this time he had Qin's original explanation, as long as he could refine a third-grade top-quality magic weapon.

That's how he won.

Moreover, it is a top-grade sword of the third rank of the Five Elements, and its power is even comparable to that of a fourth-rank sword.

Zhou Ling was quite confident about this.

As divine sense coalesced, accompanied by the True Fire of Qianyang, rings of spiritual flames began to fall into the sword's body.

Then, the True Fire of Qianyang enveloped the embryonic Five Elements Sword Essence. As the flames shone, divine sense carrying spiritual power began to inscribe marks on the sword.

The forging of the Five Elements Sword requires the inscription of five Five Elements Sword Seals and Five Elements Sword Intent.

The sword is only truly complete when the Five Elements Sword Imprint and the Five Elements Sword Intent are fully integrated into the sword body.

Of course, the Five Elements Sword Seal and the Five Elements Sword Intent must be linked together in the end, so that the power of the Five Elements Sword can be increased by a lot.

However, neither the Five Elements Sword Seal nor the Five Elements Sword Intent are easy to fuse.

It consumes spiritual energy and magical power, and places extremely high demands on one's own sword intent.

The Five Elements Sword is adorned with five colors of light that intertwine and reflect each other, making it incredibly wondrous.

[You have truly created the Firebird Inscription, Sixth Transformation +1, Firebird Inscription Shrinkage +3]

With his talent emerging, Zhou Ling became adept at crafting, even mastering top-grade third-tier sword seals with ease.

Thanks to the help of his talent, his progress was extremely fast.

In the time that followed, Zhou Ling continuously activated his divine sense, condensed the divine souls of the Three Pure Ones, and combined his magical power to refine the sword seal.

With the help of talents such as the [Six Transformations], and by using the Three Pure Ones Soul Technique, it became much easier for him to refine the sword seal.

One sword imprint after another condensed on the sword.

The two talents completely made up for his lack of cultivation, while also greatly reducing his energy consumption.

Moreover, he already had a thorough understanding of the Five Elements Sword Seals, and his proficiency in each sword seal was already very high.

With the added assistance of the fourth-tier Qianyang True Fire, everything went extremely smoothly.

At this crucial moment, all the spectators held their breath and watched intently.

Although they were enveloped in a light shield, their loud noises would not affect Zhou Ling and the other two.

But most people watched carefully, because it was a rare opportunity to watch three third-tier weapon refiners simultaneously forging a sword.

This competition will undoubtedly be of considerable value to the weapon refiners who watched it.

Even the three judges were watching intently.

The three individuals have different levels of cultivation and different methods.

Their strengths are roughly equal.

Even at this point, it's difficult for the three of them to discern who holds a clear advantage.

Of course, given this situation, it's almost clear that Zhou Ling has a significant advantage.

After all, his cultivation level was far lower than the other two.

As the five sword imprints were successfully drawn, a smile appeared on Zhou Ling's face.

The sword energy released by the Five Elements Sword at this moment was even more terrifying.

However, there is still one last step: integrating the Five Elements Sword Intent.

This is also the moment that will determine the exact power of this sword.

A sword that doesn't incorporate sword intent will be a level lower in power.

The Five Elements Sword, though capable of unleashing the power of a top-tier third-grade treasure, lacks sword intent, and its power remains limited.

Then, Zhou Ling became cautious and directly condensed the Five Elements Sword Intent, beginning to integrate it into the Five Elements Treasure Sword.

Of course, this will incorporate the Lesser Five Elements Sword Intent.

An hour later.

Zhou Ling opened his eyes, looking exhausted.

Infusing sword intent consumes a great deal of spiritual energy. If his spiritual energy had not already reached the Golden Core realm, and if he hadn't had the aid of his talent, he simply wouldn't have been able to do it.

"The Five Elements Sword is complete."

Looking at the sword gleaming with five-colored light before him, Zhou Ling's expression was quite excited.

The Five Elements Sword Body, the Five Elements Sword Seal, and the Five Elements Sword Intent are perfectly integrated into one.

At this moment, the Five Elements Sword is already of the highest quality, a third-tier top-grade weapon. Zhou Ling believes that if he were to wield it, it could even reach the power of a fourth-tier weapon.

"After the competition, I'm going to ask Qin Zhizheng to return the Five Elements Sword!"

"If we combine it with the other five Five Elements Swords to form the Five Elements Sword Formation, its power will definitely be enough to kill a Golden Core cultivator!"

Feeling the power of the Five Elements Sword, Zhou Ling pondered in his heart.

clang!
"There is still one incense stick's time left in this competition!"

As the ancient bell tolled, Qin Zhizheng's voice followed.

This time, Zhou Ling put away the Qianyang True Fire and the refining furnace, while his gaze swept over the other two.

Both of them had completed the forging of their respective swords.

In front of Li Feng was a golden sword that shone brightly; it was clearly a metal-elemental sword.

He Shen's sword is a black sword, and it is of the lightning attribute.

Through [Intermediate Observation], Zhou Ling could tell that both of them possessed top-grade level 3 swords.

He Shen's Thunder Sword is slightly superior to that golden sword.

Zhou Ling breathed a sigh of relief when he learned it wasn't a fourth-tier sword.

The three of them, each carrying a sword, walked towards the judges' table.

"This competition is amazing! Both of them are top-grade third-tier swords!"

"I never imagined that Instructor Zhou, with his cultivation level, could forge a top-grade third-tier sword. It's truly unbelievable!"

In the audience, people looked somewhat incredulous.

After all, for a Foundation Establishment cultivator to forge a third-tier top-grade sword is truly heaven-defying.

On the judges' panel, the three men placed their respective swords on the jade plate.

"Not bad, they are all top-grade third-tier swords."

"According to the original rules, Zhou Ling has won this competition!"

Looking at the three swords, Cheng Pu made a solemn announcement.

(End of this chapter)