Chapter 720
Passing the Selection! Pei Daoming's Loan Terms
Everyone knows that we have reached a critical moment, and disturbing anyone at this time would be considered a grave offense.
The reason everyone stayed was to see who was the most capable, so they could congratulate them and make some acquaintances, not to make enemies.
and so.
Upon hearing Jiang Yan's instructions, everyone nodded secretly, some sitting down to rest, others standing still to observe quietly.
Half a day passed.
Then another person stopped, shook his head and sighed slightly, then looked around with surprise in his eyes. He then cupped his hands to Jiang Yan and stood quietly to watch.
'This person is also 60% pure, but slower than the previous one. Looks like he's not as good as the previous one.'
Zhang Lingshan thought to himself.
While everyone else was focused on purification, he still had the energy to observe, because he was the Tree of Souls and had the ability to be distracted.
Seeing that everyone else was so bad at the game, he felt more at ease.
Currently, besides himself, there are three other people. Apart from the middle-aged beauty with the highest flame intensity, the other two, like Zhang Lingshan, have not even reached the standard of 70% purity for the third level.
Even that beautiful woman only managed to refine it to 70%, and her face was slightly pale, showing signs of fatigue. It was clear that even for her, refining it to 75% would be quite a challenge.
Time continued to flow slowly over the fire among the few people.
Half an hour passed.
"Well."
One of them suddenly let out a muffled groan, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. He then quickly controlled the molten gold from the Falling River to fall into the teleportation groove before sitting cross-legged and rapidly regulating his breathing.
'Seventy percent, he's met the standard. This one piece earns him three merit points and will be counted towards the ten thousand first-class materials needed for his silver medal promotion.'
Everyone who observed this scene understood why this person was determined to purify the product to 70%, even at the risk of injury.
After all, we've come this far. If we fail now, all the time and effort we've put in will have been wasted, which would be a huge loss.
Although I'm injured right now, it's not a big problem. And I can get a first-class material that I've successfully refined, so it's a win in comparison.
'Seventy percent? I've arrived too.'
Zhang Lingshan thought to himself.
When I experimented with refining tortoise shell gold before, I could only refine it to 37% because of time constraints.
But now, he can wait it out.
Compared to others, his advantage lies in the fact that he doesn't get tired from slowly aging. The Soul Tree is rooted in his physical body and can recover from the consumption of his physical body at any time, while the consumption of his physical body can be recovered by the physical body's own recovery ability.
and so.
While everyone else was exhausted from the long process of purifying the molten liquid, Zhang Lingshan only felt that the time was too long. However, it was precisely because the time was long that he was able to make his mental energy consumption equal to his recovery.
If he speeds up the purification process, he will feel tired. Just like when he was purifying tortoise shell gold, he consumed a lot of mental energy in order to save time, and he had to eat a bowl of spiritual rice to recover afterwards.
Although he wasn't tired at all, Zhang Lingshan had to pretend to be exhausted, his face turning deathly pale, as if he were about to collapse at any moment.
thump.
A muffled thud.
Everyone was taken aback, to see that the middle-aged beauty with the strongest flames had actually fallen to the ground due to exhaustion.
Upon seeing this, Jiang Yan rushed over, his divine sense enveloping the middle-aged beauty as he quickly sent the molten gold refined by the middle-aged woman into the teleportation slot.
"Purity: 74 percent."
Looking into the weary eyes of the middle-aged woman, Jiang Yan revealed the final outcome.
The middle-aged woman's eyes dimmed, and then she fell into a deep sleep.
this side.
Because of the middle-aged woman's fall, another worker seemed to be shocked by the sound, his face changed, blood spurted out, and he also fell to the ground.
Seeing this, Jiang Yan rushed over and helped send the molten gold from the river into the teleportation slot, then said, "Purity, seventy-one percent."
At this time.
Zhang Lingshan also looked as if he had been hit, and he fell to the ground as well. However, he did not vomit blood, and his complexion was relatively better. He quickly sat down cross-legged, took out the Immortal Spirit Pill from his pocket, and began to recover. He thought to himself: Now I can be sure of getting second place.
From the very beginning, Zhang Lingshan did not believe that the third round of refining would reach 75%.
Those who can do this are the best among bronze-level pyrologists; why would they need to participate in Pei Daoming's private selection process?
On the contrary, it should have been Pei Daoming, the weapon master, who personally went to ask others for help.
Therefore, the third round should be about who refines the product to a higher purity, who persists the longest, and who is in the best final state.
Although Zhang Lingshan's purity level was not as high as that of the middle-aged beauty, it was exactly the same as the other person's, at 71%, but his condition was obviously much better than that person's.
Unless Jiang Yan and that person are relatives and Jiang Yan is biased towards the other person, Jiang Yan will definitely be selected.
"Purity, 71 percent."
Jiang Yan hurriedly helped Zhang Lingshan send the molten gold from the river to the teleportation slot. His face showed surprise, and he looked at Zhang Lingshan deeply before saying, "Now I announce that Gu Nanxiang and Zhang Lingshan have passed the selection."
Upon hearing the final result, no one questioned it, because there are no fools or blind people.
Although neither of these two could refine it to 75% purity, the fact that they could do this is enough to prove their strength, making them standard silver-level seeds.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, these two are certain to be promoted to silver medals, as they are both quite young. They can patiently work their way up over a decade and eventually achieve this goal.
Especially Zhang Lingshan, who is too young. Although his purity was lower than Gu Nanxiang's this time, his potential is higher than Gu Nanxiang's. He may even be promoted to silver medal earlier than Gu Nanxiang in the future.
and so.
Once Zhang Lingshan had recovered from his cross-legged state, he stood up, and everyone rushed forward to congratulate him, introducing themselves so as to leave a good impression and have opportunities to interact in the future.
Such geniuses, even if they just say something casually, might have an impact on their future. How can we not take them seriously?
"You're all too kind."
Zhang Lingshan said with a smile.
Jiang Yan said, "Alright everyone, let's get together again when we have time. The selection process has been going on for so long, Master Pei must be getting impatient. I need to take the two of them to see Master Pei."
"Yes Yes."
"That's how it should be."
"We can't keep Master Pei waiting too long. A weapon refiner's time is more valuable than our fire-tending boy's."
Everyone nodded quickly and saw Jiang Yan, Zhang Lingshan, and Gu Nanxiang off.
Soon, Jiang Yan led the two of them to Pei Qishi's weapon-refining room.
Pei Daoming, as expected of one of the most promising candidates for silver medal in the third level, was incredibly wealthy and powerful. Even while waiting for the selection results, he sat in the weapon-refining room with his eyes closed, resting his mind.
It's important to know that even for a weapon refiner, applying for a month's weapon refining room requires 100 merit points, and the selection process takes more than a day, which requires about 5 merit points.
Pei Daoming sitting here waiting is tantamount to wasting five merit points.
But they didn't care at all.
Because he's too lazy to move.
This weapon-refining room is practically his private property. He'd be willing to spend a year sitting in this room, even if it meant just sitting there doing nothing, let alone earning five merit points.
A year has twelve months, and it only costs 1,200 merit points to obtain a peaceful environment in the weapon-refining room. For Pei Daoming, it's just a small amount of money, and it's worth it.
This was Zhang Lingshan's first time in the weapon-refining room. He quickly looked around and saw that the room had a very simple structure, with three furnaces.
The furnace in the middle is the largest, and it is equipped with slots of different shapes, such as sword slots, knife slots, and spear slots, which are probably used to put the molten materials into them to form the vessel blank.
Of course, Zhang Lingshan only learned about weapon crafting from the many books on weapon crafting in his pouch space. He had no knowledge of weapon crafting in the Immortal Realm and it was just a guess.
To find out the specifics, he would have to wait until Pei Daoming began refining the weapon before he could witness it firsthand.
"Master Pei, the selection is over. These are the two selected firework masters, Gu Nanxiang and Zhang Lingshan."
As soon as Jiang Yan entered the weapon-refining room, he immediately cupped his hands in greeting.
Pei Daoming was an elderly man with a white beard. His eyelids seemed very heavy. After a long while, he slowly opened his eyes, glanced at Gu Nanxiang and Zhang Lingshan, and asked, "What was the result?"
Jiang Yan said, "Gu Nanxiang refined the Luohe Gold solution to 74%, which is only a hair's breadth away from 75%. She is a rare and outstanding firework, but she fainted in the end. Zhang Lingshan was a little worse, refining it to 71%, but he stopped in time and did not faint. His condition is also relatively good. Among the people who signed up, he is the strongest except for Gu Nanxiang."
After hearing this, Pei Daoming looked at Zhang Lingshan again and said, "At such a young age, you have such ability. Not bad. You will surely become a top-notch pyrotechnician in the future."
"However, 71% is still relatively poor and needs to be improved before it can assist me in refining weapons."
"In that case, lend him a thousand merit points and exchange them for a Flame Crystal so that he can increase the intensity of his flames."
"Because he was able to stop in time, did not faint, and recovered quickly, it is clear that his mental strength is relatively good, so he does not need to improve his mental strength."
Pei Daoming quickly analyzed the situation and then decisively lent Zhang Lingshan 1,000 merit points.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Lingshan was stunned, as was the middle-aged beauty Gu Nanxiang standing beside him.
He lent out a thousand merit points without hesitation, just to get Zhang Lingshan to assist him in refining weapons.
This Pei Daoming, the weapon maker, is truly wealthy and extravagant.
Gu Nanxiang couldn't help but feel envious.
If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have unleashed my full power. Instead, I should have lowered the intensity of the flames a little, and then I could have obtained a flame crystal.
Seemingly sensing Gu Nanxiang's thoughts, Pei Daoming said, "Your strength is not bad, but you were unconscious, which shows that your mental strength is relatively weak. I will lend you two thousand merit points to exchange for a Divine Sense Crystal."
Divine Sense Crystal!
Gu Nanxiang was overjoyed and hurriedly bowed, saying, "Thank you very much, Master Pei."
This is a Divine Sense Crystal, twice the value of a Flame Crystal. I'll earn more than Zhang Lingshan!
She had just regretted not getting the Flame Crystal despite going all out, but now she had obtained the Divine Sense Crystal. Indeed, one should always give it their all in everything to reap greater benefits.
'A Divine Sense Crystal?'
Zhang Lingshan thought to himself.
It is said that Divine Sense Crystals are crystals formed after powerful cultivators self-destruct their divine senses. They contain the power of that cultivator's divine sense, and after being absorbed and refined, they can rapidly enhance one's spiritual power. They are the most precious of all the exchangeable treasures on the third floor, without exception!
Before they even started assisting with the weapon refining, Pei Daoming directly lent out three thousand merit points, allowing Zhang Lingshan and Gu Nanxiang to upgrade with Flame Crystals and Divine Sense Crystals respectively. That's quite a generous gesture.
However, it is also clear that this weapon forging is very important, which is why he is willing to invest so much effort in it.
Just as Zhang Lingshan was thinking this, sure enough, he heard Pei Daoming say, "However, these Flame Crystals and Divine Sense Crystals are not lent to you for free."
"You must do your utmost to assist me in refining the weapon. If this is successful, you will not have to repay the merit points I lent you, and I will also give you corresponding rewards and bonuses."
"As for how much, it depends on your performance. Whoever performs better and contributes more will naturally receive more rewards and bonuses. Don't worry, I, Pei Daoming, am not someone who will treat you unfairly."
"However, if you don't go all out and cause me to fail in refining the weapon, then I'm sorry, you'll have to return double the merit points to me."
"Now, I'm giving you a choice. If you agree to the terms I've mentioned above, I'll have Jiang Yan bring you Flame Crystals and Divine Sense Crystals."
"If you don't want to, you can just leave."
After Pei Daoming finished speaking, he closed his eyes and quietly awaited the two men's choice.
Gu Nanxiang's face showed a conflicted expression.
On one hand, she really wanted a Divine Sense Crystal, because she had once exchanged for one, which took her more than three years of accumulating merit points to obtain.
It was precisely this aspect that rapidly improved her mental strength, which in turn greatly enhanced her refining ability, proving to be a great help to her.
She really wanted it because she knew how useful it was.
However, Pei Daoming made it very clear that if the weapon forging failed, double the merit points would be returned, which would be four thousand merit points.
This is too much. When will I be able to pay it all back?
"I have a question to ask."
Zhang Lingshan suddenly said.
"ask."
Pei Daoming said.
Zhang Lingshan said, "The first question is, how was the reason for the failure of weapon refining determined? If it failed because of you, but you say it was our fault, wouldn't we have to take the blame and pay back the money?"
"My second question is about the terms you mentioned. How can you guarantee that we will eventually repay the loan? What will happen if we don't repay? Also, is there no time limit for repayment? Doesn't that mean we can keep delaying payment indefinitely?"
Hearing Zhang Lingshan's two questions, Gu Nanxiang couldn't help but prick up her ears.
Yes, the question raised by this tall young man is very insightful.
While I was still hesitating about whether to agree, they had already thought of so much. No wonder they have such abilities at such a young age.
In contrast, I was so consumed by my desire for the Divine Sense Crystal that I had lost the ability to think clearly, and I was far less composed than this young man.
"hehe."
Upon hearing Zhang Lingshan's question, Pei Daoming smiled and said, "Interesting. I thought she would ask me these questions, but I didn't expect you to ask first. Jiang Yan, answer his question."
"Yes, Master Pei."
Jiang Yan looked at Zhang Lingshan and said, "The method for determining the first problem is very simple: just look at the purity of your extraction. As long as the purity meets the standard, it's not your problem." (End of Chapter)