Chapter 1429: Mastering the Art of Brick-Smashing

The opponent’s actions, whether setting up the spirit-gathering array to increase the fire’s temperature or concentrating the flames to focus power, all demonstrated an extremely profound understanding of artifact forging, in no way inferior to his own.

But… why was the weapon embryo tempered so carelessly?

This was a Purple Ying Heavenly Fire Stone, exceptionally precious to him. Even if it wasn't enough for a great saber or a spear, it was more than sufficient to forge short weapons like daggers. Yet, it was forcefully turned into a brick…

His face twitched uncontrollably, and he was so stifled he could barely breathe.

As a Holy Son of Forging, he had an almost obsessive demand for weapon perfection. When forging himself, even a slight dimensional inaccuracy would lead him to scrap and restart. He could tolerate the opponent's crafted item being a bit ugly for the assessment, but this thing had absolutely no resemblance to a weapon, did it?

He wasn't a construction worker; what was the point of making something like this?

"Go ahead and inspect it. It should be of high-grade quality!" Zhang Xuan said, waving his hand.

"High-grade?"

Wu Youdao’s face twitched again; he could no longer hold back. "A brick… what use is it, even if it's high-grade?"

Seeing his doubt, Zhang Xuan shook his head, picked up the brick from the table, and said, "It's incredibly useful; calling it the most powerful weapon wouldn't be an exaggeration!"

Wu Youdao laughed in anger. "Then tell me, how powerful can it be…"

There had to be a limit to lying. This thing was square and lacked even a sharp edge. How could it be used in combat?

"Do you have any weapons forged from the same Purple Ying Heavenly Fire Stone? You’ll know whether it's stronger or not after a confrontation!" Zhang Xuan asked calmly.

"Of course!"

With a flick of his wrist, he produced three weapons: a saber, a spear, and a sword!

All were forged from Purple Ying Heavenly Fire Stone, radiating a chilling aura that seemed to pierce the skin upon appearance, as if to drain one's blood. It was evident at a glance that their grade was high and their power immense. These three weapons, all forged from Purple Ying Heavenly Fire Stone, represented a tremendous amount of effort and countless hours of work.

"Use your weapon to contend with mine. If you win, I'll consider my challenge a failure!" Zhang Xuan said with a faint smile.

"Alright, let's see what power your brick truly possesses!"

Wu Youdao, surprised by the opponent's arrogant claim, snorted coldly. With a flick of his wrist, the long sword flew through the air first, soaring straight towards Zhang Xuan.

Zhang Xuan made no move; he simply flicked his sleeve, and the brick flew to meet it.

*Crack!*

The brick and the long sword collided, and with a crisp snap, the latter broke into two pieces.

"This…"

Wu Youdao was startled. This sword, forged countless times, was unparalleled in sharpness and exceptionally sturdy. Yet, it had instantly snapped upon colliding with the opponent's brick. How was that possible?

Having broken the long sword, the brick didn't stop. It then charged towards the great saber and the spear. *Crack, crack!* With two more crisp sounds, all the weapons Wu Youdao had painstakingly forged lay broken in half on the ground.

"You, you…"

His teeth chattering, Wu Youdao was speechless. It was one thing for a single weapon to be defeated, but for three in a row to be effortlessly shattered by the opponent's brick—even the biggest fool would realize that this unassuming brick was far superior to his own forged weapons. They weren't even in the same league.

"A brick appears to have no sharp edge, but it is extremely heavy. It overwhelms opponents with its momentum and attacks with pure force…"

With his hands clasped behind his back, Zhang Xuan looked over calmly, with a teaching tone. "A weapon is a tool for killing, meant to enhance combat power. Its appearance is not important; what matters most is… its might! Purple Ying Heavenly Fire Stone is extremely difficult to smelt. While the weapons forged from it are sharp, they are inherently too brittle, like crystal. They simply cannot withstand the impact of heavy weapons! How could they win in a direct confrontation?"

"This…"

Wu Youdao was stunned. He had forged many weapons from Purple Ying Heavenly Fire Stone, and each one was just as the opponent described: sharp, but too brittle. Of course, this brittleness, compared to other high-grade Saint artifacts, wouldn't be a significant drawback. After all, sharpness and toughness in a long sword were two different qualities that couldn't inherently be maximized simultaneously. He had always assumed that all weapons forged from Purple Ying Heavenly Fire Stone had this flaw, never dreaming that the opponent's brick would immediately solve it!

"So, have I passed the assessment?"

Seeing his unrecoverable shock, Zhang Xuan said no more, offering a faint smile. He was always humble, and his goal this time was merely to pass the test, not to disparage others. There was no need to add insult to injury.

"Passed…"

Wu Youdao’s lips trembled with confusion. "A brick isn't a weapon, you can't engrave formation patterns on it, and I didn't see you temper it meticulously. How could it be forged to this level?" Although the brick was heavy, to so easily shatter his three weapons meant its grade was definitely superior to his. For a weapon to increase its grade, heat control and quenching were crucial, but tempering and formation patterns were the primary methods for enhancing its power. With the same ore, the more it was tempered and for longer, the greater its density, and thus the higher its grade upon successful quenching. He had personally watched the opponent forge the weapon embryo. In just three or four breaths, the hammer had struck its four sides, shaping it into a brick… How could it surpass the grade of his own meticulously tempered weapons?

"Want to learn? I can teach you!"

Zhang Xuan smiled.

"Please enlighten me!"

Wu Youdao, not daring to act arrogant, clasped his fists.

"Actually, forging a brick seems simple, but it contains profound knowledge. Each strike embodies the Great Dao; it's not just simple tempering…"

Picking up the brick, Zhang Xuan explained in detail. His understanding of artifact forging had reached the eighth-star level. His casual guidance involved so much knowledge that after listening for only a short while, Wu Youdao was utterly convinced and filled with admiration. Although the person before him wasn't old, his comprehension of artifact forging was both profound and easy to grasp. Listening to him immediately cleared Wu Youdao's mind, leaving him with a sense of sudden enlightenment.

Soon, the opponent finished explaining all the techniques for forging the brick.

"I'll be taking my leave…"

Having said this, he lifted his foot and walked towards the third level.

"So all my previous forging methods were wrong! From now on, I'll stop forging long swords and great sabers and focus solely on bricks…"

As he watched the other person leave, Wu Youdao's eyes gleamed, recalling the knowledge he had just acquired. What were long swords and great sabers compared to a brick? It could advance to attack and retreat to defend; this was truly the goal he should pursue for the rest of his life! Thinking this, he took out some ore and began to study it.

"It took nearly ten minutes to pass the second level. Isn't that a bit too slow? Hmm, I need to speed up from now on…" Zhang Xuan thought to himself as he walked up, soon spotting the Holy Son of the Heavenly Diviners Guild. He muttered to himself, unaware that he had inadvertently cultivated a grandmaster of brick forging, who would, for the rest of his life, only forge this single type of weapon, and countless experts would later consider it an honor to possess a brick personally forged by him…