Food gives me an entry, I will be invincible if I stay alive

Chapter 426 The scenery along the Immortal Path is truly wondrous!
What is meant by "ninth-grade middle class"?

"Having spirit patterns, but only at a mid-level?"

Master Mao was so angry at Chen Xu that he almost laughed; he had never laughed in such a way before.

He pointed at Chen Xu, looking at him with the gaze one might give a monster, while forcing a strange smile up his lips.

"Ninth Rank, Middle Class...that's all?" Master Mao chuckled. "My disciple, you, you, you really are..."

Hehehe, hahahaha!
I knew it! I knew it…

He wanted to say again, "I knew I had a good eye; I found a genius who was well-rounded in every aspect."

And he quickly took him in as a disciple.

But then I thought about how I had already praised Chen Xu repeatedly. What if I praised him too much and made him so arrogant and complacent?
Such a talented disciple must not be spoiled by him!

So Master Mao stopped himself from speaking, and what he said in the end was:

“My disciple, you are right. You are only at the middle level of the ninth rank. You are still far from being good enough. You must not be complacent.”

It should be noted that ninth-grade magical artifacts are usually only used by Qi Refining cultivators.

Now that you're in the late Foundation Establishment stage, this ninth-grade magic weapon is completely useless to you.

Since you are a beginner in weapon crafting, you can only start by crafting the lowest and simplest magical artifacts.

Of course, don't be discouraged.

You're still a beginner, after all... hehehe, hehehe.

Master Mao tried his best to keep a serious expression, but after he finished speaking, he couldn't help but laugh.

After laughing, his eyes flickered slightly, he coughed lightly, and said to Chen Xu, "Disciple, you shall give this Heart-Protecting Mirror to your master."

"Since this is something you're just starting out with, I need to hold it in my hands and examine it carefully to see where you're lacking."

Chen Xu: ...

What else could he say? It was only natural and proper for a master to inspect his disciple's weapon-forging results.

Chen Xu then handed over the Heart-Protecting Mirror, which he had crafted on his first attempt at weapon forging, to Master Mao.

Master Mao hurriedly and carefully put the protective mirror into his bosom and placed it close to his body.

He then cleared his throat, adopted a serious demeanor as a teacher, and said to Chen Xu, "Alright, this is enough for you as a beginner today, as long as you have crafted this Heart-Protecting Mirror."

Since you said you were going out to do a true discipleship mission and would like to bring your two friends along, then you should set off tomorrow.

Come, come, let's first recognize these three puppets as their masters.

This is the technique for controlling puppets... Remember it well, and practice refining it regularly to become proficient in its control.

"Alright, let's go out now."

Chen Xu refined all three puppets to recognize their masters. During the process, he always felt his own true essence stirring restlessly.

This is a "side effect" left over from previous blacksmithing.

Yes, although Chen Xu had finished refining the weapon, his body was still surging with energy and blood.

Chen Xu even had a feeling that he had not only gained more control over his body's strength through this training, but also that he had further mastered it.

At the same time, he is also very likely to have reached the threshold of the sixth level of the Golden Core stage again!
In other words, through this experience of forging iron, Chen Xu gained a completely new direction for digesting the three elements.

As a result, his cultivation level improved rapidly without him even realizing it.

He could only try his best to suppress this improvement, since he dared not break through to the sixth level of the Golden Core realm directly in front of Master Mao.

If that's the case, even if Master Mao really wants to believe him, he'll probably have to label him as a conspiracy theorist.

Chen Xu could only hold it in, trying his best to hold it in.

The experience was a mix of joy and pain, truly difficult to describe.

Finally, when Master Mao and Chen Xu left the weapon-refining room, both of them had somewhat strange expressions.

Master Mao was riding high, yet he had to feign seriousness.

Chen Xu, on the other hand, remained calm, trying his best to maintain his composure.

The stone door to the weapon-refining room creaked open.

Old Dong, who had been standing by the door for half a day, suddenly darted out like a monkey, standing about ten feet away, and then looked at Master Mao with an envious, jealous, and hateful gaze.

Master Mao walked ahead with his hands behind his back, swaggering out with his disciple. The two old men looked at each other.

Master Mao finally couldn't hold back and burst into laughter.

Old Ge couldn't hold back any longer and blurted out, "Senior brother is really something... lucky!"

"What did you say?" Master Mao glared angrily.

Old Ge quickly bent down and chuckled, saying:
"Brother Mao, what I'm saying is that you're really lucky to have taken on such a good disciple. It seems that even Heaven is on your side."

Master Mao burst into laughter, then strode away with his head held high and chest puffed out.

Only after he had led Chen Xu far away did his voice come from ahead: "Old Ge, fate is on your senior brother's side, but what about you? Are you on your senior brother's side?"

Old Ge exclaimed "Ah!" and craned his neck to look ahead, saying, "Senior brother, what are you saying? When have I ever not been on your side?"

“That would be great,” said Master Mao. “Next time my disciple comes to the private refinery, if you have the time, you should help your senior brother me out.”

I may not be able to guide my disciple in weapon forging every time. When I'm not here, you, as my senior uncle, will have to fill in for me. What do you say?

Old Ge was stunned for a moment.

Then he straightened his back, felt a jolt, and his originally wrinkled face immediately broke into a wide smile.

"Hey, senior brother, what are you saying?"

What matters to my senior brother is what matters to me!

"What do I mean by 'what if'? Of course, I must help, I must stand up for you."

"Good!" Master Mao laughed in response, his voice eventually fading into the distance.

He took Chen Xu away from Qian Duan Fang.

Chen Xu once again traversed the Fourth District, witnessing the magnificent scene of collective weapon forging, but that's another story.

When the two left Qian Duan Fang, they saw that the night was dark and the moon was high in the sky. They realized that it had gotten dark sometime earlier.

The two stayed in the weapon-refining room for nearly two or three hours.

Now that the night is deep and the moon is bright, the day has passed just like that.

The night at Shenjimen was dazzling. Chen Xu stood at the entrance of Qianduanfang and couldn't help but pause slightly.

Lights flickered everywhere along the road leading to the mountain gate.

Those that emitted light were not ordinary lanterns or the like.

Instead, they were puppet lamps with fluttering bronze wings and filled with lumen stones, each with a different shape!

These puppet lanterns are shaped like dragonflies, swallows, some like adorable raccoon dogs, and others with green faces, fangs, and tiger-like heads—

It turns out that these were some ferocious monsters that had been deliberately made to look innocent and docile.

All the puppet lanterns can fly in the air on their own without any deliberate control from anyone.

Chen Xu now had some basic understanding of weapon crafting and puppetry, so he asked Master Mao:

"Master, these puppet lamps can fly on their own, is it because they are engraved with wind pattern arrays and spirit abyss arrays?"

The Spirit Abyss Array provides energy, while the Wind Pattern Array propels flight.

Two simple formations are enough to make the puppet lamps fly in the air above the Divine Mechanism Gate every night.

They carried lumen stones that shone like luminous pearls, flitting through the night.

It makes the whole world look like a dream, like a fairyland from a legend.

This is the scenery on the path of spiritual practice, which is truly enviable.

After receiving an affirmative answer from Master Mao, Chen Xu asked, "Master, may I purchase two of these puppet lamps from the sect?"

Master Mao asked, "Why did you buy this little thing? It's useless except for lighting. These are all products of our disciples when they first learn array patterns."

I made far too many, and they wouldn't fetch a good price if I sold them, so I simply put them in the doorway as a light source.

Chen Xu said, "My two best friends are both childlike in spirit and will surely love this item."

Master Mao immediately exclaimed "Oh!"

(End of this chapter)