Tower Defense: Public Enemy

Chapter 501 Lucky Treasure Chest

Lei Chi, understanding the situation, remained silent, controlled his Azure Flame avatar to collect the token, and then quickly entered the passage ahead.

The next moment, he left the gatehouse and came to a small square behind it.

Looking ahead, there is a stone pillar in the center of the small square. On the pillar, there is a chain that holds a barefoot child who looks to be only five or six years old. The child sits cross-legged with a grin on his face, looking at Lei Chi with great curiosity. He is definitely not human, because he has a short golden horn between his eyebrows and his eyes are completely black.

"Are all these locked-up guys guides?"

Lei Chi's gaze swept past the boy and looked towards the back of the small square, where there were high stone steps leading to a palace that was even taller and more magnificent than the gate hall.

In addition, there are roads on both sides of the small square, connecting many buildings. These roads are open and seem to allow exploration.

"This is the activity area for outer disciples. Those who inherit through the gate hall are outer disciples and can move freely here. You are the third outer disciple to enter the Divine Palace this time. Show me your inheritance token."

The locked-up boy spoke, and even opened his palm towards the avatar of the Azure Flame.

Lei Chi controlled his Azure Flame avatar to take a few steps forward and respectfully presented his token. Besides Lei Chi's successor number, the token now only displayed his score for passing the sect's assessment.

The boy looked down, his eyes lighting up. "Luck 260, talent 220, conduct -100... Tsk tsk, just the type the coward doesn't like. But according to the rules the coward set, your total score is 380. You can move freely in this outer disciple area, and you can explore all the buildings..."

As he spoke, the boy tapped the token on the Thunder Pool a few times, then tossed it back to the Thunder Pool and continued, "Now you are free to move around. As an outer disciple, you can stay here until the Holy God Palace closes. Of course, you can leave early, or step onto the stairs behind me to enter the Hall of Blessings and undergo the inner disciple assessment. If you pass the inner disciple assessment, you can be promoted to an inner disciple and go to the inner disciple activity area. A friendly reminder: you only have one chance to take the inner disciple assessment. If you fail, you will be expelled from the Holy God Palace. So, whether you choose to be a content outer disciple or gamble on becoming an inner disciple, the decision is yours."

"Youfu Palace?"

Lei Chi controlled his Azure Flame avatar to look back at the magnificent hall behind him, where he could vaguely see the two characters "有福" (meaning "good fortune") on the plaque.

After thinking for a moment, Lei Chi asked, "May I ask what the inner sect assessment assesses? And how is one considered to have passed?"

The boy said, "Once you reach a total score of 500 on the tokens and gain the recognition of the guardian of the Hall of Blessings, you can become an inner disciple."

"Total score reached 500..."

Lei Chi looked at his token and seemed to understand something.

The boy continued, "Being able to move around here is a privilege for you outer disciples. Go find your own cultivation resources and personal opportunities, and don't waste your time here."

"yes!"

Lei Chi felt that the boy in front of him was not bad. He controlled his Azure Flame avatar to cup his hands to the boy, and then quickly walked to the right.

He didn't know what the inner sect assessment consisted of, but his current total score was 380, so he naturally couldn't pass the inner sect assessment. Instead, he should explore the outer sect disciples' activity area to see if there were any cultivation resources or personal opportunities.

The road to the right of the small square is quite wide, with nothing but emptiness on both sides, a hazy gray expanse where nothing can be seen, and there are "invisible walls" that prevent entry.

There are also invisible "air walls" in the sky. Lei Chi tested it and found that it is impossible to fly around randomly in this place.

Soon, Lei Chi arrived at the first building on the right-hand road.

The building is a not very tall octagonal house with a stone tablet in front of the door. The tablet has three large characters: "Blacksmith Shop"!

"A blacksmith shop?"

Lei Chi was quite curious and wanted to push the door open to enter, but then he discovered that there was also an invisible wall in front of the door. As he pushed the door open, a line of text appeared: "Enter the shop to forge iron with your token, and one point of good fortune will be deducted."

"They're even deducting points?"

Lei Chi became even more curious. He controlled his Azure Flame avatar to take out the inheritance token and press it forward. The air wall disappeared, and the door opened. Lei Chi entered and saw rows of neatly arranged worktables. Each worktable was equipped with drawers, iron boxes, pliers, anvils, two hammers (one large and one small), and other miscellaneous items.

This place is like a huge classroom, with each worktable being a desk and a podium in front of it. On the podium, a bright, blurry figure is making a tapping motion, as if giving a demonstration, with golden annotations constantly appearing around it.

Lei Chi even discovered a familiar face: Mo Lang, the captain of the Fallen Temple Hunter Squad.

He stood below the podium, next to the worktable in the very center of the first row, staring at the bright figure on the podium while banging on something.

He also spotted Lei Chi, turned around and glanced back, seemingly quite surprised, and said, "It's you! You actually passed the sect's assessment?"

Are you surprised?

Lei Chi controlled his Azure Flame avatar to walk forward. At this moment, he could see clearly that Mo Lang was indeed forging iron. On the workbench in front of him was a red-hot iron block. He held iron tongs in his left hand and an iron hammer in his right.

"You, a mere human, actually passed the test? You cheated!"

"Wow, you have a great eye for people!"

"Hmph! What was your score on the assessment?"

While asking questions, Mo Lang didn't forget to forge iron, clanging and banging the iron block in front of him.

"you guess!"

Lei Chi replied, carefully observing his surroundings, and already felt that this blacksmith shop was quite extraordinary.

"You little brat, I only asked you because I thought highly of you, and you don't even know how to appreciate it!"

Mo Lang muttered something, then slammed the hammer down again. With a clang, the iron block on the workbench vanished. Enraged, Mo Lang cursed, then opened the drawer on his left, using pliers to pull out the red-hot iron block. He began hammering it away, shouting at Lei Chi, "You little human thief, interfering with my blacksmithing is unforgivable! Once we're out of the Holy Palace, without anyone to protect us, I'll make you pay!"

The Azure Flame avatar sneered and ignored the squad leader. He went to Mo Lang's side and discovered more wonders.

There was a recess in the upper left corner of the workbench. Mo Lang placed his token inside, and the token then resembled a small display screen, showing text.

"Current blacksmith shop daily task: Process high-magnetic dark iron using the Galaxy Hundred Refinement Method."

Instructions: Remove the raw materials from the firebox and place the finished products into the finished product basket.

Finished products: 0

Scrap: 56

Finished product yield: 0%

Reward: None

Evaluation: An unqualified blacksmith apprentice. Please diligently learn the Star River Hundred Refinements Technique from your master blacksmith.

Lei Chi looked at the two iron hammers on the workbench. Although they looked very ordinary, like two rough iron hammers, they were obviously not ordinary objects. Their handles were engraved with names: one was called "Star River Hundred Refinement Hammer" and the other was called "Multiverse Hammer". At this moment, Mo Lang was using the "Star River Hundred Refinement Hammer". Every time he hammered the iron block, complex and mysterious patterns would flash across the surface of the hammer.

And the luminous figures on the "platform," after a brief observation, Lei Chi realized that they were probably the "blacksmith master," demonstrating the Star River Hundred Refinements Technique.

"That's rather interesting..."

Lei Chi thought to himself that he had already used up some of his good fortune, so he naturally couldn't leave empty-handed. He should learn the Star River Hundred Refinement Technique now. Although the technique might not be useful to him, it's always good to have more skills.

With this in mind, Lei Chi stood at the workbench next to Mo Lang, took out his inheritance token and placed it in the groove in the upper left corner.

Immediately, the workbench was activated. Lei Chi examined it briefly and found that the drawer on the left side of the workbench was the "fire box," which contained a continuous supply of materials. The iron box on the right side of the workbench was the finished product box. This should be a special storage or teleportation tool. Once a finished item is put into it, the item will immediately disappear.

The iron pliers, iron blocks, and other items on the workbench were clearly not ordinary objects either.

"This blacksmith shop is quite peculiar. Is it a place where outer sect disciples work? Where do the materials come from? Where do the finished products go? What power is used for heating? What happens to the scraps? There are too many mysteries; it's really hard to fathom. I wonder what power keeps it running so stably... If you do a good job working here, will you get a reward?"

Lei Chi watched the "blacksmith master" demonstrate the Star River Hundred Refinements Technique for a while, trying to understand it by combining it with the annotations. After a moment, he watched Mo Lang's blacksmithing practice and had an epiphany. He then opened the firebox like Mo Lang and found a piece of red-hot, highly magnetic dark iron inside.

The temperature of this high-magnetic dark iron is already at the optimal stage. Lei Chi doesn't need to worry about anything. He just needs to take it out and, as quickly as possible, use the Star River Hundred Refinement Technique to forge it.

As for the Star River Hundred Refinement Method, although it is called a hundred refinements, it actually requires 12900 hammer blows in total, with 129 blows as one round, and 100 rounds of hammering are required. The faster the hammering speed, the better, but there are requirements for the force. For Lei Chi, who has more than 13000 thoughts, learning this hammering method is not difficult.

However, the true secret of the Star River Hundred Refinements Technique lies in the Star River Hundred Refinements Hammer. This hammer has a special power that can cause special changes to the object it strikes.

Lei Chi wanted to learn the Star River Hundred Refinement Technique, but he already understood that he could only learn its "moves" and not its "internal strength". Unless he had a Star River Hundred Refinement Hammer, it would be impossible for him to use the Star River Hundred Refinement Technique outside the blacksmith shop.

As for the mysteries of this Hundred Refinements Technique, Lei Chi has no idea.

At this moment, Lei Chi did not hesitate. He quickly used fire tongs to take the high-magnetic dark iron out of the fire box, placed it on the iron felt, and then picked up the Star River Hundred-Refined Hammer and began to hammer it.

The Star River Hundred-Refined Hammer may look ordinary, but it is quite heavy, probably weighing tens of tons. Ordinary people would not be able to wield it, but for the Azure Flame Avatar, this weight is nothing.

Ding ding ding...

In less than three minutes, Lei Chi had been hammered more than 300 times. If he was not careful and made a mistake in hammering, he would lose his rhythm and the forging would fail. The high magnetic dark iron on the anvil would be judged as scrap and would quickly disappear.

Lei Chi didn't care. He opened the firebox again, took out a brand new piece of high-magnetic dark iron, and continued to hammer it.

Ten minutes later, Lei Chi made another mistake and failed to strike.

Thirty minutes later, Lei Chi failed to strike for the third time.

Another hour passed, and the fourth attempt to strike failed.

Then came the sixth failure, the seventh failure...

Half a day later, on the eighth hammering, Lei Chi successfully completed 99 rounds without mistakes. Unfortunately, the hammering speed was not fast enough, and the hammering time was exceeded. The highly magnetic dark iron on the iron felt once again became scrap and disappeared.

Lei Chi continued hammering tirelessly for the ninth time, completing one hundred rounds of hammering within an hour, and the first piece was finished.

When Lei Chi placed the finished product into the finished product box, Mo Lang, who was standing to the side, could no longer remain calm.

He has already produced 96 scraps, and to this day, he has not produced a single finished product.

"You've got pretty good stamina!" he thought to himself, then taunted, "Don't think you're anything special just because you've made a finished product. In my eyes, you're trash, and all humans are trash!"

Lei Chi ignored him and instead controlled the Azure Flame avatar to sit cross-legged.

The stone slab passage can be opened again.

A moment later, the Azure Flame Avatar opened its eyes and got up to forge iron again.

His original intent was then spent another ten years in seclusion within the stone slab passage. During this seclusion, the number of thoughts in the Thunder Pool reached 15000, the Trident Thunder Technique improved again, and the Free Mind State could be considered to have achieved minor success. However, the Meteor Intent was progressing very slowly without the ability to observe the [Cosmic Sword Technique] stele.

Ding ding ding...

Once his consciousness was projected into Qinghuo's body, Lei Chi focused solely on forging iron.

An hour later, Lei Chi completed the second finished product, and the information in the inheritance token was updated accordingly.

Another hour passed, and the third finished product appeared.

Another hour later, the fourth finished product appeared...

Lei Chi became more and more proficient in the "moves" of the Star River Hundred Refinements Technique. He wielded the Star River Hundred Refinements Hammer mechanically and ruthlessly, like a robot, without making the slightest mistake.

This is also because the Azure Flame incarnation possesses the body of a saint and has abundant physical strength. If it were the Thunder Pool's original body that came, it probably wouldn't work.

However, it wasn't easy for the Azure Flame Avatar to improve its blacksmithing efficiency; it could basically only complete one finished product in an hour.

Mo Lang would occasionally mock Lei Chi. He had never been able to complete a single piece, and he was quite frustrated. Sometimes he would even shout and yell, trying to interfere with Qing Huo's blacksmithing.

If it weren't for the guardians in the Holy Temple who forbade fighting, Lei Chi believed that this squad leader of the Fallen Temple would have already attacked the Azure Flame incarnation.

Before you know it, a day has passed.

Lei Chi guessed that the stone slab passage would be open soon, so he stopped forging and glanced at his inheritance token.

"Current blacksmith shop daily task: Process high-magnetic dark iron using the Galaxy Hundred Refinement Method."

Instructions: Take the raw materials out of the firebox and put the finished products into the finished product basket.

Finished products: 13

Failures: 8

Finished product yield: 61.9%

Reward: Awaiting settlement

Assessment: A qualified blacksmith's apprentice, with perseverance, will surely become an excellent blacksmith.

"Am I a qualified blacksmith apprentice now? What does 'reward awaiting settlement' mean?"

Lei Chi pondered silently for a moment, then looked at Mo Lang beside him. Good heavens, this man has wasted 206 pieces of material while forging iron, and still hasn't forged a single finished product.

"This guy's talent is far too poor; he's simply not suited for blacksmithing!"

Mo Lang felt the gaze of the Azure Flame avatar, glared back fiercely, and shouted, "Don't think you're so great just because you can forge iron! I'm a warrior, a hunter, and I don't need to forge iron!"

He threw down the Star River Hundred-Refined Hammer in his hand, angrily took off his inheritance token, and looked like he was about to overturn the table.

At that moment, the image of the "blacksmith master" on the podium suddenly disappeared, and the text information on Lei Chi's inheritance token was quickly refreshed.

"The current daily task has ended. Performance evaluation: you provided 13 finished products with a success rate above 60%, earning you 13 Lucky Chests. Please come up and choose! A new daily task will be refreshed soon..."

After this text appeared, a large number of treasure chests suddenly appeared on the "platform" in front of them. They were of various sizes, some as large as a square table and others as small as a jewelry box, and they were piled up together.

"Hmm, can we collect our payment now?"

Lei Chi was overjoyed. He controlled his Azure Flame avatar to slowly walk onto the platform, then turned to Mo Lang and said, "You've been mocking me all along, but I couldn't be bothered to pay attention. Now it seems that you, an outer disciple, can't even do your daily tasks properly, wasting your time here. You're utterly useless. Where does your sense of superiority come from?"

After saying that, the Azure Flame Avatar laughed three more times. He didn't care how Mo Lang reacted and turned to pick out the Fortune Treasure Chest.

There were probably more than a hundred treasure chests on the "platform". Lei Chi knew he could only choose 13. After thinking for a moment, he picked 12 from largest to smallest.

"Let's pick the 12 biggest chests first. Bigger chests mean bigger items, so the chances of them containing good stuff are probably higher. As for the last chest, let's pick the smallest one!"

Lei Chi made up his mind and quickly picked out all 13 lucky treasure chests, then opened them on the spot in descending order of size.

(End of this chapter)