"The Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, in addition to our famed Nine-Tailed Fire Fox technique and powerful martial arts, is also famed for producing many spirit engravers and blacksmiths."

Elder Zhao had taken the initiative to explain to us the prestige of the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect.

After the second stage of the examination, only a total of about a hundred candidates had managed to pass and reach the third stage. We were then led into a cavern built into the middle of the volcano, where many small forging furnaces lay.

Beneath each furnace were small amounts of low-quality fire crystals, and on a nearby table, various types of spirit materials were neatly spread out for our use.

While I held my token and followed Tong Xue, each of us was led to one furnace under the direction of Lian Rou while Elder Zhao's voice droned on and on in the background. Liang Shao Yang and Yin Jin Jin had also passed the exam and were standing in front of their own furnaces. The latter had warmed up to me because of my "contribution" earlier and she nodded at me. Lian Rou finally had help in the form of nine other Nine-Tailed Fox Sect disciples, who followed her lead and directed the hundred or so candidates to their respective furnaces.

"These spirit engraved armaments are used in every sect and martial arts organization," Elder Zhao informed us proudly as the flames in the Flame Volcano flickered, casting insidious shadows over his face. "They are crafted by disciples of our sect."

He then swept his gaze over us.

"That is why the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect remains influential and powerful in the Great Zhou Empire. Even the Martial Arts Alliance has to respect us."

I'm sure they did..or they were most likely plotting something behind your back to usurp you of your power. Like all other cliché wuxia stories.

"The Nine-Tailed Fox Sect consists of the inner sect and the outer sect," Elder Zhao continued gravely. "Once you become outer sect disciples, you'll eventually have a chance to become inner sect disciples if we see that you have the potential, and we will have actual, authentic master spirit engravers train you."

The lights above seemed to brighten along with the smoldering flames that burned at the center of the cavern.

"The hundred and eleven of you have passed the second stage of the outer sect examination," Elder Zhao told us with relish. I gulped at that. The examination had certainly been brutal. Out of the four hundred plus candidates who had originally registered to take the examination, seventy-five percent of us had been eliminated, and only 111 of us remained. That was quite the intimidating prospect, now that I thought about it.

To be fair, the theoretical exam had eliminated half of that number, so only about a hundred got eliminated by the second stage of the exam. To be fair, if you couldn't pass the theory exam, I doubted you would be able to pass the second stage of the exam, where you had to distinguish between the Spirit Engravings and climb the appropriate pillars to reach the mountaintop.

"Everything has been prepared for all of you," Elder Zhao declared as he gestured at the materials lying on our tables. "I assume you all already know what we want you to do. That's right, it's pretty obvious, isn't it? You're all to forge a spirit armament. Any elemental affinity – metal, wood, water, fire or earth – is fine. Of course, metal armaments are the easiest to forge, especially when you recall that forging and combining metals require the simplest processes. That said, you have free rein to forge whatever you want. Use whatever spirit materials you want – it doesn't have to be all of them! And create whatever gear you want! Armor, swords, hammers, spears, bows, arrows, axes, whatever! Anything is fine as long as you can create it!"

After pacing around, Elder Zhao finally stopped at the middle of the cavern and turned around to face all of us. With a holler, he swung down his hand.

"Without further ado, let the third exam begin!"

Liang Shao Yang, Tong Xue and Yin Jing Jing all seemed to move at the exact same moment, immediately igniting their fire crystals and lighting up their furnaces. Everyone else followed closely a few seconds later, sparking their fire crystals to life and lighting up their furnaces.

I was the only one who hadn't started up the fire yet. Instead, I picked up and identified each and every spirit material I had available to me.

"Uh..Auric Gold, Crimson Copper, Ethereal Silver.."

Running through the names in my mind, I wondered what sort of spirit armament I could forge with them. I had only created weapons out of ice, but obviously that wouldn't be enough to pass this Nine-Tailed Fox Sect examination.

For one thing, my ice weapons weren't meant to last long. Not only would they melt within the intense heat of the furnaces clustered within this enclosed cavern before long, they weren't sturdy enough to maintain their existence beyond an hour or two. That wasn't something I could call a spirit armament. No, they were pretty much..forgeries. Imitations. Fake weapons projected temporarily into existence to serve a specific function before disappearing forever.

So what exactly should I do?

Well, since ice weapons are the ones I have most familiarity with, thanks to my elemental affinity and techniques, I might as well stick to those.

Ice was just water element imbued with more yin qi than yang qi. And Elder Zhao said we were allowed to forge weapons with the water elemental affinity.

The aforementioned Elder Zhao was moving around the group, observing this year's batch. He was keeping a close eye on Liang Shao Yang, Yin Jing Jing and Tong Xue, ensuring that he didn't stray too far from their positions.

Not only did these three have the highest martial arts cultivation of all the examinees, their backgrounds were also far from ordinary. They most likely had studied forging armaments within their own sects before coming to take the exam. That was why, whether it was their experience or their techniques, Elder Zhao couldn't help but be impressed with them. He was confident that these three would not only pass the examination without a hitch, and would be this year's top disciples. In fact, he would bet on them attaining the chance to enter the inner sect before long.

As for me, he only asked me to join on a whim, but he was just as aware as I was that I didn't have the background or talent necessary to forge artifacts. He was impressed by my trick with the ice pillars during the second stage of the exam, though, so he naturally glanced in my direction from time to time. I was afraid I had to disappoint him because I was taking my time to identify the spirit materials and come up with a weird design for an artifact.

Of course, being an impartial invigilator who had one eye on the future of the sect, Elder Zhao would naturally pay more attention to the actual talented prodigies who had a high chance of becoming inner sect disciples in the future, so that he could make preparations in advance.

"Senior Hu?"

"Senior Hu, why are you here?!"

A fiery red figure suddenly appeared within the cavern, dressed in a skimpy pink and white dress, while her long, pink hair flowed breezily in the wafts of hot air that rose from the numerous furnaces. It was a beautiful seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl. Even the loose blacksmith robe that she wore over her pink and white dress was unable to conceal the seductive curves of her body, which included her ample chest and wide hips. That gorgeous figure alone was able to tempt any man and fill his heart with nearly uncontrollable lust.

Or something like that, anyway. I mean, you could probably guess what sort of descriptions came with beautiful girls in wuxia or xianxia story by now. Just be glad I didn't resort to using white, jade-like skin, okay?

As soon as she showed up, the eyes of all the male Nine-Tailed Fox Sect disciples present were immediately drawn to her, filled with excitement and desire. They managed to clamp down on their blossoming emotions and greeted her politely.

Even the male examinees were distracted despite trying to focus all their attention on forging. Their concentration began to slip as they occasionally snuck glances at her gorgeous figure while crafting their armaments.

"Mei Er, why are you here today?" Elder Zhao asked with a warm smile. He waved at her as she bounced about the cavern, and then continued. "Well, it's good that you're here. Since you've come all the way here, you might as well help me grade them. There are a few outstanding youths in this batch, so you might want to take note, keep them in mind and think about who you want as your assistant later. You'll get a chance a few days later.."

"Uncle Zhao!" Hu Mei Er greeted him enthusiastically. "Sorry for disturbing the exam. I came here today so that I can choose a few people to be my assistant. All the promising candidates from previous years have already been picked by my fellow disciples. This time I'll make sure not to miss out on any of them!"

Her blue eyes sparkled like sapphire as a pretty smile curved across her lovely face. There was some sort of elegant charm to the way she seemed to shyly avoid the looks of the examinees in the cavern.

"Ha ha!" Elder Zhao chortled. "It's your fault for being arrogant the previous few times! You thought there weren't any promising candidates and dismissed the exams. In the end, there were a few outstanding candidates who helped your fellow disciples plenty by properly separating and refining spirit materials, thus saving them a lot of time and energy! Who asked you to miss out on the batches from the previous years?"

Hu Mei Er sulked at that. "But before that, there weren't any promising candidates, and they barely passed the exams! There wasn't even a single one I could use, so I ended up giving up on all those new recruits!"

"Well, don't worry. I can guarantee you that you'll be able to find some talented assistants this time around," Elder Zhao assured her with another chuckle. "Though I'm afraid some of them will already be taken by others."

He glanced pointedly at Tong Xue's direction, suspecting that he would only follow Lian Rou. Lian Rou probably already had dibs on him as well.

"I understand." Hu Mei Er nodded with a smile and began hovering around the courtyard like a ghost, drifting next to each examinee to observe their armament forging process and Spirit Engravings.

Unfortunately for these examinees, when they realized that she was nearby – her presence preceded by an intoxicating fragrance – they would lose focus and began to make mistakes and become sloppy with their refining methods.

".."

Hu Mei Er could only shake her head in disappointment, and then leave for the next examinee. Her pink figure ghosted across the shadows of the cavern, almost like a dancing butterfly in a meadow.

Most of the candidates ended up glancing at her with lustful eyes, and even those who weren't approached directly by Hu Mei Er couldn't help but cast their gazes in the direction of her beautiful figure. Apparently they forgot the reason why they were here in the first place.

"Again, another useless person who isn't able to focus on forging armaments and control his state of mind.."

Hu Mei Er sighed and shook her head. Despite her disillusionment, she continued to move around. More candidates ended up losing focus in order to drool over her seductive figure, her flirty movements throwing their concentration off. However, unaware of her own charm, Hu Mei Er could only feel let down.

"Mei Er, there are three people you should pay close attention to," Elder Zhao informed her gently. "They might just be the candidates you're looking for."

The moment Hu Mei Er returned to his side, Elder Zhao directed her attention toward Liang Shao Yang, Yin Jing Jing and Tong Xue. He made sure to stay a good distance away and kept his voice down, lest they overhear him and flatter themselves.

"They have great potential, their backgrounds are extraordinary, and they clearly have experience in forging armaments. I'm confident that they will pass the examination."

Liang Shao Yang, Yin Jing Jing and Tong Xue were located near the front of the cavern. Hu Mei Er had previously passed through there in her first round, having realized that the trio were the center of attention.

She nodded gratefully at Elder Zhao's reminder, and proceeded toward the front row. Dropping beside Liang Shao Yang in an elegant movement, she peered over his shoulder.

Liang Shao Yang immediately tensed up, his aura turning murderous. Far from being intimidated, Hu Mei Er actually brightened up in excitement. She cheerfully approached the furnace, her eyes glinting passionately and she stared at Liang Shao Yang with an adoring and smitten gaze.

Unfortunately, this was one of Hu Mei Er's usual modus operandi.

A fiery, passionate stare of adoration. Up to the present, she had not failed even once in using this to charm a man. There were very few men who could resist her charms.

Apparently, when forging an armament, there was very room for error. If one was distracted, even for a second, their movements would be affected, and even the most minor effects would show in the refining process.

Aware of this, Hu Mei Er observed Liang Shao Yang's every move.

"Hmm.."

She placed a finger on her lips as she watched passionately. Liang Shao Yang remained unmoved, for now. Compared to the other candidates, he was much calmer and a lot more focused. Even when he was under her intense, passionate gaze, Liang Shao Yang continued to focus his attention on the furnace in front of him and handled the spirit materials with utmost care. He was meticulous in his techniques, measuring the exact same quantities of spirit materials and melting them upon the furnace whenever necessary.

The complete opposite of me, who had no idea what I was doing and randomly throwing arbitrary quantities of spirit materials into the furnace without any care for exact quantities and volumes. As I said before, I didn't care much for the quantification of anything, I was all heart and emotion, and opposed to positivism.

In contrast, there was not even the tiniest mistake in every single action of Liang Shao Yang. I was so jealous of him in that regard.

Hu Mei Er nodded in approval, surprised and impressed by Liang Shao Yang's commitment to forging stuff. The seductive smile on her lovely face widened, and everyone looking at her couldn't help but feel a flash of desire.

Without breaking away, Hu Mei Er gently nudged into the space beside and behind Liang Shao Yang and intentionally pressed her chest against his arm. She leaned closer to whisper into his ear with a throaty chuckle.

"You're a little different from the other men, aren't you?"

As expected, even Liang Shao Yang's self-control crumbled a little at that. The fingers on his left hand trembled slightly as he drew a deep breath.

Crack.

Unfortunately, that was more than enough to cause him to slip up, and he inadvertently crushed a piece of Crimson Copper into powder.

Hu Mei Er glanced at him before withdrawing abruptly, her elegant lips curling in disdain even as she maintained that beautiful smile. "I guess you're not that different after all.."

No longer paying any attention to poor Liang Shao Yang, she changed her target and proceeded toward Tong Xue this time.

"Oh wow..I thought Liang Shao Yang would be able to ignore Senior Hu's charm, but I guess he's a guy after all."

"Still, he did very well to resist all the way until the end. He's doing much better than the other guys taking the exam."

"Heh..yeah. Senior Hu has been the sect's second-most talented disciple for the past ten years, second only to Senior Tang. She has also been one of the most beautiful disciples as well, on par with Senior Tang."

"Yeah..if she wasn't so young, both she and Senior Tang will be the top two people in the inner sect. they're both geniuses when it comes to Spirit Engraving and forging spirit armaments."

"Hai..I wish I could be chosen by either Senior Hu or Senior Tang. I would be satisfied even if the only thing I do everyday is polish spirit materials for them."

"Me too."

The few outer sect disciples who were helping out with invigilating the exam sighed as they whispered to each other along the walls of the cavern. They all glanced at Hu Mei Er, clearly infatuated with her beauty.

"Really? You guys should aspire to reach higher."

"EH?! Senior Tang?!"

The outer sect disciples jumped when Tang Qi Hong suddenly showed up. She placed her hands on her hips and glared at them.

"What kind of nonsense are you guys babbling about?"

"Eek..forgive us.."

Fortunately for them, Lian Rou came to the rescue.

"Qi Hong, what are you doing here?"

"O..of course I'm here to look at the potential candidates! Like Senior Hu, I'm looking for an assistant!"

Tang Qi Hong couldn't help but glance in my direction, and grew a little worried when she saw the mess I was creating. Lian Rou couldn't help but giggle.

"Don't worry. I'm sure Fei Wu will find a way."

"W..who says I'm worried about him? And why does it have to be Fei Wu?!" Tang Qi Hong was flustered, and then tried to divert Lian Rou's attention away from me. "Rather than me and Fei Wu, shouldn't you be more worried about Tong Xue?"

While the two girls and the male outer sect disciples were whispering to each other, Hu Mei Er had made her way toward Tong Xue, suddenly appearing beside him.

Tong Xue had originally been focusing on forging his armament. When Hu Mei Er appeared beside him, he simply smiled at her.

Unfortunately, I couldn't afford to pay much attention to their conversation because one of the Sea Sapphire crystals just condensed and I had to focus every bit of attention I had into crafting it into a long shape. By the time I finished that, it seemed that their conversation had taken quite the unusual turn. Hu Mei Er's brow was twitching in annoyance as she was forced to listen to Tong Xue ramble on and on about something.

"I'm very sorry, Senior Hu. Even though I admit that you're beautiful, but my heart already belongs to someone else."

Even as he conversed, fiery and shadowy qi blended and amalgamated as he skillfully crafted his artifact.

"Would you like to know who that person is? Should I tell you who she is?"

There was no need to..it was obvious that the person his heart belonged to was none other than Lian Rou.

"I think it's best if you focus on forging your spirit armament," Hu Mei Er told him as a bead of perspiration rolled down her face.

Hu Mei Er had originally intended to test Tong Xue's mental fortitude, which was why she had approached him with a bright smile, but he ended up turning the tables on her by rambling on about his beloved Lian Rou.

That guy was remarkable. I should learn from him. Unable to deal with Tong Xue, Hu Mei Er had no choice but to withdraw.

"This kid.." On the other side of the cavern, Elder Zhao burst out laughing.

"I told you there's no need to worry about Tong Xue," Lian Rou told Tang Qi Hong, her expression half-flattered and half-triumphant. Tang Qi Hong could only wave her best friend's remark away and chuckle sourly.

"Yeah, yeah. You're so lucky."

Hu Mei Er gave Tong Xue one final glare before she gave up and withdrew. As much as she wanted to affect him and throw off his focus, she wasn't sure she could stand listening one more second about how deeply he was in love with Lian Rou, or she might actually throw up. She chose to instead glance in Yin Jing Jing's direction.

However, she shook her head and whispered silently to herself. "She's a girl. There's nothing I can do about her then.."

She finally returned to Elder Zhao's side with a sigh. "I guess Liang Shao Yang's the most useful of the bunch."

"What about the other two?" Elder Zhao inquired with a smile.

"You're kidding, right? Lian Rou can have that Tong Xue guy, since it's obvious that they're so deeply in love with each other."

"That's.." Lian Rou mumbled as she blushed, but she was unable to deny that. Tang Qi Hong, who was beside her, giggled and placed an encouraging hand on her best friend's shoulder.

"As for Yin Jing Jing, I'll have no choice but to wait until she finishes forging her spirit armament. I'll be sure to keep an eye on her. But.." Hu Mei Er's shoulders drooped slightly. "By that time that happens, the rest of the seniors would have arrived by then, and I might not be able to pick the assistant I want."

"I see..should I book Liang Shao Yang for you then?"

"Do you mind waiting a bit? I'll take another look. If there really isn't anyone suitable enough, then I'll have no choice but to pick Liang Shao Yang."

Hu Mei Er frowned in dissatisfaction. She obviously didn't seem pleased to settle for Liang Shao Yang despite him clearly being heads and shoulders above the rest. I shook my head, thinking that her expectations were incredibly unrealistic and too high. As much as I resented Liang Shao Yang for the stunts he pulled during the second stage of the exam, his peerless skill and incredible talent were undeniable. Not to mention, his focus was nearly unrivaled.

"Who do you have your eyes on, Junior Tang?" Hu Mei Er asked spitefully. Apparently the two girls had something of a bitter rivalry and clearly didn't get along well with each other. Tang Qi Hong narrowed her eyes and folded her arms.

"I don't see how it's any of your business."

"Hmph. It'll probably be a useless trash anyway."

Hu Mei Er regarded her number one rival with scorn and turned away. She then returned to the center of the hundred or so aspiring blacksmiths in hopes of finding someone suitable. This time, she decided to explore the corners and edges of the crowd where she hadn't ventured toward previously. Perhaps she would get lucky and have a fortuitous encounter.

While wandering around the edges, Hu Mei Er flitted from candidate to candidate, intently scrutinizing them one by one, and occasionally she would approach her target and stare at him passionately. The poor guy would be distracted and made a mistake, or commit some sort of sloppy maneuver during the delicate refining process.

When that happened, Hu Mei Er would immediately leave and select a new target to test. Unfortunately, she ran into disappointment again and again, no matter which target she chose.

At least until she finally neared my position and felt the bone-numbing chill that emanated from my not-so-fiery furnace.

By that point, Hu Mei Er had grown disillusioned and wasn't paying much attention to me or any of the remaining candidates.

"There are only a few people left," she remarked to herself. Oi, I can hear you, you know. "If I still can't find anyone, then I have no choice but to choose Liang Shao Yang."

She said that as if it was a bad thing. The guy was destined for great things, and I could see him very well becoming one of the top blacksmiths or martial artists in the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect. his future was limitless. Yet for some reason Hu Mei Er wasn't satisfied with him. I guess this was a situation of a fool not knowing just how fortunate she really was.

But who Hu Mei Er chose was none of my business, and I had to pass this exam, firstly to spite Liang Shao Yang, and secondly, so that I wouldn't let Tang Qi Hong down.

"Br..!"

Feeling the icy cold that emanated from my furnace, Hu Mei Er couldn't help but feel surprised. Her jaw dropped when she saw what I was doing.

"Huh? What is that young man doing? He's using an ice technique to forge a spirit artifact? How does that work? So strange.."

While she was musing to herself and observing me, those thoughts stopped right in her head when she caught sight of what I was forging.

"Eh? I've never seen such a spirit armament before.."

That was because I was trying to forge not a conventional weapon like a sword or spear or shield, but a..gun.

There were no guns or rifles or projectile weapons in this timeline. Mostly because they were obsolete and pointless, not when people could shoot fireballs or icicles out of their hands. If you could fire off qi blasts with your bare hands, what need had you of a gun? That was why the firearms technology in this timeline extended no more than bows and arrows.

But there were bows and arrows, which meant that I could apply that same ranged projectile weapon concept to guns. There was no reason why I couldn't infuse the bullets with qi and create a devastating ranged weapon that would be far more effective than spirit bows and arrows. Spirit guns were cool.

At least that was what I thought, anyway.

Presently, I was molding the shape of the gun using ice. Sculpting the firing pin, the barrel, the breech, the firing bolt, the spring, the grip and the muzzle separately, first using ice as a blueprint, I poured the metals into the icy molds and began to harden them with qi. Part by part, I began assembling the rifle together and then inscribed the only Spirit Engraving I knew. One I learned while cultivating Heaven and Earth Formula.

The complex mechanisms (well, it wasn't that complex if you knew how to do it) and the myriad of parts required to assemble a single rifle wasn't something that Hu Mei Er had seen before. She couldn't help but feel fascinated, despite not being able to comprehend the true nature of the deadly ranged weapon.

But she was definitely impressed.

A mischievous smile crept over her beautiful face, which then curled in a seductive manner. She wore the same passionate gaze that she had successfully used on all the other guys in the cavern as she stared at me, and emanated her undefeatable charm.

Despite being very aware and self-conscious of Hu Mei Er being so close to me in proximity, I tried my best not to look at her. For one thing, I could feel Tang Qi Hong's terrifying glare on me. The message was clear. If I fell to Hu Mei Er's charms, she would personally kill me. Even though we weren't officially going out or anything..

Wow, a woman's jealousy was absolutely terrifying. I was more afraid of what Tang Qi Hong would do to me than being tempted by Hu Mei Er's beauty and passionate, adoring gaze. Glancing in Tang Qi Hong's direction to assure her that I wouldn't crumble, I then returned my attention to my ice rifle.

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"Oh..? I see how it is.."

Hu Mei Er had caught the exchange between me and Tang Qi Hong, and she understood the situation. The smile on her lovely face grew wider as she began to scheme something in those dark corners of her mind.

This wasn't good. I felt like a new toy that Hu Mei Er had just discovered, and knew that she was going to start playing with me.

"An interesting fella like Liang Shao Yang. I see, so you're the assistant that Junior Tang Qi Hong picked. Let me see if I can steal you away from her.."

To be honest, Hu Mei Er had no interest in my abilities or talent (or the lack of it, actually). She was nursing a grudge against Tang Qi Hong for suddenly appearing a couple of years ago and stealing her number one disciple spot away from her, as well as rivaling her in beauty. That was why she resented Tang Qi Hong, and she decided to get back at her by stealing what belonged to her.

But it wasn't as if I belonged to Tang Qi Hong. I wasn't sure how I felt about being treated like an object, but it certainly did not feel pleasant.

Nonetheless, I had more important things to worry about. Such as trying to successfully inscribe the Spirit Engraving I had in mind on the gun. This was important, as it would distinguish the gun from a normal one if it could draw upon qi from the Spirit Engraving.

"Oh?"

Apparently, because I was afraid of Tang Qi Hong and thus able to resist her charms, Hu Mei Er grew even more interested in me, thinking that I had somehow surpassed her expectations. Which I didn't, but whatever.

"Let's hope you won't disappoint me. I wonder if you'll be able to hold out for a while longer."

Suddenly, she giggled, and in a flash, her voluptuous figure was pressing on my left. Smiling, she closed in and whispered into my ear seductively.

"That's an interesting armament you're forging. I've never seen it before. Do you mind telling me the details of what you're crafting?"

Her sizeable breasts were scant centimeters away from my left arm. And for some reason I could feel fevered heat radiating from her gorgeous figure. The girl was sure pouring on the charm on a plebian like me.

Those rosy, red lips..that sweet fragrance that wafted from her seemingly delicate body as she moved, those fiery, passionate eyes..and the attractive figure that approac-->>

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