The forging hammer that Bai Zemin had crafted using a precious Rank 2 metal, Refined Crusher, was a Rank 1 weapon with considerably high physical and magical attack power. Thanks to this hammer, he was able to mold the hardness of a Rank 2 metal to his liking which with his normal old hammer would have been no different than an impossible task.
However, it was true that Bai Zemin could hardly be considered a blacksmith who was just getting into the world of the forge. His skill Blacksmithing of First Order maximum level was nothing when it came to real blacksmiths that had forging as their main profession and he didn't need to be told by Lilith for him to know that there were definitely people more talented than him out there when it came to forging equipment.
Even so, Bai Zemin had always been quite satisfied with his forging ability. He even managed to forge a Rank 3 sword with great physical attack power and excellent Options.
Even the equipment that the asura race used did not seem to be a big deal in the eyes of Bai Zemin since he could forge them on his own; this caused him to mistakenly think that while there should be a good blacksmith somewhere in the universe, he probably wouldn't come across one anytime soon or perhaps never in his lifetime.
However, after the records of the hammer in his hand flashed in the eyes of Bai Zemin he finally realized how much he lacked when it came to ability and experience in forging equipment.
[Hammer of Excellence -} [One-handed weapon.] [Rank: 3] [Physical attack power: 0]
[Magical attack power: 0] [Durability: 20,000 / 20,000] [Options -} [1) Increases by 20% the probabilities of success when forging a Rank 2 equipment.]
[2) Chances of the blacksmith's will being transmitted to the Options of the new equipment forged using Hammer of Excellence are increased by 15%.]
[3) Increases the shaping speed of any metal below Rank 4 by 50%.]
[Description: As its name suggests, this hammer is the perfect piece of equipment for any novice-intermediate blacksmith. Made by a high-level blacksmith with the intention of leaving its goodwill to the next generation to come before its life came to an end.]
Bai Zemin closed his eyes and as he held the hammer in his hands he couldn't help but sigh.
"Such a good forging hammer... I really have a lot to learn yet."
Humans were creatures who by excellence believed they were the best at everything, and unless they saw someone else doing it better than them, they would probably live their whole lives self-deluding themselves. Bai Zemin was no different in this regard because although he knew that somewhere in the vast universe there must exist a blacksmith more talented than him, in his heart he still felt slightly pleased since to date he had not seen any equipment forged by someone else that could truly amaze him.
Even when he invaded a world in its Third Stage such a thing did not happen.
But now, Bai Zemin finally understood the point that there were mountains beyond mountains and the thought that it was not good to be too arrogant took even stronger root in his heart.
Intrigued by Bai Zemin's complimentary attitude, Shangguan Bing Xue and Wu Yijun approached and inspected the hammer as well once he put it down on the workbench again. Although the two women did not understand very much about forging, it was not necessary to be a blacksmith genius to comprehend that the hammer in front of them was a true masterpiece.
Shangguan Bing Xue had been present during the forging process of Bai Zemin's hammer and she had thought it was an excellent piece of equipment for blacksmithing. However, it was only after seeing the Hammer of Excellence that she understood the true meaning of the word excellent.
"In contrast to my hammer which can also be used as an attack weapon, this Hammer of Excellence is not suitable for fighting at all despite being a Rank 3 equipment. It is clear that the blacksmith who forged it knew how to focus and transmit its will to the tool it wanted to craft in such a way that a forging hammer is only good for forging, as it is supposed to be. In exchange for serving nothing but forging equipment, this hammer is in fact excellent in terms of fulfilling its purpose." Bai Zemin pointed as he caressed the worktable.
[Worktable of the Dreamer -} [Special Object] [Rank 3] [Durability: 100,000 / 100,000]
[Options -} [1) Decreases by 30% the probability of failure during the forging process.]
[2) Decreases drastically the chances of failure during the Magic Forge process.]
[3) Equipment of Rank 3 or lower completed on the Worktable of the Dreamer has a 1% chance of replicating itself.]
[Description: A worktable with the capacity to help fulfill the dreams of those just embarking on the long, endless path of forging and whose Options are comparable to those of a Rank 4 Special Object.]
The expression of Bai Zemin froze as did the hand with which he was just a moment ago caressing the surface of the seemingly normal worktable whose appearance could be considered as ugly due to the black-purple ash-black stains indelible with time.
This... My God! Even the worktable was a Rank 3 object! A treasure! Bai Zemin almost died of a heart attack as the thought of possibly having left behind such a divine object crossed his mind.
This was the first time he had seen a worktable specially crafted by post-apocalyptic materials, and in fact, with all that was going on in his life lately and no time to stop to think everything through clearly, Bai Zemin had overlooked how important a "simple" worktable could be to a blacksmith!
The Option 1 decreased the chances of failure when forging an object was already amazing enough as a support for any blacksmith regardless of how excellent they were.
The Option 2 decreased the chances of failure during Magic Forging. Update faster? please come to p.a.n.d.a n.ovel This option alone made a novice like Bai Zemin want to kneel down and take as his master the person who left these things behind.
As for the Option number 3.... While there was only a minuscule 1% chance of it happening, that 1% meant that in theory, 1 out of every 100 pieces of equipment forged would be duplicated.
In low numbers, the Option number 3 was quite insignificant in comparison to the other two, however, when the numbers grew, the power of the Option number 3 grew as well. When it came to equipping an entire army, this Option was undoubtedly a godsend for the blacksmith and destined to strengthen an entire faction or even race!
Besides, if by any coincidence Bai Zemin forged some Rank 3 equipment and if by any coincidence any of them got duplicated.... He could go to sleep with a smile of happiness on his face for several weeks!
Shangguan Bing Xue and Wu Yijun were speechless as they watched Bai Zemin gulping and looking at every single thing inside the workshop no matter its size with wolfish eyes just like a hungry man after being released from prison looking at a beautiful woman.
When Bai Zemin thought that all these objects destined for the forge were precious treasures, he could not contain himself and began to inspect the records of each one. He did not discriminate by size and even looked at the smallest chisel in detail!
"Pahahahaha!" He laughed out loud and forgetting that he had an audience said in a cheerful voice: "This daddy has really gotten rich! Rich, I tell you! All these babies belong to me!"
Shangguan Bing Xue approached Wu Yijun and while looking at Bai Zemin out of the corner of her eye, she whispered in her ear, "Yijun, it seems he's into daddy girl stuff. You'd better be careful from now on."
The corner of Wu Yijun's mouth twitched a couple of times and she blushed slightly but didn't comment on it.
On the other hand, Lilith sneaked up to Shangguan Bing Xue and in her ear whispered something in a voice that only she could hear.
"Shut up!!"
Shangguan Bing Xue suddenly yelled out loud, startling Wu Yijun and Bai Zemin.
"Bing Xue...? Are you okay?" Wu Yijun looked at her in shock. Could it be that there were ghosts or evil spirits in this place? She subconsciously raised her guard.
On the other hand, Bai Zemin understood that most likely Lilith had just made something as he could see anger on Shangguan Bing Xue's slightly flushed face.
"Hmph! You can't fool me, you little perverted pigeon!" Lilith snorted and this time she did not hide her voice from Bai Zemin.
Shangguan Bing Xue gritted her teeth and ignoring Wu Yijun's weird eyes she looked at Bai Zemin gasping in indignation.
Bai Zemin did not know whether to laugh or cry as she looked at him as if she was blaming him for something.
My dear great aunt, did I do something to offend you? Bai Zemin was confirming more and more every day the wise words of his father who claimed even after more than twenty years of marriage that women were simply incomprehensible.
"But then again..." Bai Zemin looked at the piece of charcoal in his hand and couldn't help but get happy as he slowly said, "To think that these charcoals actually contain Black Fire Sulfur. Update faster? please come to P.an.da N.o.vel It seems that the original owner and creator of these items didn't have a powerful flame so he or she had no choice but to look for different means to be able to melt metals and other things of higher quality."
"Black Fire Sulfur?" Shangguan Bing Xue suddenly seemed to think of something and forgetting for a moment what had just happened remarked in surprise, "Isn't that one of the requirements needed to make magic powder?"
"Yeah." Bai Zemin chuckled and threw the piece of charcoal beside the rest before slowly saying, "That formula has been resting too long. It's time for us to see what this so-called magic powder thing can do."
The amount of progress that the faction led by Bai Zemin would make once everything they acquired during this expedition was integrated and slowly began to take effect will undoubtedly be colossal, to say the least.
After making sure he had left nothing to be inspected, Bai Zemin with the help of Wu Yijun and Shangguan Bing Xue disassembled everything and loaded everything onto an ice wagon that the latter had created in the middle of the teleportation circle.
"I knew it was right to bring you."
"... For some reason I feel like I've been reduced to a cargo builder."
After joking with Shangguan Bing Xue, Bai Zemin looked to a corner of the room and with a weird expression approached.
"Meng Qi, what have you been doing all this time?"
"Ah!" Meng Qi jumped in fright when she felt someone tapping her shoulder. She turned around and upon seeing the face of the person she calmed down, finally remembering where she was. She looked at Bai Zemin with eyes filled with reproach and stomped on the ground, "Big brother, are you stupid? You scared me!"
The corner of Bai Zemin's mouth twitched again.... For some reason, all the women around him were slowly starting to become a bit annoyed and blamed him for everything even though he hadn't done anything.
"Cough... So, is something wrong? We're leaving." Bai Zemin pointed to the other two women who were waiting for them to teleport outside.
"About that..." Meng Qi frowned and turned to look at the wall in front of her where there was another one of so many magic circles in the room. She pointed to a particular rune in the composition and explained, "Big brother, do you see this rune? I remember seeing it in the teleportation magic circle. However, I am sure that this magic circle here is not meant for teleportation as the other runes that compose it clearly have another purpose."
Bai Zemin looked at the rune his sister was pointing to but he had no idea about runes so he didn't know what she meant. In the end, all he could do was look at Meng Qi again with questioning eyes and with a movement of his head told her to continue.
"I... I'm not quite sure..." Meng Qi paused from what she was about to say and instead took out the notebook from before where she had drawn many runes, magic circles, and where she had written down the characteristics and functions of each magic circle, while looking at it with a thoughtful expression on her face, she commented, "This rune actually means Chameleon, and its function seems to be to hide or camouflage.... This would also explain the reason why from outside the pagodas the teleportation circle is not visible and that weird feeling we feel when we walk through the doors."
"Oh?" Bai Zemin's ears twitched slightly as if they had picked up some interesting information. He looked up at the wall, more specifically the magic circle that had been engraved in white, and asked in a careful voice, "So.... You're telling me that this magic circle is hiding a room and that this part of the wall is a lie?"
"I'm not sure." Meng Qi shook her head before looking at the wall and saying confidently, "However, I am confident that at the very least the odds are more than 70%. It's just that there might also be defense mechanisms so we'd better be careful."
"Okay. How should I do it?" Bai Zemin stretched out his hand but he actually felt the wall there and when he tried to break it he was not surprised to find that his strength didn't seem to be anywhere near enough. Therefore, he could only rely on Meng Qi for this.
"Break the magic circle." Meng Qi quickly explained, "Magic circles can be erased with flames depending on the rank and this magic circle was clearly not drawn with intentions of causing so much trouble so big brother's flame should be more than enough."
"All right. Leave it to me." Bai Zemin nodded before saying in a deep voice, "Meng Qi, go with Bing Xue and Wu Yijun."
"Okay. Be careful." Meng Qi nodded and obediently stepped back a few meters until she reached the teleport circle.
Bai Zemin extended his right hand and rested it on top of the white magic circle. When he confirmed Shangguan Bing Xue's nod, he quietly said, "Little Blue, burn it."
Swoosh! Swoosh! A small cluster of blue flames blazed on his palm and in an instant enveloped the white ink, devouring the magic circle and destroying it in less than a second before it disappeared inside Bai Zemin's body once again.
Bai Zemin immediately felt the hard touch that he had felt from his palm a few moments ago begin to tremble and sway like a lake.
Bai Zemin retracted his hand and smiled faintly, " Effectively, Meng Qi was right."
Like a mirage or illusion, the image of that section in front of which Bai Zemin stood began to distort more and more until after a few seconds it disappeared without a trace, revealing a simple wooden door.

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