Chapter 68: Screening

Chapter 68: Screening

"This..." Yuan Ming was at a loss for words when he heard Fang Ge’s evaluation of him.

"But..."

At this moment, Fang Ge suddenly changed the topic. Yuan Ming thought he was going to talk about his strengths, and his spirits lifted, feeling like he could finally regain some face and confidence.

"However, the starting point does not determine future achievements. Among the 183 named disciples, only five of them have been able to continuously forge qualified weapon prototypes by hammering a thousand times. Whether you can become the sixth one or more depends on your diligence and perseverance," Fang Ge continued in a serious tone.

Although he didn’t hear any praise, the phrase "the starting point does not determine future achievements" truly touched Yuan Ming’s heart.

His starting point as a "beast slave" was already as low as it could be. Now that he had passed the first hurdle and become a named disciple of the Biluo Cave, he would take becoming a weapon refiner as the second hurdle to overcome.

"Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother," Yuan Ming took a deep breath and bowed to Fang Ge.

"Practice on your own... You are still in the apprentice stage for now, so you don’t need to take forging tasks. By the way, don’t forget to have lunch at the canteen," Fang Ge said.

"Forging tasks?" Yuan Ming asked in confusion.

"After you can hammer five hundred and sixty times continuously, you can take some basic forging tasks. Help the senior brothers and sisters of the sect refine some ordinary weapons, hidden weapons, or saddles needed for riding spirit beasts," Fang Ge casually replied.

Yuan Ming remembered that the smoke bomb he had used before seemed to have come from the Fire Refining Hall.

"Understood," Yuan Ming nodded.

"By the way, this is the basic textbook for learning weapon refining. Take it back and study it. After half a month, I will come to check your progress, including the situation of your weapon prototypes," Fang Ge said.

"Thank you, Senior Brother," Yuan Ming received a blue book from him and put it in his embrace.

After Fang Ge left with the refined iron embryo, Yuan Ming started a fire and continued his practice of swinging the hammer.

...

After a while, the sound of a golden gong rang out.

The disciples in the Fire Forge, who had been busy for most of the day, began to stop forging one after another.

At this time, someone noticed that there was a newcomer in the Fire Forge who had a decent appearance but not a very strong physique.

However, seeing that he was still working hard, no one bothered him.

After a quarter of an hour, Yuan Ming finally stopped forging, drenched in sweat. After having a meal at the canteen, he took a bath and returned to his residence with a tired body.

After sitting down in his room, he took out the book from his embrace. On the cover, it was written in the Southern Region’s script, "Essentials of Weapon Refining." He opened it and started reading.

As he flipped through the pages, his vision blurred, and he couldn’t resist the drowsiness. He fell asleep on the table.

After an unknown amount of time, a cool breeze blew, and Yuan Ming woke up suddenly, instinctively reaching for the green fish sword at his waist.

Unconsciously, he thought he was in the middle of the Ten Thousand Mountains. He felt a sense of fear for sleeping so soundly.

But when he saw the surroundings clearly, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of confusion.

The male disciples who were watching showed disdain in their eyes at Yuan Ming’s response.

Sifting materials was usually a task for female disciples with weaker strength. In the smelting hall, male disciples who sifted materials were considered weak and useless. Yuan Ming’s acceptance of the task was seen as shameless in their eyes.

Yuan Ming knew that the male disciples in the smelting hall had some prejudice against the task of sifting materials, but he didn’t care. He had gradually adjusted his mindset and planned to establish himself among the registered disciples first.

"What kind of look is that? There is no distinction between high and low in the tasks within the smelting hall. It seems that my previous words have been taken as wind passing by your ears?" Fang Ge looked sternly at the group.

"Brother Fang is right, we always remember your teachings and dare not have any prejudice."

"Yes, we think Junior Brother Yuan has an excellent memory and is intelligent. He is perfectly suited for the task of sifting materials. Brother Fang’s arrangement is quite appropriate."

"Brother, I suddenly remembered that I have some urgent matters to attend to, I will take my leave first."

"Oh, I also have something to deal with, I almost forgot."

Seeing Fang Ge’s anger, the group hastily made excuses and scattered.

Fang Ge sighed and said to Chen Wan, who was still there, "Junior Sister Chen, I have something to deal with here. Could you please take Yuan Ming to Wu Ri’s smelting room? They are always short of hands there. Please explain the key points of sifting materials to Yuan Ming."

"Okay." Chen Wan nodded and walked in another direction.

Yuan Ming followed her, looking back at Fang Ge who was walking away, and asked, "Senior Sister Chen, why did Brother Fang sigh just now?"

"In your opinion, is there a hierarchy in the tasks within the smelting hall?" Chen Wan glanced at Yuan Ming and asked.

"If we talk about the difficulty level, forging is the hardest, and sifting materials is simpler. However, whether it’s forging or sifting materials, each is just a step in the process of refining tools. If any step is not done well, it will affect the final result. So, there is indeed no hierarchy." Yuan Ming answered without hesitation.

"It’s rare that you have such insight. But the people in the smelting hall don’t think so. As you said, among the tasks in the smelting hall, forging is the hardest, and the sect values the forging disciples the most and provides them with the most resources. Because of this, the forging disciples have become more and more arrogant and look down upon the sifting and smelting disciples. The conflicts between them are getting more and more serious, which is not conducive to the development of the smelting hall. Since Brother Fang took over the smelting hall, he has been trying to adjust this prejudice. But as you saw just now, the effect is minimal, so he naturally sighed in disappointment." Chen Wan explained.

"I see, Brother Fang really has a tough job." Yuan Ming suddenly understood and his impression of Fang Ge improved a lot.

"Let’s not talk about this. You must have seen the sifting process over the past few days. It’s a simple task. Just follow the instructions of the forging disciples, smash the required ores, and sift them finely. The only thing you need to pay attention to is not to mix up the ores. Since you are familiar with the ’Basics of Refining’, as long as you are careful, there should be no problem." Chen Wan explained as they walked.

"Yes, thank you for your guidance, Senior Sister Chen." Yuan Ming responded.

While they were talking, they arrived at a small smelting room.

There were only four people here. The leader was a tall young man with a broad body, thick limbs, and hands that were scorched yellow from the heat, clearly a seasoned forging disciple.

There were also two female disciples sifting materials. One was tall with slightly dark skin, and the other looked like a young girl with a round face and some baby fat.

The last person was a bald male disciple in his early twenties, who was working hard to operate the bellows to maintain the temperature of the fire in the furnace.

Compared to other smelting rooms, there were fewer people here, and everyone was extremely busy. Especially the two female disciples sifting materials, they were almost running around, their clothes and cheeks covered in dust, looking quite disheveled.

"Wu Ri, this is Yuan Ming, a new disciple in the smelting hall. He will be helping with sifting materials here from now on." Chen Wan said to the tall young man who was hammering a casting block.

Wu Ri didn’t respond. He was focused on the red-hot casting block in front of him. His hand rose and fell like a whirlwind, hammering nearly a hundred times before stopping.

After putting the casting block into the furnace, he turned his body, glanced at Chen Wan, and then looked at Yuan Ming with a skeptical gaze. "Newcomer? Are you familiar with ores? We are short of people here, but we don’t need anyone who will make things worse."