Chapter 82: The Beginnings of Artificer Training

The Artificer Academy now has a total of 989 artificer branches.
The Tongzhou Hall’s confrontation with the other 988 branches naturally sparked considerable discussion within the academy. Many elders abandoned their cultivation due to excitement, unable to remain in seclusion.
As a result, many elders engaged in fierce debates and even decided to place bets.
Many elders did not believe the Tongzhou Hall could succeed in its challenge and thus bet on the other branches winning. However, some elders, having witnessed the Tongzhou Hall’s previous two successful completions of artificer tasks and seeing its confident challenge this time, believed in the Tongzhou Hall and bet on its victory.
Gradually, a betting frenzy emerged within the academy, with elders and disciples collectively placing bets.
In fact, not only in the Artificer Academy but also among the elders and disciples of the other five academies in the Youhan Sect, some were secretly betting as well.
This trend naturally caught the attention of various factions on EarthlyStar Star. The deeds of the Tongzhou Hall and its driving force, Fire Lord, had drawn the attention of many people, who began to inquire about them.
A trend was slowly taking shape in the Tongzhou Hall’s territory.
Meanwhile, Fire Lord continued to cultivate peacefully in his own cave, paying no attention to external changes.
However, Qu Yi, who was inside the Centimeter Realm Ball, was quite busy.
There were 2,000 different types of immortal artifacts at the three-star Human Soul Immortal level. To meet the performance requirements of these artifacts, 2,000 different arrays had to be developed.
If Qu Yi did not step in, it was certain that the Tongzhou Hall’s current array masters would be unable to solve these problems, resulting in the Tongzhou Hall losing the bet.
Qu Yi had no choice but to get involved personally, reviewing each artificer requirement and deciphering the corresponding arrays.
For Qu Yi, who already mastered the “Path of Primordial Energy,” these three-star Human Soul Immortal level arrays were quite easy. He could generally develop the arrays right after understanding the requirements of the immortal artifacts.
※※※
At that time, in the Tongzhou Hall’s Array Hall, the array masters sat dejectedly inside, none of them looking good—each with rolled-back eyes and expressions full of resentment.

“This Fire Lord is truly a troublemaker. How dare he just sell our Tongzhou Hall like that? Challenging all other refining branches— isn’t that cheating? We array masters can’t even fully master the two-star Human Soul Immortal Array, let alone the three-star one.” An array master slammed his fist against the wall in anger. “If Fire Lord has the ability to take on refining tasks, then let him deal with the array problems. We array masters lack the capability to help. I intend to stay in this Array Hall and refuse to get involved no matter what.” Another array master gave up outright, shouting in confusion. “It’s beyond words. Where does this Fire Lord even come from? How is his soul structured? Why does he want to show off like this? After seeing the requirements for those immortal artifacts, all five thousand of us array masters have reached a consensus: at most, we can develop a hundred arrays that meet those requirements. As for the rest of the immortal artifacts, we simply can’t handle them.” An array master with a weathered expression kept shaking his head. “Everyone, if Tongzhou Hall fails to complete the refining this time, we’ll not only have to pay nearly a hundred billion Origin Stones but may also offend other refining branches, likely leading to exclusion in the future.” An array master standing with his back to the wall cried out in sorrow. “Since it’s Fire Lord who accepted the bet, let’s go to his cultivation cave and keep calling out to him, forcing him to come and solve those arrays.” An older-looking array master declared in a condescending tone. This statement immediately resonated with all the array masters. Their fragile, hurt hearts saw an outlet for venting their anger, and they wanted to go trouble Fire Lord. Just then, Hua Hai flew into the Array Hall. The array masters, about to storm out, were stunned upon seeing Hua Hai flying over with a smile, then waited for him to speak. Hua Hai was delighted because he had also been under the scrutiny of various people lately and had been very annoyed. So he had sat outside Fire Lord’s cultivation cave, determined not to leave until Fire Lord came out, avoiding questions about accepting the bet. Today, Fire Lord suddenly came out of his cultivation cave, tossed a space ring to Hua Hai without saying a word, and immediately returned inside. Hua Hai took the space ring and scanned it with his immortal sense, only to find two thousand jade slips inside— exactly the arrays for those three-star Human Soul Immortal-grade immortal artifacts.

Thus, Hua Hai became highly confident, knowing that he would surely be able to complete the weapon-refining task for Tongzhou Hall this time. To avoid wasting time, Hua Hai immediately flew to the Formation Hall to distribute the jade slips. Standing in the center of the Formation Hall, he waited until the formation masters gathered around before smiling and saying, “Gentlemen, there are two thousand jade slips in this space ring. Fire Venerable has already solved all the formations you need. Now, let’s take action immediately and lead the disciples from each peak to quickly craft immortal weapons.”

What!

All the formation masters were utterly stunned, staring at Hua Hai in disbelief. Without any pretense, Hua Hai took out the jade slips from the space ring and tossed them one by one, causing them to land in the hands of each formation master.

“Oh, this is exactly the formation needed for the Haiming Sword.”
“Heavens, the formation for the Canghuo Sword is truly ingenious! How did I not think of it?”
“Good heavens! A formation for the Lifeless Circle has actually been solved! Who came up with this? I’m utterly impressed.”
“I must thank the heavens, the earth, and all my brothers and sisters in Tongzhou Hall. This formation not only meets the requirements of the Liumu Spear but is also so refined and simple—only a deity could devise it.”
……

In an instant, the entire Formation Hall was filled with exclamations that shook the hall itself.

※※※

Tongzhou Hall’s weapon-refining activities proceeded in an orderly manner. Thanks to the previous two large-scale refining processes, the disciples of Tongzhou Hall were now very skilled at collective refining, working together smoothly. Those from other refining factions, who had stayed at Tongzhou Hall’s headquarters under various pretexts, also noticed the unusual situation there.

During the half-year period following the bet, the disciples of Tongzhou Hall appeared anxious, constantly worried, showing signs of great concern. But recently, they suddenly disappeared from the headquarters, seemingly returning to their respective refining peaks to start working on weapons.

The members of the other refining factions immediately realized that Tongzhou Hall had solved the formation problem. Soon, they spread the news back. Meanwhile, the leaders of the other refining factions in the Weapon Refining Academy—chiefs, sect masters, and pavilion heads—gathered at the Ancestral Fire Hall to discuss matters.

The Ancestral Fire Hall is the largest crafting branch within the Crafting Academy. After losing a bet to the Tongzhou Hall last time, costing them one billion Origin Stones, they resolved to take revenge. This time, the Ancestral Fire Hall joined forces with other crafting branches to exert pressure on the academy, forcing the Tongzhou Hall to accept another bet. Naturally, the Ancestral Fire Hall gladly agreed and aimed to win this bet decisively.

Winning the bet’s stakes wasn’t their true goal; what mattered most was restoring their dignity and honor.

In a grand hall, nearly a thousand branch leaders, sect masters, and pavilion heads sat in order, with Gao Chenlin, the leader of the Ancestral Fire Hall, seated at the head.

“Fellow disciples, this time the Tongzhou Hall is challenging all of our crafting branches—a clear display of contempt for us. I believe none of us can tolerate this. That’s why I’ve called everyone here to work together and win this bet,” Gao Chenlin said calmly.

All the branch leaders, sect masters, and pavilion heads nodded firmly. As the last branch to join the Crafting Academy, the Tongzhou Hall had been reaping all the benefits alone, greatly undermining the pride of the other branches, who had long been resentful.

At that moment, Le Liangyuan, the leader of the Jinghua Hall, spoke up fiercely, “Everyone, this time we must gather our strongest array masters to first develop all the arrays, then assign ourselves crafting tasks suitable for our abilities. We must complete them faster than the Tongzhou Hall.”

Each crafting branch had its own focus for array research, not all arrays being studied. Le Liangyuan’s goal was to bring together all array masters to tackle all the arrays first. Once the arrays were resolved, each branch could select crafting tasks based on its own capabilities, thus leveraging collective strength.

Han Bojia, the leader of the Xinlu Hall, also refused to remain silent and immediately added, “Everyone, this is a battle for our honor. Please don’t hold back—bring out your best to win this bet.”

All the branch leaders, sect masters, and pavilion heads nodded in agreement.

“Don’t worry. Can’t our nine hundred-plus crafting branches not defeat that tiny Tongzhou Hall?”

“Our spies have already infiltrated the Tongzhou Hall. Reports say their disciples are full of frustration and haven’t even started crafting yet.”

“Hmph. This time, we’ll not only make them lose but also make them pay dearly. Let’s see how they can stay in the Crafting Academy after this.”

“A formation at the level of a Three-Star Soul Immortal cannot be resolved by the power of Tongzhou Hall alone. We all need to work together to deal with it. I bet the formation masters of Tongzhou Hall right now must be so stressed they want to commit suicide.”
……
Immediate waves of mockery arose from the various hall masters, sect leaders, and pavilion heads.
At that very moment, nearly a thousand of them took out their communication cards and quickly scanned their contents with their immortal senses.
“Tongzhou Hall has started refining weapons.”