Chapter 371: Chapter 371: Hundred-Turn Tempering Skill
"Wait," Ye Xuan said suddenly.
"Young man, what else do you have to say?" Lu Li sneered, his face full of disdain. "There’s no point in bringing up your background at a time like this. Even if you do, it won’t work. Even if you were a Prince of the Sky Empire, or the young master of the Profound Mystery Sect or the Nine Yang Sect, the consequences for making a fool of me would be the same. Scared now? Too late!"
Ye Xuan’s expression was blank. He shook his head and said, "To be honest, I’ve never known fear. I just think it’s a pity. I deliberately lured you out this time not only because I wanted you to refine two things, but also because I saw you had decent talent and was prepared to teach you the secrets of the Hundred-Turn Tempering Skill. But now, it seems you don’t appreciate the gesture at all."
The moment Ye Xuan spoke, the anger and disdain on Master Lu Li’s face were instantly replaced by shock.
’What? The Hundred-Turn Tempering Skill?’
"Hold on." He abruptly waved his hand, staring intently at Ye Xuan, a fiery glint in his eyes. "Are you telling the truth?"
The Hundred-Turn Tempering Skill was an extremely special and powerful tempering technique from ancient times, considered a supreme treasure among Artifact Refiners.
But this tempering technique was said to have been lost long ago and hadn’t been seen for over a thousand years. Its power was only passed down in a few ancient texts.
Now, hearing Ye Xuan mention the Hundred-Turn Tempering Skill, Lu Li was instantly shocked.
If an ordinary person had said this, Lu Li would have certainly scoffed at it. But the refining method used on the flying dagger Ye Xuan had shown earlier was very similar to the Hundred-Turn Tempering Skill described in the ancient texts, which was why Lu Li was so agitated.
"Do I have any reason to lie to you? It’s just the Hundred-Turn Tempering Skill, not something particularly precious. But since you don’t appreciate it, then forget it. I hear there are two other Lord Level Artifact Refiners on the Dream Realm Plain. I wonder if they would be interested in the Hundred-Turn Tempering Skill."
Ye Xuan rose slowly to his feet and spoke nonchalantly.
For a moment, Lu Li was uncertain, his expression wavering.
’Does this kid really know it, or is he just bluffing to get away?’
"Young man, just because you say you know the Hundred-Turn Tempering Skill, that makes it true? As far as I know, no one on the entire Dream Realm Plain knows it. In fact, not just the Dream Realm Plain—no one on the entire continent knows it," Lu Li said with a cold laugh.
Hearing this, Ye Xuan let out a derisive laugh. "Haha, no one on the entire continent knows it? Listening to you, it sounds like you’ve been to every corner of the continent?"
His tone was filled with mockery.
Lu Li’s face flushed red as he retorted, "While I haven’t traveled the entire continent, I have journeyed through some places. What’s more, as a Lord Level Artifact Refiner, I am quite clear on matters like this."
"Oh, really? Then tell me, have you been to the supreme Profound Domain? Or have you been to the holy land of Artifact Refiners, Artifact City, located in the Sea of Time Sand?" The mockery on Ye Xuan’s face deepened.
Although the Hundred-Turn Tempering Skill was extremely precious, Ye Xuan knew that it hadn’t been lost to this day, as some ancient texts claimed.
To be precise, the Hundred-Turn Tempering Skill had indeed been lost for a period of time.
But over two hundred years ago, a Tier Nine Martial Emperor found a rubbing of the Hundred-Turn Tempering Skill in an ancient ruin. Only then did this ultimate skill begin to circulate within the Profound Domain again.
The Ye Xuan of his past life naturally knew it as well.
Therefore, Ye Xuan wasn’t sure about other places on the continent, but in the Profound Domain and Artifact City, the methods of the Hundred-Turn Tempering Skill were definitely still being passed down.
It was just that both the Profound Domain and Artifact City were extremely far from here. It now seemed that the Artifact Refiners of the Dream Realm Plain had no idea the Hundred-Turn Tempering Skill had long since seen the light of day again.
As Ye Xuan’s words fell, Master Lu Li gasped.
It was no surprise that Ye Xuan knew of the Profound Domain, but the fact that this kid even knew about Artifact City greatly astonished Lu Li.
Artifact City was the holy land in the hearts of all Artifact Refiners. Just as its name suggested, Artifact City was home to countless Artifact Refiners. One could find all sorts of rare materials there, and there were even rumors that Artifact City itself was a heaven-defying Spiritual Treasure.
But the location of Artifact City was extremely secret; almost no one knew where it was. Only some powerful Artifact Refiners, after reaching a certain level and entering the Profound Domain, would receive an invitation from Artifact City and gain the right to travel there.
Lu Li himself had only learned of this after breaking through to become a Tier Seven King Level Artifact Refiner.
And although he was a Tier Seven King Level Artifact Refiner, he had never even been to the Profound Domain, so naturally, he didn’t know where Artifact City was either.
So when he heard that Ye Xuan knew of Artifact City, he was utterly shocked.
Li Xu and the others, in contrast, looked completely bewildered, having no idea what this "Artifact City" Ye Xuan spoke of was.
’Could this guy really have an incredibly powerful Artifact Refiner as a master?’
Combining this with Ye Xuan’s earlier performance in the exhibition hall, Lu Li couldn’t help but ask tentatively, full of doubt, "Do you really know the Hundred-Turn Tempering Skill?"
"Do I need to lie?" Ye Xuan directly took out the Qingyu Profound Armor he had won at the auction. At the same time, his right hand continuously tossed out one array flag after another. Each flag landed perfectly, planting itself neatly in the ground as if measured beforehand.
In just a few moments, a Fire Refining Array had appeared before everyone.
Streams of Profound Power flowed into the Array. In an instant, a ball of Profound Fire materialized before them. Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Ye Xuan tossed the Qingyu Profound Armor directly into the Array.
Then, he swiftly executed one Hand Skill after another.
With each Hand Skill he executed, the vitality of the Profound Fire shifted. Gradually, before everyone’s eyes, the Qingyu Profound Armor began to melt.
’How is this possible?’
The Artifact Refiner who had created the Qingyu Profound Armor was also present and looked on, astounded.
The Qingyu Profound Armor he had refined was a Tier Five Profound Armor, meaning it could withstand a Tier Five Profound Power attack. Profound Fire was, in essence, a type of energy assault. Under normal circumstances, a Tier Five Profound Fire should not be able to damage the Qingyu Profound Armor in the slightest.
But under the refining of the Profound Fire that Ye Xuan had conjured, his Qingyu Profound Armor was actually melting with ease.
In less than a moment, the entire Qingyu Profound Armor had melted into a silvery-white liquid mass, its original form completely unrecognizable.
Ye Xuan’s gaze suddenly sharpened. His eyes were piercing as his hands continuously executed a series of Hand Skills.
The silvery-white liquid mass was seen twisting and distorting, beginning to separate.
One layer, two layers, three layers.
As time passed, beads of sweat began to appear on Ye Xuan’s forehead, but the silvery-white liquid mass that was once a single blob was also separating, bit by bit.
The top layer was a silvery-white liquid, so light it seemed to float like a feather.
The next layer was a pale yellow liquid.
Below that was a silver-gray liquid.
Three distinct layers of different-colored liquids gradually separated under the refining of the Fire Refining Array.
The silvery-white liquid was the most abundant, followed by the pale yellow and silver-gray liquids.
"Qingyu Mithril, Demon-Guiding Fine Gold, Starry Sky Profound Silver... The three materials of the Qingyu Profound Armor... he actually separated them."
The Artifact Refiner who made the Qingyu Profound Armor cried out, his face a mask of utter shock.
Earlier in the hall, when Ye Xuan had said he was buying the Qingyu Profound Armor just for the Qingyu Mithril inside, the Artifact Refiner had scoffed. But now, seeing Ye Xuan’s actions, he realized just how ridiculous he had been.
Ye Xuan had actually melted down the Qingyu Profound Armor, which had cost eighty middle-grade Profound Stones in materials, and had even extracted the Qingyu Mithril from within.
"Separate!"
Amidst everyone’s shock, Ye Xuan’s face was dripping with sweat. His gaze was sharp as he let out a sudden low shout at the critical moment.
SWISH SWISH SWISH.
Several Hand Skills shot out with his shout. In an instant, the three layers of different-colored liquids flew apart, landed within the Fire Refining Array, and then solidified.
The silvery-white Qingyu Mithril, the pale yellow Demon-Guiding Fine Gold, and the silver-gray Starry Sky Profound Silver—the three materials shimmered with a pure luster, so clean they seemed to be without a single impurity.
"The Separation Technique from the Hundred-Turn Tempering Skill... These Hand Skills, this separation method... this is definitely an ancient artifact refining technique!"
At this moment, Master Lu Li’s heart felt like it was about to explode with excitement.
Li Xu and the others were focused on the result of Ye Xuan’s separation, but Lu Li was focused on his technique.
Those Hand Skills, filled with profound rhythm, that flexible control over the material components—it was almost identical to the Separation Technique from the Hundred-Turn Tempering Skill recorded in the ancient texts.
As an Artifact Refiner, the only reason Lu Li had been able to get this far was his supreme reverence for the art of refining.
Therefore, upon seeing Ye Xuan actually use the Hundred-Turn Tempering Skill, his heart was pounding so hard with excitement he couldn’t speak.
He had never expected that he would actually be able to witness the legendary Hundred-Turn Tempering Skill in his lifetime.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Ye Xuan dismantled the array flags and drew the three pieces of material into his hand.
The three different-colored materials were still slightly warm, gleaming as if brand new. But after one look, Ye Xuan shook his head repeatedly and sighed, "The purity of these three materials is only 99.99 percent. It didn’t even reach a state of perfection. What a failure. If it weren’t for Qingyu Mithril being relatively rare, materials of this garbage purity should be thrown straight in the trash."
’Ye Xuan was, in his heart, extremely dissatisfied.’
In truth, the reason the extracted Qingyu Mithril only had a purity of 99.99 percent was because the Fire Refining Array he had deployed was only a Tier Five Array, and the power of the Profound Fire wasn’t particularly strong.
If he had used the Endless Molten Flame to refine it, the result would have been completely different.
It was just that here, in the Artifact Refining Workshop, he absolutely could not reveal his Celestial Fire.
But when Ye Xuan’s words reached the ears of Master Lu Li and the others, they were instantly stunned.
’What the hell? 99.99 percent purity, and he’s still complaining it’s not perfect? Boss, you separated this directly from a piece of armor; it’s not like you were purifying raw materials!’
