Immortal Martial Emperor

Hong Yu looked at Chengyun Long with a smile. "Elder Cheng, are you convinced now?"

His smile was so innocent, so crystal clear.

But it was this seemingly ordinary smile that felt like an invisible palm slapping hard across Chengyun Long’s face.

His old face twitched uncontrollably.

A disbelieving light flickered in his eyes.

He stared intently at the Three-Color Pill in Hong Yu’s hand, desperately wanting to lie to himself and deny that it was a real Three-Colored Fetus Spirit Pill. But his reason told him this was the genuine article!

"Hm? Elder Cheng, why do you look so pale?" Hong Yu said with a grin.

Chengyun Long’s face flushed and paled in turns, leaving him at a loss for words.

In contrast, Lantian Dou of the Spiritual Craftsman Guild was filled with amazement. He sized up Hong Yu from head to toe. Although his expertise was in the cultivation of an Artifact Spiritual Craftsman, his knowledge was the most extensive in the entire Spiritual Craftsman Guild.

He had personally seen a Fifth-Grade Spirit Pill before.

So, naturally, he could tell that what Hong Yu held was a genuine Fifth-Grade Spirit Pill.

Because of this, the way Lantian Dou looked at Hong Yu changed once again.

When he had first heard from Master Hu that Hong Yu could refine a Fifth-Grade Spirit Pill, he had his doubts. That was why Lantian Dou had tacitly allowed Chengyun Long to target Hong Yu.

He wanted to use this as a test of Hong Yu’s true strength!

"Imperial Uncle, what do you think of this Hong Yu?" Crown Prince Landy asked in a low voice.

Lantian Dou smiled faintly and asked in return, "What do you think?"

Landy hesitated for a moment, then said gravely, "I think he is someone worth befriending. I hate to admit it, but I know in my heart that if he’s given enough time, neither I, Xu Wudi, nor that fiend from the Blood Demon Palace will be a match for him!"

"Oh? You hold him in such high regard?"

Lantian Dou asked with a half-smile.

Landy was a member of the Royal Family whom he had personally nurtured, and he knew Landy’s character very well.

Though Landy was only the third True Dragon, Lantian Dou was very clear about one thing.

Back then, if his opponent hadn’t been Xu Wudi, causing Landy to hold back, he would have absolutely been the one to make it to the very end.

Not even Xu Wudi or that fiendish senior disciple from the Blood Demon Palace had ever received such an evaluation from him.

Landy gave a wry smile. "Imperial Uncle, don’t you see him the same way in your heart?"

Lantian Dou was taken aback for a second, but then he just gave a mysterious smile and said nothing more.

It was impossible to tell what he was truly thinking.

The conversation between the two royals was very quiet and went unheard by the others. Everyone’s attention was focused on Chengyun Long.

After seeing Hong Yu successfully refine a Fifth-Grade Spirit Pill, the attitudes of the elders and experts who had just been unilaterally supporting Chengyun Long underwent a subtle shift. While it wasn’t enough to make them turn against him, their support had become much more ambiguous.

Chengyun Long naturally noticed the change in everyone’s attitude. As irritation flared in his heart, his resentment for Hong Yu rose accordingly.

He glared at Hong Yu with cold eyes and said maliciously, "Convinced? Why should I be convinced by you?"

Hong Yu spread his hands. "Alright, you’re eighty-two years old, a Tier Four Spiritual Craftsman, a man of high status. If an elder like you insists on being a sore loser, there’s nothing a junior like me can say!"

"You..."

Chengyun Long grew even more furious.

Hong Yu’s words were a blatant slap in the face!

Just moments ago, he had been so proud of being an eighty-two-year-old Tier Four Spiritual Craftsman, a legendary achievement in the entire Ice Kingdom.

But...

...that was only before Hong Yu showed up.

Now, Hong Yu had refined a Fifth-Grade Spirit Pill before the age of seventeen, which was the most powerful proof that he was a Tier Five Alchemy Spiritual Craftsman.

A seventeen-year-old Tier Five Spiritual Craftsman versus an eighty-two-year-old Tier Four Spiritual Craftsman.

How vast was the gap between them?

Now that Hong Yu had brought it up again, Chengyun Long couldn’t help his old face from turning beet red.

Xu Wudi, who had long been annoyed with Chengyun Long, let out an unrestrained cackle, making no effort to hide her schadenfreude. "Sister, why do I get the feeling someone’s so embarrassed right now? Getting all smug and self-satisfied for being a Tier Four Spiritual Craftsman at his old age. Look at Hong Yu, he’s so humble!"

"Oh, you..."

Xu Wanrong gave her completely graceless sister a helpless look.

But her gaze toward Hong Yu was also filled with astonishment.

She was filled with pride. ’His friends are all so exceptional!’

The sisters’ brief exchange, just a couple of lines, made Chengyun Long’s old face turn even uglier. He was on the verge of a breakdown.

He had never been so humiliated in his entire life.

Furious from the shame, Chengyun Long snorted angrily. "In any case, I do not agree to you joining our Spiritual Craftsman Guild! Elders, all who support me in rejecting Hong Yu’s entry to the guild, stand up now!"

Chengyun Long was very confident.

Before the banquet, he had already spoken with the elders he was on good terms with. More than half of them would support him.

But...

After waiting for a moment, he saw only two elders stand up.

The other elders who had sworn to support him were now wavering.

This made Chengyun Long unbearably furious, and he glared viciously at the few who remained seated.

Those few elders all lowered their heads.

Just then, Hong Yu dropped another bombshell. "Chairman Lan, I remember Master Hu telling me that besides testing my attainments in the Alchemy Dao, you also wanted to see if this junior had any other presentable skills."

Lantian Dou nodded.

He looked at Hong Yu with an intrigued expression but didn’t say much.

The other elders and experts also turned to look, their eyes full of doubt. ’Could it be that this youth, not yet seventeen, has some other, even more dazzling skill besides being a Tier Five Alchemy Spiritual Craftsman?’

Hong Yu let out a soft breath and smiled. "I have heard that Chairman Lan is a distinguished Tier Five Artifact Spiritual Craftsman, and that your attainments in Artifact Refining are unmatched in the entire Ice Kingdom. You even have a formidable reputation throughout the whole Xiahuang Ancient Kingdom!"

"Hmph, our Chairman’s prestige certainly doesn’t need your praise," Chengyun Long snorted coldly.

Hong Yu laughed but ignored him, looking straight at Lantian Dou. "Chairman Lan, this humble junior has also done some research into Artifact Refining. If you don’t mind, I would like to refine a Primordial Weapon. I wonder if you would be willing to offer me some guidance?"

"Haha, Hong Yu, aren’t you getting a little carried away? The Artifact Dao and the Alchemy Dao are two completely different paths. Who do you think you are? You actually want to cultivate both alchemy and artifact refining at the same time?" Chengyun Long taunted coldly.

Hong Yu still ignored him!

He just looked at Lantian Dou. "Chairman Lan, I wonder if you are willing to fulfill this junior’s wish!"

Lantian Dou met Hong Yu’s gaze.

A piercing light seemed to flicker in his blue eyes, as if seeing right through a person’s soul. After a long moment, he nodded slightly. "Fine. My Storage Ring contains enough materials to refine Primordial Weapons from First to Fifth Grade. You may choose what you need and refine one!"

"Chairman, absolutely not..."

Chengyun Long hurriedly tried to stop him.

Lantian Dou waved a hand. "Elder Cheng, say no more. If he cannot refine a Primordial Weapon that satisfies me, I will naturally not allow him to enter the guild!"

Lantian Dou’s authority was immense. With his word, Chengyun Long didn’t dare say anything else.

He could only stare venomously at Hong Yu, cursing inwardly, ’Impossible. There’s no way this guy can cultivate both the Alchemy Dao and the Artifact Dao. How could such a Demon Fiend possibly appear here?’

Hong Yu accepted the Storage Ring from Lantian Dou’s hand, smiled slightly, and took out some materials from within.

Then, Hong Yu once again summoned the Nine Dragon Celestial Cauldron and used the same refining technique to smelt the materials.

The nine dragon patterns on the Nine Dragon Celestial Cauldron pulsed. Each throb represented a terrifying power comparable to a Celestial Fire and lightning tribulation, the scorching heat melting the various materials inside the cauldron.

He discarded the dross and extracted the essence.

The most exquisite and powerful aspect of the Nine Dragon Celestial Cauldron was its ability to perfectly extract the essence from materials.

Profound Celestial Demon Steel, Celestial Star Sand, Red Sun Gold Essence...

All sorts of materials that were extremely difficult to temper seemed simple and casual in Hong Yu’s hands. This caused Lantian Dou, sitting in the seat of honor, to look on with a brilliant light of amazement shining in his eyes.

Bathed in the light of various flames, Hong Yu looked as if he were possessed by a god of craftsmanship.

His gaze was stern, his brows knitted. As his fair hands danced, they formed an Illusion Transformation of two Primordial Gang Heavy Hammers. With a series of CLANGS, the molten essence of the metals began to fuse and change shape.

A short while later, an Artifact Embryo in the shape of a long whip, with a phoenix’s body for a handle and a dragon’s torso for the lash, was forged.

"HISS!"

A wave of sharp, indrawn breaths swept through the hall at this sight.

Smelting the Artifact Refining Materials, forging the Artifact Embryo—the entire sequence of actions was as fluid as flowing water, perfect to the extreme.

Chengyun Long’s face had turned a purplish-black, his lips trembling. "Impossible, right? Yes, absolutely impossible! The most important part of refining a Primordial Weapon is inscribing the Spirit Array Runes. At his young age, how could he possibly..."

Before he could finish, Hong Yu’s hands were already moving like dragons and snakes—sharp as flowing clouds, smooth as running water.

One after another, exquisite Spirit Array Runes flew out and landed on the long whip. A total of five Spirit Array Runes fused almost perfectly onto the whip, without the slightest hint of rejection.

SKREEE!

A piercing phoenix cry suddenly rang out in the great hall.

ROAR!

A Dragon’s Roar followed, shaking the heavens and the earth.

The Spiritual Qi between heaven and earth fell into violent turmoil. Illusory images of a dragon and a phoenix soared through the air before suddenly crashing together and merging into the long whip.

The brilliant light receded, and a long whip Primordial Weapon, with a dragon and phoenix swirling around it, levitated before Hong Yu.

He grasped it in one hand, smiled faintly, and with a casual flick, a CRACK echoed as the whip cut through the air. With a WHOOSH, it struck Chengyun Long.

Chengyun Long hastily activated his Primordial Gang Shelter, but he was still sent stumbling back several steps by the force of the blow.

He looked at Hong Yu in horror, forcing out a few words. "A... A Fifth-Grade Primordial Weapon?"

Hong Yu smiled faintly. "Elder Cheng is truly knowledgeable!"

WHOA!

At that moment, the entire hall erupted.

A Fifth-Grade Spirit Pill, the Three-Colored Fetus Spirit Pill, and a Fifth-Grade Primordial Weapon, the Dragon and Phoenix Long Whip...

Both of these were incredibly rare Treasures!

Normally, anyone who could refine just one of them would be considered a Peak existence in the Ice Kingdom, on par with Lantian Dou himself.

But now...

The person who embodied both a Fifth-Grade Alchemy and Artifact Spiritual Craftsman was a youth not yet seventeen years old?

This was simply unheard of!

Lantian Dou stared at Hong Yu, the divine light in his eyes flickering ceaselessly. After a long time, he finally began to speak slowly...

"Very good. Master Hong Yu’s skills have left me, Lan, utterly astounded! However, I’m sorry, but you still cannot become an Elder of my Spiritual Craftsman Guild..."

[Writer’s block. Two Chapters today, four tomorrow!]