The end of Gaowu: Becoming stronger from not practicing

Master Zhou, a level-five blacksmith from Blackwater City, took the throwing knife and placed it on a specially made energy detection platform.

The testing platform is made of black iron and its surface is engraved with intricate divine patterns, which can accurately record the energy storage time of divine weapons.

"Start the timer."

Master Zhou said in a deep voice.

He pressed his hands on both sides of the testing platform and poured his divine power into the flying knife.

The silver patterns on the throwing knife immediately lit up, like swimming silver snakes, frantically devouring the surging divine power.

Those patterns are not simple decorations, but rather Zhang Lingfeng's meticulously designed "Nine-Turn Spiral" breathing system, which allows divine power to complete twenty-seven cycles of reinforcement within the blade.

This is a skill that only a level 5 peak blacksmith can achieve.

"Om..."

Just a quarter of an hour later, about five minutes later, the throwing knife emitted a soft hum, and the gold and silver patterns on the blade lit up completely, like a flowing galaxy.

Master Zhou stared wide-eyed, exclaiming incredulously, "Power charging complete! Zhang Lingfeng's throwing knife was completed in just a third of a quarter of an hour! That's three times faster than the standard quarter of an hour for the competition!"

The room erupted in uproar.

Shen Pengyun suddenly stood up and questioned, "This is impossible! There must be something wrong with the testing station!"

A white-bearded divine inscription master snorted and said, "The testing platform is maintained by the Divine Inscription Master Guild, so there is absolutely no problem."

Although the forging competition was organized by the Divine Craftsmen's Pavilion.

However, there are also divine rune masters present.

There are divine runes binding them together, which ensures the fairness of the conference and attracts more participants.

The Divine Craftsmen Pavilion never expected that such a thing would happen.

"One-third of the time?"

General Ma's eyes widened.

How could Zhang Lingfeng's forging skills surpass his if he could complete the energy storage in such a short time?
Master Yang, Master Wang, and others also found it unbelievable.

"Hahaha, believe me, with Zhang Lingfeng around, no one can take away your Divine Craftsman Shop's reputation."

Yan Fei smiled.

Ma Fei had no idea where Yan Fei got his confidence from.

However, the throwing knife that Zhang Lingfeng forged can now break through the physical defenses of a high-level god, and its energy storage capacity meets the requirements.

Only the respiratory system remains.

If it can meet the standards for energy storage, then there is certainly no problem with its respiratory system.

Is it...

Shen Qiming refused to believe in superstition and personally stepped forward to infuse the divine power into him.

As a high-ranking god, he possessed immense divine power, yet the speed at which the flying knife absorbed the energy remained undiminished. In fact, when the rune "Ninefold Waves" on the hilt of the knife lit up, the divine power was compressed to its limit.

finally.

"boom!"

The throwing knife burst forth with dazzling golden light, its energy fully charged!

"Indeed...it only took a third of a quarter of an hour!"

Shen Qiming's face turned ashen.

"We will now conduct a respiratory system examination."

Master Zhou reminded him.

He was not a blacksmith from the Divine Craftsmen's Pavilion, but he was invited by the pavilion and had signed a Divine Inscription Contract with the Divine Inscription Masters' Guild, which required him to be fair and impartial at the conference.

Master Zhou took out a piece of the Divine Seeking Crystal.

Attach it to the surface of the throwing knife.

Crystals can reflect the energy flow path inside a divine weapon, thus revealing whether its respiratory system is functioning properly.

Zhang Lingfeng looked surprised, not expecting the testing to be so thorough.

This would also leave the Divine Craftsmen Pavilion speechless.

To convince everyone.

A three-dimensional image of the inside of the throwing knife appeared on the surface of the crystal.

Countless fine silver lines intertwine to form a complex network, much like the human vascular system, within which divine power flows at high speed, and the energy is amplified with each node it passes through.

"This……"

Master Zhou's voice trembled.

As a level-five blacksmith himself, he knew how difficult it was to create such a breathing system within a divine weapon.

He exclaimed excitedly, "This respiratory system is even more exquisite than the standard one, and even more ingenious than the work of nature!"
The divine power completed twenty-seven cycles internally, each cycle amplifying the energy by thirty percent!

"This...twenty-seven cycles?"

General Ma was dumbfounded.

"How did he do it?"

Wu Xiaomei didn't know whether to cry or laugh.

"Haha, of course he can do it easily without much cultivation. Zhang Lingfeng's talent is far more than you imagine."

Yan Fei couldn't help but laugh.

Master Zhou couldn't resist throwing the throwing knife.

"call out!"

The flying knife transformed into black lightning, instantly piercing through the black iron pillar, leaving a bowl-sized hole with smooth, mirror-like edges.

"This……"

Shen Pengyun opened his mouth wide.

Knowing that Master Zhou had used divine power, the fact that he was able to pierce the Xuan Tie pillar meant that the throwing knife had reached level five.

"Even so, there's no way he could forge such a throwing knife on the spot! It must have been prepared in advance!"

Shen Qiming gritted his teeth and said.

"The 'memory crystal' on the forging table can prove that the throwing knife was indeed forged by Zhang Lingfeng himself."

A divine rune master.

"The throwing knife forged by Zhang Lingfeng of the Divine Craftsman Shop has an energy charging time of only one-third of a quarter of an hour, a flawless breathing system, and an armor-piercing effect far exceeding the standard. It has passed inspection!"

Master Zhou found Shen Qiming's behavior disgusting and announced it directly.

"How could a level three blacksmith possibly forge a level five throwing knife?"

Shen Qiming could not accept it.

The room erupted in uproar.

Dozens of blacksmiths from the Divine Craftsman Pavilion stood up in unison, staring intently at the black throwing knife in Zhang Lingfeng's hand.

The silver patterns on the blade flowed in the sunlight, as if they were alive, radiating a chilling energy.

"So you're refusing to admit defeat?"

General Ma stood in front of Zhang Lingfeng. Although his aura as a mid-level god was not as strong as Shen Qiming's, he did not back down.

"The conference is overseen by Divine Inscription Masters. Do you doubt the impartiality of the Divine Inscription Master Guild?"

The three Divine Inscription Masters sitting on the referee's table, two men and one woman, were all Level 2 Divine Inscription Masters from the White Emperor City Divine Inscription Master Guild. They could no longer hold back.

This is not the first time Shen Qiming has questioned the Divine Inscription Master Guild.

The white-bearded old man at the head stroked his beard and said calmly, "This throwing knife was indeed forged by Zhang Lingfeng on site, under our full supervision. If you don't believe me, you can check the memory crystal on the forging table."

Shen Qiming's face was ashen, his eyes fixed on the throwing knife.

As the heir to the Divine Craftsman Pavilion, he knew the value of this throwing knife better than anyone else.

Charging energy for half a quarter of an hour to break through the protection of a high-level god is already the peak level of a level 5 blacksmith.

"Half a quarter of an hour of energy accumulation, breaking through the protection of a high-level god..."

Shen Pengyun walked down from the stands with a cold smile, and said sarcastically, "Master Zhou, are you sure you didn't see wrong? This is no ordinary level five skill."

"This respiratory system employs a 'nine-turn spiral' structure, allowing divine power to complete twenty-seven cycles of strengthening within. Judging from the pattern, it's clearly the work of 'divine craftsmanship'! Moreover..."

Master Zhou's eyes suddenly widened, and he pointed to a tiny rune on the hilt of the knife, his voice trembling as he said, "There's also an engraving of 'Nine Layers of Waves' here! This is almost... already touching the threshold of level six!"

The meeting room immediately erupted in chaos.

"The Creation of Heaven and Earth" and "Ninefold Waves" are both top-level forging techniques that are not passed down outside the Divine Craftsman Pavilion. Only forging masters of level five or above are qualified to learn them.

More importantly, "Nine Layers of Waves" is a unique secret technique of the Shen family, passed down only to direct descendants. But only those in the know understand that when the ancestors of the Ma family and the Shen family founded the Divine Craftsman Pavilion, they created these two techniques together.

The intermediate forging training method that General Ma gave to Zhang Lingfeng included these two skills.

Zhang Lingfeng had no idea about the so-called nine layers of overlapping waves and twenty-seven cycles of breathing; he knew how to forge throwing knives according to his own skills.

"Zhang Lingfeng!"

Shen Qiming's eyes revealed a murderous intent.

"Where did you learn the Shen family's secret techniques?"

This accusation is extremely serious. According to the rules of the God-level Continent, the crime of stealing a master's skills can result in the loss of both hands at best, and on the spot, death at worst.

Everyone at the Divine Craftsman's Shop tensed up instantly, and Ma Fei even reached for the weapon at his waist.

Zhang Lingfeng, however, stepped forward unhurriedly, still maintaining his lazy demeanor.

"If I had truly learned the Shen family's secret techniques, why wouldn't I join the Divine Craftsmen's Pavilion? You and Young Master Shen personally recruited me."

Shen Qiming was speechless for a moment.

He suddenly recalled the scene before the forging competition, when he and Shen Pengyun had personally visited Zhang Lingfeng, promising him generous terms to recruit him, only to be politely refused.

“I have already passed on the forging techniques of my Ma family to him. Zhang Lingfeng has learned the techniques that I could not master. Is there a problem?”

General Ma stepped forward to defend him.

Even if he were stupid, he would know at this moment that Zhang Lingfeng was already a level 5 blacksmith.

The speed alone left him feeling truly bewildered.

"I can forge another one."

Zhang Lingfeng suddenly spoke, his voice not loud but clearly carrying throughout the entire venue.

The room fell silent instantly, and everyone looked at Zhang Lingfeng with disbelief.

"What did you say?"

Shen Pengyun couldn't believe his ears and scoffed, "Do you know how long it takes to forge a level five divine weapon?"

Zhang Lingfeng did not answer, but calmly walked to the empty forging table on the other side.

General Ma hurriedly grabbed him and said, "Master Zhang, the third round of forging has lasted for half a month, and you have already expended a lot of energy."

General Ma believes they have already won.

The signboard was saved.

Even if the Divine Craftsmen Pavilion doesn't agree, we've already won; there's no need to waste time here.

Of course, he was worried that Zhang Lingfeng might cause problems with the forging process.

This throwing knife, perhaps... was indeed forged by Zhang Lingfeng.

After all, Zhang Lingfeng was originally just a level three blacksmith.

How did I become a Level 5 Blacksmith?

General Ma was confused.

Zhang Lingfeng unbuttoned his outer robe, revealing the standard blacksmith's uniform underneath, and said, "It's alright, two days is enough for me."

"Insanity!"

A level four blacksmith from the Divine Craftsman Pavilion slammed his fist on the table and stood up.

"Even a level five blacksmith would need at least five days! Who do you think you are?"

Zhang Lingfeng said no more.

He took out a new piece of obsidian from the forging materials on the forging table, and the moment he picked up the forging hammer with his right hand, his entire demeanor changed drastically.

The previous languid atmosphere disappeared, replaced by a heart-stopping focus.

Those eyes, which were always half-closed, were now gleaming with a sharp light, as if they could see through every minute detail of the material.

"when!"

The first hammer blow sent stone chips flying.

The seemingly casual tap actually created nine barely perceptible cracks inside the obsidian.

This is the foundation upon which the respiratory system is built.

The width, depth, and direction of each crack are measured with an appalling precision.

Shen Qiming narrowed his eyes.

As the successor of the master craftsman, he naturally knew his stuff.

The technique may seem simple, but it actually requires an extreme grasp of the material properties and the force applied.

Even he himself wouldn't dare say he could have done it more perfectly.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

The dense hammering sound was like a torrential downpour.

With each hammer blow, Zhang Lingfeng's spiritual power was infused into the material, and the silver patterns began to appear and disappear. Even more astonishingly, he simultaneously used his left hand to manipulate the flames, partially quenching the throwing knife. Despite multitasking, he did not make the slightest mistake.

By the end of the first day, the throwing knife had already taken shape.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Zhang Lingfeng's forehead, but his movements showed no sign of slowing down.

At night, while the other blacksmiths went to rest, he remained at the forging table to work.

Three divine rune masters took turns on duty to ensure the entire process was fair and transparent.

The next morning, as the first rays of sunlight streamed into the meeting room, people were surprised to find that Zhang Lingfeng was still working.

His face was slightly pale, but his eyes remained sharp as knives.

The throwing knives on the forging table are basically formed, only needing final quenching and sharpening.

At noon, when Zhang Lingfeng completed the final quenching, the venue was already packed with people who had rushed over after hearing the news.

Not only were there participating blacksmiths, but representatives from various families in Baidi City also came to witness this rare forging duel.

"It's done."

Zhang Lingfeng's voice was somewhat hoarse.

He dipped the throwing knife into the spiritual spring, and the spring water immediately boiled. In the rising steam, a throwing knife that was almost exactly the same as the one before gradually emerged.

The difference is that this time the blade has several golden patterns that gleam in the sunlight.

"Please inspect."

He handed the throwing knife to Master Zhou, whose hands were trembling slightly: "Half a quarter of an hour... no, this time it will only take a third of a quarter of an hour to fully charge the energy!"

Shen Qiming could no longer sit still.

He personally stepped into the arena, took the flying knife, and infused it with divine power.

Shockingly, the gold and silver patterns on the blade began to writhe as if alive, rapidly absorbing, transforming, and strengthening the injected divine power.

The blade instantly shone with a dazzling golden light, illuminating the entire venue in a magnificent golden glow.

"boom!"

Shen Qiming swung his sword at the black iron pillar used for testing.

With a flash of light, the Xuan Tie pillar, which took three people to encircle, was cut in half at the waist, and the upper half slowly slid off.

It fell to the ground with a bang.

The cross-section is as smooth as a mirror, so smooth that it can reflect a person's image.

The hall was completely silent; everyone was so shocked by the power of the strike that they couldn't speak.

"This is... the peak of level five."

Master Zhou's voice trembled.

"No, it's already touched the threshold of level six! If this sword completes its final nurturing, it will definitely reach level six!"

Commander Ma suddenly burst into loud laughter: "Shen Qiming, Divine Craftsman Pavilion! Now what do you have to say?"

Shen Qiming's expression shifted, and he finally returned to his seat with a gloomy face.

Shen Pengyun was about to say something when he was grabbed and nearly fell to the ground.

On the judges' platform, the white-bearded divine inscription master stood up and announced in a loud voice: "After inspection, the throwing knives forged by Zhang Lingfeng of the Divine Craftsman Shop fully meet the standards of the competition, and their quality far exceeds expectations. The Divine Craftsman Shop has passed the third round of assessment! The Divine Craftsman Shop's signboard will be retained!"

The people at the Divine Craftsman's Shop cheered with joy.

General Ma was moved to tears, and Ma Fei was so excited that he was incoherent.

Wu Xiaomei looked at Zhang Lingfeng with a complicated expression, feeling ashamed and embarrassed as she recalled her earlier mockery. (End of Chapter)