Martial Arts Sainthood Begins with the Tiger-Taming Fist

Chapter 129 Third-Rank Swordsmith

The white-haired old man's eyes were sharp as he swept across the entire room.

When Chen Mo was met with that gaze, he felt a chill run down his spine.

This person is also a master of the Dan Jin (a type of internal energy cultivation) technique, he thought to himself.

The old man said in a loud voice, "I am Qiu Chengdao, and I am in charge of this sword-making competition. For the next two months, you will be dealing with me. Today's internal test is to identify potential candidates in advance. The rules of the internal test are very simple. I will give each of you a piece of hard iron and quench it to remove impurities. The cleaner it is quenched, the better your score will be."

Everyone present looked relaxed, seemingly confident in their ability to temper the hard iron.

Chen Mo followed Xu Yan to the center, where he happened to be next to Yun Zan.

At this moment, several gazes were cast from the surroundings, and when they saw Chen Mo's unfamiliar face, they all hesitated slightly.

Getting to know your opponent beforehand is a perfectly normal practice.

"Place your silver swordsmith's plaques on the stone table in front of you," Elder Wu said.

Upon hearing this, everyone placed their respective silver medals on the table.

When everyone saw the silver token of a second-grade swordsmith that Chen Mo took out, they all frowned in surprise.

They all started muttering to themselves.

When will second-rank swordsmiths be able to participate in the internal examination?

Are the contestants at this year's sword-making competition really that weak?

He Can glanced around out of the corner of his eye, and when he saw everyone's reaction, he felt a surge of satisfaction, and a smug look appeared on his face.

Chen Mo, the person involved, remained calm as always, quietly waiting for the distribution of the tempering materials.

He was in a hurry.

Once this matter is settled, I must return to Zhenbao Tower as soon as possible to accelerate the improvement of the Taichen Yinghuo chapter.

A short while later.

Elder Wu obtained some hard iron from somewhere and distributed it to each person. Each person had their own small furnace and hammering tools, so they did not interfere with each other.

Xu Yan turned her head and smiled mysteriously, "Chen Mo, how many impurities have you removed?"

Chen Mo hesitated for a moment, then gave a rather conservative answer: "About 90%."

Ninety percent?

He Can's heart skipped a beat. According to his estimation, he could remove at most 80% of the impurities, and that was under good condition. But the other party casually said 90%.

But having learned his lesson from the last swordsmith assessment, he no longer rashly questioned things, but instead secretly noted them down, waiting for the test to end.

Located to Chen Mo's left and right are Li Hong of Yunhan Peak and Guo Sheng, the disciple of the old sword-forging monster.

Both of them frowned slightly upon hearing this, but remained silent.

Internal testing begins.

In an instant, flames burst forth, and the crackling sound of burning charcoal filled the air.

Just as everyone was using charcoal to heat the hard iron, a flame suddenly burst forth from Chen Mo's palm.

Like a red lotus.

"Clang!"

Upon seeing this, He Can shuddered, and the hard iron billet in his hand fell to the ground.

The people around were also dumbfounded and stopped what they were doing.

Even Xu Yan was caught off guard, recalling in her mind that there was no such move among the wonders of the world!

But she quickly realized that Chen Mo had mastered the Tai Chen Ying Huo chapter.

Thinking of this, she secretly felt a little fortunate for her bet.

At this moment, Chen Mo ignored the strange looks from others and placed the hard iron billet on the "Red Lotus Flame".

Before long, the hard iron billet had turned light red.

In contrast, the others' hard iron billets still showed no signs of red-hot.

The difference between the Fire-Separating Mystic Art and ordinary flames is evident.

Just a quarter of an hour later, the iron billet in front of Chen Mo had turned a rosy red. He took it out and hammered it repeatedly, hammering it dozens of times before heating it with flames.

This process is repeated seven or eight times, at which point more than 90% of the impurities inside the iron billet have been removed by internal quenching.

Chen Mo knew when to stop.

Stop what you're doing, then sit quietly and practice the Turtle Breathing Technique silently.

Yun Zan, who came with He Can, silently looked at his back, then at the sword in her hand that was originally made by Chen Mo, lost in thought.

Before long, several people, including Xu Yan, completed their internal tests.

Now only He Can was left. The closer it got to this point, the more anxious he became. Large beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and he finally finished hastily.

Qiu Chengdao, who had not uttered a word, took a few steps forward and walked to the front of the crowd, with Tang Tian and Elder Wu following behind him.

"Now that it's over, Tang Tian and Wu Zheng, you two can proceed with the inspection."

"Yes," the two replied in unison.

Then, the two of them inspected the iron billets of everyone in turn, starting from the left and right sides.

"He Can, remove 75% of the impurities."

Upon hearing this, He Can's gaze dimmed even further, his face flushed red, and he dared not look at anyone else, especially Yun Zan.

"Chu Jun, remove ninety percent of the impurities."

This statement sparked some quiet discussion, but Chu Jun is a top contender for the top three this year, and his ability is within everyone's expectations.

"Li Hong, remove 85% of the impurities."

Upon hearing this, Li Hong's face showed resentment.

"Le Yinyin, remove 85% of the impurities."

"Guo Sheng, remove ninety percent of the impurities."

"Xu Yan, remove ninety percent of the impurities."

"Chen Zhiyi, remove 95% of the impurities."

These words caused an uproar at the scene.

But everyone quickly accepted it.

It's reasonable that a fourth-grade swordsmith would have a significant advantage over a third-grade swordsmith in a competition.

"The last one, Chen Mo, has had 95% of the impurities removed."

As Wu Zheng finished speaking.

Even though Chen Mo had just condensed the red lotus flame, everyone still found it unbelievable.

The tempering skills of a second-grade swordsmith are comparable to those of a fourth-grade swordsmith!

Did he deliberately not take the higher-level swordsmith exam before?

Xu Yan gave Chen Mo a "congratulations" look.

Then, she said loudly, "Vice Pavilion Master, Elders, Chen Mo has only passed the exam to become a second-grade swordsmith, but judging from the strength he has shown today, is it possible for him to be promoted to a third-grade swordsmith? Let's treat this internal exam as a swordsmith assessment."

Tang Tian and Wu Zheng exchanged a glance, neither daring to make up their minds.

A moment later, Qiu Chengdao said in a clear voice, "Then let's do as Xu Yan said. It's the first time that a swordsmith's rank has been promoted without any assessment. Chen Mo, you are truly the first person to do this."

Chen Mo immediately replied, "Thank you, Vice Pavilion Master!"

"You should thank me!" Xu Yan said, hands on her hips, feigning anger.

Chen Mo chuckled to himself.

Qiu Chengdao then addressed the crowd, saying, "Everyone, I won't let you come here for nothing. I promise you that you will be given some priority during the main competition. The internal test is over for today, so you can go back now."

Xu Yan then whispered to Chen Mo, "The Vice Pavilion Master means that he will give us special treatment later."

Chen Mo was taken aback.

After hearing the deputy pavilion master's words, everyone prepared to leave.

Just then, a strange voice suddenly rang out from outside the door: "Is the Sword Forging Pavilion so ignorant that it doesn't even invite a sword-forging genius like me!"

Everyone looked towards the doorway.

A man dressed entirely in black was seen standing at the doorway.

The person's face was covered with a black cloth.