The Eternal World

Zhang Chao did not care about the old man, and followed the caretaker man out, into a room.

No, to be exact, it should be a great hall across from him.

In the entire palace, every tile and every tile was made by the hands of the Forge Master, which means to say, they were all treasures!

In the middle of the hall stood a huge statue.

This person was wearing a long robe and had a long beard that covered his chest. His left hand was behind his back and his right hand was holding a bamboo scroll. He looked like an immortal.

"This is the ancestor of our Forge Master, and also the founder of our Guoyin Association!" caretaker man introduced: "Any Forge Master who sees this elephant will have to kowtow!"

"So that's how it is?" Zhang Chao blinked his eyes, he did not hesitate and directly knelt in front of the statue and kowtowed three times.

Since this was the etiquette of the Forge Master, he had to follow it.

After getting up, caretaker man brought him to a nearby stage, bowed with his fists cupped, and said with a clear voice: "Disciple has matters to attend to, and would like to consult with the various deacons!"

"Speak!" An aged voice sounded from the high platform.

"It's like this!" The caretaker man respectfully explained Zhang Chao's request.

There was a moment of silence before the old voice said only one word: "Accurate!"

"You got it? That's it? " The Old Man surnamed Zuo that followed behind puffed his beard and glared his eyes, unable to believe what he had just heard.

"Yes, disciple obeys!" caretaker man turned his face over and winked at Zhang Chao.

"But, to casually jump ranks is against the rules set by our ancestors, so... Only he can jump two levels at most! " Immediately afterwards, that old voice rang out once more.

"Two levels, is precisely the examination that can challenge Tri-Cauldron Forger?" Zhang Chao's heart stirred. This was pretty good too.

"Uh, this disciple understands!" caretaker man bowed once again before leaving the great hall with Zhang Chao.

After the palace door closed, on the tall platform, a voice of conversation rang out.

"This is a rule set down by our ancestors. How can it be broken so easily?"

"It's not that this old man wants to break it, but this is truly because it's the ancestor's wish ah!"

"Martial Ancestor, you mean? You must be joking, old fellow, don't you dare spout nonsense! "

"When has this old man ever said such nonsense? Look over there!" As he spoke, he pointed out with a finger. The target was precisely that enormous statue.

There was a ghostly, blue light shining in the stone eyes of the statue, as if it were giving its approval.

"Heavens! Heavens! The Martial Ancestor has revealed his true spirit!" Everyone on the high platform cried out in alarm before a dozen or so figures flew down from the stage and kneeled in front of the statue, kowtowing to it.

"Great ancestor, unfilial disciple pays his respects to you!"

Before long, the light in the statue's eyes faded, and everyone took a deep breath.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Why did the statue, which had been silent for tens of thousands of years, suddenly open its eyes?"

"Is it because of that young man just now?"

"It has to be. I heard that when the ancestor's statue opens its eyes, that means they have encountered a genius that hasn't been seen in ten thousand years!"

"If that's the case, I must take a look at that young man's test!"

… ….

caretaker man brought Zhang Chao and Old Man surnamed Zuo into the third door of his room.

Tri-Cauldron Forger's examination grounds.

"Here... is from the Tri-Cauldron Forger … " The Old Man surnamed Zuo was even more excited than Zhang Chao, and started to look left and right the moment he entered the door.

If not for Zhang Chao, he probably wouldn't have had the chance to step into this place in this lifetime.

Tri-Cauldron Forger's position was not low, in most sects, she could take on the role of an elder, and in some large scale families, she was only second to the Patriarch.

He had once thought that amongst the Tiehe Association, people like Zhao Hong and Ming Qiu, would actually be able to become vice president after becoming the last two cauldrons.

However, Zhang Chao was different from the others. Even if it was Ju Zitong's understanding of Zhang Chao, he still believed that his strength in artifact forging had exceeded the level of two ding.

The layout of the entire lobby was quite simple.

A chair, a crafting furnace, a table, nothing else.

At the very top of the hall, there was a row of small windows. From the windows, one could vaguely see that someone was looking down.

After the three of them entered, a middle-aged man with a tanned complexion and a tall stature was sitting on the chair, waiting for them.

"Master Blackface, this Zhang Chao is here to take the test for the title of Tri-Cauldron Forger!" caretaker man stepped forward and cupped his fists towards him.

"En, I have received the orders from the foremen!" You mean you have broken through the test? Interesting, then let's start as soon as possible. The deacons are all waiting to see! " black-faced middle-aged man pointed to the small windows above his head.

"What?" The Lord Enforcers have come to observe? " caretaker man's pupils constricted as he could not help but exclaim.

Although the Tri-Cauldron Forger's assessment was important, there had never been a precedent where all the deacons had come together to observe it.

"Brother Zhang Chao, it all depends on you. It seems like the deacons have a different opinion of you, don't disappoint them!" caretaker man patted Zhang Chao's shoulders, and brought him to the side.

"Your name is Zhang Chao, right? "What is your specialty in forging?" black-faced middle-aged man looked at Zhang Chao and asked in a low voice.

"Everything's fine!" Zhang Chao scratched his head, he was not sure what kind of treasures he was good at refining, as it seemed that any kind of treasures were similar to him.

"Are you all right?" black-faced middle-aged man's expression changed, then continued: "Our Guoyin Association's examination process is actually not that complicated, but considering that you're taking the test at a higher level, this is undoubtedly a provocation to the other first and second cauldrons Forge Master, so according to the requirements, your test difficulty must be slightly increased, is that okay?"

"That's reasonable!" Zhang Chao nodded. These days, if you want to take a shortcut, you have to pay a higher price.

"That's good, the Tri-Cauldron Forger's minimum requirement is to be able to skillfully refine all kinds of low-grade earth-step magic treasures. Even medium-grade earth-step magic treasures have a thirty percent guarantee of success!" black-faced middle-aged man took out a bamboo stick and handed it over to Zhang Chao: "So, you can draw one here and it will be your test. Of course, this is only the first stage!"

"The first stage? How many tests are there in total? " Zhang Chao scratched his head, raised his hand and pulled out a bamboo stick.

"Three stages!" black-faced middle-aged man took the bamboo lot and took a glance at it, his expression immediately becoming odd. He then looked at Zhang Chao: "I really don't know if you're lucky or not, you can draw this kind of lot!"

He turned the bamboo stick around and showed it to Zhang Chao, and then said: "The question you want to test, is the knowledge item!"

"This picture book has recorded a hundred thousand different kinds of refining materials. You need to identify as many of them as possible within six hours. Also, you need to mark down the quality, origin, and scope of application of these materials!"

Reaching a thousand can be considered a pass. Reaching ten thousand can be considered excellent. Reaching thirty thousand can grant you immediate exemption from the second stage and allow you to immediately enter the third stage!

"Oh?" Zhang Chao raised his eyebrows. It's very simple, what's so difficult about it?

But others didn't think so.

caretaker man, who was at the side, frowned: "This Zhang Chao is really unlucky, to be able to get such a difficult assessment, like the other tests, being able to identify a few objects, is many times simpler than this!"

"This old man has also heard of such a test before. Whether it's the one cauldron, two cauldrons, or the Tri-Cauldron Forger's test, they all seem to exist. However, it seems like no one has ever obtained one before!" Old Man surnamed Zuo stroked his beard and said.

"No, it's not that no one has ever drawn one before. It's just that those who have managed to do so would not even qualify!" caretaker man shook his head: "At least, ever since I was here, those who have been able to barely pass, are all famous master refiners!"

"Is it that difficult?" It's just to identify some materials … " The Old Man surnamed Zuo was puzzled.

"It sounds easy, but I've personally seen the questions inside. They are all very rare and obscure things, and it's not difficult to know what they are, but it's extremely difficult to annotate their provenance, character, scope of application and so on. Any wrong answer would be considered a failure!" The caretaker man sighed, looked at Zhang Chao's somewhat frail back: "At his age, he definitely doesn't have much knowledge regarding this area, so I can only wish him good luck!"

"Hmph, you're still bragging. You're about to fail in the first stage, let's see how he can brag!" When the Old Man surnamed Zuo heard him, he could not help but sneer. He crossed his arms, looking like he was waiting to watch a good show.

In the upper windows, the foremen who were waiting to observe the scene also began discussing with furrowed brows.

After all, this type of test was too difficult. Since ancient times, not many people had ever been able to pass it.

"There don't seem to be many people that have successfully passed this examination, right? "I am referring to excellence..."

"Yes, in the past thousand years, there have been a total of seven people, the most powerful one of them all was the Xiao Nan from a hundred years ago, who identified forty-seven thousand different types of materials. But sixty years ago, that Xiao Nan was already a five ding master refiner.

"Ah, Xiao Nan... This old man still remembers that when I first entered this Guoyin Association, I was guided by him. Unfortunately, a hundred years have passed and I still don't know if he still exists in this world! "

"We don't need to reminisce about the ancient people like that. Let's see just how powerful Zhang Chao is, to be able to make the ancestor open his eyes wide, there must be something special about him, I will just wait and see!"

In the examination grounds, Zhang Chao's expression was also strange, was this considered difficult?

black-faced middle-aged man took out an hourglass and asked someone to carry it up to a table. He then prepared a paper, ink and paper, "The time limit is about to start, you can write as much as you want!"

"Yes sir!" Zhang Chao nodded, and put all his heart and soul into the assessment.

With "Records of Heaven and Earth Treasures" as a backup, this kind of examination was like a fish in water for Zhang Chao. With a single thought, all of the characteristics of the materials were memorized in his mind.