by <unknown>
"You—"
Xie Qianhe's eyebrow stood up. He had no idea why his daughter, who had been mild and obedient all the time, was so stubborn that day. He raised his voice and bellowed, "That is Master Huangpu! Other people would not have such an opportunity even if they begged him for three days and three nights. Why do you not know what is good for you, my child?"
"Dad, I'm well aware of Master Huangpu's fame in the circle of refiners and how immeasurable his skills are. I also know that his eight disciples are all well-known experts."
Flushed, Xie Anan spoke faster and clearer, although she stammered in the beginning, "However, I also know that Master Huangpu's eight disciples are all talented geniuses!
"Dad, I know myself very well. Although nobody has ever told me, I'm very clear that I have no talent in refining, and I am just an unattractive dummy.
"Even if I become Master Huangpu's true disciple today, I have no confidence that I can grasp his refining skills.
"Maybe, only Master Sand's training methods are suitable for a dummy such as myself.
"Believe it or not, Mom, Dad, although Master Sand's methods are physically painful, there was nothing but peace and satisfaction in my mind, because I could clearly feel that I was making progress, and I found the fun in the arts of refining!"
The air seemed to have frozen in the small room.
Xie Qianhe was dumbfounded, not expecting his daughter to come up with such rebuttals.
Dazed for a long time, he suddenly rose up and stormed out. Before he left the room, he bawled, "This is too important a decision to be made by yourself. When your grandpa learned of the matter, he was overjoyed. He has already started making arrangements!
"Anyways, you will meet Master Huangpu with me tomorrow!"
"Old Xie! Old Xie!"
Seeing that the father and the daughter were at an impasse, Dong Hanxiang stomped on the ground anxiously. She comforted her daughter, "Anan, don't be scared. Your father is as bad-tempered as decades ago.
"But since when did you become so stubborn, too?
"Let's not rush into anything yet. We'll talk about it later. Anyway, just go to meet Master Huangpu first tomorrow, alright?
"Old Xie? Old Xie!"
Dong Hanxiang chased after her husband.
Chapter 669: A Great Joke |
"The child used to be very obedient. Why is she making a mistake at the crucial moment?"
In the corridor, Xie Qianhe was still angry. He yelled, "Everybody knows that the Glorious Sunlight Group is on the rise and has a huge amount of wealth. There are endless benefits if we can be connected to them. If I were a man without a backbone, why would I say no to her decision?
"But I really want my daughter to make some achievements in the path of refining.
"I thought so hard for her, and yet she believes that I am wronging her!"
"Old Xie!"
Dong Hanxiang held her husband's arm and said, "After the incident of the Temple of Immortals, our daughter has indeed become more mature and independent. Besides, Sand Scorpion saved her life personally, and it's perfectly normal that she admires or even relies on him. Of course, she cannot change her mind so quickly now that you are making a decision for her.
"Besides, Iron Plateau boasts a long, mysterious history. It's not unusual that the secret arts of refining lost five thousand years ago have been found again. To say that Master Sand is a man who knows nothing about refining is a bit too much. I estimate that he must have several ultimate skills."
"What?" Xie Qianhe glared. "You don't want our daughter to be Sand Scorpion's disciple, do you?"
"Why would I?" Dong Hanxiang found it amusing and replied, "If I hadn't witnessed that incident this morning, I might've considered it. What I meant is that you shouldn't be so rough. Give our daughter some time for her to think it over. Later, I'll make some delicious food for her, and we will have a nice talk. She'll definitely change her mind."
"This morning?" Xie Qianhe was rather curious. "What happened this morning?"
Dong Hanxiang tried to hold back her smile and said, "I went to the 'Auction of Advanced Meteorite Materials' this morning. In the auction, there was a bizarre stone that was more than one meter in diameter, with red streaks all over its body and bright gold hair on the surface. It was named 'Red Streak Gold Hair Stone' on the inventory."
"I know that." Xie Qianhe nodded. "It is said that the meteorite likely contained super-pure 'Radiating Crystal', which makes it one of the most valuable items in the auction. Experts from everywhere were interested in the stone. Didn't we planned to bid for it, too? But we eventually abandoned it because its price was definitely going to soar up."
"No need to bid at all," Dong Hanxiang said. "After I went there, all the experienced refiners were allowed to examine the stone closely. I was given five seconds, too.
"I scrutinized it with our family's secret arts and immediately sensed something wrong with it.
"The color of the red streaks on the meteorite felt right. But the gold hair was too bright compared with the 'Gold Hair Thousand Threads' that grow along with the real Radiating Crystal, and it was reflecting green when it was aimed at the source of light.
"I immediately realized that it was not Radiating Crystal that was stored inside the meteorite, but 'Grey Crystal', which looks very similar to it!"
Xie Qianhe nodded quickly. "Indeed. The appearance of the Grey Crystal and the changes it brings to the environment are very similar to those of the Radiating Crystal.
" Radiating Crystal is a super material with a high spiritual energy capacity that can mitigate wind-class and thunder-class energy. It is thirty times more precious than normal marrow crystals!
"However, Grey Crystal is merely worthless crap. Their values are totally incomparable!"
Dong Hanxiang said, "Naturally. All the refiners who examined the Red Streak Gold Hair Stone retreated graciously with a mysterious smile.
"Everybody saw through the secret of the stone. But seeing through it did mean that they had to say it out loud. Since it was an auction, none of us were willing to disrupt their business.
"When the Red Streak Gold Hair Stone was officially bid for, nobody raised their paddle."
Xie Qianhe smiled. "Why would they raise a paddle when they already saw through the stone? It is not important if they waste some of their money, but their credibility will be greatly affected if their eyes are not keen enough and they buy a counterfeit."
"That was exactly what everybody thought," Dong Hanxiang said. "The Red Streak Gold Hair Stone was about to go unsold, but then somebody raised his paddle. Guess who it was."
Xie Qianhe rolled his eyes and asked, "Sand Scorpion?"
"Exactly! He jumped out and became the idiot!" Dong Hanxiang slapped her thigh and said, "Sand Scorpion has spent the last two days in the auction purchasing countless Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. He made his decision very quickly and never hesitated to raise the price. Everybody knows of him.
"Old Xie, you know that rumors over the past few days say that he is actually an expert of refining who has been hiding himself. Seeing that he bought so many Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures confidently without batting an eye, everybody almost believed that he might be as awesome as was claimed.
"As it turned out, he spent tens of thousands of dollars on a useless Red Streak Gold Hair Stone during the auction. Like you said, the waste of money was unimportant. What was important was that everybody witnessed his carelessness in person!
"Right now, everybody must be chuckling secretly. Considering that he cannot distinguish the Radiating Crystal from the Grey Crystal, the so-called Master Sand must be very limited in the arts of refining. It appears that his patents, inventions, and Master Xue Yuanxin's remark for him are rather invalid. Maybe he spent a fortune in order to make himself look better."
Xie Qianhe put on a solemn face and said seriously, "It was wrong of you. Master Sand is our daughter's life-saver no matter what. It's one thing
that I don't agree to our daughter's request of being his disciple, but it's another thing that he is fooled by other people. You should've reminded him on the spot."
"He and I were sitting in two different corners of the auction hall. There was a long distance between us. How was I supposed to remind him?"
Dong Hanxiang rolled her eyes at her husband. "Besides, he made the call quite fast and raised the price by fifty million during the first round, as if he was worried that somebody else was going to bid against him. When the deal was settled, he seemed overjoyed. What could I say then?
"Telling him in public that he had made a mistake and spent tens of thousands of dollars on a stone that was worth several hundred at best… that would be like smacking him in the face!"
"True."
Xie Qianhe thought for a moment and sighed. "But in the end, although you didn't smack his face in front of everyone, he smacked his own face so hard that I wonder if there's any left now!
"I really can't understand this Master Sand. Why is he not contented with being the best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau and insisting on meddling in the circle of refiners? He is asking for trouble.
"Anyway, after hearing your story, I have all the more reason to refuse our daughter's request. The Xie family has existed for almost a thousand years. It is not the most famous one among refiners, but we have our own honor. I can't allow our daughter to study under such a magnate, or we will be the greatest joke in our circle!"
Xie Qianhe glanced at his mini crystal processor. He slapped his head and said, "Not good. Master Huangpu asked me to join a magical equipment evaluation meeting. I was too busy talking to you and forgot it!"
He hurried to go out of the hotel. When he reached the turn of the corridor, he thought of something and turned around. "Have a nice talk with Anan later and tell her what happened in the auction this morning. Right. Doesn't the Edge Sharpeners' Meeting have its own official website and online forum? I believe that it must be a hit already in the forum. Find some threads and show them to her.
"For young people, our words are not half as persuasive as those online!"
"I've already found a lot of them. But you two were arguing with each other too fiercely. I feared that our daughter might be too embarrassed, so I didn't bring them out immediately."
Dong Hanxiang triggered the light beam and entered the official online forum of the Edge Sharpeners' Meeting.
In the free discussion area, several threads marked as 'popular' already had more than a thousand replies.
One of the threads was titled "Magnate from Iron Plateau took action again and secured an 'amazing' stone from outer space with a fortune!"
The apostrophes on 'amazing' could not have been more sarcastic, and the replies were equally acerbic.
"Congratulations. Less than one billion for such a large meteorite…"
"I was there, too. It was indeed an 'amazing' stone. Really amazing. Hahahaha…"
"Amazingly stupid?"
"Why are you so straightforward? Can't the rich do whatever they want with their money?"
Xie Qianhe sniffed and was finally reassured. He turned around and left.
It was already evening, but the refiners participating in the Edge Sharpeners' Meeting and the visitors still came and went, filling the entire area.
Xie Qianhe was half an hour late when he finally arrived at No.22 enclosed examination center. The evaluation meeting had long begun.
In the world of Cultivators, before a piece of important magical equipment was released, the producer often invited renowned experts of the trade to run detailed analysis and tests on the magical equipment.
It was because most kinds of important magical equipment had endless variants and mysteries. A product release conference and several simple field tests were far from enough to fully demonstrate the strength of the magical equipment.
In comparison, such products were often worth millions if not billions. A release conference alone was not enough to entice potential customers.
Therefore, the experts of the trade would scrutinize the magical equipment beforehand in a small evaluation meeting and endorse it when it was released. It was a very popular way of promotion in the industry.
Taking part in the evaluation meeting had many requirements, too. The participants had to sign a contract first and guarantee that they would not leak the details before the release conference or make money based on any inside information they knew.
The more important a piece of magical equipment was, the more complicated the contract would be.
Glancing at the contract he was about to sign, Xie Qianhe was startled. It appeared that the magical equipment to be evaluated today had a profound background!
He was even more certain of his deduction when he entered the enclosed examination center, which had been disinfected and dedusted.
The participants included not only the several experts from the Silver Heart School but also two specialists from the Red Line School and a professor from the Refining Department of Heavenly Saints Institute.
They were all renowned big shots in the circle of refiners.
As it turned out, Xie Qianhe's Cultivation was the lowest of all.
"Fellow Cultivator Wang, Master Li, Professor Situ!"
Xie Qianhe hurriedly walked forward and apologized. "I'm terribly sorry that I was delayed by some trivia."
"Time is money, Little Xie. No need to be courteous. Come here."
The host of the evaluation meeting was Master Huangpu Bo from the Silver Heart School.
His hair was white, but his face was that of a child. He was not tall, and all his limbs were quite short. His nose was like a red, round meet ball, occupying half of his face.
Putting on his refining uniform, Xie Qianhe asked respectfully, "What magical equipment are we going to evaluate today, Master Huangpu?"
Master Huangpu replied, "The Unparalleled Extension produced by the Ares Laboratory of the Refining Department of Flying Star University!"
Chapter 670: Super Advanced Core Component |
Xie Qianhe was quite shocked.
In order to make sure that the evaluation meeting was unbiased, nobody except the host knew the object to be evaluated.
Xie Qianhe had known that Master Xue Yuanxin was crafting a brand-new Ares Extension and that Sand Scorpion was involved in the project, too.
However, as an outsider, he was not clear on whether Sand Scorpion was merely the investor or really working as part of the team and making contributions.
But he did not think much. As an experienced refiner, he left all the annoyances behind him when he devoted himself to his work.
He was half an hour late, and the evaluation meeting had long begun. A piece of giant anti-gravity magical equipment was placed on the platform, supporting an Ares Extension in midair. Half of the Ares Extension has been dismantled with only the framework left, which looked like a dinosaur fossil recently excavated.
Even so, the elegant design and the intimidating aura of the extension were still apparent.
The experts of the trade all took out their secret gadgets and evaluated the parameters of the Unparalleled Extension with their ultimate skills. They dismantled the magical equipment and studied the components while they commented on it.
"This is indeed Master Xue Yuanxin's masterpiece. The prolonged preparation was definitely worth it. I've seen a lot of crystal suits and Ares Extensions that employ the principle of biomimetics. However, Master Xue is the only one who has achieved the perfect balance between defense and agility by combining biomimetics and aerodynamics!"
"As a brand-new alloy, the Super Bendable Steel utilizes a unique honeycomb structure that can crystalize the spiritual energy when it floods in with an extremely low loss rate. Together with the special ripple-like buffer rune arrays, the spiritual energy can be absorbed, stored, and unleashed again!"
"Although the material's longevity is too short for it to be applied to normal magical equipment
such as crystal suits, it is perfect for an Ares Extension for one-off usage."
The experts of the trade all complimented the Unparalleled Extension.
Xie Qianhe circled around the framework of the Unparalleled Extension and tested the technology of spiritual energy storage in the breastplate. He was deeply amazed and nodded in approval, too.
Master Huangpu, on the other hand, had been testing the spine of the Unparalleled Extension in a corner of the test field. Now that the examination was finished, he joined the crowd and smiled. "Old Xue has been quiet in Flying Star University for the last couple of years. I thought that he'd given in to his old age and did not expect that he would present such a big surprise for the world of Cultivators out of nowhere!
"Thankfully, the Silver Heart School has not initiated any important Ares Extension projects in recent years. If we had, we definitely would have been eclipsed in the competition!"
The refiner from the Red Line School observed bitterly, "The Red Line School prepared to release an Ares Extension during the Edge Sharpeners' Meeting. Now, this is going to be a clash!"
Everybody laughed, knowing that the refiner was merely joking.
Before Master Xue Yuanxin joined Flying Star University, he had worked as the First Armadominus in the Red Line School for decades. The Red Line School was like his home, and it was quite proud now that Xue Yuanxin presented such a great product.
Moreover, even if the Ares Extension manufactured by the Red Line School was not as good as 'Unparalleled', there would still be endless benefits if they continued cooperating with Master Xue Yuanxin.
Therefore, although the refiner from the Red Line School sounded frustrated, he was actually wearing a smile and felt equally honored.
Master Huangpu smiled. "Come here, everyone. Old Xue spoke to me in person, telling me that the spine of the Unparalleled Extension is the most delicate part of it. I have just examined it, and it is indeed extraordinary. Here, you can have a look yourself."
