Under the illumination of sunlight and firelight, the refined iron in Lucas's hand gleamed brilliantly. Though still merely refined iron, it possessed the sharp aura of a sword, as if it were already a truly keen weapon.

The weight in his grip made Lucas's expression grow even gloomier. He stared fixedly at the metal in his hand, muttering in stunned disbelief, "This! This... is this Tier Five Refined Iron?"

Tier Five Refined Iron! This young man, in a mere two hours, had forged a piece of Tier Five Refined Iron? How was that possible! The value of a single piece of Tier Five Refined Iron far surpassed that of two pieces of Tier Two Refined Iron! How could this be?

Lucas squeezed his eyelids together with all his might, trying to see clearly if his eyes were deceiving him. A student from the Aucklan Academy of Magic and Warriors, wielding two hammers, had pounded away at several iron billets and directly forged a piece of Tier Five Refined Iron! A Tier Five Refined Iron that vastly exceeded his own Tier Two standard!

Lucas felt as if he might faint. What kind of world was this? At such an age, even managing to forge Tier Two Refined Iron felt like encountering a spirit. Forging Tier Five? Had his entire life been lived in vain?

"What!"

"No way?"

"Impossible?"

Queries and exclamations rose and fell in the small blacksmith shop's backyard. Franklin vigorously rubbed and shook his eyes, fighting to keep from swooning. Tier Five Refined Iron!

After Lucas, Franklin would have been immensely grateful if Qian Jin could have hammered out a piece of high-grade Tier Two refined iron under such immense pressure. He never expected such an enormous surprise. With two blacksmith hammers in his hands, Qian Jin had directly produced Tier Five Refined Iron!

The mouth of Xiao Chang Lei Ming stretched wide with a mixture of shock and joy, twisting into a delighted grin. He had initially heard that the best blacksmith in Aucklan City was Lucas, a Tier Two master. He never imagined that by coming to Franklin's forge on a whim, he had unearthed a Tier Five blacksmith!

Lucas looked at the Tier Five Refined Iron in his hand, then furtively glanced at Qian Jin, whose forehead was beaded with sweat. He still couldn't believe this Tier Five piece was forged by a student from the Aucklan Academy of Magic and Warriors! The young man was too young! Lucas had spent a lifetime at the forge; even if his talent wasn't exceptional, he shouldn't be this far behind the youngster, should he?

Under everyone's scrutiny, Qian Jin yawned, spread his arms wide to stretch lazily, rotated his neck a few times, and finally shrugged his shoulders, offering the Fire Adventurers a faint smile.

When Lucas saw that smile, it felt as if a knife were stabbing his body. How could that seemingly friendly smile look more like ridicule?

The two strongest blacksmiths from the two forges had completed their satisfying round of hammering, yielding one piece of Tier Two refined iron and one piece of Tier Five refined iron, respectively.

Which blacksmith's forge truly possessed superior skill in the art of forging? Even a three-year-old child, upon hearing the grades of refined iron produced, could clearly distinguish the superior and the inferior.

Silence descended upon the backyard of the forge, broken only by the crackle of flames and the ragged breaths of the onlookers. Almost every eye was fixed on Qian Jin.

Qian Jin calmly and secretly glanced down at the hands that had just gripped the hammers, a silent astonishment growing within him. Just yesterday, he could only forge Tier Two refined iron. After a night of guidance from Black, he had actually jumped three tiers in refining iron! If only he knew how to forge weapons...

Qian Jin looked at the semi-finished swords near the furnace, feeling waves of powerful impulse to learn weapon forging. Forging a serviceable weapon with Tier Five refined iron would certainly increase his confidence when seeking the [Peerless Wind and Cloud Battle Qi] recorded on the map in the Four Seasons Valley!

Lucas clutched the Tier Five Refined Iron in his hand. Tier Five Refined Iron! That represented the skill of a Tier Five Blacksmith! A level he knew, barring some miracle, he would never reach before death.

No! Lucas's eyes flicked toward the Battle Stone in Xiao Chang Lei Ming's hand. He couldn't let this Battle Stone slip away! More importantly, if Franklin's Forge won today, Franklin's Forge would become the strongest blacksmith shop in Aucklan City from now on, not Lucas's Forge.

"Cough... cough..." Lucas cleared his throat dryly, turning the piece of Tier Five refined iron over in his hand, his eyes widening in an exaggerated display of shock. "No! This is not Tier Five Refined Iron; this is Tier One Refined Iron. I didn't expect that at your young age, you would resort to improper techniques, learning the 'Hollow Smelting Art'! Fortunately, I have years of rich experience in blacksmithing, or I truly would have been fooled by you!"

Xiao Chang Lei Ming and his entire adventurer team looked utterly blank, and Qian Jin displayed the same confused expression. What was 'Hollow Smelting Art'? He had only learned blacksmithing for two days by following Uncle Black in the [Endless World]; he had no idea what the 'Hollow Smelting Art' was.

"Hollow Smelting Art? You say Qian Jin used the Hollow Smelting Art? That's impossible!" Franklin scurried over on his short legs to stand before Lucas, reaching out to take the glistening, cold refined iron, but Lucas snatched it away sharply, leaving Franklin grasping air.

"Uncle," Qian Jin quietly asked Franklin, who stood beside him, "What is the Hollow Smelting Art?"

Before the indignant Franklin could reply while glaring at Lucas, a blacksmith who had accompanied Lucas—the one who had been feeding the fire for Qian Jin just moments before—spoke up with a cold sneer, "How could you not know the Hollow Smelting Art? Stop pretending. Every person who becomes a Tier One blacksmith knows what the Hollow Smelting Art is."

"Qian Jin, don't listen to his nonsense." Franklin looked at Qian Jin with certainty and said, "I believe you would never use a deceitful technique like the Hollow Smelting Art."

Qian Jin looked on in bewilderment, unable to process Franklin's words. Could forging iron actually involve deception?

Seeing the confusion on Xiao Chang Lei Ming's face and the others, Lucas's lips curled into a triumphant smile. "Captain Xiao Chang, the world of blacksmithing has always contained a group of fraudulent blacksmiths, which hinders the progress of our craft. Do not worry; I will explain what the Hollow Smelting Art is."

Qian Jin stopped the irate Franklin from exploding, casually pulled over a chair, and sat down. After two days of working at the forge, he found blacksmithing quite interesting. It wouldn't hurt to learn a bit more about the craft if the opportunity arose. Besides, this piece of refined iron was genuine; he might as well sit back and watch Lucas's trickery unfold as entertainment.

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