Chapter 143: Mutual Understanding
In the cavern where fires flickered, seven smelting furnaces of different sizes were positioned in a strange setup. There was a channel under each smelting furnace. The flame liquid in the channels released astonishing amounts of flame power.
This was the power of earthfire!
Other than the seven furnaces, there were also many shelves in the vast cavern. Each storage shelf had many rare spirit materials on it. The great majority of spirit materials were profound level!
At the ceiling of the cavern, a bright spirit stone was hung. The light of the spirit stone was bright as it illuminated the interior of the cavern.
At this time, Tang Siqi was like a fire butterfly that flickered between the seven smelting furnaces and put spirit materials into different furnaces.
“Six Thick Earth Topaz! Help me by putting it into furnace number three!”
“Five ounces of Stellar Iron, put it in furnace number six!”
“Profound Iron, three pieces! Furnace number one!”
As Tang Siqi moved, she shouted.
Following her shouts, Qin Lie walked around, picking up the spirit materials that had been prepared beforehand and put them into the different furnaces at the right times.
One of them was within the circle of furnaces, the other outside, both of them moving rapidly with solemn expressions.
“Pwwft, pwwft!”
Thick smoke rose from the furnaces as shocking amounts of heat spread throughout the entire cavern. Qin Lie, who had been primarily cultivating frost power was very unused to it.
He had to channel frost power to use cold energy to resist the high heat inside the cavern so he could help Tang Siqi finish this with a clear mind.
“Next, I need to use a spirit art in conjunction with the smelting furnaces. Help me by adding spirit materials.” Tang Siqi suddenly stopped moving.
She sat down on the mat between the seven smelting furnaces and wiped away the sweat on her forehead. Her face was red as she instructed, “You need to be on time and instantly do what I say when I say it. You cannot lag behind!”
Qin Lie nodded.
Tang Siqi suddenly closed her eyes. Under Qin Lie’s astounded gaze, the bracelets she was wearing on her wrists suddenly gave off shocking waves of flame power.
Her clean and white arms became purely red under the light of the flames. Her hands danced and created many wondrous spirit arts.
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!”
There were many cryptic seal characters and amazing lines that created blooms of fire, balls of fire, and balls flaming light that contained certain wonders. They all landed in the seven smelting furnaces.
Those spirit arts seemed to have special meaning within them. Once they entered the furnace, they immediately created powerful reactions with the spirit materials inside the furnace.
“Bang bang bang!”
A ball of fire landed in furnace number three. A shocking vibration suddenly occurred as though the furnace was about to explode.
“Mystical Cold Jade! Quick, put in three Mystical Cold Jades!” Tang Siqi shouted with her eyes closed.
Qin Lie’s expression shifted. There was no time to think. He flashed to the storage shelf by his side, grabbed three Mystical Cold Jades and immediately threw them into furnace number three.
“Sst, sst!’
As the Mystical Cold Jade entered, the explosive sounds inside furnace number three instantly stopped. The shocking vibrations slowly calmed.
Qin Lie released a breath.
He gathered his attention and looked at Tang Siqi. He would wait for Tang Siqi to give another order and then complete it as fast as possible.
He was extremely precise with every spirit material Tang Siqi requested. If she said two ounces, it would be two ounces, there wouldn’t be a speck more.
He also was extremely attentive to time. He wouldn’t hesitate to put in the spirit material whenever Tang Siqi told him to.
As Tang Siqi’s spirit arts changed, more wondrous vibrations came from between her hands and landed in the seven smelting furnaces.
Tang Siqi’s orders were given out at an increasingly rapid rate.
Qin Lie was like a bolt of lightning as he quickly moved between the shelves. Under the firelight, his moving figure was red.
An unknown time later, Tang Siqi slowly stopped the fluctuation of her spirit arts and did not give out any more orders. She sat on the mediation mat and rested.
Qin Lie was so exhausted; he was almost at his limit. When he was sure that Tang Siqi wouldn’t have any more orders, he also sat down on.
He looked at the seven smelting furnaces in the enormous cavern and thought back to Tang Siqi’s rapid movements and the wondrous spirit arts she had displayed…
“Yao Tai… really was only a low-ranking artificer,” Qin Lie sighed.
When he had been at Nebula Pavilion, Qin Lie had assisted Yao Tai in forging a few times. He secretly compared Yao Tai to Tang Siqi and instantly realized that Yao Tai’s skill was extremely lacking in comparison to Tang Siqi’s skill in artifact forging.
Yao Tai clearly struggled with one furnace when forging, and he mostly used Common grade spirit materials.
Tang Siqi used seven smelting furnaces at once, and she mostly used Profound grade spirit materials. She cultivated fire spirit arts, and her own cultivation… seemed to have reached the Manifestation Realm. She could use her spirit arts in conjunction with her artifact forging. Her familiarity with spirit materials reached a level that was pleasing to the eye.
Watching Tang Siqi cast spirit arts would make people feel pleasure as though Tang Siqi’s artifact forging was a kind of art!
“This is true artifact forging!” Qin Lie inwardly murmured. He suddenly felt gratitude towards Li Mu for arranging for him to come to Armament Sect so he could come see true artificers forge artifacts.
“Extinguish the fire!”
A long time later, Tang Siqi recovered some energy and suddenly but lightly called out.
Her hands once again moved with her spirit arts. Streaks of fire shot to the seven smelting furnaces. Each furnace was hit by the light and rang out.
The earthfire, in lava form, suddenly reversed the direction it was flowing in inside the channels and flooded towards the core of the volcano.
The light inside the cavern quickly extinguished. The dizzying heat also weakened as the earthfire retreated.
“Use your frost power to help the furnace cool down and the artifacts to take form faster,” Tang Siqi ordered.
Qin Lie stood up again. After taking a deep breath, he channelled frost power. Cold mist flew out of his pores. He seemed to be shrouded in frosty-white mist as he walked closer to the burning-red furnaces and directed the mist towards their mouths.
After each furnace was surrounded by the mist, it would give off thick smoke. The heat of the smoke and the cold air of the mist mixed and caused a great fog to form inside the cavern which affected visibility.
One furnace after the next, Qin Lie used the cold mist to cool the artifacts within the furnaces. When the last one was complete, he slowly moved back.
“Hm?” He suddenly felt a soft and voluptuous body against his back.
“You’re touching me!” Tang Siqi complained in a low voice.
Qin Lie hurriedly walked forward a step. “The cold power and heat power will form a fog when they mix. Right now, the cavern is full of fog. It will be a while until it dissipates.”
“I know, I don’t need you to explain,” Tang Siqi responded in a cold tone.
Qin Lie was shut down so he closed his mouth and didn’t say a word.
Within the fog, Tang Siqi was also silent as though she was having a contest with Qin Lie.
With the two of them silent in the quiet cavern, they could almost hear the breathing of the other and feel the other’s position. However, they could not see each other’s expression nor know what they were thinking.
“You can become an inner sect disciple.” After a while, Tang Siqi was first to break the silence. “You are very serious about forging. Even though I do not know if you will be talented with spirit diagrams in the future, I’m sure that as long as you can maintain this attitude and if the elders of the inner sect are not blind, they will definitely admit you as an inner sect disciple.”
Qin Lie was still silent.
“Outer sect disciples can grind spirit materials, go to the cultivation rooms at the base of the mountain to practice forging, and use the furnaces to learn forging,” Tang Siqi continued to talk, “The difference between inner and outer sect disciples is that outer sect disciples are not taught how to inscribe spirit diagrams. The spirit diagrams of the sect are top secret. Only true inner sect disciples can learn them. You can only learn how to inscribe spirit diagrams by becoming an inner sect disciple. Spirit diagrams are the soul of artifacts and the core to finalizing the rank of the artifact…”
Qin Lie also knew this. He nodded to show his understanding.
At this time, the fog inside the cavern had slowly dissipated. The two gradually became able to see each other.
“This is it for today. I will send a new mission to you in a few days. Rent a forging room at the base of the mountain and help me forge some little things at that time.” Tang Siqi suddenly sent an order to leave when the fog completely dissipated and the two could clearly see each other.
Qin Lie nodded without making a sound and left the cavern.
“Senior Sister Lian Rou,” greeted Qin lie when he came out and coincidentally saw Lian Rou.
Lian Rou looked strangely at him and said, “Siqi actually allowed you to come to her forging room! In these years, other than Sect Leader and Elder Mo Hai, there hasn’t been another male that could step into these grounds. You… are really skilled!” As she spoke, Lian Rou’s face turned cold.
Qin Lie’s brow creased. He did not explain and walked down the mountain.
Lian Rou instantly proceeded into the cavern and saw Tang Siqi between the seven furnaces. She said worriedly, “Siqi, how could you allow him in here? He is the first guy to have stepped into this place in these years. Do you really like him?”
“I wanted to see his abilities.” Tang Siqi stood up and walked with Lian Rou to the mouth of the cavern. Looking at Qin Lie walking alone on the mountain path, she said, “He really does have the ability. He can finish my orders perfectly. When my orders are sent, he can precisely carry them out in an instant.”
Pausing for a while, Tang Siqi’s eyes were strange. She divulged in a low tone, “When I was forging, he seemed to be able to know what I was thinking. He, he seems to have a bit of mutual understanding with me…”
“Siqi, did you forget my reminder?” Lian Rou was shocked.
“No, I just feel he is a very good assistant. He can carry my orders out and work with me. Just that.” Tang Siqi shook her head, then smiled and assured her, “You are thinking too much. How can I like him?”
“Hm, this guy is too much of a schemer. I’m afraid you will lose.” After Lian Rou reminded her again, she said, “I just visited Elder Tong. Elder Tong said that it might have been Senior Brother Yin Hao who killed Long He. He had someone investigate, and that person said that Yin Hao had gotten into contact with Long He a while ago.”
“Senior Brother Yin Hao?” Tang Siqi was shocked. “He wants to kill Qin Bing? Impossible! He has no reason to kill Qin Bing. He’s a greedy person but not lustful. His eyes when he looks at me are… calm. He definitely will not kill Qin Bing because of me, I’m sure of that.”
“Yin Hao is very close to Liang Shaoyang,” informed Lian Rou.
“Liang Shaoyang?” Tang Siqi stilled. “Yin Hao is an inner sect disciple. He chose Liang Shaoyang as his assistant so Liang Shaoyang should be listening to him because he has a higher position. How could he kill someone for Liang Shaoyang?”
“Don’t forget, Senior Brother Yin Hao came from Dark Shadow Tower in the past,” Lian Rou said.
“Ah?” Tang Siqi was slightly shocked.
At this time, a frightened yell came from a cavern under them, “Senior Brother Yin Hao! Senior Brother Yin Hao is dead!”
The voice came from Pang Shishi.
Lian Rou and Tang Siqi changed expressions as they hurriedly moved down. Qin Lie, who had been descending down the mountain was near the location of the shout. He also stopped in his steps and looked in shock at a nearby cavern.