Chapter 160: The Imperial Technique, The Earth-burrowing Technique

Ye Xiao quickly refined the pig iron into a lesser transcendent-grade weapon.

As long as he passed the assessment, it would be fine. There was no need to attract too much attention.

When the real competition began, he would bring out a little of his true strength.

Other than that, there was no need to worry about anything else.

Soon, Ye Xiao obtained proof of passing the assessment.

He was using a fake identity. In any case, he had the Big Dipper’s Grand Mystery. He could just casually modify the assessment officer’s memory and everything would be settled.

After obtaining the proof of participation, he would have to wait until the next day before he could enter the examination hall to officially participate in the competition.

The participation mechanism was a one-round system where the winner and loser would be determined in one round. There were no rounds of auditions, several rounds of competitions, and many levels of selection before the final competition for the championship.

All the participants had to enter the examination room at the same time, and then refine a weapon or armor. Finally, a judging panel composed of nationally known refiners would judge and grade them separately.

The materials for refining would be given by the organizing team, and they could also bring them by themselves.

The main reason was to take care of some refiners who were partial to refining.

That was because even if they were partial to refining, as long as they could reach a certain standard in the subject they were good at, they would still be extremely outstanding talents. They could not be fixed because of the rigid rules of the competition, thus, the nine provinces would miss out on talents!

Of course, there was no need to worry about the organizing team because some people brought expensive and rare refining materials, which led to better refining and unfair competition.

That was because in refining, the more precious the materials, the higher the technical test.

If a refiner’s refining skills were not good, the materials he refined with high-end materials would not be as good as the ones he refined with low-end materials.

The materials used to organize the team happened to be at a certain level.

The higher the level of materials, the harder it would be to refine. The lower the level of materials, the lower the quality of the weapon or armor.

Therefore, very few blacksmiths would bring their own materials.

The results of the refining competition were determined by the results of the refining and the refining time.

If they brought their own materials, they would add and subtract points according to the quality of the materials.

As for the reward, the top 1,000 in the refining competition would be rewarded.

The main reason was that there were too many participants.

That was because the population of the nine provinces was too large. Even if there were very few people like armament masters and alchemists, the total number of people participating was still quite terrifying.

Hence, the number of people participating in the competition would at least exceed 10,000 people every year.

That was also based on the fact that there was a restriction on age. Otherwise, the number of people participating in the competition would probably be even more.

The prizes of the competition would be distributed according to the ranking.

Ye Xiao was only interested in the prizes of the top few.

The prizes of the top few were one star core of a peak-stage divine-level star beast, a pair of sharp claws of a peak-stage divine-level star beast, six pounds of the rare star metal amethyst steel, a section of the special material bloodwood, and a piece of the spatial amethyst crystal.

…

As for Ye Xiao, he was not very interested in the competition’s rules. When the time came, he would just refine it.

He was still very confident in his refining level.

In terms of combat strength, he was only at Xiantian eighth grade. It was indeed not enough.

However, in terms of refining, there should not be many people in that world who could easily refine an imperial weapon, right?

What he did not expect was that the spatial amethyst was only the reward for fifth place.

After thinking about it carefully, it made sense. Although the spatial material was a very good top-grade material, it was not so easy to refine it well.

That required sufficient refining standards.

Those who participated in the competition had a certain age limit. They had to be under 30 years old.

How many refiners under 30 years old had very high and heaven-defying standards?

Unless they were not human!

Therefore, the spatial amethyst did not seem to be that important.

It was also just right. To Ye Xiao, the test was even simpler.

Ye Xiao had already decided that when the time came, he would refine a top-grade weapon or something like that. Then, he would take the spatial amethyst.

In any case, his ranking in the competition was enough. It was fine as long as he did not steal other people’s things.

He just did not want to be exposed to the public and be the center of attention.

Arriving at a small forest at the edge of Hu city, Ye Xiao began to deal with the few divine-level star beasts that he had caught.

They had not been resurrected yet. Ye Xiao had only sealed their souls in their bodies and waited for them to return to Jianghai city before resurrecting them. Then, he would begin rearing them.

At that moment, Ye Xiao was prepared to dig out their star beads first and use the Big Dipper’s Grand Mystery to analyze their imperial techniques so that he could obtain the ones he needed.

Including Ji Feng, there were a total of five star beasts.

There was a chicken, a fish, a big baboon, a deer, and ginseng.

All of them were what Ye Xiao liked to eat.

Things like baboons, deer, and ginseng were also very nutritious.

Even though Ye Xiao did not need to replenish them anymore.

Even so, those things were still much better than nothing!

Moreover, their great nourishment was only an additional effect. Their true good effects were to raise one’s cultivation and raise one’s blood essence. They were far stronger than the other few.

However, after Ye Xiao analyzed them through the Big Dipper’s Grand Mystery, he could not help but feel a little disappointed.

That was because there were only two imperial techniques within those star cores.

One was the Earth-burrowing Technique, which was refined from the star core of the Ginseng star beast, Earth Immortal Weng.

It did not mean that it could only burrow through the earth. It could also penetrate stone or even metal. Moreover, it was not slow. The conclusion that Ye Xiao came to after analyzing it was that it was only slightly slower than the Divine Intent technique.

However, it could merge with the Divine Intent technique and another imperial technique in the future.

That could also be considered to be a huge profit. It was not considered a loss.

Ye Xiao immediately branded it into his Golden Book divine soul and let the Golden Book begin to cultivate.

The other imperial technique was a bit of a pain in the *ss. It was a healing technique. Ye Xiao already had three imperial techniques like the Mending the Heavens technique, the Morning Star Method, and the Ultimate Healing Technique.

That healing technique was of the same basic type as the Mending the Heavens technique.

Therefore, it was somewhat regretful that it could not be recorded into Ye Xiao’s Golden Book divine soul.

If the heavens willed it then Ye Xiao could not do anything about it.

As for the other three star beasts, because they only had good bloodlines and had yet to reach the dragon-class bloodline, they did not have any imperial techniques in their star cores.

Ji Feng had just formed the dragon-class bloodline, so her star core had yet to form the imperial technique.

They might have cultivated imperial techniques, but that required him to forcefully break open their souls to obtain them. With Ye Xiao’s current cultivation, there were some small problems.

Ye Xiao was prepared to wait until his cultivation had increased to a level where he could press them to the ground at any time and place. After they could not resist, he would then search for their souls.

That was also the purpose of raising them.

Ye Xiao also expressed his understanding. After all, it was impossible for a divine-level star beast to randomly appear. Even if it had a dragon-class bloodline, the bloodline was simply too worthless.

The vast majority of star beasts that cultivated to the divine level only did so due to 99 percent of their sweat, plus that 1 percent of their luck.

That was also why Ye Xiao wanted to nurture Huan Liuli back then. It was indeed very difficult to find a cub with a dragon-class bloodline.

However, Ye Xiao also found a claw technique, a strike technique, and a leg technique among the star cores of Ji Feng and the other three star beasts.

They were all basic cultivation techniques, but it was better than nothing.

Ye Xiao absorbed all those cultivation techniques into the Golden Book divine soul and let it start cultivating.

As it was three basic cultivation techniques, the Golden Book divine soul quickly cultivated them.

Among them, after cultivating the strike technique, it started to flicker with a faint golden light. That meant that the strike technique was about to be synthesized.

At that time, he would be able to synthesize another imperial technique.

From the looks of it, he had reaped quite a lot from that trip.

He had made the right decision to ask for leave at that time.

One imperial technique, three basic cultivation techniques, and five divine-level star beasts. He would be able to obtain another spatial amethyst the next day.

The profit… Was quite considerable.

It was wonderful.

…

On the other side, in the most luxurious yacht hotel on the Hu Cheng river, two men were eating.

A middle-aged man and a young man.

Both of them were dressed very elegantly. Their clothes were very exquisite and expensive.

The middle-aged man was the first to speak.

“Qiu Feng, you are the proudest disciple that I’ve taken in for so many years. You have reached the standard of an advanced refiner at the age of 27. I’m really gratified.

“But tomorrow, you will truly make me feel honored.”

Qiu Feng’s expression was indifferent. He cut a steak from the plate in front of him and put it into his mouth. As he tasted it, he replied,

“Master, don’t worry. I have been indebted to your teachings for so many years. No matter what, I will definitely win first place in this competition and bring glory to your name.”

The middle-aged man nodded and said with some emotion,

“Back then, I had also participated in this competition. Although I also won first place, it was because another refining professor in nine provinces couldn’t continue to participate in the competition after reaching the age of 30 that I won first place.

“Therefore, this is the one regret of my life.

“Now that teacher has taught you, you can at least participate in the Nine Provinces Competition twice more. This is your opportunity, and also the best chance in your life to be famous in nine provinces.”

Qiu Feng’s eyes moved slightly.

“Master, are you talking about Professor Zhang Guangyang, who is known as the inheritor of the nine provinces’ armament refinement and the armament master of the Hu Martial Arts Academy?”

“That’s right!”

After hearing his name, the middle-aged man’s eyes suddenly became a little fierce.

“Back then, I was defeated by him in every aspect. I was suppressed by him for four whole years. I was the second place for four years before I finally won first place after he left.

“However, I knew that I didn’t win.

“If he was still around, I would still lose.

“I heard that this time, his disciple will also participate in the competition. Moreover, he is an unrivaled genius that can not be underestimated!

“As expected, the champion will be between the two of you!”