บท 65: Array Refining
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By constant strikes in the process of forging, impurities are removed from an ore and its qualities transform into a more wondrous state. Using the arrays as the means, Ja Sun controlled the temperature and used his own spirit energy to force out the impurities. This was achieving the same goal using a different path. With each pulse of spirit energy, Ja Sun would push out impurities that traveled through the pathways of the array until it reached the perimeter and was pushed out from the array in the form of dark, inconsistent flaky chips.
The three ores continued to brighten. Their Internal structures being cleansed. Although Ja Sun's experience in forging was very low, even when using the array, his theory on the matter had grown considerably stable.
But once the ores had shrunken down by a third, Lou Gao frowned in the realization that Ja Sun wasn't stopping.
Forging is divided into the number of strikes of the hammer.
Hundred-refinement forging means striking a piece of metal at least a hundred times. Matching his heartbeat, the pulse of the spirit energy of course surpassed the hundredth mark long ago. But the energy and force within each pulse were extremely gentle. It couldn't be compared to a hammer's forceful strikes.
What Ja Sun had achieved right now was the equivalent of hundred-refinement forging. But his last bits of mental energy was focused on the task with astonishing sincerity and heart. Though revealing a tired visage, the Bright Goddess Butterfly within Ja Sun still supported him as the mist-like mental world was long since drained.
Meanwhile, the array continued to refine the three ores. Now, the impurities expelled weren't flaky. In fact, they would turn into ash the moment they were pushed out.
In reality, fully knowing that this form of exertion meant a certain form of weakening later, he didn't set up any mission. Presently, Ja Sun was simply motivated by the prospects of breaking through his limits.
Wave by wave, the three metals went through a thorough transformation.
At this point, a piece of paper accurately reached towards Lou Gao, and catching it promptly, the old man read the contents before his expression changed.
Standing up, he gestured Si Long to remain silent and observe intently before he left his chambers.
Walking out hurriedly, he made his way towards the entrance and found a conspicuous group of masked individuals.
"Where is he?" The leading woman inquired calmly.
"Array Master Ka-ul is in the process of refinement. I'm the president of the Association, Lou Gao.
Presently, if possible then Array Master really shouldn't be disturbed or the distraction may harm him instead of flourishing him?"
Stunned by such a response, Hu Lana softly opened up.
"Refining? We were told that he's performing street magic..." Gazes condensed over Ah Yin as she felt equally embarrassed. But with the mask covering her face, she shook her head and replied, "I never told you to believe an owl's report word by word. For her, whatever he is doing may just be magic."
Speechless, Bibi Dong looked towards Lou Gao and stated, "Take us there. We won't disturb him. On the way, do tell how he spent his week in the Association."
---
Sweat gathered over Ja Sun's forehead and under extreme control, he continued to drill out impurities until he couldn't find them anymore. This was one of the greatest advantages of array refining. Within the array, he could stop and continue as he wished without worrying about temperature and such while in traditional forging, a blacksmith would need to keep an eye out for everything.
The two yellow crystal-like ores and the sapphire-like ores were one of the rare forms of metals known as essence. Extremely small chunks of it, in fact, but right now, after refining several weapons that an ordinary blacksmith will take almost three months to complete, Ja Sun had a rudimentary grasp on flow and his realm of Self assisted him greatly.
Once they looked brilliant, a change occurred in their structure as nudged by the array, the three chunks of refined essence started to part in thin slivers of essence. Each sliver was thin and fine as human hair. The short slivers would connect with each other. Within a few minutes, an extremely long yellow thread was suspended in between the array in a coiled position while within it was a similarly coiled sapphire thread.
Suddenly, both of the threads began to weave together and Ja Sun's eyes snapped open. His mental energy was too unstable and he would require to see his actions now. The pair of pale gold pupils revealed a majestic splendor under the glow of the array. The thin threads quickly weaved into a single sheet of metal and finally, with a deep breath, Ja Sun slammed both of his palms together.
It was then that a qualitative change shook the metal sheet. Its elasticity grew while the temperature of the room skyrocketed. Not only that, the distinct yellow and blue colors of the sheet began to melt into each other.
Alloy.
Ja Sun was unexpectedly refining an essence alloy!
The two essence ore melted, turning into a pale green sheet, and instantly, the array disappeared while Ja Sun hungrily pulled back the leftover energy to fill his dried reserves. Meanwhile, the green sheet of 'metal' gently landed over Ja Sun's lap, and shocking the viewer was the fact that the sheet actually folded over the shape of his lap like an actual article of clothing.
"1 Sea Green Alloy fabric, done... Old Bitch... cough up the last book," Ja Sun's hoarse voice echoed as his upper body swayed while sitting cross-legged.
Suddenly, a cool and refreshing energy supplemented his body and mind simultaneously.
"There's no old bitch... but just a petty one. And don't talk. Your throat and nostrils are all bloodied."
Ja Sun nodded before whispering, "Be sure to take the payment."
With that, he peacefully closed his eyes.
---
"Nnngh," Ja Sun groaned softly his legs and arms stretching out as he felt weight over his chest. Opening his eyes slightly, he found two colorful shadows perched on top of his chest.
"Woke up?" Olivia inquired. In smaller statements, she had started to grow more fluent.
"Magic... magic!" Caihong pecked at Ja Sun's chest.
"Believe me, there's magic under Ah Yin's clothes," Ja Sun chuckled weakly, "Now that I think... there's probably magic under Erlong's, Teacher's and—"
"And my Nana's clothes?" A cold voice broke Ja Sun out of his daze.
Looking sideways, he found Xie Xan sitting next to a slightly blushing Hu Lana.
"No," Ja Sun's expression straightened as he felt his face without the mask.
"I was going to say that there's magic under my clothes. Want to see it?" Ja Sun smiled.
"Well... magician, look towards your legs and then upwards," Xie Xan gave a surprisingly pleasant smile. Looking back towards his chest, Ja Sun frowned as the two owls covered his vision but now that he focused, his legs were slightly raised as if placed over something else as a support. Meanwhile, looking up, he found Ah Yin looking at him with a hint of coldness.
"What am I lying on?" Ja Sun inquired, a hint of chill filling his heart, too.
"Since we had to leave but you were unconscious, we procured a carriage with one side wider than the other so you can stretch your legs. Lou Gao said that you didn't move from your position for seven days. He also said to express his gratitude. He came to learn a lot of things from you."
"Ah Yin."
"Yes?"
"That doesn't answer my question at all."
Picking up Caihong while Olivia flew over to Xie Xan, Ja Sun finally saw his legs over Liu Erlong's and Bibi Dong's laps. They both were looking in his direction as he couldn't help but retort under their gaze.
"I take full responsibility for my words. Teacher, Liu Erlong, are the two of you not confident in your beauty? It is definitely magic," Ja Sun gave a reassuring smile with his thumb weakly pointing up.
At this point, a slightly cooler hand covered his mouth as the familiar energy filled his body.
"Just rest, I won't be letting Olivia and Caihong play on you anymore."
"And if possible, don't wake up," Liu Erlong remarked.
But not minding the comments, Ja Sun slipped into a deep sleep once again.
---
The rented carriage was driven by a third party so from Gengxin City to their destination, in four days, the carriage stopped four times with each rest making Ja Sun better and better. Ah Yin may cure injuries amazingly quickly. But the exhaustion Ja Sun had caused himself needed time. Especially his vast mental energy. The Bright Goddess Butterfly had grown listless without the usually sparkling mental world. These four days, aside from Fiery Golden Pupils, Ja Sun didn't practice anything else.
He had also finished the last book on alloys Lou Gao had. With this, he had attained many blueprints from the rewards by creating items of a certain quality, knowledge from Lou Gao, and formulas for alloys that he can control in the arrays with an even greater accuracy. Of course, for the past four days, the group did inquire with curiosity why the metal would turn into cloth, which only netted them his condescending sneer.
Finally, they reached their destination— Star Luo City.
As the capital of the Star Luo Empire, it naturally broadened everybody's horizons as to what it meant to be a majestic city.
Defining walls more than 40 meters high rose into the sky compared to which their group in a small carriage looked like ants. Each house, street, and building holding a lavish design.
The most important of all the sites in the city was the giant palace built on a mountain. In fact, the structure protruded from the mountain itself. A palace made of blue, white, and golden. A graceful glow glistening off of its surface under the noon's harsh light.
The Star Luo Palace.
---
Within the Star Luo Palace, any and every official matter is taken care of in the Emperor's study. Besides his wife, and attendant, not even the Crown Prince of the Empire can enter the study easily. However, today, not only the Crown Prince and his fiancee but also three outsiders were present alongside the Emperor and the Empress of the empire.
On one of the large and comfortable sofas sat two men and one woman. The two of them wore tanned jackets with shoulder platings and underneath wore a simple tunic with a pair of trousers that stretched slightly around their impressive torso. In between them sat a graceful young woman. Light blue hair as if the sky was around her head. Her long hair pulled up into a bun in an elaborate hairstyle while her slightly narrow eyes gave away extremely light brown irises, almost greying. Unlike the two tanned men, her skin was soft and fair.
In front of them sat a pair of smiling couple. The mad had a broad body wrapped in a blue imperial suit. He wore his blonde hair shortly with either side trimmed and the middle turning into a thick mohawk. Right eye red and left eye blue, the charming individual gave a sense of majestic impression. Next to him sat a dark-haired woman completely in black that complemented her pale skin. Her beauty was no less than the sky-blue-haired woman sitting in the middle of two men.
The youngest of the duo, a man with short, dark unkempt hair but a cleanly shaven face groaned and slumped on the sofa further, "Uncle Dai, you have to visit us back in the sect one of these days. All that old man has for us is stone baths, stone chairs, stone beds..."
If Ja Sun and Ah Yin were here, they would recognize the two brothers— Tang Hao and Tang Xiao from a few months ago.
On the host's seat sat a middle-aged blonde man with facial features similar to the young blonde. Although, his long golden hai unrolled over his back untamed, and next to him sat an equally similar dark-clothed woman but with short dark hair. However, she was much more mature than the two graceful women and had an imperial charm to her smile.
"Change those stone beds? I don't want to challenge Old Tang further. I'm afraid that if he doesn't sleep on stones, he will get the idea of using iron. Worse, textured stone beds..." This man was the Emperor. Yet, instead of a regal aura, only warmth flickered over his expression as he responded to Tang Hao.
"Textured... stone beds..." Tang Xiao murmured and the faces of the two men and the woman sitting in the middle of them paled.
"Why are you being afraid of that Old Tang, Yuehua, that old bastard may break these two uncultured swines but not you. You're his little princess," the Empress gave a soft smile but her sharp gaze made both Tang Xiao and Tang Hao sit up straight.
"Little Hua," The Emperor spoke up, "I have read your plan. But even with my relationship with Old Tang, I'm afraid I cannot allow you. In fact, my vassals may even oppose you despite the origin of this organization."
"Uncle—" Tang Hao frowned when a glare from Tang Xiao quietened him while the woman's soft smile calmed him down.
"Uncle Dai, please enlighten me. I'm sure that your words are concerning my safety."
The blue-haired girl called Yuehua cupped her fist and gave a polite bow. From the start, her movements were graceful and even the blonde youth sitting in front of her couldn't help but steal a few glances.
Giving a deep chuckle, the Emperor eyed the two brothers with scorn, "Clear Sky Twin Stars, ah, though a mighty name. You both lack conduct. Little Hua, after this, promise me that you will teach both of your brothers some courtly etiquettes."
Tang Hao's and Tang Xiao's youngest sister, Tang Yuehua gave a simple smile, "I dare not teach my elder brothers but they are sufficiently talented. I'm sure that just by observing, they can learn anything they want."
"Tsk, tsk, glib. Nothing like Old Tang indeed but just like your mother. Let me explain why your pavilion will not be able to thrive in Star Luo Empire." Emperor's demeanor changed and he stated somberly.
"Customs. What your Pavilion will bring is an unprecedented change in our customs. Change in our city's structure, I will agree without a hint of hesitation. Change in the Empire's politics, I would still agree after a thought. But customs is something I can never allow anyone to change. Even Old Tang, even that new Heaven's Emperor— Xue, and my son, too.
The three of you know why the White Tiger thrives. I will not speak out of bounds. But, I can promise you that this Pavilion will be welcomed with open arms in Heaven Dou Empire."
Hesitation flickered on three of their faces as Emperor smiled and shook his head, "You young cubs are still narrow in thoughts. What you can think, can Old Tang not perceive? He sent the three of you here, it is to give me face. Both he and I know that I won't allow a Pavilion with such a structure exist in Star Luo Empire. But, I can give you my blessings to spread your clan's authority.
And I will.
Little Hua, Old Tang treasures you because you're his little princess. I treasure you because you're talented. I treasure you two brothers and your father for the same. Even my son, daughter-in-law, and my wife. Never did I lie about it, or evade this line of thinking.
After you establish your Moon Pavilion in Heaven Dou Empire, be sure to write me letters. I hear that Heaven Dou Empire's beauty is on a different level," The Emperor's gaze turned into longing and passion. His fists slightly clenched.
"I wish to see it one day myself."
His words held unbridled ambitions.
Gazing at his son, the Emperor smiled, "These three kids came from a long distance. And if I'm not wrong, you both even suspended the training of your teams for the upcoming bloodbath," he glanced at the Tang brothers.
"Take this week off. Show them around the City. Bring your sister, too."
The blonde youth nodded with a grin.
"Hear that? You can come with us," he called out towards the door as a surprised squeak rang from the outside.
---
"Teacher, why did we come to another city? Shouldn't we start training in another extreme environment?" Ja Sun inquired. All of them were present in a single room once again, this time, his own. While she sat on the bed, others took chairs and the sofa.
"The rules of the competition are set. Do you want to know them?" Bibi Dong asked another question instead of answering.
The look on everybody's face revealed their eagerness on the matter as Bibi Dong took a deep breath. Even she was startled by how different this competition was going to be from her expectations.
"First, I will speak about the rules regarding team members. Anyone under the age of 30 can participate if they belong to the approved academy, sect, or a clan from Heaven Dou and Star Luo Empires. Even Spirit Hall's team will be finalized in-house.
Aside from the seven main team members, there can only be five substitutes. The substitutes are optional, so, we need to have seven members at the very least. Going by the talents of the Continent, all of you will surely fight against Spirit Emperors.
Now... about the competition itself...
The first part of the competition is qualifiers. Each Empire will hold its own qualifiers. Since an empire is divided into one Capital City, One Duchy, and four kingdoms, these demographic areas will have their own matches. Aside from the power residing in the Capital City of the Empire, the five areas will have 2 seats of qualifications. Meanwhile, the Capital city will have 6 seats. It will be a round-robin competition.
This means that both the Empires at the end of the qualifiers will have 16 victorious teams from each side ready to compete.
Meanwhile, our Spirit Hall will only have two spots. Within the hall, you will face many competitors before you can qualify to compete with the team developed in the Empires.
But if it was that simple, I would have waited to tell you the rules...
The situation changes in the finals. Star Luo Empire actually proposed another form of competition within the finals: Bloodbath.
Even if there are no rules for killing the opponents in the match, there are not many who would offend others for a competition if they aren't confident in winning the competition entirely. But according to the Star Luo Empire, this competition will allow them to settle a few grudges with a single match.
For instance, Heaven Dou Empire and Star Luo Empire are at great odds. There is a high chance that the Star Luo Empire will challenge Heaven Dou Empire in a bloodbath. The result will be marked as the part of the competition itself. But when such a challenge is issued, there will only be a team battle and not individual challenges. Any and every death is to be accepted."
"How would that work?" Ja Sun hummed curiously.
"Say, one of the team wins in this Bloodbath match, they will surely be injured. And may have casualties, too. Isn't that the removal of two teams from the competition itself?"
"Yes, that is why we are here. I'm representing Supreme Pontiff's will. An ambassador from the Heaven Dou Empire will reach this city tomorrow, too. So, I won't be present for most part of the day tomorrow. Even Star Luo Empire knows that this wouldn't work but they also want to participate in the competition surely."
"Teacher... you know the rewards, too, don't you?" Ja Sun's eyes glimmered.
"60,000-year-old Nine-headed Giant's Torso Bone.
40,000-year-old Saint Hell Tiger's Skull Bone."
Bibi Dong's calm voice froze everyone in their seats.
Ja Sun thought for a moment before shrugging internally. His rewards can produce spirit bones. The previous constrain was winning the war. This time, it can be winning the competition, too. Maybe he would even be able to get both the spirit bones.
***
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