Chapter 27: Two Kinds or Three?

  (Seeking recommendations, collecting, whatever you have, hehe.)

  Li Sen shook his head and left. The second person to arrive was Sun Hao, who had just refined the lower-grade Tianling Treasure and was now famous.

  When Sun Hao saw the short sword, his eyes lit up suddenly. "This short sword is not bad, and its grade should be relatively high." Sun Hao evaluated in his heart.

  To evaluate the quality of a weapon solely by its appearance, one must not only look at its exterior but also carefully observe the various materials used. After all, extremely ordinary materials are generally difficult to forge into high-quality weapons or armor. Moreover, even if someone could really do it, they wouldn't be an entry-level apprentice.

  Apprentices in the entry-level have a shallow understanding of alchemy, only by becoming an inner disciple can they receive the great support of the sect and the elders will pass down more alchemy methods.

  "The material used is... Wulanche iron." Sun Hao carefully identified it, "Ah, and mixed with Qiushui Roushi." After observing for a while, Sun Hao shook his head slightly in disappointment, "Although the appearance of this short sword looks pretty good, but using only two of the most common materials to forge it, its grade shouldn't be too high."

  Sun Hao originally thought highly of this short sword, but when he discovered that the materials used were all very ordinary, he was disappointed again. With the ability of an entry-level disciple, it is unlikely to refine high-quality weapons with ordinary materials.

  After the first inner disciple shook his head and left, Changsheng felt a bit apprehensive in his heart, so he secretly observed Sun Hao's expression. When he saw that Sun Hao also shook his head with some disappointment, Changsheng's heart sank directly. Although after the inner disciples and elders checked all the weapons and armor, they would definitely discover the astonishing quality of this short sword. But Changsheng was at the end of the line, and by the time it was his turn, it might be tomorrow or even the day after tomorrow.

  He had been met with disdain and ridicule by others, and Long Sheng also had some anger in his heart. He wanted to see the expressions of those who looked down on him when the inner sect disciples pointed out that this short sword had an astonishing grade of two. It must be very interesting. But if he had to wait until tomorrow or even the day after tomorrow, there would hardly be anyone left in this grand hall by then. Even if the inner sect disciples and elders discovered that this short sword was of a surprising grade, but the other servants had already left, it wouldn't be as meaningful.

  Just as Sun Hao was about to leave, he suddenly noticed that the blade of the dark short sword seemed a bit off. At first, Sun Hao thought it was a sword blade made of Wulang iron and then processed with special techniques, but Wulang iron is black and cannot have a faint golden light.

  If it weren't for the corner of his eye catching a faint glimmer, Sun Hao would have been certain that he absolutely couldn't discover the slight difference between the sword's blade and body.

  Sun Hao was taken aback and his movement of turning around also paused for a moment before he turned back again.

  This time Sun Hao observed more carefully and at the same time turned his head left and right to form different angles.

  Changsheng, who had already lost hope, felt a glimmer of excitement at this turn of events, but as he watched Sun Hao's strange head-turning movement, Changsheng's face involuntarily revealed a hint of confusion, and he couldn't quite figure out what was going on.

  Li Sen stood a few meters away, having examined all the weapons and armor, when his gaze fell on Sun Hao, a hint of gloom flashed at the bottom of Li Sen's eyes.

  Li Sen was the first of the four inner disciples to enter Huoyun Hall, and he had always regarded himself as the eldest senior brother of Huoyun Hall. However, since Sun Hao entered Huoyun Hall, Li Sen's position has been threatened, and Elder Qingfan is more affectionate towards Sun Hao than him. This situation became even more apparent after Sun Hao successfully refined a lower-grade Heavenly Spirit Treasure.

  Afterwards, Qing Fan's elder promoted Sun Hao's Soul Refining Technique from 2-star to 3-star, allowing Sun Hao's cultivation speed to become even faster. This made Li Sen, who was already extremely dissatisfied with Sun Hao, harbor even more resentment in his heart, which had now evolved into hatred.

  "Junior Brother Sun, that's just a short sword made from ordinary materials. Although the person who forged it has some skill, it shouldn't be enough to make our Fire Cloud Hall's genius so concerned, should it? Unless... there's something mysterious about it? Junior Brother, you might as well say something and let Senior Brother gain some insight." Li Sen had a warm smile on his face. If one only looked at his expression, it would be easy to get a good impression of him, and the words he spoke seemed harmless on the surface, even making people think he was praising Sun Hao. However, if one thought about it carefully, they would discover the problems hidden in his words.

  Li Sen first pointed out that the short sword was only made of ordinary materials, and then intentionally provoked Sun Hao with his words. Although Li Sen's mouth said "genius", when connected with what he said before, it can be found that he was deliberately mocking Sun Hao. A genius who is so concerned about a short sword made of ordinary materials is either not good enough or the name of genius is somewhat undeserved.

  Li Sen even dug a hole for Sun Hao, asking him to reveal the special features of this short sword. If he couldn't say anything, it would further prove that Sun Hao's reputation as a genius was false. Even if Sun Hao did say something about its special features, Li Sen wouldn't lose anything. Moreover, Li Sen had carefully examined the short sword himself and was confident that its quality was not high. Therefore, Li Sen also had some expectations that Sun Hao would save face by saying something, and when he checked the quality of the short sword later, Sun Hao would be ashamed to show his face.

  Although Sun Hao didn't catch the trap in Li Sen's words, he had a faintly uncomfortable feeling in his heart. Adding to that, their relationship wasn't very good, so he replied coldly: "This humble junior can't see anything, only thinks this short sword is crafted exceptionally well, don't know what senior sees, please enlighten me."

  Sun Hao admitted that he didn't see anything special about it, which made a hint of a triumphant smile flash in Li Sen's eyes.

  At this time, the other two inner disciples had also finished looking at all the weapons and heard Sun Hao and Li Sen's conversation. One of them, named Yin Wanshui, couldn't help but laugh and flatter Li Sen, "Brother, you are so knowledgeable, please tell us more and broaden our horizons."

  "My junior brothers have overpraised it, but since you want to hear my opinion, I'll say a few words. The hilt of this short sword is dark and glossy, with some intricate patterns on the local area. I think the main body of the sword should be made of Wulang iron, but Wulang iron is black and can't have such a glossy luster. It's likely that Seven Water Soft Stone was added to the Wulang iron. To be able to forge such a short sword with these two ordinary materials, the level of the forger is not bad. However, ordinary materials are still ordinary materials, and it's not something anyone can forge into high-quality weapons... I think this short sword's grade shouldn't be too high." Li Sen concluded with a faint smile.

  "Well, I think at most it can only reach the fourth rank." Yin Wanshui followed Li Sen's conclusion and made an evaluation, apparently intentionally trying to please Li Sen.

  Another inner disciple named Qu Han just nodded and didn't say a word. Qu Han didn't deliberately try to get close to Li Sen and Sun Hao, he had always been independent.

  Elder Qingfan saw everything with his eyes, but did not intervene, just standing aside and observing several inner disciples.

  Changsheng's face suddenly turned red with anxiety as he listened to Yin Wanshui say that the Short Sword could only reach fourth-grade at most. He wanted to speak out the true grade of the Short Sword, but facing the four inner disciples and Qingfeng Elder, he really didn't dare open his mouth. He was just an ordinary miscellaneous servant, and in front of the inner disciples and elder, he simply had no qualifications to interrupt.

  At this time, the eyes of other miscellaneous workers were also attracted, and they looked at the short sword on the ground with some strange looks, and then looked at Changsheng's face, which was red with anger, with a look of incredulity and thick jealousy in their eyes.

  "What good luck, to have received a decent short sword. But no matter how good it is, it's only fourth-grade, not worth the attention of the esteemed inner sect brothers." The miscellaneous servants couldn't help but think to themselves.

  Sun Hao had almost finished observing, turned around and took a look at Li Sen's three people, then turned back to face the green-haired elder standing behind him and said respectfully: "Elder, I think this short sword uses not just two kinds of materials, but... three!"

  Sun Hao's words suddenly plunged the entire grand hall into silence, with everyone staring at him in shock, while Li Sen, who had been smiling smugly, suddenly changed his expression.