Stepping stone

  Stepping stone

  Refining a top-grade Gravity Symbol, for Chu Xiao, was as simple as eating and drinking. After more than ten minutes, he withdrew from the highly concentrated symbol-refining state, put down the brush in his hand, lightly exhaled, glanced at the refined Gravity Symbol, and a hint of satisfaction appeared on his face, then he waited with ease.

  Many onlookers saw this and were extremely shocked.

  "What's going on? Less than fifteen minutes have passed, has he finished refining it?"

  "It's impossible, even if it were a Seventh-Grade Symbol Master, it would be impossible to refine a Gravity Symbol in just fifteen minutes."

  "I guess he couldn't be refined, so I simply gave up."

  Ningyuan Workshop's Seventh-Rank Symbol Master Nan Shu saw Chu Xiao's expression and couldn't help but feel a thud in his heart, immediately comforting himself that it was impossible, he couldn't have refined it in such a short period of time.

  But he didn't know what was going on in his heart, and a layer of 'darkness' had been added to the 'door'.

  Another few minutes passed, and at the 24-minute mark, Ling Yuan from the Ningyuan workshop also completed the refinement of the Gravity Symbol. A faint smile appeared on his face, seemingly very satisfied with this refinement of the Gravity Symbol. He turned off the light shield and looked at Chu Xiao with a pleased expression, only to find that Chu Xiao was looking at him with an amused gaze. Suddenly, he felt a very uncomfortable feeling in his heart, and he coldly snorted, thinking to himself: "Just wait until the inspection of the Gravity Symbol, and then we'll see if you can still smile."

  "Both of you have already refined the Gravity Symbol, please 'hand' it over for me to inspect."

  A middle-aged man from the Ziyue Security Academy smiled lightly.

  Lingyuan hastily handed over the Gravity Symbol and then looked at Chu Xiao with a provocative gaze.

  Chu Xiao smiled slightly, seemingly indifferent, with an air of unwavering confidence on his face.

  The middle-aged man took over the gravity symbol refined by Lingyuan and placed it on the inspection device that had been prepared long ago.

  "Target: Gravity Symbol."

  Rank: Supreme Law Symbol

  Perfection: 77.91.

  Gravity Amplification: 5.12

  The on-site payment masters 'door' saw the test results, all of them couldn't help but 'show' a different 'color', although this Lingyuan was a bit arrogant, but the level of the seal is still 'high'.

  Ningyuan Studio's Nan Shu also nodded in satisfaction, he knew that this time Lingyuan had performed beyond his normal level.

  Ling Yuan saw the inspection information of his own refined Gravity Symbol, and he was quite pleased. As a sixth-grade symbol craftsman, being able to refine such high-quality Gravity Symbols is extremely rare. It can be said that this trial is undoubtedly an opportunity for him to "show off", and he believes that his reputation will also become even greater.

  He immediately looked at Chu Xiao with a playful expression, wanting to see how Chu Xiao would make a fool of himself. He even thought that Chu Xiao wouldn't dare take out the Gravity Symbol for inspection.

  Contrary to everyone's expectations, Chu Xiao's expression remained calm, with a faint smile still hanging at the corner of his mouth, as if the test information of Lingyuan's heavy symbol had no pressure on him.

  The middle-aged man took over Chu Xiao's gravity symbol and looked at Chu Xiao deeply, he was very curious how Chu Xiao still had so much confidence until now?

  Put the gravity symbol refined by Chu Xiao into the inspection instrument, and as soon as the instrument is turned on, a segment of inspection information appears on the small crystal screen, attracting the attention of many people. Some people who can't see are asking those in front of them.

  "Target: Gravity Symbol."

  Rank: Supreme Magic Symbol.

  Perfection: 83.48.

  Gravity Amplifier: 6.

  In an instant, almost everyone who saw this message was stunned.

  The middle-aged man operating the inspection device couldn't help but have his hands tremble slightly, a look of extreme astonishment appearing on his face.

  "How is this possible? Over 83% purity, six times gravity amplification, and the quality is too high as well. Is this really something he refined?"

  "In the eyes of everyone, he couldn't possibly be faking it, it's too unbelievable. He is only a 4th-grade symbol craftsman, yet he actually refined such high-quality gravity symbols, probably only 8th-grade or higher symbol refinement experts can refine gravity symbols to this extent."

  "Yes, Lingyuan's gravity symbol is only seventy-seven percent, and Chu Xiao is a full six percentage points higher than him, the gap is too big."

  "It seems that this time Ningyuan workshop has failed and lost all face."

  "Who would have thought that a fourth-rate symbol craftsman could refine such high-quality gravity symbols?"

  "This Chu family workshop is not simple, a fifth-grade craftsman can refine such high-quality gravity symbols, no wonder they dare to be so arrogant, it turns out they have the skills."

  Many onlookers let out exclamations of surprise and were abuzz with discussion, with hardly anyone unshaken.

  Some studios were secretly glad that they didn't send anyone on stage earlier, otherwise it wouldn't just be Ningyuan Studio losing face, but also them. Feeling relieved, they also started to gloat over Ningyuan Studio's misfortune.

  The craftsmen in Ningyuan's workshop were all stunned, hardly daring to believe what they saw, especially Nan Shu, whose face turned extremely ugly.

  Lost, thoroughly lost

  And to be forced out of the exhibition hall, it's a huge blow to Ningyuan Studio. They might not be able to hold their heads up high in the world of seal carving again, and their former competitors will secretly mock them.

  Even clients who have cooperated with them before may also change their minds and switch sides.

  As one of the protagonists of this competition, Lingyuan's sneer had not yet faded when it solidified, his mind was a complete blank, he couldn't understand how he, a sixth-grade artifact refiner, could lose to a fourth-grade artifact refiner. A fourth-grade artifact refiner, how could they refine such high-quality gravity symbols?

  Why? Too many whys

  Lingyuan's face turned pale, and his body even trembled involuntarily. He knew he had lost this time, and the loss was too great. The entire Ningyuan workshop would have to withdraw from the exhibition hall, a loss that was almost unbearable for the workshop.

  "It's truly unbelievable, Chu brothers, you've won me over. The gravity symbol you refined is very satisfactory, so I've decided to sign a long-term cooperation agreement with your workshop. By the way, I haven't introduced myself yet. My surname is Hong, and I'm a procurement officer at the Ziyue Security Academy."

  The middle-aged man returned the Gravity Symbol to Chu Xiao and said with great joy.

  It was also his first time seeing a gravity symbol of this quality, so he decided without hesitation to cooperate with the Chu Shi workshop.

  The numerous workshops present were all envying, but at this moment they no longer had any disdainful thoughts towards the Chu family workshop. Even if a seventh-grade artifact master had come on stage just now, it's estimated that the outcome would not have changed. After all, the gravity symbol refined by Chu Xiao was of too high quality, so high that those workshops couldn't even give rise to competitive thoughts.

  At this moment, Nan Shu Lingyuan and others have retreated in a daze in front of the Ningyuan workshop booth.

  "Uncle Nan, I'm sorry, I lost, it's all my fault..."

  Lingyuan's face was filled with despair, this loss was too miserable. They even had to withdraw from the exhibition hall. Although they could appeal, for a studio, this is a huge credibility issue. If it gets out, the studio will be finished, and no clients will cooperate with them in the future.

  After all, this time under the watchful eyes of everyone, even if the face of Ningyuan Studio's Tsukumogami is thick, I'm afraid it won't be able to continue staying here.

  Exiting the exhibition hall now, although there is a great loss, it's better than losing credibility.

  "Ah, it's not your fault. Even if I had done it myself, the result wouldn't have been much different. I didn't expect this kid's talent for talismans to be so strong. It seems that the Chu Studio really does have a perfect system of talismans with an accuracy rate of over 80%. Our Ningyuan Studio is completely defeated."

  Nan Shu shook his head.

  Under the gaze of many onlookers, although the Ningyuan workshop's seal carvers were extremely reluctant, they had no choice but to start packing up and prepare to leave.

  On the other hand, in front of the Chu family workshop's booth, the onlookers who had gathered also gradually dispersed, but there were still many people surrounding it. Some even expressed their intention to join the Chu family workshop. After all, Chu Xiao was able to refine such high-quality gravity symbols as a fourth-grade symbol artisan, which not only showed his surprising talent for symbol crafting, but also indicated that the Chu family workshop possessed a nearly perfect symbol system.

  The Chu army and others were very happy, unexpectedly, Chu Xiao conducted a trial, changing the previous situation where no one asked about it, so they began to contact these seal masters, leaving related information and contact details.

  Because there are many designers, Chu's studio already has room for choice.

  In addition, Chu's workshop and Ziyue Security Academy signed a cooperation agreement on the spot, delivering 500 gravity symbols every month.

  This order is a timely rain for Chu's studio.

  With orders, the workshop can truly rise. Without orders, it's estimated that even the recruited symbol masters cannot be supported. After all, master-level symbol masters require extremely high salaries. For example, Li Sang, a fourth-grade symbol master, has a monthly salary of over 30,000 spiritual coins, let alone fifth-grade, sixth-grade or even seventh-grade symbol masters.

  After Director Hong of the Zi Yue Bao An College left, two more companies expressed their intention to cooperate. With almost every effort, they secured these two orders: one for high-quality talismans, 300 pieces per month, and another for top-quality talismans, 120 pieces per month.

  Although these two orders were not large in quantity, they made a good start and put a smile on the faces of Chu Jun and others.

  Perhaps it was Chu Xiao's strength shown earlier that during this process, no other studio came to provoke again.

  It wasn't until around 10 am that many studios had already opened for business. For example, the Tianfu Studio next to the Chu's studio received a large order of spiritual symbols, making the orders at the Chu's studio seem insignificant in comparison.

  During this time, a small number of studios had several extremely fierce competitions for customers, and even one studio was forced to withdraw from the exhibition hall, which is the second studio to be forced to withdraw from the exhibition hall after Ningyuan Studio.

  Just as the various competitions were in full swing at Pavilion No. 5, a huge crystal screen in front suddenly burst into intense light, and then a figure gradually emerged.

  For a moment, all eyes in the exhibition hall were drawn over there.

  Chu Xiao saw the figure that appeared on the crystal screen, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes. It was none other than Jiang Sheng, the Master of the Ziyun City Symbol Division.

  It seems that the Fu Lu Shou 'Hui' flow is finally about to begin.

  PS: The second update is here