Gate of Immortality

Flame enveloped the stone as Yang Shi activated his Great Yang Solar Flame art. The fire slowly took the shape of a lily. The stone became bright red, Like the setting sun, but then, in the red color, small cracks began to appear. The cracks were golden in color, and it slowly spread like spiderwebs. The red-robed elder's eyes went wide with astonishment.

" Huuuuh" Yang Shi left out a long breath as he suddenly retracted his palms. The stone lost its color as it went back to normal. The red-robed elder became a bit disappointed.

" Heavens, What technique he used in the end? It was overbearing." Someone exclaimed. The red robed elder's eyes turned serious after hearing the question.

" Hmm, It seems The way he used his flames... I saw a similar technique like that before. But it seems he is using two techniques at once." Huang An concluded.

" Now you said it, It indeed looks similar to a powerful technique I saw once." Yun Hong nodded.

" Ok, 60 marks." The red robed elder said.

" 60!!! How is that possible?" One of them barked with dissatisfaction. " Didn't you see the golden cracks in red color?" The elder retorted.

" Actually, I didn't tell but, There was another color after red. It was a golden color. Triggering the golden color will give you 100 marks." The red-robed elder said with a loud voice.

" Golden color, huh?" Huang An looked at Yang Shi.

" Ok, now time for the last test. You will craft a Spirit Grade." The red robed elder smiled. Everyone's face turned serious after hearing him. Even Yang Shi's eyes narrowed as his mind turned firm.

" Come with me." The red-robed elder asked them. He sighed lightly as he looked at Yang Shi. " Great Yang Solar Flame Art, Huh...But it's a little different." He murmured. People couldn't recognize Yang Shi's Great Yang Solar Flame Art right away, as he has innately control over fire element for his Crimson Lily primordial spirit. He combined this with his technique, both befuddling the people and increasing his power.

He led everyone into a kind of altar. " Wow, I never thought that Golden Fire Tower is this big!" Yang Shi exclaimed.

" Indeed, Usually, people just deliver materials and order from outside. Only verified Blacksmiths can enter deeper part of this building." Huang An nodded. Yang Shi saw the building had many pillars, with strange runes embedded on it.

" Wow, They protected the entire building with magical formations." Yang Shi's eye gleamed. " Well, It's the main faction of Blacksmiths and Alchemists not only in Azure Feather Ancient Kingdom but all the surrounding kingdoms. We have materials for True Rank, even Earth rank weapons. The Alchemy faction has powerful Fourth and Fifth rank pills, which are treasures for Violet Palace Expansion Realm and Origin Core Realm experts." The red robed elder explained.

" Doesn't that mean eating one of such pills can help us to breakthrough many stages at once?" Someone else asked. "It's true that such pills and treasures exist, But you need a heaven-defying fortune to acquire them." The red robed elder said with a smug tone.

Everyone reached another hall. There were many small doors across the hall. " This is our Forging Hall. Each room has enough materials and a forging table for you. You don't need to worried about the quality of materials and forging table as each of them is the same. "

You can't use additional materials or your own forging table. If you use them, We will know instantly." The red robed elder explained the rules.

" You will have four hours to craft a Spirit Grade weapon from then. You can create whatever you want, but it needs to be a Spirit Grade artifact. Your time starts NOW." The elder shouted as everyone chose a room for them.

Materials were neatly packed in a shell as a forging table sat in the middle of the room. Yang Shi scrambled the materials and found something amiss. " Huh, Is it me, Or the materials are a bit short? Purple stone crystal? This used to make Mortal Grade weapons. Why is it here?" Yang Shi furrowed his brow.

After looking at the materials, Yang Shi frowned. " Now I looked into this, The materials for crafting a Spirit Grade weapons is indeed short. This means everyone is facing the same problem." Yang Shi thought.

" The best way is to craft a smaller weapon, like Daggers, Knuckle dusters, Flying needles. Hmm, I should make a dagger then." Yang Shi about to light his forge but he stopped suddenly. " No, This is what everyone would be thinking now. Hmm, I should do something different then." Yang Shi looked at the pile of materials as he started the smelting furnace of the forge.

" Crimson Fire Stone. Blood Lizard crystals, Cloud Mountain Stone..." Yang Shi thew materials in the furnace. " I have enough materials for making a long dagger, But if I can add Azure Bronze metal and Shining Moon Steel... I need the perfect temperature to successfully merge them together." 

Yang Shi waved his hand as the flame blazed. He made a dozen hand signs to adjust the temperature of the fire. " Assimilate!" Yang Shi shouted as the metals in the furnace slowly liquified as they merged with each other.

" Huahh" Yang Shi breathed out as he took out the new metal chunk and hammered it.

*DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING*

Yang Shi immersed in hammering as time ticked by. The red robed elder sat outside as he checked the time. A white-robed old man came in. " Elder Li, How is the test is going?" The white-robed asked.

" Till now, Everything is fine. I have found three good saplings today and one of them is very excellent." Elder Li nodded.

" I don't know if lowering the amount of Spirit Grade materials is necessary." The white-robed elder scratched his head.

" Elder Wang, You know that Golden Fire Tournament is near, right? Tower master wishes to win first place as we didn't won the last three times. So he made the evaluation stricter. Of course, If they can pass this hurdle, they would receive ample rewards as well." Elder Li smiled.

" Do you think someone can make something as like Longsword or Saber out of them?" Elder Wang asked. " It would be good if they managed to make any decent Spirit Grade weapon. If someone can make a larger weapon, He would get an exceptional reward." Elder Li looked at the forging rooms.

*BOOM* Black smoke erupted from one of the rooms as a person came out with a black face. " Fuck, Why the materials aren't enough? My flame just went high and it wasted all the materials." That figure screamed. After him, Two others came out as well, failing in their forging.

" Finally, Time to draw the Spirit diagrams." Yang Shi wiped his face as his eyes turned serious.