13: Chapter 13 Grandmaster Enlightenment Card Activation

Duan He's ninety-degree deep bow made Zhao Ruoan feel a bit embarrassed.

He stepped forward and gently supported him.

"Steward Duan does not need to be so overly polite."

"It is only right, it is only right!"

Duan He straightened up, rubbing his hands together, his attitude humble to the extreme.

"I do not know what brings Uncle-Master Zhao here, what are your instructions? Do you need to refine any Magic Treasures, or is there a divine weapon that needs maintenance? Just say the word, and I will immediately arrange the best Revered Master in the peak to handle it perfectly for you!"

"Neither."

Zhao Ruoan shook his head and got straight to the point.

"Steward Duan, my purpose in coming this time is to learn Artifact Refining."

The smile on Duan He's face froze.

He dug in his ears, thinking that the clanging sound of blacksmithing around was too loud and that he had misheard.

"Uncle-Revered Master, you... what did you say?"

"I said, I want to learn Artifact Refining."

Zhao Ruoan repeated it again, his tone calm and serious.

This time, Duan He heard clearly.

He was also completely dumbfounded.

Learn Artifact Refining?

A peerless Sword Intent Prodigy who achieved an Epiphany of Fifth-Order Sword Intent at age fifteen, the future pillar of the Qingxuan Sect, and the Personal Disciple of the Immortal Emperor Ancestral Master.

Now, he said he came to learn blacksmithing?

Duan He's mind couldn't quite wrap around it.

Shouldn't he be in seclusion cultivating bitterly at Qinghan Peak, trying to break through to Foundation Establishment, and then soaring into the sky to amaze everyone?

What was the point of coming to their smoky place that dealt with furnace fires and hammers all day?

Experiencing life?

Duan He took a deep breath, forcing himself to keep his expression from breaking.

He organized his words and earnestly persuaded:

"Uncle-Master Zhao, think twice, you must think twice!"

"The path of Artifact Refining is profound and extensive, extremely difficult to enter, and even harder to Revered Master!"

"This not only requires talent, but even more so, years and months of grinding effort—taking at least several decades, and at most hundreds of years, to achieve minor success."

He pointed at the shirtless Disciples around him who were sweating profusely.

"Look at them, which of them hasn't been in contact with Ore and fire since childhood, enduring for countless years, just to barely be considered an introductory Artifact Refining apprentice?"

"Your talent in the Dao of the sword is one of a kind through the ages! If you waste your precious time and energy on these boring miscellaneous studies, wouldn't that be putting the cart before the horse and wasting your heaven-reaching sword talent in vain?"

The more Duan He spoke, the more excited he became, almost sending his saliva flying.

He was genuinely anxious for Zhao Ruoan.

In his view, a Genius like Zhao Ruoan should walk on his heaven-reaching grand Dao with single-minded devotion, and any distraction was a sin.

"I understand Steward Duan's intentions."

After listening, Zhao Ruoan not only didn't show impatience, but instead smiled gently.

"I do not wish to switch to cultivating the Dao of refining, I am just a bit curious and want to understand more while I have not yet reached Foundation Establishment and my Foundation is still shallow."

He gave a reason that Duan He could not refuse.

"Furthermore, I only plan to study here for seven days. After seven days, regardless of the outcome, I will leave and will never indulge in it to delay my Cultivate."

Seven days?

Duan He was stunned for a moment.

In seven days, let alone learning Artifact Refining, he probably wouldn't even recognize the charts of those basic Materials.

The heavy stone hanging in his heart dropped halfway.

It seemed that this Junior Martial Uncle was just acting on a whim, playing around.

"However... as for the Peak Revered Master..."

Duan He still had some concerns.

If Yun Qinghan found out and thought he incited Zhao Ruoan to neglect his proper business, he would be in deep trouble.

"This matter has nothing to do with Steward Duan."

Zhao Ruoan directly took the responsibility upon himself.

"If Revered Master asks, I will bear everything, and it will never implicate Tianhuo Peak and you."

Things had been said to this extent.

If Duan He refused again, that would be ungrateful.

He let out a long breath, and a smile piled back onto his face.

"Since Uncle-Revered Master has made up his mind, Duan He will naturally cooperate fully!"

"Men!"

He shouted loudly toward the hall.

"Go, clear out the Grade-B Artifact Refining Room in the back mountain, quickly!"

Once the order was given, Disciples immediately sprinted away.

Zhang Shan listened from the side and clicked his tongue; the Grade-B Artifact Refining Room was an Artifact Refining Room dedicated to several Elders within the peak, and its earth fire quality was one of the best in all of Tianhuo Peak.

"Many thanks, Steward Duan," Zhao Ruoan said.

"Uncle-Revered Master is too polite!"

Duan He waved his hand and instructed further:

"Also, go to the treasury, prepare a portion of every basic material needed for Artifact Refining, and send them to the Grade-B Artifact Refining Room! Remember, I want the best ones!"

"And, send all the basic Artifact Refining classics issued by the Sect, from *Universal Ore Illustrations* to *Preliminary Discourse on Fire Control*, the whole set to Uncle-Revered Master!"

"Right, also tell Elder Wang who is on duty that Uncle-Master Zhao of Qinghan Peak wants to study the Dao of refining in the Grade-B room, and ask him to pay more attention. If Uncle-Revered Master has any questions, he can go consult him at any time."

With a series of orders given, the surrounding Disciples were dumbfounded.

This kind of treatment could be called the first time in history.

For ordinary Disciples, wanting to meet an Elder was as hard as ascending to heaven, but this Uncle-Master Zhao was good—he was directly assigned an exclusive tutor who could answer questions at any time.

This was prestige.

Soon, everything was properly arranged.

Duan He personally led Zhao Ruoan and the other two to a secluded place in the back mountain.

An independent courtyard built of obsidian appeared before their eyes, with the two characters "Grade-B" carved on the courtyard gate.

Pushing open the heavy stone gate, a spacious Artifact Refining Room was revealed before them.

In the center was a huge earth fire furnace, the flames at the furnace mouth soaring and emitting astonishing heat.

Beside it, various tools such as anvils, blacksmith hammers, quenching pools, and bellows were complete and polished to a bright shine.

In the corner, basic Materials such as various Ores and spiritual wood were already piled up like a small mountain.

The only thing that somewhat spoiled the scenery was the pile of books over half a person high in the exact center of the room.

*Universal Ore Illustrations of Cang Prefecture*, *Introduction to Spiritual Material Identification*, *Records of a Hundred Herbs - Gold and Stone Chapter*, *One Hundred and Eight Fire Control Techniques of Earth Fire*, *Basics of Forging and Shaping*, *Essentials of Rune Inscription*...

Thick classics were stacked together, exuding the "fragrance" of knowledge.

Looking at that mountain of books, Zhao Ruoan's mouth couldn't help but twitch.

Good grief.

He originally thought that Artifact Refining was just swinging a hammer; he didn't expect the preliminary theoretical knowledge to be so exaggerated.

"Uncle-Revered Master, these are all introductory classics of Artifact Refining."

Duan He pointed at the pile of books, a "kind" reminder of someone who had been through it on his face.

"Refining artifacts requires refining the heart first; the first step is to memorize all these boring theoretical knowledge in your head. Just this one step can weed out ninety percent of people. People cannot even read for three days before giving up."

His implication was very obvious: Uncle-Revered Master, look, it's not that I won't let you learn, it's that this thing is really difficult, and it's still not too late for you to go back on your word now.

Qiuyin and Xiamo on the side also went over to take a look, their little faces turning pale.

"Young Lord, so many books... In seven days, I'm afraid you won't even finish looking at the covers?" Xiamo muttered softly.

Qiuyin also had a worried look; this wasn't learning a skill, this was clearly coming to ask for hardship.

Zhao Ruoan, however, smiled.

"Steward Duan has troubled himself."

He turned around and said to Qiuyin and Xiamo.

"It is too hot here, you two go back to Qinghan Peak first, you don't need to stay here with me."

"Ah? But Young Lord, you..."

"Go back and Cultivate well, your cultivation cannot fall behind either."

Although Zhao Ruoan's tone was gentle, it carried an unquestionable undertone.

"This is an order."

The two maidservants looked at each other, and in the end obediently bowed and saluted.

"Yes, Young Lord. Then please... take care and do not overwork yourself."

Seeing off Duan He and the two maidservants, the heavy stone gate slowly closed, isolating everything from the outside world.

Inside the Artifact Refining Room, only Zhao Ruoan remained, along with the raging earth fire and the mountains of books.

He walked up to the pile of books and casually picked up a copy of *Universal Ore Illustrations*.

Opening it to look, the dense words and patterns made one's head spin.

"A bit challenging."

He muttered softly to himself, but had no intention of backing down in the slightest.

With a thought, he opened the System backpack.

The card flowing with magma patterns and exuding a scorching aura was quietly lying inside.

[artifact refining grandmaster comprehension card (Time-limited)]

Zhao Ruoan did not hesitate.

"System, use this card."

[Ding! 'artifact refining grandmaster comprehension card (Time-limited)' has been used, remaining time: 167:59:59.]

The card turned into a stream of light and instantly merged into the center of his brows.