Not spending a single piece of cubic crystal and much effort, he now got an unfinished weapon. What
good luck he had!
Still, he knew nothing was for free, and sooner or later he would have no choice but to pay when they
charged him.
Unlike the last time when Zen bought weapons from here, he realized that neither the shopkeeper
named Qi nor the female boss of the Weapon Pavilion were to be regarded as normal people this time.
He wasn't that curious about the shopkeeper, but the woman's strength was powerful, and Zen couldn't
detect the peak of her real strength, which made him more curious about just how strong she could be.
Adding to her mystique was the fact that she'd raised a Fire spirit which was a very rare creature.
'Here, the Weapon Pavilion, such a small organization to handle weapon dealings, has so powerful
people like them. Wow, the Burning Sky Empire is truly a good place with so many hidden talents!'
thought Zen.
However, presently, Zen wasn't aware if there was another reason why these two were hiding out in the
Weapon Pavilion.
Now that he was aware of them, he would keep a close eye on them.
It was early morning later, when Zen was back at the Cloud Sect, and he saw the peaks were covered
with heavy clouds.
He didn't head to Drizzle Peak after passing through the gates into the Cloud Sect.
Instead, he strode toward the back gate, toward Quenching Peak.
Quenching Peak was adjacent to Hell Mountain and not included as one of the thirty-three Peaks.
One of Hell Mountain's active volcanic branches extended to Quenching Peak. It was used to refine
weapons for disciples of the Cloud Sect.
Even though Quenching Peak recruited disciples too, it was a place to learn the art of refining
weapons, and not to study martial arts.
As such, while the disciples of thirty-three peaks were assessed on their martial arts aptitude, within the
Quenching Peak, the disciples' skills in refining weapons were gauged.
However, the Cloud Sect was not one of the prominent factions for refiners to study the art of weapons
refining, so, there wasn't much of an influx of disciples pouring into Quenching Peak. On the other
hand, there was always an issue with overcrowding at the thirty-three peaks with more than ten
thousand outer disciples residing in each peak only at any given time.
Taking a tally of every disciple at Quenching Peak resulted in just about one thousand disciples.
However, that didn't mean the disciples at Quenching Peak weren't popular.
In all of the Eastern Region, there were very few people who followed the path to become a weapon
refiner, and while none of the refiners at Quenching Peak was at the master level, quite a few of them
were highly skilled.
Each disciple in all thirty-three peaks at the Cloud Sect was required to train in boxing first when they
joined the Sect. Midway through the training period, the disciples had to have a weapon of their own.
However, the average disciple wasn't able to afford to purchase one, since the price of weaponry was
so steep, and a single piece of random mysterious weapon could set a disciple back a few hundred
cubic crystals.
Therefore, the disciples at Quenching Peak were entrusted with the auspicious task of building
weapons, and in reality, it was the only option for those disciples who weren't wealthy.
As a further incentive to support the Quenching Peak weapon refiners, the officials at Cloud Sect
enacted a policy that granted perks for any of the weapon refiners that assisted in creating a weapon
for the disciples from the thirty-three peaks. The perks included some extra points, which largely
spurred enthusiasm for the weapon refiners at Quenching Peak.
The resident weapon refiners ranged from rich to poor. Refining materials were really expensive, and a
failed project was more than a setback with the precious materials being nothing more than a pile of
waste, leading many of the prospective weapon refiners to suffer losses they weren't able to recover
from, and leaving them destitute.
Considering how few could afford trial and error at such excessive costs, the potential weapon refiners
would first take their family finances into account, not their talent or passion in the art of weapon
refinery.
Quenching Peak was not far from Hell Mountain and looked not so high in altitude. Zen stood at the
foot of Quenching Peak, looking up. A shadow hung over Quenching Peak and Zen's gaze was drawn
to the side, and he craned his neck further back, looking up at the towering Hell Mountain. Standing in
the shadow of the Hell Mountain, people thought Quenching Peak resembled nothing more than a hill.
Zen noticed a plume of black smoke, steadily rising from the Quenching Peak which indicated the
disciples were busily honing their refining skills. Throughout the tempering process, they had to
maintain control to keep the core temperature of the fires within the furnace so the heat would be
uniform. The thick, black smoke produced rising into the air now indicated that some disciples were not
having a good control of the fire temperature.
If the fire temperature in the furnace was controlled properly, then soon the materials being refined in it
would be burned completely, the fires would be extinguished, and no more smoke would rise up into
the air above.
Walking along the flat, lower path leading up Quenching Peak, Zen soon saw the many buildings
sporting identical roofs. Regardless of how long he had been in the Cloud Sect, it amazed him to see
such distinctive steel and stone buildings. He was also left slightly in awe when he reached the top and
the first thing he realized was that not even a single building was made of wood.
When he walked up the peak, he asked himself, 'Why aren't there any wooden houses here?' There
were two reasons, Quenching Peak was an offshoot, yet, still part of an active volcano, Hell Mountain,
which maintained unusually high temperatures year round. The second reason was the inevitability that
in the process of weapon refining, sparks would be sent through the air, and a wooden building was
nothing more than kindling for a prospective blazing inferno.
Zen had traveled to Quenching Peak in hopes of being permitted to use a refining furnace. He was
grateful that it wasn't difficult to find a refining furnace at Quenching Peak. Zen didn't even need to
know the way as he had to merely look skyward and make his way towards the rising black smoke.
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