By the rules, an uncooperative suspect like Xu Fang would usually spend the night in the regret chair, with a giant LED light shining down on him.
These were standard tactics used by the Judgment Society, mainly to put pressure on suspects.
After staying in the glare for a long time, people would usually grow tired, but the judges certainly wouldn't let them sleep.
Over time, they would become irritable, and their mental defenses would crumble. A veteran judge could get a half-broken suspect like that to talk every time.
Xu Fang, however, hadn't been treated that way. They'd put him in a break room with a single bed, and there was bottled water and a boxed meal on the bedside table.
The camera glaring down at him was annoying, but Xu Fang wasn't the type to worry. He ate his fill, then lay down and fell asleep.
Who knew how much time had passed?
Click!
The door opened.
Xu Fang's eyes sprang open at once. In the doorway stood a familiar, burly figure.
Holy shit, I must've woken up too fast. I'm seeing Zhan Kong.
"...Legion Commander?"
"That's me!"
Zhan Kong's hair and beard were still damp with the night dew. He strode up to Xu Fang, his bear-like eyes fixed on him. "Come with me!"
Back when he'd first come to the Ancient Capital, how long had the trip on the high-speed train taken?
Ten hours? Or twenty?
But Zhan Kong?
It wasn't even dawn yet. From the phone call until now, surely not even five hours had passed!
At the same time.
Bell Tower Magic Association, first floor, testing room.
The blast marks were still clearly visible. The silver-white walls had turned black, with fragments embedded in them here and there.
A table had been set up again in the middle of the testing room, with the exact same materials as before laid out on top.
Several people of different heights and builds stood around it.
At the center stood a man in a judge's robe. To his left was a crew-cut man in military uniform, and to his right stood a short, ugly man.
The ugly man wielded a pair of pliers. Carefully, he removed a black sphere from the smelting furnace, then poured magic energy into it.
Crack!
The sphere broke into pieces.
Disappointment showed on the crew-cut man's face. "Still no luck?"
"I can't make heads or tails of it... How did he do it?" The ugly man fretted, tugging at the few strands of hair on his head. His nose had turned red. "These materials are so low-grade. It shouldn't be possible!"
"He was probably just putting on a show."
The Chief Judge standing in the middle spoke coldly. "If you ask me, send him to the prison. As the old saying goes, a wise man knows when to yield. I'm sure the instruments of torture there would pry his mouth open."
"Shi Zheng, he's a member of the Lie Clan!" The crew-cut man snapped, barely containing his anger.
"So what? Do you know how many Black Vatican lackeys our Judgment Society has caught these past few days?"
Shi Zheng refused to back down. "Better to kill a thousand by mistake than let one get away. Even if the person under suspicion were me—or President Han Ji—it'd be no different! Fei Jiao, has being a Grand Instructor worn away all your principles and fighting spirit?"
"You!"
The two glared each other down, the air thick with tension. The old man standing nearby was sweating buckets.
One was a military commander, the other a Chief Judge. Both were Super Level Mages. He didn't even have the standing to break up their argument.
Fortunately, just then, the testing room door swung open, and Zhan Kong and Xu Fang walked in.
Xu Fang spotted the ugly man at once. It was none other than Master Yi Ping, who had repaired his Magic Tool.
But unlike earlier, when Yi Ping had looked down his nose at everyone, he now stood hunched at the back, trying his best to fade into the background.
By contrast, the other two men looked tall, imposing, and handsome.
"You're Xu Fang?" Shi Zheng stared at him. "Did you make that 'bomb'?"
"I did."
"Make another one." Shi Zheng was curt. Long accustomed to giving orders, he did so without thinking.
Zhan Kong said, "Go ahead. Once you've made it, we'll slap this guy in the face with it."
Shi Zheng's face twitched. Damn that Zu Xingyi. He's lost his Curse Element and he's still this arrogant. He's only a High Level Mage... Whatever. He wouldn't stoop to arguing with him today.
Xu Fang walked over to the metal table and sat down. Everyone else watched him closely.
He picked up a hard chunk that gleamed black. Nearby, Yi Ping explained in a low voice, "This is the hide of an Iron Skin Corpse."
Iron Skin Corpses were undead found in the outskirts of the Ancient Capital, second only in number to Black Rot Corpses. They were like cockroaches—impossible to wipe out.
Xu Fang picked up a carving knife and began engraving the Iron Skin Corpse hide. One pattern after another took shape on its surface.
Yi Ping looked puzzled. "He's carving a Fortification Array. Is he trying to make it even harder?"
Xu Fang's movements were clumsy. Including this attempt, he'd only tried it twice.
After carving several arrays, Xu Fang opened the smelting furnace and began melting and shaping the material.
Yi Ping's eyes nearly popped out of his head. Overwhelmed by shock, he looked completely dazed. "How is that possible? Just using flames—how... how is that possible?"
As everyone watched, Xu Fang controlled a mass of Golden Flame. Surrounded by the "flames," the Iron Skin Corpse hide softened, gradually taking on a rounded shape.
To Yi Ping, it made no sense at all!
He was a High Level Mage. Even if his rank was a little shaky, he was still a High Level Mage. Yet even he couldn't control the elements as effortlessly as Xu Fang. He had to rely on all kinds of tools!
Where was the mold?
Where was the quenching?
Where was the polishing?
Innate Spirit Seed!
The same thought occurred to Shi Zheng and Fei Jiao.
They were simply astonished, but Zhan Kong was utterly stunned. His gaze darted between the "flames" and Xu Fang's golden hair.
He opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he stayed quiet. His chest rose and fell a few times, quick and uneven.
Meanwhile, Xu Fang's Golden Star Seed basked in the abundant magic energy, cheerfully sliding along the star path he'd built.
He could feel that the Iron Skin Corpse hide was like modeling clay, completely under his control.
Before long, he finished making a black sphere. He fitted it with the Magic Stone that powered it, then set it down in front of everyone.
"Help yourselves."
"That's it?"
Everyone was dumbfounded. They couldn't believe that something capable of blowing apart a room—and too powerful for an ordinary shield Magic Tool to withstand—had been made and placed in front of them in less than five minutes.
"Give it a try," Xu Fang suggested.
Shi Zheng reached out, picked up the bomb, and poured a gentle stream of magic energy into it.
Gurgle, gurgle...
The black sphere began to tremble, making a sound like boiling water. Shi Zheng instinctively threw it away.
BOOM!!!!!!
The poor testing room hadn't even had time to lick its wounds before it was subjected to a merciless second beating.
"Light Blessing Shield!"
Shi Zheng immediately raised a shield, protecting everyone behind him. The explosion didn't damage it in the slightest, but his eyes were bulging as if the blast had gone off inside his head.
"How powerful is it?" Fei Jiao asked urgently.
"Fire Spark Burning..."
"What?"
"I said, this thing is at least as powerful as Fire Spark Burning!" Shi Zheng forced out each word, one at a time.
If someone had told him that a scrap-metal ball could match the power of Fire Spark Burning, he'd have slapped them across the face without a second thought.
But the proof was right there. The scrap-metal ball had been made on the spot, and he'd set it off with his own hand.
He had no choice but to believe it!
The two military commanders exchanged a look. Fei Jiao grabbed Yi Ping by the collar. "How much did all these materials cost?"
Yi Ping was already short, and Fei Jiao yanked him up in his hurry. His toes barely touched the ground, but he didn't dare get angry. He could only answer honestly, "Just counting the materials, it's cheap. Ten thousand is enough."
Thump!
Fei Jiao let go without thinking. Yi Ping hit the ground with a grimace.
"T-ten thousand?"
"If I remember correctly, Iron Skin Corpse hide isn't worth much. The valuable part is the Spirit Essence. Iron Skin Corpses that don't produce one are all purified together."
Zhan Kong suddenly spoke. "If we can put these things to use as well, then the cost..."
Their breathing quickened all at once.
A Fire Element Mage usually needed three years of effort to successfully cast Fire Spark Burning.
But now, an ordinary craftsman needed only half an hour—or less—and a few thousand yuan to do the same thing!!!
This was simply... simply... incredible!
Thanks to [Young Master Ye] for the 500-coin tip. May the boss make a fortune!
Before you continue