This Woman Has a Man's Tenacity

The blade tester took the dagger Zou Bufan had presented. She first swung it through the air a few times at the straw dummy, then walked straight toward one.

The straw dummy was woven from tiger vine grass, an exceedingly cheap spirit material. Vine armor made from it could withstand nearly all mundane weapons.

Yet the materials provided for the Earth-grade Pincer Master examination were merely ordinary steel shells. Forging a divine weapon from them was utterly impossible.

Moreover, the Pincer Master examination tested pincer techniques themselves. Inscribing spirit arrays to empower the blade was forbidden. To break through the tiger vine straw dummy's defenses, one could rely only on superb forging and stamping skill.

After all, the registration fee for the Earth-grade Pincer Master examination was only five taels of silver. The organizers could hardly provide the examinees with particularly fine materials.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The blade tester swiftly slashed three times—horizontal, vertical, and diagonal. The blade struck the vine armor, erupting in dazzling sparks. When everyone looked closely, they saw that the straw dummy had been cut with three visible wounds. The first two were each two inches deep, while the third was the most terrifying of all, reaching a full three inches deep.

"My heavens, it really cut through!"

"Could he have secretly mixed something into that scrap ore? A dagger forged from that pile of broken copper and rotten iron can actually tear through a tiger vine straw dummy's defenses?"

After finishing the cuts, the blade tester lowered her gaze to the edge and saw that it had curled slightly. Using mundane iron to strike spirit materials, it was normal for the blade to roll.

Zhong Wenbai stepped forward, inspected the edge, then swept his divine sense over the dummy's gashes. He nodded in satisfaction.

"Not bad. If this blade were forged from spirit ore, then even without an enchanted array, it should still be a lethal weapon. Ninety points."

Over the next half hour, people gradually handed in their works. They were all local craftsmen from the lower reaches.

Compared to the stunning performances of Zou Bufan and the other youths from the middle reaches, these craftsmen's works were far weaker. The best could only cut a crack half an inch deep, and their blades had rolled much more severely. Worse still, some struck with a single blow and left the straw dummy utterly unmoved, their blades snapping on the spot.

The more terrifying gap lay in their ages.

The lower-reach craftsmen participating in this Earth-grade Pincer Master examination averaged around twenty-five years old. Aside from Lu Li, the youngest was twenty, while the oldest had already passed forty.

Meanwhile, among this group from the middle reaches, the youngest was only twelve, and the oldest merely eighteen. Though young, the gaps in vision, talent, and resources had ultimately created an absolute crushing advantage in pincer mastery.

"In previous years, aside from those whose blades broke, the rest of these craftsmen should all have passed the Earth-grade examination."

"Yeah. All one can say is that they were born at the wrong time. So many superior people from the middle reaches came this time and immediately took up the top twenty spots. The number of Earth-grade slots belonging to Maple Fragrance City has shrunk by forty percent."

"In my next life, I'm going to be born in the middle reaches too and become a young master! Hmph!"

"With that pathetic bear-like face of yours, if you aren't reborn as a bug next life, it'll mean Heaven has opened its eyes."

"Now that you mention it, living like this—how are we any different from bugs?"

The truth was often the most hurtful. At those words, the people of the lower reaches fell silent. The young ladies from the middle reaches pursed their lips, while the young masters from the middle reaches laughed without restraint.

"These country bumpkins at least have some self-awareness. They know their own measure. At least they have the sense to know better."

"Hahaha, don't keep talking. Be careful they'll fly into a rage and beat you to death."

"Beat me? Come on, then! My grandmother is at the peak of the third turn. Who dares kill me? Who can kill me? Huh? Hahahaha!"

Self-mockery from the lower-reach people was one thing, but when those words came from the mouth of a middle-reach youth, they carried an entirely different meaning. It immediately stirred the indignation of many. They clenched their fists, but even in their anger, they endured. What else could they do?

In terms of birth, they were inferior by far.

In terms of talent, they could not compare in the slightest.

In terms of background and wealth, they did not even dare compare.

It was a kind of despair.

They could only struggle and scrape along in the lower reaches. Perhaps after years of toil, they still would not be able to afford even a star skiff ticket to the middle reaches. And even if they truly went there, they could not bear the prices there.

The same spirit stone, placed in the middle reaches or the lower reaches, was like two completely different currencies.

Spirit stones in the lower reaches were lower-reach spirit stones; once brought to the middle reaches, they became middle-reach spirit stones. Though their size was the same and they contained the same amount of spirit power, their purchasing power differed by more than tenfold.

The lower-reach examinees sighed and lamented. Seeing no hope of advancement, some did not even submit their blades, leaving regretfully instead and drawing sighs from those nearby.

Yet one person alone continued swinging his hammer, forging steadily and methodically.

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

Everything outside seemed to have nothing to do with him. After passing the mechanical stamping stage, he personally hammered and refined all the remaining finishing work.

This part of the work was all too familiar to Lu Li.

On countless nights, in the dim stamping workshop, he had repeated these movements. He hammered faster and faster, each strike's force, angle, and point of impact all perfectly measured.

In an instant, Lu Li suddenly felt dizzy, the world spinning before his eyes.

Nearly two hours of high-intensity forging had long pushed his frail body beyond its limits. The furnace fire illuminated his pretty face.

Sweat slowly trickled down his delicate, fair cheeks and fell onto the red-hot blade blank with hissing sounds, turning into mist in an instant and vanishing without a trace.

Lu Li staggered backward and nearly fell to the ground. He pulled the premium large pear from his bag and wolfed it down, skin and all, in a few bites. Its sweetness stimulated his tongue and slid down his throat, making him feel a little better. Then he picked up the hammer again and continued forging.

Not far ahead, Zhong Wenbai witnessed this and could not help casting an approving look his way. He murmured silently in his heart.

"Though this Deer Pear is a woman, she possesses that tenacity unique to men. With such temperament and comprehension, if she had been born in the middle reaches, she would absolutely crush this bunch of wastrel youths.

"Taking a step back, even if she had been born in the lower reaches, if she had only possessed a little background and been able to receive a complete academy education, perhaps she would not be much worse than those wastrel youths.

"What a pity, what a pity... White Moon Palace is precisely in need of talent. Once this matter is over, I can admit her into Yushui Academy. After some polishing and training, given enough time, she could become a pillar of White Moon Palace."

With that thought in mind, Lu Li struck the final hammer blow. He took out the wooden strip he had selected earlier, along with the carving knife the test blade wielder had held before the examination began.

The carving knife had been roasting beside the furnace all this time, and the soft clay on its handle had long since dried and hardened. Lu Li removed it effortlessly, then began carving the wooden handle in his hand according to the shape of the clay.

Seeing this, Zhong Wenbai nodded slightly again, the approval in his eyes growing even stronger.

"This girl not only has a man's tenacity, but also a woman's meticulousness."

Once, twice, three times...

The carving knife danced up and down in Lu Li's hand, nimble as a fluttering butterfly. Wood shavings fell in soft showers as a wooden handle gradually took shape.