398 The Shame of the Academy Who Refused to Show His Face (2/2)

One could imagine how dense the blade was by its weight. And naturally, one could guess how strong it was.

”You said you wanted to make the three blades into one, so I combined all three of them into this single podao.”

Sixth Brother looked at the podao in Ning Que's hands as if he was looking at his child. He said with a tense expression, ”I thought it would be an easy task, but it turned out to be very difficult. Melting them into a single mold was easy, but hammering it into shape was the difficult part.”

Combining the podaos into one meant that he had to integrate three times the amount of metal into the original volume of one. Ning Que couldn't imagine how it might be possible unless it was hammered more than a thousand times. He couldn't help but feel grateful to his Sixth Brother.

Sixth Brother handed over a scabbard made of leather and said, ”The talisman lines on the blade are the same ones that you designed. But Fourth Brother said it would be best if you engraved it personally.”

Ning Que profusely thanked his Sixth Brother, then prepared to carve the talisman. It was quite simple after the experience of crafting the Primordial Thirteen Arrows.

However, he got distracted by a thought. After a moment of silence, he sheathed the heavy podao back in its scabbard and looked to his Sixth Brother. ”Let's do it later.” He said.

”It's your weapon, so you get the final say.”

Sixth Brother said, ”Youngest Brother, I have just one thing to ask of you. I am very satisfied with this blade. If you want to name it, please think of a good name.”

Ning Que stiffened as he recalled how he had developed the talisman arrows together with him. He remembered the various eccentric names he had proposed, such as ”Silver Arrows”, ”Cloud Piercing Arrows”, and ”Primordial Thirteen Arrows”, then immediately understood Sixth Brother's concern. Feeling a sense of camaraderie, he said determinedly, ”Rest assured, Senior Brother. I will have teacher name it.”

Sixth Brother hesitated for a moment, then said, ”Youngest Brother, actually... our teacher is not very good at giving names either.”

The two brothers stared at each other. Eventually, they decided to abandon the issue of naming the sword for the moment.

Ning Que opened the box and saw the other object that he had asked Sixth Brother to make. He said happily, ”I never imagined it could be so well polished. What material did you use?”

”Making this gadget wasn't very difficult,” Sixth Brother said, ”I asked the department of works for the black crystals to make the frames. There are three pairs here, including one extra.”

Ning Que wanted as many of them as possible. He suddenly recalled something. He looked around him to make sure that Sangsang was not around. Then, he went up to Sixth Brother and whispered in his ear.

Sixth Brother frowned and asked with a confused look, ”Transparent crystals are easy to come by, it's not difficult even if you ask for a flawless one. However, why must it have such a small curvature if it is just for keeping out the dust? It'll be difficult to polish and carve such a crystal, and the final quality of the product cannot be guaranteed even if we were to use water to polish it.”

Ning Que hesitated for a moment before saying, ”I have a friend with bad eyesight. Her vision is a little blurry, and wearing this can help to improve her situation.”

Sixth Brother was slightly surprised. After a moment of thought, he felt that his Youngest Brother was indeed a genius to have such incredible ideas. He could even cure poor vision!

Just as he was about to continue his questioning to find out how a transparent crystal with such a curvature could help those with poor vision, the heavy leather curtains were pushed open and Fourth Brother walked in.

Fourth Brother looked over the knife on Ning Que's back and asked, ”Have you carved the talisman?”

Sixth Brother shook his head.

Ning Que explained, ”I have something to do in a bit, I will carve it later.”

Fourth Brother frowned slightly as he said, ”So you are aware that you have something to do? Second Brother told you to quickly settle the issue, so what are you still doing here? Even though that crowd that gathered to watch the show can't enter the back of the mountain, I still feel uncomfortable just thinking about all the random people surrounding the Academy's doors.”

Ning Que grumbled to himself about how Fourth Brother cursed him to fight for his life just because his senior brother felt uncomfortable. Those Senior Brothers would, of course, feel that even this young powerhouse from the South Jin Kingdom was nothing more than an insignificant bug. Yet, that man was still the younger brother of Liu Bai, the Sage of Sword, and Ning Que might not necessarily be able to defeat him.

He looked over at Fourth Brother, who was walking towards the Sandbox. He asked tentatively, ”Senior Brother, where is Second Brother?”

Fourth Brother impatiently waved his hand, gesturing for him to quickly settle the matter at the Academy's side door. He replied, ”Second Brother went fishing together with teacher at the West Lake.”

Senior Brother could both enjoy the scenery and the fun of fishing at the West Lake. He could even accompany and take the opportunity to flatter their teacher. How blissful that was! However, I have to fight by the Academy's side door and struggle like a fish on a hook.

Ning Que felt that it was really unfair and was reluctant to leave the back of the mountain. However, he was also worried that he would run into Second Brother if he stayed. That was more dangerous than dueling the younger brother of the Sage of Sword.

He suddenly recalled that the most dangerous place was often also the safest. He followed the sounds of the waterfall and stealthily walked over to Second Brother's yard. He placed his hands on the low courtyard walls and stuck his head over to look in. He only relaxed once he was sure that the scary big white goose was not around.

Ning Que casually pushed the doors open after brushing off the dirt on his hands. He saw the young and cute little servant in the house and said in a highly pleasing manner, ”I want to bathe and sleep. Is there any hot water?”

The little servant innocently stared at him with wide eyes.

Everyone in the Academy knew that a young powerhouse from the South Jin Kingdom had issued Ning Que a challenge. Furthermore, that person was sitting on a futon at the Academy's side door and had waited for Ning Que for three whole months.

The powerhouse from the South Jin Kingdom had been battered by the winds and scorched by the sun. He had been soaked in the rain and covered in dust. He had suffered aplenty in the past three months, and his sufferings might even be worse than Ning Que's, who had been in seclusion in the cliff cave. Ning Que knew of this very well, but did not immediately respond to the challenge after coming out of seclusion. He even had the mood to bathe and sleep instead?