Chapter 232 — Ungradable

CHAPTER 232

Ungradable

The artifact round was held in the examination hall, which was a barn with a good roof.

Long tables ran down the middle. On each table lay a wooden test block, a bowl of cold water, a lamp and a grading jade. Three examiners sat at the far end behind a screen of paperwork: He Zhen, Elder Ma Qiao with the long white eyebrows, and Elder Ren Yue, who had not smiled in the memory of any disciple.

Disciples came forward one by one. Each one set down a sword, a ring, a small shield or a pair of gauntlets. Each one received a number from one to ten.

“Six,” Elder Ma Qiao said, tapping a bent dagger. “The edge is honest. The balance isn't.”

A boy carried forward a lantern that smoked. He was given a two and a lecture on ventilation.

Shi Feng waited in the line with Zhu Liu holding the receipt book on one side and Sima Lan holding the ledger on the other. Neither of them said anything.

“Senior Brother Shi,” Zhu Liu whispered. “What are you submitting?”

“The ingot,” Shi Feng said.

“The grey one? The one you keep on your table?” Zhu Liu said.

“It's the only thing I've made that works,” Shi Feng said.

Zhu Liu looked at Sima Lan for help. She turned a page in her ledger.

“It's a paperweight,” Sima Lan said. “The examiners will say so. Then it will be your problem, not mine.”

“I'm not worried,” Shi Feng said.

“That’s what worries me,” Sima Lan said. “You’re about to hand the examiners your paperweight, and you’re the only person here who thinks it’s a good idea.”

In front of them, a tall figure strode out of the line and set a heavy case on the examiners' table with a thump.

“Gongsun Ce,” He Zhen said, holding his brush an inch from the paper. “Show us.”

Gongsun Ce flipped the case open. A puppet rose from inside it, slender and silver, with a crane's head and four slim wings folded along its back. Its eyes were crystal. When he touched its chest, the wings snapped open in a flash of white light and the whole barn went quiet.

“Silver Crane,” Gongsun Ce said. “Foundation Establishment-grade, upper rank. Wing-blades of cold iron, a crystal eye for tracking, and a core that doesn't leak. I rebuilt it from the war puppet that someone broke.”

“It's very good,” Shi Feng said.

Gongsun Ce was taken aback. He’d been ready to defend the crane against mockery, not accept praise. He closed his mouth and let the examiners inspect his work.

Elder Ma Qiao ran a hand along the wing. His white eyebrows rose.

“The joints are clean,” Elder Ma Qiao said. “The flow is even. Nine points.”

“Nine,” Elder Ren Yue agreed, and did not smile.

A murmur rippled down the line. “A dragon among men,” someone breathed. Nine out of ten was the highest anyone had been given all morning. Gongsun Ce lifted his head, looked at Shi Feng with plain satisfaction, and bowed to the examiners before folding his puppet away.

“Next,” He Zhen said. “Shi Feng.”

Shi Feng stepped forward and put the grey ingot on the table.

The examiners looked at it. It was the size of a man's palm, flat and dull, with a faint streak of white along one edge. It looked like a stone.

“What is it?” Elder Ren Yue asked.

“A paperweight,” Shi Feng said.

Behind him, Sima Lan closed her eyes briefly.

“The rules say a refined artifact,” He Zhen said carefully.

“I refined it,” Shi Feng said. “Eventually.”

“What does it do?” He Zhen said.

“It sits on paper,” Shi Feng said.

“And on test blocks?” He Zhen asked, remembering his brush.

“Once,” Shi Feng said.

Elder Ma Qiao reached for the ingot. He lifted it with a frown, as though it were heavier than it looked. Then he set it on the wooden test block and pressed.

The block split down the middle with a faint sigh. The two halves rocked apart. Not one splinter flew.

The barn went silent.

“Again,” Elder Ren Yue said.

Elder Ma Qiao pressed it onto a second block. Same sigh. Same clean line.

Elder Ren Yue held a grading jade against the ingot. It stayed dull. He tried a second jade, then a third, and set them down with a grave expression.

“No qi channel. No array,” Ren Yue said, turning the ingot again. “I don’t recognise its tempering either. Yet you’ve all seen what it does to the blocks. How are we supposed to grade this?”

“Today I'd like a grade,” Shi Feng said.

The examiners looked at one another, frustrated. Years of judging refined artifacts hadn’t prepared them for this. The ingot cut cleanly, but none of their methods could assign it a grade.

“I can't score this,” Elder Ma Qiao said at last. “It isn't one thing or another. Neither donkey nor horse.”

“Write it down,” He Zhen said. “In the register. 'Ungradable.'”

“Ungradable,” Ren Yue said reluctantly, writing it into the record. He checked the word before setting down his brush. The blank grading jades still lay beside him.

A hundred whispers rose at the back of the barn.

“Ungradable?”

“Does that mean zero?”

“It split two blocks with a paperweight!”

“But no points.”

“So Prince Gongsun Ce wins.”

Zhu Liu's brush hovered over the receipt book and did not land. Sima Lan said one word, softly, to the ledger.

“Zero,” Sima Lan said.

“You submitted a lump,” Gongsun Ce said.

“I submitted what I made,” Shi Feng said. He took the ingot back and slid it into his sleeve.

He Zhen stamped the sheet.

“Results at lamp-lighting,” He Zhen said wearily. “The naming of the core disciple is at dawn.”

That evening the board outside the hall showed the totals. Gongsun Ce stood first by a wide margin. Shi Feng stood in the middle, with a small line of ink beside his artifact score that read ungradable.

Sima Lan looked at the board, then at him.

“Your total is twelve,” Sima Lan said. “His is twenty-four.”

“Yes,” Shi Feng said.

“You're going out,” Sima Lan said. It wasn't a question.

“Yes,” Shi Feng said.

Sima Lan held out a dry towel and a small water gourd. “Bill,” Sima Lan said.

“Of course,” Shi Feng said, and went toward the Flame Cavern.