"Silence!"
The voice of Chang Yan, an elder of the Water Moon Sect, instantly suppressed the noise in the arena and interrupted Li Nanzhu's thoughts.
He stood upon the high platform, his sleeves fluttering even without a breeze. The pressure of his late Nascent Soul stage cultivation forced all the participating disciples to straighten their backs involuntarily.
"The rules for the first round are as follows," Chang Yan said, surveying the crowd. "Each person is provided with ten sets of basic materials and must use the provided standardized refining furnace. Those who waste more than thirty percent of their materials will be disqualified. Anyone who experiences three furnace explosions will be disqualified. The refining must be completed within five hours."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the three hundred bronze refining furnaces in the arena. "In this round, the top one hundred based on points will advance. The scoring will prioritize the quality of the magic tool, with the quantity being secondary."
With a wave of Elder Chang Yan's hand, three hundred streaks of light flew toward the participants.
Jiang Yifan raised his hand and caught the jade slip flying toward him; it was engraved with the characters 'A-7'.
"Fourth Senior Brother drew furnace seven in Area A," Li Nanzhu said, standing on her tiptoes to look. "That's a good spot; it's very close to the judges' table."
Duan Xianxing scratched his head. "Why limit the materials? Doesn't that mean Fourth Senior Brother has less to work with?"
"This is only the first round; the purpose is to filter out those with true skill," Feng Qingping explained. "Refining the best magic tool using the most common materials is the only way to truly demonstrate a refinery master's attainments."
Following the instructions on their jade tokens, the disciples took their places one by one.
Jiang Yifan walked to furnace seven in Area A. On the stone table before him, ten sets of materials were neatly arranged: profound iron ingots, green spirit wood, cold crystal stones... they were all the most basic refining materials.
"The competition—begins!"
At Elder Liu Ming's command, three hundred refining furnaces ignited with spiritual fire simultaneously. The temperature in the arena rose sharply as spiritual lights of various colors intertwined.
Li Nanzhu's gaze scanned back and forth across the field.
Jiang Yifan's movements were as smooth as flowing water. As his hands formed seals, the furnace fire maintained a stable azure-blue color.
Suddenly, a thunderous bang erupted from the northwest corner. A Xuan Tian Sect disciple's refining furnace had exploded, sending thick black smoke billowing upward.
"Disciple C-6 of the Xuan Tian Sect, first furnace explosion!" a deacon elder announced loudly.
The disciple returned to his position with a soot-covered face, scrambling to start over in a panic.
"Exploding so soon after starting?" Duan Xianxing's eyes widened.
Li Nanzhu shook her head. "It seems he's not used to the standardized refining furnace."
As they spoke, another commotion broke out in the southeast corner. The spiritual fire in a disciple's furnace suddenly spiraled out of control, incinerating the materials instantly.
"Three sets of materials wasted! Disciple B-16 of the Hengshan Sect is disqualified!"
The disciple left the arena dejectedly, drawing a wave of sighs from the crowd.
"That's the second one," Feng Qingping counted. "It looks like a lot of people will be eliminated this round."
Li Nanzhu turned her gaze toward the area where the Water Moon Sect disciples were concentrated.
In the furnace before Chu Chenzhou, the flames had split into seven colors, flowing rapidly. Liu Qingyang employed a wave-like fire control method, causing the materials to rise and fall rhythmically within the flames. Lu Tingyun's speed was also not slow; the prototype of a long sword had already appeared.
"The Water Moon Sect truly lives up to its reputation as the number one refining sect," Duan Xianxing remarked. "Every one of them has such refined techniques."
Zhu Yinxi suddenly spoke up, "Look over there."
They saw pink mist churning within the refining furnace of an Anyuan Sect disciple, gradually condensing into a graceful human shape.
"A phantom magic treasure?" Duan Xianxing's mouth hung open. "Even that's allowed?"
The figure became clearer and clearer, taking on the form of an exquisite woman. Many male cultivators in the audience were mesmerized.
"Unorthodox ways," Feng Qingping snorted coldly.
As expected, Elder Liu Ming at the judges' table frowned and made a few notes on his jade slip.
As they talked, a scream suddenly came from the southwest corner.
A Talisman Sect disciple clutched his blood-drenched wrist as an eerie purple smoke rose from his refining furnace.
"Spiritual energy backlash!" Elder Chang Yan appeared by his side in an instant, dispersing the smoke with a palm strike. "Stop the refining immediately!"
With a pale face, the disciple was helped off the field by his sect mates, causing a stir among the spectators.
"What a mess..." Duan Xianxing shook his head. "Are these people really here to compete in refining?"
Li Nanzhu's gaze swept across the arena.
Aside from the disciples of the Water Moon Sect and a few first-rate sects, most of the participants were in a state of chaos.
Some had unstable fire control, others made mistakes in material ratios, and one array master even tried to carve an array directly onto the furnace, which resulted in an immediate explosion.
"It seems many sects are just here to try their luck," Feng Qingping realized. "They're hoping to stumble upon some cheap materials or just somehow get a ranking."
Zhu Yinxi tapped his jade flute lightly. "Purely making up the numbers."
Another hour passed, and nearly eighty people had already been eliminated. The atmosphere in the arena grew increasingly tense, making even Duan Xianxing click his tongue in amazement.
However, Li Nanzhu noticed that some disciples had already begun the final stage of shaping their magic tools.
"It seems everyone is playing it safe," Feng Qingping said, narrowing her eyes. "Most are refining long swords."
Indeed, looking around, nearly half of the disciples in the arena were refining sword-type magic tools. After all, long swords had simple structures and mature crafting processes, making them the most reliable choice.
In the furnace before Liu Qingyang, a Green Peak Sword had begun to take shape, its blade emitting a faint green light.
Chu Chenzhou was refining a slightly wider heavy sword, and even the usually unconventional Lu Tingyun was obediently refining a standard long sword this time.
"A tier 2 mid-grade Green Peak Sword..." Duan Xianxing counted. "Why are these direct disciples of the Water Moon Sect being so conservative?"
Li Nanzhu chuckled. "This is the smart move. In the first round, they aren't seeking to dazzle; they're just seeking to advance safely."
She turned her gaze toward Jiang Yifan and saw a strangely shaped magic tool forming in the furnace before her fourth senior brother.
It was a palm-sized disk, its surface covered in intricate patterns, with an azure crystal embedded in the center.
"A Green Spirit Disk," Feng Weilan said, looking at Jiang Yifan's furnace. "Fourth Senior Brother used to make those quite often."
Just then, a cry of surprise erupted from the northwest corner.
A jade lute was gradually taking shape in the furnace of a female cultivator from the Heavenly Sound Sect. The strings were actually condensed from spiritual energy, shimmering with iridescent light under the sun.
"Tier 2 mid-grade Spirit Sound Lute!" the deacon elder announced loudly. "Quality: mid-to-high!"
The audience erupted in praise.
To be able to refine a tier 2 mid-grade magic tool using basic materials in the first round was indeed impressive.
Li Nanzhu's attention was soon drawn to a commotion on the other side.
A surge of flames suddenly erupted from the furnace of a burly man, and a crimson heavy hammer was taking form.
"Disciple of the Blaze Sect, tier 2 low-grade Blaze Hammer, quality: mid-to-high!"
The man wiped the sweat from his forehead, a satisfied smile appearing on his face, clearly pleased with his work.
"It seems the disciples of various sects are starting to show their strength," Duan Xianxing said, leaning forward to look. "Fourth Senior Brother's should be finished soon, right?"
Just as he spoke, the furnace in front of Jiang Yifan suddenly flared with brilliant light.
The azure disk rose slowly, the patterns on its surface lighting up one by one, until they finally converged into a beam of azure light at the central crystal.
"Jiang Yifan of the Five Elements Dao Sect, tier 2 high-grade Green Spirit Disk, quality: superior!"
Rate on N.U.
