The deacon elder’s voice had barely faded when a deafening explosion suddenly echoed through the arena.
Everyone’s eyes instantly snapped toward the source of the noise.
"Boom!"
A cloud of black smoke erupted from the refining furnace in front of Lu Tingyun. The embryonic longsword inside shattered instantly, its fragments flying in all directions. He hurriedly cast a spell to protect himself, but several shards still managed to tear through his sleeves.
"Water Moon Sect's Disciple B-9, first furnace explosion!" the deacon elder announced loudly, his voice tinged with clear surprise.
The arena immediately broke into an uproar.
As the premier organization for refinery, it was almost inconceivable for a direct disciple of the Water Moon Sect to suffer a furnace explosion in the very first round.
Lu Tingyun’s face turned beet red as he frantically cleared away the charred remains of the explosion.
Li Nanzhu noticed his gaze instinctively dart toward the Green Spirit Disk that Jiang Yifan had just completed, his eyes flashing with a hint of resentment.
"It seems his mental state has crumbled," Feng Qingping whispered. "Seeing that Fourth Senior Brother's magic tool was of higher quality than his own, he must have lost focus for a moment, leading to unstable fire control."
Duan Xianxing clicked his tongue. "A direct disciple of the Water Moon Sect actually exploding his furnace over something so trivial?"
Zhu Yinxi shook his head. "Fickle and impatient."
At the judges' table, the faces of several Water Moon Sect elders were quite unsightly.
Elder Chang Yan’s brow was furrowed as he made a heavy mark on a jade slip. Another elder even stood up directly, walking to the edge of the arena to glare sternly at Lu Tingyun.
Under the intense scrutiny of his own sect's elder, Lu Tingyun’s forehead began to bead with sweat, and his movements became even more frantic.
He hurriedly pulled out a new set of materials and threw them into the furnace, but his technique was clearly less steady than before.
"This is bad," Feng Qingping said, shaking her head. "Once your mindset collapses, it’s very difficult to pull it back immediately."
Sure enough, in less than half an hour, several more explosions rang out across the field.
A disciple from the Spirit Soul Sect lost control of his flames out of impatience after seeing someone else refine a tier 2 high-grade magic tool. Another disciple from the Array Talisman Sect actually forgot he was supposed to be controlling the fire after seeing a neighboring contestant's magic tool take shape, leading to his materials being incinerated instantly.
"It seems furnace explosions are contagious," Duan Xianxing remarked. "One after another."
Li Nanzhu’s gaze, however, remained fixed on Lu Tingyun.
The flames in the refining furnace before him flickered unevenly, a clear sign of his troubled mind.
Meanwhile, Liu Qingyang, Chu Chenzhou, and the other Water Moon Sect disciples had also slowed their movements, occasionally casting worried glances toward their fellow disciple.
"Water Moon Sect is really losing face this time," Feng Qingping said softly. "A direct disciple exploding his furnace in the first round... that won’t sound good when word gets out."
Right then, Lu Tingyun’s refining furnace began to vibrate violently again.
He frantically tried to cast a fire-stabilizing spell, but it was already too late—
"Boom!"
Another thunderous blast rang out, and the materials in the furnace were once again reduced to ash.
"Water Moon Sect's Disciple B-9, second furnace explosion!" The deacon elder’s voice now carried a trace of helplessness.
Lu Tingyun’s face turned deathly pale in an instant.
He stood frozen in place, his hands trembling slightly, seemingly unable to believe he had suffered back-to-back furnace explosions.
At the judges' table, Elder Chang Yan’s face was now as black as the bottom of a pot.
He stood up abruptly, about to bark a reprimand, but was stopped by Liu Changhe.
"Let him adjust on his own," Liu Changhe said grimly. "If he cannot even handle this level of setback, he is not worthy of being a direct disciple of my Water Moon Sect."
The atmosphere in the arena grew heavy for a moment.
The other competing disciples instinctively softened their movements, terrified of becoming the next unlucky soul to explode their furnace.
"Huh?" Duan Xianxing’s eyes suddenly widened. "Where’s Fourth Senior Brother? Why hasn’t he come down yet?"
Feng Qingping chuckled. "Don’t forget our plan."
Everyone’s attention finally shifted back to Jiang Yifan. Even the other elders had assumed he had already left the stage, but to their surprise, he was still refining!
Expressionless as ever, he was unhurriedly tossing the next set of materials into his refining furnace, appearing completely unaffected by the surrounding chaos.
A commotion rippled through the crowd again.
Most disciples would stop after completing one magic tool; after all, the first round only required them to ensure advancement. Someone like Jiang Yifan, who continued refining, was truly a rare sight.
"Now that is the true demeanor of a master," someone at the edge of the arena praised. "Unmoved by the wind and waves, standing firm like a mountain."
Li Nanzhu noticed that even the Water Moon Sect elders on the judging panel were looking at Jiang Yifan with a growing sense of appreciation.
In the Water Moon Sect area, Liu Qingyang was the first to react.
He looked at the Green Peak Sword he had just finished, then toward Jiang Yifan. Suddenly, he grinned, turned around, and pulled out another set of materials.
"Qingyang is..." Even Liu Changhe was stunned.
Following that, Chu Chenzhou and the other Water Moon Sect disciples followed suit, returning to their refining furnaces. The disciples from other sects looked at each other in confusion, most choosing to quit while they were ahead.
"Are they crazy?" a disciple from the Heavenly Sound Sect whispered. "Exerting their divine sense like this... what will they do for the later matches?"
Li Nanzhu heard these comments and let the corners of her mouth curl up slightly.
With Jiang Yifan’s strength, even if he exhausted some divine sense, it would be more than enough to handle the subsequent rounds. For now, this was essentially a warm-up exercise for the matches to come.
As time ticked away, the wave of furnace explosions gradually died down.
On his third attempt, Lu Tingyun finally stabilized his mindset. A longsword with a completely green hue slowly took form.
"Water Moon Sect's Disciple B-9, tier 2 mid-grade Green Peak Sword, upper-mid quality!"
Although he had successfully completed the refinement, this result was clearly unsatisfactory for a direct disciple of the Water Moon Sect.
Lu Tingyun lowered his head and quickly hurried off the field, not even stopping to collect his finished product.
In contrast, the finished products in front of Jiang Yifan had piled up into a small mountain: a tier 2 high-grade Green Spirit Disk, a tier 2 mid-grade Mysterious Light Shield, a tier 2 low-grade Ice Spike... a total of five magic tools, each of superior quality.
"Five Elements Dao Sect's Jiang Yifan, total of five magic tools refined, all pass!" The deacon elder’s voice trembled slightly. "Including one tier 2 high-grade, two tier 2 mid-grade, and two tier 2 low-grade!"
A massive roar of astonishment erupted from the audience.
A score like this was absolutely unique in the first round.
The other direct disciples of the Water Moon Sect also had a bountiful harvest.
Liu Qingyang completed two, Chu Chenzhou three, and the other three direct disciples—excluding Lu Tingyun—had also produced two magic tools each.
But everyone knew that the biggest winner of this match was undoubtedly that consistently expressionless disciple from the Five Elements Dao Sect.
"The first round of the competition is over!" Elder Chang Yan announced loudly. "The list of those advancing will be posted in half an hour."
Jiang Yifan emotionlessly swept the five magic tools into his storage bag and walked slowly back to the Five Elements Dao Sect area.
Li Nanzhu noticed that while he looked a bit tired, his eyes remained clear and bright.
"Fourth Senior Brother, how are you?" Li Nanzhu asked with concern.
Jiang Yifan shook his head slightly. "I am fine." He paused. "I brought the things back."
Duan Xianxing leaned in excitedly. "Fourth Senior Brother is too amazing! I saw the faces of those Water Moon Sect elders; they were almost as black as coal!"
As they were talking, Li Nanzhu noticed Cang Dongqing standing not far away, her eyes burning as she stared at Jiang Yifan.
She was actually walking toward them!
Rate on N.U.
