With the signal for the start of the competition, a strange silence fell over the arena.
Of the hundred refining furnaces that should have been roaring with flames, only a scattered few flickered with light.
Li Nanzhu held her breath, watching as a wisp of blue-green spirit fire condensed at Jiang Yifan's fingertips. The moment the flame touched the bottom of the furnace, it flickered erratically, as if encountering some invisible resistance.
"The interference materials..." Feng Qingping whispered. "They've already begun to affect the ignition of the spirit fire."
Jiang Yifan’s brows furrowed slightly as his hands formed a seal.
The spirit fire spread with difficulty inside the furnace. It took half a kohl’s worth of time for the furnace fire to barely stabilize, yet its intensity was at least thirty percent weaker than usual.
Other disciples in the arena found it even harder to make progress.
A Water Moon Sect disciple was sweating profusely, his spirit fire nearly extinguishing several times. A Xuan Tian Sect disciple fared even worse; his furnace fire went out with a soft pop the moment it was lit.
"What's going on?" Duan Xianxing’s eyes widened. "They can’t even light the fire?"
Li Nanzhu’s gaze swept across the unlit refining furnaces.
The effect of the interference materials was stronger than she had imagined—the aura emitted by these special materials could directly influence the stability of spirit fire.
"Look over there," Zhu Yinxi suddenly said.
The group turned their eyes to see the fire in front of Liu Qingyang glowing with an eerie blackish-green hue.
He formed hand seals, drawing wisps of black malevolence from the yin malevolence stone. Unexpectedly, it merged perfectly with the spirit fire. This method of fighting poison with poison made his furnace fire burn more vigorously than anyone else's.
Chu Chenzhou, on the other hand, adopted a different strategy.
He first wrapped the soul-confusing sand with his divine sense, isolating it in a corner of the furnace while beginning to melt the primary materials. Although the fire wasn't large, it was exceptionally stable.
Combined with his seasoned skill in multitasking while processing materials, it was clear he was well-accustomed to such challenges.
"As expected of a direct disciple of the Water Moon Sect..." Feng Qingping praised softly. "Each has their own unique talent."
The most eye-catching was Lu Tingyun. His current state was a world apart from yesterday; his expression was focused, and as the sinking water jade was enveloped by flames, it actually began to soften.
At the judges' bench, several elders were conversing.
"Tingyun has recovered quickly," Elder Chang Yan said with a smile. "Yesterday, he blew up two furnaces in a row, but today his technique is even more refined."
"I heard that Immortal Venerable Ling Xiao's youngest disciple went to enlighten him yesterday," another elder added. "Cang Dongqing of the Sword Heart Sect."
"Oh?" Elder Chang Yan looked slightly surprised. "A disciple of the Sword Heart Sect understands the Dao of refining?"
"They say that girl is well-read and has dabbled in the techniques of various sects," the white-haired elder nearby interjected. "When she guided Tingyun yesterday, she even pointed out several flaws in his fire-control technique."
The elders looked at each other and smiled. "That is indeed rare."
Li Nanzhu felt her heart sink slightly as she listened to these discussions.
This was exactly where Cang Dongqing’s strength lay—she could always intervene in the most appropriate way, making people feel grateful rather than resentful.
As she was lost in thought, another commotion broke out in the arena.
A disciple attempting to mimic Chu Chenzhou’s method failed to control the temperature. The refining furnace exploded into a cloud of black smoke, and the disciple was sent flying several yards by the shockwave.
"Disciple C-13, eliminated by furnace explosion!"
"Fourth Senior Brother's fire..." Li Nanzhu suddenly noticed something was wrong.
Although Jiang Yifan's fire was lit, it was extremely weak.
The explosive flame sand remained motionless in the faint flames, showing no signs of melting. Even worse, the fire was dwindling at a rate visible to the naked eye, looking as if it would go out at any moment.
"This is bad!" Duan Xianxing stomped his feet in anxiety.
In this critical moment, Jiang Yifan suddenly changed his technique.
His hands formed a peculiar seal, and the spiritual energy condensing at his fingertips abruptly shifted frequency.
The originally blue-green spirit fire instantly turned a pale purple. Not only did the flame stabilize, but its intensity even grew slightly.
"This is... using low temperatures to induce material melting?" A Water Moon Sect elder clearly recognized the technique.
Sure enough, the explosive flame sand began to slowly soften within the pale purple flames.
Although the progress was extremely slow, it was indeed melting bit by bit. Fine beads of sweat appeared on Jiang Yifan's forehead; evidently, this technique was highly taxing.
However, the situation in the arena was becoming increasingly grim.
More than half of the refining furnaces had yet to be lit, and those that were barely burning were mostly weak.
One disciple, in a panic, directly injected a massive amount of spiritual energy into his furnace. The result was a loud boom as it exploded into black smoke. He retreated in a daze, his face full of disbelief.
"Disciple B-16, eliminated by furnace explosion!"
Over the next half-hour, one explosion after another rang out. Disciples who tried to force their spirit fires saw their furnaces explode, and the arena was soon filled with rolling black smoke.
Not to mention those who had drawn explosive flame sand and bone-eroding powder; they were nearly all wiped out. Even several inner sect disciples of the Water Moon Sect were not spared.
"Over twenty people have been eliminated already..." Duan Xianxing counted. "And it’s only just begun!"
Although the direct disciples of the Water Moon Sect had all lit their furnaces, they all seemed to be struggling significantly.
While Liu Qingyang's black flames were vigorous, the color was visibly draining from his face. Though Chu Chenzhou's fire was stable, it was pitifully small, and his melting speed was incredibly slow.
As for Lu Tingyun, a close observation revealed that the melting speed of the sinking water jade was abnormally slow. Worse still, his fire was continuously fading, threatening to extinguish.
"It seems sinking water jade is even harder to handle than imagined," Feng Qingping squinted her eyes. "His spiritual energy is being consumed too quickly."
In comparison, while Jiang Yifan's progress was slow, it was steady.
The explosive flame sand was already nearly half-melted and had begun to blend with the profound iron. The pale purple fire maintained a constant temperature, neither pushing too hard nor receding.
"Fourth Senior Brother is so steady," Duan Xianxing marveled. "If it were me, I’d have just thrown it all in at once."
"That's why he’s the refinery master," Zhu Yinxi said flatly.
As time ticked away, fewer and fewer contestants remained in the arena.
Most of the disciples who had barely lit their fires were forced to give up due to lack of spiritual energy.
In the end, fewer than forty people were still holding on.
Inside Jiang Yifan's refining furnace, the explosive flame sand had completely melted, merging perfectly with the profound iron. The gold-red liquid flowed slowly within the pale purple flames, with small amounts of cold crystal stone added from time to time to regulate the temperature.
Under his constant adjustments, it gradually began to take on a peculiar shape—it was the prototype of an unfolding folding fan.
The fan ribs were distinct, the leaf slightly curved, and every line was clearly visible.
"That's?" Duan Xianxing’s eyes widened. "Fourth Senior Brother is making a fan?"
Everyone was startled to hear this.
Folding fan-type magic tools were extremely rare in the cultivation world because their structure was complex, and the difficulty of refining them far exceeded that of ordinary blades or swords.
Not to mention, under the interference of explosive flame sand, he still had to maintain the perfect connection between the fan ribs and the fan leaf.
Zhu Yinxi was just about to say something when a sudden outcry from the arena interrupted him!
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