"He's... meditating?"
Elder Tan's voice was filled with confusion, his teacup frozen mid-air.
A heavy silence hung over the judges' seats.
The elders exchanged looks; this was a first in the history of the centenary great competition.
"I've never seen anyone sit down to meditate in the middle of a match..." Elder Chang Yan's brow furrowed. "Is his spiritual energy failing?"
Hua Xiangrong mused, "But Martial Nephew Jiang looks perfectly normal. It doesn't seem like his spiritual energy is exhausted."
The disciples watching from the sidelines were abuzz with discussion.
Qinghe, who had come to watch the match, tugged at Rong Yuying's sleeve. "Senior Sister, Senior Brother Jiang suddenly started meditating. Could it be..."
Rong Yuying shook her head slightly. "Running out of spiritual energy is unlikely. Perhaps... he's consumed too much divine sense?"
"If that's the case, it's far worse than running out of spiritual energy..."
Not far away, Cang Dongqing merely cast a faint glance before withdrawing her gaze.
Although Qu Chen and the others wanted to discuss it, they kept their mouths shut after seeing their master's expressionless face.
Ultimately, whether the opponent won or lost had nothing to do with them. Even if he truly refined something extraordinary, given the current relationship between the Sword Heart Sect and the Five Elements Dao Sect, any ideas they had would likely be futile.
It was better to focus their energy on the direct disciples of the Water Moon Sect.
The Qingxia Sect disciples who had made the bet with Li Nanzhu were momentarily stunned, but a glimmer of hope soon flashed in their eyes.
"Haha, he must have messed up the refinement!" The purple-robed cultivator whispered, unable to hide his delight.
The round-faced cultivator also perked up. "Now our bet is a sure thing!"
Across the entire arena, the only ones who remained stable were those from the Five Elements Dao Sect.
Listening to the chatter around him, Duan Xianxing curled his lip in disdain. "A bunch of ignoramuses. What do they know about Fourth Senior Brother's refining techniques?"
Feng Qingping let out a soft huff. "Let them talk."
Li Nanzhu stood to the side holding Suisui, a faint, lingering smile on her lips.
Looking at Jiang Yifan, who was still meditating in the center of the field, she knew exactly what was happening—the most complex part of the production was finished. Making the remaining outer shell would be effortless for her fourth senior brother.
On the judges' panel, Elder Chang Yan looked at the timing hourglass. "Only one hour left."
On the refining platforms of the other participants, various magic tools had already begun to take on their basic forms—
Before Liu Qingyang, the magic tool had tentatively taken shape, showing the outline of multiple combined components.
Chu Chenzhou seemed to be making a mirror, while a strangely shaped longsword sat within Lu Tingyun's furnace.
"It looks like everyone is entering the final stage," Elder Tan said, stroking his beard.
Elder Ming Deng snorted. "Some people might not make it in time!"
Hua Xiangrong merely smiled without saying a word.
A quarter of an hour later, Jiang Yifan finally opened his eyes.
"He's starting!" Duan Xianxing rubbed his hands in excitement.
Jiang Yifan rapidly tossed materials like copper essence and silver marrow into the main furnace, followed by a piece of white quartz that shimmered with starlight. The furnace fire instantly turned a pure azure, and the temperature soared.
"So many materials..." Even Elder Chang Yan shook his head. "If it's a tool of tier 3 or higher, there might not be enough time."
However, his speculation was overturned by Jiang Yifan's movements. As streaks of spiritual light were continuously struck into the furnace, the various materials softened rapidly in the azure flames, gradually extending into delicate parts.
"So fast!" Duan Xianxing couldn't help but marvel.
In just half an hour, the space before Jiang Yifan was filled with various precision parts—curved outer shells, slender cylinders, and delicate buckle mechanisms...
"What is he...?" Elder Ji was also surprised. "What is he assembling?"
Elder Ming Deng scoffed, "Just putting on a show!"
Just as everyone was guessing, Jiang Yifan suddenly formed a hand seal and sent out a burst of spiritual light.
Instantly, a translucent shielding array enveloped his refining platform. Although his silhouette could still be seen, his critical hand movements were completely obscured.
This was also to prevent any possible cheating once the shielding array was activated.
"He's starting a shielding array now?"
This time, even the other two elders who had been silent couldn't help but speak up.
"It seems he doesn't want anyone to see his final technique."
Over at the Sword Heart Sect, Li Nanyi finally couldn't resist muttering, "More smoke and mirrors..."
Ling Xiao cast a faint glance at him but did not speak to stop him.
Inside the shielding array, Jiang Yifan's movements grew even faster.
The parts were rapidly combined in his hands. In less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea, a strangely shaped cylindrical magic tool had taken form.
"Is it finished?" Rong Yuying asked in confusion.
Qinghe shook her head. "Probably not yet..."
Sure enough, just as everyone thought it was over, Jiang Yifan made a move that shocked everyone—
He took out the thirty-six spirit pearls he had refined earlier and tossed them directly into the refining furnace!
"What?!" The crowd erupted in an uproar.
"Is he crazy?!" Even Qu Chen couldn't help but cry out in a low voice.
Liu Qingyang, who had started peeking at Jiang Yifan again, was so startled by this move that his hands shook, nearly causing his furnace to explode.
Fortunately, he was already in the closing stages and managed to stabilize the situation.
"What is Fourth Junior Brother doing?" Zhu Yinxi's jade flute spun in his hand as he looked toward Mu Wenyan.
Mu Wenyan also shook his head, a flash of doubt in his eyes.
Even Li Nanzhu was baffled at this moment—though she had provided the blueprints, the specific refining logic and techniques were all perfected by Jiang Yifan himself.
Jiang Yifan's expression in the arena was more focused than ever before. His slender fingers formed a series of profound hand seals, all of which were struck into the refining furnace.
Unfortunately, the shielding array blocked their view, and no one could see his exact hand movements.
The only thing visible was the spirit pearls hovering above the furnace fire. Instead of exploding or melting, they began to rotate slowly, their surfaces emitting a faint spiritual light.
At the same time, beads of sweat broke out on Jiang Yifan's forehead as he continuously poured spiritual energy into the refining furnace.
Click—
A crisp sound suddenly came from the neighboring refining platform—a disciple of the Water Moon Sect had finished refining.
But at this moment, no one turned their head. Everyone's gaze was locked tightly on Jiang Yifan.
Hua Xiangrong murmured, "What is he waiting for..."
This was the question in everyone's mind.
Inside the shielding array, Jiang Yifan's breathing was steady and long. The spirit pearls rotated slowly in the furnace fire, their spiritual light growing brighter and brighter.
A quarter of an hour passed...
Half an hour passed...
His spiritual energy output remained stable as ever, with only his gradually paling face revealing a hint of strain.
Just as everyone was holding their breath, Jiang Yifan suddenly moved.
He bit the tip of his tongue, and three drops of essence blood flew into the air. Shimmering with a golden-red light under the reflection of the furnace fire, they plunged straight into the refining furnace.
"Is that... essence blood tempering?" Elder Ming Deng grabbed Elder Chang Yan's shoulder. "But essence blood tempering isn't meant to be used like this?"
"What on earth is he trying to do?"
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