As the final participating disciple completed their refinement, the eyes of the entire audience focused on Jiang Yifan.
The sand in the timing hourglass continued to flow, with only fifteen minutes remaining until the end of the competition.
"Why hasn't he started yet..." Elder Tan's fingertips tapped incessantly on the armrest. "Time is running out."
Elder Ming Deng gave a cold snort. "I'm afraid he won't be able to finish it." Despite his words, his gaze couldn't help but frequently dart toward Jiang Yifan’s refining platform.
Just as the sand in the hourglass was about to run out, with only seven or eight minutes left—
Within the shielding array, Jiang Yifan suddenly moved.
His hands were so fast they were almost a blur, as one exquisite and complex hand seal after another was struck into the furnace.
Because of the obstruction from the shielding array, the outside world could only see a fuzzy silhouette and could not discern his specific techniques. The only thing they could see was that at the moment each seal sank into the furnace fire, the gold-red light filaments on the surface of the spirit pearls would flash violently.
"Starting only now?" Li Nanyi folded his arms. "He definitely won't make it in time."
Qu Chen frowned. "But that spiritual energy fluctuation..."
"So what if the spiritual energy fluctuation is strong?" Li Nanyi curled his lip in disdain. "Time is almost up. Does he think he can pull off a miracle?"
Le Changxi also nodded. "Third Senior Brother is right. Even if he works himself to death now, he absolutely cannot compare to Senior Brother Chu's tier 5 mid-grade item."
"By the way, Fourth Senior Brother, aren't you quite familiar with Senior Brother Lu?" Li Nanyi suddenly remembered something. "Once the competition is over, could you help introduce Senior Brother Chu to him?"
Le Changxi smiled helplessly. "Fifth Junior Brother, I certainly would have said so before, but now, in terms of relationship, I'm afraid our little junior sister should be more familiar with him." He looked pointedly at the young girl standing beside them.
Cang Dongqing smiled softly upon hearing this, her fingers brushing over the bead bracelet on her wrist. "Senior Brother Chu has always been quite haughty, but..." She paused. "I will speak with Senior Brother Lu about it."
"Then many thanks to Little Junior Sister!" Li Nanyi's eyes lit up, already beginning to calculate the spirit stones he had left in his mind.
As they were talking, the atmosphere on the field suddenly became heavy.
The spiritual energy fluctuations within the shielding array grew stronger and stronger, and even the surrounding air began to vibrate slightly.
"This fluctuation..." Qu Chen narrowed his eyes. "Something's not right."
Le Changxi also sensed the anomaly. "How does it feel like..."
Inside the shielding array, Jiang Yifan's movements became faster and faster.
The gold-red light filaments on the surface of the spirit pearls had completely merged. Each pearl gleamed with a crystalline luster, emitting spiritual energy fluctuations that made the entire arena tremble.
"This..." The smile on Li Nanyi's face froze. "He's not actually going to succeed, is he?"
At the very last moment before the hourglass ran out, the shielding array suddenly dissipated.
Thirty-six spirit pearls flew out like shooting stars, precisely embedding themselves into the grooves of the barrel.
Click—
Click—
Click—
A series of crisp sounds followed as all the components combined perfectly.
At the instant the last grain of sand in the hourglass was about to fall, the shielding array collapsed completely.
Jiang Yifan's face was as pale as paper, with fine beads of sweat hanging from his forehead, but a determined smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
This smile made Chu Chenzhou, who had felt certain of victory, frown slightly, unconsciously tightening his grip on the Seven-Star Reflecting Moon Mirror in his hand.
"Jiang Yifan of the Five Elements Dao Sect, magic tool complete!"
Following the announcement by the deacon disciple, a strangely shaped cylindrical magic tool floated above the refining platform.
Thirty-six spirit pearls were perfectly embedded in the grooves of the barrel, each glowing with a crystalline luster, with profound patterns flowing over their surfaces.
Jiang Yifan walked slowly toward the judges' table, the Six-Combination Continuous-Bead Gun in his hand emitting a soft glow.
When he handed the magic tool to Elder Chang Yan, the experienced elder's pupils suddenly contracted.
"This..." Elder Chang Yan's hand trembled slightly. As soon as spiritual energy was injected, the thirty-six spirit pearls lit up with a brilliant light simultaneously. "Every single spirit pearl is tier 5 high-grade?!"
"And they've even formed a complete spiritual energy circuit!"
"How is that possible?!" Elder Ming Deng immediately retorted, but in his heart, he was already mostly convinced. He maintained a forced calm as he took the magic tool, only for his face to change drastically the moment he inspected it. "This!"
He stared fixedly at the patterns on the barrel. "The spiritual energy resonance of these spirit pearls..."
Even Liu Changhe couldn't resist taking the magic tool from him, a flash of shock crossing his eyes. "A perfect resonance of thirty-six tier 5 spirit pearls..." He looked up at Jiang Yifan. "This has already exceeded the scope of an ordinary tier 5 high-grade item."
The commotion at the judges' table drew the attention of the entire audience.
Chu Chenzhou stood below the stage, watching the shocked expressions of the elders, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the Seven-Star Reflecting Moon Mirror.
"What exactly is going on?"
"Why are the elders so excited?"
At the judges' table, several elders looked at each other. Although they had confirmed the grade of the magic tool, they were still filled with questions about this strange design.
"Martial Nephew Jiang," Elder Chang Yan said, lightly stroking the patterns on the barrel, "how exactly does this magic tool operate?"
Jiang Yifan smiled slightly. Though his face remained pale, his voice was steady and powerful. "Please allow me to demonstrate."
He took back the Six-Combination Continuous-Bead Gun and lightly swiped his fingertip across the barrel.
The thirty-six spirit pearls lit up at once, and the spiritual energy paths actually formed a profound array.
"The original design was indeed for a single-use magic tool," Jiang Yifan explained. "But I have improved upon it, turning it into a refillable consumable-type magic tool."
"Elders, please look." His voice was calm. "The true spiritual energy storage core is this Hunyuan One-Qi Pearl."
As he demonstrated, fine patterns surfaced on the Hunyuan One-Qi Pearl, and a swirling vortex of spiritual energy was vaguely visible inside.
"There are two choices when using it." A spiritual light flashed at Jiang Yifan’s fingertip. "One can directly call upon the spiritual energy stored within the pearl, or inject one's own spiritual energy."
He changed his hand seal, and the barrel glowed with a gold-red light. "The two methods can be switched freely."
Hua Xiangrong's round fan stopped mid-air. "This design..."
"It actually serves to assist the spirit pearls." Jiang Yifan pointed to the thirty-six spirit pearls embedded in the barrel. "These spirit pearls are not mere storage units."
He lightly tapped three of the spirit pearls, and they immediately lit up with different glows. "Each one has a different function. When in use, different combinations of spirit pearls can be activated according to one's needs." Jiang Yifan demonstrated changing the combinations.
The elders at the judges' table watched with rapt attention.
"A genius design!" Elder Chang Yan couldn't help but praise. "To perfectly separate the storage and auxiliary functions..."
Even Elder Ming Deng had to admit, "Indeed... the conception is ingenious."
Liu Changhe carefully inspected the Hunyuan One-Qi Pearl. "This storage efficiency..."
"It is three times that of an ordinary container," Jiang Yifan replied calmly. "And it can be replenished at any time."
Offstage, Chu Chenzhou's expression grew increasingly grim.
The Seven-Star Reflecting Moon Mirror he was so proud of seemed so singular and dull in the face of this magic tool.
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