Weapon Master Chapter 55

"Everyone, quiet!"
Accompanying Qing Ye's shout, the entire plaza finally became quiet. "Now, please take out the jade plates and light stones from your respective drawers!"
Many refiners immediately took action. One by one, they opened the drawer and took out the white jade plate and a fist-sized white gem.
In a split-second, a dazzling white light flickered on every metal table.
Many weapons craftsmen let out a sigh of relief in their hearts, but at the same time, many of them secretly complained in their hearts. Indeed, this "Light Stone" was not a low-grade gem that was particularly difficult to refine. However, that was in a situation where there was sufficient time, and right now, it was only a short half hour.
"Everyone, please get ready!"
Qing Ye's tone was slightly raised. After pausing for a moment, a melodious voice that sounded like the cry of an oriole resonated throughout the entire plaza, "The first stage of the 'Artifact Forging Competition'. Now …. "Begin!"
Almost at the same moment she finished speaking, the huge hourglass under the stage flipped over.
"Rustle, rustle!"
The loud sound of sand falling filled the air.
Qing Ye walked back to his seat with a smile. At the same time, before the thousands of tables, almost all the blacksmiths quickly grabbed the "Light Stone" and put it between their palms.
Around the plaza, the crowd was whispering to each other. Within the arena, however, the atmosphere was extremely tense.
"Phew!" "Huff …"
With an almost inaudible sound, dozens of iron tables lit up with fiery red lights. All of them had activated their true flame within a very short period of time and manifested it.
Tang Huan's hands also grabbed onto the gem, but he did not immediately activate his True Fire. Instead, he turned his eyes and quickly swept his gaze around.
"Truly a hidden dragon and crouching tiger!"
He thought that the speed at which he activated his True Fire and materialized it outside was already fast enough, but he never thought that there would be so many people who were not much slower than him. If Tang Huan was not mistaken, there might even be a middle levelled blacksmith hiding among these people.
In just a moment, more than ten iron tables lit up with flames.
"Hmm?"
Tang Huan was about to retract his gaze, but he sensed something and immediately looked to his left.
There was actually a well-dressed young man watching him from a few dozen meters away. He probably had the same idea as him, and wanted to observe the strength of his opponent first.
That guy did not even pick up the "Light Stone".
Seeing Tang Huan's gaze, the young man's brows slightly raised, his eyes revealing a provocative look. He then proudly turned his head and moved forward, holding the "Light Stone" with both of his hands.
"Hu!"
In the blink of an eye, a small ball of flame was ignited within his palm. However, it immediately turned into a prairie fire and expanded into a small ball the size of a washbasin.
At this moment, the flames that had been materialized by the surrounding artificers were also only the size of a bowl, but the well-dressed man was actually several times larger than they were. It was impossible for the people around the square to not see such an eye-catching scene. In the next moment, exclamations resounded one after another.
"What a strong flame, could he be a middle tier blacksmith?"
"I wonder where that person came from?"
"Becoming a middle tier blacksmith master before the age of twenty, his future is truly limitless."
"..."
The young man seemed to have noticed the commotion in his surroundings, and his face was full of pride. [Previous Chapter] [Table of Contents]
But just at that time, a sneer rang out a few meters behind the man.
"Hu!"
On the metal table, the fire that was as big as a bowl had also expanded to the size of a washbasin. It was not one bit inferior to the young man's flame.
The young man looked back and his face slightly changed. His lips moved as if he was cursing.
Tang Huan also subconsciously looked over, only to realize that the owner of the ball of flames was actually a tall and slender woman in a yellow skirt.
Her features were pretty, her face was pretty, her skin was abnormally fair, her long hair was fiery red, and her pupils revealed a faint blue color. Her appearance was somewhat similar to some of the westerners Tang Huan had seen in his previous life.
When she looked at the young man in front of her, her brows revealed traces of ridicule.
Tang Huan took another glance and discovered that it was not only the young man and the yellow dressed lady who were having intense flames. The owner of one of the balls of fire was a petite, baby-faced girl who was probably only fourteen or fifteen years old.
"I should start too!"
In between the mind instructs (in a second), inside the Dantian, "Nine Yang Divine Furnace" and the spirit wheel started to spin at the same time. A blazing heat followed the flow of his Qi through the spirit vein, and quickly reached the palms of his hands, turning into flames that gradually enveloped Tang Huan's palms.
When it had expanded to the size of a bowl, the flames had stopped growing.
This time, Tang Huan was not as eye-catching as two months ago, when he was participating in the examination for low-ranked equipment forgers. After all, as long as they passed the first stage, they would be able to obtain a low level weapon. It was impossible for Divine Armament Hall to reward them with two more things just because someone performed better.
Being low-key can also catch powerful competitors off guard at the critical moment.
The fire in the palm of the elegantly dressed young man in the distance raged, and the gemstone juice constantly dripped down. After a moment, he could not help but turn back to take a glance, his expression immediately becoming more unsightly, following that he glanced in Tang Huan's direction, his expression becoming a lot better.
"Huh?"
On the platform, Qing Ye's eyes swept across the crowd of weaponsmiths.

A moment later, Qing Ye's gaze paused. A faint surprise flashed across her pretty eyes as she said, "Why is this boy's performance not as good as two months ago?" But soon after, a smile appeared on her face and she muttered, "What a little trick. He actually knows how to hide."
"Hidden?"
Mu Kui chuckled, and also lowered his voice, "On the surface, he seems to be concealing something, but after careful observation, you will realize that his flames are several times purer than two months ago." As he finished speaking, Mu Kui's eyes revealed unconcealable shock.
"Oh?"
Qing Ye widened his beautiful eyes. After a moment, he couldn't help but take in a breath of cold air as he exclaimed, "It's true. How did this guy do it?"
To make the flame pure, the first step was to make the flame pure.
Not to mention that it was several times purer. Moreover, the other party was only a low-level refiner, so it was even more difficult to accomplish. This was like compressing a large bowl of dough into the size of a duck's egg.
"Green Leaf Pavilion Master, Brother Mu Kui, which artificer are you talking about?" The old man at the side could not help but ask. He was the owner of the Starsea Weapon Shop, Sea Leviathan.
"The owner will know soon enough." Qing Ye suppressed the shock in his heart and kept his mouth shut.
"..."
"Great Master Gu Yi, Great Master Wu Xin, how did my niece perform?"
A tall and sturdy man wearing armor suddenly raised his hand and pointed towards a delicate and exquisite little girl in the crowd as he spoke with a charming smile.
"Even at such a young age, your True Fire is already this powerful. Not bad. Oh, you should be a middle tier blacksmith master already, right?" Gu Yi lightly stroked his long beard with a face full of smiles.
"With the little princess' strength, it's more than enough for her to pass the third trial." Wu Xin also smiled.
"The third stage is nothing. This little girl is here to participate in the Weapon Refining Competition." The armored man laughed loudly.
"In this year's Artifact Forging Competition, not only is there the Grand Princess of the Mo Yun Empire, there is also the second prince of the Sharon Empire, and there is also the little princess of our Great Tang Empire. Such a grand occasion, I'm afraid it will be difficult to reproduce in the next few decades." Beside the sturdy man, another armored elder laughed.
"That's right." Gu Yi squinted his eyes and smiled, "Let's see who will be the champion of the Weapon Refining Competition this time around!"
"Of course, she's definitely our Great Tang Empire's precious little princess, haha." The brawny man laughed until his eyes became two slits.
"..."
Gu Yi and Wu Xin looked at each other and smiled noncommittally. If the low-level refiner who forged that long spear wasn't here, this little princess of the Tang Kingdom might even be the champion. If that person was here, her chances of winning were much slimmer.