The incense burned out.
At the Old Sect Leader's signal, the Sword Hall Master and Lu Feng simultaneously placed their blade blanks onto the platform outside the furnace to cool.
Hua Xiuwu approached the Sword Hall Master curiously. Upon seeing his blade blank, he could not help but praise him in delight. "The Sword Hall Master's skill is truly becoming ever more admirable. You actually managed to preserve and protect this blade blank so perfectly. Only a tiny bit of the surface was damaged; it hardly affected it at all. It'll be hard for you to lose this time."
Hearing this from afar, the Blade Hall Master secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Though he and the Sword Hall Master had often been at odds over the years, even coming to blows over their respective refining philosophies, their decades of quarrelling had long become a habit—an indispensable part of their lives. Naturally, he did not wish for the man to truly lose, then leave the sect in a fit of temper.
That would be a loss not only to him, but to the entire sect.
The Sword Hall Master looked very satisfied with the blade blank before him. As he nodded inwardly, his gaze turned toward Man Zhongli, hoping to see admiration on the latter's face. Instead, he saw that the boy's attention was wholly fixed on Lu Feng. Bitterness welled up within him. Even if he won, if he truly refused to let the boy leave with Lu Feng, causing their relationship to turn sour, it might bring trouble upon the Weapon Sect.
After all, Benevolent Heart Academy possessed the Nine-Pattern Core Condensation Secret Method, and the day it would be spread was close at hand. If he angered them into withholding it from the Weapon Sect's disciples, he