Qian Xunzong completed his soul-clearing motion softly and silently, yet it exploded like a sudden thunderclap across the competition arena, instantly drawing the gaze of everyone present.
The two hundred and odd contestants, who were previously still bowing their heads to polish soul tools and concentrate on fine-tuning parameters, subconsciously raised their heads one after another. Their gazes focused in unison on that floating gilded shield, their faces filled with shock and astonishment.
Prior to this, everyone was certain that this youth, who had carved arrays haphazardly, would ultimately end up with nothing to show for it, forging a pile of completely useless scrap and becoming the laughingstock of the entire arena.
Yet no one expected that not only did he finish forging an hour ahead of schedule, but the finished product also looked of superb texture and extraordinary air, not at all resembling an inferior defective product.
After a brief spell of astonishment, soaring doubts instantly swept across the whole arena. The sounds of mockery and dissent rose and fell in succession, densely blanketing the entire competition venue.
The white-clad genius who had previously sat adjacent to Qian Xunzong and uttered words of mockery now wore an ashen expression, full of dissent and jealousy, and was the first to speak in a stern voice:
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! How could a fourteen or fifteen-year-old youth finish forging faster than all of us Level-Five Soul Engineers? Forging a High-Level Level-Five Attack Soul Tool takes me a full hour and a half, and his speed is more than twice as fast as mine. There is definitely something wrong!"
"I say it's just all show and no substance! Those bizarre array patterns don't possess proper soul power circuits at all. At best, they are showy frameworks with a refined appearance, looking good but