"Hey, what a coincidence! Li Zha!"
Tang Wulin greeted him excitedly.
Li Zha nodded.
"It certainly is."
Li Zha raised his head and scanned the distance, soon finding Divine Craftsman Zhen Hua and Mu Chen beside him in the judges' seats.
Zhen Hua waved at Li Zha with a grin.
Li Zha understood immediately. This had fucking well been arranged by Zhen Hua after all.
"Li Zha, you're incredible! I watched your match this morning. You actually knocked all those Shrek students flat, fighting seven on your own!"
Tang Wulin was thrilled. "My heavens, I never imagined anyone my age could be as strong as you!"
Li Zha smiled. "Just luck."
"Oh, now you're being modest, Li Zha. Joining Shrek is my dream, but you're even stronger than their geniuses. Teacher Wu Changkong told me you might already be the strongest person your age on the continent."
Admiration and envy filled Tang Wulin's eyes.
He bore no grudge whatsoever over Li Zha killing him in the Spirit Ascension Platform earlier.
Li Zha felt little in response to such praise.
"Let's focus on the forging first."
Tang Wulin nodded. "You're right. Li Zha, I couldn't match even one of your hands in Soul Master cultivation, but I won't necessarily lose to you in forging!"
"All right. Let's see how we compare."
Tang Wulin clenched his fist and began carefully inspecting the metals before him.
This was a competition for talented Blacksmiths under fifteen.
In an ordinary competition, completing Thousand Refinement would give someone a chance at the championship.
But this was a major competition,
so merely completing it in the simplest fashion probably wouldn't secure victory. Tang Wulin estimated that it would take at least second-grade thousand refinement.
Of course, Tang Wulin himself possessed that ability.
Mu Xi was also there,