On the second day of the day, in the Weapon Refining Square, the final of the Weapon Refining Competition is similar to the small competition, except that it is limited to three hours, and the judges will judge the results.
The fifty refining platforms were rearranged and distributed in a ring, each one three feet apart. They were randomly assigned. Qin Tiexin was assigned to platform No. 15.
He walked to the stage and looked at the ground fire mouth first.
Something's wrong!
After activating the flame, he found that although the flame was cyan and looked similar to normal, the flame was swaying weakly and the height was only about 60% of the normal level. He squatted down and hung his palms three inches above the furnace mouth to feel the heat - the temperature was at least 20% lower.
Check the spiritual material rack again.
There are several pieces of Mysterious Iron ingots on the shelf, which are the material requirements he submitted yesterday. Each piece is about thirty kilograms. Qin Tiexin picked up one and rubbed his fingers on the surface. It felt rough to the touch, with obvious blisters, and the color was dull and gray - this It is a low-quality Mysterious Iron, with an impurity content of at least 30%. For ordinary weapon-making disciples using this kind of material, they are lucky to be able to make Law Artifact. If it is a small competition, it will take him at least half an hour to remove the impurities.
It Divine Sense spread out and penetrated into the underground fire pipeline like a fine net.
There is thick black sticky substance attached to the inner wall of the pipe, blocking nearly half of the channel. It is not natural scale, but some kind of artificially prepared "fire corrosion glue", which will expand and solidify when exposed to heat, and is specially used to reduce the intensity of underground fires.
Qin Tiexin raised his head and glanced across the square.
Zhao Yan was standing on stage six, talking in a low voice with a disciple of the deacon in green robes. The disciple had his back to this side, but Qin Tiexin remembered him - one of the deacons who inspected Zhao Yan's flame knife during the tour yesterday. As the two of them were talking, Zhao Yan glanced at this side vaguely.
Eyes facing each other.
Zhao Yan's expression remained unchanged and he turned around and continued talking.
Qin Tiexin withdrew his gaze and placed three pieces of low-quality Mysterious Iron on the anvil. He ran his fingers over the uneven blisters on the surface of the iron ingot, and he already had some concerns in his mind.
He did not go to the deacon to complain.
There is no absolute fairness in the world of immortality - resources are tilted towards talented people and suppress potential competitors. This is the unspoken rule tacitly accepted by the sect. It is useless to complain, but it will appear weak.
The only thing that can be done is to speak with strength.
"Dang--"
The furnace bell rings.
He first took out a forging hammer from Storage Bag - this was specially prepared by him for forging heavy tools. It weighed three hundred kilograms. The hammer head was cylindrical. It was made of special heavy rock and was completely black. The handle of the hammer was wrapped with thick anti-slip linen cloth.
He placed the hammer on the edge of the table and put the "forty-pound hammer" provided back on the shelf. Then he pressed his hands on both sides of the stove mouth.
The "Hunyuan Jue" is running in the body, and the fire-attributed spiritual power pours out from Dantian, flowing along the meridians to the palms. The palms of the hands glow with a dark red light, and the spiritual power pours into the furnace like a tide.
"Hu--"
The originally weak green flames suddenly burst out, the flames skyrocketed three feet, and the color changed from green to red. But Qin Tiexin also had fine sweat oozing from his forehead - forcibly stimulating the fire consumes a lot of spiritual energy, which is equivalent to casting three Fire Element Law Technique at the same time.
He maintained this state, controlling the flame temperature with his left hand, and lifting a piece of Mysterious Iron ingot with his right hand and putting it into the furnace.
The melting point of inferior Mysterious Iron is already high, and due to the lack of ground fire, it would take an ordinary disciple to calcine it for at least a quarter of an hour to soften it. However, in the red flames activated by Qin Tiexin, the surface of the iron ingot quickly turned dark red, and it reached a reddish state in only half a quarter of an hour.
Although it was not in a light red state that could be forged, it was enough for him. He took out the iron ingot with iron pliers and placed it on the anvil.
As Divine Sense penetrated the surface of the Mysterious Iron ingot, feeling the arrangement of the dense metal lattice and the distribution of more than 30% impurities, Qin Tiexin held the three hundred kilogram heavy hammer.
The first hammer fell.
"Boom--!"
The sound was completely different from yesterday. It was not a crisp "dang", but a dull "dong" like a drum. The hammer surface hit the iron ingot, and the entire refinery was shaken.
The internal impurities of inferior Mysterious Iron are unevenly distributed, some places are as hard as stone, and some places are as loose as sand. Qin Tiexin Divine Sense penetrates into the iron ingot and locks every impurity node.
The "Resonance Forging Technique" is just more violent than what Uncle Wu taught him.
The second hammer, the third hammer...
Each hammer hits the node accurately. It is not a gentle "shock", but a violent "smash" - impurities are smashed and scattered with absolute force. Fine sparks burst out from the surface of the iron ingot, which is the phenomenon of friction and combustion between the impurities and the air after being shaken out.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The hammering sound had a heavy rhythm, like the heartbeat of a giant beast. Several disciples at the surrounding weapon refinement platform couldn't help but look sideways - the hammering sound was too scary, and the frequency was ridiculously fast.
Qin Tiexin is focused on nothing.
The muscles all over his body were tense, and every time he raised and lowered his arms, there was a sound of breaking wind. Sweat slipped from his forehead and dripped on the anvil, turning into white air with a "chi" sound. His spiritual power and Divine Sense continued to be consumed, but his hand holding the hammer was as steady as a rock.
Until the Mysterious Iron ingot made a "ding~" sound with a long aftertaste, Qin Tiexin knew that this piece was almost done. After another ten hammers, the first iron ingot was forged, nearly 30% of the impurities were discharged, and the volume was reduced by one-fifth.
In his Divine Sense, there are less than two percent of impurities distributed in the dense crystal lattice, which is enough.
He puts in the second piece.
In this cycle, all four iron ingots are forged, which takes half an hour.
He couldn't stop at this point. He needed to forge and fuse four Mysterious Iron ingots with a piece of heavy iron material. Fortunately, the purity of the heavy iron material was sufficient. After calculating the weight, he stacked several pieces of material into the fire and activated the flame with all his strength. The Spiritual Qi in his body was consumed very quickly, but the iron ingot visible to the naked eye was gradually turning red.
Turn red - take out - forge - fold - return, repeat this several times, the heavy iron essence has been completely integrated into the Mysterious Iron ingot, and if you look closely, there are dense "textures" on the surface. The plastic work is also in progress. After half an hour, the iron ingot has been initially fused, forming a rough sword embryo about four feet long and six inches wide.
Qin Tiexin stopped and took a deep breath.
The spiritual power consumption has exceeded 60%. He took out a Qi Restoration Pill from Storage Bag and swallowed it. The medicine was released and replenished the dry meridians. This was allowed by the rules of the competition.
The original plan was to forge a light and agile long sword, but the inferior material had insufficient toughness. Even after his "violent refining", the impurities could not be forged out, and forcibly thinning it would only make it easier to break. He changed his mind - thickening and weighting, using "heavy" to supplement "quality".
The heavy hammer continued to fall, and the sword slowly took shape under his hammering. When it was finally formed, the sword was three feet four (one meter) long, five and a half inches wide, and nearly an inch thick. Even the blade was hammered with a heavy hammer, full of roughness and wildness, and it took more than an hour and a half.
Next is the spirit pattern.
Qin Tiexin put away the heavy hammer and sat down cross-legged. He stretched out his right index finger, condensed his spiritual power on his fingertip, and pointed it at the root of the sword.
The first one is "Qianjun".
This was one of the spiritual patterns he came into contact with most often when he was smelting the heavy-duty Law Artifact in the Waste Equipment Pavilion. His fingertips ran in straight lines, and the lines were as rough as an ax chisel. The spiritual energy traveled along the internal structure of the sword body, creating layers of weighted formations.
Halfway through the drawing, my fingers began to tremble slightly.
The consumption of spiritual energy was too great. Forced fire, violent forging, and full Divine Sense were all superimposed. At the fourth level of Qi training, even with the support of the Qi Restoration Pill and the richness of the Hunyuan Art, Dantian felt a burst of emptiness at this moment.
Qin Tiexin closed his eyes and adjusted his breathing for three breaths. When he opened his eyes again, his eyes were even darker. He bit the tip of his tongue and mixed a trace of Essence Blood with spiritual power. His fingertips flashed red and continued to carve.
"Qianjun" pattern is formed.
The second path is "sharp".
This pattern needs to be nested with the "Qianjun" to increase the weight while ensuring the lethality of the blade. Qin Tiexin Change the index finger of your left hand - your right hand is shaking so much that you cannot control it accurately.
The left hand is not as nimble as the right hand, but more stable, and the sharpness is the spiritual pattern he is most familiar with. The fingertips follow an arc, extending to both sides along the spine of the sword, and converging like a needle at the edge. When the spiritual power is injected, the sword body buzzes louder and louder, as if something is awakening inside.
After finishing the last stroke, Qin Tiexin's face was pale, and his back robe was soaked with sweat. After wrapping the forged sword hilt with hemp rope, he looked at the hourglass on the stage - less than two and a half hours had passed since the furnace was opened, and it was the fastest completed in the audience.
Even though he could use more time to refine the details, the spiritual power in Qin Tiexin's body no longer supports him.
The blade of the sword lay on the anvil, all dark gray and without luster. There were even some rough edges on the blade, which were traces of impurities in the material that had not yet been removed. However, the two spiritual patterns on the handle flashed alternately, one heavy and the other sharp, and there was a faint aura of heavyness.
Qin Tiexin lifted the sword.
It was heavy in hand, about one hundred and twenty kilograms. He swung it, and the sword wind roared. Although it was not dexterous, it had a sense of devastation and arrogance when slashing.
Enough.
He slowly put the sword back on the table, crossed his legs and adjusted his breathing. There were sounds of forging, carving, and a few annoyed sighs all around - someone had failed.
Three hours later, Jichen True Person announced that it would stop.
The deacons began to patrol the field for review. The works of several seed disciples were excellent: Zhao Yan's flame sword was red and flowing with fire, and the "blazing" and "sharp" lines on the blade were as clear as carvings; Lin Han's ice crystal sword was blue and clear, and the "cold" and "sharp" lines were as exquisite as ice sculptures.
When it was Qin Tiexin's turn, the three deacons stopped at the same time.
The leader was none other than Deacon Xu. He picked up the dark gray-black epee and flicked the blade with his fingers.
"Dang..."
The sound was dull, not like metal, but like hitting stone.
"Inferior quality Mysterious Iron." Deacon Xu looked at Qin Tiexin, "The ground fire is not enough, right?"
Qin Tiexin nodded.
Deacon Xu injected spiritual power to test the spiritual pattern. When the spiritual energy traveled along the "Qianjun" pattern, the sword suddenly sank, and the anvil made an overwhelmed "squeaking" sound. Then when he followed the "sharp" pattern, a very faint cold light appeared on the blade.
"Double patterns are nested, and the structure is solid." Deacon Xu handed the sword to the two deacons beside him, "Look."
A deacon frowned. "The material is too poor, there are many impurities, and the cutting edge has burrs."
Another person said, "But under these conditions, it can be made into a tool and it takes the shortest time. This is a skill in itself."
The three of them discussed in low voices for a while.
Deacon Xu turned to the viewing platform and said loudly, "No. 15, Qin Tiexin. Materials: inferior Mysterious Iron, with more than 30% impurities; ground fire: less than 60%. Finished product: heavy It is a sword with double patterns of 'Qianjun' and 'Fengrui'. Although it is crude in appearance, the spiritual patterns are solid and the structure is stable. It has reached the threshold of mid-grade Law Artifact. The forging time is: two and a half hours, which is the shortest time in the whole show."
After the words fell, the square was silent for a moment.
Immediately, discussions started.
"Inferior Mysterious Iron? Insufficient ground fire? Has it been tampered with?"
"Keep silent, be careful of trouble coming from your mouth."
"Mid-grade Law Artifact threshold? Is it fake?"
"Look at that sword, it looks like scrap metal..."
Zhao Yan narrowed his eyes on stage six and tightened his hand holding the flame knife slightly.
Qi Chen True Person walked down from the auditorium and inspected the heavy sword in person. He ran his fingers over the sword body, and his spiritual power penetrated into it for a long time. He finally nodded. "Deacon Xu's comment is correct. This sword is better because it 'adapts to local conditions' - if the material is poor, it does not seek sophistication and relies on heavy weight to make up for it; if the fire is insufficient, it uses spiritual power to force it and violently remove impurities. It seems clumsy, but it is actually clumsy."
He looked at Qin Tiexin: "Did you know that the material had been tampered with?"
Qin Tiexin was silent for a moment. "This disciple only knows that the materials are poor and the fire is weak."
"No appeal?"
"Weapon refining has to deal with various situations." Qin Tiexin said, "Poor materials is one of the situations."
Qi Chen True Person took a deep look at him and turned back to the stage.
The final review results are announced:
"First place in the weapon refining competition, Qin Tiexin. Reason: It takes the shortest time to make a weapon in a bad environment, and the spiritual patterns are solid."
"Second, Zhao Yan. The flame knife has gorgeous double patterns and is of high quality."
"Third, Lin Han. The ice crystal sword is exquisite and stable."
During the award ceremony, Qin Tiexin went on stage to receive the reward - one hundred low-grade Spirit Stone, one hundred good deeds. When Qi Chen True Person handed Storage Bag to him, a voice came into his ears. "Someone has tampered with it, and the sect knows it. You handled it well, without causing trouble, without losing, and that's enough."
Qin Tiexin took Storage Bag, cupped his fists and saluted.
When he stepped down from the stage, Zhao Yan walked towards him. The two passed by each other. Zhao Yan paused and whispered, "Let's compete again at the inner gate."
Qin Tiexin didn't look back.
When night fell again, Qin Tiexin returned to his residence.
The heavy sword stood in the corner, and the dark gray sword looked like a stubborn stone under the oil lamp. He put away the Spirit Stone he had received today and the jade token for good deeds, then sat on the edge of the bed and reviewed the whole process.
The underground fire was blocked, the materials were replaced, Zhao Yan talked with the deacon's disciples... these clues were connected in series, pointing to the fact that someone was deliberately suppressing him.
The reason is not difficult to guess - the opposite faction of Nangong Yao, or simply the forces behind Zhao Yan, do not want his "accident" to continue to advance.
Deacon Xu's message also confirms this. "The sect is aware of it." This means that the higher-ups are aware of these off-board moves, but will not interfere openly unless it causes a big stir.
The rules of the world of immortality are like this - as long as small actions do not cross the line, they are allowed to exist. Whether you can break the situation depends on your personal ability.
Today he broke the situation, but the conspiracy will not stop.
Tomorrow's battle of wits will be the real battlefield.