Chapter 2557: Unexpected Outcome

Meng Yan was a well-known master armorer whose cultivation was in the Nine-Realm of Renhuang. He was capable of forging top-level Renhuang implements.

It had been many years since he made his name in the Tianyan Realm. The City Lord’s Office of Tianyan had been trying to recruit him and extended their invitations many times before to no avail. What he had always wanted to prove was that even without the resources of the City Lord’s Office, he could still become a master-level armorer, even to the point of defeating armorers at the same level from the City Lord’s Office.

Armorers were proud sorts by nature, and Meng Yan was more so than the others. It was not that he was unwilling to enter the City Lord’s Office, but he wanted first to prove to himself that his armor-making was not done relying on the resources of the City Lord’s Office. He wanted to prove that he could defeat the masters from the City Lord’s Office by himself.

He had been waiting for this opportunity, and now, this day was finally here.

He would only go to the City Lord’s Office with the glory of having beaten their top armorers. Then, he would use the resources of the City Lord’s Office to continue improving himself, break through the shackles, and impact higher realms.

At this time, Meng Yan stood in one of the nine major armoring arenas and began forging. To him, this had great significance.

This was the ninth round of the compet.i.tion. After this round, he would enter the City Lord’s Office and compete with top master armorers.

Meng Yan looked to be about 40 years or so, with a chiseled face. His expression was calm and steady as he began arranging the area of forging. In his area, the temperature was extremely high, as blazing flames of the Great Path flowed within this s.p.a.ce.

Soon after, Meng Yan took out the materials he had prepared and began to get the fire ready to purify these materials.

These materials were carefully chosen by him, and they were no common goods. Even so, impurities still had to be removed so the purification process would yield the most valuable parts of the materials.

A burning red hammer appeared in his hand, and a scorching divine fire was flowing on the hammer as he began to pound on the materials to make his implement.

Next to him, everyone else had started their forging as well. For a time, the sounds of metal pounding were the only sound to be heard.

Armor forging was a process that was all about returning to the basics. No matter how strong a person’s cultivation might be or how powerful the implement would be, the initial steps were all about repeated pounding, which was the simplest and the most important.

Not many partic.i.p.ated in the ninth round of the compet.i.tion, but they were a master-level figure, an elite master armorer. Tianyan City was holding its breath, watching intently at the last round of compet.i.tion before the finale.

Time pa.s.sed little by little. In the quiet of Tianyan City, only the sounds of iron pounding seemed to be heard.

The top figures in the City Lord’s Office stopped chatting mindlessly at this time. Instead, they focused upon the nine major arenas. The cultivators from the City Lord’s Office paid more attention to Meng Yan. Of course, they knew Meng Yan’s strength and his extraordinary ability in armor-making. If he could be further fostered in the City Lord’s Office, he would definitely forge sub-divine arms in the future. Ultimately, these were the kind of people they needed to recruit and someone who would definitely be a part of the City Lord’s Office.

Therefore, they were looking forward to Meng Yan’s performance.

Ye Futian was also paying attention. He had seen Blind Tie struck iron before, who was operating on a very high level, not necessarily any less than any of the partic.i.p.ants here. However, ever since following him, Bind Tie had set aside armor-making. Ye Futian was thinking that once Uncle Tie had survived the Divine Tribulation of the Great Path, he might pick up armor-making again and forge Sub-divine arms.

“Every step that Meng Yan took so far was a sure bet. The intensity of purification, the timing, and the heat control are all perfect. He should be able to create top-notch implement, and no idea what kind of surprise he may give us,” some top-level characters whispered, who seemed to favor Meng Yan above the others.

“In the ninth round of the compet.i.tion, Meng Yan will probably seek predictability above everything else. As long as he doesn’t make mistakes, there will be no problem, so it was unlikely that he will be making implement that is too challenging,” someone else commented, and everyone nodded in agreement. Since he had been advancing steadily, it was natural for him to wait until he could enter the City Lord’s Office first, then challenge the more difficult implement in the final showdown.

“Look at that man.” Someone pointed to the armoring arena where Meng Yan was and said, “The man behind Meng Yan seems to be pretty awesome.”

Quite a few people noticed that behind Meng Yan, in an inconspicuous corner, there was a armorer in black. His technique of armor-making was noticeably extraordinary and superb.

“He is formidable.” Many people in the City Lord’s Office were good at armor-making. After they saw the man’s technique, they knew he was exceptional.

However, as for his specific level, in reality, that still needed time to be observed and determined.

Following purification, it was melding of the materials and shaping. All the purified materials were combined in a certain proportion, then forged into the shape of the desired implement. This process was equally important as the other steps.

The material ratio, temperature, and requirements needed to be extremely precise. The more powerful the implement, the higher the requirements. The slight neglect may lead to a considerable discrepancy in the strength of the implement, so mistakes had to be avoided at all costs. Otherwise, all the efforts expanded might have been for naught, which may directly cause the failure of the forging so that the end product was nothing more than a piece of useless junk.

Time went on by little by little. Along with the process of fusion and shaping, everyone could see the kind of implements that these armorers wanted to forge.

“Meng Yan is forging a sword. As expected, he is playing safe,” the man in the City Lord’s Office said.

“Who is the person behind Meng Yan?” Many people in the City Lord’s Office shook their heads. Obviously, it was yet another powerful master armorer they didn’t know.

“His level may not be below Meng Yan’s,” someone said. Judging from current circ.u.mstances, he was not at all outs.h.i.+ned by Meng Yan. No matter which step of the armor-making, he had completed them equally perfectly.

“The key is still hinged on the vessel patterns and the process of fusion,” someone continued. “However, the implement he is making seems to be a cauldron—a black cauldron.”

Even that flames of the Great Path seemed to be pitch-black in color as if it were a dark flame. That cauldron had an extraordinary feel to it. Once it was completed, it might be exceptional in every way.

“Meng Yan may not know,” someone said.

The armorer needed to devote himself to the process of forging without being distracted so as not to make any mistakes. With Meng Yan’s experience, he was unlikely to make such mistakes. He was completely immersed in his world with the forging, without being affected by the interference from the outside world.

He had great confidence in his armor-making ability. As long as he could complete every step without issue, the implement he created would undoubtedly be the strongest in this arena. His goal was actually to be the strongest in all nine arenas; he intended to beat out the top master armorer from the City Lord’s Office among all the masters in the tenth round.

This kind of intense self-confidence prevented Meng Yan from paying any attention to other people’s progress. He focused solely on completing his project step by step. And each step was perfect.

But even as impeccable as this, some people were still concerned for him because a compet.i.tor was performing equally perfectly.

Some of the top figures in the City Lord’s Office were paying special attention to the progress of these two at this moment; some even felt an unexplainable sense of nervousness.

Slowly, some began to make engravings on the implements, incorporating the Great Path and imbuing the spirit.

As time went on, some had finished their implements. However, the first to finish was not necessarily the most powerful. After all, the point of armor-making was on the quality of the implement itself.

Gradually, these implements were completed one after another.

At this time, Meng Yan exhaled a breath, long and deep. Then with a wave of his palm, a brilliant divine light suddenly rushed into the sky, as if it had pierced through the firmament. A divine sword flew up and chimed in the void. The divine glory that bloomed from it awed the world and made countless others sighed with wonder.

All the people in the entire Tianyan City seemed to be attracted by this sword light.

“What a powerful sword!” someone exclaimed. “The rank of this item must be incredibly high.”

“No wonder Meng Yan is who he is. In the realm of Renhuang, he may be the strongest armorer in forging, no less superior than any of the master armorers from the City Lord’s Office,” someone else said.

When Meng Yan saw the sword he forged, a rare smile appeared on his face as well. He seemed to have strong confidence in the implement he had made.

He looked in other directions and found that after he finished forging, the other armorers had basically finished their implements as well. Sure enough, no one else’s implements had a higher rank than the divine sword he forged. There was only one person who was not done yet.

Meng Yan didn’t realize that in the City Lord’s Office and Tianyan City, some people who were experts at armoring, as well as those with great cultivation, had a rather solemn expression on their faces.

“Huh?” Meng Yan, too, seemed to feel that something was not quite right. The next moment, a horrific aura permeated.

Then, a black cauldron rose into the sky. Numerous black and terrifying dragons seemed to be carved upon this cauldron, their mouth opened wide to show their fangs, swallowing everything. The s.p.a.ce suddenly dimmed as those black dragons seemed to come alive, swallowing the aura between heavens and earth and absorbing the essence of the sun and the moon.

In an instant, the arena darkened, and the eyes of many sharpened as they stared at that cauldron.

“This…” The hearts of many cultivators palpitated, not understanding what was going on or why this implement would release such a terrifying aura.

In the same arena, the brilliance released by many implements was suppressed and became obscured, except for the divine light released by the divine sword. It illuminated an area and seemed to be competing with the cauldron.

It was clear to the people in Tianyan City that everyone else was now out of the game; only these two implements were qualified to compete for the first place.

The eyes of the cultivators in City Lord’s Office who presided over this arena also sharpened slightly. They stepped into the void, staring at these two implements, and their hearts were extremely uneasy. Of course, they knew Meng Yan and knew that Meng Yan was the master armorer coveted by City Lord’s Office. Everyone was antic.i.p.ating that he would eventually become part of the City Lord’s Office.

But now, that was not necessarily the case anymore…

“Judge,” the armorer clad in black, who had made the cauldron, said lightly. As soon as his voice fell, the light from the cauldron became more brazen, swallowing all other light. The light of the divine sword seemed on the verge of being suppressed as its chiming continued. Horrific divine light was puffed out from it, but it was still being overpowered.

It seemed to have encountered a trace of suppression.

Meng Yan’s expression changed. He sought to perform consistently, but others had forged implements that could restrain other divine arms.

“Master Meng Yan,” the host said to Meng Yan as he raised his head and looked at the speaker. The man continued, “This divine sword is extraordinary. Master Meng Yan’s standard is the same as always; on behalf of the City Lord’s Office, I welcome Master Meng Yan. However, in this armor-making showdown, Master Meng Yan’s divine sword is just a little lesser than the compet.i.tor’s.”

As soon as this was said, the surrounding areas became extraordinarily quiet.

Meng Yan had unexpectedly lost.

Even Meng Yan himself was stunned. He looked at the two imperial arms in the void. Indeed, he had lost. It was not that he could not bear to lose, but it all felt a little surreal. He lost even before getting into the City Lord’s Office so that he was disqualified to partic.i.p.ate in the final round inside the City Lord’s Office.

This may be normal for the others, but it seemed to be a great irony for him.

He had a strong desire for survival, which accounted for his reluctance to enter the City Lord’s Office to cultivate before. He wanted to prove himself first before becoming the most dazzling person in the Armorer Compet.i.tion. But at this moment, he was reduced to being a side note to the others; what a joke.

“I lost!” Meng Yan murmured. Although he couldn’t accept the reality of being defeat in his heart, the fact was right before his eyes, and he had to accept it.

After saying this, he turned around and left, appear a little lost; his departing figure was full of bleakness. When the cultivators in the City Lord’s Office witnessed this scene, they felt equally complicated in their hearts. They thought that they might have missed a great master armorer.

It was possible that Meng Yan might not enter the City Lord’s Office after all.

No one could have antic.i.p.ated such an event, but this surreal reality was in front of them.

Except, who exactly was the winner?