The Lord of Void and Real
Chapter 1518

Chapter 1518: Chapter 1514: The Second Battle Chapter 1518: Chapter 1514: The Second Battle “This competition aims to measure the skill and power in refining Armor, and to eliminate material factors interference, the materials available for you to choose from are the same; the main materials are Copper of Lingxiao and Land and Sea Sands, with auxiliary materials like Radiant Stone, Emerald, Middle-grade Tungsten Gold, and Bai Zhi, which you can take as needed,” said the Nameless Elder.

Hearing this, Shen Luo inwardly praised, “These Spiritual Materials have essentially neutral properties, suitable for refining either offensive or defensive Armor. Indeed, fairness has been achieved in terms of materials.”

“The allotted time for refinement is three two-hour periods, and should one side fail to complete within the timeframe, they will be directly deemed as the loser. If both sides fail to complete, the degree of completion will be used as the judgment standard, with the higher completion degree winning. If both sides complete the refinement within the time limit, then the contest will move to the Training Ground for a direct attack and defense test, with the first to have their Armor damaged being the loser,” continued the Nameless Elder.

“The difficulty of refining Armor exceeds that of Magical Treasures and instruments; in three two-hour periods, merely melting down the Spiritual Materials is no easy task, not to mention completing a finished product,” Shen Luo whispered to Master Yan after hearing this.

“It's not a big issue. Elder Manbo has always been devoted to the Yan Technique and his Dao-Practice in Armor refinement is not something we can compare with. His fastest record previously was completing an Armor in two hours, it's just that the grade of that refined product was not high,” Master Yan did not speak aloud, but transmitted his voice to Shen Luo.

Upon hearing this, Shen Luo could not help but inwardly offer his admiration.

“Are there any other rules? If not, can we start now?” Hou Shan, while picking his ear with his little finger, asked impatiently.

“It is time,” the Nameless Elder said.

Upon hearing this, Hou Shan and Elder Manbo each stepped forward to the two refining stands within the workshop.

“Are we using this piece of junk?” Hou Shan raised his eyebrows as he saw the furnace on the stand and asked.

“The furnaces used by both parties are the same, is there a problem?” the Nameless Elder asked with a frown.

“What 'same'? This furnace is the one you are accustomed to using; I have never used it before, this is unfair to me,” Hou Shan adopted an unreasonable demeanor and shouted.

“Then, what do you propose?” Elder Manbo, already struggling to contain his anger, nearly lost his temper.

“How about this, I use my own customary furnace, and you can use yours as well, how does that sound? This way, it's much fairer,” suggested Hou Shan.

“Just as you say,” Elder Manbo said, too lazy to argue with him.

After this entanglement, both sides finally reached their respective refining stands.

Seeing this, the Nameless Elder stepped forward and in between the two stands, he lit a stick of Long Incense and declared the competition to begin.

On hearing the start, Hou Shan immediately dropped his mocking demeanor, and his entire presence changed in an instant.

Next, with a wave of his hand, the original furnace was pushed aside by an invisible Qi force, and then with another sweep of his palm, another furnace appeared on the table.

This furnace was only about three feet tall, entirely golden, with three feet and two handles, and a lid carved with a peculiar beast head.

Everyone's expressions changed upon seeing this furnace.

The furnace's beast head appeared lifelike, the area above its two handles was covered in flame-like mystical patterns, and its three legs resembled beast legs, covered entirely with dense scales – it was obviously not an ordinary item.

“Using such a high-grade furnace, aren't you cheating?” Elder Fu scolded.

“Jealous of my Melting Gold Furnace? Upset? You can also switch furnaces, I never said you couldn't,” Hou Shan said, rolling his eyes.

“Elder Fu was at a loss for words.

High-quality furnaces are not something one could simply obtain at will.

Among all the furnaces in Tianji City, only the two carried by the City Lord himself could stably outperform the one used by Hou Shan. The furnace that Elder Manbo usually used was naturally not in the same league.

Despite the situation, Elder Manbo was not in the slightest bit panicked. Instead, he reassured:

'The quality of the furnace is indeed important for refining Armor, but what ultimately affects the quality of the Armor are the materials. With materials of this caliber, an ordinary furnace is enough. His furnace at most only helps him speed up the refinement process, the enhancement in other aspects is limited. Rest assured, he can't win.'

At this moment, the confident aura emitting from Elder Manbo made his stature seem even more grand.

His implication was clear: the quality of Armor refined from ordinary Spiritual Materials has a limit. Regardless of whether one uses an ordinary or a higher-grade furnace, the refined Armor's quality limit is set in stone.

If Elder Manbo could refine top limit Armor with an ordinary furnace, and Hou Shan could only achieve the same with the aid of a high-grade furnace, resulting in a tie, then Elder Manbo would have the upper hand.

Seeing that he had no objections, everyone else stopped any further discussion and began silently observing their competition.

Elder Manbo pinched a magic spell with one hand and exhaled a stream of Dan Fire, drawing a fiery line through Mid Air and directly into the furnace.

The flame patterns on the furnace lit up with brilliance, and fierce Red Flames began to burn inside.

After waiting for about Half a Moment, the furnace displayed a transparent Crimson color, and two Spiral heat streams rose from the cauldron's ears, forming two miniature cloud clusters.

'Relying solely on Dan Fire and needing only Half a Moment to raise the furnace chamber's temperature to the point of melting Copper of Lingxiao indeed shows skill,' Hou Shan commented from the side, not in a hurry to begin. Watching this scene, he could not help but show admiration and clicked his tongue in praise.

'Hou Shan, cut the nonsense. If you lose because of overconfidence, Master will not spare you,' Nurse Yu scolded angrily.

'Old hag, it's you who talks too much.'

After cursing her, Hou Shan began to cast his own spell to ignite the fire.

However, as a fiery line surged into the furnace chamber, the flame runes on the Melting Gold Furnace lit up, and the eyes of the Exotic Beast atop the furnace also gleamed with light, a sharp Breath gradually emanating from the furnace body.

'So it's actually a fire-attribute furnace. That old rascal said he was skilled in refining defensive Armor, but that was clearly a load of crap,' Elder Fu directly cursed out loud.

Unperturbed, Hou Shan grinned and began to fully activate the furnace.

In just a span of several breaths, the area above the cauldron was steaming with vapor, obviously having reached the required temperature.

'Such a rapid heating speed,' Shen Luo couldn't help but exclaim.

In terms of heating speed alone, he was already several times faster than Elder Manbo.

This indicated that the Melting Gold Furnace's fire power was several times stronger than an ordinary one. It would not only maintain an advantage in the speed of the refinement process but also surpass Elder Manbo in the efficiency of purifying materials.

Fortunately, this contest wasn't about speed, otherwise Elder Manbo would undoubtedly lose.”