# Chapter 1636: Gradually Revealing Sharpness
"So many benefits!" The crowd marveled inwardly. The benefits for those who secured a top ten position in this Refining Competition were enough to make one's heart tremble. Especially for those in the top three, they were destined to become refining masters who could command the wind and rain.
However, many people were still quite frustrated. They could at most charge toward the top ten. The top three positions were almost impossible; the difficulty was too great. Hatred Long Sky was already a third-level refining master and was originally a member of Flame Gold Tower. In this Refining Competition, he would surely be able to refine a third-level imperial artifact and secure one of the top three positions.
As for the three people on par with him, Yan Feng had already revealed his fangs in the second round, charging straight for the championship position of this Refining Competition. He would likely take one of the top three spots as well. Additionally, Ge Qingfeng and Sima Nan were definitely not people of mere reputation. Besides these four, there were other strong contenders for the top three. The competition was too fierce; everyone would have to give their all this time.
The ninth-level refining master in the purple-gold long robe and the refining master in the red-gold long robe stepped back to their original positions, while the seven purple-robed masters still stood in the void, looking at the crowd and saying, "For this third round of the Refining Competition, you have four hours of time. That means failure is allowed. After four hours, present the highest quality imperial artifact you have refined for the ranking evaluation of this Refining Competition."
"Four hours." Indeed, the first two rounds had tested their mentality and solid foundation. This final round would test their complete skill set, requiring them to bring out all their trump cards and compare the best weapons they could refine. Moreover, with only the last hundred people remaining, whether it was the strong experts of Flame Gold Tower or the powerful figures from various surrounding sects, they could all clearly observe the refining process of these hundred people. They could watch the young refiners they valued and recruit them after the Refining Competition.
This kind of recruitment didn't necessarily mean making the refiners join their sects. It could be a gesture of goodwill—for example, unconditionally providing them with refining resources and cultivation resources, or even powerful techniques. By befriending these young masters, when they grew up in the future, if one wanted to ask them to refine some weapons, the other party naturally wouldn't be able to refuse.
Therefore, everyone in this Refining Competition was going all out to enter the finals. Even if they didn't secure a top ten position after entering the finals, they still had a chance to be valued by Flame Gold Tower or various sect forces. Of course, getting the top ten was even better.
"Now, the final round of the Refining Competition begins." The seven purple-robed masters spoke simultaneously, and the atmosphere seemed to explode at that moment. A hundred people descended at the same time, setting up their furnaces and igniting their flames.
"Whoosh..." Mu Linxue landed on the ground and took a deep breath. Everything depended on this final round. Her fate would also be decided in this final round. Even though her state of mind had undergone a transformation in the second round, she still felt a trace of uncontrollable nervousness at this moment.
"There won't be any problems. Even at worst, we can still secure a top ten position." Lin Feng comforted her with a smile. Mu Linxue nodded slightly. If the two of them gave their full effort, a top ten position should be no problem. However, what she worried about was that even if she secured a top ten position, the Mu Manor would still marry her off to the Yan family under the pretext of family matters. And if Yan Feng secured a top three position, then Flame Gold Tower would turn a blind eye. In that case, her individual power would still seem somewhat insignificant.
"Let's begin." This time, Mu Linxue took out a material called Silver Profound Meteorite, an extremely hard refining material. Its entire body appeared in a translucent silver-white color, looking exceptionally brilliant. When sunlight shone on it, it even faintly showed colorful, rippling light patterns.
"Sister Linxue has even taken out the Silver Profound Meteorite. This material is extremely hard. I'm afraid even her flame will need some time to melt it." Mu Qingying watched Mu Linxue's refining from the side. If Mu Linxue chose the Silver Profound Meteorite, then in four hours, she would only have three chances to refine, and it would be very tight. But she also understood that Mu Linxue had no choice. If she didn't choose good refining materials, she would fall even further behind others.
Mu Qingying then glanced at Yan Feng. His refining material was a piece of crimson mysterious iron. She didn't know what it was, but even without refining it, one could feel the terrifying fire attribute power within it.
The watching crowd was very quiet. They just focused on watching those people refine. Some were there to select talents, but many were also there to learn refining techniques, drawing useful experience from the refining processes of these geniuses.
As Mu Qingying had predicted, Mu Linxue closed her eyes and used her soul power to control her flame. It took nearly half an hour just to melt the Silver Profound Meteorite. Just melting this one refining material, beads of sweat were already faintly visible on her forehead.
Lin Feng closed his eyes to rest. They had already chosen what to refine. Next, he just needed to wait patiently and focus on carving the array. This time, carving the array would probably still take quite a bit of time.
During the refining process, although only a hundred people remained, this time, above the square's void, a cloud of fire gradually began to rise. The airflow of the entire sky was replaced by crimson flame energy, looking very spectacular and making people tremble. This time, everyone was going all out, starting to use their strongest flames.
"Yan Feng's Nine Transformations Refining Art can already achieve the fourth transformation now, right? He's already using the power of the third transformation." A strong expert from Sword Mountain watched Yan Feng refine. They saw Yan Feng controlling the flame, making it flip and change, penetrating into the refining material, causing the material itself to seem to evolve as well.
"The Nine Transformations Refining Art can not only elevate the grade of flames and materials, but more importantly, it allows one to start controlling the unformed weapon during the refining process, merging the weapon with the soul. Therefore, the success rate of refining is very high." The head of the Yan family said with a smile. The Nine Transformations Refining Art was an ancient refining scripture passed down through the Yan family. Although it was only a fragment, it had already allowed the Yan family to rise. It was said that the complete Nine Transformations Refining Art could turn stone into gold and transform an imperial artifact into an emperor artifact.
"Indeed. This time, Yan Feng will surely bring glory to the Yan family." The strong expert from Sword Mountain said with a smile, making the Yan family members even happier. They were also looking forward to Yan Feng competing for the championship position of this Refining Competition.
Mu Linxue's flame control technique was by no means weak. At this moment, many refining materials had been perfectly fused together by her. Her forehead was covered with sweat, looking very strained. She was fully focused, not daring to slack off in the slightest. The materials being fused had now formed a weapon embryo, taking the shape of a spear. It was a spear gleaming with silver light, one zhang and one chi long, thin and sharp. Even as a weapon embryo, the space left for Lin Feng to carve the array was still quite narrow.
"Choosing a spear?" The people from the Yan family and the Mu Manor glanced over at Mu Linxue's side, sneering coldly. With such narrow space, the difficulty of carving the array was greatly increased. Moreover, a spear was not considered a special imperial artifact. When compared with other imperial artifacts of the same grade, it might not necessarily hold an advantage. This was undoubtedly a very wrong choice.
"Is she giving up willingly?" Mu Linxue's eldest uncle sneered. Actually refining a spear.
"The person you're paying attention to doesn't seem to be that impressive. If she refines a spear, a top ten position is uncertain." Yan Feng's quasi-master said with a smile to the purple-robed refining master beside him. That refining master frowned slightly, clearly somewhat surprised. Carving an array on a spear weapon embryo was not easy. Moreover, the spear embryo Mu Linxue had refined was thinner and narrower than an ordinary spear. Doing this undoubtedly increased the difficulty of refining. Of course, if she could successfully refine it, it would be sharper and faster.
These master-level figures of Flame Gold Tower all had people they were paying attention to. Besides this purple-robed master, a red-gold robed master, upon seeing the weapon embryo Mu Linxue had condensed, revealed a faint hint of pleasant surprise. He thought to himself, "Finally going to reveal your true strength? Without a certain level of skill, one wouldn't dare to carve this kind of array."
His attention to Lin Feng had always exceeded his attention to Mu Linxue. That guy was just too steady when carving arrays.
"Lin Feng." Finally, Mu Linxue said with her eyes closed. Lin Feng's eyes suddenly snapped open, releasing a sharp gleam. Then his body trembled slightly, flipping upside down in the air. A terrifying airflow rushed toward his face, but in front of him, there seemed to be a layer of light barrier that isolated that airflow.
The power of the Earth Limit Essence burst forth from his palm. Suddenly, Lin Feng's finger traced through the air, directly carving in the void. In an instant, the void rippled, and an earth pattern floated in the air. Besides the Earth Essence, it also contained the power of Immortality, as if it could exist in the air forever.
"Boom!" Lin Feng's palm trembled again in the void, and immediately, patterns began to interweave, immortal in the air.
"Void array carving?" Many people noticed Lin Feng's situation and their expressions suddenly tightened. He was actually carving arrays in the void, and not stroke by stroke like before. With a single trembling force, traces of pattern trajectories appeared.
"Puff, puff, puff!" Lin Feng moved both palms simultaneously. This time, his array carving speed was not slower than before; it was even faster. The more difficult it was, the faster he became.
"Whoosh!" A surging power of destruction was already condensing. Small array patterns began to interweave. The void seemed to be lit up by the power of the earth. Soon, a crisscrossing array pattern condensed, spanning across the void.
"This..." Mu Qingying's heart pounded. Lin Feng's array dao was this strong?
"Hmm?" The people from the Mu Manor and the Yan family also frowned. The person cooperating with Mu Linxue in refining—his array technique actually had such attainments. Just based on what he had done now, his array dao was definitely much stronger than Mu Linxue's.
"Go down." Lin Feng's palm trembled, and a palm print carrying the array pressed downward toward the ground. With a soft sound, the array directly imprinted onto the weapon embryo, causing light to shine.
"This kind of array level is far from enough. It seems his refining strength is only this much." The head of the Yan family sneered coldly. But just as his words fell, they saw Lin Feng's palm tremble again. The array in the void began to interweave once more. What he was about to carve was far more than just the fusion of those few small array patterns.
(To be continued. Please search for "Pure Text Online Reading" on your browser for the latest chapters. Mobile users can read at the same address.)