"The older sister from Huozhonglu? What's going on? Is it the person you mentioned yesterday?"
Ye Feng looked at Xiao Xiao in surprise.
It turned out that after arriving at this lively place, Xiao Xiao seemed to have slept enough. Upon waking, she curiously observed with the binoculars. As she looked at the majestic palace architecture before her, she suddenly exclaimed.
"Mhm, mhm!"
"Big brother, look quickly, the older sister above the main gate of the palace, she's the one I saw yesterday who had Huozhonglu!"
As she spoke, Xiao Xiao handed the binoculars to Ye Feng.
Ye Feng took the binoculars and looked in the direction Xiao Xiao pointed, immediately spotting a girl with long hair flowing over her shoulders, wearing a long skirt of scattered mist and green grass, who looked about eighteen or nineteen years old.
Although the girl's beauty didn't rival Ling Xi's, she was exceptionally pure and elegant, exuding a faint, transcendent aura that brought a sense of peace.
Her bright, lively eyes, in particular, held a hint of intelligence.
"Xiao Xiao, she doesn't seem to be holding a fan…"
Ye Feng observed for a while with the binoculars, feeling somewhat puzzled.
He had looked for a long time but couldn't find the folding fan with Huozhonglu that Xiao Xiao had told him about yesterday.
"Indeed!~"
Xiao Xiao nodded. "I didn't see it just now either, but it was definitely there yesterday!"
"Hello everyone, I am Sun ZhiZhi, and I believe you all know that the Armorer Selection Tournament is being held here today!"
While Ye Feng and Xiao Xiao were discussing, an elder with streaks of white at his temples spoke from above the front of the palace building.
"To put it briefly, anyone present who can carve the designated pattern onto the testing stone using arcane energy will advance to the next round!"
"Those who advance to the next round will each receive 200 Arcane Yuan Coins or 2 Arcane Raw Stones!"
"Those who successfully advance will be qualified to meet the City Lord and become apprentice armorers…"
Although the elder with streaks of white at his temples appeared aged, his voice was as clear as a bell, reaching everyone in the area, which was several football fields in size.
"Big brother, that old grandpa is so amazing, he can project his voice from such a distance and we can still hear him so clearly!"
Xiao Xiao, on Ye Feng's back, exclaimed in surprise while still observing with the binoculars.
"Indeed!"
Ye Feng nodded in agreement.
As Sun ZhiZhi finished speaking, over a dozen mechs above the palace building instantly took to the sky and flew towards the center of the plaza.
Before long, the mechs, spaced considerable distances apart, landed on stone platforms that had been prepared in the plaza. Each mech was carrying or holding a large, unusually shaped black stone.
"These black giant stones carried by these dozen mechs are the testing stones I just mentioned."
"Later, the testing stones will randomly generate a pattern. Participants in the selection only need to carve the same pattern onto the testing stone using arcane energy to successfully advance to the next round!"
"Don't worry, the patterns on the testing stones will not be too complex. Please relax and try your best!"
At this point, Sun ZhiZhi's voice rang out again.
As his voice faded, the dozen mechs carrying the black testing stones displayed them to the crowd before placing them back on the ground.
"Everyone, please don't crowd, line up properly. Everyone will get a chance to be tested!"
Some staff members who had been waiting on site had already set up caution tape near the testing stones and mechs, maintaining order.
It was then that Ye Feng noticed that within the crowded plaza, there were many fully armed guards, several archways, and some equipment that Ye Feng couldn't name.
One of these devices had a square-shaped slot, seemingly used to verify the authenticity of the credential tokens for the Armorer Selection Tournament.
Soon, the jostling crowd began to divide into rows, lining up to prepare for the test.
Ye Feng casually joined a queue, while Xiao Xiao on his back continued to gaze at the palace building with her binoculars.
...
Just as Ye Feng was getting bored waiting in line,
Inside a building in the outer city of Mech City,
"Zheng Hu Zi, are you bored out of your mind?"
"Ever since the first Armorer Selection Tournament was held, I've never heard of a testing rod malfunctioning!"
"Do you know what the testing rod is made of? This thing can't be broken even by a grenade!"
"If you haven't found anyone who meets the criteria yourself, you should reflect on yourself. Everyone else who took a testing rod yesterday had a harvest, with the most finding a hundred people!"
A middle-aged man in a suit sat on a leather sofa, scolding Zheng Hu Zi in front of him with dissatisfaction.
This was because Zheng Hu Zi had just come to him saying that the testing rod might be broken, and he hadn't found a single eligible person yesterday...
"Steward Liu, my apologies, my apologies, I was a bit muddled just now!"
Zheng Hu Zi said with a fawning smile, looking embarrassed and nervous.
After Ye Feng left in the morning, he had tested several more people, but still hadn't found anyone who met the criteria. Coupled with what Ye Feng had said, he had inexplicably come here...
"Wait a moment!"
"I'm bored anyway, I'll come and see if the testing rod is really broken!"
Zheng Hu Zi, who was bending over, was about to retreat when a steady, middle-aged male voice suddenly came from.
"Master Shen!"
Upon hearing this voice, Steward Liu's expression changed slightly. He immediately stood up and looked seriously towards the source of the sound.
Under Zheng Hu Zi's confused gaze, a middle-aged man dressed in close-fitting attire, holding a carving knife, slowly emerged from behind the curtain.
Master Shen walked up to Zheng Hu Zi, took the black testing rod, and said, "Let me see if this one-in-a-million occurrence is true..."
Master Shen's slightly teasing words stopped abruptly halfway through. His relaxed and at ease demeanor turned serious.
After holding the testing rod and examining it, Master Shen's brow furrowed tightly, and green arcane energy gradually appeared on his hand.
The green arcane energy light quickly climbed up from the bottom of the testing rod, soon covering the entire rod. However, the carved patterns on the surface of the testing rod remained dark, devoid of any light expected from arcane energy.
Immediately, Master Shen's eyes narrowed. The green arcane energy flickered, and within a few breaths, a peculiar spiral pattern formed on the surface of the testing rod.
"Zheng Hu Zi, do you see? This testing rod is completely intact and can be tested normally!"
Seeing this, Steward Liu once again reprimanded Zheng Hu Zi with dissatisfaction.
Zheng Hu Zi was also flustered and quickly apologized with a smile.
However, Master Shen, standing beside them, did not relax his brow. Instead, it furrowed even tighter, and his expression gradually became one of disbelief.
After a long while, Master Shen put down the testing rod. He let out a long sigh and looked at Zheng Hu Zi, "You're right, the testing rod is indeed broken!"
...