A full one hundred and one golden artifact patterns shone with dazzling brilliance.
A mid-grade Emperor Arm!
And it was a mid-grade Emperor Arm of exceptionally outstanding quality.
The old man with the goatee almost plucked out his beard in astonishment.
Of course.
If it were merely a mid-grade Emperor Arm, it wouldn't be enough to shock him so greatly.
In this round of the competition, quite a few participants had refined mid-grade Emperor Arms.
The key was.
How long had they taken?
How long had Ling Fan taken!
The old man with the goatee considered himself an authority on artifact forging in Luoyun City.
A dignified high-grade Heavenly Forgemaster!
Yet, he admitted he lacked the ability to complete such a high-quality mid-grade Emperor Arm in such a short amount of time.
"Do I qualify to participate?"
Ling Fan asked calmly.
"Yes! Yes! Absolutely!"
The old man with the goatee's eyes gleamed with the light of a discerning judge discovering a rare talent.
As for Ling Fan's identity?
He paid it no mind.
For someone like him, a pure and fervent forgemaster who pursued artifact forging as his life's ambition and mission, any benefits, schemes, stances, or factions outside of forging were inconsequential.
Despite the support of the old man with the goatee.
Many of the participating forgemasters cast hostile glances.
Clearly, they viewed Ling Fan as a formidable rival.
One person said, "Elder Qiu, this is not in accordance with the rules. No matter how capable he is, he must still abide by the rules of the Divine Weapon Assembly. Moreover, who knows who he is? He might have some ulterior motives!"
The old man with the goatee glared and retorted, "What nonsense rules! My rules are the rules! Selecting true forging talents for Luoyun City and the Myriad Artifact Palace is the hard truth! You are simply not pure enough, which is why your forging skills have never improved. If you have the ability, surpass him in forging, otherwise, stop complaining like a woman to me!"
The old man with the goatee spoke with imposing authority.
Due to his prestige.
The others could only back down.
"Kid, what's your name, Ling Fan? Good, quickly go and complete your registration information. Yes, say it's on my word, and anyone with a problem can come find me! I'll deal with anyone who dares to give you trouble."
As this round of the competition concluded.
The final eighteen forgemasters entered the finals.
Of course.
Ling Fan was among them.
Facing numerous hostile gazes.
Ling Fan remained exceptionally composed.
This caused those who wished to pressure Ling Fan, preferably to make him retreat, to gnash their teeth in frustration.
And Elder Qiu looked upon Ling Fan with increasing admiration.
"Setting aside the level of forging skill, just this temperament is something the younglings of our Luoyun City cannot catch up to even by whipping their horses!"
"Let's begin."
Elder Qiu gave the order.
The finals commenced under the watchful eyes of countless forgemasters from Luoyun City.
"Heh heh, that kid from the Li family is actually attempting to challenge the Fire Cloud Spear this time. This is an extremely powerful standard high-grade Emperor Arm of the Heavenly Court. It seems this kid has been stimulated by that Ling Fan and wants to prove himself!"
"Yo ho, that kid from the Wang family is also taking a big gamble, also challenging a high-grade Emperor Arm!"
"That genius forgemaster from the Liu family has also chosen to forge a high-grade Emperor Arm!"
"Good, that's more like it! Daring to try and daring to fight, not afraid of failure, this is the spirit of our Luoyun City forgemasters!"
Elder Qiu looked around, stroking his goatee with great satisfaction.
"It seems my decision to let that Ling Fan participate was correct. We need to put some pressure on these kids, otherwise, they will always be like frogs in a well, and their talent will be wasted if they remain stagnant!"
"Hmm, let's go see what kind of weapon Ling Fan intends to refine. I saw his technique when he was forging that mid-grade Emperor Arm short sword earlier; it was extremely rare, and his control over that kind of flame was masterful. It's clear he has a deep heritage and the bearing of a master. Perhaps he will surprise me again."
Elder Qiu's head poked out from behind Ling Fan.
His eyes bulged as he peered.
"Hiss! This thing seems to be a legendary peerless Emperor Arm!"
"What was it called again?"
"Cloud Pattern Qiankun Ring!"
"No, what he's refining is just a replica, a replica of the high-grade Emperor Arm level. However, if he can successfully refine it, it will still be incredibly impressive! The Cloud Pattern Qiankun Ring is not comparable to standard Heavenly Court Emperor Arms like the Fire Cloud Spear."
Elder Qiu's attention was completely captured by Ling Fan's station.
Three days and three nights quietly passed.
Many of the audience members had dark circles under their eyes, but not a single person left, still watching with rapt attention.
"I succeeded! Haha!"
With a triumphant cheer, a spear, flowing with powerful flames and emitting a formidable aura, roared out from the furnace.
Immediately, wisps of tribulation clouds gathered above the spear.
Crack!
Terrible bolts of lightning struck down, but they only made the spear shine with an even more extraordinary luster, failing to damage it in the slightest.
A high-grade Emperor Arm, the Fire Cloud Spear!
"Wow! A high-grade Emperor Arm! As expected of one of the top ten genius forgemasters of our Luoyun City generation, truly powerful."
Exclamations erupted like a tide.
The audience was in an uproar.
Not long after.
Another forging genius let out a furious roar, unleashing the emotions that had been building within him.
Boom!
A sharp, gleaming saber, exuding a chilling aura like autumn water, shot through the air.
Another high-grade Emperor Arm!
Of course.
For every success in challenging a high-grade Emperor Arm, there were also failures.
After these two genius forgemasters succeeded.
Several people who followed subsequently failed, either their artifact embryo exploding or the newly forged Emperor Arm being destroyed by the heavenly tribulation.
In the end.
Only three people successfully forged high-grade Emperor Arms.
Another six forged mid-grade Emperor Arms of very good quality.
And eight people failed.
Still not finished forging.
Only Ling Fan remained.
Instantly, Ling Fan became the focus of everyone's attention.
The geniuses also turned their gazes towards him.
Elder Qiu was also somewhat nervous.
His old face was contorted.
It was as if he were more nervous than if he were participating himself.
Ling Fan raised his head, scanned the surroundings, and took in all sorts of gazes.
He smiled faintly.
He extended a finger.
Boom!
The furnace suddenly exploded.
Flames scattered everywhere like burning celestial fire.
A Qiankun Ring, entwined with elegant and beautiful cloud patterns, suddenly shot towards the sky.
Rumble!
Rumble!
This time, the tribulation clouds gathered were ten times larger than the combined scale of those triggered by all the previous forgemasters' weapons.
The sky instantly darkened.
Then, terrifying tribulation light, like thick water buckets, tore through the darkness and struck down.
"Hiss, is this a high-grade Emperor Arm? Why does the power of the tribulation lightning feel almost like that of a peerless Emperor Arm!"
"Shatter it, quickly shatter it!"
The geniuses roared in their hearts, cursing vehemently.
However, under the tempering of that tribulation light.