<h4>Chapter 1025: Chapter 1023: Laugh at Me? I’ll Smash Your Faces!</h4>
Ren Feifan disregarded the surrounding mockery.
Let them curse—it mattered not to him, Ren Feifan; in the process of cultivation, the most taboo thing was to pay too much attention to others’ opinions!
A heart as still as water, that is the true path of the king.
At this moment, Ren Feifan’s eyes were calm, and as for how high a grade of sword he could forge, he had no clue.
Last night, under the guidance of the Sword Spirit, hepleted a fourth-grade sword!
He would leave the fifth grade up to fate!
Take one step at a time.
An unexpected twist might ur.
Ever since his return to Huaxia, Ren Feifan had been creating miracles; this night would be no exception!
However, Ren Feifan did not know whether a sword refined using the Sword Fusion Art he improved would count as a forged sword.
While Ren Feifan was contemting this, the grand sword forgingpetition officially began.
"Dong!"
As a distant bell toll sounded from the apex of Sword Forging Square, the entire venue fell intoplete silence!
So quiet you could hear a pin drop.
As the echoes of the bell lingered in his ears, an elder, trembling, walked up leaning on a cane, step by step toward the center.
The elder’s eyes were calm, yet possessed an unprecedented depth.
Unfathomable.
He then turned around and fixed his gaze on every individual present.
At that moment, numerous Artifact Refiners slowly lifted their heads, their eyes filled with immense respect!
This was respect for a once legendary King!
Because he was an elder of the secr Artifact Refining realm of Huaxia, held in the highest esteem!
Elder Qu Zhonghe of Hidden Sword Vi, acimed as a master craftsman of weapons!
Once the sole sixth-grade Artifact Refiner in Huaxia, in his prime even members from the Hidden Gate showed him respect.
He was spirited andmanded respect!
However, a hundred years ago, such a talented refiner was destroyed by someone.
On a moonlit night, he was rendered unable to continue Artifact Refining when a group of mysterious assants destroyed his hands.
The cruelty of the assants was beyond human.
Even though Old Qu’s hands healedter, he could never return to that peak state again.
At this moment, a certain Master Wuyu also closed his eyes, his body trembling slightly—for some reason, tears fell.
At his level, he should have been able to live without desire or want, but he could not, solely due to the obsession in his heart!
It was this elder who made it possible for Master Wuyu to survive under the disdain of thousands at Hidden Sword Vi.
This elder had rescued him regardless of everyone’s opinion!
And for that, he had always been grateful!
Now, Qu Zhonghe had aged considerably, his body weak and trembling slightly; he lifted his cane with a trembling hand, a wisp of True Qi emanating outward as he proimed loudly, "In the name of the Grand Elder of Hidden Sword Vi, I announce the start of the fifty-ninth Sword Forging Competition!"
"Boom!"
The venue erupted into noise as countless cheers broke through the heavens!
After a while, when Qu Zhonghe gestured for silence, the cheering stopped, and he began to announce some information about thepetition.
When he finished, he added:
"The path of sword forging is inevitably cruel; although this is but apetition, I hope it will ignite your fighting spirit and power, allowing the spirit of Artifact Refining in Hidden Sword Vi to endure and be passed on forever!
"Here, I’d like to say that the oue of the contest is not important; what matters is whether you can gain some insights through this sword-forgingpetition. Of course, there are generous rewards for the winners, and they will be personally presented by the supreme owner of Hidden Sword Vi!"
Another gasp rose from the crowd!
After all, the owner of Hidden Sword Vi is an extremely mysterious figure.
Never seen by outsiders!
Even people within Hidden Sword Vi rarely meet her.
Nobody knows why this time she would personally present the awards!
There are rumors in the martial arts world that the participating owner is a breathtakingly beautiful woman!
Numerous people want to catch a glimpse of her face, but in the end, they find out they have no chance!
Because they simply aren’t qualified!
Old Qu continued, "Enough idle chatter, the great sword forging contest officially begins, the first challenge, Crystal Stone Refining! Since the most important part of sword forging is mastery over mes, this challenge is precisely a test of your control over mes. In this challenge, only fifty out of a hundred will qualify to proceed."
Thepetitors only need to use the Forging Furnace before them and the Crystal Stone to refine it into the object I’m holding in my hand."
Everyone lifted their heads, and when they saw a smooth sphere appear in the elder’s hand on stage, they were all stunned.
"Does Old Qu mean we have to use mes to refine it into this shape? How is that possible?"
"I feel like the first challenge is so hard, damn it, I’m going to be eliminated!"
"This must require at least a fourth-rank Artifact Refiner to achieve, right?"
"Look, many of thepeting experts over there have already started."
Most people on the square panicked instantly upon seeing the question, and several contemted giving up.
Some even tried their hand at it, but after several attempts, realized something was off. All sorts of bizarre shapes appeared, vastly different from the object in Old Qu’s hand!
Ren Feifan’s gaze swept over and noticed that a few people were controlling the Crystal Stone in the mes and continuously refining it, and there was faintly some circr shape forming!
Especially the elder at Forging Furnace number one, who was even pinching his fingers in a gesture, seeming to control the mes as they wrapped around the Crystal Stone, gradually bing round!
The curvature was simply perfect!
Even Old Qu on the stage was fixating his gaze on position one, nodding continuously and mumbling, "Old Duan’s artifact refining, his me control has already reached the pinnacle. He’s likely the candidate from Huaxia secr world most likely to break through to the sixth rank, but his cultivation iscking. It may take another decade or so for him to reach that realm."
At that moment, even Elder Qiu began refining the Crystal Stone. He swept his gaze over Ren Feifan standing behind him and saw that the boy hadn’t even started and seemed to be daydreaming, apparently ready to give up on the first challenge.
Trash is just trash.
This is the disparity in strength.
He even didn’t forget to sneer mockingly, "Kid, just watch yourself get eliminated. Maybe you can take a nap, haha, you trash! Your master-disciple pair both are trash!"
Ren Feifan helplessly touched his nose and didn’t say a word as he watched Elder Qiu’s back, standing still, contemting how to use the Nine Yang True Fire to aplish the task.
Those in the crowd finally noticed Ren Feifan, and theirughter grew even louder!
"I told you, this kid can’t forge swords! Even if he can, it’s nothing more than a gimmick; how can he control mes?"
"The rest who couldn’t do it have already stepped down, right? Why is this kid still up there making a fool of himself?"
"Number one hundred, get down!"
Someone in the crowd shouted, and everyone joined in!
"Number one hundred, get down!"
"Number one hundred, get down!"
...
Up in the stands, the Desireless Monk’s body trembled, his face filled with shame! His own disciple had stille to this.
If he had known, he would have sent him straight back to the Sacred Gate. This situation was bound to affect Ren Feifan’s martial arts journey.
In the midst of countless jeers and doubts, Ren Feifan, who had stood unwavering, suddenly opened his eyes and spread out his palm, projecting a dazzling me!
"Nine Yang True Fire,e forth!"