Martial Arrogance Dragon Soul-Chapter 178 - 168: The Second Game

The people around burst into roaring laughter.

It seemed they had already forgotten the expressions on their faces when Qin Qing had first said that phrase, which was the complete opposite.

At that time, everyone thought that Qin Qing had definitely gone mad.

This greenhorn actually dared to offend Fang Yi in such an incredible manner.

But now, no one held that thought any longer.

On the contrary, they felt it was only natural for Qin Qing to have said that phrase.

"You!"

Fang Yi’s face became extremely unsightly, as if he had swallowed a dead fly.

Yet, he was unable to refute it.

At least based on the alchemy competition that had just occurred, he had been thoroughly defeated.

"No!"

After thinking about it, Fang Yi still found it impossible to accept that everything was so unrealistic.

"This kid must have an unbelievable stroke of luck; maybe among the materials he chose, there were superior grade materials!"

Fang Yi knew that some ingredients fell into the category of superior grade materials. These materials had very specific conditions for formation and were very hard to come by.

Sometimes, superior grade materials bore no outward difference from regular materials, but their extraordinary effects would become apparent throughout the refining process.

For instance, these materials could increase the pill yield or enhance the grade of the Elixirs.

"That’s right! This kid must have had dumb luck, managing to select the hard-to-come-by superior grade materials!"

"Otherwise, how could it be possible for him to produce sixteen Pills in one go? And out of those sixteen Pills, most were Superior Grade, not a single Low Grade Pill among them?"

The more Fang Yi thought about it, the more convinced he became of his guess. Most importantly, he just could not accept being defeated by this seemingly wet-behind-the-ears youngster.

"What are you so proud of?" Fang Yi roared at Qin Qing, "You just won a single round, didn’t you? Master Chen and Miss Hongxue have said this competition of Spiritual Patterns consists of three rounds, best two out of three! Understand?"

Qin Qing was slightly taken aback.

He had not expected Fang Yi to still be so defiant at this point; did he not realize the gap between them?

"Heh," Qin Qing smiled faintly and nodded, "That’s right, it’s best two out of three! Well then, Miss Hongxue, Master Chen... please prepare for the next round of the competition!"

Hongxue nodded slightly towards Qin Qing with a gentle smile, her attitude towards him had clearly undergone a significant change.

Similarly, Master Chen had started to see this young man in a different light. After nodding in response to Qin Qing, he immediately ordered the preparation for the next round of the competition.

The next round would involve the crafting of a Spiritual Treasure.

If Fang Yi won the next round, then a third round would take place.

But if Qin Qing won again, there would be no need for a third round.

"The second round’s challenge is to refine a Flying Sword using the same set of materials!"

"The materials are now before you, and you may use all of them if you wish."

"In the end, based on the grade of the Flying Sword, we will determine the winner of this round. Of course, it must be completed within the allotted time. The total time is 24 hours! As long as it’s completed within 24 hours, the duration taken will not be a factor in judging this round!"

Master Chen quickly announced the rules for this round of evaluation.

This meant that both Qin Qing and Fang Yi had the same Artifact Refining materials at their disposal, and they were free to use all the materials any way they liked, whether all or just a portion.

As for the time to craft the artifact, it was only necessary to finish within 24 hours; the duration would not serve as a reference for this round of the competition.

The sole criterion for judgment would be the grade of the final crafted Flying Sword.

"If there are no objections from either of you, you may begin now!"

As Master Chen’s voice faded away, Qin Qing and Master Chen both started the task at hand without delay.

They began to carefully inspect every material laid out on the table.

"Star-patterned steel, purple clay, Moon Reflection Beads, pearl powder, bronze..."

Qin Qing too meticulously checked each one, and soon, the outline of the Flying Sword gradually emerged in his mind.

Refining the Flying Sword!

Qin Qing himself was a Sword Cultivator and he possessed a Flying Sword.

This Flying Sword was the one left to him by his senior, Cang Qingzi.

When Qin Qing practiced his swordsmanship, he used this very Flying Sword, which he knew by heart.

And now, he aimed to replicate the Flying Sword left by senior Cang Qingzi!

Of course, Qin Qing was aware, given his current level and the materials provided by the Spiritual Treasure Pavilion, the Flying Sword he could craft would not reach the same grade.

However, that didn’t matter.

What was important was that Qin Qing would give it his all!

Soon, Qin Qing began the smelting of the materials.

In truth, Artifact Refining was extremely similar to the process of Alchemy.

Before the final Elixir or Spiritual Treasure could be produced, a base, or embryo, had to be crafted first.

The embryo for a Pill was called a Pill Embryo, while the embryo for a Spiritual Artifact was termed an Artifact Embryo.

Only by inscribing the appropriate Spiritual Patterns on Pill Embryos and Artifact Embryos, could the final Pill or Spiritual Treasure be obtained.

Thus, what Qin Qing had to do now was to forge an Artifact Embryo.

To forge an Artifact Embryo, the materials used had to be melted and combined at a specific ratio to solidify and take a particular form.

Qin Qing quickly began to feed the required materials, one by one, into the refining furnace.

This process was much faster for Qin Qing than when he was making Pills.

After all, selecting materials for Alchemy was more complex, and many more considerations had to be taken into account during the smelting as well.

But Artifact Refining was different.

These materials were mostly similar, with no major differences in quality, thereby saving a lot of time.

Therefore, from the very start, Qin Qing was much faster than Fang Yi.

The smelting process required the control of the furnace flames.

Only with the aid of Fire Attribute Spiritual Power, could a stronger effect be achieved, and the flames could be controlled more deftly.

Qin Qing’s Martial Soul was the Dragon Soul, which gave him an unparalleled advantage in controlling Fire Attribute Spiritual Power.

Originally, the smelting of the materials, according to Master Chen and Hongxue’s estimate, would take at least 24 hours, yet Qin Qing completed it in just 12 hours!

This incredible speed once again surprised Master Chen and Hongxue, drawing astonished expressions on their faces.

In Hongxue’s eyes, a look akin to discovering a precious treasure shone through.

She even began pondering more about this young man, who had brought her no small surprise.

After the completion of melting the materials, the next step was to cast the mold. This step appeared easy but in reality, could not afford any oversight.

Yet Qin Qing continued to proceed methodically.

Next came the engraving of Spiritual Patterns.

Engraving Spiritual Patterns on the successfully cast Artifact Embryo was the most crucial step, imbuing the embryo with a soul, turning it into a true Spiritual Treasure!

"Now, to begin the engraving of Spiritual Patterns!" Qin Qing’s eyes gleamed, his expression concentrated, and his hands started moving, with Spiritual Energy converging around him, transforming into dazzling Spiritual Patterns at his fingertips...