Chapter 2556: Something Unusual
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
As the Armorer Compet.i.tion continued, the cultivation of the partic.i.p.ating armorers stepping onto the high platform was getting stronger, as well as the level of the divine arms and implements they produced.
The mood of the entire Tianyan City continued to elevate. Even the top figures within the City Lord’s Office were becoming somewhat interested.
One round of armoring took considerable time. Some were slow in forging and took a longer time. However, except for the tenth and the last round, the first nine rounds of forging were time-limited. Since they were in a compet.i.tion, it was impossible to allow them unlimited time to forge endlessly.
Tianyan City itself was the most powerful place for armor-making. Naturally, they would know how best to set the time limit.
At night, in Tianyan City Lord’s Office, some implements had ascended into the sky, like the sun that illuminated the entire Tianyan City as if it was daytime. So bright it was that it was impossible to distinguish day from night.
No one was surprised by this situation, however. For forces like Tianyan City, those top cultivators were more than capable of controlling the rotation of the sun and the moon, and there was nothing strange about any of that.
“What does the City Lord think about these master armorers’ abilities compared to the master armorers from the City Lord’s Office? In the tenth and final round of the compet.i.tion, will the City Lord’s Office be able to win them all?” someone below asked casually.
“Naturally, it’s not possible.” The City Lord of Tianyan said, “The Armorer Compet.i.tion attracts top armorers from all parts of the Divine Prefecture every time, and many of the armorers from the outside are also extremely powerful. Although all of the armorers in the City Lord’s Office are top level, there has never been a complete victory in the past.”
What they meant by total victory was referring to the compet.i.tions in various realms and to defeat everyone who was from outside of Tianyan City.
Total victory was not so easy to achieve, however.
“Look, this person’s level of armoring is truly extraordinary,” the City Lord of Tianyan said as he pointed his finger to a platform somewhere and landed on an image. Suddenly many people looked yonder and saw that in one of the nine major armoring arenas, there was an armorer who was different from all the others, and his level seemed to be superior to those around him.
“This person’s level is no less than the armorers from within our City Lord’s Office. This is the fifth round of armor, and four more rounds are remaining; there should be some more powerful people making themselves known later,” City Lord of Tianyan continued.
Everyone nodded as someone asked, “Does the City Lord’s Office of Tianyan know of these powerful armorers?”
“I know quite a lot of them,” w.a.n.g Teng replied. “However, it is impossible for me to know all of the master armorers out there.”
“That’s true.” The person who asked the question acquiesced and continued to watch the Armorer Compet.i.tion.
Round after round, the Armorer Compet.i.tion continued. By the seventh round, figures in the realm of Upper Renhuang had begun joining in. The divine arms forged by them were implements of the Upper Renhuang level, and it was not something anyone would want to miss.
In this round of compet.i.tion, there were some powerful characters that the City Lord’s Office had been paying attention to already. After all, they were within the category of top armorers and watched closely by the City Lord’s Office as potential recruits. If everything went well, the City Lord’s Office would pay a large sum to attract them to become their armorers, as this was the primary purpose of the Armorer Compet.i.tion.
The people from the City Lord’s Office were paying attention to several arenas at once, of which there were several people they focused on.
However, as the forging continued, they noticed that in addition to the people they were watching, some other notable figures had emerged at this time. Their forging capabilities were operated on a very high level, and they stood out in each of their respective arenas.
More importantly, they didn’t seem to know any of these people.
Many people from Tianyan City Lord’s Office whispered.
They found that they had no knowledge of these new talents.
The City Lord of Tianyan did not pay much attention to things like these normally, as they were tended to by some others in the City Lord’s Office. But he was astute enough that when he heard their whispers, he knew what happened immediately, that several strange and powerful armorers had made their presence known.
It seemed that they were not fully prepared for such a surprise.
People from all forces in the Divine Prefecture were scrutinizing those nine platforms and talking incessantly about what they saw. Although they did not know much about armoring, they understood the general gist just by observing. The few men unknown to the City Lord’s Office were also the ones followed closely by people from the Divine Prefecture. They had even made inquiries to the cultivators from the City Lord’s Office, who could only say that there were many talents in the Divine Prefecture and that they had never heard of these top armorers before.
This kind of answer took many people by surprise.
Unsurprisingly, those that they thought would perform well had forged very powerful divine arms, and they each became the champion in their own respective arena of compet.i.tion. They would be invited into the City Lord’s Office.
After the seventh round of compet.i.tion, Tianyan City was totally on fire. The eagerness in the atmosphere reached a new height.
Under the attention of all eyes from the public, the eighth round of the Armorer Compet.i.tion continued, and countless people were waiting intently.
At this moment, in the vastness of Tianyan City, with countless cultivators, it suddenly became a little quieter. Without the noise from before, the entire Tianyan City began to quiet down. Even those who were chatting lowered their voices as they dared not disturb the others.
Everyone, whether they were in the nine major armoring arenas or looking up at the sky, was appreciating the excitement of this eighth round equally.
The stronger the armorer, the more abundant the time was given. This was because they needed longer preparation time and for the actual forging. In return, the implements that they produced were way more powerful.
As soon as the eighth round of the Armorer Compet.i.tion began, the people in the City Lord’s Office zoomed in on the few people they were interested in. Those few, as expected, displayed incredible talents in their respective armoring arenas and did not disappoint. It was expected that they would be recruited into the City Lord’s Office and did not waste the efforts of arranging these people in different areas of compet.i.tion.
However, as the compet.i.tion continued, their expressions became quite interesting. As the seventh round, several seemingly powerful figures emerged, and still, they were not previously known by anyone from the City Lord’s Office.
But as the process of armoring continued, they became more and more aware that the level of armoring by these people was incredibly high, and they were extremely steady when they forged. Although they were not wowing anyone in decidedly astounding fas.h.i.+on, every step of forging was done perfectly without any signs of mishap. Naturally, everyone could tell just at what level these armorers were operating.
“This time, are there really so many powerful master armorers coming to Tianyan City to partic.i.p.ate in this Armorer Compet.i.tion?” an old man asked. He appeared a little surprised. Previously, in the seventh round of the compet.i.tion, there were already a few powerful figures whom they did not recognize.
At this moment, they had appeared again in this eighth round, so how could they not be surprised?
Moreover, their forging ability was definitely no less than the few people they were paying attention to. Their level was comparable to the top master armorers in Tianyan City Lord’s Office.
More importantly, they had a feeling that this may not be their peak performance. At this moment, they were seeking to perform without fault, so they could make it to the next round and hopefully entering the City Lord’s Office to forge armors. If they exerted their full strength, they might perform even better than expected in the tenth round of the compet.i.tion.
“There are not many top master armorers. Even in the entire Divine Prefecture, there are not many of them. Especially those top master armorers who also possessed an extremely high level of forging are even rarer.” City Lord Tianyan said as if it had a meaning other than what he said, which cast a pall of mystery on everyone who heard him.
However, was this just a coincidence? Or rather, there were many hidden master armorers in the Divine Prefecture.
The Divine Prefecture was ma.s.sive, and there were many powerful cultivators within. However, armorers at this level would not be completely unknown.
In the City Lord’s Office, many people felt a subtle change in the atmosphere. Xi Chiyao looked at the images displayed on the nine high platforms, and a smile appeared at one corner of her mouth. In this case, things were going to be much more enjoyable!
By the eighth round, the number of people partic.i.p.ating in the Armorer Compet.i.tion was far less than before. The number of partic.i.p.ants in each round was steadily decreasing, but the time for each round of compet.i.tion was constantly increasing.
As time went by, finally, an extraordinary Renhuang implement came into being. It roared in the sky above the arena, brilliantly dazzling. Finally, some people began to produce implements successfully.
Gradually, more people succeeded in making their implements. As expected, in addition to the few people that the City Lord’s Office was keeping tabs on, a few other unknown figures had also come to the fore. They became the champions in their arena, which meant that they would be coming to the City Lord’s Office as armorers.
After this round of compet.i.tion had ended, the atmosphere inside the City Lord’s Office finally began to change. From the joy at the beginning to the doubts that dogged them now, there was a shadow lurking somewhere, unclear and confusing.
However, the City Lord of Tianyan appeared calm and nonchalant, as if he did not care much about it. He said with a smile, “Excellent! If the eighth round is already this exciting, I don’t know what kind of performance to expect from these masters in the ninth round.”
“Surely, it won’t be disappointing,” Xi Chiyao whispered with a smile, her eyes focused on the platform. Her words seemed to be full of suggestions.
Ye Futian sat quietly in the crowd without saying a word. Those eyes under the silver mask were looking at the nine raised platforms. Obviously, he felt something unusual as well.
However, no one could say exactly what was happening.
Next was the ninth round of armor forging, which was also the last round before the final battle in the Armorer Compet.i.tion. No one knew if similar circ.u.mstances would repeat themselves then.
Ye Futian could see that the Armorer Compet.i.tion this time had slightly exceeded the City Lord’s expectations. In their minds, they had a general idea about how the Armorer Compet.i.tion would proceed, which should not have veered too far off course. But the current situation as it stood was clearly not within their expectation.
In other words, things were far from how they had expected them to go.
Deviation of this sort should not be underestimated. Deviations beyond their expectations often meant that something might happen which was outside of their control.
This was a once-in-a-hundred-year grand occasion in Tianyan City, in which cultivators in the Divine Prefecture were invited, even those from Donghuang Imperial Palace. Her Royal Highness, Princess Donghuang, had attended in person. Obviously, the City Lord’s Office did not want anything unexpected to happen.
Of course, they weren’t too worried. After all, with the strength of the Tianyan City Lord’s Office, they still believed that the situation was under their control. Even if there were some unforeseen surprises, it was nothing they couldn’t handle.
“The ninth round, let it begin!” the City Lord of Tianyan proclaimed; even he was a little curious. What would happen in the ninth round of the Armor Compet.i.tion that was coming up next?
They could only wait and see!