“Senior brother, why don’t you part with a trace of your divine thought and I will integrate it into my Water Cloud Flower so that you can fully use my flames.” Hearing the Heart Tower Grand Emperor announce the start of the competition, Cen Yan hurriedly said to Ning Cheng.
At this moment, Jin Ming Qian Bo and Le Wu’s disciples had already walked to the edge of the Zu Tian Refining Pool, but Ning Cheng stopped Cen Yan from offering his flames, “Senior Sister Yan, there is no need.”
Then he once again cupped his fist to the Heart Tower Emperor and said, “Great Emperor, my senior sister uses a water attribute flame and has average smithing qualifications, so even if she were to participate in the competition, she would definitely lose. I have been a disciple of the White Food Alchemy Shop for even less time, and my master hasn’t even started teaching me yet. For this match, we concede defeat. All we ask for now is a place to survive, and we’ll be lucky if no one kicks me and my senior sister out of Zu Tian Xing Qi City.
Senior Sister and I would like to go back and move our things away, and I would also like to ask Emperor Xinlou to send one of his men to supervise. I know that with our cultivation level, the Great Emperor will be very much at ease with us. But I originally didn’t know about the White Food Alchemy Shop even if I did, but now that I know about it, I can’t avoid suspicion.”
Some astute cultivators immediately understood the meaning of Ning Cheng’s words and all secretly said in their hearts that this cultivator was a good tactician. Since this matter was already clear, he knew full well that he would lose the match, so he simply reminded the Piercing Heart Tower not to forget about giving the shop. At the same time, he also reminded Wearing Heart House not to let that Jin Ming Qian Bo really find them in trouble afterwards. The sympathy card was still being played, and the words were so pathetic that some people really felt sympathy.
How could Piercing Heart Tower not understand Ning Cheng’s meaning, he waved his hand, “You don’t have to worry, since I said what I said, you can rest assured. Whether you win or lose, go ahead and compete yourself. After the competition, someone will take you to the new shop.”
As for Ning Cheng’s comment about avoiding suspicion, he only felt amused. Not to mention that he felt amused, the rest of the cultivators also felt amused. A stargazing cultivator still avoided suspicion when faced with a creation fragment? Even if you touched the Fragment of Creation, you would still be seen to be carrying the aura. Not to mention that you had taken away the Fragment of Creation. In fact, even if Ning Cheng said that he had taken the Fragment of Creation, no one would believe him.
Ning Cheng originally did not want to compete, but at this time, he had no choice but to borrow Senior Sister Yan’s Water Cloud Flower and walk into the Artifact Refining Pool.
He had guessed something, perhaps there really was a Creation Fragment in Zhong Li Bai Eating’s Alchemy Shop before, but there was absolutely no way that there was one now. Zhong Li Bai Eating had either taken the Fragment of Creation away or found a way to hide it. As for Jin Ming Qian Bo still thinking that the item was in the shop, it could also be a suspicious formation set up by Zhong Li Bai Eating.
“Disciple Si Kou Bing pays his respects to all the seniors, please instruct them.” The first one to walk into the refining pool was Jin Ming Qian Bo’s disciple, the red-faced, thick-lipped cultivator.
“Xi Yu Zi, a disciple under Le Wu’s disciple, presents himself.” The second one to step down was Le Wu’s disciple, the extremely masculine looking fellow.
Ning Cheng walked at the end and also gave a fist clasp on all sides, “My name is Cheng Nianqiong, representing the White Food Alchemy Shop.”
To the rest of the people, Ning Cheng looked like a mere moocher, originally he wasn’t even going to be on the stage, it was only because the Heart Piercing House didn’t want people to gossip about him that they forced him to go up. No one expected him to win either, all eyes were on Si Kou Bing and Xi Yu Zi.
Piercing Heart Tower casually took out fifteen types of refining materials and threw them into the refining pool, saying, “In order to show fairness, I will pay for the refining materials. Each of you can choose one to five of these materials. You will each decide what kind of magic treasure you want to make. As for the flames, whether you use your own or the refining pool’s, it’s also up to each of you.”
No one raised any objections, this competition was supposed to be secondary, the main thing was the outcome of the competition, who could get Zhong Li Bai to eat the Alchemy Shop first.
Si Kou Bing was the first to go up and choose the materials, Xi Yu Zi also followed and rushed up to choose the materials, the goodness of the materials would be directly related to the goodness of the magic treasures that would be refined.
Only after Si Kou Bing and Xiyu Zi had finished choosing their materials did Ning Cheng take the last five materials. These materials were all Starry Sky Grade 5 and Grade 6 materials, so it was clear that Piercing Heart Tower’s mind was not on the competition either, he just wanted to finish this matter quickly and then go to the White Food Alchemy Shop.
As the three finished collecting their materials, the shielding ban at the edge of the Zu Tian Refining Pool struck. At this time, neither the cultivators outside, nor the cultivators inside the Refining Pool could use their divine sense to penetrate this prohibition.
What Si Kou Bing sacrificed was a slightly black flame, with some faint gold at the edges of the flame. Ning Cheng did not use his divine sense to probe this flame, he could feel that this flame was stronger than the Water Cloud Flower he was holding.
From Si Kou Bing’s movements, Ning Cheng could tell that Si Kou Bing was trying to refine a top grade Dao weapon. With the materials taken out by the Piercing Heart Building, Si Kou Bing wanted to refine a top grade dao weapon, so it was clear that this man’s refining level was higher than his.
The flame that Xiyu Zi offered up was lavender in colour and looked weaker than Si Kou Bing’s flame. However, judging from his technique, he should only want to refine a medium-grade Dao weapon.
Ning Cheng was slightly puzzled, as Le Wu had come over with such strong confidence, he shouldn’t have thought that his disciple could win by refining a medium-grade dao weapon, right?
Ning Cheng withdrew his gaze and began to dissolve his own materials as well. With his level of smithing, with these materials, he could completely refine them into a top-grade middle-grade Dao weapon. He did not do so, after knowing the secret of the White Food Alchemy Spot Shop, he could not wait to lose.
The three of them offered up flames and began to refine their weapons. The strong people at the edge of the refining pool could see that Si Kou Bing was refining a top-grade Dao weapon, Xiyu Zi was refining a middle-grade Dao weapon, and Cheng Nianqiong of the White Food Refining Spot Shop was refining a lower-grade Dao weapon. If all three had succeeded in refining it, the final winner would definitely have been Si Kou Bing.
The first thing Ning Cheng had to melt was the only Starry Sky Grade 6 material he had gotten, he had to use this Starry Sky Grade 6 material, if he didn’t, others would definitely think he did it on purpose. The moment the flames began to melt this material, Ning Cheng had a feeling that something was not right.
Thinking that this material was taken out by the Heart Piercing House, Ning Cheng immediately blocked off most of his sea of consciousness, he felt that this material had a trace of an imprint. Ning Cheng did not bother to pry into this trace of imprint, he was sure that this trace of imprint was left behind by the Heart Piercing Tower.
The only purpose for the Heart Piercing Tower to leave the imprint was to pry into some secrets among the three people’s refinement, and most likely, it was meant to be a secret trick.
The reason why Ning Cheng had blocked off most of his Starry Sky Sea of Consciousness was that he did not want others to know that his Sea of Consciousness was a Starry Sky Sea of Consciousness.
The Heart Piercing Tower was strong, but with just a trace of the divine thought imprint, and not daring to make a big show of it, that would definitely not be able to find out his secret. It is estimated that when the Heart Piercing Tower left this trace of divine thought imprint, it did not think that his imprint would be known by a stargazing cultivator.
Ning Cheng didn’t want to win in the first place, and now he was even more reluctant to put in any effort, because with most of his sea of consciousness closed, he didn’t have to pretend when he melted the material, it was just very strenuous.
When Si Kou Bing and Xiyu Zi’s materials finished melting and started forming the magic treasure, Ning Cheng was still melting the materials. These two people obviously did not look at Ning Cheng in the eye as they continued to carve formations and condense the artefact shape.
Si Kou Bing was refining a top grade Dao weapon, the blade shape was all out at this time, so if there were no surprises, he should have no problems with this top grade Dao weapon of his.
The one refined by Xiyu Zi was a glazed pagoda, which was a defence magic treasure. Although this magic treasure was a middle-grade Dao weapon, it was harder to refine than the Leaving Star Blade, and at this time the tower shape was also taking shape, and the formation was being carved.
Just then Ning Cheng felt a slight fluctuation in space, and then the blade shape in Si Kou Bing’s hand trembled. Ning Cheng was also in this refining pool, and it was clear in his mind that this was Xiyuzi secretly making a move on Si Kou Bing. No wonder Le Wu was so sure that Xiyu Zi was able to use his divine sense to make a move on Si Kou Bing.
Si Kou Bing coldly snorted, glanced angrily at Xiyu Zi, the domain fully extended, and the tower form in the hands of Xiyu Zi who made a move against Si Kou Bing trembled.
Ning Cheng thought that these two guys should have secretly made a move against each other, perhaps both of them might end up refining unsuccessfully. At the thought that both of them might fail in their refinement, wouldn’t he, Ning Cheng, be the one to succeed?
Thinking of this, Ning Cheng’s heart was shocked.
“Ka-ching ……” There was a click as the blade shape in Si Kou Bing’s hand completely collapsed and the refining material turned into a mess of scrap.
Xiyu Zi was not much better, as the tower form in Si Kou Bing’s hand completely collapsed at the same time as the material in his hand turned into a puddle of scrap.
All the materials had collapsed, so what was the point of refining a magic treasure? Si Kou Bing and Xiyu Zi stared at each other in anger, both angry at the other for interfering and allowing the magic treasure in their hands to be destroyed.
The cultivators outside the refining pond watched in an uproar, all of them not expecting Si Kou Bing and Xi Yu Zi to lose both. When the two were refining their weapons, they were doing each other’s bidding and everyone knew it by heart.
Ning Cheng was also secretly amused, and then he sensed something was wrong. The two defeats were a little too coincidental, his materials had the markings of the piercing heart building’s divine thoughts, and then Si Kou Bing and Xiyu Zi’s materials obviously had them too. He had an astral sea of consciousness and could detect a hint of the piercing heart building’s divine thought mark, but Sikou Bing and Xiyu Zi could not necessarily do so.
Thinking of this, a chill ran down Ning Cheng’s back, this time the refinement was completely under the control of the Heart Piercing Tower. In other words, the Piercing Heart Tower had calculated that Si Kou Bing and Xi Yu Zi would interact with each other while refining the artifact, and he used this opportunity to make the Dao artifacts refined by Si Kou Bing and Xi Yu Zi collapse. This action was so unknowing that no one would be able to see it.
All people thought that Si Kou Bing and Xiyu Zi had failed while interfering with each other, even the two parties involved might have thought so. Only Ning Cheng knew that it was definitely the interference of the Penetrating Heart Building’s divine Idea logo.
If it was the Piercing Heart Tower that had interfered, then the next step would be for the Piercing Heart Tower to tell Si Kou Bing and Xi Yu Zi to leave the Refining Pool and not affect him, the contestant who was about to win.
Sure enough, just as Ning Cheng thought of this, someone brought Si Kou Bing and Xi Yu Zi out of the Alchemy Pool, and the Alchemy Pool’s shielding restriction closed up once again.
Ning Cheng secretly sighed, no wonder he could become the number one person in the Great Star of the Middle Heaven, this Heart Tower Emperor was really sinister enough. This man had long calculated that he would win. If he won, he would definitely transfer the Alchemy Shop to the Heart Tower Emperor for safekeeping, otherwise, would he still want to live?