Chapter 0300: The Pride of the Purple Flame

Chapter 0300: The Pride of the Purple Flame

All eyes in the Runes Hall were fixed on the spacious arena at the center. When their elders entered the arena, the cheering squads erupted, filling the hall with continuous shouts of encouragement.

At this moment, Lan Fengjin stepped into the arena, and the entire hall buzzed with admiration—praise for her beauty, her extraordinary talent in runes, and her achievement of the Martial Dao realm at such a young age.

Lan Fengjin remained stoic, unfazed by the admiration, and meticulously arranged her furnace, forging hammer, and forging table.

The arena was filled with many formidable seniors. As a junior, she had no room for arrogance here.

"Lan Fengjin is indeed participating!"

"Unlike many beauties, she isn't fair or delicate, but she exudes a strong presence!"

"Such a wild woman is hard to conquer!"

"It must be difficult to find someone worthy of her!"

The crowd watched Lan Fengjin from a distance, whispering among themselves.

Qin Yun pushed through the crowd and finally stepped onto the path to the arena, making his way in slowly.

For some reason, the noisy hall fell silent as soon as Qin Yun appeared and walked toward the arena.

"Qin Yun, are you in the wrong place? This isn't the martial arts competition; it's the runes competition, and the timing is off!"

"Maybe he's drunk and acting foolish!"

"Hahaha..."

"Is he here to make a joke?"

The crowd burst into laughter.

Just as many were mocking Qin Yun, he took out a jade token—the pass to enter the arena.

Those who were laughing suddenly stopped, realizing that Qin Yun was also a Runes Master, and it was normal for him to participate in the runes competition.

"This guy... he's serious!"

"He's just a junior Runes Master, isn't it only intermediate and senior Runes Masters who can participate?"

"Could he be an intermediate Runes Master?"

An intermediate Runes Master under twenty years old left everyone in the hall gasping in shock!

After all, many intermediate Runes Masters in the arena were gray-haired old men, while Qin Yun, a young kid with barely any facial hair, was already an intermediate Runes Master. It was truly astonishing!

What was even more shocking was that Qin Yun was participating in both the martial arts and runes competitions!

Ji Kailin, watching from the sidelines, was consumed with envy, feeling overshadowed by Qin Yun.

"Brother Yun is truly remarkable. Not only did he dominate the martial arts competition, but now he's planning to do the same in the runes competition!" Murong Daren chuckled. "An intermediate Runes Master! I can ask him to refine mid-grade spirit tools for me in the future!"

Mid-grade spirit tools were considered very high-end items in the Blue Spirit Star Palace.

A Blue Spirit saintess sneered, "Qin Yun is just here to join the fun and show off. How can he compare to the seniors here? With his laughable single Yang spirit vein?"

Murong Daren laughed heartily, "His single Yang spirit vein may be laughable, but you guys with five or six spirit veins can't match his composure. Aren't you even more laughable?"

"Murong Daren, you're also part of our Blue Spirit Holy Palace. Whose side are you on? You ungrateful traitor!" The Blue Spirit saintess was furious and shouted coldly.

"I'm just being honest. Are disciples of the Blue Spirit Holy Palace not allowed to speak the truth? That's absurd!" Murong Daren chuckled.

Just then, Zhuochuan's voice, calm yet clear, echoed through the hall: "The Star Profound Martial Academy expelled Qin Yun back then, and now they must be regretting it!"

The senior members of the Star Profound Martial Academy were present, and upon hearing Zhuochuan's words, their expressions turned extremely ugly, but they could only remain silent.

However, many ridiculed them, considering the expulsion of a young Runes Master like Qin Yun a grave mistake.

An increasing number of Runes Masters entered the competition arena. Upon seeing Qin Yun's youthful face, they felt uncomfortable, especially the Runes Masters from the Blue Spirit Star Palace.

"What a joke. This is a solemn competition. A mere child, still wet behind the ears, comes here craving the spotlight. What kind of behavior is this?" A blue-robed elder participating in the competition snorted coldly, clearly dissatisfied.

"Is this the kid who has been causing a lot of trouble recently? So competitive and doesn't know how to restrain himself. He's bound to amount to nothing significant!"

"Hmph, Zhuochuan is really something, valuing him so much! A kid who loves to show off like this won't live long. To be a Runes Master, one must be honest, diligent, and focus on studying runes. Only then can one succeed!"

Qin Yun cast a glance at the elders who were lecturing him. They were all dressed in blue robes, Runes Masters from the Blue Spirit Star Palace, and some were even from the Blue Spirit Holy Palace.

One after another, more than a dozen elders took their turns to berate Qin Yun!

Many people outside the arena, seeing Qin Yun being belittled by these elders, also enjoyed it, mocking Qin Yun in various ways.

Ji Kailin, feeling much better, joined his companions in criticizing Qin Yun.

Qin Yun remained calm and unperturbed.

He had seen such elders who flaunted their seniority before. Last time at the Runes Hall headquarters, he had taught a group of senior Runes Masters a lesson.

Those Runes Masters were not present here now, and no one knew why.

Qin Yun sat next to Lan Fengjin. Their seats were on the edge of the arena, as they were juniors and couldn't sit in the center.

"Qin Yun, I really didn't expect you to participate in both competitions. You're so greedy!" Lan Fengjin whispered to Qin Yun with a low laugh.

She had no doubt about Qin Yun's strength. She had thought Qin Yun wouldn't participate in this competition and had been somewhat disappointed.

"No choice, I've been short on money lately and need to make some. Besides, your Blue Spirit Holy Palace is wealthy and generous. The rewards must be good!" Qin Yun chuckled softly.

He needed to stockpile some resources to raise Mo Mo, the little demon spirit.

There weren't many participants in the Runes competition, only about 270 people, with less than a hundred being senior Runes Masters. It was said that this was most of the mid-to-high-level Runes Masters in the borderlands.

The person in charge of hosting this competition was Lan Fengjin's grandfather, Lan Huayu, an Earth-level Runes Master who was highly respected.

The Runes Masters present looked at him with respect and envy.

Lan Huayu announced loudly: "There will be a competition, and the first round will eliminate seventy people. The test involves the most fundamental material refinement. You must do your best to refine the highest quality superior bone steel within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn!"

Afterward, the participating Runes Masters lined up to receive superior spirit iron and some beast bones from Lan Huayu.

Each participant was given one thousand jin each of superior spirit iron and beast bones.

To refine bone steel, the two had to be fused together.

For mid-to-high-level Runes Masters, refining superior bone steel was not difficult. The challenge was how to refine higher quality bone steel, which tested the Runes Master's skill.

When it came to refining superior bone steel, the use of runes was unnecessary. Therefore, even if a Runes Master had excellent rune skills, they were of no use here.

After they had collected the materials for refining, Lan Huayu spoke again, "Please put away your furnaces and hammers, leaving only the forging table!"

No one knew the specific rules of the Runes competition.

Even Lan Fengjin, visibly surprised at the moment, did not know why the hammers and furnaces needed to be put away.

When refining materials, the hammers and furnaces are of the greatest use, but now they had to be put away!

Seeing the confusion on the faces of the Runes Masters, Lan Huayu said indifferently, "When refining materials, you cannot use your own furnaces and hammers. This is to ensure fairness. Because during the competition, good hammers and furnaces can bring significant improvements!"

The Runes Masters erupted in protest; refining without a furnace was too challenging!

A thousand catties of high-grade spirit iron and bone steel required a large furnace to continuously burn and melt them.

Lan Huayu gestured, and over a dozen burly men stepped forward, distributing a hammer to each Runes Master.

The hammers were low-grade spirit artifacts, engraved with alchemical and solidifying runes, sufficient to forge high-grade bone steel.

Qin Yun had no objections, as his flame was exceptionally strong, and with the arm of the Heavenly Lion, he believed he could overcome various difficulties.

"Does anyone have objections? If so, you may withdraw now!" Lan Huayu offered a faint smile, his gaze sweeping over the assembled Runes Masters.

Who dared to object? Everyone could only accept such rules!

"Good, now I will start the incense stick! This incense stick will burn for nearly an hour!" After speaking, Lan Huayu waved his sleeve to light the incense stick over a meter high beside him.

The Runes Masters immediately showed their skills, releasing flames to ignite the materials.

Among them, Qin Yun's flame was the most dazzling, the purple-gold flame standing out uniquely here!

He released the flame from his palm through the arm of the Heavenly Lion.

The purple-gold flame roared fiercely, consuming the hundred catties of spirit iron and beast bones laid out on the ground.

Other Runes Masters did the same, their flames much hotter than Qin Yun's!

The Runes Masters, exerting their flames with all their might, made the entire hall as hot as a furnace!

"Although Qin Yun has a purple-gold flame, it can be sensed that his flame is the weakest, far less hot than the others!" Ji Kailin sneered, "Now everyone should be able to see how poor his level is!"

Many agreed with his view, nodding in agreement!

Although the heat released by Qin Yun's purple-gold flame was the lowest, it burned the most fiercely. The spirit iron and beast bones burned by other Runes Masters did not turn red, but his did!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Qin Yun had already picked up the hammer, fiercely striking the spirit iron; he was the first to start forging!

Ji Kailin, previously scornful, now wore a look of embarrassment. He couldn't understand why Qin Yun's flame, which looked so weak, was ahead of many senior Runes Masters!

Seeing Qin Yun's "bang bang bang" forging, everyone found it incredible. Previously, everyone thought he was here to make up the numbers, but when he got serious, his level was not inferior to other senior Runes Masters!