Chapter 0406 Barehanded Weapon Refining

After the crowd made way, a man in an ornate green robe emerged slowly. This was Chu Longjie.

Chu Longjie appeared somewhat thin and had an ordinary appearance, but he radiated confidence, his face brimming with arrogance.

Hong Mengshu, Hong Ying Wu King, and a group of esteemed elders and middle-aged figures hurried over.

Chu Longjie was at the fourth level of the Martial Dao realm, in his thirties, a disciple of the Qingtian King Sect, an advanced Runes Master, and a scion of a prestigious family.

In every regard, he was remarkably exceptional.

"Chu Longjie, Qin Yun is here. How do you propose to compete?" asked Xiao Yuemei.

Chu Longjie eyed Qin Yun carefully. He had heard about Qin Yun's various deeds and, although he was quite surprised, he kept it hidden. Instead, he regarded Qin Yun with contempt.

He wanted everyone to know that he, Chu Longjie, looked down on Qin Yun.

Everyone thought it was normal for Chu Longjie to look down on Qin Yun, after all, Chu Longjie was a very young advanced Runes Master!

"Qin Yun, I heard you are also an advanced Runes Master? Where is your gold badge?" Chu Longjie inquired with a sneer.

"Gold badge? I gifted it away!" Qin Yun replied truthfully, as he had indeed given the badge to Mu Fengxiao.

Hearing this, everyone was stunned.

The badge was very important to a Runes Master, and Qin Yun had just gifted it away!

"You are indeed generous, casually giving away a gold badge..." Chu Longjie chuckled, then produced a gleaming gold badge and affixed it to his chest.

Qin Yun had no intention of showing his platinum insignia, not wanting to dazzle him.

Hong Mengshu, standing nearby, couldn’t suppress a soft chuckle, though no one understood why.

Because Hong Mengshu knew that Qin Yun was an advanced Runes Master.

In her eyes, Chu Longjie competing with Qin Yun was nothing but self-humiliation.

Qin Yun said, "Enough talk. You’re the one who challenged me, right? How do you want to compete? Get on with it!"

"You’re so eager to lose to me, then I won't keep you waiting!" Chu Longjie was also extremely confident.

Seeing that Qin Yun had no badge, everyone doubted whether he was really a Runes Master.

Now, they could only wait to see who would prevail.

Chu Longjie instructed people to bring out two sets of forging tools, two furnaces, engraving tools, forging hammers, and a sturdy table.

"We will compete in crafting a low-grade spirit artifact, which will also save time!"

Chu Longjie said, walking to one of the tables, and continued, "We will use the same tools to ensure fairness!"

Qin Yun said, "I choose your set of tools!"

"No problem!" Chu Longjie smiled, then walked to the other table: "We'll use our own low-grade bone steel. The competition time is one hour, how about that?"

Crafting a low-grade spirit artifact in just an hour was no small feat!

Witnessing Chu Longjie’s calm composure, everyone was in awe.

"It's truly impressive that Chu Longjie can forge a low-grade spirit weapon within an hour!"

"As expected of a disciple from the Qingtian King Sect!"

"With Chu Longjie's talent, he is destined to become a master of arcane patterns in the future!"

"Are all disciples from king-level sects this formidable?"

Most of those who were amazed were from mystic-level sects and some aristocratic families.

Chu Longjie laughed, "A competition requires a lot of effort, and winning depends on skill. How about we also bet some purple spirit coins?"

"Two million purple spirit coins!" Xiao Yuemei immediately shouted excitedly upon hearing this.

Everyone took a slight breath, surprised by the boldness of this young girl who boldly proposed two million purple spirit coins.

Chu Longjie, who had been smiling, suddenly went quiet.

"Is it too little? Then how about three million purple spirit coins?" Xiao Yuemei murmured, "That's all I have..."

Chu Longjie stopped laughing and quickly looked towards a group of elders dressed in golden robes, the elders from the Qingtian King Sect.

Qin Yun whispered to Xiao Yuemei, "Yuemei! You're going overboard, betting so much, you've intimidated Chu Longjie... How about we just bet three hundred purple spirit coins? That way, Chu Longjie and the Qingtian King Sect can manage it!"

Although he spoke softly, everyone present could hear him!

It was clear to all that Qin Yun was openly taunting Chu Longjie!

Xiao Yuemei also joined in with Qin Yun, whispering, "Isn't the Qingtian King Sect a king-level sect? They can surely afford three million purple spirit coins! Do they not have confidence in Chu Longjie?"

Qin Yun and Xiao Yuemei's tandem ridicule of the Qingtian King Sect was obvious to everyone.

Three million purple spirit coins were no small amount for Chu Longjie, and he definitely couldn't afford it!

Hong Yan had previously mentioned that the two million purple spirit coins he had were his father's allowance for the next twenty years, but he had already squandered most of it.

"Three million it is!" an elder from the Qingtian King Sect said indifferently.

They were a king-level sect and couldn't lose face in front of so many mystic-level sects.

Hong Mengshu suddenly felt a bit envious of Xiao Yuemei because Qin Yun was sure to win, and she would easily gain three million purple spirit coins!

An elder from the Arcane Pattern Hall stepped forward and said with a smile, "This competition will be overseen by our Arcane Pattern Hall! Qin Yun will craft armor, and Chu Longjie will forge a weapon. They will then clash against each other, and the one whose creation is more damaged loses!"

"Are you all ready? Then let's begin!"

He also pulled out an hourglass and turned it over.

Qin Yun promptly retrieved a large piece of low-grade bone steel.

He was to craft armor, which required more bone steel and a bit more complex forging process.

However, the benefit was that armor was typically more durable and not easily destroyed.

After Qin Yun channeled flames into the furnace, he suddenly spotted some cracks inside!

He promptly exclaimed, "This furnace is broken!"

"Qin Yun, you chose this yourself! Now that we've started, you're saying this, are you afraid?" Chu Longjie sneered.

"Perhaps you’re the one who broke it?" said one of the elders from the Qingtian King Sect.

Qin Yun quickly grabbed the forging hammer, only to find that it was also broken, with the internal runes flawed.

He cursed under his breath, then went to check the carving knife, which was also faulty and unable to channel the Blood Soul Power!

"I was careless! They must’ve predicted I’d pick the same tools Chu Longjie used!" Qin Yun realized he had been tricked and could only blame himself for being careless.

He had inspected the tools earlier and found no issues, but once he channeled the flame, the tools failed.

It was obvious—those tools were rigged from the start!

Qin Yun thought to himself, "If I hadn’t chosen Chu Longjie’s tools, he would have claimed they were broken at the start and switched to a better set for himself! Damn, they’re so sneaky!"

Seeing Qin Yun’s gloomy expression, Xiao Yuemei quickly asked, "Brother, what’s wrong?"

"Aside from this table, all the tools are useless!" Qin Yun replied slowly, racking his brain for a solution.

"Qin Yun, you chose this set of tools yourself, and you inspected them! Why are you bringing this up now? Are you trying to back out? You agreed to bet three million purple spirit coins!" Chu Longjie said smugly.

Xiao Yuemei’s face turned cold, and she stamped her foot in anger.

Most of the people present were biased towards the Qingtian King Sect.

These lower-tier sects were eager to suck up to the king-level sect, and the elders of the king-level sect were all here.

Many accused Qin Yun of trying to cheat!

"Mengshu, do you think Qin Yun can win?" a middle-aged man in a golden robe whispered to Hong Mengshu.

"Father, how should I know! Qin Yun’s tools are all unusable!" Hong Mengshu was also angry, glaring at Chu Longjie and muttering, "These scoundrels—a king-level sect, no less—resorting to cheating!"

Hong Ying chuckled, "This contest’s outcome is crucial for Chu Longjie. If he loses, his reputation takes a hit, and he’s out three million purple spirit coins!"

Hong Mengshu finally got it.

Chu Longjie was the Qingtian King Sect’s golden boy!

There were some young martial artists in the lower-tier sects, but young Runes Masters were rare.

So, the king-level sect’s pride was their young Runes Masters, and they’d seize every chance to show them off.

If the Qingtian King Sect’s youngest Runes Master lost to a young Runes Master from the Nine Extremes Profound Sect!

Then folks would claim the Qingtian King Sect was no match for the Nine Extremes Profound Sect!

This concerned the honor of the entire Qingtian King Sect!

Honor is upheld through true strength; honor built on deceit won’t last!

Chu Longjie, smug and pressure-free, was breezing through.

To him, Qin Yun was already defeated.

Qin Yun stood frozen, staring at the bone steel on the table like he’d surrendered.

"Looks like Qin Yun’s clueless about forging!"

"Meaning, the golden badge he flashed in North Spirit City was a fake!"

"He's really good at crafting counterfeit badges!"

"Look at Chu Longjie—so passionate, so fluid, truly embodying a master's presence!"

Everyone couldn't stop singing Chu Longjie's praises!

Suddenly, Qin Yun's fists turned a fiery red, like a pair of burning golden fists—that was the Flaming Fist!

Qin Yun let out a deep shout, his fists moving wildly, relentlessly pounding the bone on the table.

After landing about ten punches, he paused to knead the red-hot bone steel a few times, handling it as effortlessly as dough!

The senior Runes Masters, who had been showering Chu Longjie with praise, were completely stunned by Qin Yun's display.

Everyone knew that even low-grade bone steel, when heated to a red-hot state, becomes incredibly hot and tough!

But Qin Yun didn't flinch at the heat, and the low-grade bone steel in his hands was like dough, easily molded at his will!

The most terrifying thing was that when his fists struck down, even without Runes, he could forge the low-grade bone steel so thoroughly.

This left many Runes Masters wide-eyed in amazement, exclaiming in disbelief!