At the strong request of the Blacksmith Association, this Spirit Master Tournament underwent the largest reform in its history. The finals would no longer be held in Spirit City but were instead moved to Heaven Refinement City.
This meant that after the internal competitions within the Heaven Dou and Star Luo competition zones were completed, the top sixteen teams from each zone, plus the Spirit Hall team, would all head to Heaven Refinement City.
For the next tournament, the final venue would be chosen in Spirit City, and so on in rotation.
The Blacksmith Association had actually also proposed that the two great empires could host the final rounds as well, rotating between the four locations.
Unfortunately, both great empires stated they didn't have the courage to let all their younger generation go deep into the heart of the opposing empire to compete.
Heaven Refinement City.
At this moment, Heaven Refinement City had gathered the largest number of Spirit Masters in history.
Forging had indeed changed the Spirit Master world, but it had only changed a small part. For the vast majority of ordinary Spirit Masters, forging was still far from them.
This time, with Heaven Refinement City hosting the finals, they were also well-prepared to promote the forging system.
Starting from when Su Ming was ten years old, the Blacksmith Association began its reforms, and the new forging system started to spread. Now, after four and a half years, the first batch of people who devoted themselves to forging finally had finished products.
Among them were several veteran Spirit Master blacksmiths who rose with the trend, obtained Spirit Souls, signed cooperation agreements with either the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan or the Spirit Hall, received investment, and became Thousand Refinement Masters.
Then there were the core disciples of major forces who devoted themselves to forging, ignoring all outside matters, and they also achieved their own successes.
It is worth mentioning that Ning Tianya, who successfully performed Spirit Infusion in just a few days back then, became Su Ming's junior brother, and after being intimidated by Su Ming, settled down and focused on forging. A year and a half later, he mastered the Thousand Refinements, Spirit Awakened technique.
This speed was considered quite fast, as he truly had no forging foundation and started learning from scratch.
Of course, even without a foundation, he started learning forging from the three-ring level, could wield a forging hammer, and could do hard work, accumulating experience much faster than a six-year-old child.
Currently, the Blacksmith Association had over ten thousand Level Two Blacksmiths, twenty-seven Level Three Blacksmiths, and five Level Four Blacksmiths.
According to the new Spirit Master Tournament rules released by the Blacksmith Association, the association would select blacksmiths for the teams based on their final ranking in the competition zones before the finals.
One Master Blacksmith corresponds to one team.
This Master Blacksmith would fully cooperate with the team in forging, creating the most suitable Spirit Metal for the team members to enhance the team's strength.
The top three teams in the final competition would receive rewards. The second and third place teams would receive the privilege of a custom order from Zhu Jiuyang. As for the champion, the pioneer of the forging field and the current highest achiever in forging technology—Su Ming—would personally craft a piece of Spirit Metal for each member.
During Su Ming's absence, Zhu Jiuyang had arranged everything in perfect order.
Over the course of a month, the finals had progressed to the semi-finals.
The three teams that stood out were the Spirit Hall team, the Heaven Dou Royal team, and the Star Luo Royal team.
That's right, the Heaven Dou Royal team made it to the semi-finals.
This strongest team, created by 'Xue Qinghe' uniting various parties to reverse the Heaven Dou Royal Academy's situation over the years, lived up to its reputation.
The gold standard of having all members as Spirit Ancestors was something even veteran powerhouse teams like the Four Elemental Academies couldn't compete against.
It is worth mentioning that Dugu Yan withdrew from the Heaven Dou Royal team and is now studying forging within the Blacksmith Association.
Su Ming quietly entered Heaven Refinement City and blended into the spectator stands.
"The Spirit Hall team is undoubtedly the number one."
Judging from this situation, the Spirit Hall was indisputably first, while the Heaven Dou Royal Academy and Star Luo Royal Academy would compete for second place.
Indeed, the process proceeded as Su Ming expected.
The pressure from three Spirit Kings was too overwhelming; they directly advanced in the individual elimination matches. The remaining Heaven Dou Royal team and Star Luo Royal team competed in a team battle for the second finals spot.
"Has Su Ming still not shown himself?"
In the topmost booth of the spectator stands, Bibi Dong asked the Chrysanthemum Douluo beside her.
"No."
Bibi Dong narrowed her eyes slightly.
Su Ming was truly dead.
She could confirm it.
Although Tang Chen was crazy, he had regained clarity during her pursuit and never denied killing Su Ming, frankly admitting that it was his sword energy that annihilated Su Ming.
The destruction of the Clear Sky Clan happened by his own doing.
Killing Su Ming led to the world's number one sect being tragically wiped out in just one month.
This was an outcome Tang Chen never dared to imagine.
When he arrived at the ruins of the Clear Sky Clan, he went completely mad. But because his flaws were obvious, Bibi Dong repeatedly incited the Rakshasa resentment within him, causing him to go insane at critical moments, allowing Bibi Dong to seize the opportunity to severely wound him.
"Blacksmith Association President Zhu Jiuyang strongly insists that Su Ming is still alive and will appear during this tournament," the Chrysanthemum Douluo said.
Bibi Dong raised her hand, signaling the Chrysanthemum Douluo to say no more.
She came this time also to see what exactly Su Ming's situation was.
Like her, the leaders of various forces gathered at this final venue, but their minds were elsewhere, searching for any sign of Su Ming's presence.
Time passed.
The two teams fought fiercely on the arena, while undercurrents surged below.
Finally, the match reached its conclusion.
The appearance of Dai Weis and Zhu Zhuqing's Martial Soul Fusion Skill, Nether White Tiger, secured the victory for this match.
Simultaneously, it also declared the Spirit Hall team's victory, as the Nether White Tiger was the Star Luo Royal team's only ability capable of contending with a Spirit King, and now it had been forced out by the Heaven Dou Academy team.
With this, the finals also drew to a close.
"The champion team of this Continent Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament is the Spirit Hall team. The second place is the Star Luo Royal team. The third place is the Heaven Dou Royal team."
Zhu Jiuyang announced the tournament rankings.
He scanned the entire venue, his voice solemn.
"Through this tournament, I believe all participating teams and the entire audience have seen the significance of forging. If Thousand Refined metal is already so impressive, Spirit Refined metal goes without saying."
"I will personally forge a piece of Spirit Refined metal for the main members of the Star Luo Royal team and the Heaven Dou Royal team respectively. The type of rare metal will be chosen by each member themselves."
As Zhu Jiuyang's words fell, the members of both teams were exceptionally excited.
They had personally experienced the power of Thousand Refined metal, and they understood the properties of Spirit Refined metal, hence their excitement.
One could say that with this piece of Spirit Refined metal, their subsequent cultivation would benefit from it.
A piece of Spirit Refined metal was no less valuable than a Spirit Bone!
The main point was that they could all obtain one.
"President Zhu Jiuyang."
Bibi Dong's voice caused the noisy scene to quiet down.
"Does the Pope have any questions?"
"I recall that the champion's reward was Spirit Metal crafted by Su Ming himself."
"Correct."
"However, some time ago, a great change occurred in the Spirit Master world, and Su Ming met with misfortune. Although the Blacksmith Association has repeatedly declared that Su Ming has resurrected and returned, we have yet to see any trace of him."
Bibi Dong's gaze swept across the entire venue.
"I wonder if President Su Ming is willing to show himself? This Pope can guarantee that no one can harm you within this Heaven Refinement City."
***
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(Chapter End)