Although Lin Tian had been somewhat prepared for this moment when Zhao Xufeng spoke to him about it, he was still taken aback when he encountered the person in question.
The situation before him was so complicated that it could scarcely be described with any word other than "convoluted." The disciple standing before him was wrapped in thick bandages, resembling a mummy, and was being wheeled in by another disciple. From the looks of it, the poor fellow could hardly move, let alone forge any weapon.
"Senior Brother, what... what happened to you?" Lin Tian asked, his heart heavy with a mix of sympathy and confusion.
"Junior Brother Lin Tian, it was an accident while forging; I was injured by the forgemaster's fire. But do not worry, my injuries are not as serious as they may appear," the 'mummy' said hastily as he looked at Lin Tian.
"Not serious?" Lin Tian could hardly contain his sarcasm. "You're telling me that this is not serious? Are you expecting me to believe my eyes are deceiving me?"
"Now that all the participants have arrived, I will announce the rules for this round," Zhao Zhenjie declared. "This time, there are sixteen groups. Each group will forge the same type of spiritual weapon. Within one hour, the team that produces the highest-quality spiritual weapon will advance to the next round. If the quality is the same, then the team that finishes first will be the winner."
"The materials you need are already on your tables. You may begin now."
As Zhao Zhenjie finished speaking, the disciples on the stage immediately got to work. A flurry of forgemaster's fires erupted into the air, and the temperature around the arena surged.
Lin Tian, however, stood frozen, his heart heavy with regret as he looked at the peculiar metals before him. Though he knew Zhao Zhenjie was targeting him, he hadn't expected such an underhanded approach. The strange metals on his table had indeed been prepared according to the rules, but their quality was far inferior to those of the others. What lay before him was the lowest grade of metal.
In other words, even if Lin Tian were to finish first in forging, the resulting spiritual weapon would still be of the lowest quality compared to the others. This meant that no matter what, his weapon would fall short.
And with these two teammates, it seemed that defeat was inevitable before the competition even began.
"Zhenjie, you're really going after this kid with everything, aren't you?" one of Zhao Zhenjie's inner disciples sneered, watching Lin Tian's predicament with a malicious grin.
"This kid has crossed me one too many times. If I don't teach him a lesson, he might think I'm a pushover," Zhao Zhenjie responded, his disdain evident. As an inner disciple and the pupil of one of the elders of the Array Peak, Zhao Zhenjie wielded considerable power within the sect. It was no surprise that he was made the host of this round of competition.
"Dongfeng, your disciple seems a bit too harsh on this kid," Elder Xijue from the Array Peak commented from the top of the sect's summit. Although he hadn't attended the outer disciple's competition, the elders were all closely monitoring the proceedings. While the targeting of Lin Tian was tacitly approved, Xijue still couldn't help but voice his disapproval when he saw the extent of the malice.
"Lin Tian may be gifted, but if your disciple keeps this up, it will be nearly impossible for him to win this round," Elder Nanyin added, shaking his head.
"When my disciple attacked him, none of you had anything to say. But now that you see him being bullied, you blame me?" Elder Dongfeng retorted, clearly displeased. "Besides, this kid hides his abilities well. There's probably more to him than any of us have noticed."
The other elders from the Forging Peak sneered at Elder Dongfeng's defense. To them, it seemed as though he was just making excuses for his disciple.
Just then, something unexpected happened. Lin Tian, who had been quietly observing the strange metals before him, suddenly made his move. He grabbed one piece of metal in each hand, and two separate forgemaster's fires appeared in his palms.
The elders' eyes widened in shock as they watched. Lin Tian was using both hands simultaneously, each with a separate forgemaster's fire, adjusting their temperatures to suit the different metals. This level of precision was astonishing—refining metals required intense concentration, and handling two different metals with two different flames at once was something even the most experienced forgemasters would struggle to do.
"Is he refining the metals?" someone gasped in disbelief.
Refining metals was a step above simply melting them. Whereas melting involved maintaining a stable flame to reach the necessary temperature to liquefy the metal, refining required the removal of impurities through careful adjustments of the flame. As impurities were burned off, the temperature had to be carefully controlled, making the process far more complex and dangerous than merely melting the metal.
"Senior Brother, look!" One of Zhao Zhenjie's inner disciples pointed at Lin Tian, his voice tinged with panic.
"What on earth is he doing?" Zhao Zhenjie was stunned. Despite his years of experience, this was the first time he had seen such a thing in all his time as a disciple.
At that moment, Lin Tian had completely refined the two pieces of metal. After placing them down, he quickly took up the remaining pieces, and with both hands, he continued to purify the metal, the flames swirling with precision.
The disciple assigned to sabotage Lin Tian's efforts stood frozen beside him, unable to react to the spectacle unfolding before his eyes.
"Could it be... that Lin Tian is actually that powerful?" the disciples below murmured in astonishment. Almost instantly, Lin Tian became the center of attention on the entire stage.