Ju Zi's mind was also in chaos.
She hadn't expected Huo Yuhao to make this matter known to everyone.
To be honest, this development was completely unexpected.
However, her mind was agile. Although caught off guard by the surprise, she quickly found a reason to justify herself.
Upon arriving at the Crown Prince's residence and facing Xu Tianran's inquiry, she said, "Crown Prince, what's done is done. Let the situation ferment for a couple of days. We should first observe the Blacksmith Association's reaction."
She packaged herself as someone testing the Blacksmith Association's attitude on Xu Tianran's behalf.
Xu Tianran narrowed his eyes into slits.
He knew the Ju Zi before him was no longer usable.
She had to be discarded as soon as possible.
First, taking private action was a major taboo. Second, deceiving superiors and concealing facts was also a major taboo.
These were precisely the two points Xu Tianran could least accept.
"Some time has passed, and the Blacksmith Association hasn't responded. Even if they do react, we'll face them directly. For the teams participating in this Spirit Master Grand Competition, we'll only encircle, not kill."
Xu Tianran's words made Ju Zi's eyes light up.
Right.
That was a good idea.
As long as they didn't kill these people, the Blacksmith Association would have no grounds to intervene.
After the war ended, releasing this group wouldn't matter much; they'd be of little use anyway.
As for whether the Sun Moon Empire's foundation would be shaken by these people in the future, she didn't need to concern herself.
All she wanted was the White Tiger Duke's lineage dead!
"Yes, Your Highness!"
She gladly accepted Xu Tianran's task, taking the military order from his hand.
After Ju Zi left, Xu Tianran slowly closed his eyes.
"Order the Fire Phoenix Spirit Engineer Legion to prepare for war, ensuring they resist any offensive from the Star Luo Empire."
In the dark room, a pair of eyes flickering with purple lightning opened, filled with coldness.
"Permission granted to use Ninth Rank fixed-installation Spirit Cannon shells."
Time passed.
Under the pressure of public opinion, the Blacksmith Association did promise to guarantee the safety of the numerous teams.
The Sun Moon Imperial Capital branch of the Blacksmith Association also allocated an area to accommodate the teams they favored.
Simultaneously, Su Ming requested a plot of land near the Soul Fighting Arena from the Sun Moon Imperial Family, designated as part of the Blacksmith Association's property after the capital's expansion.
Temporary, simple shelters were built on this land.
If one was truly uneasy, they could stay in the shelters.
Su Ming and Du Busi personally guaranteed that safety could be assured within the Blacksmith Association's territory.
With safety guaranteed, the competition resumed normally.
However, one could clearly feel that matches which were previously fiercely competitive became very harmonious. Matches involving Douluo and Sun Moon sides, which previously always had casualties, now ended at the appropriate point, becoming pure contests.
Of course, one team still stood out as discordant—the Shrek team, shouting about glory and such.
They were pure mad dogs.
Hmm, even powerful teams from the Douluo Three Nations were viewed as opponents by them. To secure victory, they might even choose to cripple opponents to ensure success in subsequent individual or team matches.
Naturally, when facing Sun Moon Empire teams, their aggression was stronger, often employing ruthless methods.
In the words of Shrek's people, this was giving their all in the competition. Even if the Sun Moon Imperial Family targeted them afterward, Shrek had sufficient confidence to handle it.
This time, Shrek had dispatched two Pavilion Elders plus three Titled Douluo-level combatants.
Time passed.
Soon, the competition determined the Top 8.
Starting from the elimination rounds, there were interwoven forging demonstrations broadcasted live for the entire Spirit Master and Spirit Engineer communities.
On the central arena of the Soul Fighting Arena, certification standard demonstrations for Rank One to Rank Six Blacksmiths were conducted.
There were ten examples each for Rank One to Rank Four demonstrations. Each live session had ten blacksmiths simultaneously showcasing their skills on the arena.
For higher ranks, the number of demonstrators decreased because Rank Five Blacksmiths were too rare. Even with Su Ming not holding back, large numbers couldn't emerge in a mere five years.
Even in the Douluo 3 era, a forging genius needed at least five years to advance from Rank Four to Rank Five.
Therefore, in this era, there were only two Rank Five Blacksmiths, and not a single Rank Six.
Among the two Rank Five Blacksmiths, one was the former president, Duan Lin, and he was only half-step Rank Five because he only mastered forging, not Spirit Infusion, and still had no Spirit Soul.
While Rank Five still had someone to represent it, for Rank Six, Su Ming had to take the stage himself.
After the Top 16 determined the Top 8, he took the stage.
This was his first time stepping onto the arena during this Spirit Master Grand Competition—not for a soul fight, but to demonstrate forging techniques.
"The standard for a Rank Six Blacksmith is Fusion Forging. Mastering the Fusion Forging technique for three types of Spirit Alloys qualifies one to receive the Association's certified Rank Six Blacksmith badge."
Su Ming effortlessly completed three Fusion Forgings.
"So this is Fusion Forging."
"President Su Ming makes it look so fluid and easy, as if there's no difficulty at all."
"That's clearly someone who's never done Thousand Refinement. They don't know how hard it is to communicate and control spiritual essence. Fusing the spiritual essence of two different rare metals—how could that be simple?"
"But, isn't the spiritual essence of these two rare metals both from the blacksmith's Spirit Soul? Is fusing them really that hard?"
"Correction: Spirit Infusion grants rare metals spiritual essence, but this essence isn't directly cut from the Spirit Master's Spirit Soul. It belongs to the rare metal itself. The spiritual essence from the Spirit Soul only serves as a guide. As forging succeeds, this portion of essence is returned, and even absorbs some energy generated when the rare metal's essence is born, becoming stronger. This is also a path for Spirit Souls to ascend."
"Who are you? How do you know so much?"
"I'm just a passerby from the Association."
"I want to see President Su Ming forge more. His forging is a feast for the eyes."
"Don't worry, he'll take the stage again after the Top 4 are decided."
A few days later.
The competition finally determined the Top 4: the four widely acknowledged strongest teams—the Body Sect Team, the Sun Moon Royal Team, the Shrek Team, and the Tianlong Sect Team.
The Tianlong Sect, a sect primarily composed of Spirit Masters with True Dragon-type Martial Souls. Its core is the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family. They are powerful, with the weakest member of their participating team being at least level 55 and boasting two Spirit Emperors.
Of course, while being in the Top 4 was glorious, they now served as stepping stones.
The audience anticipated Su Ming taking the stage even more.
From start to finish, the champion of this Spirit Master Grand Competition was predetermined, and openly so.
Therefore, since the competition began, everyone had been anticipating Su Ming's appearance.
Unfortunately, Su Ming had no intention of appearing on the Soul Fighting Arena.
He would only appear on the Forging Platform.
Thus, the audience shifted their anticipation, beginning to look forward to the competition's side program.
As expected, Su Ming took the stage again.
He set up the forging platform, took out three pieces of rare metal, and placed them on it.
This time, he would publicly demonstrate Spirit Refinement for the first time and provide instruction.
***
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