Chapter 29: A Skill That Amazes All
At the center of the market town, where the four main roads intersected, lay a large circular plaza, typically a place where loose cultivators ca to trade.
When Song Changsheng first arrived at the market town, he hadn't seen many people not because it was empty, but because most were gathered right here.
Now that the Earthfire Sect had chosen to change the venue, Song Changsheng couldn't have been happier. After all, his very purpose in coming was to trample the Earthfire Sect’s pride. Naturally, the more spectators, the better.
By the ti they arrived, the plaza was already packed with people, all eagerly craning their necks to get a better look. So opportunists had even set up betting booths, taking wagers on who would win or lose, drawing a large number of bettors.
“The people from Seeking Treasure Pavilion are here!”
The mont Song Changsheng and his companion appeared, many eyes were drawn to them. After yesterday’s events, his na had already spread across Drifting Cloud Market like wildfire.
Everyone was wondering whether he could once again trample the Earthfire Sect's face into the ground, just as he had the day before.
Song Changsheng kept his gaze steady as he walked to the center of the plaza, accompanied by Song Luyuan, waiting for the other party to arrive.
In the crowd, a chubby man with a large belly squeezed his way to the front row. When he caught sight of Song Changsheng, he paused in surprise. “Isn’t that Fellow Daoist Shen Changsong? Shen Changsong, Song Changsheng... heh, now this is interesting.”
A look of intrigue imdiately appeared on the fat man’s face.
Roughly the ti it takes to brew a cup of tea later, Bai Ruofeng finally arrived, dragging Cheng Xiao behind him.
“Oho, Shopkeeper Song, I changed the location without informing you beforehand. I hope you won’t take offense,” Bai Ruofeng said with false courtesy as he stepped forward.
Song Luyuan returned the fake smile with one of his own and responded in kind, exchanging aningless pleasantries. Though both n would have gladly torn each other to pieces, they still kept up a facade of politeness.
While the leaders on both sides engaged in small talk, Song Changsheng began observing his opponent.
He was a young cultivator dressed in white robes, around his twenties. Handso in appearance, but his entire deanor exuded arrogance, utterly unlikable.
While Song Changsheng was still assessing him, Cheng Xiao spoke up first. “You're the one who wants to challenge ?”
“I’ve heard of your mastery in artifact refinent. I ca to seek your instruction,” Song Changsheng replied calmly and confidently.
“Heh, very well. How do you want to compete?” Cheng Xiao asked, hands clasped behind his back, not even bothering to look Song Changsheng in the eye. He clearly believed victory was already his.
Song Changsheng didn't care about his attitude. “Since I am the one asking for guidance, naturally I will defer to your terms.”
A trace of disdain flickered in Cheng Xiao’s eyes as he waved his hand and brought out two identical artifacts. “Fine. These are two identical first-rank superior-grade magical tools. Neither has any formations engraved on them yet.
Let’s compare who can engrave the most formations with the highest quality within three hours.”
“No problem,” Song Changsheng agreed with a nod. Creating a first-rank superior-grade artifact took a lot of ti, so this thod could both speed up the competition and better reflect each person’s actual skill.
“Uncle Bai, when do we start?” Cheng Xiao turned toward Bai Ruofeng, already growing impatient.
“If you’re both ready, then let us begin now,” Bai Ruofeng said after exchanging glances with Song Luyuan.
Each man picked a patch of empty ground and sat cross-legged. Cheng Xiao tossed a disc-shaped artifact over to Song Changsheng, while keeping a longsword-shaped one for himself.
Song Changsheng didn’t mind, receiving the artifact and inspecting it first. It was clear Cheng Xiao hadn’t played any underhanded tricks, the item was legitimate.
However, during his examination, Song Changsheng noticed several subtle flaws in the artifact, clear signs that the craftsman's technique had so issues.
“Still have plenty of ti. Let refine this artifact a bit first,” he murmured, noting that Cheng Xiao had already begun engraving his formation.
To the surprise of everyone watching, Song Changsheng summoned a ball of orange-red fla and began refining the artifact again.
“What’s he doing? Isn’t the competition about engraving formations?” soone in the crowd asked in confusion.
A more knowledgeable cultivator explained, “He’s refining the artifact. This can help further enhance its quality.”
“But doesn’t that have nothing to do with the competition?”
After hesitating a bit, the inford cultivator nodded. “That’s true.”
Everyone was baffled by Song Changsheng’s move, was it confidence or arrogance?
Cheng Xiao, of course, noticed this anomaly. Seeing that he had already finished a third of his formation, he couldn't help but sneer inwardly. Song Changsheng was far too arrogant.
True, refining could slightly improve an artifact's quality but these two items were crafted by Cheng Xiao himself. He was confident that he had done the best possible job. Even if there were flaws, refining wouldn’t help much. In his eyes, Song Changsheng was just putting the cart before the horse.
Ignoring the whispers and comntary around him, Song Changsheng fully imrsed himself in the work.
Ti flew by, and just before the first hour passed, he finally finished refining the artifact. By then, Cheng Xiao had completed his first formation.
At this point, most spectators no longer had faith in Song Changsheng. He had fallen too far behind. Those who had bet on him winning were practically gnashing their teeth in regret.
If it weren’t for Song Luyuan’s presence, they’d probably be cursing Song Changsheng’s parents by now.
“Two hours left… I need to pick up the pace,” Song Changsheng murmured.
In the next instant, his spiritual energy surged into the artifact like a floodgate opening. Under his guidance, his spiritual power split in two and he began simultaneously engraving two formations!
Since the competition was being held in an open plaza, every detail of his formation engraving process was laid bare to the crowd. At first, no one noticed anything special, but as the outlines of the formations gradually beca visible, soone suddenly realized what was happening.
“Heavens! Song Changsheng is engraving two formations at once, I’m not seeing things, right?” a loose artifact refiner exclaid.
“What nonsense is that?” his claim imdiately drew skeptical stares. After all, each formation required ticulous attention and full concentration. Doing two at once? Never heard of it in all of Ling Province.
“Wait, he’s right. You can clearly see two different formation outlines forming at the sa ti!”
“This guy’s a freak! How’s he doing that?!”
Facts speak louder than words. As more and more people realized what was happening, the entire crowd gasped in unison, everyone was utterly stunned by Song Changsheng’s feat.
Bai Ruofeng stared wide-eyed at him, gritting his teeth in disbelief. “Dual-focus engraving? That’s a myth! How is this possible?!”
Seeing Bai Ruofeng's reaction, Song Luyuan quietly stepped forward, positioning himself between him and Song Changsheng just in case the man snapped.
But Song Changsheng remained completely unaware of the shock he had caused. At this mont, he was fully imrsed, lost in the flow of his craft...
(Chapter End)
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