confirming it was safe, several people stepped inside and took a look around the stone chamber. It was roughly 30 square meters in size, with hard stone walls all around. There wasn't much decoration..."What There's actually such a thing That's too much, it's simply worse than pigs and dogs..."

"I never expected the Kunlun divine artifact to be fake. That Dragon Slaying Sword was prepared in advance. Were we all deceived"

"My God, he even attacked his own father's woman! Is this human He doesn't deserve to be the Kunlun Weapon Spirit..."

The scene erupted once again. Not many people knew about what had happened to the Lu family before, but now that it was public knowledge, everyone was buzzing with excitement and shock.

Many people curse Lu Chaozong, a few have some doubts, but under this frenzied wave, no one dares to speak out.

A cold light flashed in Ye Bufan's eyes. This guy was both insidious and vicious, ruining Lu Zhaozong's lifelong reputation with just a few words.

Lu Chaoyang's eyes flashed with a hint of pride, obviously very satisfied with the scene he had created with his own hands.

He continued, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Time reveals the true nature of people. Since I have seen through Lu Zhaozong's true colors, it is time to take back what belongs to me.”

Today, I will be participating in the Refining Competition. Let everyone see who the true Kunlun Artifact Master is!

"Long live Lord Lu, welcome back the divine artificer of Kunlun!"

After the speaker finished, cheers erupted from the audience. However, Ye Bufan immediately saw through the charade. The people hyping up the crowd were all arranged by the Lu family in advance, clearly hired actors.

Thank you all for coming!

Lu Chaoyang bowed to the audience with a smug smile.

"Now, I'm going to announce the prizes for this competition."

There's something I want to tell everyone. It wasn't just me who saw through Lu Zhaozong's true colors, his former fiancee Liu Yue also did.

In fact, we were all deceived by despicable villains before. Now that we have seen through his true colors, we naturally need to draw a line.

Liu Yue'niao was a woman who understood righteousness, and she deeply admired alchemists.

According to her, whoever becomes the champion of this competition and the new Kunlun Artifact God can take her away.

So one of the prizes for this competition is our town's first beauty, Liu Yue'niang!

Although there had been some rumors circulating beforehand, nothing had been officially confirmed. Now that Lu Chaoyang has made the official announcement, the previously quiet crowd has erupted once again.

As the first beauty of Zhenlai country and the former fiancée of Kunlun's divine weapon, Liu Yue'nia had a very high profile in Tiansheng Prefecture.

Now that such a woman is being offered as a prize, some are angry, some are shocked, some are delighted, and some are excited. Some even rub their hands together in glee.

Lu Chaoyang waved his hand, and immediately a beautiful woman was brought onto the stage by two maidservants. It was none other than Liu Yue'niang.

"Miss Liu, was what I just said true Were you deceived by Lu Zhaozong before, and are you now willingly participating as the prize for this competition"

Upon finishing his words, all eyes turned to the stage. Liu Yue'n nodded slightly, seemingly in agreement with Lu Chaoyang's statement.

Ye Bufan's eyes flashed with a cold light. He could see that the woman on stage had been completely immobilized by his acupuncture points.

And the just nod wasn't her doing either, but rather a maidservant beside her forced to do it with true energy.

Although unable to speak now, her eyes betray a mixture of despair and anger.

It was clear to him that this woman wasn't in cahoots with Lu Chaoyang, and even harbored deep feelings for Lu Zhaozong.

Since that's the case, I should lend her a helping hand right away. It would also fulfill my teacher's last wish.

Lu Zhaozong stood on the stage, overlooking the crowd below. His gaze was sharp as an eagle's, yet he still hadn't found the figure he was looking for.

The goal was not achieved, but the competition must go on.

He waved his hand, signaling for someone to take Liu Yue'ning away. Then, with a flick of his wrist, a brilliantly luminous five-colored stone appeared in his palm—the very Five-Colored Mystic Stone.

"On the Kunlun Continent, strength is paramount, and this holds true for my craft of alchemy. That's why this competition only awards a prize to the first-place winner."

Besides the newly arrived first beauty of the town, there's also this five-colored mysterious stone.

The vast majority present were alchemists, or cultivators who naturally favored alchemy. They all knew what a five-colored Xuan stone was, and their eyes were filled with excitement.

It has to be said, Lu Chaoyang's design is still very successful. He didn't bring out many treasures, but it ignited everyone's passion.

Moreover, in his own mind, he believed that both these things would eventually belong to him. Therefore, this time the Lu family did not suffer too much loss by hosting the alchemizing competition.

The only regret is that the trace of Lu Zhaozong has not been found until now, which makes him feel uncomfortable in his heart.

"Alright, now the competition begins."

Lu Chaoyang waved his hand, signaling Lu De-ren to begin the competition. He continued to wait patiently, hoping to see Lu Zhao-zong in the final moments.

The competition continued, and the Lu family was no stranger to hosting forging competitions. They were experienced and everything proceeded smoothly.

Very soon, Ye Bufan and the others all received a numbered plate, which was their competition number.

Due to his late registration, he received number one thousand, also the last among these participating weapon smiths.

Everything is ready, under the guidance of staff, these one thousand people directly entered the refining tower.

Lu Chaoyang, as a contestant, walked at the front, followed by a white-haired elder who was the runner-up in the refining competition that year, Lu Deyi.

Behind the two stood a young man in his thirties, Ru Youjian, the core disciple of the three generations of the Lu family. He was also a ninth-rank alchemists master.

As soon as the three figures appeared, the audience erupted in cheers. It was clear that within the alchemical world, these three individuals held immense fame and considerable influence.

Ye Bufan arrived at the far end of the venue. At this moment, before each participating disciple was a set of ten metal ore chunks of equal size, alongside a furnace tripod and a copper bell about half a meter high.

After everyone was seated, Rudeen's voice boomed throughout the entire Alchemy Tower.

“The stones before you now, all the same type of ore and size, when I announce the start of the competition, you must quickly refine and fuse them. When finished, ring the bronze bell.”

This first round of the competition is about the speed of the alchemists. Only the top hundred will move on. Those who are too slow or whose purity isn't high enough will be eliminated. Did you all understand

After announcing the rules, Rude roared: "The first round of the Artifact Refining Competition is now beginning!"

At his command, a thousand alchemists in the Alchemy Tower sprang into action, all working with nervous intensity.

First, they use their own true fire to ignite the crucible in front of them. Then, they throw pieces of metal ore into it for smelting. Finally, they fuse the molten iron produced.

For a competition of this level, Ye Bufan didn't choose to use heterogenous fire. Instead, he sent a spark of true fire into the pill furnace.

Unlike others, he did not refine the ore piece by piece, but threw the stone metal ore all at once into the furnace.

He entered the Alchemist Tournament this time wanting to be strong, domineering, and crush the entire Lu family. Under these circumstances, there wouldn't be any politeness whatsoever.

Alchemy tests the comprehensive ability of an alchemist. That's why others beside him can only refine one piece of metal ore each time, because there's simply too much for their spiritual energy to control, and the heat of the true fire isn't enough to consume it all.

But Ye Bufan doesn't have this problem. His powerful mental strength and true essence comparable to the peak of Mahayana make him not have to consider these things at all.

Under his forceful control, nearly in a few breaths' time, these ten pieces of ore were completely refined.t, to see how skilled this so-called number one expert from Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces really is. Unfortunately, I'm extremely disappointed with the result."Wang Jian shook his head here, seeming...