IRM Chapter 96

The third selection would begin the next morning. The arena, which had been noisy all day, finally quieted down. A total of eleven pieces of equipment that had entered the selection were arranged in a circle, sealed in the center of the arena, waiting for the next daybreak.

The arena was silent at night, with only moonlight slanting down from the circular opening above, spilling onto the brilliantly glowing equipment.

A patrolling guard glanced at them again and again, unable to resist saying to another guard, “Who do you think will win in the end?”

“Pay attention to the surroundings, don’t get distracted!” The other guard gripped the sword hilt at his waist tightly, his eyes sharp as a torch as he surveyed the empty grounds. But after a while, he sighed softly and answered him, “Most likely it’ll be His Highness the First Prince. This year’s competition is being held in the royal capital, so it definitely gives him an advantage. Moreover, the effect of that equipment…”

As he spoke, he turned to glance at the bizarrely grinning strange puppet under the moonlight and shivered, quickly looking away.

“You’re right… but does that suit really have no chance anymore?” They happened to be patrolling in front of the completely silver-white equipment. The silver-white suit under the moonlight appeared even more mysterious and sleek, with a complex ten-pointed star device on the chest of the suit, inlaid with an azure-blue magic crystal, like a pure lake on a snow mountain.

The guards looked at it with eyes full of regret.

“Definitely. If it weren’t for its high rank, it wouldn’t even have a chance to enter the third selection.” One guard shook his head and said, “The Duke’s meaning is very clear. No kingdom could possibly allow such equipment to be recorded in the annals for people to praise and admire, because it represents that commoners also have the power to contend with nobles…”

The guards fell silent. Most of them were also of common birth. Very fortunately, they possessed the warrior profession talent, and by relying on painstaking training, they were able to have such a respectable job as royal capital guards.

The guard who had first spoken touched his own chest. Beneath the heavy armor, crisscrossing scars penetrated through his flesh. He smiled heavily. “Sigh, when the Empire starts refining puppets, how many paths will be left for us?”

Perhaps the atmosphere under the starry night was too oppressive. Busy lamenting the future, they ultimately became careless and didn’t notice that on the empty spectator stands, there were faint lines flickering in and out of visibility.

The next day, when sunlight illuminated even the most remote corners of the arena, a cheer that shot straight to the clouds rang out in the grounds.

For the third selection, even more people came to watch the competition than yesterday. The stands that could accommodate tens of thousands of people were packed solid. The gentlemen and ladies had lost their usual restraint, leaning forward against the railings, with various colored handkerchiefs and hats fluttering up and down like colorful butterflies.

A group of gamblers had spontaneously gathered together again. Their faces were flushed, and they were much more generous with their bets.

“Oh my, oh my, thanks to Young Master Brandon’s generous gift yesterday, I had the fortune to drink such delicious liquor!” A bearded old man raised high a pitch-black wine bottle, squinting his eyes as he gulped it down.

“Isn’t that right! My money pouch has never been this full before! My woman was so enthusiastic with me last night!” Another thin, small man squeezed his eyes lecherously and generously pulled out several gold coins, tossing them on the betting table.

“I wonder who Young Master Brandon is betting on today. Maybe he lost so badly he doesn’t dare come, hiding in the Earl’s manor crying, hahaha!”

“Stop talking, stop talking, look over there, he’s here!”

Brandon was in a particularly bad mood. The old butler followed behind him, sighing helplessly, bowing as he softly comforted him.

The young master had been so angry he couldn’t sleep well all last night. Originally, he didn’t want to come today at all, but in the end, he couldn’t resist. Because it was a last-minute change of plans, he wasn’t with his few companions, but alone, finding a secluded corner to sulk. Unexpectedly, he ran into this group of gamblers again.

The gamblers saw the young master’s little face flushed red with anger, secretly exchanged glances with darkly amused looks, and moved closer to comfort him falsely, “Oh my, gambling always has wins and losses. Young Master shouldn’t take it too much to heart. Maybe if you bet more today, you could even win back that ten thousand gold coins doubled!”

“That’s right, that’s right, maybe today Lady Luck is standing right behind you!”

Brandon hadn’t been paying attention to them originally. Only after being called out did he stop and frown at them. “Who are you?”

The gamblers’ smiling faces froze, looking at him incredulously, pointing at the betting table. “The ones who placed bets with you yesterday…”

The young master didn’t care about the ten thousand gold coins he’d lost. That amount of money was nothing to him, but thinking about yesterday’s result, his face grew even more sour. “Oh, so what?”

The gamblers didn’t dare provoke him too much and asked hesitantly, “So… are you still placing bets today?”

“No, not in the mood.” Brandon refused without hesitation and lifted his foot to walk away, but heard vague regretful sighs from behind him.

“Sigh, looks like we won’t win much today. Everyone’s betting on the First Prince…”

“Of course! What suspense is there? Master Borg’s team can’t possibly turn things around… unless they can refine legendary equipment, hahaha!”

“Haha, stop joking! How many years has it been since the continent has seen legendary equipment! Though I heard the champion’s prize this time seems really extraordinary!”

“How extraordinary? Could it be a legendary item?”

“Hahaha, you’re crazy for legendary items! And besides, whatever it is has nothing to do with us! I just want His Highness to win smoothly and steadily, so I can earn enough coins for another bottle of liquor today!”

Brandon’s footsteps halted. His knees felt so heavy he could barely lift them. There was a very plain knee pad there, yet it symbolized someone’s sincere feelings.

The young master suddenly calmed down. He took a deep breath and turned to walk toward the betting table.

The old butler behind him raised his eyebrows in surprise, but didn’t say anything, the corners of his mouth curving slightly upward.

The gamblers, having lost their fat sheep, were sighing in regret when suddenly a not-very-robust shadow fell over them. They casually turned their heads, then their eyes widened.

The young master looked down at the betting table expressionlessly. Seeing Ji Chi’s team section was completely empty, he smiled faintly, lifted his chin slightly, and his slender fingers reached to his collar, taking out an exquisitely complex badge.

He placed the badge on the betting table with a crisp sound. “I’m still betting on Ji Chi. The wager is… a promise from the Elliott family.”

The gamblers first froze for a good while, then went crazy. A promise from the Elliott family! That was an item that only existed in folk legends! Its value couldn’t be measured in gold coins! But if you really didn’t need it and resold it, you could easily sell it for over a hundred thousand gold coins!

The young master curved his lips in a smile, looking down at them proudly. “The Elliott family rarely gives out promises, and this time is no exception… you’ll never get it.”

The enormous arena was left with only eleven teams. The excess smelting furnaces and workbenches on the grounds had all been removed. The surrounding temperature was no longer as scorching as yesterday, but the flame in everyone’s hearts burned even more intensely!

William was at the first refining position, wearing a calmly confident smile on his face. He looked at the puppet on the workbench, having accepted even its ugly appearance quite a bit more.

He smiled. “The masters can relax a bit today. Our score is far ahead. Presumably, there’s no suspense about winning the championship.”

The young dwarf Hess lowered his eyes and curved his lips. “No, I believe we still need to give it our all. Your Highness mustn’t forget that there have been many examples throughout the competitions of those in inferior positions making comebacks.”

A flash of displeasure crossed William’s eyes, though he didn’t show it, still humbly saying, “Master is right. I was being arrogant. We still need to persist until the very last second.”

He said this, but with a glance, he looked toward the second-place team. They were holding the Judgment Rack, gathered together discussing something, their expressions somewhat solemn, yet faintly carrying excitement and enthusiasm.

William snorted lightly. He didn’t believe a bare rack could be improved to a degree that surpassed them.

As for Ji Chi’s direction, he didn’t even look—a work destined to become a laughingstock didn’t need to occupy his attention.

The arena bell rang, calling back William’s thoughts. His gaze passed over the judging platform, his peripheral vision vaguely lingering on the King sitting upright on the throne. The ruby on the crown reflected his small figure inside. In William’s eyes was a look of determination to obtain victory.

“For the time remaining, please do your best to perfect your works. The final evaluation will begin in two hours.” The Duke sat at the forefront of the judging platform, looking down over the entire arena, announcing with a beaming smile.

This selection was mainly to give works an opportunity for enchantment. Some equipment, after excellent compatible enchantment, could even jump up a quality level. And this selection was specifically for master engineers skilled in enchantment to display their abilities.

On the Demon Sword Continent, a master engineer specializing in enchantment was no less popular than master engineers, and their numbers were still very few. Just like now on the grounds, each team only had one or two people busy, with the rest helping them.

In William’s team, it was another Saint Engineer performing the enchantment. He had nothing to do and could freely observe the situation on the grounds.

His gaze swept around in a circle and allocated a bit of attention to Ji Chi’s team.

After seeing the situation clearly, William couldn’t help but laugh aloud. There was now only one person busy there, and it was Ji Chi, who couldn’t even count as making up the numbers.

Not just William—Linton also found it somewhat absurd before the competition began.

Linton had thought it would definitely be Bard performing the enchantment, so according to his habits, he prepared and arranged the tools on the workbench.

Just as Bard began to roll up his sleeves, Ji Chi suddenly stepped forward and said to him, “Let me do it this time.”

Bard was stunned for a moment. He knew Ji Chi’s level very well. Although he was progressing rapidly, he still lacked experience and would find it difficult to shoulder such a heavy burden. He asked in confusion, “Why?”

Ji Chi didn’t explain, only stared fixedly at him, repeating once, “Let me do it this time. I can do it better.”

Chloe had been staring at Ji Chi since yesterday. During that time, despite receiving countless complaints from the extremely sour Linton, she hadn’t shifted her gaze. She was like someone who had finally solved a difficult problem, touching her burning forehead, then turned her gaze to Bard and said, “Let him do it.”

In front of Linton, Chloe didn’t act too outrageous, but Bard still understood her meaning very well. After only a moment’s hesitation, he readily stepped back and nodded.

Linton: “…? Are you all crazy or am I crazy?”

Chloe: “Shh—watch carefully. Master won’t disappoint you.”

Linton’s adolescent heart was stabbed hard with another sword. For a moment, he even forgot to keep asking questions. He turned his head and sniffled, muttering quietly, “Master, master… every day it’s your master, wuwu…”

The bell rang. Ji Chi stood before the workbench. He gently closed his eyes, feeling the information surging into his mind.

Skill: [lv. max Heart of Artifacts (master engineer)] has been unlocked

Description: [Legendary quality equipment formulas unlocked, attributes of crafted equipment +500%]

He was becoming more and more familiar with these skills. They were like long-sealed memories—impossible to trace before unlocking, but once unlocked, they were like something already immersed in instinct. As long as he dug a little, he could use them freely.

Ji Chi gripped the carving knife. The sharp knife tip wandered over the suit. His hand was extremely steady. Unlike other master engineers’ dazzling technical carving, Ji Chi simply carved stroke by stroke on the equipment, as simple as a child learning to draw. It felt like steps so simple that anyone could do them, but when one tried to truly imitate them, one was left completely bewildered.

Bard watched and watched until he held his breath. He could vaguely sense a power difficult to put into words, making one’s heart constrict and blood surge, yet he didn’t know what it was.

His gaze was fixedly concentrated on Ji Chi’s fingertips, unable to move away.

So he didn’t notice that Ji Chi’s pupils had at some point turned golden yellow, and in the trajectory carved by the knife, a thread of pale gold quickly merged in and disappeared from sight.

And in William’s team, Master Hess—also formerly the God of Forging, Hephaestus—looked toward Ji Chi’s direction. Even though he no longer had his divine authority, the remaining power still let him keep half a foot in the domain of the gods.

He could see that beside Ji Chi, a strange-shaped crystal was rotating around the Eastern youth, emanating an aura that made even him feel palpitations.

“Huff—this soul’s power is really too…” Hephaestus let out a long breath and shook his head, his expression rarely solemn. “I don’t know if giving him the divine authority was right or wrong…”

Time passed minute by minute and second by second. The Duke on the judging platform yawned hugely. In his view, the third selection was just going through the motions. Even if there really were [Excellent] equipment upgraded to [Epic], those swords and blades definitely couldn’t compare to William’s puppet.

After all, that had an effect that was favored and driven mad by the royal nobles.

He boredly tugged at his beard, about to squint his eyes and rest for a while.

At that moment, a golden light lit up from a corner of the arena and grew brighter and brighter. The Duke at first carelessly shifted his gaze over. Gradually, he realized what it was, and with force, tore off a large tuft of his beard.

As if feeling no pain, he stood up trembling slightly. “That is…”