"Jiè Shì Xiǎo Bái Zuò Pǐn Màn Màn Xiān Tú Màn Màn Xiān Tú Màn Màn Xiān Tú Dì Yī Juǎn 58 Wǔ Shí Bā, Liàn Qì Sài (èr)"

  Translated to English:

  "The Slow Path of the Immortal World Volume 1 Chapter 58: The Refining Tool Competition (Part 2)"

  "It's really Master Starlord's carriage!"

  "Master of the Stars!"

  ……

  Many masters among the contestants also let out excited shouts. Xiao Yao suddenly remembered that Liu Qianbi had said that Bai Yuzi might come to watch the competition on the day of the preliminary round, after all, this floating island was his private garden, and the possibility of him coming was very high, now it seemed that this had been confirmed.

  As the carriage descended, Qinglong proudly led the way, twenty guards surrounded the carriage in the middle, and the surroundings became quiet again, all were intimidated by this momentum.

  Xiao Yao had seen the dragon for the second time. The dragon was the leader of all beasts, and it was rare to see one in the mortal realm or even in the spiritual realm. Unless someone had exceptional strength and a noble status, they wouldn't be able to capture such a divine beast, let alone use it as a carriage puller. This single blue dragon was enough to create an unbridgeable gap between the owner of the carriage and all the cultivators present, making them look up in awe.

  But...

  "Is this also a dragon?" The leopard muttered to itself in its dantian, it had been studying the "Purple Badge Heart Technique" for some time now, enjoying the rare tranquility.

  Xiao Yao listened and looked at the proud cyan dragon again, indeed its momentum was extraordinary, but it seemed to be missing something, completely unlike the shock and amazement that came from the heart when she first saw the Thunder Dragon's skeleton, even with a hint of fear in facing heavenly power.

  "Not even as good as an ordinary exotic beast." The leopard muttered another sentence and continued to study the kung fu, no longer paying attention.

  Xiao Yao only then discovered that this dragon's entire body didn't have a single bit of the proud bones and wild nature of a divine beast, just like a ferocious beast raised in a cage, having only a framework but no actual power. In its eyes, there was no light of looking down on the world, nor was there any intention to soar through the nine heavens. It wasn't even as lively as that skeleton of the Thunder Dragon from before, except for being slightly more beautiful in appearance. The rest was hardly different from domesticated animals. A true dragon would never willingly pull a cart for someone. Think about Old Thunder Dragon, it was because the leopard had once made it pull a cart that it harbored resentment for tens of millions of years, and even gave its life to kill the leopard. Perhaps this Green Dragon really couldn't be called a dragon anymore.

  Just as she was feeling a pang of regret for the green dragon, the curtain of the carriage was lifted by a guard, and a young man with a jade crown walked out from behind the curtain. When Xiao Yao saw the man's face clearly, she couldn't help but sigh: this person is truly a celestial being, a precious jade!

  Anyone who cultivates the Tao, because they can attract the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, if not for their special skills and methods, will have a more outstanding appearance than ordinary people. Among them, there are also those with exceptional beauty. She had thought that people like Fang Yan, Fang Yi Yao, and Liu Qian Bi were already among the most outstanding in terms of appearance, but today, after seeing this young man, she suddenly felt that her own vision was still too narrow. There were actually men in this world who shone as brightly as the sun and moon. His appearance, his demeanor - no words could do them justice. Moreover, due to his powerful aura, not only Xiao Yao, but everyone present had a moment of stunned silence. Many female cultivators even blushed, their eyes filled with admiration and adoration.

  With such a man in front, the four people who came later were almost completely ignored by the crowd, and all eyes remained on that man.

  Xiao Yao slightly composed herself and looked at the other four people. Among them, there was only one woman, whose appearance was also extremely good-looking, with a slender figure. However, after seeing the person in front, this beautiful face seemed somewhat duller by comparison. Another man standing shoulder-to-shoulder with her had a tall and sturdy build, with long hair scattered about, wearing a silver-white mask on his face, only revealing tightly pursed lips. Behind these two people were two elderly men: one had black hair, was full of energy, stood up straight, and had sharp eyes; the other had white hair, hunched back, held a cane in his hand, and had closed eyes, being blind.

  As they watched the five people fly to the front of the main viewing platform, the heads of the aristocratic families or the leaders of the sects who were originally seated on the main viewing platform stood up and saluted respectfully. Only after the five people sat down did they sit around them. As for the noblewomen who had spoken out earlier, they all stared at the man in front, their eyes filled with adoration and infatuation.

  Xiao Yao learned from the surrounding discussions that the man who seemed like a celestial being was the Star Master Bai Yuzi, and the four people behind him were his beloved concubine Liu Li Ji, the great manager of the White Jade Villa Wan Chuan Ling Jun, the first great master of the Earth Jue Xing district's alchemy Wan Jia Ling Jun, as for the identity of the blind old man, no one knew, and the crowd was full of guesses.

  Everyone on the main stage was seated, all staring at Bai Yuzi. Fu Chun stood beside him and reported: "All participating masters have arrived, may I ask if the host can start the competition?"

  Bai Yuzi said: "Today, I am just a spectator, Fu Chun does not need to ask for my opinion, everything is up to you to arrange."

  Fu Chunde gave the order, and immediately passed on the sound to the elder who led the crowd of officials in the arena. In a moment, the elder used a voice that could be heard by everyone in the arena: "The time has arrived! The competition begins! Please present the question box!"

  As soon as the voice fell, a long-bearded male monk walked up from behind and presented a black wooden box. The old man did not take it with his hands, but instead recited two sentences in his mouth, after which a scroll burst out of the box with a "click" sound, slowly unfolding in mid-air until everyone present could see its contents clearly before stopping its transformation.

  "Jiǔ Lóng Zhēn?" Xiao Yao muttered to herself, the name sounding like a type of needle-like artifact.

  "This is the topic for this preliminary round, all masters only need to forge a 'Nine Dragon Needle' within half a month. Half a month later, we will select the two strongest among you based on your forged 'Nine Dragon Needle' to participate in the final round two years later. Before that, the equipment temple has already prepared the refining room for you, where there are the necessary materials and tools for forging this instrument, as well as some notes about the competition. If you have no questions, you can now proceed to the refining room. After entering the room, please hang your jade plaque on the door so that we can register."

  This question is quite ordinary and not intentionally difficult, but everyone has been tempering a magic weapon. It's not easy to stand out from over a hundred people. If the attainments are similar, it will be hard to distinguish between good and bad. However, this is also the fastest way to eliminate a large number of contestants. It's like being explicitly told: if you want to get a spot, bring out all your skills and create a gap with others. Only those with the highest attainments are needed here.

  Since there were no loopholes in the test questions, and there was also a competition rule explanation in the Alchemy Room, Xiao Yao didn't ask any more questions and followed the crowd to the back of the Alchemy Room.

  It has to be said that the Er Zong Tang side is very well-prepared for the competition, with a row of cultivation rooms lined up one by one, surrounded by seals that isolate external interference. The rooms are optional, and naturally, the items placed in each room are the same. Contestants only need to enter and hang their own jade sign at the door, indicating that someone is already inside.

  Xiao Yao casually chose an empty room, hung the jade plaque on the door and entered the house, closing the large door tightly. She roughly looked around, this refining room was just the right size, with a simple wooden table placed inside, several jade slips were placed on the table, under the table there was a large trunk, the trunk was full of refining materials, at the back of the house was an instrument stone platform, grinding water tank. There was no furnace or forging equipment here, after all, each master had their own accustomed tools, so these were not prepared either.

  Next, she calmly browsed through the jade slips on the table one by one. Except for one that was the competition rules, the remaining three were all equipment diagrams. Any equipment master knows that each equipment diagram is independent, and if the materials on the equipment diagram are slightly modified, the resulting magical equipment will be completely different. In other words, among these three equipment diagrams, only one belongs to the "Nine Dragon Needle", and the other two are fake. As for which one is real, it's likely that the equipment master has to judge for themselves.

  In the Jade Volume, there is a detailed description and picture of "Nine Dragon Needles". Xiao Yao also checked the materials in the box below, and found that each material needed for the instrument had one copy, but the three instruments had overlapping materials. Everything indicates that there is only one chance to forge, no extra materials to try, if you choose the wrong instrument, it means you're out!

  In an instant, she slightly curved the corners of her lips, and a hint of excitement flashed in her eyes as she faced the challenge: No wonder the previous questions were so ordinary, it turned out that the crux was hidden here. It can be seen that Bai Yubieyuan is quite careful about this preliminary round. In that case, she must also go all out.

  Not to mention Xiao Yao's morale was high in the refining room, when all the participants entered the refining room, the front yard of the temple returned to calm. The viewing platform was still there, but the audience had moved to the middle courtyard.

  In fact, the Refining Equipment was not like a martial arts competition, and one could just watch from the sidelines. Saying it was a spectator sport was just going through the motions. The various families and sects had almost all come for Bai Yuzi, wanting to build a good relationship with this Star Master. Unfortunately, after all the equipment masters entered the Refining Equipment room, Bai Yuzi left with the four people from the Fang family's carriage, without intending to pay attention to those aristocratic families at all.

  In the Baiyu Bieyuan, Baiyu Zi sat upright in the main hall, listening to Wan Chuan Ling Jun and Liu Li Ji report on various matters concerning Meishan Fudao and the Bieyuan.

  Although this is his other courtyard, there are few people coming and going, and even in hundreds of years, he has not come once. Today, if it were not for the preliminary round, he would not have come to see it in such a short time of 100 years.

  Most of what Wan Chuan reported were trivial matters, and even if there was something big, he believed in Wan Chuan's abilities, so he listened for half an hour, gently rubbing his brow with his hand, a hint of impatience gradually appearing in his eyes.

  At this time, Luliang Fei stepped forward and softly said: "Master Xing is probably tired. Why not take a short rest? Let me serve you some of your favorite snacks and your beloved 'Luan Feng Tea' to dispel the fatigue from traveling."

  She raised her eyes and saw that her charming smile was tinged with concern, her cheeks still flushed from his gaze. He knew that Luli had always been deeply devoted to him, but she was not the one in his heart, if only that person could treat him this way too, it would be great, just...

  He slightly lowered his eyelids, covering up the momentary loss, and said: "Alright, let's also call for Jingwu and Jingzhen, I haven't seen them in a long time."