At the last moment, Xu Hei surpassed everyone in just a few breaths and took first place, causing quite a stir.
With a total of five teams, if one team pulls ahead, they are sure to be targeted by the others.
"The nail that sticks out gets hammered down. Xu Hei has never liked being in the spotlight; he'd rather settle for a middle ranking."
"Heh, what kind of nonsense is this, trying to be a strategist? With skills like that, you might as well put a dog's head on your face and be a dog-headed strategist," Hei Huang couldn't resist mocking the neighboring team.
Li Si was fuming, but remembering the opponent's sharp teeth and the dull ache in his thigh, he knew he couldn't gain any advantage. He snorted coldly and ignored them.
"Say what you will, but once this is over, none of you will escape!" Li Si's eyes were venomous.
Lei He and Bai Luo seemed confident, not at all worried about the unfavorable start.
"The second round, sword forging!"
Mo Wuyou laid out a pile of oddly shaped metal materials on the ground.
The pile consisted of irregularly shaped stones, entirely pitch black with a hint of deep purple, twinkling with starlight, as if infused with some strange energy.
"Is this meteorite iron from beyond the heavens?"
Hei Huang's eyes narrowed with greed.
"Explain," Xu Hei asked.
"Heavenly meteorite iron, as the name suggests, is stone that falls from the sky. The materials are bizarre, but all contain the power of the stars. If refined properly, even trash can become treasure. The key lies in that trace of star power."
Hei Huang rubbed his paws together, looking somewhat excited.
Mo Wuyou's voice spread out: "Forge a sword! Within the limited seven days, use these materials to forge a flying sword. The ranking will be based on the quality of the sword, following the same rules as the first round."
"You have the time of a stick of incense to prepare."
Immediately, all the teams gathered to discuss their next steps.
Xu Hei frowned and asked, "Are you going to participate in this round?"
"Aren't you trying to control the score? If I participate, there won't be any suspense," Hei Huang replied.
Xu Hei was taken aback. It was surprising that Hei Huang would support him in controlling the score.
Wasn't this old dog usually very high-profile?
"Wait, if you do this..."
Hei Huang crawled over and whispered something to Xu Hei, leaving him dumbfounded.
After a stick of incense, each team had chosen their participant.
With a wave of Mo Wuyou's hand, everyone was drawn into the circle of light.
This time, all five teams chose to participate.
The Heavenly Puppet Sect sent their strongest, Lei He, while the Bai Family sent their top sword cultivator, Bai Que.
The Myriad Treasure Pavilion brought out Han Te, a master swordsmith with flying swords all over his body.
"Pay me more, you must pay me more!" Han Te had planned to be lazy, but ended up having to take the stage himself, which made him very unhappy, feeling like he had lost hundreds of thousands.
The Chu Tian Alliance sent Zhang Tie, and Xu Hei represented his own side.
In the center of the five participants lay a large pile of irregular heavenly meteorite iron. They looked similar in appearance, but the materials were surely different.
This was also a test of one's discernment!
Stones falling from the sky couldn't all be the same; the materials could vary greatly. The only commonality was that they all contained star power.
"Choose the right material and forge the strongest sword. Remember, each person can only choose one piece, and once chosen, there's no going back."
"In this round, interference with others is prohibited. Violators will be expelled!" Mo Wuyou announced.
While interference was prohibited, there were no barriers between them. In essence, it was still up to each person's ability to maneuver within the rules.
The four of them focused ahead, their divine senses scanning each piece of meteorite iron, hesitant to decide. Since they could only take one piece and couldn't change their minds, they had to choose carefully.
But if they took too long, someone else might snatch the piece they wanted.
Zhang Tie only observed for a few breaths before stepping forward to grab a millstone-sized piece of meteorite iron.
Then, one by one, others went up to choose their desired materials.
Xu Hei approached the largest piece of meteorite iron, which stood five meters tall, like a massive meteorite. The butcher's arms wrapped around the giant stone, trying to lift it, but couldn't move it.
He controlled the butcher, using all his strength and even channeling black True Qi, barely managing to lift it.
"What is he thinking?"
Zhang Tie didn't quite understand.
Taking such a large piece, how long would it take to refine? The time limit was only a week!
Moreover, the quality of the flying sword wasn't solely dependent on the material's value; it had to suit the user.
Lei He showed a disdainful expression; no tricks would work in this round.
"So heavy! With this weight, it must contain top-grade materials!" Xu Hei was thrilled and directly stored the meteorite iron in his storage bag.
Then he said to Mo Wuyou, "I forfeit."
The crowd was in an uproar.
Even the confident Lei He was stunned, clearly not expecting this development.
A brief silence fell over the surroundings.
"Forfeit?" Mo Wuyou looked at him for a while and asked, "Are you sure?"
"Yes, I forfeit. I'm no match for these people; I just wanted to grab a piece of material and leave," Xu Hei answered honestly.
This left everyone speechless.
No wonder Xu Hei chose the largest piece; he planned to grab it and run, not aiming for any ranking.
You have to admit, this move was quite practical. No one would have thought of this, as only a weirdo like Xu Hei would think of controlling the score, while others didn't have this awareness at all.
"Alright, the Earth Team loses one point, leaving twelve."
With a wave of Mo Wuyou's hand, Xu Hei was directly sent flying out, back to the outside of the circle of light.
Meanwhile, the others sat in their respective positions, calming their minds and observing their materials.
"Forfeiting is also a wise choice, at least he knows his limits!" Liu Chengfeng sneered inwardly.
"A team of three demonic beasts winning once is just good luck; losing consistently is more reasonable," Yin Mingzi nodded in agreement.
"Quick, take it out and let's see!" Hei Huang said excitedly.
Xu Hei took out the five-meter-diameter meteorite iron, entirely dark with a purple glow, the largest in size, and almost too heavy for him to move, showing how dense it was.
Hei Huang sniffed it with his nose, tapped it with his paw, and praised, "If I'm not mistaken, it should contain about ten percent star purple gold, five percent Tianxuan divine sand, twenty percent Orient Loong God rock, fifty percent mysterious steel, and the rest are impurities."
Xu Hei didn't understand a word and asked, "Can you speak human language?"
"It's very valuable!" Hei Huang replied.
"Got it," Xu Hei nodded.
By now, the participants in the arena had already begun melting their materials.
Hei Huang cut open the material, extracting some purple substance, and said, "Little Xu, why not try forging a flying sword for yourself? After all, you're not doing anything else."
"Me? Forge a flying sword?"
Xu Hei was momentarily stunned.
He had never forged a flying sword before; his previous ivory flying sword was simply carved into shape and used directly.
He had refined one of Zhou Qing's blood-kill swords, though.
"You're almost at Core Formation; how can you not have your own life-bound flying sword? Give it a try; I've prepared all the materials for you," Hei Huang encouraged.