The second morning of the gathering broke over Sacred Flame Peak with fiery intensity.
A golden-red mist rolled across the Grand Exhibition Plaza as the rising sun lit up the massive caldera. Tens of thousands of spectators had filled the basalt stands long before dawn.
The previous day's tie between Yan Feng of the Scarlet Sun Palace and Senior Brother Ma Teng of Black Tortoise Mountain had only stoked the fire between the two sects. Everyone knew the real contest was just beginning.
High on the central pavilion, Elder Duan rose from his seat.
*DONG——!*
The ancient bronze bell chimed across the amphitheater.
"The second day begins," Elder Duan announced calmly. "Let the morning group take the stage."
From the western pavilion, a lone youth in crimson robes stepped forward.
Unlike the noisy disciples around him, this young man walked with cold, sharp focus. He was thin, with sharp eyes that burned like hot coals. At his belt hung an intricate golden spindle with three fire crystals.
*Huo Zhen.*
The moment his name was called, whispers rippled through the stands.
"That's Huo Zhen... the top disciple of the Solar Flame Caverns!"
"They say he spent seven years sitting in rivers of molten lava, training his senses until he could see individual sparks of fire!"
In the VIP box of the Scarlet Sun Palace, Chi Yao smiled coldly, watching Huo Zhen walk down. Beside her, Grand Elder Yan Lie stroked his crimson beard with complete confidence.
Huo Zhen crossed the amber barrier and stood before the dark mace.
He didn't touch it right away. For twenty breaths, he closed his eyes, breathing slowly to match the natural heat of the weapon.
Then, his eyes snapped open.
With a flick of his wrists, the golden spindle split into three floating needles—the *Triple-Solar Resonance Probes*.
Huo Zhen sent three threads of solar flame into the needles. They began to spin with high-speed vibrations, making a soft, clear hum that matched the mace's internal grain.
He guided the spinning needles toward the head of the mace.
The moment the tips hovered above the surface, the dark stone flared with deep crimson light. But unlike previous crafters whose senses had bounced off, Huo Zhen didn't force his way in. He used the needles' vibrations to gently follow the weapon's natural fire paths.
For nearly two hours, Huo Zhen stood frozen like a stone statue. Sweat dripped down his forehead and instantly turned to steam. The three needles spun faster and faster, turning golden-white as they measured the heat inside the sealed core.
With only a few minutes left, Huo Zhen's eyes went wide with shock.
His hands shook as he pulled back his needles. Without waiting, he pulled out a jade slip and carved his findings into the stone at lightning speed.
When the bell rang, Huo Zhen walked straight to the judges' terrace. He held his head high, his voice ringing with absolute certainty.
"Core Smith Huo Zhen of Scarlet Sun Palace submits his report on the *Volcanic Annihilation*," he announced, handing the glowing jade slip to Elder Duan.
The judges placed the slip onto the projection array. A giant glowing diagram appeared in the sky for the entire arena to see.
Elder Duan's eyes narrowed. Beside him, an appraiser from the Star River Alliance nearly dropped his teacup.
"Is this... is this confirmed?!" the elder gasped.
Huo Zhen took a step forward, his voice cutting through the quiet.
"Every smith knows that Domain weapons have one fatal flaw: they drain massive amounts of spiritual energy from their wielder," Huo Zhen declared. "A cultivator can usually only keep a weapon domain active for a short time before running out of Qi."
He paused, looking across the vast crowd.
"However, my analysis proves that the *Volcanic Annihilation* does NOT constantly drain its user's energy!"
*BOOM——!*
The stadium exploded with noise. Spectators jumped from their seats, disciples shouted in disbelief, and even the monks of the Demon Suppression Temple opened their eyes in shock.
A domain weapon that didn't drain its user's Qi? In battle, that wasn't just a weapon—it was an endless engine of war!
"Silence!" Elder Duan's voice boomed over the crowd, stopping the noise as the judges checked the energy equations on the screen.
After several tense minutes, Elder Duan let out a heavy breath.
"The findings... are verified," Elder Duan announced, his voice serious. "The internal core is forged as a self-sustaining thermal loop. It draws heat from the environment and recycles the shock of its own strikes, feeding that energy straight back into the volcanic core. The user only needs a small spark to start it; the weapon sustains the fire by itself."
Grand Elder Yan Lie burst into a loud, triumphant laugh that echoed across the peaks.
"Hahaha! Well done, Huo Zhen!" Yan Lie cheered, slapping his chair with pride. "The true nature of fire is eternal circulation! Let the world see: when it comes to the Dao of Flame, only the Scarlet Sun Palace stands at the peak!"
In the guest box, Scarlet Sun disciples cheered wildly, waving red banners. Chi Yao smiled smugly, casting a mocking glance at Black Tortoise Mountain.
The mood on the host benches turned dark.
Elder Huo sat with his arms crossed, his knuckles white, his jaw clenched tight. Beside him, Senior Brother Ma Teng looked down in defeat.
"A self-circulating heat loop..." Ma Teng muttered in shame. "We spent hours on the rock structure yesterday, and we completely missed the internal battery..."
The pressure on Black Tortoise Mountain was suffocating. To have their bitter rivals win on their own home turf was a massive humiliation.
***
Down on the eastern tiers, sitting quietly in plain grey robes, was "Mu Tie"—Fang Lin.
Fang Lin looked at the glowing diagram in the sky with a calm expression.
*He's sharp,* Fang Lin thought, acknowledging Huo Zhen's skill. *To map the heat loop with just three needles and Core Formation senses is very impressive.*
However, looking at the wildly cheering Scarlet Sun disciples, a dry amusement crossed Fang Lin's mind.
Huo Zhen had found the heat loop. But because he only understood fire, he missed the most dangerous part: he couldn't explain *why* the extreme heat didn't blow the brittle stone apart from the inside.
A self-circulating fire engine inside a stone shell was just a bomb waiting to go off. The only reason the mace didn't detonate was because the seventy-two-strike heavy-forging grain constantly spread the thermal pressure evenly through the rock.
Huo Zhen saw the roaring flame, but he was completely blind to the solid earth keeping it contained.
Inside his soul sea, the Dark Flame Spirit was lying on a bed of black fire, tossing a flaming spark like a ball while giggling in mockery.
*Look at that old rooster Yan Lie crowing like he just ascended to heaven!* the spirit laughed. *They found one little loop of fire and think they conquered the world! If they tried to build a weapon from that half-baked paper, the moment they turned on the domain, the hammer would blow their arms off!*
*Which is why half-truths are more dangerous than knowing nothing,* Fang Lin replied calmly in his mind.
*DONG——!*
The bronze bell rang again, cutting through the noise.
"The next group will now proceed," the deacon called out from the stage. "Core Smiths of the sixth batch, step forward!"
The deacon read the list:
"Thousand Hammer Pavilion, Lu Tao! Scarlet Sun Palace, Zhao Yan! ... Mountain-Core Division of Black Tortoise Mountain, Gu Chen!..."
The moment Gu Chen's name was called, the disciples of the Mountain-Core Division cheered loudly, banging their iron gauntlets against the railings.
"Go, Brother Gu! Show these fiery peacocks the true strength of Black Tortoise Mountain!"
Elder Huo leaned over the railing, his eyes locked on the broad-shouldered youth walking down the steps. "Gu Chen has spent four years hammering deep-earth ore under heavy gravity. If anyone from our younger generation can find the mineral backbone of that mace, it's him."
Beside Elder Huo, Fang Lin sat quietly, taking a slow sip of warm tea. His golden registration token hung untouched at his waist.
With the crowd buzzing in anticipation, Gu Chen strode down the basalt steps with heavy, confident strides, stepping onto the stage.
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