Treasure-hunting: Into the Unknown

Anyone who had the slightest knowledge of weapon refining could see that there was something special about the Ghostly Fire Furnace. It was no ordinary weapon refining aid. Everyone quickly realized that Zachary would choose to use this Imperial Level furnace to forge his weapon. Many tools were too inferior to be used on high-grade weaponry, and so all who were present coveted the Ghostly Fire Furnace. They stared at the furnace with greedy expressions.

"It looks like that's a precious weapon refining aid in and of itself. I've never seen anything like that before. The aura it's emitting makes it clear that it's an weapon refining aid of Imperial Level or higher. Katrina, did you give that to Harley in order to win the competition?" Marvin asked. He had been quite surprised at the casual, easy way that Zachary brought out a weapon refining aid that was a treasure in its own right. Naturally, he thought Katrina had been the one who prepared this for Zachary. He did not believe Zachary was strong or powerful enough to obtain something so precious on his own.

But Katrina also looked surprised. She had not suspected that Zachary owned anything like the Ghostly Fire Furnace. She had no idea where he had gotten his hands on such a treasure. But she was hesitant to admit that when Marvin had put her on the spot. She said, trying to sound nonchalant, "Yes, I asked him to use it when he reaches the finals, but I believe he may have decided to use it now because he is not confident of winning here in the second round. I apologize if it's not allowed."

"It is clear that you are determined for him to succeed," Marvin replied. He had previously thought that Katrina had no interest in the weapon refining contest. After all, the King Level disciples from the Celestial College were no match for the disciples of the Shura College. But it seemed he had been wrong—he had underestimated Katrina's ambition. For her to prepare an Imperial Level weapon refining aid for Zachary was something out of the ordinary. It meant she truly wanted her people to win the competition.

Still, Marvin was not unduly concerned. No matter how powerful the tool Zachary was using, Marvin was confident he wouldn't be able to beat the disciples of the Shura College. Even with his special furnace, Zachary would likely manage to craft only a Heaven Level weapon, at most. In their group, almost everyone's strength was at the King Level, and any one of them would probably defeat Zachary with relative ease.

"Dad, what do you think is Harley planning with the Ghostly Fire Furnace? It shouldn't be ne

ally, one nervous King Level disciple made a mistake. In an instant, his weapon exploded, and he was knocked out of the competition.

The explosion rattled some of the other disciples. Within a few minutes, another disciple met the same fate, with his weapon exploding and ending his chances of victory.

There were only sixteen disciples left. Only Zachary and Polly had Heaven Level strength. Everyone else was at the King Level.

Polly knew her chances of making it through were slim. Still, she was determined to do her best. This competition was a chance to improve herself even if she didn't win, not to mention the fact that she couldn't stand the thought of Zachary beating her. Indeed, she cared less about all the others than about Zachary. To her, he was the only opponent that mattered.

It was the final round now. The atmosphere grew almost unbearably tense. Even the spectators were holding their breath, staring at the disciples as they refined their weapons.

Everyone wore expressions of utmost seriousness and concentration as they focused on the tasks at hand. Some made mistakes, but were able to fix them in time. Almost every disciple was working steadily, but becoming tenser as well.

Zachary alone looked calm and relaxed. His weapon model was still burning in the Ghostly Fire Furnace, and had not moved on to the next step of refinement. No one could tell if he had thrown in the towel, or if he was deliberately being mysterious. He was not following the same steps as the others.

Watching Zachary, Queenie and her companions had grown worried and impatient. They stood in the crowd, fidgeting.

"What the hell is he doing? He hasn't even begun the refining yet!" Queenie muttered irritably.