Four hours passed, and a loud noise was heard from somewhere As everyone looked, white smoke slowly billowed upwards from that place, like clouds on a clear sky. It appeared that one of the weapons that were being refined had exploded.
The spectators in the nearby vicinity descended into a chaos of shouts and questions.
It was fairly common for a weapon to explode during the refining process. It was usually caused by disciples who fell victim to their anxiety and consequently became careless in their haste to win the competition. Weapon refining, however, was a process that should be done in a systematic and careful manner, and patience was a key ingredient for its success. Disciples who acted carelessly usually committed mistakes that led to their failures, and explosions were bound to happen.
For the disciples of King Level who entered the second round, they were experienced, so there was only a small chance for them to make this mistake.
The atmosphere had already been tense earlier, but after the explosion, the disciples were even more aware of the mistakes they could make. It made them tenser, which could only lead to more mistakes.
In the competition area where Zachary was in, Adam had reached the fourth step of weapon refining. He was going to proceed to the final step of quenching soon.
Meanwhile, Zachary had barely progressed. He had just thrown the four materials, which had been cast, into the furnace. A moment later, the furnace was filled with thick smoke, and then it began to vibrate.
The buzzing sound it made grew louder with every passing second. The spectators around the arena shook their heads in dismay, as they all thought that Zachary was just refining indiscriminately, and he was about to make a big mistake.
All the disciples from the Celestial College, including Queenie, watched with bated breaths. They were terrified that Zachary would make a mistake.
"He is making a mess!" Polly, who was standing on the viewing platform, chimed in.
"His refining order is totally different from normal. I haven't seen anything like this," Pollard muttered. The deafening sound that was coming from the furnace was worrying him as well.
It was becoming louder, and it was echoing all over the place as if the furnace was about to explode.
Some of them jumped in surprise when Zachary banged on the furnace, but to their complete astonishment, it fell silent.
It was like magic to them. The furnace which was about to explode was silenced by him with a single gesture. They wondered what he did to calm the furnace down.
Another two hou
re," said Marvin. He was quiet, but no less surprised than the people around him.
"Amazing! He always surprises everyone," Katrina murmured and laughed quietly in amusement. Although she had been used to Zachary's brand of surprise, she had not expected him to cultivate his own energy fire.
The three judges, who had planned to announce the result of the competition, exchanged looks and instantly decided to hold their words. The circumstances had changed, and Adam wasn't the clear winner anymore. Instead, they opted to wait and see what would happen since it was obvious that Zachary had made a breakthrough.
Meanwhile, the audience was watching in anticipation, eager to see what Zachary had been up to for the past hours.
With the constant slap from Zachary, the furnace began to crack and disintegrate. Surprisingly, the liquid in the furnace had been dried up.
Just as the furnace disintegrated completely, a beam of colorful light spread out from it and blinded those who were looking on. The spectators were dazzled by the blinding light, and when they opened their teary eyes, they found a staff-like weapon on the ground, along with the remnants of the broken furnace. Judging from its aura, it was even stronger than the six-star weapon of Heaven Level made by Adam.
"What? It's a seven-star weapon!" someone cried in astonishment.
"Oh my God! He used ordinary materials to cast a seven-star weapon! That's incredible!"
"Is this a dream? This is just too good to be true!"
"That's impossible! How could he do that?" "You must be kidding me!"
Once again, the spectators and even the masters were like fish caught in the storm. Their mouths flapped in bewilderment, dumbfounded by Zachary's skill.