However …
Everyone looked at Feng Zhi and Tie Lin, the astonishment in their hearts had also calmed down.
In reality, just based on the bet that Feng Zhi and Tie Lin had made, the wager was a wager that would cause others to be unable to raise their heads for the rest of their lives.
Since it was like this, then Feng Zhi's request could not be considered as anything.
But...
When many people looked at Feng Zhi, their eyes were filled with deep thought.
In the beginning, there were people who treated Feng Zhi as someone who didn't know anything and was only there to watch the show. But having seen Feng Zhi forge artifacts with their own eyes, how could they not know that Feng Zhi was actually the one who hid the deepest?
Since that was the case, before the match was about to be decided, Feng Zhi had suggested to duel with Tie Lin. It was obvious that she was extremely confident in herself.
In that case, Tie Lin would probably make a fool of himself.
Many people came to this conclusion in their hearts.
Being looked at with such a sympathetic gaze by so many people, Tie Lin was so angry that he almost exploded. His anger came from the fighting style proposed by Feng Zhi, but the other part came from the spectators.
But right now, it was already too late for Tie Lin to dismount, so he could only grit his teeth and accept the challenge.
"Since Miss Feng Zhi is so interested, then naturally, I will have to risk my life to accompany you …" Tie Lin said.
Feng Zhi smiled, then raised her blade high up, "Then, come on!"
Once he made up his mind, Tie Lin would be ruthless. Seeing that this fight was unavoidable, he could only throw caution to the wind and raised his long blade high up in the air.
There were two people. One was a tall and sturdy adult male, while the other was a relatively petite female. They were both wielding the same blade. This confrontation made people feel that it was a bit out of place.
Then, both of them swung their blades at each other at the same time.
Even though both sides did not use Qi, the weight of the blade itself was already quite heavy. Adding the force exerted by the two of them, just this swing was enough to cause a mournful whistling sound.
From this, it could be seen that either of the sabers crafted by the two were extremely outstanding.
The speed of the two was extremely fast. In the blink of an eye, the two blades heavily collided against each other.
In everyone's imaginations, once the two blades clashed, even if a victor was determined, it would still be somewhat soul-stirring. For example, sparks would fly in all directions, while the weakest blade would cut a small hole in the middle.
However, no one expected that there was only a "dang" sound.
The two blades collided heavily, emitting a crisp sound. Then …
Under the disbelief of everyone, the originally bright and sharp blade in Tie Lin's hand was cut into two halves just like that …
In the center of the square, even the spectators were silent for a moment.
Later on, it was only the "clang" sound of the broken blade heavily hitting the ground that roused everyone from their daze.
But how was that possible?
For such a situation to occur, it must be because of the huge difference between the two weapons.
However, Tie Lin was already one of the most outstanding young artificers. There were people who were stronger than him by a level, such as the Tang Family's Tang Ning, but there were also young artificers who were much more profound than him …
No matter how incredulous they were, no one could say a single word as they looked at the scene in front of them.
After that, those who had come to their senses and realized what they had seen immediately burst into an uproar.
As for Feng Zhi, she was also being looked at and looked at by the rest as if she was some rare object.
Even the judges from the Refiners' Association all looked at Feng Zhi with shining eyes, as if they were looking at a priceless treasure.
Amidst the clamor, the bell that symbolized the end of the competition rang out.
Thus, this year's Grand Refiner Competition had come to an end.
At this point, the only thing left was to hand in their work for the last three days and wait for the judges to give each of the hundred pieces a higher ranking. This way, they would be able to determine their final rankings and their rewards.
If this was the last step of the Refiners' Competition, many refiners would be apprehensive, waiting for the judges to announce the final result.
But this time, because Feng Zhi and Tie Lin had clashed against each other, they had temporarily forgotten about all their ranking prizes.
The Refiners' Competition happened once every ten years, but such an exciting show had never happened before. Who knew how many refiners' competitions had never passed in the past?
It was also at this time that a majority of people finally understood why the Tang Family had directly pushed Feng Zhi into the top 100.
Those refiners who had previously secretly slandered the Tang Clan for being muddle-headed had also silently suppressed all of their previous anger into the depths of their hearts.
In this atmosphere, the judges also decided the ranking of the 100 pieces, including Tie Lin's large saber that had already been broken into two, according to material processing and matching, refining method, performance of the final product, and so on.
The ranking went from one hundred to the top.
Every time a name is read, at the same time that the Inheritor's heart was set, he who has been called was also anticipating when he would hear Feng Zhi's name.
With the anticipation of more and more blacksmiths who had decided on their rankings, there were only three people who had not been announced in the end.
Feng Zhi, Tang Ning, Tie Lin.
Everyone's eyes swept across the three of them.
These three people were undoubtedly the top three in this Refiners' Competition.
After the ranking was announced, the bet between Feng Zhi and Tie Lin had finally concluded.
"Third place, Iron Forest …"
"Second place, Tang Ning..."
Even if he did not say the last name, there was no longer any suspense.
Many people calmed down at once. Of course, they couldn't help but notice that the Iron family disciple's face had suddenly turned deathly pale.
At this moment, Tang Tian's aged voice rang out.
"..." Now, this old man declares that the champion of this year's Grand Refiner Competition … "
At this moment, fervor flashed across the faces of the tens of thousands of people present.
Then, as if they had gone mad, many people began to shout out one name at the same time.
"Feng Zhi!"
In the audience, Feng Ming and the others were also cheering for Feng Zhi's victory.
The only exception would probably be Long Yan and Feng.
Feng Lai tilted his head and looked at Long Yan who was staring at him with a faint smile on his face. He thought for a moment and asked, "Seeing her become the center of attention, how do you feel?"
Long Yan didn't know what Feng Lai meant by asking such a question, nor did he think much about it. She only stretched out her hands, and made a hugging motion from afar, as if she could embrace Feng Zhi from afar.
"I'm proud of her." Long Yan said.