“Yes, yes.” Everyone nodded in unison, making Leng Xiaoyu not know whether to laugh or cry.

“Today is the first match. Do you need to hold back?” Lü Tao asked in confusion.

“The first and second rounds of the competition test the basics of refining equipment, so there’s nothing to hold back,” Leng Ruoxue explained with a light smile. In her opinion, the first two rounds of the competition were extremely important, and it was also the easiest to get points. Therefore, it wouldn’t be worth it if anyone held back in these two rounds.

“Oh! Good luck Old Man Zao!” Lü Tao hurriedly shouted when she saw that the old man had already walked into the arena.

When Old Man Zao heard Lü Tao’s voice, he even waved at them with a relaxed expression.

A moment later, with a whistle from the host, the first round of the artificer competition officially began.

There were nearly a thousand artificers participating in the competition this time, and the scene of so many people refining weapons at the same time was also quite spectacular. As the test was the basic skills of refining, their steps were basically the same. The final judgment depended on whose refining technique was more proficient.

Old Man Zao methodically placed the materials into the furnace one by one. Then, he watched very patiently as the materials melted, purified, finally fixed, and tempered. The entire set of movements was as smooth and natural as flowing water. Even though he was not the first to complete the refinement, his expression was the most relaxed.

While Old Man Zao was refining, Mo Yan and Liu Feng, who were at the judges’ seats, had also been paying attention to him. After seeing him finish refining, the two of them couldn’t help but look at each other and smile. They were still very confident in the strength of this inconspicuous disheveled old man. In their opinion, the first two matches were as if they were tailor-made for the disheveled old man. It wasn’t difficult for him at all.

After all the artificers on the field had finished refining, the first day of the competition officially ended. However, the results of the first competition could not be immediately evaluated. After all, there were too many people participating in the first competition. Therefore, the results could only be announced in the afternoon.

After the competition ended, Leng Ruoxue and the others immediately returned to their residence.

After returning to the courtyard, Feng Da and the others surrounded Old Man Zao and asked him questions with concern.

“Little Xue’er, why don’t you go and ask?” Leng Qianye couldn’t help but ask curiously when he saw Little Xue’er’s calm expression.

“What’s there to ask? I know Old Man Zao’s strength very well,” Leng Ruoxue said with a light smile. In her opinion, there was no problem for Old Man Zao to enter the top three. She had also carefully observed the few people that the Cheapsake Old Ancestor had reminded them to pay attention to. Among those few people, only one person’s basic skills was comparable to Old Man Zao’s. As for the other artifact masters participating in the competition, they were naturally not within her consideration. However, she could not rule out the possibility of a dark horse jumping out, so she set the top three for Old Man Zao.

“Haha! Don’t worry. I can’t say anything else, but I’m still very confident in my basic skills.” At this moment, Old Man Zao walked over and patted Leng Qianye’s shoulder.

“That’s good,” Leng Qianye said in relief.

Leng Ruoxue and the others were extremely relaxed, but Mo Yan and Liu Feng were not in a good mood.

In the meeting room of the Artificer Association.

At this moment, even though the conference room was filled with people, there was silence. Everyone present did not dare to breathe as they stole a glance at Mo Yan and Liu Feng, who had dark faces.

“President Yao, is this the ranking you evaluated?” Mo Yan narrowed his eyes and asked unhappily.

At this moment, he was very angry and even angrier! Hmph! These guys were really too lawless. Did they really think that he and Liu Feng were dead? They actually dared to bring such results in front of them and ask for their approval?

“Yes, this is the unanimous opinion of all of us judges,” Yao Yuan said confidently. With his backing, he would not be so afraid when facing Mo Yan and Liu Feng.

“Bring out the equipment they refined. We want to check it ourselves,” Liu Feng said with a cold glint in his eyes. Damn it. Old Man Zao that he and Mo Yan both thought highly of was actually ranked 51st by these people. With such a ranking, even if Old Man Zao obtained first place in the last four rounds, the championship would probably fall to someone else.

“His Excellency Liu Feng, this is against the rules. You are also mistrusting our work as judges,” Yao Yuan said boldly. Fortunately, he was already prepared. Otherwise, when Liu Feng made such a request, he really didn’t know what to do!

Actually, he was very confident when he said that. Under normal circumstances, Mo Yan and Liu Feng would not pay too much attention to the first few matches, so it would be relatively easy for him to do something if he wanted to. However, he did not have the guts to do that for the last three matches.

Even though he was prepared to be attacked by Mo Yan and Liu Feng, he did not expect them to really ask. They even wanted to check personally. This was absolutely not allowed. If they really checked, the tricks they did would be exposed.

“Against the rules? The rules are dead, but people are alive. Moreover, the rules are all set by us. If we want to check, do you dare to disagree?” Liu Feng questioned coldly.

“Sir Liu Feng, if you really want to check, how can I dare to disagree! However, you clearly don’t trust us. In that case, what’s the point of us being judges?” Yao Yuan looked at Yin Rumei and said with an extremely aggrieved expression.

“You’re right. I just don’t trust you. If any of you don’t want to be a judge, you can bring it up now,” Liu Feng said without being threatened.

“Sir Liu Feng, are you really going to do this?” Yao Yuan made up his mind.

“That’s right. Which one of you doesn’t want to be a judge? Tell me in advance!” Liu Feng said with certainty.

“Alright! Then we won’t be judges anymore,” Yao Yuan said loudly.

“You? I’m sorry, President Yao. You can only represent yourself, but not them,” Liu Feng said mockingly. Did this Yao Yuan really think that everything would be fine with that b*tch Yin Rumei backing him up? Hmph! He thought too highly of that woman.

“Tell His Excellency Liu Feng that you don’t have to be judges anymore,” Yao Yuan shouted at the judges. Most of the judges for this competition were the presidents of the various branches in the Divine Continent, so he was still very confident in his appeal.