121: Chapter 121 Grade B, Level 1!

Meng Shanshi's reputation was not unfounded; one could see the difference just from the way he hammered and struck.

His set of hammering techniques was known as the Dual-Force Hammering Method.

The Yang Force was like thunder, breaking through and shaping the bone.

The Yin Force was soft and gentle, harmonizing the internal forces and guiding the flow of strength.

This Meng Shanshi truly possessed real skill.

His fame and prestige in Da Shun were by no means empty titles.

Many of the surrounding craftsmen were drawn in by his hammering.

With every two strikes, one could see the earthy-yellow Impurities being expelled from the ore.

Compared to the hammering of others, his was not only more labor-efficient but also significantly faster.

In less than an hour, the ore in Meng Shanshi's hands already began to resemble a forged blank.

The subsequent tempering required the aid of scorching fire.

He continued to hammer the red-hot ore to expel the remaining Impurities.

At the same time, this step also required adding some special mineral powders.

To put it simply, this step required both expelling Impurities and adding mineral powders, then achieving Fusion.

Hearing this, even those who didn't quite understand the difficulty could grasp a bit of it.

If expelling Impurities was easy, then adding other mineral powders would be difficult.

And vice versa.

From this step onward, Meng Shanshi displayed his top-tier talent even more.

When adding the mineral powders, he was meticulous and even.

The Yin and Yang forces of his hammering caused the added mineral powders to quickly blend and merge.

This is a Grand Master Craftsman!

The original time allotted was four hours, but Meng Shanshi saved a full hour.

Once everything was done, he stepped away from the workbench.

He left only the forged blank in its place.

The gazes of everyone around were fixed on that forged blank.

Even though others were still hammering and forging, everyone seemed to have lost interest in them.

One by one, they all looked toward Meng Shanshi's work.

The expressions on these craftsmen's faces even showed a very obvious obsession.

In the hearts of these craftsmen, this blank was more precious than many Heaven And Earth Treasures.

Their eyes were truly as if glued to it.

They wanted to see through this blank to Meng Shanshi's core techniques.

But how could such a craftsman's secret methods be so easily understood?

Furthermore, during public demonstrations, craftsmen would include false and deliberate movements to prevent others from stealing their techniques.

Four hours passed, and the second group's competition ended.

The third group of craftsmen took the stage, with another four hours of competition time.

The first day of the forging competition was completely over.

Before dispersing, there remained the most interesting testing segment.

With the help of a specialized Magical Artifact, the quality of these blanks could be tested.

Quality was judged on two levels: hardness and toughness.

According to the Rank arrangement, from high to low, there were four grades: A, B, C, and D.

Each grade was further divided into four levels.

The blank forged by the first craftsman was sent out, and the evaluation result was quickly seen.

Grade C, Level Three.

This result seemed a bit poor...

The Liulin Pass Grand Competition was not a competition for craftsmen of just one country.

The top craftsmen from various countries gathered together; those who came should all be top-tier craftsmen.

One had to at least achieve Grade C, Level One to be considered as passing.

Li Yuan looked at that craftsman; his expression was indeed not very good.

A result of Grade C, Level Three not only failed to earn him fame but might even lead to him being looked down upon.

This Liulin Pass Grand Competition was a disaster for him.

Immediately following was the second person, Grade B, Level Four.

Not bad, they had already reached Grade B.

The ore provided for today's competition was silver horn iron ore.

This kind of ore was not a top-tier material; even if a Grand Master Craftsman were to forge it, they would only get a Grade B, Level One result.

In the understanding of the craftsmen, a rating of Grade B, Level One was the limit for silver horn iron ore.

The limit was a quality that was very difficult to reach.

In today's Liulin Pass Grand Competition, a rating of Grade B, Level Two would very likely take the top prize.

The sky had completely darkened, and torches burned around them, crackling loudly.

By the flickering firelight, everyone continued to watch the testing.

The forged blanks were sent into the testing Magical Artifact one after another.

Grade B-4, Grade B-3, Grade C-1, Grade B-4...

Most of the craftsmen hovered at the bottom of Grade B.

Being able to achieve this result was indeed quite good.

In such a blank, useless Impurities would not exceed ten percent.

A weapon cast from this could be paired with an Eighth-Grade Martial Artist.

But with such a result, it would be difficult to get a good ranking in the Liulin Pass Grand Competition.

Everyone's eyes were fixed; there was still one biggest highlight left.

What level would Meng Shanshi's blank be rated at?

Just looking at his hammering techniques earlier, those in the know could see his extraordinary skill.

What rating he would ultimately get still had to depend on the Magical Artifact's inspection.

Under the firelight, Meng Shanshi's blank was finally sent in.

Soon, the Magical Artifact gave the result.

Grade B, Level One!

It was actually Grade B, Level One.

This result was the limit of silver horn iron ore!

When the result came out, it was accompanied by exclamations of wonder from all around.

The way the other craftsmen looked at Meng Shanshi at this moment was filled with even more admiration.

When their peripheral vision caught Li Yuan, it was with even more sympathy.

Meng Shanshi's influence in the craftsman world was about to rise even further.

The craftsman world was like this; the more superb one's skills, the more weight their words carried.

If he called upon all craftsmen not to forge weapons for Li Yuan,

then the top craftsmen of the world might truly comply.

After that, the results of others were just Grade B-4 or Grade C-1.

The inspection of the sixty blanks ended, and everyone went back to rest.

Li Yuan went back with Vice Dean Shao Lin and the others, whose faces were full of dejection.

Although the Vice Deans were all Martial Artists, they could tell how well Meng Shanshi had performed from the reactions of the other craftsmen.

In their view, Li Yuan personally participating in the competition was definitely just for a bit of fun.

The main purpose was still to befriend excellent craftsmen.

Now that Meng Shanshi had produced such a result, would Li Yuan still have the chance to befriend others?

Thinking of this, Shao Lin and the several Vice Deans couldn't help but look at Li Yuan.

Li Yuan had a calm face, without any anxiety or worry.

Shao Lin followed with a long sigh, marveling that Li Yuan's state of mind was truly good.

After a night's rest, the second day of the competition was also quite exciting.

Several craftsmen achieved a rating of Grade B, Level Two.

But compared to Meng Shanshi's Grade B, Level One, which stood out like a crane among chickens, the gap was still very obvious.

Amidst the discussions on the second day, everyone believed that Meng Shanshi would steadily take the top prize this year.

Another night of rest passed, and the third day finally arrived.

Li Yuan had registered late, so he was scheduled for this last batch to participate in the competition.

The extra people were also mixed in here, together with the final third group.

During the Hour of the Monkey, Li Yuan walked into the central square, stepped onto the workbench, and began hammering.

The technique Li Yuan used was Senior Cui Dao's Seven Vajra Hammering Method.

This technique had long been lost to the world.

There should be many who had heard of this set of techniques, but Li Yuan was likely the only one in this world who had seen it.