True Martial World - Chapter 872: Rewards and Conferment

Although the young elites who were present found it unbelievable, the outcome was announced by Yi Yun's opponent, Luo Mo.

They looked at the relic in Yi Yun's hand. It was bluish-purple in color and it looked like a dazzling glass bead. In the middle of it, there was a naturally-formed runic pattern, also known as a Dao pattern.

Dao patterns were the manifestation of the condensation of laws. It was common for them to typically appear in high-grade relics, but they were nearly never seen in low-grade relics.

The seventy-two introductory moves might be described as the Luo clan's technique, but it was prevalent in the entire Ten Thousand Fey Empyrean Heaven. Similar techniques could be found in any lowly-tier sect or family clan's library. It was not even worth mentioning.

This so-called poor technique actually managed to allow him to condense a Dao pattern in the relic?

As the people looked at the relic, before looking at Yi Yun again, they subconsciously moved their Adam's apples.

They even began suspecting that the seventy-two introductory moves that they had learned were faked.

Yi Yun had used the seventy-two introductory moves to refine an 'outstanding'-rated third-grade relic that had condensed a Dao pattern, and it made people feel like a child who had only learned the 'Three Character Classic' had defeated the top scholar.

"I've lost… " Luo Mo looked at the relic and sighed.

In fact, he felt that from the appearance of the relic that Yi Yun refined, it was barely at the 'outstanding' rating. However, the Dao pattern was as clear as it could be. It was a manifestation of Yi Yun's nomological insights.

"What you used was not purely the Luo clan's seventy-two introductory moves, right?" Luo Mo asked. Previously, Yi Yun's technique appeared to have several 'flaws', but from the looks of it now, they knew that their assumptions from before were them being too dumb.

Luo Mo's question was also the question on many people's minds.

Yi Yun nodded and said, "Months ago, when I was researching the Luo clan's Desolate Heaven technique at Mt. Fengling, I felt that there were some spots where there was room for some experimentation. So I attempted it."

Attempted it?

Everyone was rendered immediately speechless. Are you serious!? Just a few nonchalant attempts made him produce an 'outstanding' relic with the seventy-two introductory moves?

"Junior Brother Yi is a genius. I admit my inferiority… " Luo Mo sighed and shook his head.

Luo Mo admitted defeat and left. At the banquet, everyone watched Luo Mo's departing back, especially Luo Kui. He felt his face turn hot, yearning for the ability to simply vanish from the palace.

Previously, he had insisted that Yi Yun had defeated him through luck, so he was extremely indignant after losing. But from the looks of Yi Yun's Desolate Heaven technique, how was he even able to compete with him? Thankfully, he did not continue to compete with Yi Yun. If not, Luo Kui felt that he might as well have torn the skin of his face.

However, didn't Yi Yun only cultivate for only about thirty years? Where did he have the time to practice the Desolate Heaven technique?

After his win over Luo Mo, no one dared to doubt that Yi Yun had won through luck. In fact, there was no one who dared to foolishly challenge Yi Yun anymore.

Yi Yun was one of the rare Desolate Heaven technique geniuses in the Luo clan!

Prince Crimson Firmament looked at Yi Yun, while his lips moved. He then looked at Princess White Fox. With Luo Mo being defeated, the only person on his side who could compete with Yi Yun was Princess White Fox.

Prince Crimson Firmament knew that Princess White Fox's talent was astounding, and it was not only limited to the Desolate Heaven technique.

However, Princess White Fox only smiled and shook her head slightly.

A look of disappointment flashed in Prince Crimson Firmament's eyes, but it was just fleeting.

He smiled at her, before turning his head to look at Yi Yun.

At this banquet, not only had he failed at suppressing Princess Purple Spirit and Empress Xuan, he had also embarrassed himself!

This lower-realm punk, who appeared out of nowhere, had never been thought highly of by him from the very beginning.

But now, Yi Yun was standing in the middle of the banquet, winning fame for himself in a single match!

Princess White Fox also looked at Yi Yun. An odd brilliance flashed in her eyes that seemed to be covered with a thin layer of snow. The seventy-two introductory moves used by Yi Yun as well as the Dao pattern in the relic had left a deep impression on her. This human youth was very special…

At that moment, Empress Xuan suddenly got up. Her slender fingers held up a glass of spirit wine and said, "Elder Sister, this time, Yi Yun, Luo Mo and Luo Kui's performances have already helped add excitement to the banquet, so why don't we end it here?"

With Empress Xuan saying this, it was equivalent to giving Empress Luo a way out of the awkward situation.

In fact, she had to give the way out. Although Yi Yun had used his Desolate Heaven technique at the banquet to help regain her pride, in a battle of true strength, Empress Xuan was still too weak.

Just a single Yi Yun allowed her camp to be peerless in the Desolate Heaven technique, but at the Luo Divine Hall trials, it was a competition of strength, not the Desolate Heaven technique!

Hence, although Empress Xuan was greatly delighted seeing Empress Luo and Crimson Firmament suffer the setback, she had no choice but to take the initiative to provide such a gesture.

Empress Luo had already sat back on her seat. Due to the loss of her composure from before as well as the defeat at the banquet, any discerning person could tell that she did not look happy.

After hearing Empress Xuan's words and then looking at Empress Xuan's obvious good mood, Empress Luo's mood turned even more sullen.

"Younger Sister is right. We should end it here." Empress Luo said.

At that moment, Empress Xuan glanced at Yi Yun and said with a smile, "Yi Yun's performance was not bad and it should be worthy of a reward as a form of encouragement."

"That is natural. Our Luo clan has always had a love for talent. Such a Desolate Heaven technique genius obviously has to be rewarded." Empress Luo said with a nod.

"This Empress shall award Yi Yun three hundred World Stones, twenty fourth-grade relics, and ten fifth-grade Fey bones." Empress Luo said.

Luo Huo'er secretly rolled her eyes. What stinginess!

How do you even have the nerve to give such a tiny reward?

Following that, Luo Huo'er looked at her mother.

"Mother, you must award him more!" Luo Huo'er said with a Yuan Qi voice transmission.

Empress Xuan smiled and said, "Yi Yun is not one of Empress Luo's men after all. It's reasonable for her to give such a small reward. As for me, I will not be stingy. Yi Yun has truly helped us a lot. Huo'er, you are also lucky to have met such an amazing person in the lower realm."

"Hehe, thank you, Mother… " Luo Huo'er said with a happy smile. It was rare for her to be praised.

At that moment, Empress Xuan looked at Yi Yun and said, "This Empress has yet to think of a good reward for you at the moment… Seeing how you are only a normal civilian, This Empress shall confer you a title of nobility. You shall be a first-ranked Viscount, with Xuan Ye Spiritual Mountain as your fief!"

Xuan Ye Spiritual Mountain was a fief that belonged to the Xuan family. Since Empress Xuan was an empress, she naturally had the right to make the decision of conferring Yi Yun with nobility.

And this superior-grade spiritual mountain had been used by the Xuan family as a cultivation ground for their descendants.

But now, it had been awarded to Yi Yun!

A superior grade spiritual mountain, and a first-ranked Viscount title!

When they heard this, the young elites present were amazed and they were also filled with envy.

Previously, Luo Kui had derided Yi Yun's lack of status to sit beside Luo Huo'er. But now, Yi Yun was a first-grade Viscount!

Looking at Luo Kui again, although he came from a large family clan, he did not even have the lowest nobility ranking.

Just having a nobility title, despite the annual salary being low, Yi Yun's status in the Luo clan would be greatly different most importantly!

After all, the brilliance of one background was a result of one's ancestors. However, once one was conferred with nobility, it was because of having a true ability of their own right. Many disciples of the large family clans would never be conferred with nobility in their entire lives.

People who were conferred with nobility had done enough to earn their respect. Just having a first-grade Viscount title forced anyone who wanted to deride Yi Yun's background to rethink if they had the qualifications to even do so!

By giving such a reward, Empress Xuan had clearly taken this point into consideration.

People mocked Yi Yun for his lower realm background, Empress Xuan gave him a superior-grade spiritual mountain. Others felt that he had a lowly status, she gave him a first-grade Viscount title.

Through Empress Xuan's light and calm actions, she had smacked the faces of many people present.

"The Xuan Ye Spiritual Mountain can be given to you now. As for the first-grade Viscount, it requires Emperor Luo to approve of it before an edict is issued."

The so-called approval of Emperor Luo was just a mere formality. Empress Xuan's family clan had the rank of a Duke, so it was nothing to give the title of Viscount.

True Martial World - Chapter 871: Final Rating

A simple comment from Prince Crimson Firmament made everyone's gazes land on Yi Yun.

The young elites present, especially those that were in Prince Crimson Firmament's camp, had looks of schadenfreude on their faces.

For example, Ran Xueyi had lost face because of Yi Yun previously, and now seeing Yi Yun in trouble, he obviously felt great. In the present situation, it would be useless even if Yi Yun had the princess backing him!

"Yi Yun, at this point in time, you can also use other Desolate Heaven techniques. I'm fine with it." Luo Mo suddenly said as he looked at Yi Yun.

He felt that it was just a farce for Yi Yun to use the seventy-two introductory moves to refine a third-grade relic at his age. If Yi Yun were to use another method, there would be something worth watching at least. Only then would his win appear more valuable.

With Luo Mo saying this, everyone praised Luo Mo for his magnanimity. He did not mind Yi Yun's deliberate act of making things difficult for him earlier on. If Yi Yun agreed to it, it would weaken his stance, but he would have a way to step down from this awkward situation instead of standing there in a silly fashion at least.

However, no one expected Yi Yun to say, "I only know the seventy-two introductory moves. The only other things I know are methods from the lower realm. They are even worse than the seventy-two introductory moves, so there's no need to change the rules. Thank you for your good intentions."

With Yi Yun saying this, the expressions of everyone could be as interesting as one wanted. He was truly a wonder of the ages. Even a genius like Luo Mo would only dare to use the seventy-two introductory moves to refine a third-grade relic after deeply researching the Desolate Heaven technique.

If Yi Yun only knew the seventy-two introductory moves, it meant that he was only at the level of a Desolate Heaven apprentice. And as an apprentice, he had the guts to even compete with Luo Mo…

Even Empress Xuan's camp looked at Yi Yun with discomfort. How were they going to smoothen this situation?

At that moment, Yi Yun began. Indeed, he was still using the desolate heaven disk array that should have been thrown in the trash. Yi Yun placed the third-grade Fey bone in an ostentatious manner.

The hourglass was reversed and the sand began to flow downwards!

This set of seventy-two introductory moves was a combination of hand seals for energy extraction, condensing the energy runes and finally, the relic formation.

Yi Yun obviously began with energy extraction. This was the simplest step for him. With the Purple Crystal, he did not even need to form hands seals.

But of course, that would be too startling if he did that.

The first twenty-four moves of the seventy-two introductory moves were related to energy extraction.

This step was extremely critical. Even Luo Mo had formed one seal after another, afraid that he would make a mistake.

However, Yi Yun did not need to mind this. With his two hands together, he extended them outwards and produced a large number of seals in one go. The seals were squished together and they were just sent flooding into the third-grade Fey bone!

"What!?"

People who were familiar with the Desolate Heaven technique were confounded by this scene.

This wasn't him sending the hand seals, it was like he was throwing out the garbage.

Compared to the seals that Luo Mo produced that were beautiful, perfect, and full of life, Yi Yun's hand seals were unbearable for people to watch.

"What is that punk doing? Continuing in this fashion will cause an explosion!"

In the first process of the relic, Yi Yun had used clumsy hand seals, but he had at least completed it them an orderly manner, but this time… it was unknown what there was left to say.

Before people had the time to say anymore, Yi Yun had already begun to condense runic seals and complete the energy structure.

He produced them rapidly as basic runic seals were formed one after another and were augmented onto the Fey bone.

These runic seals looked unremarkable. But in fact, a number of them had been improved by the Purple Crystal.

The essence of relic refinement was to extract energy from the Fey bone before condensing the energy into runic seals. Once they were compressed together, they would become a relic.

The structure of these runic seals was actually the structure that allowed the best trajectories for energy flow.

And in fact, as humans and the Fey race had limited understanding with the laws of energy, the energy trajectories that they designed were still a distant away from being perfect.

However, with the Purple Crystal in his possession, Yi Yun had already come into contact with the trajectory methods of energy that abided to the Origins. Not only could he easily produce perfect runic seals, he could even do extremely tiny improvements to the seventy-two introductory moves!

Just a simple improvement was trivial, but with it accumulated, it would be different!

"Yi Yun has made mistakes in his seals!"

Amongst the young elites present, there were a few who were accomplished in the Desolate Heaven technique. Even though Yi Yun had made the slightest modifications, they could tell at a glance.

"The few seals that Yi Yun formed appear to be somewhat deformed. It's somewhat different from the orthodoxy of the seventy-two introductory moves." Another person said.

As they discussed it, a smile suffused on Prince Crimson Firmament's lips. Prince Crimson Firmament had never learned the Desolate Heaven technique, so he already felt that it was pretty remarkable that Yi Yun had managed to come this far. After all, Yi Yun could still form hand seals. Although the seals that he produced had numerous flaws, which would result in an eventual explosion, it was still much better than sillily standing there doing nothing.

Time had quickly passed and about fifteen minutes was over. Yi Yun's energy seals were almost done. The speed at which he formed seals was two times faster than Luo Mo!

Of course, this was because Yi Yun had dumped all the seals on the Fey bone, saving him a great deal of time.

However, speed alone was useless. The perfection of the relic refinement depended only on the final outcome. If the energy structure was flawed, these runic seals would eventually explode. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

And previously, many of the Desolate Heaven Master had assessed that Yi Yun had many flaws in his technique!

In a blink of an eye, Yi Yun had finished forming the final runic seal.

No one noticed that when more than seventy runic seals were brought together, the tiny modifications that Yi Yun made had resulted in a chain reaction. They merged together and even possessed a hint of a charm.

This was the aura that belonged to the Origins of energy. It was the result of a Great Dao that existed at the formation of the Universe!

However, Yi Yun's cultivation realm was limited after all. Together with the limitations of his technique and the grade of the Fey bone, this formation of Great Dao only appeared for a fleeting moment before it vanished.

Yi Yun sighed slightly. Even with the Purple Crystal, he found it difficult to explore the Origins of the Universe. That level was just too high for him.

Yi Yun's hands clasped together —

Relic formation!

Boom!

A purple beam flashed and shot straight to the ceiling! People involuntarily narrowed their eyes, unsure of what had happened.

Why was there such an intense beam of light?

But there was no doubt that this was definitely not an explosion.

Whew!

Under the intense purple light, a round bead burning with purple flames flew onto Yi Yun's hand. It appeared to have a spirit in it as it floated to the middle of Yi Yun's palm.

The round bead was bluish-purple in color. In the middle of the bead, there was a beautiful texture that meandered like a tiny snake.

Upon seeing this bizarre scene, people did not even manage to react in time.

"That round bead is… a relic?" A Desolate Heaven Master present suddenly said.

The crystalline relic was burning with a purple flame at the moment of its birth.

Yi Yun had actually managed to refine a finished relic? Was this reality!? Wasn't it said that Yi Yun's hand seals were problematic?

Also… what was the rating of this relic? Many people present were unable to come to a judgment. But Empress Luo, who was an expert in the Desolate Heaven technique, had already stared with her widened eyes as she stood up from her seat.

As empress, Empress Luo seldom lost her composure in such a manner.

She looked at the Fey bone relic in Yi Yun's hand with eyes of surprised doubt.

Empress Xuan and the Desolate Heaven Masters present, including Luo Kui and Luo Mo, who was competing with Yi Yun, were stunned as well.

Luo Mo drew a gasp. His handsome face was already turning slightly pale. He mumbled to himself, "A third grade Fey bone relic with the appearance of a runic pattern… 'outstanding' grade!?

Runic pattern?

Outstanding?

The young elites present knew the classification of the grades of relics, even if they were not Desolate Heaven Masters.

It was the emblem of an outstanding grade relic to have a runic pattern condensed on it!

A third-grade relic could only be given the four grades — poor, ordinary, refined and outstanding. Outstanding was already the highest, and higher grades, such as transcendent and spiritual emergence, were only reserved for higher-grade relics.

Refining an 'outstanding' third-grade relic was not difficult for a truly talented Desolate Heaven Master, but… using the seventy-two introductory moves to refine an 'outstanding'-grade relic? Was that even possible?

True Martial World - Chapter 870: Seventy-two Introductory Moves

Typically, only Desolate Heaven apprentices at the Yuan Foundation realm or those lower would use the 'Introduction to Luo Clan's Desolate Heaven Technique' to attempt to refine a first-grade Fey bone. And most of the time, they would not even be able to do well at refining one. Desolate Heaven Masters that were slightly better would not even use such a technique.

Seeing the Fey bone that Prince Crimson Firmament provided, it was most likely one of the best third-grade Fey bones. It was impossible to use such introductory methods to refine such high-grade Fey bones. The failure rate was nearly 100%!

Was Yi Yun trying to increase the difficulty to make Luo Mo fail?

As people had such thoughts, they saw Luo Mo reveal a look of interest. "Interesting, let's compete in that!"

Were they truly going to compete?

The people were somewhat taken aback when they heard hearing Luo Mo's agreement. Luo Mo must truly have confidence while daring to accept the challenge of using only the 'Introduction to Luo Clan's Desolate Heaven Technique' to produce a top-ranking third-grade Fey bone!

If the relic could be refined, it would be shocking, even if it only had a 'poor' rating.

"Yi Yun is doomed. I guess he had deliberately posed a tough problem so that the both of them would fail together and it would be considered a tie. Unfortunately, Luo Mo is a genius. He even has the confidence in such an absurd competition. Now with Yi Yun irrevocably committed, it's too late for him to go back on his word."

"Using the seventy-two introductory moves to refine a top-ranking third-grade relic is unimaginable!"

As people broke out into a flurry of discussion, Luo Mo had already begun. He beckoned with his stretched out hand, attracting the third-grade Fey bone in Prince Crimson Firmament's hand to make it land directly in his palm.

Following that, the tiny golden cauldron above his right hand's fingertip rapidly spun and it increased in size. Soon, it was about three feet in size. With the lid open, Luo Mo threw the Fey bone into it.

Luo Mo glanced at Yi Yun as he had a confident smile on his face. He was certain that Yi Yun was trying to stump him, but he enjoyed this. It would only be considered a challenge for him if he could use the seventy-two introductory moves to refine a third-grade relic. Just beating Yi Yun alone was meaningless.

"Shall we set the time limit to thirty minutes?"

At that moment, Yi Yun suddenly spoke out. Thirty minutes was too short!

Luo Mo frowned slightly. It was a difficult competition with such a short period of time. Yi Yun was truly trying to prevent him from succeeding. Unfortunately, Luo Mo was confident when it came to his speed at using the Desolate Heaven technique.

"Thirty minutes? Sure!" Luo Mo put his hand out, causing his desolate heaven cauldron to flare up with golden light. The runes on the cauldron began to light up as Luo Mo began forming hand seals. Indeed, they were the hand seals of the seventy-two introductory moves. However, the ones that Luo Mo formed were somewhat different.

Did the hands of Luo Mo give life to the somewhat ordinary hand seals? It was like they had come alive.

A Heaven Eminence seal was condensed as it danced in the sky like an alacritous butterfly.

A Fire Willow seal burned like a small fire plume like it was filled with spirit.

As for the Sun Moon seal, it produced a sun and a moon projection that slowly revolved mid-air.

Luo Mo perfectly condensed every hand seal!

Upon seeing this scene, people could only watch with utter amazement. Was it possible to condense the seventy-two introductory moves in such a manner? If not for them seeing Luo Mo's hand seals today, they would never imagine that it was possible to reach such a standard with the most basic hand seals when one's Desolate Heaven technique reached the peak of perfection.

At that moment, an hourglass with markings was placed in the hall.

The sand rapidly flowed downwards as thirty minutes was not a long time.

Luo Mo had already begun, but Yi Yun had yet to make his move.

"Yi Yun, why aren't you beginning?" Prince Crimson Firmament asked, as a derisive grin suffused on the corners of his mouth.

He had asked while knowing the answer. How was it possible for Yi Yun to use the seventy-two introductory moves to extract the energy of a top-ranking third-grade Fey bone?

Yi Yun lightly answered, "There's no hurry. I'll let Young Master Luo go first. I'll begin after he is done."

Yi Yun chose to let Luo Mo go first mainly because Yi Yun did not have a clear understanding of the Luo clan's seventy-two introductory moves.

The information was recorded in a book after all, and it would be different from what he could see.

Previously, Yi Yun had only seen Tao'er use them, but he had never seen the talented Desolate Heaven Masters of the 12 Empyrean Heavens use the seventy-two introductory moves. Yi Yun could not confirm that his own assumptions had already been perfected.

Now, Yi Yun was planning to affirm his hypothesis with the seventy-two introductory moves used by Luo Mo. He was becoming more and more convinced that using the Luo clan's seventy-two introductory moves derived through the Purple Crystal would be perfect in form. It would even be better than the seventy-two introductory moves that had been honed for countless years!

However, Yi Yun's answer made people disdain him when they heard it. He was still insisting on being tough with his words at such a moment in time.

Slowly, more than half the time had passed.

Luo Mo's motions were still as graceful as ever, as though he was showing a beautiful dance. The energy seals that he condensed appeared perfect, and everything had been done to their best.

But in Yi Yun's energy vision, he could see that the energy extracted from the Fey bone in Luo Mo's desolate heaven cauldron was not flawless. There was 30% left at least.

After all, it was only the seventy-two introductory moves used to refine 'poor'-rated first-grade Fey bones. Using it to refine a top-ranking third-grade Fey bone was something even Luo Mo could not do as well as he wished.

Using such hand seals to extract the Fey bone's energy was just too difficult! Although Luo Mo looked unperturbed, he was actually consuming a great deal of mental strength. It was not apparent because he had a lot of mental strength to begin with.

Seconds changed to minutes and the thirty minutes were nearly coming to an end.

At that moment, Luo Mo finally completed his final hand seal. Luo Mo still had some mental energy left, despite such a draining procedure. He precisely controlled more than seventy hand seals as he bound them together.

Relic formation!

Luo Mo also completed the final step perfectly.

"Whew!"

A golden beam flashed as the desolate heaven cauldron violently trembled. The cauldron's lid flew open as a crystalline third-grade relic shot out of the desolate heaven cauldron, and accurately landed on Luo Mo's hand.

Upon seeing this scene, everyone was astounded.

He had truly managed to refine it!

The third-grade relic refined using the seventy-two introductory moves definitely did not look like it had a bad rating from its luster!

People believed that it would already be amazing if he could refine a 'poor'-grade relic. But in Luo Mo's hands, he could make the ugly beautiful.

"Quality evaluation, quasi-refined!"

At that moment, Empress Luo gave her answer. As the Empress of the Luo clan, she too was proficient in the Desolate Heaven technique.

The 'quasi-refined' rating was above 'ordinary', but compared to a true 'refined'-rating, it was still a distance away.

However, considering the refining conditions for Luo Mo, this outcome was already incredulous.

"It's truly my dear Firmament's fortune to have such a talent assisting him." Empress Luo muttered to herself and she was very pleased with Luo Mo.

Prince Crimson Firmament also nodded lightly at Luo Mo.

At that moment, Prince Crimson Firmament suddenly looked at Yi Yun and a teasing smile suffused on his lips . "Yi Yun, it's your turn!"

True Martial World - Chapter 869: Rules of the Competition

"Everyone, let me introduce him. This is Young Master Luo Mo." Prince Crimson Firmament stood up and toasted Luo Mo from a distance.

This simple action was an indication that Luo Mo was one of his men.

Luo Mo gave Prince Crimson Firmament a slight bow. With a glass in hand, he drank the wine in one gulp. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

Luo Mo's behavior had an indescribable free and easy grace. Many of the girls present had a brilliance in their eyes when they saw Luo Mo.

They had also heard of Luo Mo's name when they were in their own states. Although they did not go as far as worshiping him, they would still feel ripples going through their hearts when they encountered such a handsome man who stirred waves in the royal capital.

After drinking the wine, Luo Mo's gaze landed on Yi Yun. He had learned of the situation through a Yuan Qi voice transmission and he was aware of the reason why Prince Crimson Firmament had summoned him.

"Friend, I'm Luo Mo." Luo Mo smiled at Yi Yun.

"Yi Yun." Despite knowing the person opposite him was an enemy, Yi Yun did not lose any form of decorum.

"So it's Young Master Yi. I like to be frank. I heard you that defeated Luo Kui in the Desolate Heaven technique using 'very interesting' means. I am curious as to how Young Master Yi did it, can you teach me?"

Luo Mo was suspicious that Yi Yun had used some unknown technique to rip Luo Kui off.

However, what would Yi Yun tell Luo Mo? He said with a smile, "I wouldn't call it interesting. I used a technique called the '36 Basic Hand Seals'. In the lower realm, this is the most basic technique of the Desolate Heaven technique. Don't think lightly of the 'basic' in its name. It actually contains hundreds of alterations. Why? Is Young Master Luo interested in the Desolate Heaven techniques of the lower realm? I can lend it to you if you would like to peruse it."

Yi Yun said ‘very generously’. When everyone heard this, they rolled their eyes. Who the hell would want to learn your lower realm's '36 Basic Hand Seals'? It was a something used to teach kids. They didn't want it even if it was free. A few hundred alterations? A few hundred my ass? Didn't it still refine a 'poor' quality relic!?

Many family clans would willingly take out their best Desolate Heaven technique heritage to attract Luo Mo's service, yet Luo Mo might not even think highly of them.

"Young Master Yi, you really like to joke."

Even though Luo Mo was cultured, he was rendered speechless to the point that his mouth slightly twitched when he heard Yi Yun's words that bordered on absurdness.

He even suspected that Yi Yun was playing dumb. Hence, he suddenly looked at the third-grade relic that Yi Yun had just refined.

It was a gray-colored relic, like a glass ball dug out of a ditch.

He was hoping that he could see something peculiar about it, but no matter how much he examined it, it was the most standard of standard 'poor' quality relic. Even the impurities were not cleaned away.

Luo Mo was greatly disappointed. Against such a person, he could not be bothered to compete with him. It was like an adult sparring with a child. There was nothing much to talk about it, and even if he won, people would say that he was a bully.

"Young Master Luo, what do you think about this relic?" Someone noticed Luo Mo's expression and asked with a look of interest.

Luo Mo sighed and said, "If it's meant to feed cattle, it's still passable."

When Luo Mo said this, many people could not help but laugh.

Luo Mo glanced at Yi Yun and he felt that Yi Yun probably truly did not know how terrifying the standard of the Ten Thousand Fey Empyrean Heaven's Desolate Heaven technique was.

However, since his competition with Yi Yun was ordered by Prince Crimson Firmament, he could not refuse it.

With a snap of his fingers, a golden desolate heaven cauldron jumped out from the middle of his palm. It was a tiny golden cauldron that was the size of a chicken egg and it began to playfully spin on his fingertip.

With the desolate heaven cauldron taken out, it was clear that he was going to showcase his skill.

Everyone was immediately intrigued. Luo Mo had used music and paintings as his foundations into martial arts. His Desolate Heaven technique accomplishments were extraordinary. Few people his age could match him, and compared to Luo Kui, Luo Mo was much better.

If it was a person like Luo Mo, even if Princess Purple Spirit was the one opposite him, it would not be demeaning for her status.

But if it was Yi Yun... Everyone looked at Yi Yun with odd expressions.

Yi Yun was also someone who did not like to continue engaging in meaningless nonsense. Seeing Luo Mo take out his tool, Yi Yun took out his desolate heaven disk array very naturally.

When Luo Mo saw Yi Yun's desolate heaven disk array, he faltered for a moment. He had only heard a brief description of Yi Yun's victory over Luo Kui. He did not know that Yi Yun had been using a tool of such 'supreme-grade'.

Using that?

Luo Mo's impression of the disk array was that even if it was given to him, he would probably give it to his servant and make sure that it was used as a shovel to throw out the trash.

"What shall we compete on?" Yi Yun ignored Luo Mo's strange gaze.

"Anything will do." Luo Mo said without much interest. "Let me warn you on one point. If you are hoping that I will blow my cauldron while refining a relic, that is impossible."

Yi Yun laughed. He was also not planning on causing Luo Mo's cauldron to blow up. He could tell that Luo Mo's Desolate Heaven technique was extremely strong. With him being wary, it would not be easy to nudge the energy structure inside Luo Mo's desolate heaven cauldron. Besides, if he did it time and again, it would be suspicious.

Therefore, Yi Yun planned on competing with Luo Mo fair and square from the beginning. He said, "Then let's compete on the Ten Thousand Fey Empyrean Heaven's Desolate Heaven technique!"

Oh!?

When Yi Yun said this, everyone present was astounded. Competing in the Ten Thousand Fey Empyrean Heaven's Desolate Heaven technique? Did Yi Yun know it?

Could it be possible that they had made a mistake? Was Yi Yun truly acting the pig to eat a tiger?

Yi Yun said with a smile, "I actually know a thing or two about the Ten Thousand Fey Empyrean Heaven's Desolate Heaven technique. Back when I first arrived at the Fire Cloud State, I was assigned to a Heaven Fire Hall disciple's mountain. I met a maidservant named Tao'er, who was practicing the Desolate Heaven technique, and there, I read the 'Introduction to Luo Clan's Desolate Heaven Technique'. Let us compete using the seventy-two techniques recorded in the 'Introduction to Luo Clan's Desolate Heaven Technique' and judge it based on the refined quality?"

Yi Yun had never learned any of the advanced methods of the Desolate Heaven technique, so if he were to compete with Luo Mo on those, it was unrealistic.

But back then, he was only a miscellaneous chores disciple at Mt. Fengling. He had been recuperating while guiding Tao'er on the Desolate Heaven technique for half a month. Yi Yun had seen everything about the Desolate Heaven technique that Tao'er had practiced. Hence, Yi Yun understood the seventy-two introductory moves.

He had probed into the 'Introduction to Luo Clan's Desolate Heaven Technique' with a maidservant?

Upon hearing that Yi Yun wanted to compete on this, many young elites looked like they had just swallowed a fly. To think they they had believed that Yi Yun had unknown skills... What Yi Yun mentioned was the 'Introduction to Luo Clan's Desolate Heaven Technique'!

Compared to the profound Desolate Heaven techniques of the Ten Thousand Fey Empyrean Heaven, the seventy-two introductory moves were not even a drop in the bucket. Yi Yun dared to say that he knew a thing or two after reading an introductory book!

Forget it. It could not be forced. With Yi Yun's standard, he was indeed only worthy of the 'Introduction to Luo Clan's Desolate Heaven Technique'.

However, the methods described in the 'Introduction to Luo Clan's Desolate Heaven Technique' were extremely easy, but the refinement ability was severely limited. But now, Yi Yun had said that he wanted to use the methods described in the 'Introduction to Luo Clan's Desolate Heaven Technique' to refine a third-grade Fey bone?

How could this be possible!?

True Martial World - Chapter 868: Luo Mo

When Luo Huo'er said those words, everyone present fell silent. The result was obvious. Yi Yun had managed to refine a relic at least. But for Luo Kui, despite his ostentatious razzle-dazzle, he had ended up refining a pile of ash.

Empress Xuan failed to understand what had happened either. She looked at Yi Yun with amazement, unsure if Yi Yun knew that he would win from the beginning. Everything looked like a coincidence, but Yi Yun's calm and leisurely composure from the very beginning made her feel like he had everything in his grasp.

Had he foreseen this outcome from the very beginning?

"Huo'er, what happened?" Empress Xuan sent a voice transmission to Luo Huo'er.

"Hehe, Mother, as to what specifically happened, I do not know either. But Yi Yun is a very interesting person. It's not easy to make him suffer!"

Amongst the people present, Luo Huo'er was the one who understood Yi Yun the best. Although Yi Yun looked harmless, he was extremely nefarious. He was filled with evil ideas!

"Oh? You think so highly of Yi Yun?" Empress Xuan was rather surprised. She knew her daughter the best. Luo Huo'er may appear a bit childish, but she was very arrogant deep down. She despised everyone, but she had given Yi Yun such a good evaluation.

If that was the case, Empress Xuan felt that she had to review the young man once again.

Upon hearing Empress Xuan say that, Luo Huo'er's face blushed. How could her evaluation not be high? She had suffered under the hands of Yi Yun several times in the Tai Ah Divine City. Someone who could make her suffer was obviously powerful, unless she wanted to put herself down?

Of course, the mishaps in the lower realm, especially how her body had been seen by Yi Yun was something that she definitely did not want to tell Empress Xuan. It would be unimaginable what Empress Xuan would think of that.

Just as Luo Huo'er was machinating something, Empress Xuan's follow-up statement made Luo Huo'er's face turn sullen. Empress Xuan had said, "Huo'er, in a while, tell Mother of your experiences in the lower realm."

Ah?

Luo Huo'er's eyes widened and nearly choked. How could she… mention those things?

Worst of all, her mother was the person who understood her the most. If she made up a story, it was easy for her to be exposed. Also back then, when Luo Huo'er was left in the Tai Ah Divine City, there were Luo clan clansmen who were responsible for protecting Luo Huo'er's safety. Although they had never appeared, or even stepped into the divine city once, they more or less knew of certain things. As long as Empress Xuan asked them, and compare the facts with what Luo Huo'er said, it was easy for her to deduce which were real or fake…

Upon thinking about this, Luo Huo'er felt bitter in her heart.

...

"Aren't you going down? Haven't you shamed yourself enough?" Prince Crimson Firmament's voice transmission boomed in Luo Kui's ears.

Luo Kui had suffered a heavy blow and his Ancient Fey bloodline had been damaged. He stood back up unsteadily and staggered back to his seat.

He was unconvinced!

However, he also knew that he had lost!

Luo Kui felt as though he was sitting on pins and needles in the palace. Every second that he stayed in it, he felt as though his face was burning, as though everyone else was mocking him.

However, he would feel indignant if he were to leave. He felt that Yi Yun had obtained a free win, and with Yi Yun's Desolate Heaven technique level, even his Desolate Heaven technique servant was better than Yi Yun, let alone himself!

Therefore, no matter how embarrassing it was, Luo Kui insisted on sitting in his seat and wait for Yi Yun to be trampled on.

Luo Kui wiped the blood flowing out of his nose and ears and said angrily, "Prince Crimson Firmament, your subject is ashamed, but… but that punk is complete crap. You have to rescue the situation."

"There's no need for your incessant talk. I know what to do!" Prince Crimson Firmament said with a Yuan Qi voice transmission.

He was of the mind to ignore Luo Kui, but what Luo Kui said was right. He had to rescue the situation. If not, he would definitely become the laughing stock of the royal capital. If Emperor Luo were to hear about today's matter, it was unknown how he would think of him.

When Prince Crimson Firmament looked at Yi Yun, his eyes gave off a strange flair.

He did not believe that everything had been machinated by Yi Yun, mainly because he doubted that Yi Yun had such an ability.

Taking ten thousand steps back, even if Yi Yun had any inkling of involvement in the matter, his Desolate Heaven technique was definitely extremely limited. Yi Yun's age was obvious for all to see. Prince Crimson Firmament refused to believe that Yi Yun's standard could be even a tenth of Luo Kui's.

Prince Crimson Firmament took a deep breath and looked at Empress Luo.

In contrast, Empress Luo appeared calm. She only nodded her head, indicating that she was leaving everything to Prince Crimson Firmament.

This banquet was prepared for Prince Crimson Firmament, to pave his way to the throne. Now that there was an unexpected incident at the banquet, Prince Crimson Firmament had to take care of it.

Prince Crimson Firmament faltered slightly as his eyes darted to his side and swept across Princess White Fox.

Princess White Fox was sitting quietly in her seat, as though she was a pure Snow Lotus. Even the outcome of the competition had not perturbed her much.

Prince Crimson Firmament knew that Princess White Fox's Desolate Heaven technique was peerless amongst the younger generation. If she were to compete, only Luo Huo'er was worthy of being her opponent.

It was impossible for Princess White Fox to deal with a single Yi Yun as it would be a hit to her reputation.

"Luo Mo!" Prince Crimson Firmament's voice transmission was sent out of the palace.

In about half a minute, a handsome young man walked into the main hall. His long hair was tied to his back, and he wore black and white clothes. There were delicate and beautiful scenic drawings on his clothes. He did not look like a warrior at all, he looked like a scholar who dabbled in the arts.

"Young Master Luo Mo?" The moment that the handsome young man appeared, someone immediately shouted Luo Mo's name.

He was Luo Mo, the one who had the title of the number one genius amongst the younger generation of the royal capital!

Luo Mo was not one of the four great young masters of the royal capital, mainly because his background was not prominent. He was only from an insignificant branch of the Luo clan, but he was still famous in the royal capital, despite not being from an illustrious background.

The label of ’genius’ was because of his talent in various aspects.

It was enough for a typical warrior to have martial talent, but for Luo Mo, not only was his martial talent exceptional, but he was also proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Furthermore, he had very high attainments in the Desolate Heaven technique.

In the warrior's world, music, chess, calligraphy, and painting were used as a form of entertainment and they were not considered a main way of life. But Luo Mo had managed to develop his martial path through music, chess, calligraphy and painting, which was an amazing feat. And due to his talent, and his good looks, Luo Mo had won the hearts of many women. In the royal capital, many women from good families were rushing to marry him.

"Luo Mo was also here at the banquet, but why didn't anyone notice him?"

Many young elites were surprised. For a person like Luo Mo, who was well known, he would definitely have stolen the limelight if he had appeared and been the focus of attention.

"He must be in one of the side rooms. There is a small feast in the side rooms, and the level of service there is extremely high. If I'm not wrong, the side room must be filled with important figures. It might be the geniuses under Empress Luo and Prince Crimson Firmament." People discussed with Yuan Qi voice transmissions.

With this said, everyone understood.

So this was the case. Empress Luo was setting up a banquet with malicious purposes. She was worried that if her line-up was revealed, it might appear too strong, frightening Empress Xuan out of her wits.

If that were the case, Empress Xuan might choose to suffer the reputation of being afraid to go to battle by refusing the competition. It was clear that she would suffer an abject failure, so how could she agree to it?

Hence, Empress Luo had deliberately hidden a number of people in a side room that was concealed by array formations. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

If Empress Xuan agreed to the match, Empress Luo could call her people out one by one. With a gorgeous line-up, she could thrash Empress Xuan!

However, Empress Luo never expected that Empress Xuan did not bring anyone from her family, making her unable to display her force. She had finally managed to use the burly Luo Kui to get Empress Xuan to compete, but she ended up encountering a wonder like Yi Yun. Immediately, Empress Luo's plans were in a mess.

And now, Prince Crimson Firmament could no longer remain patient. By calling Luo Mo out, he was planning to get Luo Mo to thrash Yi Yun.

True Martial World - Chapter 867: A Free Win?

Luo Kui began. Although his opponent was trash, Luo Kui planned on doing his best. There was no meaning in thrashing Yi Yun. Now, he was in the pursuit of refining a relic that was nearing the outstanding grade, so he could astound everyone present.

Luo Kui threw the Fey bone into the Eclipse Cauldron and he extracted all the energy in one fell swoop!

Boom!

Luo Kui's body began to burn with blue flames, and behind him, a gigantic, thousand-feet blue centipede shot towards the sky!

This centipede was more than a hundred feet tall as it charged straight for the ceiling.

The Thousand-feet Demon Centipede was Luo Kui's bloodline. After it appeared, it shot towards Luo Kui's Eclipse Cauldron!

This is…

Everyone was alarmed. Luo Kui was planning to refine his Ancient Fey bloodline with the Fey bone?

Although everyone knew that it was impossible for Luo Kui to damage his Ancient Fey bloodline to refine a single relic, it was still a stunning sight for them when they saw him seal the Thousand-feet Demon Centipede in the Eclipse Cauldron.

"That's not the case." At that moment, a Desolate Heaven Master spoke out. "The Thousand-feet Demon Centipede is one of the rare insect-based Ancient Fey. Its body is highly toxic. Ancient mighty figures would have their bodies disintegrate and die if they were bitten once by it. The Thousand-feet Demon Centipede usually likes to eat all sorts of treasured herbs and poisons. Treasured herbs and Fey bones, which have many kinds of medicinal essences and energies of differing types, or even opposite types, can be refined in its body. It will allow the medicinal essences to merge and be made usable by the Demon Centipede."

"Hence, in ancient times, a Thousand-feet Demon Centipede was invaluable. Just the amount of medicinal essence accumulated in its body would allow a supreme-grade pill to be refined if it is used."

With the Desolate Heaven Master's explanation, everyone came to an understanding. The Thousand-feet Demon Centipede could extract the energy from all sorts of herbs and Fey bones that it devoured. So the reason why Luo Kui had sent his Demon Centipede bloodline into the Eclipse Cauldron was to aid him in refining a supreme-grade relic!

By using the Thousand-feet Demon Centipede, it would be half the work with double the results!

“No wonder such a burly man like Luo Kui would choose to be a Desolate Heaven Master, and waste his precious time cultivating. It's all because he has a Thousand-feet Demon Centipede!"

"Indeed, if the Thousand-feet Demon Centipede can help devour the Fey bone and extract its energy, then it would not be a waste for him to be a Desolate Heaven Master."

As the people were engaged in a flurry of discussion, they felt a bit jealous of him. With the Thousand-feet Demon Centipede helping him, Luo Kui's Desolate Heaven technique would definitely attain great success one day.

Furthermore, Desolate Heaven Masters enjoyed a high status in the Luo clan. Many Supremacies from the Ten Thousand Fey Empyrean Heaven would frequently come to the Luo clan to buy a relic for a high price.

For example, the third Imperial Uncle of the Luo clan, who had retired, was Supremacy-ranked Desolate Heaven Master. He was a person that even if Emperor Luo met him, he would respectfully bow with a junior's greeting.

If it wasn’t for the third Imperial Uncle retiring, to put it bluntly, if he put his foot down, he could decide who the next Emperor of the Luo clan would be. There was no need for any competition for the throne!

At that moment, Luo Kui threw another few pieces of bone fragments and herbs into the Eclipse Cauldron.

Dang!

After the supplemental herbs were added into the Eclipse Cauldron, its lid immediately sealed it tight!

Some of the keen-eyed young elites present could tell at a glance that the bone fragments and herbs that Luo Kui had thrown into the Eclipse Cauldron were extraordinary items. Some of them were worth even more than the third grade Fey bone that he had taken out.

The Fey bone supplements were higher in value than the main Fey bone!

From the looks of it, Luo Kui was determined to refine a supreme-grade relic.

But in fact, using higher valued Fey bones as supplements to forcefully upgrade a low-level relic's grade was somewhat contrived. A truly powerful Desolate Heaven Master would refine a low-level Fey bone into a high-grade relic. Only then was there value in it.

However, that was too difficult. Luo Kui had only been practicing the Desolate Heaven technique for about a decade after all. It was already quite amazing for him to attain what he did.

"Luo Kui using so many supplemental Fey bones makes the competition somewhat unfair. Yi Yun only used a single Fey bone and nothing else."

"So what? This isn't even a competition. It's just an individual performance by Luo Kui! I also know a little bit of the Desolate Heaven technique. The disk array that Yi Yun is using is fully exposed. Regardless of the seals he forms, I can see them clearly. Yi Yun's seals would not be able to refine any relics of a good grade, so it's impossible for him to win. Furthermore, his low-level seals aren't even considered perfect. As such, being able to refine that Fey bone itself should be his limit. He would not be able to handle the adding of any more supplemental Fey bones, so what's so unfair about it?" A Desolate Heaven apprentice spoke.

He did not speak without thinking.

Yi Yun may have talent in the Desolate Heaven technique, but his age was less than half of Luo Kui's. The profession of a Desolate Heaven Master required the accumulation of time. Furthermore, Yi Yun had yet to fully come into contact with the Ten Thousand Fey Empyrean Heaven's Desolate Heaven technique, so the outcome was destined.

At that moment, even Luo Huo'er was feeling anxious.

She was certain that Yi Yun would not lose out. Since he dared to step forward, there was something that was backing him. But now, with Yi Yun's relic being almost 70% refined, there was still not a single miracle!

Luo Huo'er was probably the most qualified person present to comment on the competition. She was not only proficient in the Ten Thousand Fey Empyrean Heaven's Desolate Heaven technique, she was also proficient in the lower realm's Desolate Heaven technique. She obviously knew that with the techniques being used by Yi Yun, the quality of the relics that he refined would only be a 'poor' grade!

By using the most primitive methods to build a stone hut with a heap of construction materials, there was no way that a top architect could change it into a magnificent palace when the stone hut was nearing completion.

As for Luo Kui, he was using a supreme-grade desolate heaven cauldron, and with so many supplemental materials, as well as the Thousand-feet Demon Centipede bloodline, Luo Huo'er estimated that the quality of the relic Luo Kui would refine would be between 'refined' and 'outstanding'. The difference was like night and day.

Other than that, Luo Kui's refining speed was faster than Yi Yun's. Yi Yun had only refined 70%, while Luo Kui had already refined 90%!

In less than three minutes, Luo Kui's relic would be completed!

However, Luo Huo'er could tell that when the relic was nearing completion, Luo Kui was beginning to have problems holding it together. After all, he had used so many supplemental Fey bones, so it was demanding on his mental strength. Imperfections began to appear in Luo Kui's seals, and these meant that the quality of his relic was going to be at the 'refined' grade.

Seconds changed to minutes. Yi Yun formed one seal after another and he proceeded in a prescribed routine, as though he was not worried at all.

At the same time, Yi Yun had already opened his energy vision. Others could not see the situation inside the Eclipse Cauldron, but he could see it clearly.

In the Eclipse Cauldron, the Thousand-feet Demon Centipede was at its limits. It was not a true Thousand-feet Demon Centipede, after all, it was only a bloodline that Luo Kui had conjured. After eating up too much energy in one fell swoop, it could not digest it fully. As a result, its body swelled up as though it was about to burst.

And at the same time, the energy seals that Luo Kui produced were brought together. He was about to condensed them into a relic.

As Luo Huo'er said, these energy seals had their imperfections. It was not easy for ordinary people to detect them, but Yi Yun could see them very clearly. He could even clearly tell how many imperfections there were.

It was true that Yi Yun did not fully understand the Ten Thousand Fey Empyrean Heaven's Desolate Heaven technique, but with the Purple Crystal, Yi Yun knew what the perfect form of energy should be.

The spots where the energies were imperfect accumulated and gradually expanded in size. At the moment the relic took form, all of them would merge instantly and reach their largest size. However, it would not explode as it would be forcefully suppressed by Luo Kui's relic-forming hand seals. Finally, they would be left in the relic, and become the relic's energy ‘holes’, affecting the relic's rating.

In fact, when Luo Kui was using a hand seal to forcefully merge the energy seals together was the moment when the energy was most stable. This was an immense challenge on Luo Kui's mental strength, and it was this reason that the relic formation was a critical stage when Desolate Heaven Masters refined a relic. There could be no mistake.

At that moment, Luo Kui's relic was nearing completion.

Hundreds of energy seals were already condensed by Luo Kui. The final step was combining them together. He was in full concentration as his forehead began sweating.

Although it was only a third-grade relic, by using so many supplemental Fey bones, it was also an extremely big challenge for Luo Kui to produce an outstanding grade relic. He was also reaching his limit. If not, he would not have produced so many flaws on the energy seals towards the end.

Although it might have missed out on the outstanding grade by a hair, for Luo Kui to obtain such results, it was already something that he could be proud of. After all, despite having only cultivated for eighty years, his strength was not only exceptional, he had also been able to divert some attention onto the Desolate Heaven technique!

Combine!

Luo Kui isolated himself from distractions as his remaining mental strength was devoted into the Eclipse Cauldron, so he could control the energy seal's merger.

Hundred of energy seals began to emit beams as bright as the sun in the Eclipse Cauldron. Just as it was about to merge as one…

A summoning force that no one could perceive mixed itself inside the energy seals. This summoning force was without shape or form, as though it was the Origin powers at the beginning of the Universe… Even Empress Luo or Empress Xuan, let alone Luo Kui, couldn’t sense it.

At that moment, nearly everyone's attention was focused on Luo Kui's Eclipse Cauldron. No one paid Yi Yun any mind. Yi Yun was standing by the side, condensing his energy seals while controlling the Purple Crystal. He began to lightly ‘nudge’ the hundreds of energy seals.

Just this light nudge moved the most critical energy combination point. It forcefully repressed many of the imperfects in the energy seals…

Instantly, it was like a spark dropping into an oil well. The delicate balance of energy was broken.

Luo Kui, who was nearing his limits, was late by the time it took to blink as he realized the nearly undetectable energy disturbance! Although the time it took to blink was short, it was fatal for the critical moment of relic formation.

No good!

Luo Kui widened his eyes as his pupils turned bloodshot. He bellowed as all the power from his bloodline burned. The Thousand-feet Demon Centipede in the Eclipse Cauldron opened its mouth wide and it tried to devour the collapsing energy seals. It was trying to maintain the relic at the risk of destroying the relic's quality.

However, the Thousand-feet Demon Centipede was already severely bloated and it was a spent force, so how could it succeed?

Yi Yun did not stand on ceremony as he controlled the Purple Crystal to nudge a second energy combination point.

As such, the collapse of the energy could no longer be stopped!

Boom!

A tumultuous explosion happened as the hovering Eclipse Cauldron violently trembled. The cauldron's lid was blown open and it heavily slammed into the ceiling. It had smashed a brick on the ceiling into smithereens!

Phew—

A blazing blue fireball rose up into the sky. Luo Kui's Thousand-feet Demon Centipede bloodline’s phantom image was enveloped in the blue fireball as it struggled in pain!

The Thousand-feet Demon Centipede bloodline was considered strong, but with it being at its limits and being caught unaware, it had been engulfed by the shock wave at a close distance. Furthermore, it was in a sealed space in the Eclipse Cauldron, so the impact was imaginable!

Luo Kui, who was mentally linked to the Thousand-feet Demon Centipede, grunted as he retreated backward and fell to the ground. His face was as pale as a sheet of paper!

Two streams of black blood began to flow down from Luo Kui's ears. This was the most accurate portrayal of the Thousand-feet Demon Centipede's damage. The shock wave in an enclosed space had blasted through the Thousand-feet Demon Centipede's ears, causing it to be severely injured. It would take him a few months to recover from these injuries.

Dong!

The Eclipse Cauldron heavily slammed onto the ground as black ash spilled out of it...

Luo Kui was battered out of his senses. His face was blank as he dully looked at the rolling Eclipse Cauldron on the ground. He could not believe his eyes.

The cauldron blew up? His refining of a relic had ended up in him blowing up the cauldron...

At such an important occasion, Empress Luo, Empress Xuan, elites from all over the world, and his future master, Prince Crimson Firmament, were all present, but he blew up his cauldron! Luo Kui's heart was palpitating!

"This… "

The young elites present all widened their eyes. Some of them were not even aware of the wine glasses that they had knocked over.

Luo Kui was just about to refine a relic that was a 'refined' grade at the minimum in an ostentatious display of his prowess. But at the final moment, he had blown his cauldron up.

As a result, he did not even have the poorest grade of a relic. It went from a 'refined'-grade relic to a pile of ash. This sudden change was too great!

Seeing Luo Kui look as though he had lost his soul, everyone knew that this failure would deal a terrible blow to his confidence. In the future, Luo Kui might even have a mental demon when he refined relics. He might end up being afraid of all sorts of things, affecting his future achievement in the Desolate Heaven technique.

The elites present, including Empress Luo and Empress Xuan, were stunned by the blowing up of Luo Kui's cauldron. However, there was one person who was unaffected, and that was… Yi Yun!

As everyone recollected their thoughts, they saw that Yi Yun was still controlling his crude disk array as he slowly refined a Fey bone relic.

His motions could only be described as leisurely. The speed at which he formed seals did not seem like he was refining a Fey bone relic. Instead, it could be described as him picking mushrooms in the wild.

On one side, one had blown up a cauldron, while the other looked relaxed. This contrast was way too big…

However slow he was, Yi Yun had managed to finish the final seal as he began to do the final relic formation.

Yi Yun's relic formation technique was also nothing fancy. It was the crudest relic formation technique from the lower realm. He had finished it quickly, but it was simple and crude.

"Dong!"

A gray relic rolled into Yi Yun's hand from the disk array.

Some high-grade relics would be crystalline upon after refinement, but the relic that Yi Yun refined did not look good, as though there were impurities within it. Furthermore, its quality rating did not go beyond its appearance. It was truly consistent in and out.

Quality evaluation — Poor.

When Yi Yun held the relic, he noticed that there was a bit of ash on its surface. Using his sleeve, he nonchalantly wiped it and placed it on the maidservant's tray, and motioned for her to hand it to Empress Luo.

"Your Majesty, your humble servant's relic has been completed. Your humble servant has only been exposed to the Desolate Heaven technique for four to five months after all. It's quite nice to produce such a poor-quality third-grade relic. Now, your humble servant wants to present it to Your Majesty."

Seeing the maidservant hand the gray relic to Empress Luo, everyone present was dumbfounded. Their eyes were fixated on the relic as they could not turn their gazes away.

Holy shit, what was going on? Don't tell me that Yi Yun has won!?

Many people began to come to this realization. On one side, one had blown his cauldron up, while the other side had refined a poor grade relic, but at least he had completed it.

At that moment, Prince Crimson Firmament felt as though his heart was being trampled upon by a million Ancient Fey beasts with mud-stained hoofs.

He felt like he was a super retard. He had played a secondary role with the retard, Luo Kui, in a super humorous silly play. Unexpectedly, he would become the laughing stock of the royal capital in the next few days.

As for Yi Yun, this fellow, who looked like he was low on his intellectual quotient, had become the final victor.

"Only been exposed to the Desolate Heaven technique for four or five months."

"Quite nice to produce such a poor-quality third-grade relic… "

Thinking back to Yi Yun's words, Prince Crimson Firmament wanted to slam his head into a wall. This fellow, who looked like he had a screw loose, had actually won!?

Or was this punk acting the pig? However, Prince Crimson Firmament had a few thousand years of cultivation at least. He had been focused on the competition from beginning to end. He did not feel that Yi Yun had secretly done something — how could he have that ability!?

"Pfft!"

A pearly laughter was suddenly heard. Luo Huo'er had burst out into laughter.

She was a person with a child's temperament and she was never serious, to begin with. She had forcibly put on an elegant look for this banquet. How could she tolerate it when she truly encountered such an interesting matter?

Seeing many people looking at her, especially with Prince Crimson Firmament looking as though his mother had died, Luo Huo'er quickly gave a dry cough and dabbed her mouth with a handkerchief. Again, she put on a serious expression.

However, the more she behaved this way, the more depressed Prince Crimson Firmament felt.

Luo Huo'er holding back her laughter and pretending to be serious was the greatest travesty against him. This was because he felt that Luo Huo'er was mocking him.

"Prince Crimson Firmament, I… I can't accept it!"

At that moment, the dispirited Luo Kui suddenly got up. How could he accept it? From his point of view, an unpredictable problem had happened when he was combining the seals. It had caused him to blow his cauldron and give Yi Yun a free win. "Just one more time. One more time and I will be able to refine a top grade relic!"

After Luo Kui said this, Prince Crimson Firmament's expression turned even uglier. Luo Huo'er laughed and said, "Luo Kui, it was you who said it yourself. You have failed to refine a third-grade relic, so what qualifications do you have to continue competing? This time, you poked a hole through the roof, if you are given another chance, are you going to demolish this place?" noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

Luo Huo'er played with her handkerchief and spoke without sparing his feelings. The Luo Lucid Palace was not meant to be an area for the refinement of relics. It was not indestructible. When the cauldron blew up, it had shattered a brick.

True Martial World - Chapter 866: Eclipse Cauldron versus Desolate Heaven Technique Disk Array

At that moment, Luo Kui had already taken out his treasured cauldron. It stood three feet tall and as it spun mid-air, Luo Kui's crossed his arms on his chest. He gave Yi Yun a haughty look and said, "Come on, I'm waiting for whatever you can teach!"

Luo Kui's treasured cauldron was made of an unknown metal. There were all sorts of patterns carved on it, making it look primitively simple.

Yi Yun glanced at Luo Kui's cauldron and he felt that it had to be worth a fortune.

The Ten Thousand Fey Empyrean Heaven's Desolate Heaven technique was not only different to the technique from the lower realms, even the tools used were completely different. In the Tian Yuan world, most Desolate Heaven techniques used disk arrays, not cauldrons.

Without a doubt, Luo Kui's cauldron was more advanced than the Tian Yuan world's disk arrays.

"Why are you looking at my Eclipse Cauldron? Are you scared silly from the ancient aura of the Eclipse Cauldron?" Luo Kui laughed.

The Eclipse Cauldron was an ancient Desolate Heaven Cauldron found in a ruin. It might not be famous in the Luo clan, but if it was placed in an auction, it was definitely an ancient treasure worth vying for.

Despite many of the young elites present not knowing the Desolate Heaven technique, they could tell from its aura that the Eclipse Cauldron was no ordinary item.

Yi Yun ignored Luo Kui. All he did was slowly take out a Desolate Heaven technique disk array.

It was a one-foot square disk array that came from the Tian Yuan world. It looked dusty and simple, and it was completely nondescript.

And in fact, the disk array was consistent in and out. Its quality was indeed nothing to speak of.

Yi Yun was not a professional Desolate Heaven Master after all. Although he brought a disk array used by Desolate Heaven Master with him, the disk array would not have been considered something impressive in the lower realm. In the 12 Empyrean Heavens, it would only appear even worse.

Seeing Yi Yun take out a Desolate Heaven technique disk array, Luo Kui was dumbfounded. This punk actually took such a joke of an item to compete with him?

Just the runic patterns carved on the disk array were not worth mentioning. It was not even enough to describe it as a heaven and earth difference. It was like two warrior sparring. One was using a divine weapon, while the other was using a kitchen knife. What's the point of fighting?

Empress Xuan also began to frown slightly at that moment. She had believed that in such an important occasion, Yi Yun definitely had something to rely on and he would not have pushed his face forward to be slapped.

Hence, Empress Xuan still had the illusion of hope, wishing that Yi Yun was truly a Desolate Heaven technique genius, allowing him to compete with Luo Kui with his lower realm background and his bone age of less than forty. But now, Yi Yun had taken out such a disk array that could enter the annals of wonders. He would only be able to demonstrate 30% of his full prowess.

She could not help but ask, "Yi Yun, don’t you have a desolate heaven cauldron? I can bestow one to you."

Yi Yun was from a lower realm, so it was normal for him to lack a desolate heaven cauldron. However, Empress Xuan never expected that Yi Yun would shake his head and say, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for bestowing a reward to me. Unfortunately, your humble servant has never used a desolate heaven cauldron, nor does your humble servant understand the mysteries within them. Your humble servant will probably take a period of time to learn it, so it's handier to use a disk array."

What Yi Yun said was the truth. Regardless of how good his perception was, he did not dare to claim that he could immediately use a desolate heaven cauldron without any practice.

With Yi Yun saying this, all the young elites present were dumbfounded.

Could Yi Yun not have been exposed to the Ten Thousand Fey Empyrean Heaven's Desolate Heaven technique? Was he planning on using the lower realm's Desolate Heaven technique to trash Luo Kui?

Luo Kui stared at Yi Yun. Damn it, is this kid here to amuse him?

He felt that Yi Yun must have studied the Desolate Heaven technique in the lower realm and believed that he had matchless talent. Yi Yun must not be aware of how terrifying the Ten Thousand Fey Empyrean Heaven's Desolate Heaven technique was. Competing with such a retard was a lowering of his posturing. It was rather meaningless to win.

He planned on trampling a princess, but he only managed to step on dog shit. Luo Kui did not even have the mood for this competition.

"Let's quickly begin. What bad luck!" Luo Kui said impatiently.

With a wave of his hand, a Fey beast bone was thrown into Yi Yun's hand.

"Come, 'advise' me. A third-grade Fey bone, I want to see what you can come up with."

Yi Yun flipped the Fey bone in his hand and said nonchalantly, "Just one Fey bone? Is there no spare?"

This Fey bone's quality obviously surpassed the ones from the lower realm. However, it was not too much an exaggeration. With Yi Yun's Desolate Heaven technique standard and the Purple Crystal's help, refining such a Fey bone was not difficult.

"No!" Luo Kui sneered and said, "You don't even have the confidence to refine a third-grade Fey bone in one shot. If your standard is this good, how can you be worthy to advise me?"

Yi Yun smiled and no longer spoke. He threw the Fey bone into the desolate heaven technique disk array and he began to activate its runic patterns.

Immediately, the runic patterns lit up. Yi Yun began to routinely form hand seals. The seals he formed were all ones that Su Jie taught him back in the lower realm.

The Tian Yuan world's desolate beast and the Ten Thousand Fey Empyrean Heaven's Fey beasts were similar. Yi Yun speculated that it might have been possible that the Ten Thousand Fey Empyrean Heaven's Fey beasts had somehow gone to the lower realm and began breeding with the wild beasts in the lower realms, eventually forming desolate beasts. Hence, the techniques that Su Jie taught him could similarly be used while refining a Fey bone.

However, in the eyes of a professional, these techniques were downright trash. It was just too simple. It was like a group of scholars attending an imperial examination turning back to see a child who had just begun reading... a child who had been home-schooled to memorize the ‘Three Character Classic’. With this standard, he even had the nerve to say that he knew the Desolate Heaven technique?

Luo Kui was infuriated just looking at Yi Yun's clumsy performance.

This guy was truly an extremely ignorant hick!

He had believed that Yi Yun had something backing him for him to dare jump out, and he was still feeling afraid of failing miserably at an easy task.

But now, Yi Yun was beginning to refine the Fey bone. The hand seals he used were lousy, and the seals he formed didn't make sense. He found his original thoughts laughable considering what Yi Yun was using to back himself.

With Luo Kui's own experience, he could instantly judge that the relics refined by Yi Yun would be in the poor grade at best. This was determined from the hand seals that Yi Yun formed. It was impossible for it to be higher.

And for the same relic, if Luo Kui were to refine it, it would at least reach the ‘refined’ grade, or even approach the ‘outstanding’ grade!

In the Ten Thousand Fey Empyrean Heaven, relics of the same grade would be ranked based on the outcome of the refinement, and they went from poor, ordinary, refined, outstanding, transcendent, to spiritual emergence!

The outstanding grade was the limit for a low-grade relic. As for 'transcendent' and 'spiritual emergence', that was an evaluation reserved only for high-grade relics.

Luo Kui wanted to be able to produce an outstanding third-grade relic at the banquet and astound everyone. But thinking about it, it was truly too difficult.

As Luo Kui was thinking, Yi Yun suddenly spoke. "Aren't you beginning?"

Yi Yun could speak to him while he was refining a relic?

Luo Kui was taken aback momentarily. However, he brushed it off immediately. The lower realm's techniques might be too simple, so it made it possible for him to speak while refining. He could even produce three cauldrons of relics and refine them at one go with such a lowly technique.

"It looks like you think you aren't dying fast enough. If that's the case, let me show you what the Ten Thousand Fey Empyrean Heaven's Desolate Heaven technique is!"