410 Invitation to Battle
There were less than 20 minutes before the end of the first section, and some blacksmiths had yet to finish drawing their designs. There were also people walking out of their forging rooms quickly.
Xu Wanqing and the other three went forward to hand in their designs. Their eyes were filled with anxiety and anticipation.
Once the countdown ended not long after and all the blacksmiths had submitted their designs, the official in charge went on stage and gathered the blacksmiths together.
“The first part of the competition has ended. Today, everyone can go back and rest for the night. The second part of the competition will begin tomorrow morning. When the time comes, the association will provide you with sufficient materials to turn your design into reality. As long as your design passes the inspection after it’s forged, the materials will belong to you. Otherwise, your respective province will bear the cost of the materials. Do you understand?”
“Understood!”
There were only some sparse responses from the blacksmiths below the stage.
However, the person in charge did not mind and continued, “For the equipment forged, the association will reward you for your success. But if you don’t pass, failure to compensate us for the materials will be met with punishment. I hope that everyone goes all out to make greater contributions to the Nine Provinces. Dismissed!”
After the person in charge finished speaking, he turned around and left. He ignored everyone else.
Wu Mo and the others were planning to turn around and leave too when someone nearby suddenly shouted, “Wu Mo!”
When Wu Mo heard the voice, his heart skipped a beat. “He’s finally here!”
Turning around, he saw Chu Qingyan and a few blacksmiths from the Red Heart province walking over.
Many blacksmiths close by noticed the unfriendly expressions that Chu Qingyan and his gang had. They immediately stopped in their tracks and turned to look.
“You know someone here?” Xu Wanqing asked.
“Maybe. I’m too famous. People know me, but I don’t know them.” Wu Mo shook his head.
Xu Wanqing thought about it seriously and quickly shook her head. “Impossible! Your reputation in the White River province isn’t even as great as mine!”
Wu Mo was a little speechless. This girl sometimes took things too seriously, but she was actually a little cute.
Chu Qingyan and the others had just walked over when they heard the conversation between Wu Mo and Xu Wanqing. The aura that they had accumulated suddenly became unstable.
Did this guy think that they were there because they admired him? As the hosts of the competition, were the blacksmiths of the Red Heart province that unimpressive?
Chu Qingyan knew that Wu Mo had said that on purpose. Even so, he still could not help but feel angry.
“Hmph! Wu Mo, I thought you’d be better, but who knew that you’d still be such a wisecrack. Are you afraid?”
“Could you introduce yourself first?” Wu Mo asked, somewhat speechless. I don’t know all of you that well. I don’t like how you’re coming up to me with such animosity!”
“F*ck! Who the hell are you? Why should I do what you like?”
A man in his 30s was standing next to Chu Qingyan, and he was enraged. They were all there to participate in the exchange conference. One needed to at least be a five-star blacksmith to meet the minimum requirements for selection. Everyone there was just as good as the other, so why did they have to act like lords?
Xu Wanqing had been a little puzzled at first, but when she saw how rudely the man spoke, she glared at him and angrily said, “Who are you? I don’t like you, so why are you still standing here? Are you looking for a beating?”
The man’s face turned red from the insult, especially since it came from a woman. The fire in his heart burned even more.
Chu Qingyan quickly reached out and pressed him on the shoulder. Then, he looked at Wu Mo and said, “Wu Mo, you clearly know who I am. Thanks to you, I left the White River province. Now that we’re face to face again, I won’t play games. I’m just here to ask if you’re brave enough to have a match with me!”
“A match?” Wu Mo said lightly. “What kind of match? Everyone gets a different topic at the conference. Aside from the scores we get from a few master blacksmiths, there’s basically no comparison. If we’re battling in terms of rankings, then forget it. Not only is it boring, but I have no desire to bully you either!”
Looking at Wu Mo’s calm demeanor, it was obvious that he did not take Chu Qingyan seriously. This made Chu Qingyan even angrier.
However, to achieve his goal, he suppressed his anger.
“Of course, we won’t battle during the exchange conference. We can wait until it’s over before we compete!” Chu Qingyan suggested. How about that?”
“No, thank you! If I participate in the exchange conference and get a good ranking, there will be rewards. My return trip’s going to be covered too. What good will it do for me to compete with you?”
“What benefits are you looking for?” To achieve his goal, Chu Qingyan gritted his teeth and asked.
Wu Mo raised his eyebrows as he had a bad feeling about this.
Although he did not encounter Chu Qingyan a lot and did not know much about him, judging from his style of doing things, he was not personable. However, he was patient, and it seemed like he would not give up until he achieved his goal. This made others doubt his motives.
Thinking back to what this fellow had previously done, one could seen that he was a selfish person. The fact that he had been holding this grudge for such a long meant that he was probably up to something big.
When Wu Mo thought about how the entire journey had been peaceful and quiet, and how there had been no sign of trouble in the White River province , and how the outsiders had not done anything, he felt an even more ominous feeling.
Something had to be wrong if things were abnormal!
If he accepted Chu Qingyan’s invitation, what would happen?
With so many people nearby, the battle between them might attract many competitors from other provinces. Even if not all of them came, at least half of them would come.
No matter what kind of match it was, people from the other provinces would not mind watching the show if they had a chance. They could even learn something useful from the match.
Therefore, if he agreed to battle him, he might actually attract a lot of people to attend.
If there were any accidents, there would be casualties without any official organization or defense around.
If outsiders had invested a little more capital into their attacks and colluded with Chu Qingyan, it would not be impossible for them to kill everyone present.
Therefore, Wu Mo’s thoughts raced as he came up with some unbelievable but possible scenarios.
He looked at Chu Qingyan, who had betrayed the White River province. Was he going to betray the human race and the Nine Provinces now?
These thoughts flashed through Wu Mo’s mind in the blink of an eye.
“That depends on whether you’re sincere or not! If you’re sincere enough, I don’t mind having a duel with you to teach you a lesson!”
“Ha, ha…” Chu Qingyan seemed to be angered by Wu Mo’s words. “Fine! I won’t be stingy. I’ll bet you one set of Divine-grade materials. How about it?”
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