Chapter 174

Chapter 174: Forging Conference (5)

The second person to discover Lou Yun was Beichen Ming. In previous forging conferences, he had always paid close attention to the newcomer testing phase because he was searching for a suitable successor to inherit his family’s legacy. However, after meeting Lou Yun, no one else existed in his eyes except Lou Yun. Consequently, he no longer placed any importance on the newcomer tests now.

The reason Beichen Ming spotted Lou Yun was because he was chatting with Liu Feifan when he inadvertently caught sight of Liu Ruyan out of the corner of his eye. Her unusual expression piqued his curiosity, so he followed her gaze. That was when he finally discovered Lou Yun!

Seeing Lou Yun filled Beichen Ming with both shock and delight. Unable to contain himself, he burst out laughing and scolding, "That brat! He came but didn’t look for me, instead sneaking around and hiding in the newcomer area!"

His sudden exclamation naturally drew the attention and confusion of Liu Feifan and the others. Liu Feifan asked puzzledly, "Brother Bei, what are you talking about?"

"Haha!" Beichen Ming was genuinely unable to conceal his joy, so he made no effort to hide it. He pointed directly at Lou Yun. "Brother Liu, look, who is that?"

Liu Feifan had never met Lou Yun, so even seeing him, he didn’t recognize him. He shook his head rather blankly. "Who is he?"

"Haha, you don’t even recognize him? Yet your Spirit Weapon Sect went all out to protect him!"

Hearing this, Liu Feifan immediately understood. "So that’s Lou Yun! I truly haven’t met him, just heard my youngest son and Ruyan often talk about him. By the way, Brother Bei, how do you know Lou Yun?"

Beichen Ming hadn’t yet told Liu Feifan about his desire for Lou Yun to be his successor. After all, Lou Yun had consistently refused. If he mentioned it now and Lou Yun still adamantly refused later, he would be utterly humiliated. So he quickly chuckled and said, "He passed by my place last time gathering herbs for his sister. We chatted for quite a while. I thought this lad was quite decent, so that’s how we met!"

Liu Feifan naturally had no reason to doubt him. He nodded with a smile. "I’ve also heard he’s very impressive. What, does Brother Bei want to take him as a disciple?"

"Haha, we’ll see, we’ll see. It’s not impossible!"

Beichen Ming laughed heartily, so much so that many people couldn’t help but look over, wondering what he found so amusing.

The third person to recognize Lou Yun was Lei Nu, and his reaction was the most direct. He actually leaped out from his designated area and bounded towards Lou Yun, shouting as he ran, "Master! Master!"

Some people initially wanted to stop him, but hearing this burly man, who had just advanced and become a fourth-grade skilled weapon maker, shouting "Master" at one of the ten newcomers, filled everyone with intense curiosity. They simply let him pass, allowing him to charge all the way onto the stage.

Seeing Lei Nu rushing towards him and shouting "Master" without any reservation, Lou Yun immediately felt his head throb. He couldn’t help but inwardly sigh with bitter amusement!

In the current situation, a fourth-grade skilled weapon maker suddenly rushing onto the stage and calling a newcomer "Master" would undoubtedly leave most people utterly baffled and incredulous!

And so, encountering no obstacles, Lei Nu sprinted straight to Lou Yun. Without giving Lou Yun a moment to think, he actually dropped to his knees with a loud "thump" right in front of him. "Master! I’ve finally found you!"

This scene stunned all five thousand-plus people in the venue. Whether it was Beichen Ming, Liu Ruyan, or anyone else, everyone was utterly unable to understand or believe what was happening. Why would a fourth-grade skilled weapon maker call a newcomer "Master," and with such reverence?

Faced with Lei Nu’s sudden kneeling, Lou Yun was momentarily stunned too. Once he regained his composure, he hurriedly exerted force with both hands. A powerful surge emanated from his palms, physically lifting Lei Nu back to his feet.

"Well, Lei Nu, you go down first. After I finish the test, I’ll find you. Then you can ask any questions you have, and I promise I’ll do my best to answer them all!"

Lei Nu wasn’t stupid. However, he truly had encountered many problems in forging weapons and couldn’t find Lou Yun to solve them. For someone so obsessed with forging, this was immense torment. He genuinely missed Lou Yun intensely. Now that he finally saw him, he wanted to ask all his questions immediately and have Lou Yun explain everything. He absolutely didn’t want to leave!

"No, I’ll just watch from below the stage!"

After saying this, Lei Nu directly jumped off the platform and stood right there, staring fixedly at Lou Yun, as if afraid Lou Yun would vanish the moment he blinked.

Lou Yun couldn’t really say anything else. He could only shake his head, both amused and exasperated, and let him be.

This small interlude acted as a lubricant for the dull and tedious forging conference of the past two days, lifting everyone’s spirits considerably. Moreover, the attention of the vast majority in the venue was now completely focused on Lou Yun. Everyone was curious: why was the master of a fourth-grade skilled weapon maker a newcomer without any rank? And what abilities did this newcomer possess?

In front of Lou Yun stood a container about half a meter tall. Lou Yun closed his eyes, and people began filling the container with stones. Inside the container were small, neatly arranged square compartments—twenty in total, arranged in rows and columns. Once filled, someone instructed Lou Yun to use his spiritual sense to find the lightest stone.

Actually, Lou Yun already knew while they were placing the stones. Now, without needing to think, he stated directly, "Third row, fourth one. Lightest!"

With twenty stones, using spiritual sense to roughly sense the weight of each one takes some time. Then, finding the lightest among the twenty takes even more time. After all, spiritual sense is just a feeling; it doesn’t provide exact weights for comparison. Instead, one must discern the relative weights through feeling to find the lightest. It sounds simple but is actually very difficult to do!

Lou Yun’s speed was astonishingly fast. It made those unfamiliar with him suspect that Lou Yun must have known the position of the lightest stone beforehand. Otherwise, how could he make the judgment instantly? Or perhaps he was deliberately guessing randomly, though that possibility was practically zero.

The actual result proved Lou Yun’s judgment was accurate. The stone he selected was indeed the lightest!

However, the more accurate he was, the more skeptical people became. Even a fourth or fifth-tier skilled weapon maker probably couldn’t achieve such an astonishing speed!

At this moment, a voice suddenly rang out. "There must be trickery involved! I strongly demand he be tested again!"

Lou Yun didn’t need to look up. Hearing the voice, he knew the speaker’s identity—none other than Short Winter Melon, who had always coveted his Chaos Golden Cauldron.

As a fifth-tier skilled weapon maker, Short Winter Melon’s character might be questionable, but his voicing such a doubt at this moment won the agreement of the majority. After all, whoever it is, people deeply despise cheaters. Everyone wants a fair competitive environment.

Various skeptical voices began to rise all around. Facing these doubts, Lou Yun remained completely unflustered, a faint smile still on his face. He was aboveboard and had a clear conscience; he hadn’t cheated nor colluded with anyone beforehand.

Such a situation, being doubted by so many simultaneously, had never occurred before at a forging conference. The staff nearby were momentarily flustered, unsure how to handle it. They couldn’t help but look towards Dai Rong, Beichen Ming’s steward and the actual person in charge of the conference.

Dai Rong was quietly consulting Beichen Ming. At that moment, Lou Yun suddenly stepped forward from the crowd. Pointing directly at Short Winter Melon, he declared clearly, "Short Winter Melon! You were the first to voice doubt. Fine! I’ll give you a chance. Do you dare come up here now? I’ll let you set the challenge to verify whether I cheated or not!"

Apart from the two of them, no one else knew the details of the conflict between Lou Yun and Short Winter Melon. However, Lou Yun’s tone when addressing Short Winter Melon now struck people as unexpected. Lou Yun seemed utterly unafraid of this fifth-tier skilled weapon maker. Instead, he pointed straight at him and asked if he dared to come forward.

In front of so many people, even if unwilling, Short Winter Melon couldn’t refuse to go down. He could only brace himself and say, "Fine! Just you wait! I’ll personally give you a challenge. Let’s see just how strong your spiritual sense really is!"

As he spoke, Short Winter Melon stood up. However, he didn’t come down immediately. He tilted his head, seemingly pondering something. After a moment, he slowly walked out. As he walked, his heart was pounding. He needed to remember—that initial shout of doubt wasn’t his own idea. Fan Ruobing, from the sixth-tier skilled weapon maker section, had secretly transmitted a message instructing him to shout it. Although Fan Ruobing had also taught him an unusual testing method, deep down, Short Winter Melon absolutely did not want to have a complete public falling out with Lou Yun in front of so many people!

After all, he still coveted the treasures Lou Yun possessed. If something truly happened to Lou Yun, and people knew he had a grudge against him, he would be the prime suspect. So now, he really felt unwilling and reluctant.

But there was no choice. Fan Ruobing was someone he absolutely couldn’t afford to offend. So he could only grit his teeth and walk out.

Reaching Lou Yun, Short Winter Melon deliberately adopted a look of contempt. "Brat, don’t be so quick to defend yourself. Tell me, if I give you a challenge and you can’t complete it, what do you propose to do?"

"Whatever you say goes!" Lou Yun retorted coldly. At the same time, he deliberately and meaninglessly touched the ring on his finger, aiming to stir Short Winter Melon’s greed.

Short Winter Melon’s eyes indeed widened. He quickly nodded. "Good! Then I’ll set the challenge. Listen carefully! This method of testing spiritual sense is called ‘Falling Blossoms.’ Have you heard of it?"