A Chaotic World

Seeing how both the audience and participants alike were awed by the impressive submission from Grandmaster Xiqin, many members of the Timeless Flame Sect subconsciously puffed up with pride.

Truth be told, as members of an ancient sect, they had always felt a natural sense of superiority over others. However, times like this, when the difference between their sect members and others were made even clearer, still felt especially satisfying to them.

The elders of the sect nodded in approval, while the juniors watched him with admiration.

Everyone, have a good look.

That's Grandmaster Xiqin, one of the factional Head Inscription Masters of their Timeless Flame Sect!

Xuan Qinshang could not help but let out a helpless sigh from his seat.

Grandmaster Xiqin might be seen as an opponent for their Blue Ember faction in this Inscription Meet, but Xuan Qinshang still could not help but acknowledge the inscription master's capabilities.

"I'm afraid that after being placed with Grandmaster Xiqin's inscription, the dagger had jumped from Primary Origin Core rank straight to the Peak Origin Core rank," Grandmaster Xiqin assessed.

"To make a weapon jump three small boundaries with just a single inscription, Grandmaster Xiqin truly deserves his reputation," Elder Renhao remarked from beside him. "Seeing as to how the inscription gave a great boost to the weapon quality as well as granted a decent inscription skill, I am afraid that it will be difficult for anyone to best this result."

"Grandmaster Xiqin is advancing to the next round for sure," Xuan Qinshang agreed. "We can only hope that some of our people can advance to the next round as well, so that we will at least have another shot there."

The faction leader's words caused a solemn silence to fall upon those of the Blue Ember faction.

Indeed, Grandmaster Xiqin's advancement to the second round was practically a foregone conclusion by now. So they could only hope that their own inscription masters would not fall too far behind.

Even Young Master Xuan Hao could not help but feel nervous.

With such a great display from Grandmaster Xiqin, would Lu Tianzi really be fine?

Feeling everyone's attention fall upon him, Grandmaster Xiqin smiled in satisfaction, but he did not get overly excited just because of this.

This was the reaction that he had expected, and this was the reaction he had received.

However, he also understood that apart from himself, there were other skilled inscription masters among the participants, just that their submissions had yet to be assessed.

While they might not be at his level, they should at least be close.

The only reason he received such a great response was due to him being the first among these highly skilled inscription masters to be assessed, thus he was able to leave a stronger impression.

At this point, Grandmaster Dongkuang's figure slowly reappeared on stage, the effect from the inscription skill slowly fading away.

"Excellent work!" Grandmaster Dongkuang exclaimed in exhilaration before making his way back to his seat.

This was the first time that he had said something apart from his usual three lines, but the audience was not surprised.

Even they could tell that Grandmaster Xiqin's submission was one level above the rest!

Grandmaster Xilong's assessment of the dagger was no less than Grandmaster Dongkuang's. This time, he no longer stuck to his short and concise compliments. He drilled down to the details including the change in treasure rank, as well as how suitable the inscription skill was for a dagger user.

He also harped on the sheer difficulty of pulling off such a high quality work under the effect of the energy disturbance field that had ruined many inscription masters today, praising Grandmaster Xiqin for his great adaptability.

After every line of compliment, Grandmaster Xilong would sneak a peek towards where Xuan Yongheng was seated.

But when he saw that the sect master of the Timeless Flame Sect remained unmoved, Grandmaster Xilong quickly lost interest as well, and stopped his assessment shortly after.

Of course, he might have wanted to make use of this opportunity to get into the good books of Xuan Yongheng, but that did not change the fact that he truly thought highly of Grandmaster Xiqin's submission. If it had been something inferior, he would never have been able to say what he did no matter how much he wanted Xuan Yongheng to notice him.

The assessment of the participants' submissions continued.

But after Grandmaster Xiqin's great work, the following submissions all seemed to be rather lacklustre in comparison. Even though some of them did receive positive comments from the judges, the audience could not be bothered to cheer anymore.

It was only when the next submission with an inscription skill appeared that they were finally satisfied.

Grandmaster Xingyu – an unaffiliated inscription master renowned for his dedication towards the art of inscriptions, as well as being one of the favourites for winning the Inscription Meet.

Earlier while the concealing formation of the Timeless Flame Sect was still active, he had also been one of those who wowed the crowds by showing off his remarkable speed of drawing inscription runes.

Now in the hands of Grandmaster Dongkuang, Grandmaster Xingyu's submission burst forth with an inscription skill that created numerous mirages of the user of the dagger, proving that just like Grandmaster Xiqin before him, he had well considered the fact that the dagger was meant for swiftness and stealth.

It was deemed as yet another excellent work by Grandmaster Dongkuang, but while Grandmaster Xilong complimented it as well, it was nowhere near as much as what he said for Grandmaster Xiqin's submission.

In the end, Grandmaster Xingyu was but an unaffiliated inscription master, so Grandmaster Xilong did not feel the need to try too hard.

After half a day of repeated assessments, another name that drew everyone's interest finally came up.

"The next submission is by Manor Lord Lu of the Sky Snow Manor," Xuan Ziying announced with an amused expression. "Judges, please begin your assessment."

This was one of the two main characters of the Inscription Meet, so everyone was immediately interested.

All eyes fell upon Lu Tianzi, but his eyes remained closed even as the dagger was brought to the Iron Fist Overlord.

Earlier, every participant whose submission was being assessed would watch the assessment eagerly, so his current demeanour caught everyone by surprise.

"Is he not going to watch the assessment?"

"Has he already given up? Or is he just that damn confident?"

"He is probably just putting on a show. The concealing formation had already been lifted, so who needs to open their eyes when they can just use their perception to observe their surroundings?"

"So he is just posing? Why would he?"

"Can't you tell by now? His opponent Grandmaster Xiqin has obtained such great results, so of course he is worried. He is probably trying to act indifferent now so that he can just play down the event later when his loss is confirmed!"

"That is so pathetic!"

That was the conclusion that almost everyone came to, including Grandmaster Xiqin.

After all, this was originally a contest between Grandmaster Xiqin and Lu Tianzi. Having seen Grandmaster Xiqin's incredible submission, it was not totally unexpected that Lu Tianzi would be afraid to face reality.

Since there was no reaction to be seen from Lu Tianzi, everyone's attention quickly moved towards the stage where the judges were about to start their assessment.

Once again, the Iron Fist Overlord simply passed the dagger on, and the meticulous Grandmaster Dongkuang began his close examination of the dagger.

"From the looks of it, the dagger has risen from the Primary Origin Core rank to the Advanced Origin Core rank," Xuan Qinshang commented. "That is quite remarkable."

"Advanced Origin Core rank? But Grandmaster Xiqin's dagger rose to the Peak Origin Core rank…" Ruan Ling muttered under her breath after hearing Xuan Qinshang's words. "Oh, but I don't mean that Brother Tianzi has lost just yet!"

"Don't worry about me," Nanlan Qianxue replied with a carefree smile. She knew that Ruan Ling was being overly conscious of her presence.

Ruan Ling only felt more guilty when she saw Nanlan Qianxue's smile. To her, it almost felt as though Nanlan Qianxue was acting nonchalant just to make her feel better.

"It's okay, Brother Tianzi only needs to be in the top eight. As long as he can get into the next round, he will get the chance to challenge Grandmaster Xiqin again!" Young Master Xuan Hao clenched his fists in nervousness.

That's right.

As long as they entered the next round, everything would be reset.

It would not matter how well someone did in the first round, the only thing that would decide the victor of the Inscription Meet would be the submission of the second round!

He was still lost in his thoughts when a commotion suddenly broke out among the audience.

That was because Grandmaster Dongkuang had left his seat, and thus far, there had only been one reason that would make him do so.

This submission possessed an inscription skill that he needed to test out!

The audience felt their blood boiling in anticipation.

That's more like it!

No matter what, Manor Lord Lu was still one of the two main characters of the Inscription Meet. It would be extremely disappointing if he could not at least do this much.

Would it be a stealth art like Grandmaster Xiqin's?

Or would it be something to confuse the enemy like Grandmaster Xingyu's?

Or could it be something that aimed to boost yet another aspect of a dagger user?

Under everyone's curious gazes, Grandmaster Dongkuang raised the dagger and channelled his Origin Force into it.

Boom-!

A bright light instantly shrouded the entire arena, blinding the eyes of the audience who had been watching without daring to blink.

This intense light was not part of a concealing skill, and neither was it some sort of illusion skill.

Instead, it was a more primitive form of light, something that naturally accompanied what was to come.

The temperature within the arena soared as a huge ball of fire erupted from the dagger

It was like the sun itself had descended to the mortal world.

In its presence, the earth would burn, and rivers would run dry.

Its searing heat could massacre tens of thousands of mortals in passing, and even weaker martial artists would not fare any better.

The majority of martial artists present instantly felt a huge pressure weighing down upon them, as though they were being suppressed by the world laws themselves. There was no doubt that if they were forced to face this ridiculous ball of fire in a direct confrontation, they would be reduced to ashes in mere moments.

Perhaps the only saving grace was that the huge ball of fire was shot towards the sky, where Grandmaster Dongkuang had been aiming the tip of the dagger.

The speed of the ball of fire was not slow by any measure. In a matter of seconds, it had already parted the clouds and disappeared into the distance.

However, a deafening silence remained shrouding upon the arena as everyone took this time to slowly digest what they had just witnessed.

A dagger was mainly used for its stealth and swiftness.

That was the reason why both Grandmaster Xiqin and Grandmaster Xingyu had opted for inscription skills that helped in these aspects.

Yet Manor Lord Lu seemed to have headed in the complete opposite direction.

The loud sound…

The intense light...

His inscription skill could not be considered as merely attention seeking. Rather, it was flashy to the extreme!

This was an inscription skill that was all about wanting to directly overwhelm any opponents with pure and absolute power!

In terms of suitability, it definitely could not compare to the submissions by Grandmaster Xiqin and Grandmaster Xingyu.

However, there was one exceptional point that only the sharp eyed ones among the audience managed to notice.

As a judge as well as an experienced appraiser, Grandmaster Dongkuang would never have infused his own comprehensions of the world laws into the dagger for fear that it would influence the true might of the inscription skill. Yet when the ball of fire appeared earlier, it had clearly brought along with it a wide area suppression that possessed traces of the world laws.

That only meant one thing – the earlier inscription skill had given birth to an attack that was either of the Overlord rank, or one that was at least infinitely close to it!

For Grandmaster Dongkuang who was a Ninth Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist, wielding an Advanced Origin Core rank weapon should never have resulted in an attack of this level.

In other words, this was actually an inscription skill that could allow Grandmaster Dongkuang to cross the hurdle widely believed to be impossible to overcome, obtaining the power to directly challenge Overlord realm powerhouses!