I Was Forced to Marry a “Trash” Cultivator, But She Turned Out to Be a Reborn Empress!

Chapter 241: Refining Master, Smelting Materials

Elder Mo’s gaze lingered on Shen Xian for a heartbeat, a flicker of approval passing through his eyes before settling back into a pool of calm.

He had taken a moment earlier to inspect the high-grade spirit treasure Shen Xian had submitted. It was exquisite—perhaps the finest craftsmanship he had witnessed in his long life. It was genuinely shocking that such a piece had come from the hands of a refiner so young.

However, his interest remained superficial.

In the world of cultivation, geniuses were as common as carp in a river. But those who successfully swam upstream to leap the Dragon Gate? Those were rare. Talent was merely the entry fee; survival was the true test.

Checking the position of the sun, Elder Mo decided it was time. He rose slowly from his seat.

As he moved, the other refining masters on the viewing platform stood in unison, their expressions painted with deference. This man was an Elder of the Hundred Arts Sect. He was not someone they could afford to slight. If they could curry favor with him and find shade under the colossal tree of the Hundred Arts Sect, their future paths would be infinitely smoother.

“Honored colleagues,” Elder Mo’s voice was not loud, yet it carried clearly to every ear in the plaza, woven with subtle qi. “The preliminary round of the Refining Assembly begins now. The first trial will test your fire control and the strength of your Divine Sense.”

He swept his sleeve across the air.

Whoosh!

Dozens of ores, pitch-black and swallowing the light around them, materialized out of thin air, hovering before each contestant’s station.

“This is Mystic Nether Black Iron,” Elder Mo announced. “It possesses an incredibly high melting point and rejects common flames. It requires specific, unorthodox techniques to smelt. The first twenty to successfully reduce it to liquid will advance to the next round!”

A commotion erupted instantly among the spectators.

“Mystic Nether Black Iron?! That stuff is notorious! Even the True Fire of a Nascent Soul cultivator struggles to soften it!” a third-tier refining master gasped, his face paling.

The participants were mostly fourth-tier masters, with a few elite third-tiers hoping for a miracle. The vast majority of the city’s ordinary refiners were in the audience, here to learn by watching the greats.

Hearing the name of the material, a wave of despair washed over the weaker contestants. They knew the legend of this iron. Even a peak fourth-tier master would need to expend significant life force and time to melt it.

Naturally, all eyes shifted toward the high platform where the favorites stood.

“This assembly is shaping up to be another duel between Master Yan Xiao and Elder Xuanji,” an elderly cultivator sighed, stroking his white beard.

Yan Xiaozi stood arrogantly at the front of the stage. His crimson robes fluttered despite the lack of wind, and the seven fire jades hanging at his waist pulsed with a scorching rhythm. He was the crown jewel of Azure Nether City’s refining scene, backed by a major sect and possessed of terrifying skill.

“Hmph. Today, I will force that old man Xuanji to acknowledge my Nine Revolutions Flame Dragon Art!” Yan Xiaozi’s gaze was electric, and faint, draconic mirages seemed to coil around his body.

On the other side, an old man in gray-white Daoist robes sat with eyes closed, radiating tranquility.

His face was gaunt and refined, and a small, ancient cauldron hovered before his chest. This was Elder Xuanji, the acclaimed “Number One Refining Master of Maple Leaf City.”

Since Maple Leaf City was generally superior to Azure Nether City in resources and heritage, this title carried immense weight. He was the heavy favorite.

But they were not alone. Four other heavyweights stood on the platform, titans from their respective cities.

Most eye-catching was Master Chi Lian from Heavenly Fire City.

He was draped in dark red vestments, and upon his chest hung a badge burning with an eternal, magical flame—the insignia of his home.

“I heard Master Chi Lian once refined a top-grade spirit treasure that caused two Nascent Soul True Venerables to duel over its ownership…” a spectator whispered.

Master Chi Lian stood with arms crossed, eerie blue-purple flames dancing at his fingertips. The heat was so intense and concentrated that the space around his hands warped like a mirage.

Beside him sat Fairy Bing Po of Cold Moon City, a woman carved from ice.

She wore a dress of snow-white gauze. Within a thirty-foot radius of her body, fine ice crystals materialized from the air and drifted down like snow.

“Cold Moon City’s Profound Ice Refining Technique is unique in the world,” a male cultivator said, his voice trembling with awe. “They say she used ten-thousand-year profound ice to forge a treasure capable of freezing the blood of a Nascent Soul cultivator.”

An ice lotus floated before her, and in its center burned a paradoxical pale-white flame.

Further down was Master Tie Xin from Golden Spear City.

He was a giant of a man, built like an iron tower. His exposed arms were covered in strange, metallic tattoos that seemed to shimmer.

“Master Tie Xin practices Body Refining alongside Artificing. He has tempered his own bones into spirit materials. His weapons possess innate armor-piercing capabilities…”

Most striking was the black iron hammer floating before him. Dark red veins, like blood vessels, pulsed on the hammerhead. Rumor had it the weapon was quenched in the blood of a Deity Transformation Realm Demon Beast.

The final contender was Mister Baicao from Verdant Wood City.

He appeared to be a frail, scholarly old man leaning on a verdant bamboo staff. Seven small gourds of various colors dangled from the staff’s head.

“Mister Baicao’s Spiritual Plant Refining Technique is a lost art,” someone noted admiringly. “He uses spirit herbs to refine treasures with healing or support effects.”

A sachet at his waist released a faint medicinal fragrance that cleared the minds of those near him.

These four masters, along with Yan Xiaozi and Elder Xuanji, occupied the cardinal directions of the platform. Each was surrounded by a unique Dao Rhythm. Though they spoke no words, the air between them crackled with invisible lightning.

“A gathering of stars…” The crowd was entranced. “Who will rise above the rest?”

Yan Xiaozi swept his gaze over his rivals, his fighting spirit blazing.

“Hmph. What sort of cats and dogs think they can compete with me?” He surged his True Fire, causing the ambient temperature to spike.

Elder Xuanji remained unmoved, his small cauldron rotating slowly, gleaming with the patina of ages.

“Begin!” Elder Mo commanded.

Instantly, the refining masters vanished from their waiting spots, blurring into motion as they landed on the massive jade platform in the center of the arena.

The six favorites moved in sync, unleashing their signature techniques immediately.

Yan Xiaozi struck first. His hands formed a blur of seals, and the seven fire jades at his waist shot into the sky. They transformed into seven roaring fire dragons, spiraling and locking together.

The flames they exhaled shimmered with nine distinct colors, swallowing the Mystic Nether Black Iron whole.

“Nine Revolutions Flame Dragon Art!” The crowd roared. “That fire is said to melt fourth-tier materials like butter!”

Elder Xuanji was unhurried. He tapped his small cauldron, sending twelve streams of bronze light shooting out. They wove together in the air, forming a complex geometric array.

The Black Iron was suspended in the center, and under the pressure of the formation, it began to disintegrate, layer by layer.

“Is that… the Six Harmonies Refining Method?” A knowledgeable spectator gasped.

Master Chi Lian let out a sinister chuckle. The blue-purple flame in his palm exploded outward.

The fire was grotesque; it didn’t just burn, it seemed to corrode the air itself. Faint, screaming skulls appeared within the tongues of flame. He had fused a rare Exotic Fire into his technique.

Fairy Bing Po flicked a jade-like finger. The pale flame resting in her ice lotus poured out like a freezing waterfall.

Extreme cold met the structural integrity of the iron. The thermal shock was instant—spiderweb cracks raced across the surface of the Mystic Nether Black Iron.

“Ice and Fire sharing the same origin?” Even Elder Mo raised an eyebrow.

Master Tie Xin roared, swinging his blood-veined hammer.

CLANG!

Each strike sounded like a thunderclap. Sparks showered the stage as he beat the stubborn ore into submission, forcing a metallic luster to appear through sheer brute force.

“Forging through absolute power!” The body refiners in the crowd felt their blood boil.

The six masters displayed overwhelming, crushing dominance. To the audience, this was not just work; it was art.

“This is the true Great Dao of Refining!”

While the world watched the titans clash, bathing in the light of their spectacular techniques, no one noticed a young man in the corner.

Shen Xian, with a serene expression, unhurriedly summoned the Burning Heaven Cauldron.