Chapter 0458: The Refinement Competition Second Round

After a full forty days, the preliminary round of this refinement competition finally came to an end!
Compared to Huang Long, who crafted a top-tier Grade 7 advanced divine artifact in just a few breaths, these forty days seemed incredibly long!
Although there was no set time limit for the preliminary round, after forty days, those divine-level experts who had yet to create a top-tier divine artifact felt ashamed and voluntarily withdrew from the competition.
The preliminary round lasted forty days, and throughout that time, Niga City was filled with discussions about Huang Long!
Every day and moment, the name “Huang Long” could be heard in every corner of Niga City.
Forty days later, news of Huang Long’s performance in the preliminary round spread not only within Niga City but also to some surrounding major cities, and even to some cities around Niga Prefecture.
Over those forty days, millions upon millions of divine-level experts came from the surrounding major cities, with more still arriving from the surrounding cities.
No one wanted to miss such an opportunity.
Although the preliminary round was not open to the public, the second and final rounds would be. Then, divine-level experts from all over would be able to witness Huang Long’s process of crafting top-tier divine artifacts!
During those forty days, Huang Long and the others stayed in their villa and did not go outside. Yet, despite staying there, they were constantly visited by guests, day and night, for forty days straight!
Huang Long asked Bog and the others to send the guests away.
In the end, Huang Long had no choice but to set up a defensive array around the villa.
Even so, the area around the villa was still packed with visitors.
Forty days later, when Huang Long and the others emerged from the villa to attend the second round, a path was finally cleared through the crowd.
So, when Huang Long and the others arrived at the competition site, everyone saw a sea of people behind him, filled with fervent admiration and reverence.
The elders of the Akro family, such as Bartley, were also shocked upon seeing this scene.
“Brother Huang Long!” The eight elders of the Akro family rushed forward upon seeing Huang Long and his group.
Huang Long replied, “Elder Bartley, and all the elders,” with a bow.
“Brother Huang Long, please come in!” The elders of the Akro family gestured for him to enter. This treatment, given to Huang Long by the elders of the Akro family and the other eight major families, made the other supreme experts present feel displeased, as they had never received such treatment.
By the time Huang Long entered the venue, many divine-level experts for the second round had already arrived.

Huang Long saw El. When he looked at El, El, the head of the Joy family, rarely managed to force a smile at Huang Long before nodding and addressing him as, “Brother Huang Long!” It seemed he had already forgotten that Huang Long had killed his grandson over seven months ago. Seeing this, Huang Long nodded and said, “Head El,” then stepped onto his own competition platform and stood there. After Huang Long arrived, the divine-level warriors from the round of 16 also came one after another. The square around the competition platforms was crowded with people, filled with murmurs, and most of the divine-level warriors kept glancing at Huang Long from time to time. Huang Long stood there calmly, listening to the discussions among the gods, waiting patiently for the competition to begin. After the preliminary rounds, only a little over three thousand people remained in the round of 16. Among these, aside from fifteen peerless warriors, the rest had strengths ranging from the early to peak levels of the Nether King rank. Once all three thousandmany people were gathered, Bartley stepped forward and briefly explained the rules for the round of 16, then said, “Now, the competition begins!” As soon as Bartley spoke, the situation was similar to that of the preliminary rounds—various colored divine flames lit up on each competition platform, and cauldrons of different shapes appeared in midair. “I heard that Lord Huang Long’s cauldron is a spatial ring on his hand!” “No way, really?!” “Of course it’s true. Lord Huang Long’s cauldron can change size!” After the competition started, most of the divine-level warriors stared intently at Huang Long’s fingers, eager to verify the rumor that his spatial ring could transform into a cauldron. After the divine-level warriors on the surrounding platforms brought out their cauldrons, Huang Long slowly opened his left hand, and the Five Hells Divine Cauldron flew out. Under the gazes of thousands of gods, the cauldron gradually grew larger, while Bartley and the other eight people on the judging platform watched intently without blinking. When Huang Long brought out the Five Hells Divine Cauldron, the competitors on the surrounding platforms, including El, the head of the Joy family, also slowed down and turned to look. However, to Bartley, El, and the others’ surprise, after the cauldron transformed into a dark gold five-legged cauldron hundreds of meters in size like in the preliminary rounds, it continued to grow larger, eventually becoming as big as a kilometer in diameter, resembling a small mountain! The Five Hells Divine Cauldron stood in midair, its shadow casting downward, its body emitting a faint glow that created an invisible sense of pressure. Huang Long waved his hands, and ores and refined iron kept falling into the mouth of the cauldron. After a while, it stopped, and then, just like before, heavenly flames ignited, powering the operation of the Five Hells Divine Cauldron.

The Five Hells Divine Cauldron is an immortal artifact, possessing its own spirit. Even without Huang Long’s intervention, it can forge itself using sufficient materials. However, Huang Long didn’t want to “scare” the gods, so he only intervened slightly—after all, this was far too terrifying in their eyes.
A cauldron that can forge itself would interest even the Supreme God.
Not to mention supreme artifacts, even the most exalted divine artifacts cannot do this.
The Five Hells Divine Cauldron evolved into an immortal artifact with its own spirit, meaning it now had life. An artifact with life was, in itself, something utterly astonishing.
Under the stimulation of the celestial fire within Huang Long’s body, the cauldron’s surface emitted continuous light. Inside its mouth, mountain-like ores and refined iron were continuously tempered by the celestial fire, free from any impurities. After removing the impurities, Huang Long clenched his hands together, forming a hand seal, as his hands moved swiftly like waves!
Mysterious runes, glowing with golden light, flickered and entered the Five Hells Divine Cauldron one after another.
The gods around watched in breathless silence, their eyes wide open, nostrils flaring.
“What kind of forging technique is this?!”
Even the eight elders of the Hell’s Eight Great Families, who had seen much, could not discern Huang Long’s technique. Moreover, his hands moved so fast that the shadows they cast created strange illusions—or patterns—in the surrounding space.
“Is he engraving a formation?!”
They guessed in shock.
But as far as the gods knew, usually, formations were engraved into artifacts only after they were fully forged. They had never heard of engraving formations while the artifact was still in the process of being created.
Everyone was filled with confusion.
Just as the gods were puzzled, suddenly, Huang Long stopped moving his hands. When he did, they felt a deep sense of disappointment.
At that moment, the Five Hells Divine Cauldron emitted a clear sound, followed by a rainbow glow from its mouth. From within that glow, a great sword slowly rose. With a hum, the sword’s blade trembled, and an overwhelming aura of dominance spread out.
“Is it already done?!”
The gods stared in disbelief at the great sword emerging from the cauldron’s mouth.
Although they had come to witness Huang Long’s forging process, they could still not accept that an artifact could be created so easily!
Huang Long took the Five Hells Divine Cauldron back into his left hand and waved it, causing the great sword to hover in front of the eight elders of the Batley family.
“Elder Batley, please inspect it,” said Huang Long.

Only then did Bartley realize what was happening, and he along with the other elders looked at the great sword before them. Eventually, Bartley reached out to grab the sword. The moment he did, he felt a slight tremor in his heart. Just as when he had tried to grasp the green sword before, the great sword emitted a dazzling blade glow, creating a resonant vibration that forced Bartley to slow down his movement. When he finally managed to break through the glow surrounding the sword and hold it in his hands, he was shocked. Although he hadn’t yet assessed the sword’s rank, based on what had just happened, it was clearly of a higher rank than the green sword he had forged during the Yellow Dragon preliminary round! The green sword was of the upper seventh rank; so what rank was this great sword?! “Lower upper eighth rank!” Bartley announced in shock after using his divine senses to examine it and infuse it with divine power. “Lower upper eighth rank, an upper eighth rank divine artifact!” A hum spread through the minds of the gods around him. Instantly, the crowd began to stir, and in the blink of an eye, the disturbance grew like waves. Yellow Dragon nodded and said, “Elder Bartley, this divine artifact I forged has not only powerful attacking capabilities but also other advantages. Should we not assess those as well?” With over three thousand people competing in the semifinals, only ten would advance to the finals. To ensure a spot in the finals, Yellow Dragon didn’t dare take any chances, which is why it took him longer to forge this sword compared to the preliminary round. This great sword was far superior to the previous green sword in every aspect. After hearing Yellow Dragon’s words, Bartley was stunned. Could this upper eighth rank divine artifact also be a formation-based divine artifact?! With that thought, he leaped up, channeled his divine power, and swung the great sword outside Niga City. Under the astonished gazes of the gods, a blade of energy slashed through the air, splitting a thousand-foot-high mountain a million miles outside Niga City in two from top to bottom. “It’s truly a formation-based divine artifact!” Bartley exclaimed in awe. Formation-based divine artifacts! The gods were even more astonished upon hearing Bartley’s words. Since Tang Nashou and the others had kept quiet about the green sword being a formation-based divine artifact, the gods were unaware of this. Now that they heard that Yellow Dragon’s upper eighth rank divine artifact was also one, their shock was evident. Yet, as the gods were in uproar, Bartley cried out again, “No, it’s not a formation-based divine artifact!” Not a formation-based divine artifact?! Everyone was stunned, wondering if Bartley had made a mistake in his earlier judgment. Then Bartley’s voice rang out again, “Yes, it’s a chained formation-based divine artifact!” The gods were dumbfounded. A chained formation-based divine artifact meant a divine artifact that incorporated two or more formations!

In all of hell, although there aren’t many godly experts who can craft array artifacts, they are not rare. The fifteen peerless experts present in the semifinals are all capable of doing so. But what about array artifacts that involve two or more consecutive arrays?! Not to mention those fifteen peerless experts here, not even any peerless expert in all the divine realms can claim to be able to successfully craft such array artifacts every time!