Yun Hai was well aware that if the Yun family joined forces with the Ran family, it would pose little threat to Feng Yuqin.
However, they knew the strength of the Du family well.
So he was determined to find a way to draw the Du family into an alliance.
Half a stick of incense later, the three weapon refiners from the hidden families completed their tasks one after another.
To be precise, Du Ziteng from the Du family finished a few breaths earlier than the other two from the Yun and Ran families.
"Master, it seems that the strength of these hidden families doesn't vary much," Xiao Ying remarked.
"But I think Du Ziteng was quite steady at first. When he heard that you'd finished, he got a bit flustered. Otherwise, he might have distanced himself further from the other two," Hun Bing said.
"I'm curious. Since Du Ziteng was affected, why weren't the other two from the hidden families?" Zhu Xie Sword asked in puzzlement.
Xiao Ying glanced back at the position of Zhu Xie Sword and immediately understood the question: "Take a look at where the seventh elder of the Tianxia Alliance is standing, and you'll know why."
Hearing this, Zhu Xie Sword moved to the position as Xiao Ying suggested and observed where the seventh elder of the Tianxia Alliance was standing. He instantly understood.
"Did he do it on purpose?" Zhu Xie Sword asked.
Hun Bing, who could read minds, replied, "It was an accidental injury."
Zhu Xie Sword said, "I feel sorry for Du Ziteng for a moment."
Feng Yuqin twitched the corner of her mouth. Her spiritual pets were getting so naughty.
Another stick of incense later, all the weapon refining contestants had completed their tasks.
As expected, when the seventh elder of the Tianxia Alliance announced the rankings one by one,
Feng Yuqin came in first.
Du Ziteng was second.
Yun Haochi was third.
Ran Xiuzhe was fourth.
As soon as the rankings were announced, the faces of the three hidden families instantly turned ugly.
Both the elders in the VIP seats and the younger generation in the waiting area for the competition all looked extremely grim.
"How could this happen?" Du Yaor murmured in disbelief. "How could Second Brother lose?"
On the other side, Ran Ziling also exclaimed, "Big Brother actually lost?"
The Yun family members were relatively quiet.
Yun Miaozhu stood nearby, her eyes fixed on Feng Yuqin on the competition stage. It was hard to tell what she was thinking.
"Sister, do you think you'll win later?" Yun Haozhe asked Yun Miaozhu beside him.
"If Feng Yuqin and the other two hadn't joined, I'd be confident," Yun Miaozhu replied calmly.
Yun Haozhe's eyes paused. "You mean these three are the variables?"
Yun Haozhe knew his younger sister well. She was often low - key but definitely had a deep - seated scheming side.
Whenever the siblings were unsure about someone, they would turn to Yun Miaozhu.
Gradually, their reliance on her grew stronger.
Although Yun Miaozhu seemed indifferent on the surface, she actually enjoyed being looked up to.
"Yes," Yun Miaozhu turned to look at her second brother. "Do your best later. You must win."
Although they were variables, she was determined to change the situation.
As an alchemist, she had asked the Yun family's intelligence network to investigate the situation of the other contestants.
The only new arrival was Han Luosu.
She didn't think someone like Feng Yuqin would bring someone casually to the competition.
She also had information about Han Luosu's past alchemy achievements. His strength was a bit weaker than hers.
Thinking of Feng Yuqin's masterful alchemy skills, a glint of determination flashed in Yun Miaozhu's eyes.
While everyone was still shocked that Feng Yuqin, an alchemist, had won first place in the weapon refining competition and crushed the hidden families,
the seventh elder of the Tianxia Alliance announced the second round: alchemy.
Just as Feng Yuqin and her group walked to their positions in the waiting area, the alchemists were about to take the stage.
"Brother Han, you'll definitely do well," Feng Yuqin heard Chu Xiaomian cheering for Han Luosu as soon as she walked over.
Han Luosu looked at Chu Xiaomian. "I'll take your good word for it."
"Madam Mo..." Han Luosu turned around and saw Feng Yuqin.
"Just do your best. Don't put too much pressure on yourself," Feng Yuqin said calmly. "Anyway, I've already won a first place, shattering some people's wild dreams."
Han Luosu knew exactly who Feng Yuqin was referring to.
The Du family had hoped to win all three first places. However, Feng Yuqin had taken the weapon refining first place.
They must be extremely angry.
Han Luosu took the stage, and Song Nanxu's eyes were fixed on him.
At first, Song Nanxu had a crush on Han Luosu. For a while, they had a falling - out because of Xiao Ling'er.
But recently, the Han family was on the rise and showed signs of entering the eight major sects.
Song Nanxu's heart stirred again.
She pestered Grandpa Song to visit the Han family.
The two families were once noble families. Grandpa Han didn't like Song Nanxu, but Grandpa Song had helped Grandpa Han before. Although the favor had been repaid, Grandpa Han still remembered those who had helped him and didn't want to fall out with them.
After being rejected, Grandpa Song told Song Nanxu not to have any illusions about Han Luosu. It was impossible for them.
How could Song Nanxu be willing to give up?
She stared intently at Han Luosu on the stage.
This man... was hers.
The members of the hidden families also took the stage.
This time, with Feng Yuqin and the other two, along with the hidden families, the other contestants were overwhelmed.
The opponents were so powerful that it would be difficult for them to win even if they tried their best.
At least in the first round, they had suffered a crushing defeat.
After seeing these contestants being far outshone by Feng Yuqin and her group, the eight major sects and the ten great families had no intention of recruiting them.
"Yaor should be fine, right?" Du Ziteng thought of his loss in the weapon refining competition, especially being defeated so badly by Feng Yuqin. He was in a foul mood.
"I don't know," Du Rou'er was no longer as confident as before.
The Yun and Ran families were also less confident than before.
Yun Miaozhu had always been confident. Even when compared with the Du family's alchemists in the past, she often crushed them.
However, Feng Yuqin's performance today had shocked her greatly.
So now, while preparing the medicinal herbs, she was thinking about how to win this round.
The Ran family's contestant this time was Ran Ziling.
Ran Ziling and Du Yaor were both 19 years old, and their alchemy skills were on a par.
So Yun Miaozhu didn't even take them seriously.
All her attention was on Han Luosu.
To defeat her opponent, she needed to know what medicinal herb the opponent was going to refine.
So while preparing her own medicinal herbs, Yun Miaozhu was observing what Han Luosu was getting ready.
"Master, that Yun Miaozhu is staring intently at what medicinal herb Han Luosu is refining. She wants to refine a more powerful one to defeat him," Hun Bing read Yun Miaozhu's thoughts and immediately relayed them to Feng Yuqin.