Bound to Mary Sue, I am against involution in the world of immortal cultivation

Fan Ning noticed the gaze and looked over. Without caring about the mood of the people on the stage, he just raised his eyebrows and smiled before returning to his seat.

The people who were traveling with her also stood beside her. Except for Ling You and her cheap master who had just worshipped her and left, who exchanged glances for a moment, no one else moved.

The materials that can be used at the Equipment Refining Conference are basically fixed and will be distributed to each contestant. If necessary, contestants can also use other materials themselves, but the quality requirements cannot exceed those given at the conference.

Fan Ning asked Qin Mingzheng, who was familiar with the process, to prepare some more things.

As soon as the bell rang, she walked into the open transparent space next to her, lowered her head and fiddled with the completely arranged materials, a faint smile appearing at the corner of her mouth.

Fan Ning doesn't take other people's feelings too seriously.

This applies at all times.

"Wait, she just put it in like that...?" The judge, who had just swallowed a mouthful of water, almost spit it out. He hadn't recovered from the shock of Fan Ning being a medicine cultivator yet, and the moment he opened his eyes, he was hit hard again.

"Isn't there a risk of explosion from Cloud Blue Stone and Golden Silk?"

What's with this practice of throwing weeds away?!

"Nothing exploded," Sword Master signaled them to calm down and reminded them again: "This is a weapon refining conference. You can't enter without an invitation or a recommendation."

So those who came here are all genuine people, but even so, they can't really keep calm at all——

"What did she just put in there? Was it the Ice Flame Stone? Aren't those crystals used to accelerate reactions?"

The judges, whose minds had just stopped buzzing, looked towards the Sword Master in the center, closed their eyes, and then, unable to suppress their inward glance at the refining furnace beside Fan Ning, which was reacting extremely violently, and said in a dazed tone, "Can this be released?"

The Sword Master, the only judge present who had no idea how to just come up to make up the numbers, said: "...It didn't explode."

"Hmph, refining a weapon isn't about avoiding furnace explosions," the Qingyun Sect's leader snorted again, looking at Ling You, who remained unmoved outside. "This kind of operation requires extreme attention to detail. If you're not an experienced person, be careful not to get burned."

Having said that, his tone was a little gentler when he added the second half of the sentence.

At this moment, all eyes were focused on Fan Ning, who was busy throwing things away. Then - they saw Fan Ning walk out and knock on Ling You, whispering something in his ear.

Ling You was stunned at first, then frowned, looking a little disapproving.

But it's only on the surface.

The shape of his mouth shown to others at the end clearly showed approval.

Theoretically, one cannot communicate with others during the process of refining equipment, but some refiners bring their own assistants, so this rule is not explicitly stated.

By default, it should be one but not two.

Fan Ning quickly returned to her small compartment. The soft firelight shone on her face, making her already fair complexion even redder.

Refining equipment is not a one-time task. Gradually, the sound of conversation in the venue disappeared as everyone focused on the objects in their hands.

The crackling of flames and pairs of focused eyes mixed together. The judges in the stands all looked into the compartments. The more they looked, the more relieved they were that there was someone to continue the competition.

Among them, Gu Yuanzhou received the most praise.

"It seems that Gu Yuanzhou is about to break through the realm of weapon refining master and create a spiritual weapon. He is really promising at a young age."

"Soon the world of immortal cultivation will have another weapon refining master... He is truly worthy of being the disciple personally chosen by the Grand Master."

"..."

Ling You, who had listened without entering the compartment, also looked towards Gu Yuanzhou's position.

The weapon refiners in the world of immortal cultivation place great importance on talent. Even though there are only four levels of division, most people cannot break through the first level of confinement.

Those below the Grand Master level can only forge magical instruments, while those above them have the spiritual energy of life, and above that... is the realm of divine instruments that only Grand Masters have the opportunity to dabble in.

But now spiritual weapons are extremely rare, let alone divine weapons.

If Gu Yuanzhou really breaks through... does Fan Ning still have hope of winning?

He couldn't help but look back at the person inside. In just two seconds, he met a pair of bright and calm eyes.

——Winning or losing doesn’t seem to be that important to her.

Ling You got an incredible idea.

...Before he could associate the word "lose" with Fan Ning, the other party had already forgotten it far behind his mind.

"Your worries are unnecessary," Jiang Biehe said, raising his lip corners after noticing this. "If Fan Ning really wants to win, she has plenty of ways to do it."

Ling You quickly pulled himself out of his emotions, his lips twitching, "...an unorthodox method?"

Then don't do it.

Besides, Fan Ning would not do that.

He glanced at Gu Yuanzhou, who was getting better and better. He was a little worried, but not too worried. After all, he believed that Fan Ning would not do anything without any reward.

“…Failed.”

It was unknown who sighed first, but thick black smoke rose up in front of the eyes of Gu Yuanzhou, who was the focus of everyone's attention. The magic weapon that was almost refined into a spiritual weapon became a magic weapon after all. The vague spirit of the weapon was only a flash in the pan and soon dissipated.

The judges were a little disappointed, but still gave an objective and fair evaluation: "Although it is not a spiritual weapon, among magical weapons, its quality is definitely outstanding."

"...It looks more like a fan? I wonder if it has any other effects. This weapon seems unusual."

He paused at the right moment and did not finish the second half of the sentence.

——The color and patterns of Gu Yuanzhou’s fan are exactly the same as those on the woman he had been staring at before.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see through it.

"What a young spirit..." Someone smiled, and his attention slowly shifted from the fan that was about to take shape to another cluster of blazing flames.

Then he froze.

What's that chubby paw? Is it the cat demon's enlarged paw?

It looks good, but the person being displayed later should be the young man standing outside, right? ... Is there any way this fits in?

"I really lost to her," Ling You, who was also watching the fat claws gradually taking shape, sighed. Thinking back to Fan Ning's previous question, he had to comfort himself again that it was just her quirk.

At least, it looks so strange, so it must be very powerful.

Skillful.

Finally squeezed into the golden position, the weapon-refining disciples of Yueli Sect who were watching outside also thought so.

The leading senior sister was so nervous that she couldn't even swallow the candied haws in her mouth. Her big watery eyes were open and motionless.

Then - she saw Fan Ning slowly applying green powder on the tip of his chubby claws.

It seems that the claws were poisoned and were swollen and green.

"..."

The senior sister closed her eyes and boasted, "Such a unique color combination must be very strong!"

The disciples of Yueli Sect nodded sincerely in agreement.

At the moment when they nodded, something noble left them like the other disciples who were watching.