Everyone could see why Sikong Yan was reluctant to acknowledge Su Mo as his master. They could tell he was just trying to get out of it.
They just could not understand why Su Mo insisted on recruiting Sikong Yan as his disciple.
It seemed ridiculous that a Lv 1 True Darkness Realm martial artist would want to recruit a Lv 7 True Darkness Realm martial artist as his disciple.
Su Mo’s eyes flashed. Since Sikong Yan did not want to acknowledge him as master, then he should place something else on the table!
Otherwise, what was the point of him competing? He did not even gain anything out of it!
“Sikong Yan, since you insist on preparing gifts, then give me 100,000 Upper Spiritual Stones!”
Su Mo smiled amicably and continued, “We’ll leave the ceremony for another day!”
“What?” Sikong Yan was stunned, then there was a cold flash in his eyes as he shouted angrily, “Su Mo, are you insane? 100,000 Upper Spiritual Stones is the equivalent of daylight robbery!”
Sikong Yan’s blood was boiling. How dare Su Mo ask for 100,000 Upper Spiritual Stones! Did he think they were as cheap as vegetables?
“What? You don’t have them?” Su Mo sneered and said, “Then you better start paying your respects now!”
“You…!” Sikong Yan’s face froze and his chest heaved as he reached his boiling point.
“Su Mo, do you think I’m afraid of you?” Sikong Yan roared, “With your low cultivation, I can crush you with one finger!”
Sikong Yan was boiling mad. No one had dared to threaten him all his life and now Su Mo had pushed him beyond his limits!
“Ha ha!” Su Mo sneered, then said, “What’s wrong? You lost the bet, so I’m just collecting what is owed to me. Now you’re the unhappy one?”
“You might be a peerless genius ranked in the top 50 on the List of Top 1,000 Talents, but you’re actually just someone who fails to keep his promises. That’s pathetic. You are not fit to be on the List!”
Su Mo looked straight into Sikong Yan’s eyes as he mocked him. He was not afraid of him.
“I…!” Sikong Yan was once again at a loss for words. He looked around and saw that everyone else was looking at him.
The intense gaze from the audience seemed like they were filled with contempt and disdain.
Sikong Yan’s face darkened. As someone so arrogant, his reputation meant a lot to him. Hence, everyone’s gaze made him feel ashamed.
He took a deep breath, looked at Su Mo, and said, “We can forget about this matter as long as I hand over 100,000 Upper Spiritual Stones?”
“Yes, we’ll sweep this matter under the rug for today if you hand over 100,000 Upper Spiritual Stones!” Su Mo nodded.
Of course, Su Mo was only referring to today, it might not hold true in future!
Sikong Yan frowned, then contemplated for a while before nodding.
100,000 Upper Spiritual Stones was not a small sum, but he could afford it. It would be a good resolution if he could settle this matter with just Spiritual Stones.
Then, he would no longer be threatened by Su Mo and his reputation would still remain intact.
Of course, Su Mo must be dreaming if he thought he could get away after taking 100,000 Upper Spiritual Stones from him!
After this Craftsmanship Contest, he would make sure Su Mo paid for this 10 times over.
Moments later, he took out a storage ring and tossed it to Su Mo.
“Go ahead and check! There are 100,000 Upper Spiritual Stones inside!” Sikong Yan said coldly.
Su Mo caught the storage ring and took a quick look. His face immediately broke into a smile when he saw that there were indeed 100,000 Upper Spiritual Stones.
“That’s right, we shall leave the acknowledgement ceremony for another day!” Su Mo smiled broadly, pleased that he had managed to scam Sikong Yan of 100,000 Upper Spiritual Stones so easily.
“Humph!” Sikong Yan snorted. “Leave it for another day? Once the contest is over, I’ll beat the hell out of you!”
After which, they both stopped talking and waited for the conclusion of this round.
Everyone was stunned at how easily Su Mo managed to obtain 100,000 Upper Spiritual Stones from Sikong Yan!
Although Sikong Yan felt aggrieved, he couldn’t do anything about it since he agreed to the bet!
Everyone knew that Sikong Yan would not let this matter rest so easily. He would show no mercy to Su Mo.
Su Mo was also aware of this but he did not fear Sikong Yan. Sikong Yan might be stronger, but no one under the Martial King Realm would be able to catch him if he wanted to escape.
Moments later, Zhao Quan concluded his appraisal of the remaining Frost Sabers. Only 38 people from the final batch managed to refine a saber of the highest quality, while the rest were eliminated.
Thus concluded the second round of this contest.
Only 330 odd people had managed to pass the second round. This meant that 80% of the people were eliminated.
Zhao Quan stood at the judge’s seat, looked at the crowd, and announced, “We shall proceed now to the third round. You will still be tested on your craftsmanship skills in the third round.”
“However, what differentiates it from the previous round is that you will be provided with 105 materials. These materials can be used to refine dozens of different weapons. You may choose to craft any weapon of your choice.”
“As long as you fulfill all three of the following criteria, you shall become Sky-sea Pavilion honorable craftsmen!”
“First, all weapons must be of Medium Lv 5 and be of the highest quality. Second, you must complete the refining process within two hours. Third, it’s the quantity of material used.”
“The third criteria is the most crucial criteria. In the event that you meet the first two criterion, the top ten would be determined by the craftsmen who used the least number of materials.”
“Have I made myself clear?” Zhao Quan asked loudly after he finished introducing the rules for round three.
“Yes!” Everyone answered unanimously.
Su Mo was surprised to hear that there were such rules in the third round. The final winners would need to craft Medium Lv 5 weapons of the highest quality within a span of two hours and the determining factor would lie in the number of materials they used.
This was not just a simple competition on craftsmanship, but a test of a craftsman’s overall abilities
Only those who possessed extraordinary craftsmanship abilities, understood all kinds of craft formula, knew various kinds of materials, and were flexible enough as craftsmen, could emerge as winners.
After a short while, everyone was assigned to a crafting furnace. Then, Zhao Quan waved his hand and a cloth package containing crafting materials was distributed to everyone.
“You may begin!” Zhao Quan announced.
After Zhao Quan’s announcement, everyone started to examine the materials they were given.
Sikong Yan glanced at Su Mo contemptuously. He fully intended to crush Su Mo this round.
There was no official competition between himself and Su Mo this time, but he had to surpass him and prove to everyone that his overall craftsmanship skills were better than Su Mo’s.
Sikong Yan was full of confidence this round.
His Master was both a Martial Royal expert and an Upper King craftsman. He had been exposed to all kinds of craft formula and craft materials that Su Mo would not have encountered.
Therefore, defeating Su Mo would not be a problem this round.