AMSSO-Chapter 181: Another Magical Artifact

Jiang Yuanxin looked over and, sure enough, saw that Jiang Yunnuan had already finished.

In her hands was a… turtle shell?

The half-round object looked like a pot lid, with several crisscrossing lines across the surface, making it resemble a turtle shell.

—A turtle shell that had sat underwater for a long time, with algae growing all over it.

It was ugly in a very distinctive way.

The other contestants’ defensive weapons were mostly shields as well, but their shields were somewhat square and very smooth on the surface.

Some people who cared about aesthetics polished theirs to look even nicer.

No matter what, they all looked beautiful.

At the very least, one could tell at a glance that they were shields rather than… turtle shells.

Looking again at Jiang Yunnuan’s creation, everyone wore complicated expressions.

Earlier, the fire-poker weapon had been dismissed as an accident.

But now it seemed that this was simply her aesthetic taste!

She liked things that were ugly in all kinds of strange ways!

Even Qin Yiwei and the others exchanged glances.

At this point, they had to admit that Jiang Yunnuan had been led astray, no, influenced by their master.

“Indeed, the student surpasses the master!” Ke Minglu sighed deeply from the side.

Everyone: “……”

Because of the earlier fire poker, the judges were intrigued this time despite the strange turtle-shell shield.

They actively turned toward Jiang Yunnuan.

Understanding their intention, Jiang Yunnuan immediately brought her shield over.

The judges gathered around. At the first close glance, they were visually assaulted.

From up close, they realized that the colors on it were unevenly distributed!

It looked exactly like various dyes of different shades had spilled onto it and permanently stained it.

One judge couldn’t help asking, “Why did you forge it like this?”

Jiang Yunnuan answered confidently, “Because this way the defensive strength is the highest!”

She pointed at several raised and uneven areas, “Look. If an attack lands here, some of the force can be directly redirected or dissipated.”

Thinking along her explanation, everyone realized that it actually made sense.

“But how can you ensure your opponent will attack there? What if they’re much stronger than you?”

“If they’re strong enough to crush me outright, then whether I use this shield or not won’t matter.” Jiang Yunnuan said, staring at them in surprise, “This shield is meant to defend against cultivators of similar strength.”

Being told that, the judges fell silent.

En, the question they’d asked earlier was indeed rather pointless.

They shook their heads with amused smiles and began inspecting the shield more carefully.

Ignoring the eye-watering appearance, they discovered something interesting. Although ugly, it’s very practical!

“This is also a magical artifact, and its quality is even better than that fire poker earlier!” one judge exclaimed in surprise.

Being called a “fire poker” didn’t bother Jiang Yunnuan, she was simply delighted.

“This is also a magical artifact?”

“Of course!” the judge nodded and pointed at faint symbols on its surface. “These are the artifact marks!”

Mortal artifacts do not have such marks unless someone manually carves decorations or names.

But magical artifacts naturally generate markings.

Magical artifacts show faint star-shaped symbols, spirit artifacts show crescent moons, and sacred artifacts display full suns.

Manually carved patterns and naturally appearing marks were completely different things.

Jiang Yunnuan might not be able to distinguish them, but experienced artifact refiners could recognize them immediately.

“That’s great!” Jiang Yunnuan cheered excitedly. “This is a magical artifact, I refined another magical artifact!”

After refining the first low-grade magical artifact earlier, she had calmed down.

Even if someone else produced one in the second round, the two would at most tie.

As for the third round, she was very confident.

So she had been quite relaxed.

Because of that relaxed mood, the refining process this time had been very smooth.

She never expected to produce another magical artifact!

This was fantastic!

“A magical artifact?!”

“It’s really a magical artifact?!”

“God damn! Another magical artifact!”

“She’s too incredible!”

“She looks barely in her early twenties!”

Xin Jinrui and the others jumped up excitedly, “Another magical artifact! Third Junior Sister is amazing!”

“Third Senior Sister is awesome!”

The area instantly became lively.

Spectators couldn’t stop looking toward Jiang Yunnuan.

Being able to refine two magical artifacts in such a short time required the skill of a junior-level artifact refiner at least!

In fact, the junior-level artifact refiner certification test consisted of exactly these two tasks.

Many artifact refiners with decent skill sometimes performed poorly during official assessments.

Yet Jiang Yunnuan, under the gaze of so many people, had performed flawlessly!

Her mental stability was impressive!

“Junior-level artifact refiner!”

“She must already be a junior-level artifact refiner!”

“Such a young junior-level artifact refiner, and she’s so pretty too, too incredible!”

Some spectators had already started shouting.

They had never seen such a young artifact refiner before!

Qin Yiwei and the others also joined in, “Junior-level artifact refiner!”

“Champion!”

“First place!”

Bang!

Just as the cheers rose, a loud explosive sound rang out.

Everyone flinched and turned their heads to look, only to discover a furnace had exploded.

And the person whose furnace exploded was none other than Jiang Yuanxin.

Looking at the cracked and unusable furnace in front of her, Jiang Yuanxin’s expression was as ugly as if her parents had just died.

“Xin Xin!”

Jiang Yuancheng rushed onto the stage, arriving beside her, filled with worry, “Are you alright?!”

“I…” Jiang Yuanxin looked at her hands, which had been injured by the explosion because she hadn’t dodged in time. Tears immediately filled her eyes, “It hurts!”

Jiang Yuancheng also clearly saw her blood-stained hands and gasped in horror, he was scared out of his wits,  “Don’t cry! I’ll go find medicine right away!”

Bang!

Bang!

“Ah!”

“My furnace!”

While he searched for medicine, several more explosions sounded nearby, accompanied by contestants’ agonising screams.

It’s over, there’s no need to think about the second round of the competition!

Once one furnace exploded, contestants with weaker mental composure were also affected.

Soon, explosions and cries echoed everywhere.

Those whose furnaces exploded were quickly escorted off the stage.

“Xin Xin, are you alright?” Wan Junquan looked at Jiang Yuanxin’s hands, frowning.

His tone sounded concerned, but his eyes revealed anger and dissatisfaction.

However, Jiang Yuanxin didn’t notice. She only looked at her injured hands and sobbed, “It hurts!”

Wan Junquan opened his mouth but ultimately didn’t scold her.

However, his gaze shifted toward Jiang Yunnuan, flickering with calculation.

At that moment, Jiang Yunnuan met his gaze. She immediately rolled her eyes dramatically and turned back to celebrate with her fellow disciples.

“Third Senior Sister, you’re definitely going to win this time!”

“Of course! You’ll definitely win!”

As for the third round, was there even any need to worry?

After such a huge mental blow, how could Jiang Yuanxin still compete?

Sure enough, before the third round even began, Jiang Yuanxin withdrew.

When Jiang Yunnuan stepped onto the stage, she simply broke the seal on a storage pouch.

She did it so quickly that the others hadn’t even reacted yet.

After three rounds, the outcome was obvious.

In the end, Jiang Yunnuan obtained the prizes she most wanted, the Seven-Fragrance True Water and Red Tassel Vine Sap.

After selling both the fire-poker weapon and the shield to the young man, Jiang Yunnuan and the others announced that they would return to Wanxuan Sect.

The decision was so sudden that the Ke Family was stunned, “You won’t stay a few more days?”

“No,” Xin Jinrui shook his head. “We still have to go back and cook for our master.”

The couple: “……”