Preparations for Competition

The next two days were spent the same as usual, except that Lei Mingxing and Jing Jiang tried their hardest to come up with a good artifact design that could win the competition.

Lei Mingxing was especially enthusiastic in pitching ideas, among them were things like special arrows created from Burst Rhododendron with special tips that could be filled with a tiny amount of Spirit Core dust, so that after you transferred some Qi into the dust and shoot the arrows, they will burst into a bright light to blind your opponent.

Yet another idea was a rope created with both a wood and metal Spirit Core that would grow as long and sturdy as you wanted with enough Qi.

Or a Sun Copper, Clear Iron and Lilac Brass lantern that only needed to be left out in the sun over the day and it would shine continuously until the accumulated Qi ran out.

But none of her ideas were realistically possible in the three hours they had to create the artifact, some of them were even straightup impossible, the rope for example:

This idea involved that you imbed the two Spirit Cores into eachother, which just wasn't something you could do. Trying it would only lead to a huge Qi explosion.

Of course, Jing Jiang immediately told Lei Mingxing this after recovering from the initial shock of hearing her idea. Explaining just how dangerous something like that would be and that whoever tried it would lose at best a limb and at worst their life.

But even though this idea was scrapped, Jing Jiang still very much appreciated Lei Mingxing's creativity.

Most of the designs she proposed were really innovative, despite her still rather limited knowledge regarding the pretty much limitless variety of materials.

Jing Jiang was already looking forward to seeing just which famous inventions Lei Mingxing would call her own in the future, when she had more experience and knowledge at her disposal.

And he had no doubt that this day would come sooner rather than later, a talent like hers just couldn't be hidden or contained.

Ultimately however, their choice fell on a mid-sized shield that, when struck, could prevent all physical harm from reaching the user, it would even rebound some of the force back to the attacker.

This was only possible because the shield actually combined two separate artifacts.

One was a shield made from Liquid Steel that hardened in accordance to the power of the attack and the other were straps created from Falling Spider silk that were interwoven with a piece of Silk Brass which would be imbedded with a second-rank water Spirit Core to absorb the shock of the attack and redirect the force back at the assailant.

A very useful artifact for mercenaries who fought in close quarters. The only downside, it was barely better than a regular shield when it came to blocking elemental attacks.

Still, it was their best option and the judges, who consisted off three people, the city lord, the top mercenary that was currently in town and the Mercenary Association Branch manager of Dark Spirit Town, would surely appreciate their very close-combat friendly artifact.

Despite being a bit on the pricier side with a second-rank Spirit Core.

So, having chosen their competition entry, they took the third day off and focused on getting into the right rythm, distributing the work in the most efficent way and generally going through the entire refiniment process.

For any regular team, training for only one day and that being the day right before the competition wouldn't have spelled disaster, no, it screamed catastrophy.

But what Jing Jiang and Lei Mingxing lacked in time, they subtituted with years of experience and raw talent respectively.

Which meant that their first take on the Counter Shield, as they dubbed it, had been a great success. There was barely anything they had to adjust, just some small details here and there like a slightly stronger curve of the shield or weaving the straps a bit tighter.

Even when they did a performance check and Jing Jiang hit it with all his early-stage Tempering Body might, Lei Mingxing barely moved half a step back, not hurt in the slightest.

The artifact worked just as intended and the entire creation process had only taken about 2 and a half hours in total. This speed would also be even faster next time and after implementing their improvements, Lei Mingxing shouldn't be forced back at all anymore.

Still, there were a few other things they could improve on, especially Lei Mingxing, since she sometimes wasted Qi by indiscrimentally pouring it in to the artifact even though there wasn't necessarily a need for it.

But this was to be expected of inexperienced artificers and would slowly remedy itself with time. Although at the moment, it was still important for her to keep track of how much Qi she used, so she wouldn't accidentally waste too much Qi to the point where she didn't have enough to complete the Spirit Core Imbedding.

Having finished their training, Jing Jiang now had to hurry to the Mercenary Association.

After all, he still had to get Lei Mingxing a Craftsman badge and then officially sign them up for the competition.

So, Jing Jiang quickly left, while Lei Mingxing stayed behind and tidied up the forge.

Lei Mingxing felt very optimistic about the competition, even more so after their test run today.

Although she couldn't be too sure, she had no idea about the any of the other competitors, except for maybe Suan Bi, but the only thing she knew about him was that Jing Jiang had some personal conflict with the other.

He didn't tell her what it was, carefully avoiding this topic every time.

And Lei Mingxing didn't ask, curiosity towards another person's life was something she didn't allow to exist inside her heart and even if there was any, she would never reveal it.

Just as the phrase went, curiosity killed the cat and in her case, had cost her several tongues and vocal chords in her past life.

Even if she hadn't even asked for the information.

Lei Mingxing thought coldly, in stark contrast to the fiery rage she felt surge beneath her skin.

At least now, she could take advantage of how carelessly some of her tormentors divulged their secrets while in the climax of their personal pleasure and her deepest pain.

A cruel smile had crept onto Lei Mingxing's face, hidden beneath her face veil. But it disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared, as if she had wiped it off, along side the dust on her hands after she finally finished tidying up the forge.

She was just about to go upstairs and help Chang Liuyun prepare dinner, when suddenly she heard a muffled scream.

Lei Mingxing froze, whirling around to stare in direction of the storage room a few meters away from her.

She stayed perfectly still, listening as hard as she could entirely focused on watching the storage room door. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Chang Liuyun quietly descend the stairs, obviously he had also heard the scream.

The instant, Chang Liuyun reached the final stair, a muffled scream sounded once more.

The sound blood-curdling, at least for them.

It was Jing Hai's voice.

Chang Liuyun and Lei Mingxing exchanged looks that were a mixture of doubt and alarm.

But now, the screams became more intense, interchanged with groans of pain and coughing, almost as if someone was constantly kicking Jing Hai, hitting him until he choked on his own blood or wasn't able to breath properly. There was even some intermitten shouting for help.

All in all, it sounded exactly like Jing Hai.

And convinced both, Chang Liuyun and Lei Mingxing, that this was a trap.

After all, the scream's origin wasn't the storage room, but the back alley behind the forge.

Perfect for any ambushes.

Also, there was no telling if the one screaming was even actually Jing Hai or just pretending to be. From beginning to end, he had not once uttered any of their names.

Judging from this, the chance of this not being a trap was pretty much zero.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the deciding factor, no, what really matter was that even if they had their doubts, they didn't know for certain whether the screaming Jing Hai was real or not.

And if he was real, but they decided not to help and wait for Jing Jiang to get back, there was a high possibility of the old man, who always enthusiastically told them about the childhood adventures of Jing Jiang and his best friend, dying.

And both, Lei Mingxing and Chang Liuyun, had their doubts on whether Jing Jiang would continue to let them stay and work here if that happened.

This wasn't something Lei Mingxing nor Chang Liuyun wanted.

So, after a final silent exchange, Lei Mingxing and Chang Liuyun began walking to the storage room.

When they got inside, Lei Mingxing grabbed the Counter Shield she had put on the shelves just moments earlier and walked in front, holding up the shield and protecting both her and Chang Liuyun while the latter had already conjured a flame, entirely focused on checking their surroudings, especially the backdoor they were walking ever closer to.

The screaming had grown louder and louder, confirming that it was really coming from the back alley and that it belonged to Jing Hai.

They stood directly in front of the door.

Both took one last deep breath, before Lei Mingxing abruptly pushed open the door.

And standing outside was...

Nothing.

But the screaming continued.

It seemed to be just outside their line of sight while standing inside the storage.

Surely a deliberate desicion which very much confirmed Lei Mingxing and Chang Liuyun's suspicions.

Lei Mingxing hesitated whether she should risk a glance or if they should just close the door and turn back.

But this choice was taken from her.

Almost too fast for her eyes to catch a dark figure rushed towards them.

She raised her shield just in time to block a strike aimed at her neck.

Fortunately, she had been constantly supplying the artifact with Qi, so the counter ability immediately took effect.

Unfortunately, the strike was too strong.

She stumbled to the side, her arms numb and tingly as a gasp escaped her lips.

But the attck wasn't over just like this.

Chang Liuyun threw the flame he had conjured at the figure, but he only hit their after image.

As if to punish Chang Liuyun for his unprudent attack, the figure flashed towards Chang Liuyun this time.

Lei Mingxing hurriedly raised her arms to block the attack once more.

TONG!

It was as if someone struck a gong as hard as they could.

Just that it was a bare hand hitting a pure metal shield reinforced by Qi.

And it wasn't the bare hand losing.

Lei Mingxing could feel a tremor rush through her hands, then arms, then shoulders, her entire body felt the aftermath of this second strike, along with the loss of a big chunk of her inner Qi.

Fear gripped her heart.

She desperatedly, removed one hand from behind the the shield and tried to conjure a ball of flames herself, when she saw the figure rush towards them once more.

Ready to brave through the next attack, Lei Mingxing hastily returned to her blocking posture.

"Watch out!"

Chang Liuyun suddenly shouted behind her, but Lei Mingxing was barely able to turn her head slightly before she felt something hitting her neck.

Right before Lei Mingxing lost consciousness, she realized that the first person had just been a distraction all along.