"Wh-what?"
Not just Zheng Hu Zi, but Steward Liu beside him also looked shocked.
Especially Steward Liu, who had just witnessed Master Shen's arcane energy flowing along the patterns on the testing rod...
Despite his confusion, Steward Liu dared not utter a word of doubt!
For Master Shen was not only a genuine armor craftsman but also an elder of the Secret Armor Institute, and this testing rod was their invention...
"You're called... Zheng Hu Zi, right... After you got this testing rod yesterday, has anyone been able to make arcane energy ascend along its patterns?"
Under Zheng Hu Zi's stunned gaze, Master Shen spoke again.
"Yes, sir!"
Zheng Hu Zi nodded mechanically, then quickly shook his head.
"What's going on? Yes or no?"
Seeing this, Master Shen's brows furrowed again.
He was also very perplexed at this moment, for he had personally inspected this batch of testing rods before they were distributed and found no issues...
"Zheng Hu Zi, Master Shen is asking you, hurry up, don't just stand there!"
Seeing Zheng Hu Zi frozen in utter astonishment, Steward Liu couldn't help but urge him.
"Master... Master Shen, it's... it's like this..."
Zheng Hu Zi blinked, came to his senses, and quickly recounted what had happened yesterday.
"You mean when you got the testing rod yesterday, you had someone test it, and initially, someone could control arcane energy to ascend along the patterns of the testing rod... but afterward, no one could make arcane energy ascend along the patterns of the testing rod again?"
After listening to Zheng Hu Zi, Master Shen's brows knitted tightly.
"Yes!"
Zheng Hu Zi nodded, "That person controlled arcane energy to ascend along the patterns of the testing rod quite precisely, not like a deluge... I thought he would definitely meet the requirements..."
"But I didn't expect that after that person's arcane energy filled all the patterns of the testing rod, it suddenly flashed and disappeared..."
Speaking of this, Zheng Hu Zi was quite dejected.
"A flash... Could it be..."
Master Shen seemed to recall something. Arcane energy surged from his hand, turning into fine threads that attached to the testing rod. Then, he closed his eyes and began to sense it carefully.
Three seconds later, Master Shen's eyes snapped open, his expression drastically changed. "Not even a trace... It really is like that!"
Before his words fell, Master Shen turned to Zheng Hu Zi with a stern look and fired off several questions. "Who was that person you mentioned? Where is he? Is he from Mech City?"
"That... that person is called Ye Feng, he seems to be an adventurer from out of town, not from Mech City..."
"As for where he is... I'm not quite sure, perhaps he went to participate in the Armor Craftsman Selection Tournament~"
The aura emanating from Master Shen was terrifying, and Zheng Hu Zi answered tremblingly.
Although Ye Feng had "failed the test" yesterday, Zheng Hu Zi believed Ye Feng would surely find a way to get a spot. Of course, he didn't mention Ye Feng's attempt to buy a spot in the Armor Craftsman Selection Tournament on the black market...
"Steward Liu, immediately take Zheng Hu Zi and find this person!"
"Search all of Mech City if you have to, but find him!"
With that, without waiting for Steward Liu and Zheng Hu Zi to react, Master Shen strode towards the Hummer parked by the entrance. "To the City Lord's mansion, immediately!"
"Rumble~!"
A driver was clearly waiting in the Hummer. After a deafening roar, only Steward Liu and Zheng Hu Zi were left looking at each other...
...
Meanwhile,
After a considerable wait under the scorching sun, Ye Feng finally arrived at a metal frame archway.
As per the staff's instructions, Ye Feng inserted the metal token, which resembled an arcane yuan coin and he had obtained from the black market yesterday, into a machine. After examining the monitor for a moment, the attendant let him pass.
Ye Feng then finally arrived beside a strangely shaped, black testing stone.
From a distance before, Ye Feng hadn't looked closely. Now, standing beside the testing stone, Ye Feng realized it was quite large, much bigger than a millstone used for grinding grain.
At this moment, Ye Feng was not the only one by the testing stone; in fact, there were quite a few people.
As the time limit for testing was quite lenient, those who had obtained a spot generally gathered around the testing stone to watch, not rushing to take the test.
After some inquiries, Ye Feng learned that these people were waiting to see if there would be simpler runes appearing on the testing stone...
"Hmm?"
Ye Feng was about to proceed with the test and leave, as the sun was still quite hot. However, his gaze was suddenly caught by a rune that appeared on the testing stone.
"This rune... it's also in the Fire Seed Record..."
Ye Feng quickly walked to the testing stone and examined it closely, feeling extremely surprised.
"Hey!~ It's the same as last time, the difficulty of these runes is all about the same~"
At this moment, a middle-aged man next to Ye Feng sighed, "Waiting longer is futile!"
With that, the middle-aged man stepped forward, placed his hand on the testing stone with a solemn expression, and red arcane energy instantly appeared, beginning to trace the pattern formed on the testing stone.
Sweat soon broke out on the middle-aged man's forehead, and his arcane energy began to destabilize. The fine thread-like arcane energy started to tremble, showing signs of collapse and dissipation...
"Ugh~!"
Suddenly, the middle-aged man grunted, the half-formed rune scattered, and he stumbled back several steps.
"Alas~!"
"Just a little bit more, my mental power is indeed not enough!"
The middle-aged man looked at the changed rune on the testing stone, sighed with disappointment, and left.
Ye Feng still didn't rush to test, but instead, he walked around the testing stone, observing the constantly appearing patterns...
Time ticked by,
"This testing stone is truly strange... The runes that appear on it, apart from a few recorded in the Fire Seed Record, most of the rest are runes on the surface of Mech core components..."
"Is this testing stone related to the core components?"
After careful observation, Ye Feng formed a rough conjecture.
"If you don't have the skill, leave early, don't pretend to be here!"
Suddenly, a sarcastic young man's voice reached Ye Feng's ears.
Ye Feng turned towards the source of the voice and saw a young man with a slicked-back hairstyle, a pointed chin, and a thin face. It was Guo Zhen Chen, whom he had met outside Mech City.
"Hmph!"
Seeing Ye Feng look at him, Guo Zhen Chen snorted, "Crafting armor is a truly delicate job, not something a brute with a bit of strength can do!"
Ye Feng could tell that the other party was referring to the incident where he had killed a Rank 4 zombie with lightning.
However, he didn't get angry. Firstly, Guo Zhen Chen, who could be crushed to death with one hand, was not worth his anger. Secondly, this fellow seemed to know something about armor crafting, which was a good opportunity to gather intelligence...
"Who can't brag? Do you understand armor crafting and this testing stone very well?"
Ye Feng pondered for a moment and then tried to provoke him.
...