The third day of the smithing contest was a major event, unlike the first two days.
Not only did the crowd almost quadruple, but the Central Square was also now jam-packed with boisterous dwarves and members of other races.
The participants competing today were all extremely capable blacksmiths, someone who could at least forge a mid-grade weapon.
In the vast wilderness, where weapons played a major role in life-threatening situations, blacksmiths were the life and soul of the Nine Countries.
They were the backbone of the continent, constantly supplying the various races with armor and weapons.
The important thing was after a certain level, no amount of gold coins or gems were capable of buying certain weapons.
For instance, the spirit weapons, solely used by the dwarven army soldiers and the dwarven royal family.
Putting aside the matter of spirit weapons, even obtaining rare-grade weapons was extremely difficult and required a tremendous amount of wealth, power, and status.
Considering all this, the best way to ensure that they could obtain top-tier weapons was catching the fruits before they could ripen.
This was why several elven clan patriarchs, fairy clan family elders, and orc emissaries were also present today.
They were here to scout out the talented dwarves, both young and old.
Every single one of these talented blacksmiths had the potential to grow and develop into a powerful Grandmaster.
While there were only three alchemy Grandmasters in the Elven Empire, there about a dozen or so dwarven smithing Grandmasters.
Not that blacksmithing was much easier than the field of alchemy. Both the fields were equally profound ancient arts with their own drawbacks and strong points.
This was rather due to the fact that the Dwarven Empire had a much more rigid and comprehensive training structure.
Talents were identified and nurtured every lunar cycle and those who were selected had the chance to receive direct tutelage under a smithing Grandmaster.
And just how big was receiving direct tutelage under a Grandmaster?
It was an incomparable heavenly stroke of luck that could even turn a carp into a dragon instantly.
It could be said that, in a way, these Grandmasters held more power in the Dwarven Empire than the Emperor himself.
Only a Grandmaster and his direct disciples were capable of forging spirit weapons.
These immensely powerful weapons were the most guarded secret of the Dwarven Empire.
So in order to enter this upper echelon, the intense competition took place every lunar cycle and all the smithing apprentices, trainees, and masters competed with each other over and over.
This was their only method to get noticed by a Grandmaster.
And this also inadvertently fueled their hunger and thirst to constantly improve themselves and not lag behind others.
The more they train the higher their chances were to succeed.
This kind of harsh, at the same time encouraging environment, ensured that the younger talents were appropriately nurtured.
When Tang Yue and Charlotte finally managed to reach Central Square, they had to squeeze their way in through the crowd with great difficulty.
Tang Yue even had to fish out her participation medallion.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to get inside at all.
Even after the first two days of elimination rounds, there were still about five hundred participants left.
This was because not only Apprentice and Trainee blacksmiths participated in this contest, but also Master blacksmiths.
In some cases, students and teachers from the same smithy participated as well.
Competing with one's own teacher was an awkward task, but the dwarves still did so, because sometimes the Grandmasters noticed the talent of a dwarf rather than his or her current level when evaluating.
After a few minutes, Tang Yue made her way through the rows of anvils and reached her destined spot.
Every work station had a stack of brilliantly shining Heavy Thorium ores, a material used to forge powerful high-grade weapons with remarkable properties.
There were also other precious materials like Fire Quilin feathers (a mid-grade giant bird), Frost Python fangs, Devil Boar tusks, and a couple of other items.
These can be molten alongside the ores in appropriate ratios and this process was a sort of alchemy in itself.
The final molten metal would gain powerful attributes because of these precious additives.
Seeing so many high-grade items together like this, made Tang Yue suck in a deep breath of cold air.
Some of the dwarves around her had already started arranging their station.
They even started melting everything together in desired ratios.
But no one started the actual smithing process yet.
Everyone was diligently waiting for the Grandmasters to arrive.
Without their presence, every one showing off their talent and prowess was a mere waste of time.
Tang Yue as well started tossing in a few materials into the furnace and she collected the final molten puddle onto a tray.
Unlike others, she wasn't planning on waiting for anyone since Tang Yue knew very well that she was going to fail today.
Because once the metal slab in the tray cooled down, she needed to take it out to the anvil and hit it one hundred times with extreme force, precision and understanding.
This was for removing the energy essence impurities in the metal mixture.
Once these basic impurities were removed, the metal would be melted again, and this time poured into respective molds.
Then the final forging step would begin.
Tang Yue knew and understood the entirety of this process, but their implementation was a totally different ball game.
She was still stuck at the Hundred Bangs Refinement technique and no matter how much she tried, she was just not able to progress any further.
This was why Tang Yue knew that she would inevitably fail today.
The only thing that she was capable of demonstrating to anyone was the half-assed bangs and she had all day to do that.
Perhaps someone will really see my potential with just this! Tang Yue bitterly smiled to herself and started the hard work.
And since she was the only one who already started banging and clanging, she stuck out like a sore thumb.
Not long after Tang Yue started working, a familiar figure stopped by her station and loudly snorted.
"Heh. I see that you are not even bothering to pay respects to your elders?"
Hmmm? Tang Yue looked up with an annoyed expression.
Disturbing someone when they were in the midst of their smithing was an uncouth behavior and considered extremely rude.
But of course, the person in front of her was someone who would act in that fashion.
Tang Yue glared at the dwarven princess and replied. "What are you talking about, your highness?"
Layla didn't like her attitude at all and her temper was slowly rising.
"Hmph. It's customary to wait until the Grandmasters arrive before starting." Layla spoke, word for word.
"Umm… Oh… Is that so? In that case, your highness should pay a visit to that dwarf."
Tang Yue pointed her finger to a man standing near the entrance.
"He said that I could start anytime I wanted." Tang Yue shrugged.
Wanting to cause trouble in such a high-profile event? Dream on.
She flashed a mocking smile and bent her head down again to focus on her refining.
Layla was immediately triggered. "Stupid. It's an unspoken rule of the contest."
"Everyone waits for the Grandmasters to arrive first."
"You don't even know this and you have made it so far. How pathetic!"
This time Tang Yue didn't bother looking up and responding to her.
She continued feeling the slab of metal with her palm, before striking at a suitable spot.
Damn it.
Layla furiously cursed under her breath, but she knew better than to start a squabble here and went back to her own desk.
She then raised her chubby hands and waved at one of the Master blacksmiths walking by.
This was coincidentally the same pointy-faced woman, Xyla, who had lectured Tang Yue the previous day.
Layla whispered something in the woman's ears and the two exchanged looks.
After that, the woman turned on her heels and walked away as if nothing had happened.
But Layla had a visible sneer on her face. "Hmph. How dare this lowly bitch speak so rudely to me?"
"Not only did she escape the other day, but she also didn't even give me her slave and that wolf."
For Layla, this was the sixth time she was participating in this contest, but unfortunately, she was still unable to capture the attention of a Grandmaster.
Even though she had perfectly forged several high-grade weapons, their quality was still low and the weapon itself was lacking in several attributes.
So the sight of the young dwarven girl so meticulously hard working only infuriated her further.
"Stupid bitch. It doesn't matter how hard you work."
"Watch how I humiliate you in front of everyone."
"After today, no one would even accept you as an apprentice in their smithy."
Layla scoffed coldly and glared at Tang Yue.