Hidden genius: Black belly snake

Chapter 273: Contest begins Part1

Xander knew that the dwarven royal family was in the midst of a family squabble. 

So maybe this guy was just gathering experts on his side, but it definitely didn't look as simple as that.

Xander didn't worry too much about it anyways. After all, he was not really a threat to himself or Tang Yue.

As he thought about this, his sharp sword-like eyes glanced again at the elf vixen playing happily with the panther and little white.

Damn it! This woman was his most dangerous threat! He inwardly cursed her.

Xander couldn't pinpoint the feeling exactly but he felt a small but very real burning sensation in the pit of his stomach.

He thought that he would be the one using this trip to the dwarven empire to get close to Tang Yue, but everything had changed now.

Since there were one too many younglings playing in the smithy, Tang Yue didn't notice the sullen face on the little kid's face.

She quietly went to her corner and started working on her forging skills again.

There were still only a few more weeks to go until the contest officially began and she was trying her best to at least achieve another breakthrough before that.

Despite her hard work, Tang Yue was still stuck at the Hundred Bangs Refinement technique.

The Hundred Bangs and the Thousand Bangs Refinement techniques were basically used to remove impurities from the mid-grade and high-grade metals.

This step was an essential step that needed to be perfected even before the melting and forging process began.

Without this, no matter how talented Tang Yue was in the final elemental essence attunement step, it wouldn't matter at all.

The impurities present will drag her down and her finished weapon would pale in comparison to others with 100% purity.

Of course, she could also purchase ores that have already been purified, but no one would be willing to sell those.

If one had the talent and time to purify a mid-grade or high-grade ore, it was obviously more profitable for them to forge it into a weapon with high stats and then sell the weapon itself, rather than the raw material.

Tang Yue was not disheartened in the least by this barrier and continued training as much as she could.

Even though the contest date was fast approaching, she was not too worried about it.

After all, she wasn't planning on winning the contest this time around. 

It would be a joke to dream about such things when she couldn't even finish a mid-grade weapon to perfection.

Once the contest ended, then the smithy apprentice exams for the next lunar cycle would begin.

This was her real target.

She could finally join another smithy and learn the smithing techniques again under proper tutelage.

Maybe then she might easily be able to comprehend the Hundred Bangs Refinement technique and Thousand Bangs Refinement technique, which she was struggling with now.

Tang Yue threw a frustrated look at the drunkard who was still lazily snoring and continued with her training.

The next couple of weeks flew by extremely quickly without any significant incidents.

Tang Yue trained hard from morning to night. Charlotte took the two beasts to train in the forests and the little kid played around with the random things lying around in the smithy. 

Tang Yue had expected some sort of aftermath for dealing with those two dwarves but weirdly there wasn't any.

She wasn't summoned to any court. She wasn't questioned by any relatives. 

She didn't even have to face any other debt collectors. Not to mention, the three spies who had followed her all the way to the forests.

Tang Yue never saw them or sensed them again. No one was watching her or following her.

Their days in the dwarven empire were rather unusually quiet.

Tang Yue couldn't help but feel that someone behind the scenes was pulling some sort of strings and they were quietly planning something.

She had already thought about several possibilities including the dwarven princess Layla and the dwarven prince Jorden, but she didn't care too much about it.

Chances are that she might leave the dwarven empire before anything happened.

Especially after the old man's warning about a massive blood bath, Tang Yue decided that she couldn't waste much time here learning a forging skill.

If she did so, she would probably get on the royal decreed hit list of the elves. The Empress, the elven high council, and the Crown Prince Xander himself might sentence her to execution for blatantly ignoring their orders and fleeing from the dwarven empire.

However, Tang Yue had a feeling that it won't matter much.

Others might not be aware of the incoming bloodbath, but Tang Yue had a very good idea.

She had seen a human being in the labyrinth and then the old man warned her about a massacre.

It didn't require a lot of intelligence to put these two together.

In the future, if their nine countries were indeed invaded by enemy forces from the other side of the ocean, the elven royal hit list was the last thing Tang Yue needed to worry about.

Besides, they could never know that she actually ran away. They wouldn't even be able to prove it. 

For all it matters, she might have been simply killed in secrecy by the dwarves.

So harm couldn't possibly befall the entire serpentine clan because of her disappearance.

Everything was rather perfectly aligned for Tang Yue and she knew it. All that she needed to do now was just disappear.

But Tang Yue didn't plan on doing that just yet. She at least wanted to probe the possibility of actually learning Spirit smithing.

Even if there was a small chance for her to learn this technique, then it might be worthwhile for her to stay back and try her best.

After all, at least if she ran away after giving the elves the smithing technique, they might be better equipped to face whatever was coming, and more importantly, they might not chase after her too obstinately.

Tang Yue had meticulously planned and considered all different scenarios, but unfortunately, she didn't take into account the devil who was right beside her