“It’s not impossible to advance the flame,” Mo Yan said after some thought.

“You mean… the Divine Flame Body Tempering?” Liu Feng was shocked. He had heard of the method Mo Yan mentioned, but so far, not many had succeeded because that method was too painful. That kind of pain was definitely not something an ordinary person could withstand.

“I just don’t know if he has the willpower,” Mo Yan said calmly.

“This…” Liu Feng was in a difficult position. Even though he found this old man quite pleasing to the eye, he could not ask this old man to use that method to advance his Vital Flame! After all, that was a matter of life and death.

“Let’s talk about it after the competition!” Mo Yan looked at Liu Feng and said. In fact, he felt that the old man might agree. However, the risk of this matter was not small, so he had to think carefully.

“Yes.” Liu Feng nodded. This matter could not be rushed.

The two of them chatted softly, and Old Man Zao was almost done refining.

After a moment, Old Man Zao stopped what he was doing and extinguished the fire, waiting for the equipment he had refined to be ready.

As he was only an Artificer, the level requirement for equipment was not that high. As for Mo Yan and Liu Feng, they only required him to refine spirit artifact-level equipment. After that, he confidently handed the equipment he refined to Mo Yan and Liu Feng.

After Mo Yan and Liu Feng carefully evaluated the equipment refined by the old man, they could not help but nod in satisfaction. Then, they officially informed him that he had passed the Artificer Authentication.

When Mo Yan and Liu Feng left Leng Ruoxue and the others’ residence and returned to their courtyard, they found Yin Rumei sitting in the courtyard waiting for them.

“Where did you guys go? Why did you only come back now?” Yin Rumei roared angrily. She had been waiting here all morning and didn’t know where the two of them had gone! How infuriating.

“Do we have to report to Vice President Yin where we’re going?” Liu Feng chuckled.

“The competition is about to begin. You have to tell me where you’re going!” Yin Rumei emphasized.

“Since when did our Artificer Association have this rule? Isn’t Mo Yan in charge of the competition? We just have to be spectators.” Liu Feng asked coldly.

“But we can’t just ignore everything!” Yin Rumei argued.

“Why not!” Liu Feng said disapprovingly, his stomach churning. What can you care? You’ll be lucky if you don’t cause trouble.

“What if he forgets something?” Yin Rumei continued.

“That’s his business. It has nothing to do with us,” Liu Feng said irresponsibly. Then, he put his hand on Mo Yan’s shoulder and smiled faintly. “Mo Yan, am I right?”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about me. Just take care of your subordinates,” Mo Yan said ungratefully. Then, he dragged Liu Feng into his room without even looking at Yin Rumei.

After the two of them entered the room, they secretly peeked out through the half-open window and saw that Yin Rumei was still standing in the courtyard. Moreover, the anger on her face was difficult to dissipate.

“Why do you think she came to us? She’s talking nonsense,” Liu Feng asked curiously.

“What else! It’s probably because of Yao Yuan,” Mo Yan said knowingly.

“Then why didn’t she say it directly?! Why did she criticize us the moment she came?! It’s as if we weren’t doing our job properly and she was the only one who did her best for the Association,” Liu Feng said disdainfully. He hated Yin Rumei the most.

“It’s not like you just met her today! Is it worth getting angry over such a small matter?” Mo Yan said speechlessly. Sometimes, Liu Feng was like a child who liked to be willful.

“Hehe! Who said I’m angry? It seems like she’s the one who’s angry now!” Liu Feng said with a wicked smile.

“Ignore her. We’ll pretend we don’t know if she orders Yao Yuan to be released from prison,” Mo Yan said after some thought.

“Isn’t that letting her off easy?” Liu Feng said unhappily.

“The official competition will start the day after tomorrow. There’s still time to deal with Yao Yuan and the others after the competition,” Mo Yan said.

“All right, then! Whatever you say,” Liu Feng agreed, nodding.

As Mo Yan had expected, after Yin Rumei returned to her residence in a huff, she immediately ordered for Yao Yuan to be released from prison. The reason she gave was that the competition was about to begin and the Artificer Association could not be without its leader. Otherwise, they would be laughed at.

Mo Yan and Liu Feng smiled at this. They knew Yin Rumei’s style quite well after all. Therefore, they were not surprised that she would find such an excuse.

When this news reached Leng Ruoxue and the others, they could not help but not know whether to laugh or cry. Without its leader? How could Flame City’s Artificer Association be leaderless when there were vice presidents? However, it was not appropriate for them to discuss the internal affairs of the Artificer Association. They were living under someone else’s roof now after all.

In the courtyard.

Leng Ruoxue and the others were chatting about this.

“Little Xue’er, I’m back.” Suddenly, Leng Xiaoyu’s voice sounded in their ears.

“Cheapsake Old Ancestor, where did you go?” Leng Ruoxue looked at Leng Xiaoyu and asked curiously.

“I went to the city for a while and happened to meet a friend, so we chatted for a while,” Leng Xiaoyu explained.

“Friend?” Leng Ruoxue raised her beautiful eyes and sized up the timid man standing beside Leng Xiaoyu.

The man’s face was very old and even had an injury. His hair was gray, and his beautiful eyes were dim. At this moment, he was lowering his head timidly, not daring to look at them. The man’s clothes were dirty and old, and they emitted a strange smell.

Could this person be a friend of the Cheapsake Old Ancestor? Leng Ruoxue couldn’t believe it at all because in her eyes, this man was clearly a homeless beggar! Could it be that the Cheapsake Old Ancestor was kind and wanted to do a good deed, so he brought back the wandering beggar he picked up on the street? She couldn’t help but make wild guesses. However, it seemed quite difficult to pick up a beggar in Flame City.

“He’s Fu Ran, my friend.” Leng Xiaoyu explained helplessly. Sigh! It was really hard to predict everything. He did not expect to meet an old friend on the street, and in such a way.