Sea heart sand is born at the deepest part of the deep sea. It can purify the Impurities contained within Immortal Artifacts, greatly enhancing the Immortal Artifact’s potential for advancement.

As long as sea heart sand is refined into an Immortal Artifact, it can immediately advance. As for how much it can advance, it still depends on the cooperation of other materials.

Fang Hong now possesses two precious artifact refining materials: the purple gold fruit tree and thunder crystal.

If he could also acquire these one hundred catties of sea heart sand, and combine the three in a reasonable way, refining them into the seventy-two nirvana divine thunder swords, it would undoubtedly cause the Divine Thunder Swords’ power to undergo a qualitative leap, once again revealing their former sharpness.

The artifact refining competition was still two days away.

Fang Hong planned to use these two days to first visit other shops in Purple Cloud City to see if he could find any more useful materials or items, and also to familiarize himself with the city’s environment.

Fang Hong walked along the street, but not long after he left the Purple Cloud Chamber of Commerce, three people suddenly approached him.

Among these three, the one leading was a Youth in Red Robes.

The Youth was very handsome, with delicate features, fair skin, but with a hint of an almost imperceptible arrogance between his brows.

A scorching aura subtly emanated from him. This aura was not a fluctuation of immortal power, but rather a special aura brought about by an innate physique.

This Youth in Red Robes’s Cultivation Level had already reached Peak Golden Immortal, only one step away from the Grand Unity realm.

Beside the Youth in Red Robes, two middle-aged men in blue robes followed.

These two middle-aged men were tall and stern-faced, closely following the Youth in Red Robes, appearing to be his bodyguards.

What surprised Fang Hong even more was that the Cultivation Level of these two blue-robed middle-aged men had both reached early Grand Unity realm.

Such a Cultivation Level was already considered a powerful expert in the Human Realm, yet they were willing to serve as bodyguards, which was quite unusual.

To willingly have two Cultivation Level Cultivators as bodyguards, this Youth in Red Robes must have an extraordinary background.

Moreover, Fang Hong could tell at a glance that these three were not Human Cultivators, but rather powerful members of the Sea Race.

It seemed that this Youth in Red Robes was very likely the Young Lord of a certain Sea Race.

Fang Hong merely glanced at them, then retracted his gaze and continued walking forward on his own.

But just as Fang Hong passed by them, the two blue-robed middle-aged men seemed to suddenly sense something. Their bodies paused slightly, then they simultaneously turned their heads and looked at Fang Hong a few more times.

"What’s wrong? Is there something wrong with that person just now?"

The Youth in Red Robes stopped, tilted his head to look at the two bodyguards beside him, his tone a little nonchalant, and his gaze swept towards the direction Fang Hong had walked.

"Young Lord, in this subordinate’s opinion, that Human Cultivator’s strength is probably not simple," one of the blue-robed bodyguards replied in a low voice.

When Fang Hong passed by earlier, he always felt an indescribable sense of pressure from him, but he couldn’t quite pinpoint what was wrong.

"Not simple strength? You couldn’t have been mistaken, could you? Isn’t he just a little bald man with a Cultivation Level of only Late Golden Immortal?" The Youth in Red Robes couldn’t help but scoff when he heard this.

He had also carefully observed Fang Hong earlier. Besides the noticeable bald head and a Cultivation Level of Late Golden Immortal, he really couldn’t see anything particularly powerful about him. He looked like nothing more than an ordinary Golden Immortal Cultivator.

"Perhaps that person cultivates a special cultivation technique. I just feel like he’s hidden his strength." the blue-robed bodyguard said uncertainly.

The Youth in Red Robes looked again at Fang Hong’s gradually receding back, still finding no abnormalities. He simply shook his head and said casually, "Don’t mind him. He’s just an ordinary Cultivator; it’s not worth wasting time on him."

With that, he no longer paid attention to Fang Hong’s whereabouts and walked straight towards the Purple Cloud Chamber of Commerce ahead.

Seeing this, the two blue-robed bodyguards could only suppress their doubts, quickly followed the Youth in Red Robes’s footsteps, and entered the Chamber of Commerce together.

On the other side, Fang Hong did not notice the movement behind him. He slowly wandered around Purple Cloud City.

As Fang Hong walked, he paid attention to the surrounding stalls, hoping to find some rare materials he could use.

But after wandering for three full hours, from the south of the city to the north, and looking at thousands of stalls, he couldn’t find any satisfactory treasures.

Most of them were common materials, useless to him.

Fang Hong was a little disappointed, so he had to find a reliable courtyard rental point in the city and rented a small Cultivation courtyard with a relatively quiet environment.

After paying the rent, Fang Hong came to the small courtyard to meditate and Qi Refining, quietly waiting for the artifact refining competition to begin two days later.

Time flew by quickly, and two days passed in a flash. The artifact refining competition was held as scheduled.

On this day, the entire Purple Cloud City became lively, several times more bustling than usual.

Early in the morning, a large number of residents and Cultivators who came to watch the competition rushed towards Purple Cloud Plaza.

Purple Cloud Plaza was the venue for this artifact refining competition.

This was an extremely large plaza, vast in area, and even if it accommodated hundreds of thousands of people at the same time, it would not feel crowded at all.

Around the plaza, layers of stepped spectator stands were built, and many Cultivators had already come to watch the competition.

In the very center of the plaza, tens of thousands of circular tables and chairs were neatly arranged. This was where the contestants would perform artifact refining.

Fang Hong arrived at the plaza early and successfully entered the artifact refining area with his identity token.

His gaze swept over the surrounding tables and chairs. Without much hesitation, he randomly chose a seat near a corner and sat down, then patiently waited for the competition to officially begin.

As time passed little by little, more and more contestants arrived at the artifact refining area.

Everyone chose their positions, and the originally quiet artifact refining area gradually became lively.

Before long, the number of contestants in the artifact refining area reached over five thousand, and looking around, there were crowds of people.

Fang Hong roughly scanned the surrounding contestants and found that most of them were Golden Immortal Cultivators, with a few True Immortal Cultivators occasionally seen, but their numbers were very small.

According to the rules of the artifact refining competition, only Cultivators below the Grand Unity Golden Immortal Cultivation Level were eligible to register.

According to this rule, Fang Hong’s true Cultivation Level actually did not meet the requirements.

But for the one hundred catties of sea heart sand among the competition rewards, he still decided to participate in the competition.

When he registered earlier, he deliberately concealed a part of his Qi, disguising his Cultivation Level as Late Golden Immortal. This way, other people would not be able to see his true strength.