Sparring?
Such noble words, but in reality it just meant: if they couldn't agree, they'd settle it with fists.
But this kind of clash was different from a Demonic Path showdown. When Demonic Path cultivators fought, it was do or die. Righteous Path Gu Immortals generally had large families and holdings — why fight to the death over nothing? Deciding who was superior would suffice.
This was also because Fang Yuan had deliberately dragged things out, leaving the matter of Guanghan Peak undecided for so long, that the two Xia family Gu Immortals decided to let their fists do the talking and cut through the Gordian knot.
Even on Earth, when negotiations broke down, powerful nations would simply march their armies in.
The essence was the same.
Xia Feikuai's words were also quite interesting. On behalf of the Xia family, he once again elevated Wu Yihai as the glory of the Wu family. His words implied that this sparring match was not merely a contest between the two of them, but a confrontation between the Xia family and the Wu family.
With a single sentence, he had backed Fang Yuan into a dead end. If Fang Yuan refused the challenge, it would damage the Wu family's reputation. In the Righteous Path, such behavior would be looked down upon and despised.
What the two Xia family members didn't know was that Fang Yuan wasn't Wu Yihai at all, and he couldn't care less about the Wu family's honor or reputation.
However, on the other hand, he was currently playing the role of Wu Yihai and still wanted to infiltrate the super Gu formation, so it was hard for him to refuse this challenge.
He paused for a moment, then said, "If it's a sparring match, with both of your honored selves joining forces against me alone, the odds would be heavily against me."
Xia Feikuai's expression immediately shifted.
That wasn't something he could let slide!
In truth, he had already been put on the defensive by proposing the sparring match himself. Losing this match would be a self-inflicted humiliation. And if both Xia family Gu Immortals fought and won, it would only be seen as bullying with superior numbers — even more embarrassing and impossible to publicize.
Xia Feikuai had never actually considered teaming up with Xia Zhuomo. He said directly, "Only I will fight. Friend Wu Yihai can rest assured."
Fang Yuan looked reluctant and added, "Since your side wishes to spar, and so urgently at that, it would be ungracious of me to refuse. However, since it is a sparring match, there must be a set timeframe. We can't just keep fighting until heaven and earth grow dark."
"What terms does the friend propose?" Xia Feikuai asked directly.
A sparring match naturally had its own rules, quite different from a life-or-death battle.
Fang Yuan said, "You attack and I defend. As long as you can break through my defense within ten moves, I'll admit defeat."
Xia Feikuai's eyelid twitched. He said in a deep voice, "Very well."
Xia Zhuomo furrowed his brow, feeling something was off. But since Xia Feikuai had already agreed, they might as well go ahead with the spar. He had confidence in Xia Feikuai.
Guanghan Peak was obviously not the place for them to fight — it would be a shame if it got damaged.
Both parties flew out and chose a desolate, uninhabited valley.
Fang Yuan and Xia Feikuai stood facing each other.
"Begin." Xia Feikuai was eager to start; he very much wanted to teach Fang Yuan a lesson.
Among the Seventh Transformation Gu Immortals in the Southern Border, he was a well-known powerhouse. Looking at the Wu family, Wu Yong was an Eighth Transformation Gu Immortal and not worth mentioning in this context. The strongest Seventh Transformation Gu Immortal in the Wu family, Wu Yubo, had only narrowly surpassed him. Now that Wu Yubo had entered a closed-door death cultivation, what did Xia Feikuai have to fear?
It had to be said — the Flame Waste Immortal's defeat of Wu Yubo had been a brilliant move by the Xia family.
In an actual contest, the Flame Waste Immortal was no match for Wu Yubo. But the Xia family had figured out Wu Yubo's signature killer move.
Wu Yubo had been specifically countered, his Immortal killer move forced into cancellation, and he suffered a severe backlash — that was how the Flame Waste Immortal had seized the victory.
"Hold on." Fang Yuan raised his hand.
Xia Feikuai had been practically vibrating with readiness to fight. Fang Yuan calling for a pause made him extremely uncomfortable, and he couldn't help but shout, "Wu Yihai, what now?"
"I almost forgot — since it's a sparring match, we can't just spar casually like this, can we?" Fang Yuan said with a smile.
Xia Feikuai thought: "Casual? Teaching you a lesson is the whole point of this fight!"
He thought this, but he absolutely could not say it out loud.
Gu Immortals possessed various means to record scenes, just as the Flame Waste Immortal's challenge against Wu Yubo had been recorded by the Xia family Gu Immortal Xia Qingcang not long ago. The footage was now circulating widely throughout the Southern Border's Gu Immortal community.
Xia Feikuai had no choice but to suppress his anger. "What do you want?"
"Simple. If you lose this sparring match, Guanghan Peak will belong to my side. And if, by some lucky chance, I win, then the matter of Guanghan Peak remains as it is," Fang Yuan said.
"How is that possible?!" Xia Zhuomo, watching from a distance, blurted out in alarm before Xia Feikuai could respond.
The Xia family had launched this offensive by seizing the bloodline descendants of Zhang Sanfeng, holding the moral high ground with a great advantage that put the Wu family on the back foot. Agreeing to these terms would mean voluntarily surrendering their advantage — no wise person would do that.
Xia Feikuai curled his lip and thought: "I'm not a fool."
At the same time, he said directly, "That is out of the question."
"In that case, I'm afraid I cannot participate. Let's call off this sparring match." Fang Yuan waved his hand and turned to walk back.
Xia Feikuai, seeing this, was so furious he nearly cursed out loud.
We left Guanghan Peak, came all the way out here, painstakingly searched for and carefully selected a valley where we could spar. And now you say in one sentence that you're not fighting?
Are you messing with us?