Luo Muzi and Lun Fei were utterly speechless.
They wanted nothing more than to tear into Fang Yuan, but Qiao Siliu had already offered such a glowing evaluation. If they criticized him further, wouldn't that be embarrassing for Qiao Siliu herself?
Luo Muzi and Lun Fei felt as though they had swallowed flies — utterly repulsed, yet unable to vent their frustration.
Fang Yuan surveyed the surroundings, inwardly amused.
Qiao Siliu forced a smile, while Celestial Immortal Tianlu gazed at her with concern, a hint of sympathy flickering in her eyes. As Qiao Siliu's close friend, how could Tianlu not see through her scheme? It was just that Fang Yuan refused to take the bait, leaving them seething with frustration yet utterly helpless.
As for Luo Muzi and Lun Fei, the stiffness of their expressions was practically comical.
Fang Yuan turned to the pair. "So? My poem wasn't half bad, was it?"
"Not bad at all."
Luo Muzi and Lun Fei's eyes went wide as saucers, staring at Fang Yuan as if trying to gauge just how brazen the man before them truly was.
But immediately after, they heard Fang Yuan continue: "Though this was merely a flash of inspiration, when it comes to literary works and poetry, it seems that true masterpieces are born in just this way. Siliu speaks highly of my poem, but I would very much like to hear the two of you offer your appreciation as well."
"Appreciation? This… thing of yours can even be called a poem? And you want appreciation?"
"'Siliu, Siliu' — why are you calling her so intimately? You bastard! Hey! Who gave you permission to speak to her so familiarly?"
Luo Muzi and Lun Fei were screaming and raging inside.
But outwardly, they could not erupt. They had to evaluate the poem, and worse, they had to say something nice — echoing Qiao Siliu's words so as not to embarrass Celestial Immortal Siliu.
This was even worse than swallowing flies.
Here was their rival, and the poem was utter garbage that barely qualified as poetry, yet Luo Muzi and Lun Fei had to find some way to "appraise" it and say something complimentary.
"This poem, er… is straightforward and easy to understand… pleasant to the ear…" Luo Muzi stammered out a few words, his expression growing increasingly wretched as he felt his stomach churning.
Fang Yuan smiled and nodded, then turned to Lun Fei beside him. "What does Immortal Friend Lun Fei think?"
Lun Fei stared at Fang Yuan with an unblinking gaze, the corners of his mouth twisting into something resembling a smile but more akin to a twitch. Then, in a flat, hollow voice: "It is a good poem."
Fang Yuan raised an eyebrow. There was no way he would let the man off so easily. He pressed further: "Good in what way?"
Lun Fei flew into a rage, his face flushed crimson with fury. Inside, he was roaring: "How the hell should I know what's good about it?! There's nothing good about it at all! You wrote it yourself and you want me to praise you? You bastard!"
Seeing Fang Yuan's beaming face, a powerful impulse surged through Lun Fei — he wanted nothing more than to grab the cup in his hand and smash it straight into Fang Yuan's face.
That would be the most satisfying thing in the world.
But he couldn't do it.
Qiao Siliu was sitting right there before him. If Lun Fei were to go through with it, what would that leave Fairy Siliu? Wouldn't that be a direct slap to the fairy's face?
Moreover, Lun Fei was not Luo Muzi — he was a Loose Immortal. In contrast, Wu Yihai held a noble status: the own younger brother of Wu Yong from the Wu family.
Lun Fei had no choice but to forcefully suppress the fury in his heart, rack his brains, and wrack his soul to come up with some words that might "appreciate" Fang Yuan's wretched "poem."
"Today's moon-viewing has been truly delightful. I never expected I had such talent for poetry." Fang Yuan smiled at Qiao Siliu, his gaze laden with meaning.
Qiao Siliu's heart trembled ever so slightly. She smiled and said, "Next comes the Stone Uncovering. Perhaps, Yihai, you'll have great gains."
"Indeed, indeed. I'm also most looking forward to this part — let's begin the Stone Uncovering." Fairy Tianlu hastily helped steer the conversation along.
"I've prepared a large collection of stones here for everyone to choose from. Please, go ahead." Qiao Siliu had naturally come prepared. Behind her stood the Qiao family; with the backing of such a super force, collecting some stones was no difficult task at all.
The atmosphere in the pavilion eased considerably.
Luo Muzi and Lun Fei both let out a tremendous sigh of relief. At the very least, they would no longer have to insincerely praise Fang Yuan's dreadful poem.
The stones Qiao Siliu had prepared varied in size, and the Gu Immortals took turns selecting them one by one, uncovering them on the spot to see if any Gu Insects lay within.
Mortal Gu were easy enough for Gu Immortals to obtain.
So the atmosphere remained relaxed, nothing like the solemn gravity with which Gu Masters treated Stone Uncovering.
Of course, this was only about mortal Gu. If Immortal Gu were involved, then the activity of Stone Uncovering would command the serious attention of even Gu Immortals.
Gu Immortals had plenty of methods to probe whether a stone contained mortal Gu. But at today's gathering, naturally no one would resort to any cheating techniques — it all came down to personal judgment and luck alone.
As for stones harboring Immortal Gu, they were a matter of serendipity that could never be sought on purpose. Gu Immortals' methods for detecting such things were extremely limited, leaving them utterly powerless.
The stones tonight — hoping to uncover an Immortal Gu from them would be a sheer fantasy, utterly unrealistic.
Nobody harbored such extravagant hopes. It was truly just an evening of entertainment.
Only, this entertainment, in the eyes of Luo Muzi and Lun Fei, carried a significance somewhat different from the usual.
The two of them had been secretly competing with Fang Yuan, but the result nearly made them cough up blood. Fang Yuan's Stone Uncovering results sat at the very top, maintaining that lead from the very beginning all the way to the end.
Stone Uncovering tested a Gu Master's trained eye, and Fang Yuan was naturally not lacking in that department. In his previous life spanning five hundred years, he had even run a stone-gambling shop.
As for luck — could Fang Yuan's luck possibly be bad?