"The head elder of the Refinement Hall has put in a lot of effort this year. The level of these three is upper-middle even by Central Continent standards. Truly, 'a great teacher produces outstanding students,'" an elder praised.
"Heh heh heh, you flatter me. These three children do have talent, but the key is the Dean's generous support. Without it, they could never have developed such skill," the Refinement Hall elder said modestly.
The Dean remained silent.
The Refinement Hall elder changed the topic and mentioned Hong Yi: "Speaking of which, the Dean's son Hong Yi also has talent. He's made it to the finals. What's important is that he's not even a Refinement Hall disciple, and he seldom practices. To still achieve such results is impressive."
The elders exchanged glances, privately despising the elder's blatant flattery, but chimed in anyway.
"Yes, yes."
"With the Dean's blood in his veins, how could he be weak?"
"When he first entered the academy, he was unremarkable. But now Hong Yi has become the leader of a group of disciples. He's sure to become a leader in his own right in the future."
The Dean snorted: "My son is just showing off. Do you think I can't see that? He got into the finals by pure luck. He dabbles in everything with no focus. A jack of all trades is a master of none. When this competition is over, I'm locking him up for seven days so he can reflect properly."
The elders fell silent.
The Dean had several sons. Hong Yi was the best, but he was born from a concubine. He had a rebellious nature and didn't get along with his father, often suffering the Dean's discipline and suppression.
This time, Hong Yi had signed up for the Refinement Path competition behind his father's back.
Now, on the arena, Hong Yi was sweating heavily, his eyes fixed on the flame in his hand.
Within the flame, a Gu insect was gradually taking form.
"Finally, I've reached the last step. Too bad I've wasted so much time!" Hong Yi observed the others amidst his hurry.
When he saw that the flames of Cao Yu, Xie Lan, and Lu Wen had shrunk to the size of a wick, Hong Yi knew that he had no hope of winning.
In fact, he had talent in the Refinement Path, even more than those three. But he rarely practiced. First, this wasn't his main path, so his focus was divided and his time limited. Second, he lacked financial support. Though he had some lucky encounters, his father didn't support him and wanted him to concentrate solely on the main path.
"Damn it! Father has already guessed my intentions. I want to put my mother's spirit tablet in the ancestral hall. Father strictly follows the family rules, so how could he possibly agree? He wants me to obediently listen like my other siblings and not challenge his authority. But the Hong family has been truly unfair to my mother! If I don't stand up for her, I'm not a man!"
"Anyway. Now I have no choice but to take a risk. The last step in refining the Red Beauty Gu can be done in one go by a Gu master. It's just that the flame is hard to control, so they deliberately slow down. There's no way I can do it in one go, but if I can overtake them, I still have a chance to win."
Hong Yi made up his mind and immediately acted.
The watching disciples and the elders on stage quickly noticed.
Everyone shook their heads.
"How naive."
"Hong Yi is trying a risky move, but how could he turn things around? Unless he's a Refinement Path master!"
"Of course he's not a master. This is suicide. Look, his flame has already gone out of control."
"Shit!" Hong Yi cursed under his breath. The flame in his hand flickered, crackling as if it would explode any moment.
The explosion wouldn't be dangerous—the academy had taken safety measures into account.
"Failed!!" Hong Yi's heart sank. The flame had completely left his control and even floated away from his palm.
For a moment, Hong Yi tasted bitterness.
"It's a failure after all... Ah-choo!"
Recently, he had been staying up late to practice Gu refining, trying to cram a lot, but he had caught a chill. Now, relaxed and covered in sweat, he sneezed.
The sneeze hit the flame directly, and suddenly it went out.
A perfectly refined Red Beauty Gu dropped with a clatter onto the square's tiles.
"Refined... it's refined?!" Hong Yi was stunned.
Everyone was petrified.
"Pfft!" An elder who was drinking tea spat it out.
Even the Dean, Hong Yi's father, instinctively stood up, his face full of shock: "This—this sneeze somehow produced a technique like a Refinement Path master. It completed in one go, instantly overcoming the last hurdle to refine the Red Beauty Gu! That kid Hong Yi... what incredible luck..."
Fox Immortal Blessed Land.
Fang Yuan, Tai Bai Yun Sheng, Hei Lou Lan, and the Earth Spirit Little Fox Immortal stood together in the sky, silently awaiting the arrival of the Earth Calamity.
"What kind of Earth Calamity will it be this time?" Little Fox Immortal looked up at her master beside her.