"What profound Refinement Path skill! He was doing two things at once: he slowed down the forging of the nine Ghost Fire Gu prototypes and quickly forged the last one. The forging of a Ghost Fire Gu alone requires immense mental effort, yet he still handles it with ease. Could it be that he also cultivates Soul Path or Wisdom Path?" An Han was shocked and uncertain.
"Great Elder? Great Elder?" whispered the disciple beside An Han.
"What is it?" An Han snapped back to reality, his face flushing. Without realizing it, he had stood up from his seat, losing his composure and greatly losing face.
At that moment, the Flying Frost Pavilion Master cast a glance at An Han.
At the Refinement Assembly, one naturally had to use Refinement Path to regain face.
An Han's heart jumped; he understood the Pavilion Master's intention and reluctantly stepped into the arena.
Seeing their Great Elder take the stage, many disciples of Flying Frost Pavilion outside the arena burst into cheers, sweeping away their previous dejection.
Even outsiders, seeing the renowned An Han compete, couldn't help but look at him with concern and support.
However, among the crowd, there were discerning eyes.
At that moment, an old Gu Master sighed quietly and said, "This An Han is in trouble."
"Why, Master?" asked a young man standing by his side, puzzled.
This pair of master and disciple were the same rogue cultivators who previously went to sign up at Five Virtues Sect, walking beside Fang Yuan when they were shoved to the ground by the burly men clearing the way for An Han.
"That demonic Gu Master Fang Yuan is incredibly formidable. His Refinement Path skill is deep and profound. What he just did was far more than multitasking. To achieve that, your master could only do it at the peak of his life. The difficulty of this is not apparent to outsiders; only the more skilled Refinement Path Gu Masters understand it. This An Han is also quite capable, but precisely because of that, he understands well that he cannot match the demonic cultivator Fang Yuan. You see, he even lost his composure and stood up just now—clearly his spirit has been captured by Fang Yuan."
The old Gu Master spoke confidently, though in a very low voice: "In his current state, if he tries to refine Gu, he probably won't be able to perform even half of his true ability. Moreover, the key point is that Fang Yuan has already taken first place. No matter how hard An Han tries, he cannot change that. Unless he finds another way and takes far less time than Fang Yuan, only then can he salvage Flying Frost Pavilion's lost face. Unfortunately, if he had such talent, he wouldn't have remained stuck in Flying Frost Pavilion for so many years."
The young Gu Master nodded repeatedly and agreed, "Master, you're right. The Flying Frost Pavilion Master is a layman in Gu refining. This time, his deployment was completely a misstep. He was too eager for success. This is just like you taught me: Gu refining cannot be rushed, one cannot be impatient. I suppose leading a sect is the same."
Hearing this, the old Gu Master's eyes lit up, and he looked at his only disciple with satisfaction: "Indeed, my disciple, you are truly talented and have insight. The great paths of the world ultimately converge to the same destination. You are able to reflect on other aspects from the principles of Gu refining, which shows that your Refinement Path realm has already entered the hall. You will surely achieve great success in the second competition."
The young Gu Master smiled slightly: "All of this is thanks to your teaching, Master, without holding anything back. If you hadn't taken me in, I would have starved to death long ago. I owe everything I am today to your nurturing. I was already confident that by using thirteen Gu refining techniques, I could win first place. But now that first place has been taken by that demonic Gu Master. Master, let me win that Green Light Gu for you."
"What?" The old master was shocked and quickly tried to stop him, "Disciple, absolutely not!"
But it was already too late.
The young Gu Master, fearless as a newborn calf that doesn't fear tigers, shouted loudly: "Senior Fang Yuan, this junior dares to challenge you to a bet!"
This whole scene took longer to describe than it actually happened.
Fang Yuan had just left the arena and hadn't gone far, as he still needed to receive the first-place reward from Flying Frost Pavilion. Meanwhile, An Han was rising to enter the arena.
The young Gu Master's words stirred up a thousand waves, immediately drawing the crowd's attention.
"A bet! A bet!"
"Who is that young man, daring to bet with that fifth-rank demonic Gu Master?"
"I know him. He was second in the previous Five Virtues Sect competition, a true Refinement Path genius."
"A young bull doesn't fear an old lion. This is going to be a good show!"
The old master's face turned pale; he could no longer stop him. He stood rooted to the spot, at a loss, his heart full of worry and regret: "I was only focused on teaching my disciple Refinement Path, but I forgot to teach him the hardships and dangers of the world. How could I, how could I!"
And the young Gu Master, now the center of attention, raised his head, slowly walked out of the crowd, and came before Fang Yuan, his eyes burning, his expression resolute.