Two ghost fires moved back and forth, left and right, far and near, completely unpredictable. Feng Jin Huang had to ward them off while diverting her focus to refine her Gu.
Soon, Feng Jin Huang couldn't hold on any longer.
Boom.
With a faint explosion, one of the refining flames she controlled was instantly destroyed. The Gu worm inside had already taken its initial form. What a pity to fail so close to the end!
"S-Senior Sister made a mistake!" Sun Yao stomped her foot in frustration. "What a waste! That Gu worm was only three steps away from completion!"
Qin Juan's expression turned grim.
"This is the first mistake since the bet started. Senior Sister has a deep foundation, but she's spreading herself too thin. She's definitely overextending."
"What do we do?" Sun Yao looked to Qin Juan for advice.
Qin Juan mused, "If it were me, I would voluntarily cancel one of my Refinement Killer Moves. The advantage is huge. As long as I maintain it and stop making mistakes, the one who should be worried is the opponent. However, cancelling a move is like activating one—it creates a change that requires extra attention, which creates a momentary opening."
At that moment, Feng Jin Huang was thinking the same thing. "Should I cancel a Refinement Killer Move? Is that what Fang Yuan is trying to force me to do?"
"No, I still have a way. A third strike! I'll use a sonic wave attack to wipe out these two ghost fires in one go!" As a genius, Feng Jin Huang had pride deep in her bones. She was unwilling to admit defeat.
Just as her eyes lit up with the thought, she cast a glance at Fang Yuan and her heart instantly turned cold.
Fang Yuan wore a ferocious mask. Through the eyeholes, his gaze was frigid as ice, seemingly laced with a trace of mocking amusement.
"No!" Their eyes met. Feng Jin Huang's heart trembled. "This is Fang Yuan's trap. He's been waiting for this! The moment I launch the third attack, he'll seize the chance to strike. My mind is at its limit. I won't be able to handle the situation. I won't even have time to defend. He'll hit me for sure!"
"Damn it..." Feng Jin Huang ground her teeth. A cold sweat dripped from her forehead to the corner of her eye, rolling down her cheek.
"This won't do. I have to think of something. What should I do? Think, think fast!"
Boom.
In the middle of her frantic thoughts, another flame she controlled exploded.
This explosion was much worse than the first. The surrounding flames were affected. Feng Jin Huang hastily threw out her chaotic thoughts, desperately trying to stabilize the rest.
"Ah! Senior Sister made another mistake! What's going on? Oh no, she's injured!" Sun Yao cried, clutching her head.
"That demon Fang Yuan put too much pressure on her. In her haste to find a countermeasure, she relaxed her attention on the Gu refinement and made a mistake. Failed refinement naturally backfires. At least the injury isn't serious." Qin Juan's tone also betrayed her tension. She let out a deep breath before adding, "Still, this might be a good thing."
Sun Yao didn't understand and pouted angrily. "Senior Sister Qin, what are you saying? Senior Sister messed up her Gu refinement and got hurt. How is that a good thing?"
"Because she lost two of the flames. Her mind is freed from that burden. Now, she has enough capacity to handle the current situation easily." Qin Juan analyzed.
Sun Yao slapped her forehead in sudden realization. "Oh, right!"
"Hehehe." Fang Yuan started laughing again.
Feng Jin Huang's heart sank the moment she heard his laugh.
She looked up and sure enough, saw Fang Yuan take out a third Gu worm. He spoke again, "Watch closely. This is a third-rank Ghost Fire Gu."
In the next moment, three ghost fires were dancing around Feng Jin Huang.
"Damn it, damn it!" Sun Yao stomped her foot. "That demon has no shame! Senior Sister just managed to relax, and he sends out another ghost fire! He's trying to force another mistake!"
"Exactly." Qin Juan's face was grim. "With this, the pressure increases immensely. Senior Sister will probably have to focus all her remaining energy on defense."
Sun Yao was so angry she started grinding her teeth, swinging her fists unconsciously. "That demon isn't even focusing on refining his own Gu, he's devoting all his energy to those ghost fires! He's not doing his job! I'd like to beat him until his head is covered in bumps!!"
"Damn it, how did this happen..." Feng Jin Huang was trapped in a huge predicament. She was clearly in the lead, yet every time Fang Yuan made a move, she was forced onto the back foot.
Feng Jin Huang knew the situation was bad. The rhythm of the bet had completely fallen into Fang Yuan's hands. She wanted to counter, but she simply didn't have the capacity.
The three ghost fires floated around her. Sometimes they would suddenly breach the three-foot perimeter, then quickly withdraw, clearly just toying with and provoking her.
Feng Jin Huang was, after all, just a girl. Fang Yuan's taunts filled her with rage, but she couldn't do a thing about it.
To get rid of these three irritating ghost fires would require taking a great risk!
But logic told her that she didn't need to take the risk.
She was still way ahead of Fang Yuan, even with the two mistakes.
As long as she held onto her lead, victory was hers.
However, shortly after Feng Jin Huang began refining the Four-Aperture Fire Building Gu, Fang Yuan unexpectedly started refining the exact same Gu.
This discovery instantly shocked Feng Jin Huang. "When did he close the gap?! That's impossible! He hasn't even used a single Refinement Killer Move!"
But it was true. Relying solely on continuously rotating different refining techniques, using the purest fundamentals, Fang Yuan was shrinking the gap bit by bit. Without her even realizing it, he had caught right up to her!