Zheng Shan Chuan turned around and faced Old Man Qi Shan, on his young face, his eyes were bright and clear: "Master, I am unfilial, I will have to go against your wishes. Master, he is letting me pose the problem, this is a huge advantage, I have no reason not to duel! If under such conditions, I refuse to duel, this will become a scar in my heart, would I have any courage to progress further in refinement path?"
Old Man Qi Shan heard his words and fell into silence.
He sighed inwardly: 'Oh, disciple, you have little experience of the world, you do not know the deviousness of men. Since the other party is relenting to this extent, he is definitely confident of winning, he has his trump cards. You have been fooled! It is a pity, it is regretful, I am old and weak now, the situation has already been set, I cannot do anything to stop it.'
On the surface, Old Man Qi Shan stretched out his hand, grabbing Zheng Shan Chuan's shoulder: "Disciple, I understand your filial intentions. Alright, you can make your own decision, I will support you on this. Use careful Gu as the duel task, we will not bet on the success of the Gu refinement, but the time! Whoever refines careful Gu first will win!"
"Master!" Zheng Shan Chuan was so touched his eyes turned red.
Careful Gu was the sole secret inheritance of Old Man Qi Shan, it was not circulated to the outside world. To support his disciple, Old Man Qi Shan took out this precious Gu recipe, allowing his opponent, Fang Yuan, to see it.
He even suggested that they competed in terms of time. This was Fang Yuan's first time refining careful Gu, he would not be familiar with it, if they competed using time, he would face more pressure than just needing success. As expected, the old were the wisest.
Fang Yuan allowed his opponent to choose the Gu, he gave a huge advantage to him, he was in a passive situation.
Zheng Shan Chuan hesitated for a moment, he felt that his master's suggestion was taking advantage of his opponent, even if he won, it was not a glorious win.
But he immediately thought about the fact that this matter involved his master's safety. Even if he won unfairly, he needed to win the green shine Gu!
Thus, he turned around and gave his decision to the Flying Frost Sect elder.
Flying Frost Sect quickly arranged it, first elder An Han was overjoyed, he took the initiative to leave, giving them the venue in his place.
Fang Yuan and Zheng Shan Chuan went onto the stage, engaging in their duel.
The surroundings went quiet.
Both parties were dozens of steps away from each other, sitting on the ground.
Zheng Shan Chuan first took out the Gu recipe of careful Gu and gave it to Fang Yuan.
Soon, Flying Frost Sect announced the commencement of this duel.
Below the stage, discussions could be heard.
"I've never heard of careful Gu, it is a definitely their specialty Gu recipe. That Fang Yuan only has had a short time to look at it before the duel started, isn't this going overboard?"
"Hehe, this is Fang Yuan's fault for being too arrogant, he allowed the opponent to choose the Gu, he made a really stupid decision!"
"The young Gu Master is not simple, he was second place in the previous round, but his score was good enough to hit first place. Many people are guessing that he is a refinement path master."
Hearing this, many people scoffed: "How is this possible? How old is he, at this age, he is already a refinement path master? In that case, with my age, have I been living like a dog all this time?"
But as the competition progressed, under everyone's watchful gazes, Zheng Shan Chuan used nearly ten Gu refinement techniques with extremely skilful manipulation, it was a dazzling sight.
Among the spectators, those who guessed that Zheng Shan Chuan had master level refinement path attainment soared in numbers.
But Fang Yuan was still researching the Gu recipe, he had not started the Gu refinement.
Looking at this, the crowd did not think well of Fang Yuan.
"Oh no." Old Man Qi Shan frowned: "This person has such a calm nature, he is trying to decipher each step before refining the Gu. This is the demeanor of an expert, calm under any situation! Thankfully, I used time as the factor, whoever refines the Gu first wins. The process of refining careful Gu is complex, he cannot win unless he is familiar with the Gu recipe, and has practiced with it more than Little Chuan."
That was impossible, of course.
This was the first time Fang Yuan had seen this careful Gu recipe.
Careful Gu was, strictly speaking, a wisdom path Gu worm, but it had a huge use in refinement path. Fang Yuan guessed that this was the core Gu in Zheng Shan Chuan's inheritance.
History had recorded that Shan Chuan Hall's Gu Masters were most skilled at refining those Gu worms which had crucial steps that directly affected the success rate of the refinement.
Careful Gu was best in assisting the refinement path Gu Master to settle these problems.
After Fang Yuan looked at the recipe several times, he understood it deeply and could use it properly. He was a refinement path quasi-grandmaster, it was not hard to understand a rank three Gu recipe.
In truth, not only did he read the Gu recipe, he also observed Zheng Shan Chuan's techniques.
Zheng Shan Chuan was already at the middle part of the Gu refinement, Fang Yuan had watched the first part closely.
Even Fang Yuan had to nod his head in acknowledgement, with Zheng Shan Chuan's age, it was very hard to get to his level. But as a refinement path quasi-grandmaster, Fang Yuan could see that his techniques were not skilled enough, there were still flaws when he dealt with the materials.
Fang Yuan stretched out his hands and started to refine the Gu.
"He is finally refining the Gu." Outside the stage, quiet mocking voices could be heard.
"He is not anxious at all." Someone evaluated impartially.
Fang Yuan started to refine the Gu, it attracted Zheng Shan Chuan's gaze. But he only took one look before concentrating on his own task again.
Fang Yuan started Gu refinement, he went through it step by step, all of the bystanders were staring in disdain, these were Zheng Shan Chuan's techniques.
But soon, Fang Yuan made some modifications, he used a different technique, and his Gu refinement speed got faster.
The mocking sounds in the crowd vanished, everyone watching his hands moving at lightning speed in shock.
"He has already used more than ten Gu refinement techniques!"
"Such experienced Gu refinement techniques with deep foundation, he is unfathomable."
"He is getting faster, he is chasing up to Zheng Shan Chuan…"
Old Man Qi Shan frowned tightly, he was shocked inwardly: "This person's speed is not scary, the problem is, he is fast without any anxiety, his techniques are so calm and collected. Impressive, very impressive, this person's refinement path attainment is probably not just master level! Little Chuan is going to feel pressure, he cannot lose control of himself and become anxious. Careful Gu gets harder as the refinement proceeds, Little Chuan has the advantage, he needs to maintain it. The enemy is strong, if he loses his bearings, he is bound to lose!"
Zheng Shan Chuan's pressure was high indeed.
This was very normal, in running competitions, the person at the very front has the greatest mental pressure. Thus, many strategies revolved around conserving energy, only attempting to go all out at the end.
The greater the mental pressure, the greater the burden on the body. Especially when Zheng Shan Chuan was seeing Fang Yuan refining Gu rapidly and catching up to him, he could not help but be flustered.
"Such ability! He used more than ten refinement techniques, and he is still continuing. His mind is too strong, I cannot compete with him on this. Oh no, he is catching up…" Zheng Shan Chuan was a youngster, Fang Yuan's rapid speed was making his mouth dry, his heart was pounding.
His gaze was firm: "Forget it, I'll use my trump card and leave you in the dust!"
Zheng Shan Chuan made up his mind, his refinement speed slowed, his mind entered his aperture as he activated his Gu worms.
"Is Little Chuan going to…" The master and disciple had great mutual understanding, after seeing his actions, Old Man Qi Shan understood Zheng Shan Chuan's plan, he became nervous.
"Zheng Shan Chuan's Gu refinement speed is slowing." Soon, the spectators noticed this change.
"Are the steps ahead going to be very difficult, he needs to recompose himself?" Many people were making guesses, they did not know the recipe of careful Gu, they were inaccurate in their conjectures.
At this time, Zheng Shan Chuan breathed in deeply, his eyes shined with a golden light as his body was covered in a golden glow.
He stretched out his right hand rapidly, his open palm was facing down and pressing heavily.
In an instant, all of the golden light in his eyes and body gathered on his right hand.
The golden light condensed and formed into a small golden bell.
The golden bell spun slowly, covering all of the fire in which the refinement was occurring, it became faster and faster as it emitted a suction force.
The Gu refinement materials that were gathered on the floor were all sucked into the golden bell.
The golden bell only lasted for six breaths of time before it faded.
But at the next moment, before everyone's eyes, an incomplete careful Gu was formed.
The crowd was in a commotion.
"This is a refinement path killer move!"
"Refinement path killer moves can be considered rarer than killer moves of other paths, Zheng Shan Chuan is still so young, yet he already knows a refinement path killer move."
"What is most precious is that he actually succeeded in using it. This lad's talent is incredible, his future is unpredictable."
"Fang Yuan is in danger, he has the ability, but he was too careless."
"Hmph, Zheng Shan Chuan already had such a huge advantage, but he still used a killer move, it was all for victory, he is really stopping at nothing. In my opinion, even if Fang Yuan loses this, it was not disgraceful."
Zheng Shan Chuan let out a breath of turbid air, his expression was spirited: "I am definitely winning! I used my killer move and instantly grinded six Gu refinement materials, I completed the longest step in this Gu refinement already, I am way ahead of Fang Yuan now!"
Old Man Qi Shan's heart settled: "Even if Fang Yuan has a similar refinement path killer move, this is his first time refining careful Gu, he has zero experience. The usual procedure for this is to refine the six materials one by one while controlling the fire meticulously. If he uses a killer move to rush it, he would be causing his own doom. Even though Little Chuan took a risk, it was a good decision, he is definitely going to win."
The other Gu Masters were not familiar with careful Gu, they did not understand the situation. But Fang Yuan was in dire straits, any person could tell.
By completing this step in advance, he really did solidify his victory. Zheng Shan Chuan stabilized his emotions and continued to refine Gu. His technique was fast and stable, he did not give Fang Yuan a chance.
Fang Yuan was unmoved, he started to slowly refine the six materials, slowly boiling them as he refined the materials.
This step was not hard at all, it was just time consuming.
But Fang Yuan was not anxious in the least.