The moment the surging water wave met the pale-red shield, Mu Lie felt a tremendous impact surge through him, violently pushing him backward.But before his Foundation Establishment cultivation ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) and the body he had trained daily, this did not cause too much harm — it only shoved him back a few centimeters.After withstanding the initial shock, the subsequent wave attack no longer felt overwhelming.Mu Lie breathed a slight sigh of relief; having blocked that wave, it would be his turn next.Relaxed, Mu Lie did not notice the strands of golden light hidden within the water wave.The gold light moved at extreme speed, piercing out of the wave and shooting toward Mu Lie’s temples, the spot between his brows, his pupils — places very difficult to defend.Mu Lie did not react in time and came into close contact with those golden needles.Seeing the golden pin less than a centimeter from his eyeball, Mu Lie swallowed and clearly realized his present predicament.Gu Yuan spoke at that moment, his timing calm."Admit defeat, or these needles will go in."Though his voice was gentle, the threat contained within it left no doubt.Mu Lie was not reckless; he very easily chose to admit defeat.After all, it was merely a contest — it was not worth suffering painful consequences for it."Fine, I admit defeat. Withdraw those needles."Hearing Mu Lie’s voice, Gu Yuan looked toward the elder responsible for announcing results.The elder understood and promptly declared Gu Yuan the victor.After Mu Lie stepped down, Gu Yuan became the defender and awaited the next challenger.Fang Qing watched it all with some boredom, but because it was Gu Yuan’s match she continued to watch.She didn’t watch closely, only enough to see the general outcomes.Gu Yuan’s second match was against a young man with a sword and a wind spirit root; Gu Yuan defeated him with violent flames.The third challenger, in Fang Qing’s view, had little strength and was beaten in a few rounds — not worth remembering.The fourth match was a heavyweight: the recovered Song Chengzhou.Fang Qing considered Song Chengzhou to possess some strength, but not much — at least not compared to her.Gu Yuan fought Song Chengzhou for over a hundred moves, unleashing all five elements — metal, wood, water, fire, earth — and finally defeated him after exhausting much of his stamina. It could be said his victory was hard-won.After defeating Song Chengzhou, Gu Yuan’s stamina and spiritual energy had clearly been depleted; among the ambitious people offstage, he became an obvious target.At this moment, Gu Yuan’s condition was not ideal; defeating him should not require excessive effort, allowing the victor to face subsequent challenges in better shape.Therefore many people wanted to take the stage for Gu Yuan’s fifth match; in the end the fastest man took the opportunity.His name was He Xinghuai. He had a wood spirit root, but that wasn’t the point.The point was his sword technique. Fang Qing was certain the sword style he used was extremely profound, but He Xinghuai did not wield it skillfully — it seemed learned from another.Because of that, Gu Yuan saw through a flaw in his moves and He Xinghuai was ultimately defeated.Although he lost, his swift and fierce strikes left several wounds on Gu Yuan; if this had been a life-or-death duel, Gu Yuan might very well have been defeated.At the elder’s announcement, Gu Yuan had defeated five opponents and successfully took second place.Watching Gu Yuan walk down the stage slowly, injured, Fang Qing asked flatly, "Want to get that treated?"Gu Yuan grinned, then sucked in a breath when the movement tugged at his wounds, but still said, "Take me with you." A trace of hope tinged his tone."All right." Fang Qing answered evenly, then roughly took Gu Yuan by the arm and led him to a place that could treat injuries.Although Fang Qing’s rougher technique made the wounds sting more, Gu Yuan’s face bore a soft smile.All of this was being observed in secret by Jiang Monian just a dozen meters away.The interaction between the two made her feel distressed.But after thinking for a while on the spot, she reached a conclusion.It must be because she was useless, she thought; that’s why Gu Yuan didn’t care much about her. If she had Fang Qing’s strength, Gu Yuan would surely take notice, right?Having decided this, Jiang Monian left the area beneath the stage.…After Gu Yuan’s wounds were treated, the matches on the stage were nearing the end.He and Fang Qing watched a while longer, and the tenth place for this contest was soon decided.Once the top ten were determined, it was time for the awards.In this contest only the top ten received prizes: the first-place reward was obvious; the second-place prize was one fewer Foundation Establishment Pill than first place; third place received only a Gathering Qi Pill; fourth through tenth gradually received fewer Gathering Qi Pills.The elder in charge of announcing the rankings waved his sleeve and distributed the contest rewards correctly to everyone.Fang Qing and Gu Yuan needed no special mention. The somewhat surprising third place went to Song Chengzhou; fourth and fifth were He Xinghuai and Mu Lie; sixth was the man named Jiang Yong. Fang Qing paid little further attention.After accepting the rewards from the Fire-Gold Sect, a soft-voiced man stepped out from among the disciples and came before Fang Qing and Gu Yuan, speaking warmly."Junior sister Fang, my name is Luo Hong."Fang Qing nodded. Luo Hong continued, "The sect master wishes to see the two of you. Would you honor us with your presence?"The sect master of Fire-Gold Sect? Fang Qing and Gu Yuan were a bit surprised.They had not expected to have the chance to meet the sect master so quickly.Their expressions did not escape Luo Hong’s notice, but he showed understanding.After all, it was normal to be surprised at receiving the sect master’s attention right after joining; if they were not surprised, that would be a problem.Without dwelling on it, Luo Hong extended his hand politely."After me, please."Fang Qing and Gu Yuan composed themselves and exchanged a glance; Fang Qing then spoke to Luo Hong, "Let’s go."The three proceeded deeper into the Fire-Gold Sect as Luo Hong led the way.Along the route he introduced the function of each building: the pill-refining rooms, the spell pavilion, the treasure pavilion, and so on.After some distance they arrived at the main attraction of this visit.The Fire Hall.The Fire Hall was the dwelling place of the successive sect masters of Fire-Gold Sect and its core building. It contained the sect’s central resource, the Lieyang Spring.The Lieyang Spring gave off an unbearable heat all year round, but this was not a problem; by living near the Lieyang Spring for an extended period, a cultivator’s aptitude would increase, especially for those with fire spirit roots.At the same time the Lieyang Spring could be used to soak and produce Lieyang crystals. Soaking in them could greatly increase resistance to flames and, by purging and refining the marrow, raise one’s aptitude to some extent.The function of a Lieyang crystal was to absorb — after absorption it could purify the fire spiritual energy within the body, improving its quality and making it more powerful.These were all the uses of the Lieyang Spring.Therefore the Lieyang Spring was the Fire-Gold Sect’s core resource. The Fire Hall was built here for the purpose of guarding the Lieyang Spring.

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