Still First Place
On Central Continent’s east coast, a huge island of profound ice drifted ashore centuries ago, and Gu Masters there still debate its origin. Early arrivals looted its wild Gu and icy trees for fortune. More Gu Masters then settled there permanently, since the ice resists melting and its frost energy suits ice path cultivators. As space grew scarce, the island’s Gu Masters banded together to exclude outsiders, and over generations the alliance hardened into Flying Frost Sect, named for the ice’s distant origin. ch. 831
The Refinement Path Convention’s second round is held there, and Fang Yuan arrives with his token. The task requires ten rank two ghost fire Gu refined at once, ranked by speed: the first three finishing within fifteen minutes place, and whoever finishes first wins five rank three ice path Gu recipes. When Fang Yuan enters, the first three places are still open. ch. 831
Refining all ten at once is a real challenge, since ghost fire Gu is both fire and soul path, its intricate steps draining a Gu Master’s own soul with repetition. Fang Yuan plans to burn ghost souls with soul and fire techniques into fake ghost fires, then use those to refine the true ones. Since Flying Frost Sect will not supply souls, he must prepare his own. ch. 831
An Han condemns the method aloud as evil and unorthodox. Flying Frost Sect’s leader privately judges Fang Yuan unscrupulous, recalling that Five Virtues Sect already failed to recruit him, and decides against trying either. The convention bars only fighting and killing, open to righteous and demonic Gu Masters alike, because the Infallible inheritance behind it has a hidden requirement: the more participants, the better. Most watching Gu Masters are righteous path, disgusted at his burning souls, and hope his refinement fails. ch. 831
At the crucial moment, the ghost fire explodes, and one of the ten nearly finished Gu turns to ash. Onlookers hold back their delight, wary of his rank five cultivation. An Han is glad too, since a single failure forces Fang Yuan to restart all ten from scratch. Fang Yuan himself cares nothing for the reward or the position. First place matters greatly to An Han: losing as host costs him face among peers, while winning brings extreme glory and a tempting reward. He hides his elation as the crowd gossips that evil deeds bring bad outcomes and first place belongs to An Han. ch. 831
Just as everyone rejoices, the ghost fire splits into two lumps. A large one holds nine incomplete ghost fire Gu, the other small and empty. Fang Yuan’s expression does not change; he only grows more focused. He keeps the large lump burning while throwing three souls, a boar’s, a goat’s and a human’s, into the small one, which bursts alight with pitiful cries of pain. The crowd reacts with open shock at his burning a human soul in daylight, and Flying Frost Sect’s members are angered but dare not stop him, since that risks the ten great ancient sects’ wrath and their own sect’s downfall. ch. 831
Calm again, Fang Yuan keeps adding materials. At a crucial step he tosses in a fire pellet Gu and a soul ball Gu at lightning speed, fusing them into one incomplete ghost fire Gu. Knowledgeable onlookers recognize the technique as consecutive toss and guess refinement is his main path. They are all wrong: his true main path is strength, and he holds standing in a branch of Immortal Crane Sect, one of the ten great ancient sects. ch. 831
Fang Yuan then saves the failed attempt, fusing the two lumps back into one, and the remaining steps finish smoothly. The ghost fire bursts and scatters, releasing all ten completed Gu together. Outside the stage, no one speaks. His expression dark, the Flying Frost Sect elder announces helplessly that the refinement succeeded in under fifteen minutes, and that first place goes to Fang Yuan. ch. 831
