Chapter 835

Time passes; Zheng Shan Chuan nears the last steps, while Fang Yuan has just fused the six materials. But Fang Yuan suddenly laughs, declares him already beaten, and crushes a Gu worm. ^{ch. 835}

Zheng Shan Chuan screams that green shine Gu is destroyed. The shock unsettles his fire into a small blast that leaves him sooty. ^{ch. 835}

The crowd erupts, calling Fang Yuan ruthless, though some note he destroyed only his own Gu. Old Man Qi Shan is flustered. Zheng Shan Chuan takes long to recover and restart, and by then Fang Yuan has finished, winning the duel. ^{ch. 835}

An Han is secretly delighted but shows public sympathy. Zheng Shan Chuan stares blankly, feeling his life and future lost. ^{ch. 835}

Old Man Qi Shan kowtows without pause, pleading for his disciple. Zheng Shan Chuan kneels beside him in tears. Onlookers reflect that even a righteous Gu Master in Fang Yuan’s place would not release so gifted a talent. ^{ch. 835}

Fang Yuan then says it is not impossible to let Zheng Shan Chuan go. The place falls silent, and Old Man Qi Shan, overjoyed, thanks him. Fang Yuan says people should be kind to one another, and the crowd doubts his sincerity. He then adds that, since they offended him, they must still be punished. ^{ch. 835}

Fang Yuan says he will not enslave them for life. Instead he wants three matters done someday, undecided, perhaps never invoked, entirely at his mood. Three matters is far easier to accept than lifelong slavery, since a demonic path Gu Master’s slave could never rise in Central Continent. Such an agreement between righteous and demonic Gu Masters is nothing unusual, and it leaves Zheng Shan Chuan’s future still very bright. Old Man Qi Shan sighs in relief, thanking him through tears, and Zheng Shan Chuan bows in thanks. ^{ch. 835}

Fang Yuan orders both to bite their tongues for a drop of blood. They comply in fear. He grinds the two drops together, and black smoke fades to reveal two rank four Gu worms. The crowd gasps at his formidable skill, and Flying Frost Sect’s higher-ups, recognizing the notorious blood path technique, grow dark. ^{ch. 835}

Fang Yuan explains the pair of rank four Gu can sense each other and reveal if the other is genuine. He will send someone bearing the twin worm when he has a request, and the three matters pass to descendants and disciples after death. He asks if they are willing, or else he will make them his slaves. Both agree at once. ^{ch. 835}

Fang Yuan tosses one Gu to Old Man Qi Shan and another to Zheng Shan Chuan, who realizes it is green shine Gu. Fang Yuan asks if he really thought he had destroyed it. Laughing, he leaves the dumbfounded Gu Masters behind. ^{ch. 835}

Old Man Qi Shan stores the blood Gu, not daring to break the agreement. Every force in the Refinement Path Convention holds the evidence. Zheng Shan Chuan helps his master up; shaken, Old Man Qi Shan urges him to leave at once. Zheng Shan Chuan withdraws from the Convention with the green shine Gu. ^{ch. 835}

Afterward, Old Man Qi Shan reveals An Han secretly encouraged the duel from jealousy. Zheng Shan Chuan matures greatly from this, coming to understand both his own shortcomings and the world’s harshness. For most of his life he treats his master while quietly rising in rank, curing his poison at fifty-three and becoming a grandmaster at eighty-eight. In his final years he returns to Central Continent’s east coast and founds Shan Chuan Hall, named after himself. He dies at a hundred and fifty, never joining that Convention again, and the three promised tasks remain another story. ^{ch. 835}