Chapter 854

Fang Yuan notes Feng Jin Huang’s two killer moves but returns to his fire. Outside the stage, Spirit Affinity House disciple Qin Juan sighs that a danger has passed, and explains to her junior Sun Yao that this martial duel format lets refiners attack each other, a use Sun Yao calls needlessly harsh. ^{ch. 854}

Qin Juan disagrees, since resisting disturbance is a core refinement skill Gu Masters need in the field. She adds that Feng Jin Huang’s two consecutive killer moves left her briefly unguarded, her whole attention on the Gu worms forming them, and that had Fang Yuan struck then it might have given her significant trouble. Sun Yao, hearing this, is relieved he did not. ^{ch. 854}

Because Fang Yuan has repeatedly used blood path techniques at crucial moments, disciples who dislike him privately call him a demon. The ten great ancient sects in fact recruit demonic and lone cultivators to hold their authority. One of Feng Jin Huang’s two fire lumps suddenly extinguishes. The audience exclaims in surprise. Sun Yao assumes the demon Fang Yuan must have attacked unseen, but Qin Juan disagrees, since the hosting elder said nothing. She realizes instead that Feng Jin Huang’s show of two killer moves was itself a trap meant to lure Fang Yuan into attacking and exposing a weak point, a trap he saw through. Sun Yao is astonished, and Qin Juan admits she too was fooled at first, calling this the best contest of its generation. ^{ch. 854}

Feng Jin Huang is the best of her generation among the ten sects. Fang Yuan once defeated her for Hu Immortal blessed land under circumstances never explained to disciples like Sun Yao and Qin Juan, while Immortal Crane Sect’s own disciples and most of its elders believe him a genius the sect secretly nurtured. This duel, in which she seeks to reclaim her prestige, is a hidden clash between Spirit Affinity House and Immortal Crane Sect, and almost the whole audience wonders who is the better young Gu Master. ^{ch. 854}

None of them know Fang Yuan has already become a Gu Immortal. He is only an immortal zombie, yet beyond their reading, while Feng Jin Huang has already activated dream wings Immortal Gu to great benefit. Neither competitor privately cares much for reputation any longer. ^{ch. 854}

Fang Yuan had seen through the double action trap, but her second move, small wishful hand, was real, and its two hands put her speed slightly above his, widening the gap slowly though not by much. He keeps pace using only technique, no killer moves. He is nearly finished processing his materials. ^{ch. 854}

Qin Juan, watching closely, admits his foundation is more solid than some of her own sect’s elders, and Sun Yao, having counted at least thirty techniques from him, still favors Feng Jin Huang, since small wishful hand should put her lead beyond his reach. Qin Juan disagrees: maintaining a killer move taxes the mind, while his basic technique does not, so time will leave his mind fresher than hers when it matters most. Privately, though, she is troubled that he keeps pace despite the killer move. ^{ch. 854}

Feng Jin Huang begins to feel mental exhaustion despite the early stage. The pressure comes not from the crowd, which she is long used to, but from Fang Yuan’s reputation and his steady, unhurried pursuit. She judges her quasi-grandmaster attainment and technique alone no match for his, her true advantage lying in the many killer moves she has carefully prepared. ^{ch. 854}