Hu Chang’an tensed: “Brother Ah Zuo, this matter has nothing to do with you. You don’t need to do this.”
Gu Zuo blinked at him: “Although my skills are ordinary, I can refine medicinal pills suitable for Immortal Realm martial artists. I won’t necessarily be unable to put up a fight. What’s more, I’m not a child of the Hu Clan. Even if I lose, I’m a nobody who’s not afraid of criticism. If the Hu Clan wants to comment on this, it’s easier to answer to them.”
How couldn’t Hu Chang’an realize what Gu Zuo was thinking?
If Gu Zuo represented the Hu Clan, his chances of winning were much higher than if it was Hu Changbi — Hu Chang’an understood this from the moment he took out the refining method for the Myriad Leaking Body. Moreover, Gu Zuo would fight on the Hu Clan’s behalf, but he didn’t have the surname Hu. Defeat would similarly cause the Hu Clan to lose face, but overall, this was considered as a shame-covering loincloth for the Hu Clan children.
Merely, if it was like this, the thing that would be damaged was certainly going to be Gu Zuo’s reputation… But as it happened, Gu Zuo expressed that he didn’t care about this bit of reputation.
How couldn’t Hu Chang’an be moved by Gu Zuo’s sacrifice?
However, despite being moved, how could he allow Gu Zuo to act as the Hu Clan’s scapegoat on their behalf?
Hu Chang’an promptly wanted to refuse.
Thus, Gu Zuo deliberately made a serious face: “Brother Chang’an, could it be that you’re looking down on me? Do you think that I don’t have any skill?”
He was speaking in this way, but his good impression improved towards Hu Chang’an who refused several times. Perhaps to outsiders, he was disregarding the overall situation of their Hu Clan, but Gu Zuo valued his innate character towards responsibility and commitment.
Hu Chang’an listened to Gu Zuo’s words, and didn’t say anything else. He could only consent. However, he also didn’t forget this, and continued to repeatedly warn: “Brother Ah Zuo, you need to be absolutely careful. Your safety is the most important.”
Gu Zuo was naturally quick to agree.
Hence, Hu Chang’an just looked at that Third Young Master Wu, and said: “Since the Wu Clan is so kindhearted…” He stressed that last word. This honest and sincere person was being forced into this situation, so it was hard to avoid getting angry, “…It also wouldn’t be good for my Hu Clan to refuse. This is my Hu Clan’s distinguished guest, Brother Ah Zuo. I have invited him to take part in the spar.”
Off to the side, Third Young Master Wu’s gaze swept over Gu Zuo, and he revealed a cold smile.
They had always paid attention to the matters of the Hu Clan’s young lord. They hadn’t missed the fact that Hu Chang’an had picked someone up on the way back. It seemed that this was that person. However, what skill could someone so young have? If he really was skilled, he wouldn’t have cut such a sorry figure, only to be met and saved by Hu Chang’an — At most, he was only mediocre and useless.
A worthless fellow who didn’t have any inheritances and who could only rely on himself wouldn’t cause any threat whatsoever. At best, he was just a bit stronger than Hu Changbi. This was for the sake of leaving the Hu Clan with a bit of face, and bracing themselves in this competition. But as far as their Wu Clan was concerned, it wouldn’t make any difference no matter how many loincloths the Hu Clan bought to cover themselves. The only thing they wanted was the prestige of having the Wu Clan beating the Hu Clan again.
Having made a decision, Third Young Master Wu didn’t argue that they had to send someone with the Hu surname to participate. He smiled leniently and magnanimously: “This is my Wu Clan’s pharmacist. He’s also my younger cousin from the main family line, Wu Ziqi. He’s nineteen years old, and although he’s only a human-level pharmacist, he can exert himself to refine a small quantity of golden-level medicinal pills.”
Wu Ziqi was a low Immortal Realm. In the capacity of a pharmacist in the profound qi realms, he had no problems refining pills suitable for the Immortal Realm. If his abilities were strong, he could try refining Atomic Realm pills. Of course, this was under the premise that his psychic power realm had already reached the level of a pseudo Core Psyche Realm. Otherwise, the increase in the degree of difficulty wasn’t insignificant — If he could reach the Core Psyche Realm, then he would have even more certainty.
As such, when all was said and done, what was this Wu Ziqi’s psychic power realm?
Gu Zuo silently rubbed his fingers.
He himself was at the Core Psyche Realm. At a glance, he could see that this Wu Ziqi truly hadn’t reached the same level&#k2026; Although it was better for a person to be a little modest, Gu Zuo still felt that he would definitely win.
As a result, Gu Zuo opened his mouth and said: “This one is only a human-level pharmacist. Honorable brother, please treat me well.”
Third Young Master Wu glanced at Gu Zuo, and spoke to Hu Chang’an: “Since it’s settled, we’ll find a place with fewer people, and get the sparring results out as quickly as possible.” He grinned, “Once Young Lord Hu wins, my Wu Clan will swiftly offer those things and express our kindly feelings.”
The corner of Hu Chang’an’s mouth twitched: “In that case, would Third Young Master Wu pick a location? My Hu Clan will accompany you.”
Third Young Master Wu said nothing else, and led the group in one direction. He clearly came prepared. After a short while, they stopped inside a public square.
Hu Chang’an, Gu Zuo, and the others hurriedly followed over. There were many spectators on the side. They were similarly curious, and had gathered to watch the excitement. This grandiose scene truly had a lot of momentum.
Having reached the public square, Third Young Master Wu pointed at the open space: “Although this place isn’t a secluded spot, the area is large and there isn’t any vegetation to hide things from view. During the spar, we can have a refreshing mood.”
Hu Chang’an allowed him to point out the venue, so he didn’t object. It was just that, the more spacious the location, the more spectators it could accommodate. And after losing, the more people who witnessed it, the farther this news could spread… Therefore, this ought to have been the purpose for the Wu Clan choosing this spot.
Gu Zuo and Wu Ziqi were opponents. At this time, they both nodded and gestured to each other, and sat down on opposite sides.
Third Young Master Wu said: “The two of you will have a spar, and it’ll be the best two out of three rounds. This Wu and Young Lord Hu will each take out two topics, and they’ll draw lots for each round. Whatever is drawn will be the topic for the competition. This is also considered fair. What does Young Lord Hu think?”
Indeed, this sounded very fair. Hu Chang’an had no objections, and agreed.
Hence, both sides started writing topics. In addition, the subjects were written separately on three slips of paper, for a total of six.
Gu Zuo and Wu Ziqi waited for a short period of time. When those six slips of paper were done, they were put in front of the two.
Who would draw for the first round?
This was a serious question.
Gu Zuo thought about it, and made a decision.
The Wu Clan kept saying that it held the Hu Clan in such high regards in order to stomp all over the Hu Clan’s face. In that case, as the pawn competing on the Hu Clan’s behalf, wouldn’t it be better to straightforwardly show the Hu Clan’s grace and poise?
Thus, he said: “Since the Wu Clan upholds the Hu Clan with such high esteem, the Hu Clan should naturally express it.” After speaking so eloquently, he waved a hand, “Would the Wu Clan be so kind as to come draw the lots? Three rounds, best two out of three — We’ll allow the Wu Clan to draw for all of them.”
Third Young Master Wu heard the meaning within these words, and a trace of cold light flickered through his eyes.
Although Hu Chang’an and his siblings felt delighted in their hearts, they were still somewhat worried about Gu Zuo. After all, they didn’t know anything about Gu Zuo’s true strength.
In the end, Wu Ziqi was only nineteen years old. Having been spoken to like this, his expression was a little unhappy, but he quickly restrained himself. He confidently extended a hand, and grabbed one of the first round’s two paper balls.
Soon after, he spread out the paper ball on the ground for all to see. The handwriting inside was revealed.
[Three Aperture Pill, a human-level pill suitable for Immortal Realm martial artists. The pill prescription will be self-drafted. Those with destroyed pills will lose. Those with unformed pills will lose. Those who exceed the time-limit will lose. Medicinal pills below grade four will not be counted. The duration of the pill battle is one hour.]
Gu Zuo could read the words, but he didn’t understand its meaning.
Could it be that destroyed pills and unformed pills weren’t the same thing? Weren’t both simply medicinal pills that weren’t refined successfully? Why did it need to make this distinction? In addition, medicinal pills were divided into low, mid, high, and top grades. What the heck was grade four?
He was totally confused.
Gu Zuo had a wooden expression.
On the Central Continent, were the product grades of medicinal pills explained differently? Should he hurriedly ask the system a question right now? But consulting the system required the spending of medicinal qi. When his big brother wasn’t by his side, every strand of medicinal qi had to be used to strengthen himself. If this expenditure was for the sake of information, then wasn’t it just a little extravagant?
Gu Zuo quickly stopped overthinking things.
In any case, he currently didn’t need to hide his strength. He only needed to refine the best medicinal pills that he was capable of refining. Wouldn’t it be fine if he completely exerted himself? After the competition was over, he would simply ask around about the things that he didn’t understand! These bits of information certainly wouldn’t be a secret. He didn’t need to worry at all.
Thus, Gu Zuo fully displayed his own acting skills. With a self-assured appearance, he sat cross-legged in front of a pill cauldron the two clans separately prepared.
It was a standardized pill cauldron without any exceptions. To guarantee fairness, pill battles were generally held like this.
While Gu Zuo checked whether the Three Aperture Pill’s medicinal ingredients that the two clans provided were reliable, he also quietly sent out a thread of psychic power to Wu Ziqi’s side. He looked at the situation of his counterpart’s current preparations.
After that, he was glad that he hadn’t immersed himself in pill refining and had paid attention to his opponent.
Because, just when both of them lit their fires to warm their cauldrons, the space between Wu Ziqi’s eyebrows suddenly flickered with rays of light. Close to his left side, a saber appeared. It was just under half a meter long. Although it wasn’t as mighty as the wolf-tooth cudgels that Gu Zuo previously created, it seemed to twinkle with a cold gleam. It was very sharp.
Gu Zuo’s breathing stagnated.
That released thread of psychic power then swept back and forth, and he discovered that everyone else hadn’t shown any strange expressions. He realized that there were necessary methods during this pill battle.
Afterwards, the corner of Gu Zuo’s mouth curled into a grin.
He figured out why there had to be a differentiation between destroyed pills and unformed pills. The destroyed pills were the ones that were ruined by other people’s psychic power, and unformed pills were the ones that a person failed to refine themselves. They weren’t the same thing at all!
Moreover, pill battles on the Central Continent were cruel and fierce… These types of mutual attacks of psychic power were simply done out in the open. Where were the pill battles when it was done in secret like between Qingyun Sect and Chongyun Sect?
After having understood this, the space between Gu Zuo’s brows also flickered with rays of light.
Appearing next to him was an object that was formed out of psychic power. It was a shield, and it was only a third of a meter across. In addition, it seemed that it wasn’t particularly solid. It had a somewhat “malnourished” appearance.
On the side, many people whispered:
“The psychic emulation form of the Hu Clan’s person is the defensive type?”
“It looks like the emulation form is still immature. Ah, I’m afraid that it’ll be hard to defend…”
“He only needs to deal with the attacks. He doesn’t have to obstruct the other’s pill refining.”
“If it’s like this, then there’s still some assurance. I only hope that he controls and handles it well…”
Gu Zuo only managed himself, and didn’t listen to those idle gossips. Now that he had readied those medicinal ingredients, he threw them into the pill cauldron according to established practices. As he waited for them to dissolve, he performed numerous hand seals one after another.
On the opposite side, Wu Ziqi’s movements were fast, too. Likewise, the inside of his pill cauldron was reacting violently.
At almost the exact same time, that short saber of psychic power beside him made a brief, keening sound. After that, it whistled through the air as it chopped towards Gu Zuo’s cauldron!
T/N: Thanks for the correction, Charysa.
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