"Was that Fang Yuan or Fang Zheng?" Some students muttered, and there were still those who could not tell the twin brothers Fang Yuan and Fang Zheng apart.
"It was Fang Zheng. Fang Yuan always had a face full of indifference; he would never look nervous," someone answered.
"Oh, then this will be worth watching. Fang Zheng was our village's only A-grade genius in the past three years." Everyone turned their eyes toward him.
Fang Zheng felt the pressure contained in those gazes, which made him even more nervous.
Standing in the arena, even his fingers trembled faintly.
He fired his first moonblade. It had originally been aimed at the strawman's chest, but because of his nerves, it went wide. In the end, the moonblade struck the Strawman Puppet's neck.
A soft ripple of surprise immediately passed through the youths.
They thought Fang Zheng had done it deliberately. Rather than striking the puppet's chest, the easiest target to hit, he had targeted its neck—this was a display of confidence in his attack technique.
They could not help but look forward to Fang Zheng's next performance even more.
Gu Yue Mo Bei and Gu Yue Chi Cheng's expressions also darkened slightly. Only the Academy Elder and Fang Yuan could see that Fang Zheng had made a mistake.
That was close! Seeing that moonblade, Fang Zheng cried out in his heart, secretly feeling fortunate.
He took several deep breaths and forced himself to calm down before firing two more moonblades. This time, he made no further mistakes. Both moonblades struck the Strawman Puppet's chest with perfect accuracy.
This result made the Academy Elder nod. Mo Bei and Chi Cheng, meanwhile, settled down. Fang Zheng's result was evenly matched with theirs; it now depended on how the Academy Elder would score them.
The other students let out sighs of disappointment. Fang Zheng's later performance had not been particularly outstanding, leaving them somewhat let down.
The next few groups held nothing worth watching. No one performed better than Mo Bei, Chi Cheng, and Fang Zheng.
The youths began whispering among themselves.
"Looking at it this way, today's top scorer should emerge from among those three."
"All three hit the Strawman Puppet. I wonder which one Elder will favor more."
"Wait, it's the final group. Fang Yuan is going on."
"Oh, that C-grade 'cold genius'? Heh heh."
Only in the final group did Fang Yuan stroll onto the stage.
"So it's that Fang Yuan..." Gu Yue Mo Bei raised his eyes to glance at Fang Yuan, then lowered his eyelids again, not particularly concerned.
"Last time, you had the good fortune to accidentally choose a weak-willed Moonlight Gu, and that was how you took first place. Let's see how you perform this time!" Gu Yue Chi Cheng crossed his arms, waiting to see Fang Yuan make a fool of himself.
"Brother... this time is different from last time. I practiced so long—I'll definitely surpass you." Amid the crowd, Gu Yue Fang Zheng pressed his lips together, his fists unconsciously tightening.
In the previous examination to refine a Destined Gu, despite having A-grade Aptitude, he had been forced into second place. Naturally, he had not accepted it.
Especially after learning that Fang Yuan had won merely because he was lucky enough to take first place, his unwillingness only grew stronger.
To Gu Yue Fang Zheng, defeating his elder brother Fang Yuan carried an especially profound significance.
Quite a few gazes focused on Fang Yuan, including the Academy Elder's.
Fang Yuan remained unmoved, his expression cold.
After standing still, he poured primeval essence into the Moonlight Gu in his palm. With a chop of his hand, he fired his first moonblade.
The moonblade flew very high. It not only passed over the Strawman Puppet's head, but even rose above the bamboo wall. After flying nearly fifteen meters, its glow finally dimmed and vanished into the air.
"Pfft..." Someone could not hold back a laugh.
"That missed by far too much, didn't it?" someone sneered.
"He really is a genius. No wonder he took first in Gu refinement," someone said mockingly.
Years ago, when Fang Yuan wrote poetry and displayed precocious talent, he had already aroused these people's displeasure. Later, when he took first in Gu refinement through "luck," their resentment gained another layer of jealousy.
Many people had been waiting to watch a good show, waiting for this "genius" Fang Yuan to embarrass himself. This moonblade of his did not disappoint them.
Snickers joined into a continuous wave throughout the crowd.
The Academy Elder shook his head slightly, laughing at himself inwardly. Why had he paid attention to Fang Yuan for no reason? He was only C-grade, and had merely seized first place in Gu refinement through a moment of luck.
He had already made up his mind. Although Mo Bei, Chi Cheng, and Fang Zheng had all achieved the same result, he would choose Fang Zheng as first place.
The struggle between Gu Yue Mo Bei and Gu Yue Chi Cheng was a microcosm of the political conflict between the two powerful elders in the Lineage. The Academy Elder had always been a centrist and did not wish to involve himself in the whirlpool of politics.
The Academy Elder leaned more toward Clan Leader Gu Yue Bo, and Fang Zheng belonged to the clan leader's faction. Furthermore, he possessed A-grade Aptitude. Choosing him as first place and showing him a measure of partial care would also be acceptable to the Lineage's high-level members.
A warm spring breeze drifted over, carrying waves of floral fragrance into the Training Arena.
Sunlight shone upon Fang Yuan, casting a solitary black shadow on the ground.
His expression remained cold as he quietly stared at the Strawman Puppet ten meters away. The moonblade mark in the center of his palm emitted a faint aqua-blue radiance.
Of course, he had deliberately missed with the first moonblade. Now he had only two chances to make a move left. Considering the Academy Elder's stance as well, if he wanted to take first place, he had to create an attack effect far beyond everyone else's with only those two attacks.
"With only two chances to make a move left, it's impossible. Brother, I've finally beaten you." Gu Yue Fang Zheng stared unblinkingly at Fang Yuan.
From childhood onward, the shadow his brother had cast over his life was finally beginning to fade at this moment.
Fang Zheng felt victory was already within arm's reach. His fists unconsciously clenched, and his entire body trembled slightly with excitement.
"Brother, defeating you this time is only the beginning. From now on, I'll defeat you again and again, until I drive every shadow from my heart. I'll prove to the clansmen the excellence of an A-grade genius!" Fang Zheng told himself inwardly.
Yet at that moment, Fang Yuan made a move.
His right palm was like a blade as he slashed through the air.
With a soft hiss, the aqua-blue glow enveloping his palm detached itself, flew into the air, turned into a crescent moonblade of blue light, and shot toward the Strawman Puppet.
In the very next second, another layer of blue light lit up on Fang Yuan's right palm.
With a turn of his hand, he slashed out a third moonblade at an angle.
His two attacks connected like flowing clouds and water, perfectly timed.
The two moonblades flew out one after another, less than half a meter apart in the air.
Before everyone's astonished eyes, both moonblades struck the Strawman Puppet's neck with precision.
"This..." Fang Zheng's pupils suddenly shrank as an ominous feeling surged into his heart.
In the next moment, the students slowly opened their mouths wide, their faces full of astonishment.
They saw the strawman's head slowly tilt to one side, then fall from its neck. Finally, it hit the ground, bounced once, and rolled two or three meters away.
Fang Yuan had severed its head!
Such an outcome exceeded everyone's expectations.
"Was that luck or skill?" The Academy Elder frowned.
The same question circled through the other students' hearts.
For a moment, the Training Arena fell silent.
"How could this happen..." Fang Zheng muttered in a daze. He stared blankly at Fang Yuan as the surging emotions in his heart abruptly fell into emptiness, plunging him into a deep trough.
Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes, as though he had not noticed the gazes falling upon him at all.
Coo, coo, coo...
Beneath blue skies and white clouds, a flock of Rainbow Finch Parrots suddenly flapped their wings and flew into the air. Dragging their gorgeous, long tail feathers behind them, they cooed as they wheeled and played in the sky.
Fang Yuan stood at the center of the Training Arena and looked up. Beneath the brilliant sunlight, the birds' seven-colored feathers appeared even more dazzling and resplendent.
His expression was utterly calm, as though he had not been the one who had just severed the strawman's head.
"The spring sunshine really is bright..." he sighed inwardly.
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