Jiang Tian followed the voice and saw Hu Hansan staring at him provocatively, chin tilted slightly upward.
Jiang Tian sneered inwardly and was about to speak when Mu Sining beside him spoke first, her voice cold. "Hu Hansan, there are so many fellow disciples here in the middle stage of Qi Gathering, and you're in the middle stage too. Why are you asking Jiang Tian, who's only in the early stage, to try first? Why don't you go first?"
"I..." Hu Hansan opened his mouth, his face instantly turning red.
He didn't dare look Mu Sining in the eye, so he could only glare fiercely at Jiang Tian, resentment practically spilling from his gaze.
Jiang Tian grinned, his smile full of amusement.
Well, turns out Hu Hansan was a simp.
Hu Hansan rolled up his sleeves and stuck out his chin. "Then I, Hu Hansan, will go first!"
"Good!" Xu Buyu laughed, clapping his hands. "Then Hu Hansan will lead the way!"
"Hu Hansan is in the middle stage of Qi Gathering. I wonder how many bulls he can lift with his qi?"
"Seven or eight at most, I'd say. He gathers the fire of a pill furnace, which is only average in quality. Look at how enticing the reward is, but each bull weighs at least two thousand jin. How could the qi of an ordinary cultivator in the middle stage of Qi Gathering have that much force?"
"Exactly. Just hearing about this [Golden Crow Nirvana True Qi] is enough. Sure, pies sometimes fall from the sky, but how could one land on our heads?"
Whispers rose and fell all around them.
Hu Hansan walked up to the eighteen bronze bulls and took a deep breath. His face suddenly flushed, veins bulging on his forehead.
A fiery red blaze spread from his body, like an invisible giant hand reaching to envelop the line of bronze bulls.
"Rise!"
Hu Hansan bellowed, his voice booming like a bell.
The first bronze bull rose in response, hovering steadily a foot above the ground.
Then came the second! The third!
The first five rose in smooth succession, all in one breath, without the slightest pause.
The bronze bulls formed a line in the air.
At the sixth, his pace began to slow.
The seventh bronze bull wobbled on the dark stone tiles, teetering on the brink of falling. It took a long while before it finally rose an inch off the ground.
By now, sweat covered Hu Hansan's head, running down his temples. His lips had gone pale, and the veins in his temples and neck throbbed.
He glanced sideways at Mu Sining, then at Jiang Tian standing beside her. Whether it was for the reward or to make a good show in front of Mu Sining, he clenched his teeth and abruptly spread his qi over the eighth bronze bull.
The seven bulls already hovering in the air were wobbling, on the verge of falling at any moment.
"Argh—!"
The instant the eighth bronze bull floated up, Hu Hansan's whole body jerked. His knees buckled as if someone had punched him in the chest. He staggered back several steps, plopped onto the ground, and gasped for breath.
"Excellent!" Xu Buyu said approvingly, his voice carrying genuine admiration. "Lifting eight bulls with qi in the middle stage of Qi Gathering makes you one in a million!"
His eyes gleamed as he looked around at the crowd and called out, "Who's next?"
With someone having led the way, the others began showing off their skills one after another.
Some lifted five bulls, some seven, and some nine. One disciple in the middle stage of Qi Gathering lifted thirteen in one breath, earning a round of cheers.
Of course, some couldn't lift even one and retreated, faces red.
Xu Buyu's eyes flickered as he turned to Jiang Tian, smiling. "Junior Brother Jiang, why don't you give it a try? Don't push yourself. You're in the early stage of Qi Gathering, so lifting one bull would already be a pass. Three would be excellent."
Jiang Tian walked forward at an unhurried pace, his expression as calm as still water, but his eyes had grown razor-sharp.
"That's exactly what I had in mind."
He walked up to the eighteen bronze bulls and let out a long breath.
The next moment.
Golden-red qi burst from his body! The instant it appeared, the temperature in the air shot up. A wave of heat swept over them, forcing everyone nearby to step back.
"Boom—!"
The moment this qi spread, Xu Buyu's expression changed.
Hadn't Mu Sining said Jiang Tian gathered ordinary Gold Qi?
Why did the qi radiating from Jiang Tian make him—someone who had already taken True Qi into himself and formed a cycle, a cultivator at the peak of the Qi Gathering Realm—feel... fear?
Xu Buyu's eyes widened. All composure and calm vanished from his face. "This is... Solar Qi!!!"
"Whoa!"
The crowd erupted like a barrel of gunpowder set alight.
"What? Solar Qi? Junior Brother Jiang actually gathered Solar Qi?!"
"Didn't he join the Heavenly Fire Sect only two days ago? How did he manage to gather Solar Qi already? Could he have mastered the [Solar Heaven-Burning Qi Gathering Method], that book gathering dust in the Library Pavilion, in just two days?"
"Two days?! It took me a whole month just to read through that Qi Gathering Method!"
Hu Hansan's face looked as if he'd swallowed a mouthful of shit.
The corners of his mouth twitched a few times. Gritting his teeth, he muttered, "He just got lucky. I bet he can lift seven at most. If he gets past seven, I'll eat shit!"
But as soon as he finished speaking,
ten bronze bulls shot up into the air!
Ten bulls lifted with qi in one go!
And they weren't wobbling. They hovered firmly and steadily, as if someone had lifted them with both hands.
Then came the eleventh.
Twelfth.
Thirteenth.
Fourteenth.
"My heavens!!! Is he really in the early stage of the Qi Gathering Realm? He's lifted thirteen bulls with qi already?!"
"Hu Hansan! Didn't you just say he could lift seven at most? Does your face hurt now? Want me to make you a fresh pile?"
At that, everyone burst into laughter.
Even Mu Sining, who rarely cracked a smile, couldn't help letting out a snort of laughter.
Seeing the woman he loved react like that, Hu Hansan's face turned even redder, darkening to purple.
His embarrassment and anger turned into seething resentment.
It was all Jiang Tian's fault... He'd humiliated him in front of Mu Sining and everyone else!
Jiang Tian wasn't distracted by the voices around him.
He moved quickly and smoothly, all in one breath, without the slightest pause.
It wasn't until the fifteenth bull that he slowed down a little.
But he didn't stop.
He only grew a little slower.
The sixteenth bull.
The seventeenth bull.
The eighteenth bull!
Eighteen bulls lifted with qi!
All eighteen bronze bulls hovered in the air, lined up in a row.
The platform fell utterly silent.
Xu Buyu's eyes were wide. His Adam's apple bobbed several times, but he couldn't utter a word.
Eighteen bulls.
All eighteen.
Even some cultivators who had gathered mortal qi and reached the peak of their cultivation might not be able to lift eighteen bulls with qi in one go.
Yet Jiang Tian, a new disciple in the early stage of Qi Gathering who had been initiated less than two days ago, had done it.
It meant that his control over qi had reached a truly astonishing level!
A monster.
He was a downright monster!
"Senior Brother Xu."
A voice reached his ears, pulling him out of his daze.
"Where can I find this [Golden Crow Nirvana True Qi]?"
Xu Buyu came back to himself and looked over. Jiang Tian had one hand behind his back and the other raised casually, using qi to support all eighteen bronze bulls. He wore a smile, showing a row of white teeth.
"The Golden Crow..." Xu Buyu's Adam's apple bobbed, his throat dry.
He had never thought anyone would manage to lift all eighteen bronze bulls with qi, so he hadn't prepared this [True Qi] at all.
But since Jiang Tian had done it, he naturally had to hand it over.
Xu Buyu suppressed his shock and smiled again, though now his smile carried a more heartfelt respect. "I'll have someone deliver it to you tomorrow, Junior Brother Jiang."
He felt a wave of emotion. No wonder Jiang Tian had refused the olive branch he'd offered.
A genius... Of course he had pride.
"Thank you, Senior Brother Xu!" Jiang Tian cupped his hands. He withdrew his qi, and the eighteen bronze bulls settled back onto the ground with a heavy thud.
Xu Buyu returned the gesture, his expression equally solemn.
Though Jiang Tian's cultivation was still low, Xu Buyu already regarded him as one of their kind.
Just as they were enjoying the moment, a somewhat ill-timed voice rang out.
"Jiang Tian! Dare to fight me in a duel?"
Jiang Tian followed the voice and saw Hu Hansan glaring at him with a vicious expression.
Hu Hansan thought that since Jiang Tian had made him lose face in front of Mu Sining and everyone else, he could win it back by taking Jiang Tian on.
In truth, no one cared about his wounded pride.
In his mind,
so what if Jiang Tian had gathered Solar Qi?
He'd only been initiated less than two days ago.
He refused to believe it!
Even after gathering Solar Qi, Jiang Tian could still have enough strength left to practice spells!
***
Before you continue