Xu Buyu's expression darkened abruptly. His face twisted as he barked, "Nonsense! This is absolute nonsense!"
"Junior Brother Jiang is only in the early stage of the Qi Gathering Realm, and he was just gasping for breath like he'd been hauling eighteen oxen! Challenging him to a spar now—isn't that taking advantage of him?!"
"Besides, he's only been in the Heavenly Fire Sect for a few days. How could he possibly have had time to practice any techniques?"
The others chimed in as well, all turning their accusations squarely on Hu Hansan.
"Exactly! Hu Hansan, you're practically an old hand by now. You've been in the Heavenly Fire Sect for three or four years, you're at the middle stage of Qi Gathering, and you've cultivated several techniques to the Subtlety level. How can you have the nerve to challenge a junior brother who just joined?"
"Have you no shame at all?"
Mu Sining said nothing. She only stared coldly at Hu Hansan.
There was no anger or disgust in those lovely peach-blossom eyes, only something far more painful than either... indifference.
Hu Hansan's face flushed red, then purple, and his eyes flickered back and forth.
Under everyone's reproach, especially Mu Sining's look that treated him as if he didn't exist, he grew flustered and unsure what to do, caught between a rock and a hard place.
Just as he was about to give up and slink away, Jiang Tian spoke.
"Come on."
Jiang Tian wore a smile, but an unnoticed glint of cold light flashed through his eyes.
"Since entering the Qi Gathering Realm, I haven't sparred with anyone yet. Why not let Senior Brother Hu test my skill?"
Hu Hansan had jumped in his face time and again. Jiang Tian wasn't some soft persimmon.
The sparring was an excuse; what he really wanted was to teach Hu Hansan a lesson.
As it happened, he also wanted to see how powerful his perfected Explosive Flame Bomb would be when paired with the Solar Qi in his body.
Seeing Jiang Tian agree, Hu Hansan froze for a moment, then the corners of his mouth curled into a smug smile.
"Good!"
"Junior Brother Jiang..." Xu Buyu hesitated, about to urge him against it, but Jiang Tian interrupted him calmly.
"Senior Brother Xu, there's no need to say more. It's just a spar. If I can't even beat Senior Brother Hu, how am I supposed to fight Song Yongheng?"
Xu Buyu paused, then finally nodded. "All right."
He had already decided that if Jiang Tian began to lose, he would step in and stop the fight.
This was a rare talent! To comprehend the Sun Heaven-Burning Qi Gathering Method in two days and successfully gather Qi—he was sure to build a Purple Mansion someday... and becoming a Golden Core True Lord wasn't out of the question!
At Xu Buyu's direction, the crowd quickly cleared the area, retreating like the tide and leaving a broad open space in the middle.
Everyone moved to the platform's edge. Some were excited, some eager, while others looked worried.
The two stood facing each other, about ten zhang apart.
Hu Hansan gave a cold snort, a vicious smile playing on his lips.
He'd figured it out.
Jiang Tian was relying on having gathered Solar Qi and wanted to use him as a stepping stone.
Well, today he'd show Jiang Tian just how hot that stepping stone could get!
Boom!
Crimson flames suddenly surged up around him. They flickered and writhed, like starving fire snakes slithering around his body.
A moment later, a vicious, writhing fire snake appeared before him. Its body was made of flame, two or three zhang long and as thick as an arm. Its forked tongue flickered as it hissed.
In the blink of an eye, another fire snake took shape.
Three, four, five!
Five fire snakes circled and coiled around him like five vicious pythons ready to devour their prey, baking the surrounding air until it warped and twisted.
"Hasn't he reached at least the Greater Mastery level in the Fire Snake Art, if he can conjure fire snakes that fast?"
"No, it's the Subtlety level. He can conjure five at once, and with that speed, he's at least reached Subtlety!"
"What's Jiang Tian doing? Why isn't he moving? Is he scared stiff?"
Jiang Tian stood motionless. The breeze swept past, making his clothes flutter. His expression was calm, and he made no move.
Xu Buyu furrowed his brows and couldn't help sighing inwardly.
As expected, Junior Brother Jiang cared too much about saving face.
It looked just as he'd suspected: Jiang Tian hadn't practiced any techniques yet.
That thought had barely crossed his mind when Jiang Tian moved.
Jiang Tian slowly raised a hand. He curled in three fingers and pointed his index finger straight at Hu Hansan.
A golden-red speck of light appeared at his fingertip.
At first, it was no bigger than a grain of rice, so tiny it was almost impossible to see. But it quickly grew: a grain of rice became a soybean, a soybean became a peanut, and a peanut became a walnut.
At last, it stopped at the size of a fist.
The golden-red orb hovered at his fingertip like a tiny sun compressed to its limits, radiating scorching yet restrained light.
"Huh? That's the Explosive Flame Bomb, right? Why is it so small?"
"What a stupid question. He's only been in the sect for a few days. Isn't it normal for him to be at the Beginner level?"
"Yeah. When I first practiced it for five days, my Explosive Flame Bomb was only about that size."
Whispers rose all around them, most of them dismissive.
Hu Hansan couldn't help sneering, a vicious glint flashing in his eyes.
He swept his hand outward, and the five fire snakes around him lunged at Jiang Tian. They crisscrossed and twisted together in midair, like five ropes knotted into one—or a net being drawn tight. From five different angles, they snapped at Jiang Tian, sealing off every escape route.
Xu Buyu shifted slightly. The water and fire qi within him surged, and a faint glow appeared around his body.
He was ready to intervene.
Jiang Tian raised his finger slightly, parted his lips, and uttered a single word: "Pop."
The fist-sized fireball shot from his fingertip like a bullet from a gun!
Then it swelled as it flew.
From fist-sized to head-sized, then as large as a barrel!
In an instant, it had become a perfect sphere more than a zhang in radius, its golden-red surface radiating terrifying heat!
The moment the fireball collided with the five fire snakes—
There was no explosion, no deafening boom.
The five fire snakes seemed to have met their natural enemy. From their heads down through their bodies, they vanished without a sound.
Hu Hansan's eyes flew wide, the growing golden-red fireball reflected in his pupils.
The breath of death engulfed him like a rising tide.
His instincts told him that if this Explosive Flame Bomb hit him, he would die.
But it was already too late to dodge. The fireball came so fast that he didn't even have time to think of turning around.
All he could do was shout in panic:
"Spare me!"
Boom!
A figure flashed before him like lightning!
The fireball exploded.
Golden-red light burst outward. Waves of heat and steam rippled away in rings, one after another.
Several disciples in the early stage of the Qi Gathering Realm staggered backward under the blast, nearly falling over.
The platform fell quiet for a moment.
Then the crowd erupted.
"What just happened?!"
"That Explosive Flame Bomb had to be at the Perfected level! Otherwise, how could it have been that powerful?"
"Exactly! It was Perfected! There's no other explanation!"
"That's insane! He practiced the Sun Heaven-Burning Qi Gathering Method and still had the energy to practice a technique? And he even cultivated it to perfection?!"
Everyone stared at Jiang Tian in shock, looking at him as if he were a monster.
Their eyes held shock, admiration, and envy.
Mu Sining's small mouth hung open. She looked stunned.
She suddenly realized... she might have brought a remarkable fellow to the Heavenly Fire Sect.
No, not "might have."
She definitely had.
Whoosh!
A gust blew through the steam, and the white mist instantly scattered, revealing the figures inside.
Xu Buyu stood in front of Hu Hansan, who sat on the ground behind him, his face pale.
Hu Hansan was trembling all over.
Xu Buyu slowly lowered the hand he'd held out before him. A thin film of water covered his palm, hissing as white vapor rose from it, like the lid of a boiling kettle.
The shock he felt was beyond words.
If he hadn't intervened just now, Hu Hansan would have been nothing but a charred corpse.
Terrifying.
Was Jiang Tian even human?
The technique he had just used, Mirror Flower Water Moon, had only been fueled with thirty percent of his strength. But Xu Buyu was at the peak of Qi Gathering!
The water and fire qi within him had both been incorporated into his True Qi, transforming in quality, balanced like yin and yang, and incredibly condensed.
Yet the water mirror he'd conjured had almost been shattered!
When the flames pierced the water mirror, he could feel scorching heat rushing toward him, as if someone had ignited a volcano right in front of him.
If he hadn't added a little more qi to the water mirror at the last moment, he might have been burned.
Xu Buyu took a deep breath and looked toward Jiang Tian, steadying himself.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something.
But in the end, he managed only two words.
"Monster."
(Thanks to [Thanks Anytime Anywhere], [With Little Xian], [Name Already Taken], and [Great Prosperity Kingdom Daoist] for the Love Power!!! Thanks to [With Little Xian] for the Urging Update Talisman!!! Thanks to [Jizu Mountain Lin Shu] for the Little Flower!!!)
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