Zhan Qing bowed and left the secret chamber. Wu Yunhe then said to Yan Chihuo, "There's nothing more I can teach you about artifact refining. All you lack is experience. Your master and I have finally completed our deal, so starting tomorrow, you needn't come here anymore."
Yan Chihuo looked at the Soul-Breaking Sword in his hand, now engraved with twelve Restrictions, and bowed to Wu Yunhe. "Thank you for your instruction, Elder Wu." He meant it sincerely. Though Wu Yunhe had treated him like the bitter cold of the dead of winter throughout the past year and a half, he had kept his promise and devoted considerable effort to teaching Yan Chihuo artifact refining.
After Yan Chihuo left, Wu Yunhe shook his head and muttered to himself, "Yan Chihuo truly is a born artifact refiner. Those twelve Restrictions are no worse than anything I could make. What a pity he's Ping Qi's disciple."
Yan Chihuo left the Artifact Refining Pavilion in high spirits. As he walked along, three Cloud Soaring Sect disciples suddenly appeared before him. One of them was Zhan Qing, who had just left. He knew the other two as well; they were both Wu Yunhe's disciples, Zhong Yun and Hong Lie. Zhong Yun was at the Body Forging Late Stage, while the other two were at the Body Tempering Middle Stage.
Yan Chihuo had little to do with the three of them ordinarily. But Zhan Qing had just lost to him in engraving Restrictions, and was feeling rather disgruntled. Zhan Qing was the most skilled artifact refiner among Wu Yunhe's disciples, and was fairly well known in the Artifact Refining Pavilion. He had always been proud and haughty.
Yan Chihuo didn't want to provoke them and was about to go around when Zhan Qing stretched out a hand. "Junior Brother Yan, please wait."
Yan Chihuo said, "Senior Brother Zhan, what can I do for you?"
Zhan Qing said, "Junior Brother Yan is a genius, renowned throughout our sect. These two fellow disciples and I would like to spar with you."
Yan Chihuo knew Zhan Qing was sore about losing to him in artifact refining. But it had been Wu Yunhe who judged the contest, and Zhan Qing could hardly doubt his own master. So he had come looking for Yan Chihuo instead.
Yan Chihuo smiled faintly. "I'm a dullard. How could I compare with the three of you? Let's forget about the spell duel."
Zhong Yun cut in, "Anyone who can slay the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon is a figure of some standing in our sect. There's no need to be so modest, Junior Brother. Besides, Uncle-Master Ping was once a prominent figure in our sect. If you act this way, won't you be making him lose face?"
Yan Chihuo said, "I've been in the sect for less than two years, and before that, I hadn't learned a single spell. My cultivation is far behind yours, too. If I fought the three of you, I'd certainly lose. There's no shame in that, and it wouldn't tarnish my master's reputation."
Zhan Qing said, "There's no need to refuse, Junior Brother. Senior Brother Zhong's cultivation is a level above yours, but this is only a spar. We can't have a perfectly even match, so you'll only have to fight him for the time it takes an incense stick to burn. Junior Brother Hong and I are only at the Body Tempering Middle Stage, same as you, so neither side needs to hold back. We're just fellow disciples testing each other's skills. We'll stop before anyone gets hurt."
Yan Chihuo knew this fight couldn't be avoided. "Since that's the case, I ask the three senior brothers to go easy on me."
The four of them found a flat clearing several dozen zhang across. Hong Lie stepped forward first, a Scimitar in his hand. He assumed a stance and said, "Junior Brother Yan, please."
Yan Chihuo said, "Senior Brother Hong, you go first." In spell duels between fellow disciples, the senior disciple made the first move. That was the Cloud Soaring Sect's rule, and Yan Chihuo didn't want to give his opponent anything to hold against him.
Hong Lie shouted and brought his blade down. As it fell, boulders the size of millstones dropped from the sky. It was Falling Rock Art. Yan Chihuo drifted aside and dodged. Hong Lie turned his blade and swept it across; the boulders overhead turned with it.
Falling Rock Art normally sent rocks down from above. Hong Lie could change their direction at will, showing just how much effort he had put into mastering the technique.
Yan Chihuo kicked a rock with his toe and used the force to leap into the air. However powerful Hong Lie's Falling Rock Art was, it was hard to make the rocks fly upward.
Hong Lie thrust his giant blade upward, but Yan Chihuo's sword was already out. He tapped the blade, then slid his sword along it and thrust at Hong Lie's flank.
Hong Lie was about to turn and dodge when his foot shifted and sank into the sand. Realizing something was wrong, he tried to cast a spell, but a slight pain pricked his flank. Yan Chihuo said, "Senior Brother Hong, you let me win."
Hong Lie knew he had lost. He lowered his head in silence and turned to leave. He had always been rather proud of himself. Though his cultivation was on par with Yan Chihuo's, he had assumed that his years of practice meant he could never lose a spell duel. He had never imagined he'd be defeated so quickly. He was so crestfallen that he couldn't even manage a few polite words.
Zhan Qing let out an awkward laugh. "Junior Brother Yan is truly impressive. You've mastered Imprisoning Earth to this degree." Yan Chihuo had used Imprisoning Earth with that last sword strike.
Imprisoning Earth was an earth-element spell used to restrain opponents. Once cast, it trapped the target in shifting sand and could also counter Earth Shrinking Step to a degree. The twelve Restrictions on Yan Chihuo's Soul-Breaking Sword were all Imprisoning Earth spells.
Zhan Qing said, "It's my turn now, Junior Brother Yan. You'd better be careful." As soon as he finished speaking, he vanished, then appeared right in front of Yan Chihuo and swung his giant axe.
Earth Shrinking Step! Zhan Qing could use the technique too. Yan Chihuo was slightly startled. He swung the Soul-Breaking Sword at him and backed away. He was no longer as he had been a year and a half ago, when facing Earth Shrinking Step had left him no choice but to use a desperate, mutually destructive style of fighting. Of course, that was also because Zhan Qing hadn't fully mastered the technique.
But before Yan Chihuo could steady himself, a hundred or so boulders rained down from the sky. Falling Rock Art again! As an artifact refiner, Zhan Qing had long since acquired all kinds of Talisman Artifacts. With them, he could cast these two spells instantly, and their coordination seemed flawless.
Yan Chihuo twisted his body like a slippery fish, darting through the gaps between the rocks without being struck by a single one. Over the past year and a half, he had grown far more skilled with spells. Though he still hadn't mastered Earth Shrinking Step, his footwork had become much faster, and his senses sharper.
Though Zhan Qing had many Talisman Artifacts and could instantly cast a variety of spells, the more techniques he learned, the more scattered his mastery became. Trying to bite off more than he could chew had left him with little depth in any one spell. If Hong Lie had cast Falling Rock Art, Yan Chihuo wouldn't have been confident he could get through it unscathed.
Yan Chihuo swung his sword. Zhan Qing felt the ground give way beneath his feet and realized his opponent had cast Imprisoning Earth again. He hurriedly used Earth Shrinking Step. Imprisoning Earth didn't just turn the ground into quicksand and trap an opponent; it could also hinder cultivators who used Earth Shrinking Step on earth-element terrain. But if the caster's cultivation or mastery of the spell fell short of their opponent's, there was nothing they could do.
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