Chapter 259: Qingxia Young Master Wants to Avoid the Fight

Gu Fan felt the Three Fires within his body being drawn by an invisible force, continuously condensing and compressing until they formed an incomparably dazzling Sun!

That blazing Sun radiated light and heat unceasingly, with countless streams of energy rushing through his limbs and bones.

A terrifying rumble erupted within his meridians, shaking the surroundings.

It caused the survivors in Chi City to mistakenly believe thunder was striking from the heavens.

Moments later, Gu Fan finally withdrew all his aura, and the blazing Sun rumbled as it revolved autonomously within his body.

He felt as if an endless, inexhaustible power was surging forth.

“So this is the power of the Solar Radiance Realm?”

Gu Fan whispered with emotion, his gaze full of joy and excitement.

The Divine Moon Realm had been the realm he’d remained in the longest among all his past stages.

Whether it was his Divine Soul, physical body, or Mysterious Power, he had accumulated a great deal during that realm.

As a result, his strength surged explosively after the breakthrough. Though he had just ascended, Gu Fan had already reached the peak of the early-stage Solar Radiance Realm, just half a step from the mid-stage.

Gu Fan briefly assessed himself, then burst into hearty laughter:

“As expected, the difference in power is like night and day. With my current strength, challenging the top five is absolutely within reach!”

“However, the higher the realm, the more suppressed the ability to fight across realms becomes. Previously, I could leap an entire major realm to fight.”

“Now at the peak of early-stage Solar Radiance Realm, I might be able to wrestle with a mid-stage Celestial Heart Realm expert, but…”

Gu Fan silently estimated. His cross-realm combat ability had clearly diminished. Not to mention a mid-stage Celestial Heart Realm expert, even an early-stage Celestial Heart Realm cultivator who had just broken through—he feared he could only barely hold his own for a short time.

“Indeed, the higher the realm, the greater the restrictions… but even so, this is more than enough!”

With that thought, Gu Fan felt greatly pleased in his heart. After communicating briefly with the Evil Lotus, he returned once again to the world of cultivation.

Two days later, a new message once again spread throughout the entire Immortal Ai Sect, alarming the outer sect, inner sect, core disciples, and even the true disciples.

In just two short months, Gu Fan, one of the true disciples, had once again issued a challenge!

And this time, the target of the challenge was none other than Qingxia Young Master, ranked third among the top five!

The moment the news broke, everyone was left stunned.

What kind of monster was this! How long had it been since he defeated Xun Bo and entered the top ten, and now he was going for the third place?

“Is this Gu Fan insane? Every single one in the top ten is a super prodigy, and he’s just skipping over the ones from ninth to fourth?”

“Heavens, this guy is utterly mad! With this pace of advancement, is he planning to challenge Senior Brother in the end?”

“Senior Brother? Don’t joke around. Senior Brother and Senior Sister Nan have lofty statuses. No matter how strong Gu Fan gets, he can’t possibly defeat Senior Brother!”

“That may be true, but if this challenge to the top three succeeds, it indicates one thing—Gu Fan’s rate of growth is terrifying.”

“Indeed, from Xia Qianliu and Wan Peng to defeating Xun Bo in such a short time. If he now defeats Qingxia Young Master too, that’s beyond terrifying!”

“Are there any betting odds? I want to redeem myself. I’m betting everything on Qingxia Young Master this time. I refuse to believe Gu Fan can win again!”

In an instant, countless discussions erupted, and this was precisely the effect Gu Fan desired.

It could hasten Qingxia Young Master to accept the battle.

The rule requiring higher ranks to accept challenges from lower ranks was designed to encourage disciples to actively improve themselves, but once someone entered the top ten, that rule no longer applied.

Being in the top ten meant one’s strength was among the very peak of all sect disciples.

It was no longer a matter of “if you want to fight, I have to fight.” One could be in seclusion—why should one fight just because someone issued a challenge?

Thus, among the top ten, even if one wished to challenge, they needed a response from the other party. Otherwise, it was entirely possible for the person to pretend to be dead and delay for a month or two.

However, Gu Fan did not have that much time. Two months later would be the Eastern Region Assembly. If he did not issue the challenge now and waited until after the Eastern Region Assembly ended, even a victory then would be meaningless.

Very soon, under Gu Fan’s deliberate promotion, the news swiftly reached the ears of Qingxia Young Master.

Inside the cave residence, Qingxia Young Master wore a face full of cold sneer, slamming the teacup heavily onto the table.

“What a Gu Fan. At the time, I thought you were just bluffing. I didn’t expect you’d actually dare to challenge me!”

“Haha, Qingxia, looks like you’ve hit the jackpot this time. The fourth and fifth in the top five weren’t picked, but he just had to choose you.”

On the other side, a bald man sat lazily on a meditation cushion, speaking with a relaxed demeanor.

Qingxia smiled and said:

“No matter. Just a jumping clown. Does he think every top ten member is as useless as that Xun Bo?”

“I watched his last battle with Xun Bo. His mastery of the domain was no more than fifty percent. Even if he’s broken through by another ten percent during seclusion, it’s only sixty percent now. What does he have to beat me with?”

The man on the other side chuckled lightly:

“What you know, perhaps he knows too. If he dares to challenge you now, maybe he really has the confidence.”

Qingxia sneered, expression full of disdain:

“He Qing, you overestimate him. Do you really think he can reach eighty percent domain mastery in two months?”

“Well… that’s rather unlikely.”

“Then there you go. At our level, even a slight difference in domain control leads to a vast difference in outcome. If he dares to challenge me, I’ll let him know what third place truly means!”

He Qing blinked and nodded:

“In that case, I wish you success in suppressing him with a single hand.”

“Hehe, but there’s no rush. The Eastern Region Assembly is approaching. I plan to deal with him after that, to avoid affecting my performance in the Eastern Region Assembly.”

He Qing slightly curled his lips upon hearing that, mocking inwardly.

Qingxia was still the same. Though he said he was unfazed, his actions were incredibly cautious.

If he were truly confident, why not deal with Gu Fan within these few days? It was nothing more than a fear of an upset that might impact his performance in the Eastern Region Assembly.

The two held their thoughts and continued sipping tea, speaking no more of the matter.

And so, more than ten days passed. Regardless of how the rumors and speculations evolved during this period, Qingxia Young Master never came forward with a response.

This made Gu Fan feel a sense of urgency. The Eastern Region Assembly was drawing near, yet Qingxia Young Master remained silent.

At this point, even if he changed his challenge target, no one would likely respond without reason.

“Could this guy be planning to respond only after participating in the Eastern Region Assembly?”

If that were the case, then what was the point of Gu Fan’s challenge?

“No, if this drags on, I fear there will be no result. By then, it’ll be too late… I must find a way to provoke him into action.”

At this thought, a figure flashed through Gu Fan’s mind.

Late at night, a silhouette entered Gu Fan’s cave residence.

Gu Fan had been waiting for a long time. Seeing the visitor, he smiled:

“Many thanks to Brother Mao Chang for making the trip.”

Mao Chang smiled and sat down to the side, saying:

“If Senior Brother Gu has something to request, how dare I delay? What arrangements does Senior Brother Gu have in mind?”

“You must have heard about my challenge to Qingxia Young Master.”

Mao Chang nodded. If anyone understood the reason, it was likely him. Gu Fan was definitely planning to attend the Eastern Region Assembly to establish connections with the Divine Soul Sect.

However, he hadn’t expected that with just a single mention back then, Gu Fan would really reach this stage in only half a year. This rate of progress and strength was truly terrifying!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep