Chapter 1585: Fire Battle

Lu Ming was furious!

His old face, aside from the Grand Elder, he wouldn't give face to anyone.

He never thought that today, he would have to bow his head to a little brat!

But if he didn't bow now, it would be tantamount to challenging the entire Council of Elders.

This charge, he couldn't bear.

If it really came to a fight, he would definitely not come out well!

"Elder... Elder Ye, just now Lu Ming was rash, please don't take offense, Elder... Elder Ye!" Lu Ming said through gritted teeth.

When he said the words "Elder Ye," he felt goosebumps all over his body, utterly uncomfortable.

Others watching this scene also felt an indescribable strangeness.

Lu Ming was so old he was almost in the coffin, yet he bowed and apologized to such a young elder, creating an indescribable sense of dissonance.

"Hmm, for the sake of the Grand Elder, I'll let you off this time! If you offend again, according to the rules of the Alchemy Tower, you will be severely punished!" Ye Yuan said with a magnanimous air, as if lecturing a junior.

This kid, he was really pushing his luck!

Lu Ming snorted coldly and said, "Elder Ye, today I seek to spar with you to liven up the Grand Alchemy Competition. What do you say?"

Ye Yuan said indifferently, "You're just a steward, what qualifications do you have to seek a spar with me?"

At these words, a chorus of boos arose from below.

Clearly, they had reached their limit of tolerance for Ye Yuan's evasive tactics.

Always using his elder status to suppress others made it hard to win over the crowd.

Seeing this, Lu Ming felt greatly pleased.

Lu Ming sneered, "Heh heh, Elder Ye is just a three-star divine alchemist. I, at worst, am a four-star intermediate divine alchemist. Am I not qualified to be your opponent? Or is it that you're just a fraud, not daring to accept the challenge?"

Facing the boos, Ye Yuan didn't care at all and said disdainfully, "If I can't even beat you, what qualifications do I have to be this elder? Fine, since you want to see my strength, I'll satisfy you."

Lu Ming showed a surprised expression; he had thought Ye Yuan would stubbornly refuse and had prepared a whole bunch of arguments.

Unexpectedly, Ye Yuan agreed.

"Hehe, then I ask Elder Ye for your guidance," Lu Ming said with a cupped fist and a smile.

He didn't think Ye Yuan could beat him at all; if he couldn't defeat a three-star divine alchemist, his whole life would have been wasted.

However, Ye Yuan said, "When did I say I was going to compete with you?"

Lu Ming was stunned, but saw Ye Yuan cupping his fist toward Ruoxu and saying, "Grand Elder, since entering the Eagle Emperor City, I've heard that your alchemy is unparalleled, unmatched in this city. I, though unworthy, today challenge the Grand Elder. I wonder... what does the Grand Elder think?"

Everyone was dumbfounded. This kid wanted to challenge the Grand Elder?

Was he crazy!

In the entire Eagle Emperor City, aside from the Second Elder, someone dared to challenge the Grand Elder!

The Grand Elder and the Second Elder were the extremes of the Eagle Emperor City.

They were the absolute top tier in alchemy!

The other elders were not on the same level as them at all.

A mere three-star divine alchemist dared to directly challenge the Grand Elder!

Only the Second Elder, Xuan Yu, had a faint, barely noticeable smile at the corner of his mouth.

He suddenly realized that Ye Yuan's appearance was simply a godsend for him.

What he was good at, Ye Yuan was even better at.

What he wasn't good at, Ye Yuan was also good at!

Probably everyone would think Ye Yuan was overreaching, but he knew that if Ye Yuan faced Ruoxu, he would utterly crush him!

He had been contending with Ruoxu for so many years and knew Ruoxu's strength too well.

Ye Yuan's move was truly brilliant!

If Ruoxu agreed, he would surely lose.

Then Ruoxu would lose face completely.

If Ruoxu, out of self-respect, refused, Ye Yuan could also take the opportunity to back down and shake off the entanglement.

If Ruoxu was smart, he shouldn't persist in a stalemate with Ye Yuan.

Otherwise today, he would end up looking very bad.

Ruoxu was also taken aback, then smiled and said, "Oh? Elder Ye wants to challenge me? Haha, truly fearless youth! If I avoid the battle, I'm afraid I'll spoil everyone's fun today. Fine, I accept!"

Xuan Yu glanced at Ruoxu with some surprise, but immediately closed his eyes again.

If he was asking for trouble, there was no helping it.

"The Grand Elder actually agreed!"

"It's rare to see the Grand Elder personally take action!"

"Haha, that kid thought the Grand Elder would refrain out of dignity and not bother with him. But the Grand Elder agreed!"

...

Many of the Grand Elder's faction were mocking Ye Yuan's overestimation and were very much looking forward to the Grand Elder's performance.

If Ruoxu and Ye Yuan competed in alchemy, naturally they could only refine three-star divine pills.

And in the art of three-star divine pills, the Grand Elder had long reached perfection; dealing with Ye Yuan would be a piece of cake, right?

Ye Yuan smiled slightly and said, "Grand Elder, today's highlight is the Grand Alchemy Competition; we shouldn't steal the spotlight. How about we have our spar after the competition?"

Ruoxu nodded and said, "Alright, as you wish! Let the Grand Alchemy Competition begin!"

A steward came to the center of the square and announced loudly, "First round, Fire Battle, bring forth the flames!"

As the words fell, a burst of flame shot out from the top of the Alchemy Tower.

In the blink of an eye, it was like a rain of fire, scattering in all directions.

At that moment, several hundred three-star disciples formed a huge circle, and the rain of fire accurately landed beside each of them.

These flames were also third-grade divine fire, but without any special attributes, as if all spirituality had been erased.

In the first round of Fire Battle, these three-star disciples had to control these spiritless divine flames to extinguish the flames of others.

This round would eliminate a large portion of the three-star disciples, leaving only a hundred to enter the second round.

This kind of competition was very fair for everyone; everyone's flames were identical, with no room for trickery.

All they could do was improve their flame control skills to defeat the others.

Several hundred elite disciples battling flames within a circle—this scene was extremely spectacular.

"Hey, there's nothing to compare in the Fire Battle round; it's completely without suspense!"

"Yeah, Song Qiyang's flame control is far ahead; among the three-star disciples, he has no rival."

"Song Qiyang is probably going to be ruthless this time; those three-star disciples of the Second Elder are in for trouble."

...

Since it was a Fire Battle, they had to wipe out others' flames completely.

Song Qiyang was currently full of pent-up anger and would definitely target the Second Elder's disciples.

"Begin!"

With the steward's loud shout, the Fire Battle officially commenced.

A cold smile flickered at the corner of Song Qiyang's mouth; with a flick of his finger, the divine flame obediently flew out.

"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh..."

Countless flames intertwined, immediately plunging into a melee.

"Pfft!"

Song Qiyang's flame, like a sharp sword, directly extinguished the flame of a Second Elder's disciple.

The slaughter had begun!